Optimum time to break down a squad.

[crsutt]

Sorry guys, I suspect this has already been beaten to death but I would like to know when it is best to keep a squad intact and when it is best to break it down into teams. I know from my other post that it is advisable when street fighting in buildings but what about in other combat situations? Do I lose something by breaking it down?

Thanks for the input.

[JonS]

I usually find that the best time to break down a squad is last turn.

[eltorrente]

Break them down as soon as possible.

The only reason that I can see for keeping them together is when I don't feel like micromanaging. I usually keep them together for the first few minutes, until I start getting closer to the area I'm going for.

As soon as I give specific orders to scout, attack, occupy a treeline, building - ANYTHING basically - they are split and I try and keep distance between the squad sections.

I love it when playing PBEM's when my opponent doesn't split his squads. It's so easy to get lots of kills when there's 12 guys all grouped up together.

Keep them split and keep them separated.

[Paulverisor64]

In what I've experienced it would be good to break apart your units prior to being engaged in enemy fire.

It seemed like they needed a little to get their bearings right after the splits.

Even though there is an Assault option that leap frogs segments of your unit it seems that people prefer to split their unit and do this manually.

[Michael Emrys]

Break them down as soon as possible.

The only reason that I can see for keeping them together is when I don't feel like micromanaging. I usually keep them together for the first few minutes, until I start getting closer to the area I'm going for.

As soon as I give specific orders to scout, attack, occupy a treeline, building - ANYTHING basically - they are split and I try and keep distance between the squad sections.

I love it when playing PBEM's when my opponent doesn't split his squads. It's so easy to get lots of kills when there's 12 guys all grouped up together.

Keep them split and keep them separated.

Good advice. What I've been doing from about the time I began playing CMx2. Funny thing, I never split squads in CMx1; in that game I figured that splitting would just halve firepower and lower morale of the individual units, so I didn't do it. But CMx2 is a drastically different game in more ways than I want to try to count.

Michael

[crsutt]

Ah that explains it. I have not been breaking down my squads at all, except for the occasional scouts. And, have been taking too many losses as a result. My problem is that I am trying to fight and play like I did in the old game and getting pasted for my effort.

Thanks.

[Macisle]

-Definitely gotta' break squads into teams. In addition to allowing you to play more effectively, it opens up one of the coolest aspects of the game. You can use much more realistic tactics (LMGs suppress while assault team maneuvers, etc.) and enjoy the micro-dramas that result.

Also, remember to split off your AT assets and protect them until needed.

[noob]

I always split each squad into two teams using the Assault Team split command, that divides a squad into one team with all the SMG's and most of the grenades, and one team with the all the LMG's, then as long as the SMG team is used for short to close range combat, and the LMG team is used for long to medium range combat, both automatic weapon types will be operating within their comfort zone, and thus be more efficient.

Any squad with a Bazooka or Shrek need those weapons to be detached from the main body using the Anti Tank Team split command before any further splitting using the Assault Team command.

[womble]

For my money, the optimum time is in the setup phase. And if I can squeeze the three teams out, I'll split Assault first, then AT off the rump team, otherwise, if you split the AT team first, they hog the grenades. If I want recon teams for the opening phase of the battle, I'll recombine Assault and Fire and split a recon pair (or possibly trio, if it's a 12-man squad and the AT team is only 2).

I'm starting to be more cognizant of the phases of the battle now, and have been re-combining and resplitting squads more for different phases. Splitting Recon and AT off the main squad is a bit fraught, though, since it leaves a 7 man team all fat and vulnerable in one action spot, so recon gets dragged back in and then the main squad resplits to Assault and Fire again.

[WinOrLose]

I usually find that the best time to break down a squad is last turn.

+1

When on the attack I try at least to split off the scout element of each squad and keep them one bound ahead of the following squad until contact. Depending on the composition of the remaining squad I may split again or rejoin and split.

On defence I try and split everything down and spread out to avoid arty casualties. I do try and keep them in C&C though.

[noob]

I'll split Assault first, then AT off the rump team, otherwise, if you split the AT team first, they hog the grenades.

I just checked and you are correct, nice one Sherlock

[YankeeDog]

For my money, the optimum time is in the setup phase. And if I can squeeze the three teams out, I'll split Assault first, then AT off the rump team, otherwise, if you split the AT team first, they hog the grenades. If I want recon teams for the opening phase of the battle, I'll recombine Assault and Fire and split a recon pair (or possibly trio, if it's a 12-man squad and the AT team is only 2).

I'm starting to be more cognizant of the phases of the battle now, and have been re-combining and resplitting squads more for different phases. Splitting Recon and AT off the main squad is a bit fraught, though, since it leaves a 7 man team all fat and vulnerable in one action spot, so recon gets dragged back in and then the main squad resplits to Assault and Fire again.

Yeah; for this reason, I wish the 9-man German squads were allowed to split into 3 teams *if* one of the teams is a 2-man scout or AT team. Putting 7 men in one Action Spot is asking for a multi-casualty incident.

It's not as much of an issue with the American squads because even though the squad is larger, the 3-team split allows you to do either 6-4-2 or 5-5-2 splits, which aren't so bad. There's all sorts of split micromanaging monkey business you can pull of with 3-team American squads, depending on which team you split off first, etc.

But this does seem like an unrealistic advantage when you compare the options available to American vs. German squads. I know that German squad doctrine broke down into 2 fire teams vs. the Americans' 3, but I'm not sure this means the bulk of a German squad should be forced into one action spot if Hans and Fritz get sent ahead to peek around a corner or ambush a tank...

Of course, this issue does pretty much go away once the squad has taken a couple of casualties, and/or if you start the scenario at 80% strength or less (which, arguably, should be the situation most of the time for German units in the later months of the war).

[womble]

Yeah; for this reason, I wish the 9-man German squads were allowed to split into 3 teams *if* one of the teams is a 2-man scout or AT team. Putting 7 men in one Action Spot is asking for a multi-casualty incident.

Agreed. It's particularly irksome when the 7-man superteam has both the squad leader and his assistant in it, so any further subdivision would have UnterOffizier leadership.