Friendly Fire, How to Avoid?

[kump]

Night, winter.

Infantry platoon dismounts from HTs, advance into scattered woods. Stumble on a lone Art observer team in foxhole. HTs and nearby tanks open up with machineguns. Art observer, routed.

Problem:

One FULL friendly squad wiped out, half another, two dead in third. My infantry platoon butchered by my own HTs and tanks.

Its night and you stumble into the enemy. Can't help but be close. So how can you keep your own troops from shooting you in the back?

I lost 14 men in a span of 10 seconds to route an Art observer. Seems a little extreme for that "spray colateral damage".

I've played for six months now, and I don't think I've had such a disastrous self inflicted wound. I experimented some more and found that your vehicles are indeed zealous in their willingness to shoot through your troops.

I have to use a "sacrificial" squad to expose the hidden Art unit. Is there another way?

[This message has been edited by kump (edited 02-09-2001).]

[jasoncawley@ameritech.net]

#1 don't send the infantry in at the same "angle" as the overwatching vehicles will have to fire. Come in, in a "V" pattern not an "I", if that makes it easier to see what I mean.

#2 give the vehicles "hide" orders, aka tell them to hold their fire. Trying to support infantry in cover at night with ranged fire while in close contact is extremely risky, as you saw. It should only be done when you can't help it (everybody picking targets in a firefight) or when the guys you are trying to support are going to be overrun without it.

Realize that at night, the men are thinking more of areas of cover as friendly or hostile - and they will even get that wrong - rather than actually being able to see, let alone distinguish, your men. Think of targeting as "shoot those woods" or "shoot that building" not "shoot that unit".

Stuff will still happen. But I hope this helps.

[kump]

Thanks Jason,

Yep, I need to give "hide" orders to the vehicles when I'm doing this advance with infantry at night to a close line of scattered woods.

As for the V pattern. That one is tough when it is the infantry transport doing the shooting. I guess I need to spend the time to "loop" like bull horns, but then I'm most likely to get in trouble on the flanks. But I can understand the approach outside the main overwatch firing cone.

I think the vehicle hide orders are going to help. Except in the case where I will wish they would shoot after my infantry has turned tail and routed out of the way

[jasoncawley@ameritech.net]

To get the V, just move the vehicle after the men dismount, parallel to the tree line or slightly toward it. You don't want to get as close as faust range if you can avoid it, but if you dropped the passengers at any distance from the trees, it should work.