covering fire on sound contacts - tips please

[joesnuffy]

I was assaulting a machine gun with a rifle platoon in CMBB. At the particular moment that I was going to send the assault team over, the enemy machine gun happened to be just a sound contact. I had ID'd it already, but it disappeared from sight briefly as I respositioned the fire team. But, I knew he was still in a particular foxhole. I wanted to issue the following order to the fire team: "Area fire until the MG is ID'd and then provide direct covering fire." I'm not sure how to give such an order. So I targeted area fire on the foxhole and put a cover arc around it, too. This did not work. When the MG presented itself again, the fire team continued to area fire and didn't switch to direct fire. I had to wait until the next turn to issue direct fire orders. Meanwhile, the MG did not remain suppressed and panicked the assualt team. Once the MG was under direct fire on the next turn, it remained supressed for the entire minute. But it was too late. Any suggestions on a better way?

[Der Kuenstler]

Area fire targets any unit in the general area and suppresses better. How many squads were firing at the sound contact? Only one squad may not have been enough to keep him down.

[Brent Pollock]

What do you mean by "assault team" and "fire team"? I ask because you mention assaulting with a platoon, but make it sound more like you tried it with a split squad.

[joesnuffy]

The assualt team was a squad. The fire team was the other 3 squads in the platoon. 2 fire squads were within 100m and the 3rd was about 180m away.

It seemed to me that direct fire resulted in more effective supression based on one turn being area fire and the next being direct fire. With area fire, the MG popped up 2 to 3 times during the minute and fired. Under direct fire, they stayed down for the entire minute.

The effect I saw may have had to do with the timing. It seems that, once cover fire began, it took a few seconds (10 or so) before the MG ducked. Maybe if I had waited this delay before sending the assualt team I would have had better results.

Also, if I'm attacking an MG with a platoon, did I partition the assignments properly? Should I assualt with more squads and cover with less? I only had one platoon in my little scenario. I am just practicing this kind of assault, because my effectiveness at this in a more complicated scenario has been poor. I tend to get in position for the assaualt OK, but I have trouble closing the deal. Any comments would be appreciated.

[Kingfish]

Originally posted by joesnuffy:

Also, if I'm attacking an MG with a platoon, did I partition the assignments properly? Should I assualt with more squads and cover with less?

No, you had it right the first time. Assault with one, and back up with two (or more). That pretty much applies across the board, be it a platoon or company. The more firepower you pour into the enemy, the better the chances your assualt team arrives intact.

[JasonC]

Give only one squad in the cover team an area fire order. That won't do much more than keep the MG at "alerted", but it will prevent easy rally every time they duck. The additional area fire guys are a waste of ammo, really. Area fire doesn't add up very well, compared to direct. It helps to have some, it doesn't help all that much to have a lot more.

Give the rest of the cover team a covered arc over the MG location, without any fire orders. They will fire directly whenever the MG shows itself. If you have an MG of your own, it is a better choice for the area fire shooter. It has the ammo to keep it up all day.