Building assault tactics

[Porkchop]

I'm looking for some help with tactics when facing infantry dug into heavy buildings. Last game I tried, I was up against a building with a single rifle squad inside. I ran three squads at it. One was eliminated crossing the ground leading up to the building, one was eliminated virtually right at the front door, and the third entered and was immediately captured.

So what's the proper way to assault a building? I'd like to avoid this unnecessary slaughter next time.

[Guest Pillar]

DF HE works.

Buy a Wespe and try it.

[Olle Petersson]

Pillar is right: Direct fire HE is the best option.

Next best is to have a Churchill Crocodile to set the place on fire.

Third best is to have MGs and other rifle squads to suppress the enemy while you send in your infantry.

The best infantry to use for indoor fighting are those with lots of SMGs and large squads.

Cheers

Olle

[Joeri]

Have two squats fire at the rifle squat inside the building and run the third towards it.

That way the guys in the building will not shoot at you because they are keeping there heads down.

Joeri

[coralsaw]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Olle Petersson:

Pillar is right: Direct fire HE is the best option.

Next best is to have a Churchill Crocodile to set the place on fire.

Third best is to have MGs and other rifle squads to suppress the enemy while you send in your infantry.

The best infantry to use for indoor fighting are those with lots of SMGs and large squads.

Cheers

Olle<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Olle hit the nail on the head.

The only two thing to add are that :

- big arty can act as suppressive fire as well, plus it's fun to use

- assault from many directions simultaneously.

------------------

My squads are panicking, must be the stench in the cesspool...

[The_Capt]

I am currently embroiled in just such a situation but I have no armour and my Arty Spotters have "blown their load" or out of sight.

What I did is to pull all of my 60mm mortars out of the platoons and group them under a company commander who then acts as spotter.

You would be amazed at what three 60s will do, I actually destroyed a light building and supressed a couple of squads in a church.

You the run (don't walk) at least two squads with an HQ into the building, preferably from opposite directions.

As has been said if you can set up a direct firebase using an MG, bazooka or squads you even increase your chances.

As a final aside the grouping of 60s in a company is in fact a real-world tactic as it concentrates the firepower.

[Olle Petersson]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by coralsaw:

Olle hit the nail on the head.

The only two thing to add are that :

- big arty can act as suppressive fire as well, plus it's fun to use <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Thanks! But big arty won't be as much suppressive as destructive, and it's still more efficient to have the big guns target the building over open sights than via a FO.

Cheers

Olle

[ScoutPL]

Seizing buildings takes a lot of planning ahead. Suppressive fires are a must and smoke obscuration if you have it available. If the enemy in the building out numbers your assault element, which should be approximately a third of your available firepower (the rest should be suppressing, include MG and bazooka in your total), then kill his guys off until the odds swing in your favor. Destroying the building is a popular solution but you should take into account whether you may need the building later to serve as a jump off point or support by fire position to take the next building.

[I/O Error]

Infantry never really want to charge enemies alone.

Make sure they have plenty of friends backing them up.

Machine gun teams are superb at keeping their heads down. Remember, you don't have to kill them with the MGs, you just have to make sure they can't cut down your charging teams.

[This message has been edited by I/O Error (edited 12-02-2000).]

[fridericus]

the best choice of assaulting a village is destroying EVERY building with variuos amored weapons.

(i learned this as defender in a 5000 QB against germans)

[JasonC]

Do not try to run a squad into the building. Not with any amount of suppressive fire. You are asking for a dead squad. The way such things work in CM, if there are enemies in the only available nearby cover who are not yet panicking, it can be next to impossible for the friendlies to enter, and they can lose half a squad and upward to a single burst of fire while in open ground at 5-10m range.

Direct fire HE is the best way to clear a building. Not indirect - FOs get near misses, which the walls of the building provide good protection against. The HE round should hit the building. Which is easy for direct fire HE, and not too hard for things like bazookas or light mortars (although light mortars miss sometimes, and obvious do less than 75mm+ main guns).

If you have to clear a building with infantry alone, do not try to do it with bayonets by entering the actual building. Instead, get decent cover close to the building, get superior infantry numbers into that cover, and then just shoot it out. If you can get within about 30m - like a building across a street, or woods outside - your men will also toss grenades into the target building. Which will do the job, although they may take a few minutes.

Light buildings are relatively poor cover anyway, only about as good as scattered trees. You can break a squad inside one with a platoon firing from 100-150 yards over a minute or two. Heavy stone buildings are harder of course. You generally want to get to grenade range with them, if you don't have direct fire HE, because they can easily withstand all the ammo you can throw at them from longer ranges. SMG-heavy infantry will clear them by fire from within about 60 yards, however.

When clearing the building by fire or HE, watch the squad inside. Wait for it to go heads down, and keep watching after that. Crawling away from their previous position after being heads down and not firing for a while, is a good sign they have actually broken. If they are bobbing up and down at all, they are only pinned and that is not enough. While pinned, try to get more infantry down to grenade range cover if possible, but do not try to run into the same building with them until you are pretty sure they are outright broken already.

Broken units try to avoid LOS to all enemies, crawling away from anyone who can shoot at them. If you see that happen, rush with only one squad. There is no point in risking more - if the enemy is broken one will do the job.

You do not take places by physical presence. Get that idea out of your head right away. You take places by firepower dominance projected onto that area. Especially in urban fighting, where the cover out in the street is nil and the cover inside is high, you cannot afford point blank engagements across that cover difference, trying to bull your way into places the enemy holds with good order infantry. So shoot your way forward from across the street, instead.

I hope that helps.

[xerxes]

When direct fire HEing a building be careful about area targeting. Against a clever defender you can end up using your precious HE to demolish empty buildings.

Also if you have a confirmed target in a building try to bring as many HE throwers as possible to bear on a single building. You can often destroy the building before the defender can get out.