Home invasion

[Eric Alkema]

You have a platoon of infantry, two at the most. There are 6-8 buildings. You suspect that there is an enemy platoon hiding in one or more of the buildings. You have no tanks/guns/etc. available at the moment.

How do you go about assaulting the buildings?

How about when there is only one two-story building?

Don't forget, you only suspect enemies. You have not taken any fire yet.

[JasonC]

Cover from across a gap with 2 squads and the HQ. Send the other squad into one building on "run", only entering a corner at first. Sneak it to the other side of the building. You can have one of the rear two squads search the next building, while the rest of the platoon moves into the same sort of overwatch positions.

You can use a half-squad instead to minimize losses if you hit a large force. It will break faster is all. It will find the enemy as easily as a squad will. If you use this method, then pick the 1/2 of the squad with that doesn't have the squad LMG (if there is one - some squad types have 2 of course).

When you find them, shoot it out building to building, preferably close enough to toss grenades too. If you see the enemy heads go down (squad prone), you can keep firing with one squad and rush into the same building with another. But target a corner away from the enemy squad if at all possible.

What can get you killed is men trying to move into the exact same location with an unsuppressed, firing enemy. They just won't. They will pause in the street right outside, without cover, and take devastating fire. If the enemy are pinned they will be able to enter, or if your waypoint is a ways away from the enemy (not "stacking close"), then they can make it.

[Wally's World]

My idea is to send one squad close to the building in question, if not inside the building. Try and sneak, not run. Also, keep your additional squads outside to provide cover fire if the enemy is hiding in the building waiting to open up on your advancing squad. That way they can try to suppress the enemy troops if they start firing at your advancing squad.

[xerxes]

I'd split a squad and use the "b" group to scout with everything else in a fire support position. Anything revealed and you put your full firepower weight on it and then move 1 or 2 assault squads in once the enemy is suppressed. The risk is that a good defense will have the final 20 meters covered by other enemy squads that will open up as your assault squads try and move in close.

If the enemy has smgs/brens your job will of course be much more difficult.

I'd rather wait for some friendly HE to assist.

- xerxes

[Charlie Rock]

Once you get into the first building, safe to assume that most of what is defending will unmask and try to destroy your foothold.

When you pick your foothold, go for a heavy, rather than light, as your first one to take.

Next best is a light on the outskirts adjacent to a heavy.

If you own a light building and the enemy defends from a heavy, time is not on your side- the bad guys will pin you down first and you will have to clear the village faster than you otherwise would prefer to.

[Chad Harrison]

it was said above, but ill say it again: split a squad out of each platoon and use them! theres no easy way to get the enemy to expose himself other than run inside and see whats there. i try to set up a good fire base of supporting platoons and/or MG's with good LOS, and then give the grim task to one platoon to go find the bad guys!

as was also stated above, its best to run accross the road, then sneak into the building. not to hide, but that gives them a greater chance of stopping to shoot; thus reducing loses (hopefully).

if your playing someone whos been around the block, he has a few squads hiding inside the building and theres two ways to get him out: blow up the building or go in there and persuade him out. with only infantry, only the second is an option.

city fighting is hard and frustrating, you can lose entire platoons in a minute if your not carefull. just dont rush and treat every building like its occupied.

[Eric Alkema]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chad Harrison:

as was also stated above, its best to run accross the road, then sneak into the building. not to hide, but that gives them a greater chance of stopping to shoot; thus reducing loses (hopefully).

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This is what I came up with after sending my guys running the whole distance. They wouldn't see anything until they were in bayonet range and then they would all die in a matter of seconds.

Has anyone tried reconnaissance by fire? I've thought about it but I worry about A) wasting ammo that I will need when I have actual targets and if nobody shoots back, does that really mean that nobody is home?

[Chad Harrison]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Eric Alkema:

Has anyone tried reconnaissance by fire? I've thought about it but I worry about A) wasting ammo that I will need when I have actual targets and if nobody shoots back, does that really mean that nobody is home?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

i have had succes with ordering a HMG to fire at where i know some troops are, but cant see any. after a few second of area firing, the unit will show up. im sure that represents them moving around and taking better cover. i have never tried to EXPOSE them in building with that technique; i area fire to suppress them and then move my men in. a word of warning, if you area fire to cover you men, dont run your men into that fire, area fire has no friends .

and dont forget that if you know they are in one building, and that building is not immediatly important, leave them under cover and move on. you can save a lot of lives that way and they might not of seen your men covering them.

[Cybeq]

If you have one platoon and the enemy has one platoon and 6-8 buildings in which to hide I'd say the enemy has a significant advantage. Attacking an equally sized force entrenched in buildings is not my idea of sound tactics. I wouldn't attack at all until I had some way to gain either a 2 (or 3) to 1 advantage in either numbers or firepower. You will lose more men than he does if you go toe to toe with him. Rooting infantry out of buildings requires HE, fire, or superior numbers, preferably all three.

[PiggDogg]

Attacking enemies in buildings, especially large heavy building requires heavy numerical superiority, at least 2:1 & probably 3:1. Heavy buildings are most excellent positions. They are nearly like small fortresses and are usually good positions from which to anchor a defense.

Recently, against a most competent opponent, I had a well placed (way in the back of the ground floor of a 'large' heavy building), regular decent German platoon, slaughter nearly a company of mixed (infantry/engineer) Americans as each Amis squad entered the building just seconds apart. My guys ended up repulsing the strong initial Amis rush & a end game Amis rush with beaten up Amis. Really cool. :eek: :eek:

Unless you are German SMGs or such attacking Brit infantry, or unless you are playing someone who lacks proper tactical knowledge, a 1:1 building clearing foray should leave your force decimated.

Good luck (you will need it), Cheers, Richard :cool:

[PiggDogg]

Oh, I forgot to mention in my prior post in this thread. The reason to set up in the rear of the large heavy building is to avoid all or most the attackers tanks, ACs, 1/2tracks, assault guns, mgs, etc that would pound one's defenders into a bloody mess.

Of course, if the attacker does not have HE support (tanks, assault guns, blah, blah) and maybe not many supporting mgs, you 'might' (when in doubt only set up in the building's rear) set up on the enemy side of the of the heavy building to wack, for one shot, the attackers while they are in the open ground leading into the heavy building. Of course, after one shot by one's defending troops, immediately withdraw to the building's rear if you take any substantial attacking support fire. Don't take casualties in the building's front. (You will almost for sure receive such substantial attacking support fire because your opponent is attacking and, well, you are defending.)

Also, as much as possible, do not expose the defenders to enemy attacking support fire. Get deep into the building and away from the immediate sides the heavy building.

Further, if one is defending in an attack or an assault, he should place barbed wire (or if wire is not available, minefileds) on the enemy side of the building and on the building's sides (wire is preferable because wire prohibits infantry entry). This forces the attackers to the building's sides or even rear where the building's defenders and nearby supporting defending fire can wack the attackers in the open while approaching the building.

This is a way to make fine defensive heavy building redoubts which can really be quite hard to crack.

Cheers, Richard

[Eric Alkema]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Richard Cuccia, the PiggDogg:

Recently, against a most competent opponent, I had a well placed (way in the back of the ground floor of a 'large' heavy building), regular decent German platoon, slaughter nearly a company of mixed (infantry/engineer) Americans as each Amis squad entered the building just seconds apart<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

OK, that leads me to a better question. What should your opponent have done different? It sounds like he had 3:1 odds (company vs. platoon) and still got whipped. The problem is that in that situation the defender gets a series of 3:1 odds ambushes because the attackers see nothing until they get inside the building and get jumped by the defenders.

My guess is that if he had known where you were and where you weren't (and that is one heck of a big if), he should have gone for adjacent buildings (assuming there were any).