Thermopylae Posted October 14, 2001 Share Posted October 14, 2001 On the operational and strategic levels, the United states has perfected the doctrine of "slingshotting." This essentially involves getting all the logistics in place ahead of the actual maneuver units so that the punch can sail right on through without worrying about logistics catching up. The CM player can also use such techniques to his advantage. while there are clearly no logistics, there are definitely slow movers like MGs and company mortars. This often leads to precious time being lost as the main force waits for their fire support elements to catch up. The time is not precious in its actual quantity (thirty turns is an eternity) but rather in opportunities for the defender to prepare himself. However, this wait can be offsetted by what I call tactical slingshotting. Essentially you include the support elements with your recon force. The various teams walk forward to their pre-designated locations while recon is under way. MGs go to woods and buildings, FO's find vantage points, etc. The end result is you have your firebases pre-built before you commit any maneuver elements. This allows for a) fluid attacks that don't need to wait up for the support to come up, and a pre-set modicum of overwatch meaning platoons don't have to be used for this purpose. The obvious concern with this tactic is "what if the enemy attacks, and cataches me with my pants down and support elemnts un screened?" There are extremely few players with genius to effectively counterattack on anything more than a local level. (i.e. retake that building or that group of trees.) Chances are if your opponent counterttacks, they will only commit one or two platoons at most. To reach your firebases' teams, they will need to cover wel over 150m of ground, alot of which, by the very nature of where you usually stick mgs, will be open. This in itself is the kiss of death to the defender. You are now free to maul his counterattacking force with everuything you've got. He is now severely outnumbered, found, identified, and out of his foxholes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thermopylae Posted October 16, 2001 Author Share Posted October 16, 2001 Shameless self bump...for the betterment of humanity as we know it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted October 16, 2001 Share Posted October 16, 2001 In attack, I use my support elements to provide overwatch and suppressive fire while I advance my maneuver elements. Once the maneuver elements have cleared the first objective, I move the support elements forward. Once they are in place, I begin the process again. Textbook. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thermopylae Posted October 16, 2001 Author Share Posted October 16, 2001 The main thign stopping the firebase elements from being gobbled up by the defenisve skrimish line is your own recon. if you are using ligh vehicular recon as the majority of your pre-main engagement force, chances are this tactic won't work..too many open holes in your recon line. However, even a scattering of split squads will do wonders for slowing an enemy thrust, and ding it up a touch too. If he wants to assualt your recon force, its already achieved its purpose, finding the enemy. You do however bring up a very good point about the serecy of this move. While his counterattacking thrust can eb stopped, and usually will be, it does create a few turns of tension, and if things go wrong can SERIOUSLY delay an attack. It is best if your oppnent doesn't know. If you are operating an infantry screen recon, chances are he won't notice. Theres 12-13 Infantry? units goign forward to scout out the enemy positions. If one of these units enters a house ahead of the lines, our first inclination is usually to think "Recon taking and scanning cover" not "Machinegun being emplaced there." And for the defender, counterattack en masse is really a shock move. Typically an attack can at best exchange around 1:1 casualties. If the attacker can keep his head about him when one of these counterattacks begins, and simply keeps standing toe to toe, he will come off the better because he has more troops to spare. (Short of course, of the Oh my god how did THAT happen? factor occuring.) [ 10-16-2001: Message edited by: Thermopylae ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Johnson-- Posted October 17, 2001 Share Posted October 17, 2001 Fun stuff. In a lot of my scenarios heavy weapons, spotters and HQ units are deployed ahead of the infantry and tanks. Usually overlooking the positions the infantry are expected to assault. My thinking is, that commanders would use the previous night and morning fog to move up the heavy weapons for the assault. The defenders either do not see the build up, or choose to wait until more infantry can be attacked in the open. Seems I've been practicing slingshoting for awhile. Another related issue is fortifications, not barbed wire and mines, but Bunkers, MG nests, and AT gun positions. These elements are slow and Patton considers fixed fortifications dead on the modern battlefield. Not so, these elements are cheap and well protected against arty. There are slow but thats fine, just use them to cut off areas to the enemy and free up your infantry and tanks to move about and pivot off of. Nothing like being secure in a protected flank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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