There are two basic types of attack. In a deliberate attack the attacker has a good idea of where the enemy positions are, and what enemy forces he expects to be defending. In a deliberate attack the player can pick the enemy position(s) he wants to focus on and deploy his force accordingly. In a hasty attack or movement to contact, enemy dispositions and strengths are not known. The attacker must be more cautious and attempt to locate enemy positions before committing all his forces. In this case it is best to make contact with the smallest element possible and keep the majority of your forces free to maneuver once the enemy positions are confirmed.
When you are the attacker, the first key technique to master is fire and movement. All first world armies
organize their squads or sections into smaller sub-units known as fire teams or bricks. These fire teams normally consist of four infantry soldiers. A squad leader and two or sometimes three of these fire teams make up a squad or section. Fire and movement (or variously known as bounding, leapfrogging or pepper-potting) is the simple tactic of one fire team providing covering fire or overwatch (scanning for the enemy) whilst its partner fire team moves. It is important to pick an overwatch position which gives line of sight (LOS) to positions from which the enemy may engage the moving element. In Force on Force, placing one fire team on overwatch allows that team a chance to engage the opposition before they can fire. Once the moving team has reached its destination, the roles can be reversed and the team that has moved provides overwatch and/or covering fire whilst the other team completes its move. Vehicles should also use this tactic- often known as bounding overwatch. One vehicle moves whilst its partner provides overwatch, preferably from cover or at least concealment. This bounding technique is well suited for a hasty attack or movement to contact.
A quick note on infantry movement- always ensure that you move from solid cover to solid cover and if you can’t reach solid cover- don’t move or at least use concealing terrain or chemical smoke to mask your movement. This should also be practiced for vehicles once in contact- particularly soft skins but equally applicable to armor. Players will find that leaving a vehicle in the open (especially soft skin vehicles) to FOF Rulebook layouts16.qxd 15/12/10 10:57 Page 130
engage in a slugfest rather than to seek cover and try to flank the opposition is not sound tactics. All it takes is one anti-vehicle weapon to show the player the error of his ways. Again, the use of smoke to obscure your units from likely or actual enemy positions is encouraged. If crossing a large open expanse (such as a field or similar) and you have access to the assets, consider using mortars, either organic or off-table, to deliver a fire mission of smoke to provide some cover for your movement, attempting to place the smoke between likely enemy forces and your movement route. Overwatch elements should also be in place to cover any such movement.
Another concept the attacker should master is isolation of the enemy. A defender will want his defensive positions to be able to support each other (more on this later). The attacker should attempt to
isolate a single enemy unit or position from the rest of the enemy forces. This can be done by using some attacking elements to suppress the supporting defenders with fire. Alternatively it can be done by use of smoke, artillery or other assets to block line of sight or otherwise limit the defender’s ability to support the unit/position the attacker is focusing on. This allows the attacker to concentrate his fires and forces onto the exact point where he wants to break into the enemy defenses. Once a position is isolated from its support it can be overwhelmed. As soon as one position is overwhelmed, the attacker can focus on isolating the next position, or on developing a hasty defense and attempting to force the defender into retaking the lost position.
Players should look at all their assets when developing their plan of attack. For example in both urban and rural
environments, properly deployed sniper teams can provide an excellent overwatch function for grunts on the ground conducting fire and movement. Place your snipers to gain maximum advantage- which normally means in a camouflaged position, behind solid cover and preferably with a height advantage over the battlefield which gives them LOS to likely enemy positions or routes the enemy is likely to use. Besides actually engaging targets of opportunity before they can fire upon friendly units, the sniper team seriously hampers Out of Contact Movement and provides an early warning of insurgents or other enemy forces attempting to swarm infantry patrols. The player can also use crew served weapons such as GPMG or SAW/LSW teams in a similar manner.
Crew served weapons should be employed in advantageous terrain to support maneuvering elements – either as a base of fire for an infantry assault or as a fire support group providing overwatch. A base of fire is literally using your crew served weapons to suppress the enemy while maneuvering teams conduct flanking attacks- often on a compound, prepared positions or similar target location. A base of fire can also be used by infantry teams with one or more fire teams providing the suppressive fires as their partner teams conduct the assault. The concept also works well for armor. This base of fire can be used to help isolate the point of attack.