Defence lesson
From Tactical Wiki
Return to Lesson plans.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Description: Defence 101. Drills and lecture on individual defensive procedures and general tips, armour defence and procedures for when you lose a flag.
Timing: 2-3 hours estimate (this can be subdivided into 2-3 lessons depending on the final timings in practice)
Requirements: 3 flags approproate for a defending squad. 1st to be primarily infantry v infantry. 2nd needs armour at the flag and nearby for the opfor. 3rd needs to have multiple avenues of attack, AA/TOWS if possible and an armour element.
Associated Resources: Tactical library defence entry
[edit] Lesson Plan
[edit] Introduction
Good afternoon, we are covering defence in our practice today. We will start with the individual basics and move on to infantry defence, armour defence, the integrated "try-to-stop-anything-that-comes-your-way-defence" and also actions to retake a flag if your defence is unsuccessful.
Some squad leaders will micromanage a defence, many wont. This first drill will concentrate on teaching you the individual actions each kit should be carrying out so that you can contribute to a defence whatever the kit you currently have and without detailed instructions. You should all be paying attention to all the kits even if they are ones you don’t use very often as they will allow you to know how to utilise them should you ever be squad leading.
[edit] Drill 1 intro
At first flag location.
On defence the first thing you should do is carry out your kit actions, these are the unique items and abilities each kit can utilise.
Have one of the trainees carry out the actions as you talk.
Support and medic: Ammo and med packs should be going out rapidly, its vital to have packs on the ground but try not to create one big grenadeable location, put them down on firing positions primarily and maybe one on a likely fallback route for if the flag is being overrun. Try not to put them in the open but by cover a wounded or retreating soldier can use.
Spec ops: C4 on the flag. This is primarily how C4 seems to be used on server, as a final defence on the flag. You can either hide your packs giving you the best chance at taking out the lions share of the assaulters or you can leave it in plain view. This is useful if the opposing squad leader is aware of the C4 threat and provides time for your lads to respawn by stopping the opposing squad rushing the flag together, they’ll normally send one or two people in to take the flag slowly and act as lemmings.
Of course you need to stay alive to detonate your C4 so try to take up a defensive position which will not make you one of the first casualties. Also it is worth remembering that the if the spec ops soldier is killed you can pick up his kit and detonate any C4 he has laid. If you are the last soldier alive this will probably be more useful than trying to take on the remaining assaulters single handed.
Snipers, again get claymores down in likely areas of infantry attack.
If you are an assault kit or have no speciality to carry out you need to assume the role of spotter whilst the others are busy. Look for the most likely assault route based on terrain and enemy flag locations and take up a position to look for incoming attacks from as great a distance as possible.
Once your kit actions have been carried out you need to take up defensive positions. High ground is good and will provide you with a long line of sight. Again pay attention to likely avenues of attack and get eyes on them and dont be afraid to announce over VOIP "JTH has eyes South". If you are spec ops consider watching the rear/less likely route as this provides you with the ability to stay alive and detonate your C4 and also cover another approach. Pay attention to the minimap to make sure the defence covers the flag well and there are no blatant weaknesses or blind spots.
Also consider being within a quick sprint of AA or AT again dependent on the threat you may face. Always try to double up your responsibilities if possible for example watching an approach and being ready to man some AA or watching to detonate your C4 and waiting by a tank spawn. This will greatly increase the flexibility of your squad to react to threats.
Spot everything you see and being on defence will give you the time to provide detail. Tell the squad the direction, the strength and composition of the force and their probable intentions. Also watch out for UAVs as they can signal an incoming attack.
Ok that was a bit of a lecture but those are probably the fundamental points you will need for the first drill.
[edit] Drill 1 - Individual defence actions
OK attacking squad move to your initial position out of sight of the defenders. Feel free to hang hang back as a spawn for your troops or move in as required.
While you are getting ready, this is going to be infantry only - don’t use vehicles. Defensive squad, get a good mixture of anti infantry kits (recommend: 2 medic, 1 support, 1 spec ops, 2 assault)
We are going to start off with the D squad on the flag radius and then bomb burst to good defensive positions simulating flag capture and the setup of a hasty defence. Concentrate on good positioning in this phase (view distance, lines of approach and multitask possibilities).
Once the hasty defence setup looks good the SL will order you to carry out your squad actions and then get back into a good position to counter infantry. In this phase think about Communicating your actions, let people know where C4, medpacks are, who has spawns guarded etc and also how best to use your specialities.
Squad leader try not to micromanage the defence beyond kit selections, at this point we want to work on individual initiative and we will have some feedback after.
You will now have some TS quiet time for the squad leaders to organise and make sure everyone understands. Shout out when you are ready to commence.
Once squad leaders report ready commence the drill allowing the D squad to set up in plenty of time. First run through will be quite slow, (if you have the time or inclination you can drop artillery on the flag to show the value of spreading out before the assault but let the defenders regroup before the attack moves in.) Run once or twice to let all squads defend. Q+A and feedback
[edit] Drill 2 intro
While moving to a new flag (that has armour):
In the next drill both sides are going to have armour available to them so a few words on how this alters the situation.
If there is any free armour grab it immediately. Never leave a tank or APC open and available to be stolen. If there are buggies move them into positions to provide good covering fire and realise that you will most likely be the anti-air element too. Pay attention to other squads though. They may be using the flag as a kick off point for the next attack and if they need transport give it up. Also consider whether you can use the armour to set up a defence away from the flag rather than within the perimeter.
There are also additional kit actions for anti armour defence:
If you are an Engineer pay attention to likely avenues of attack and mine chokepoints being aware that friendly vehicles may need to get out. Think about whether you should be completely blocking one entrance or partially blocking several depending on the flag. Hide them in shadows, on blackened areas from grenade blasts in depressions or hill crests or in vegetation (possibly demonstrate this).
As a spec ops. Think about what sort of attack you are expecting. If it will be a vehicle/armour assault try to get your C4 in their likely avenues of approach. If mines are down already consider whether it would be useful to have an extra layer of defence on that entrance (do the opfor like using armour columns?), another entrance or approach or whether you can then dedicate your C4 to the flag radius instead.
[edit] Drill 2 - Armour defence
This time the attackers and defenders can use buggys and armour to assault. No artillery this time as hopefully the point has been made.
Attacking squad go and setup your assault, grab armour and buggies if you want them and you can attack from any direction on my word.
Defending squad have new kit assignments (1 AT, 1 spec ops, 1 engineer, 1 medic, 1 support, 1 assault, try to rotate new people into each position). Setup defence again from same initial "on the flag" posture. This time you will have 30 seconds to set up your defence, SL feel free to micromanage if you see any weaknesses and to change your kit assignments as you take casualties.
Ok im going to give you some quiet TS time for you to set up your squads, let me know when you are in positions and we will commence.
Rotate squads so all have a chance to defend
Q+A and feedback Points to consider: did armour stand off and force your troops into anti armour kits and then hit you with infantry? Mine/C4 placement
[edit] Drill 3 intro
Ok. However good the defence there is always a chance of being pushed off the flag as we have seen, in this situation a good squad leader may realise the balance has tipped in the attackers favour and will retreat to preserve his spawn. If it looks likely the flag will be taken consider doing the same, if you respawn on your squad leader do not immediately rush back in to the flag. Wait until others have also spawned so you can make a determined push. The attackers will most likely not have had the chance to set up a defence like you did so you have a good chance of overwhelming them while they are still disorganised and concentrated in the flag radius.
[edit] Drill 3 -The integrated defence and the counterattack
New flag. This will teach the counterattack and squad leader retreat. This will be a full blown attack/defend scenario so expect anything.
armour and artillery and possibly air. If you have someone free get them to man up an attack chopper and use that to attack as well for an added surprise element.
This is where your individual actions based on your perceptions are vital (armour v infantry) as is being prepared to use all your defensive options. The only rule in this scenario is i want the squad leader of the D squad to hide outside the main area of the flag. He is not to be engaged by the attackers and if you see him try not to spot him out or make the rest of the team aware of his location. We need this caveat because many times the squad leader will not be able to disengage and to show the counterattack technique we need him alive.
D, put up the best defence you can and then respawn on the SL to try to retake the flag.
Ok im going to give you some quiet TS time for you to set up your squads, let me know when you are in positions and we will commence.
Q+A and feedback
--JimmyTwoHand 12:52, 12 May 2006 (EDT)
