Overview of tactics for Single man/two-man teams/fire teams/ platoons

I thought I would be the first to post here seeing as this is the part of airsoft that I love. Before I start I would like to say that you really can't blame me if my tactics don't work, it's just cause you suck . Seriously though being a tactician is an art. You have to adapt to the changing enviroment and situation, don't be a hardass and stick to what the book says, you'll lose. This makes it hard to write a manual on tactics but I will do my best. There are several good book out there that deal with tactics, I personally have Light Infantry Tactics for Small Teams, and have found it very informational. Alright on to buisness.

Single Man:
Being alone is almost never ideal, you have no support both physically and mentally, you are facing a larger group, if they know you are alone they will be more aggressive, and in my experience you tend to be a bit trigger happy when you see alot of people and you are alone. If you end up alone, don't worry, stay calm use it to your advantage. The best part of being alone is that you are alone. You don't have to worry about anyone else. I suggest attacking quickly using fast semi, or short bursts, then sprint the hell out of there. Just a tip in wooded areas, no one looks up... so climb a tree. This method works best in outdoors, but what about indoors. Unfortunately you are at a huge disadvantage indoors because you are restrained, you can't use your speed and stealth that you could outside. Find a room with two exits, get close to the exit where the enemy is less likely to breach and hunker down. Wait for the opfor(opposing force) to breach and spray(yea its not ammo efficient, but you need to ensure they are dead. Proceed to hastily exit your room and immediately turn left or right to gain cover then retreat and find somewhere to rest, and let the opfors nerves build. If you are planning on going Solo or Lone Wolf pack lots of ammo, batteries, snacks, and water. You are going to be doing a lot of sneaking and hiding. This method of fighting also leads to the best stories, just saying.

Two-man Teams:
Two-man Teams are excellent ways to work with a buddy to take down the opfor. The most important part of a team is communication. Develop some form of hand signals, use a radio, whatever works for you gets an A+ in my book. There is nothing better than having your best friend as your buddy. If you can thoroughly rely on him/her to watch your back and work together to get out of a rough situation you'll perform much better, its called synergy (like a boss). Also you need to practice: movement, communicating, shooting, everything and anything you may need to do in the field. On to the tactics part. As stated before it is hard to write a manual on tactics, but there are some things you can do every time. The best way of COMBAT movement is through what is commonly known as leap-frogging. Don't do this through a friendly out-post or base you'll just look silly. This method of movement involves one man providing over-watch or suppressive fire while the other moves forward. The man that just moved then provides over-watch/suppressive while the other man moves forward. I would suggest you don't move more than 10-15 yards ahead of your buddy, the more time you are in the open the higher the chance you get shot. in regards to CQC (close-quarters combat), there are two main objectives, clear a room and hold a room. When clearing a room with your buddy stack up on the door and communicate how you are going to be breaching. I would suggest the front man goes low and the top man stays standing. From here fire in the opposite corners and move your way across the walls. If you have one toss a grenade, but don't worry if you don't have one. When holding a room, get in corners opposite the door and and prepare for a breach and spray when it happens. If the opfor knows what they are doing get on walls, it'll give you a bit more time to react. If they have a grenade good luck, if you love your buddy jump on it, or if you are brave pick it up and toss it back (this isn't COD the fuse doesn't reset). Also in two man teams you can incorporate the spotter/sniper team. I personally don't see much use for this in airsoft due to the short range of weapons. The spotter is the one that does all the work in this group, he moves in a 25-50 yard radius of the sniper relating back opfor position and movements, also he needs to be able to retreat to the sniper and work together to retreat. The sniper just writes down what he hears, or remembers it well. There are two main purposes of a spotter/sniper team. Those two are Recon/Intelligence gathering, or an assassination. These two are obvious as to what you do so I won't go into depth on them.

Fire Teams;
Operating as a fire team is my personal favorite way of accomplishing a mission. A fire team consists of between 5-10 people. Generally there is one support gunner, one to two DMs (designated marksmen, airsoft being what it is this is restricted somewhat), and the rest of the squad are riflemen. If possible you can use a sniper, but this is mostly unnecessary. Like before you need to communicate well, even better with more people, and practice. The most important part of a team is a strong, competent leader, that everyone trusts, listens too, and relies on. I won't get into a leadership lesson here but if there are enough requests I will make another post. Movement in a fire team is done through... also leap-frogging, just do it as 2 move and 3 provide OW/SF. There are two sides of a battle, the offense and the defense. As a team you must identify your mission and act accordingly. It will be up to the leader to decide what form of assault you will do (head-on, flank, en echelon, mock retreat). A head-on attack is fairly self-explanatory, your support gunner provides SF (suppressive fire) while the riflemen leap-frog forward. Flanking involves splitting your group and having your larger force stay forward and lead a head-on attack, while this is happening send a smaller force to a differing side of the head-on attack and attack while the enemy is engaged with the head-on attack. En echelon is quite similar to flanking, and usually involves larger groups so I will go over that in platoon tactics. A mock retreat is hard to do, and only really works on an opfor that is also attacking, counter attack, or a very aggressive defender. This involves setting troops on the left and right of your retreat path and having your main force retreat between them. With luck the opfor will follow and will be caught between the attacks on both sides and the now turned retreat. If you have enough people and practice this well it can be devastating. As a final note on mock retreats, if you are practiced enough on this you can close the enemies retreat by forming the the left and right forces behind them. On to defending. Defending a position comes with the terrain. Make sure you cover your flanks, have crossing lines of fire, and can easily move between areas to help support other parts of the line. Just listen to your leader, go where they tell you and don't move unless they say so, they know whats happening, so trust them.

Platoon:
If you are reading this because you have to command welcome to the big leagues. As a platoon leader or larger you have to focus all your energy into organization, communication, and making everything mesh. Tactics at this level can be a bit more scripted, but use your intuition. The same types of attacks used in fire-teams apply to platoons as well, use them to your advantage. In regards to en echelon. This is a more complicated attack that requires very good timing and communication. This attack starts as a head-on attack, as the opfor move troops and resources to that part of the line you quickly assault the area where the troops were moved from with another force, once again troops and supplies are re-allocated, and then you attack from a different angle. Continue this attack till the enemy falls. Being a platoon leader you must interact with your troops, and form a strong relation with your fire-team commanders, this will improve communication and organization.

If there are any questions, specific situations that you have questions about, comments that you'd like to post I'd be more than happy to hear them.

Holy cow, if I ever end up in a major op or whatnot, I'll make sure to read this post again before attending. Thanks for taking the time to write this all out man.

Haha no problem I had a fun time doing it

Very nice, detailed write up. This is exactly the kind of thing that is great to see here. I don't even agree a couple things in it (may post my thoughts later), but I think it is an overall great, informative post that I really appreciate you taking the time to write. Good to know I'm not the only one who can post enormous things .