Combat Mission-Urban Combat: Attacking

Article written by Paintman (FGM)  [Wed Nov 18, 2009 10:51 pm]

Okay, urban combat is whole subject unto itself.

Based on my experience with urban combat in Iraq, it is a slow, dangerous, exhausting, and terrifying ordeal.

And it requires an entirely different set of tactics and skills from what we usually use. Now, much of the MOUT tactics I know do not apply in Combat Mission, because of the way that cities and buildings are modeled. Such as the fact that you try to never to enter a building through doors; instead you come from the roof, a window, or blow a hole in the wall for entrance. And the Borg factor REALLY makes urban combat in CM unrealistic. To know exactly how purely chaotic urban fighting is, you to have experience it for yourself. No one is ever quite sure just what the hell is going on, OR where anyone else, friend or foe, is.

Another thing that CM makes very hard for the attacker in an urban CM environment is the time restriction. Some scenarios give you 30 minutes to take a town, when in reality it could take 30 minutes to take ONE large building! In MOUT rushing gets you shot. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.

The first big difference between urban and rural fighting in CM: Concealment does not exist. You are either under cover or you are not. That leads to the second big difference: You are either in very good cover, or you are completely exposed. No in-betweens. And the third: You are in a 3-dimensional battlefield. Attacks not only come from the front and to the sides, but now they come from above and below too! And the fourth: Extreme close quarters attacks can come at any second without warning.

First we will look over the terrain that makes the urban environment so unique.

The light building: Comes in tall and short flavours. These are more of a liability really if you are getting shot at. Their construction will protect you somewhat from small arms fire, but you better be ready to scatter when the heavy weapons start hitting, because when that building collapses you are in a world of hurt. For me these are not long-term fighting positions.

The heavy building: Now these are some of the best cover in the game. As long as heavy HE isn't hitting you, you can hold a tall heavy building for a long time against a superior force. While I am here I'll touch on a subject that makes all the difference in how you plan your movement: In a block of heavy tall buildings, you cannot move straight from building to building. First you have to exit onto the street and move 10 meters or so before you can enter the next building.

Streets and pavement: It is VERY dangerous to move under fire in streets and pavement because of the ground itself: it is very flat, unyielding, and hard, making ricochets very common.

First I am going to look at attacking an urban environment. Attacking is very unforgiving of mistakes. One mistake will easily cost you an entire platoon or even company quickly if you aren't careful. When analyzing the terrain for your attack, you are going to have to pick your routes. Think of your route in steps: First I take this block, then I control this street, then I take this next block, then I control this next street, and so on. First you gain a foothold in the town, usually with one or two blocks of buildings, and then move on from there.

Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast! Don't rush! On the attack keeping 360 degree, 3-D security is VITAL. OK, you need to take the attack one building and one block at a time. To take a building or block, first you HAVE to isolate it. It has to be cut off from other enemy forces so that he cannot reinforce it, slip out, or hinder your attack from other building blocks.

How do you isolate a building/block? This is the base of fire's job. Use armor, guns, and MGs to control the streets around the target building so that he can't reinforce it or retreat from it. Use smoke if you need it. Smoke is VERY useful for blockng fields of fire down streets because it only takes one or two armor smoke rounds to do the job.

You now have the building/block isolated. The next step is to achieve superiority of fires, as discussed in a previous thread.

Once you have the upper hand firepower-wise, it is time to gain a foothold in the building or block. Send one or two squads or a HS, across the street and a short distance into a building. Have them immediatly start sweeping the outer edges of the building, top and bottom, or hiding enemy units. Continue sending units across and expanding your foothold.

You now have one of the buildings in the block. You have your foothold. You will repeat the process as necessary to take the entire block, going as fast as METT-T allows. Remember that when you take a building that gives you access to a street, move up machine guns to cover that street and thus deny your opponent use of it. If you have to exit a tall heavy building to enter an adjacent one, as explained previously, smoke right in front of your exit point is useful to help you get into the next building safely.

You now have the entire block. By now your MGs are covering any new streets you have access to, and your infanty are providing 360 degree security from this block. Your follow-up infantry should be fully searching the entire block for any hiding enemy. At this point you are going to pick your next target block and repeat the process.

Armor in MOUT: Armor is at it's most vulnerable in a MOUT environment. It is easy for infantry to mount close-quarters attacks with no warning. Therefore, armor should usually be kept a healthy distance away from uncleared buildings. Never lead with the armor in an attack scenario. Also, be wary of any wooded areas in the city, because if he has guns they will most likely be put there.

Close support vehicles like StuHs and the 105mm Sherman, and flamethrower vehicles, are worth their weight in gold! If a building is just too well defended to gain a foothold, heavy HE and flamethrowers will flush them out in no time.

Add on: When people read this, they seem to visualizing a force attacking very slowly through just one city block, in a tiny little cramped area. That cannot be furthur from the truth. Depending on the ALL IMPORTANT METT-T (Mission/Enemy/Terrain/Troops Available - Time) is everything you do. You will notice that the T for Time is seperate in that acronym. There is a reason for it and this because the time available will determine everything you do. Have the time available to take it slowly and methodically? Great. If you don't, consider doing the same, but at a faster pace, i.e. running, or consider making EXTRA footholds! You don't have to have just one.

Anyways, just wanted to clear that up.
(FGM) Paintman