MOG Tactics
Combat Intervals...Never BUNCH UP (Author: Sgt. Maj. Predator)
Whether on patrol to jump off point or on station in a picket line, make sureyou are at combat intervals. This simple overlooked aspect of the game is essential; it can make or break your mission.
A combat interval is the distance you can get apart from one another. The distance is no greater than the distance you can bring your gun to bear for mutal fire support. It can change slightly to adjust for terrain. For a strike it should be short (15-20ft) to punch through a defense line. It can be longer if the terrain is open for long balls.
Defense positions should be considered in the same manner; only you have the luxury to plan crossfire channels. Proper combat intervals will keep your patrol from falling easy prey to snipers and amushes.
- intervals short for tiht terrain
- intervals long for open terrain
Skirmish Lines
By nature, paintball is a close assault game. A hundred feet is a long range to a .68cal ball. So most eliminations occur in ranges of 50 ft or less.
One reason we keep combat intervals on patrol is to make it hard on snipers and keep us less vulnerable to ambush. Your wingmen are always within support range if you need them. RULE#1 - the interval is never greater than the effective range of your gun to protect your wingmen.
Sometimes to get to a jump-off point a squad has to be in single file to move quickly. COMBAT INTERVALS should be kept. Don't bunch up! When ready to begin the attack or to conduct a sweep, the line has to form just like the scrimmage line in football. Players in the rear of the patrol must double-time to get to the skirmish line and support the rest of the team.
Everyone attacks in the same direction shoulder toward shoulder. If you ever saw the effect a good attack line has on the poor souls who were in the way you'd be convinced. Sure we may take some casualties, but th opposition soon crumbles under the weight of the fire. Whole defense lines have been broken and run when the speed and power of an attack team eats at their positions.
Other Movement (Author Unknown)
Individual Movement Techniques (IMTs) are what each man uses to get from Point A to Point B during a firefight. Specifically, we're talking about the Low Crawl, High Crawl and 3-5 Second Rush.
Low Crawl:
This is an extremely slow mode of transit, so it should only be used when neccessary. And it should only be neccessary when 1) you absolutely must move, 2) enemy fire is too thick to risk exposing yourself even briefly and 3) available cover is so low to the ground that you must remain flat against the turf.
You lay belly-down, your head sideways so that your face (or helmet) is against the ground. You reach forward with one hand to feel for obstacles, mines, etc. With your opposite leg, you bring your knee forward (keeping your butt down) and push your body forward. The other leg just drags. Your other hand clutches your rifle sling close to the swivel, palm down.
The barrel of your weapon rests on the back of your wrist and the butt drags along the ground (the ejection port should be facing up). Your head
should be plowing a rut in the ground as you move while the rest of your body acts as a push-broom.
High Crawl:
This is a faster crawl, and it will be up to you when to use it. I might choose this one if the available cover is a little higher, or if it is so low that not even the low crawl is safe but you have to move and speed is your only chance.
You cradle your rifle so that each end rests in an elbow. Your hands are
palm-down, holding on to the sling. Your legs are splayed out wide to the sides (so that your butt stays
low), knees bent sharply. You tuck in your head, holding it only high enough to see where you are going.
From this starting position you crawl as fast as you can. And I'll warn you right now: this is murder on your elbows and knees. So when you practice it, do it on a soft surface for a short distance at a sane pace or the doctors will be pulling a lot of ugly yellow fluid out of your joints. When you must do it in combat, then do it as low and fast as you can, for as far as you need to, and count yourself lucky if all that gets tweaked are your knees and elbows.
3-5 Second Rush:
This manuever is exactly what the name implies. You spring to your feet and sprint for a couple seconds before diving back to earth. You want to pick out your next position beforehand, burst from cover at a dead run, then dive down behind your next cover. One way to time it is to say to yourself as you're executing, "I'm up! I'm moving! I'm down!" If you take more than 3-5 seconds to rush, a skilled rifleman with a feel for his trigger pull will have time to tap you.
When I was an Active Duty grunt, the field manuals instructed us to execute a "combat roll" at the beginning of your rush. Reasons behind the
"combat roll" varied from FM to FM and NCO to NCO. The most common reason cited, though, was to confuse the enemy as to which direction you would be going after you broke cover. But I participated in countless mock engagements, with and without MILES gear (high-tech military laser-tag, in which one side or the other always cheats by not putting the batteries in their harnesses), both on the offensive and defensive. When executing the "combat roll" myself, I couldn't help noticing that by the time I finished the roll and was on my feet running, depending on how much gear I had on and my level of fatigue, often I had already burned 3 seconds.
If you're humping an M-249 SAW, M-60 or other heavy infantry weapon, just executing a "combat roll" can smoke you. When watching "enemy" troops assault toward me, those that bothered to execute the "combat roll" were the easiest to tap. Far from confusing me, it actually provided me a comfortable lead time to put the body in my sight picture and take up trigger slack. And don't take my word for this...put it to the test.
Set your unit up in a hasty defensive position and have your men take turns rushing toward you with and without the "combat roll". Take note of which way they are easiest to hit--then take out your red ink stick and scratch out the appropriate parts of the field manual you're using (if you're using one).
Whether on patrol to jump off point or on station in a picket line, make sureyou are at combat intervals. This simple overlooked aspect of the game is essential; it can make or break your mission.
A combat interval is the distance you can get apart from one another. The distance is no greater than the distance you can bring your gun to bear for mutal fire support. It can change slightly to adjust for terrain. For a strike it should be short (15-20ft) to punch through a defense line. It can be longer if the terrain is open for long balls.
Defense positions should be considered in the same manner; only you have the luxury to plan crossfire channels. Proper combat intervals will keep your patrol from falling easy prey to snipers and amushes.
- intervals short for tiht terrain
- intervals long for open terrain
Skirmish Lines
By nature, paintball is a close assault game. A hundred feet is a long range to a .68cal ball. So most eliminations occur in ranges of 50 ft or less.
One reason we keep combat intervals on patrol is to make it hard on snipers and keep us less vulnerable to ambush. Your wingmen are always within support range if you need them. RULE#1 - the interval is never greater than the effective range of your gun to protect your wingmen.
Sometimes to get to a jump-off point a squad has to be in single file to move quickly. COMBAT INTERVALS should be kept. Don't bunch up! When ready to begin the attack or to conduct a sweep, the line has to form just like the scrimmage line in football. Players in the rear of the patrol must double-time to get to the skirmish line and support the rest of the team.
Everyone attacks in the same direction shoulder toward shoulder. If you ever saw the effect a good attack line has on the poor souls who were in the way you'd be convinced. Sure we may take some casualties, but th opposition soon crumbles under the weight of the fire. Whole defense lines have been broken and run when the speed and power of an attack team eats at their positions.
Other Movement (Author Unknown)
Individual Movement Techniques (IMTs) are what each man uses to get from Point A to Point B during a firefight. Specifically, we're talking about the Low Crawl, High Crawl and 3-5 Second Rush.
Low Crawl:
This is an extremely slow mode of transit, so it should only be used when neccessary. And it should only be neccessary when 1) you absolutely must move, 2) enemy fire is too thick to risk exposing yourself even briefly and 3) available cover is so low to the ground that you must remain flat against the turf.
You lay belly-down, your head sideways so that your face (or helmet) is against the ground. You reach forward with one hand to feel for obstacles, mines, etc. With your opposite leg, you bring your knee forward (keeping your butt down) and push your body forward. The other leg just drags. Your other hand clutches your rifle sling close to the swivel, palm down.
The barrel of your weapon rests on the back of your wrist and the butt drags along the ground (the ejection port should be facing up). Your head
should be plowing a rut in the ground as you move while the rest of your body acts as a push-broom.
High Crawl:
This is a faster crawl, and it will be up to you when to use it. I might choose this one if the available cover is a little higher, or if it is so low that not even the low crawl is safe but you have to move and speed is your only chance.
You cradle your rifle so that each end rests in an elbow. Your hands are
palm-down, holding on to the sling. Your legs are splayed out wide to the sides (so that your butt stays
low), knees bent sharply. You tuck in your head, holding it only high enough to see where you are going.
From this starting position you crawl as fast as you can. And I'll warn you right now: this is murder on your elbows and knees. So when you practice it, do it on a soft surface for a short distance at a sane pace or the doctors will be pulling a lot of ugly yellow fluid out of your joints. When you must do it in combat, then do it as low and fast as you can, for as far as you need to, and count yourself lucky if all that gets tweaked are your knees and elbows.
3-5 Second Rush:
This manuever is exactly what the name implies. You spring to your feet and sprint for a couple seconds before diving back to earth. You want to pick out your next position beforehand, burst from cover at a dead run, then dive down behind your next cover. One way to time it is to say to yourself as you're executing, "I'm up! I'm moving! I'm down!" If you take more than 3-5 seconds to rush, a skilled rifleman with a feel for his trigger pull will have time to tap you.
When I was an Active Duty grunt, the field manuals instructed us to execute a "combat roll" at the beginning of your rush. Reasons behind the
"combat roll" varied from FM to FM and NCO to NCO. The most common reason cited, though, was to confuse the enemy as to which direction you would be going after you broke cover. But I participated in countless mock engagements, with and without MILES gear (high-tech military laser-tag, in which one side or the other always cheats by not putting the batteries in their harnesses), both on the offensive and defensive. When executing the "combat roll" myself, I couldn't help noticing that by the time I finished the roll and was on my feet running, depending on how much gear I had on and my level of fatigue, often I had already burned 3 seconds.
If you're humping an M-249 SAW, M-60 or other heavy infantry weapon, just executing a "combat roll" can smoke you. When watching "enemy" troops assault toward me, those that bothered to execute the "combat roll" were the easiest to tap. Far from confusing me, it actually provided me a comfortable lead time to put the body in my sight picture and take up trigger slack. And don't take my word for this...put it to the test.
Set your unit up in a hasty defensive position and have your men take turns rushing toward you with and without the "combat roll". Take note of which way they are easiest to hit--then take out your red ink stick and scratch out the appropriate parts of the field manual you're using (if you're using one).