Hi gents,
As CO of the first mission I thought I might share some feedback and observations on the first mission. Naturally I would welcome similar feedback on my performance as CO if you have constructive comments to make. I think I could have done better comms last night for example. I was a little naggy with Penney. Sorry Penney.
Pilots...Guus and awaitz. You both did OUTSTANDING jobs piloting those birds landing and picking up in difficult terrain and sometime under fire. Well done!
I was also impressed with the kind of "combined ops" awareness SL's had. Penney at one stage identified a nasty AAA on the runway and after a first failed attempt by awaitz to get at the pick up LZ, Bravo engaged, disabled it and awaitz could land safely for pick up. It was beautiful.
I would also say that the loading and disembarking of troops from helos was EXCELLENT. People made perimeters...there were guns pointed 360 around the helo. It was a thing of beauty to watch. Then when helos lifted off people moved quickly to their waypoints. Very well done.
Here is where I think we can do better though.
SLs and Fire and Movement
I've seen it happen a lot. Firefights mean people getting bogged down and everyone simply lines up behind cover and fires back waiting for the enemy to blindly advance until they are killed. This may be a cautious approach but it has 2 inherent problems:
- You, as static targets, are easier to hit .
- It slows down the assault and unnecessarily compromises and plans the CO might have in place.
As CO, your plan needs to adjust to changing situations but everyone being bogged down in a fire fight with no action taken to effectively deal with it shouldn't be one of them.
SL's have fireteams in order to have tactical flexibility in addition to greater firepower. Move your FTs around the board. I reminded Lord Penney of this once in the mission and it was great to see that he got the message quickly and began doing it himself (although I wished Bravo could have moved a little quicker than they did). InverseLaw also took the cue and began doing this with Alpha as well. Having one on overwatch as the other FT advanced.
Penney used an FT effectively to outflank some attackers and we should a lot more of this. Here's the thing SL's. FTs are rarely going to move unless you order them to do so. So if you are a current or budding SL this is what a recommend you begin practicing and drilling into yourself to be a better leader and more effective squad.
- Determine from which direction the incoming fire is originating.
- Have the entire squad return contact (or the FTs that are exposed to the fire and are able to return fire.
- After returning fire think about how you can pull 1 or several FTs off the firing line to begin maneuvering around the enemy.
Trigger Happy Troops
Last night there were several instances of people firing at EI when they probably shouldn't have. Anything more than 200m does not constitute and immediate threat unless they are firing on you. Often attack plans rely on an element of surprise. Particularly when 2 squads are attacking the same target. Your troops should not be engaging anyone past 200m without express permission or if they are being fired on lest they give away the element of surprise.
So here is my advice for this situ:
- Determine of enemy is less than 200m.
- If yes, are they active? Then consider taking out threat and let CO know.
- If no, get an FT to put eyes on them but do not engage until SL says so.
It is important to remember the objective is what wins the game, not your kills on the debrief screen. It was frustrating last night to have our element of surprise taken away from engagements that I considered too far to be effective.
Keep Comms to Minimum
Think about what the CO needs to know. I get the feeling people share a lot more than is really needed. Does having a single person dropped in a FT really effect the success of the plan? Does the CO need to know that there is light contact in Alpha that has been dealt with? How is that information furthering the attack on the objective. It's in the past and no threat now. Unless specifically asked there isn't a need for it.
Just think for a little bit what the CO needs to know. He is relying on SLs to show initiative and decision making in the process of meeting an objective. Information relayed to the CO should consist of success, failure (with a why) and real obstacles that are preventing progress to the obj. I'm not sure that casualty reports are useful either unless the CO specifically asks for them.
Just ask yourself...what can a CO do with the information Bravo2 is down to 2 men. So....that means...you can't make the objective? You are not effective as a squad? You need support? How is that information useful? See my point?
Enough Already
On the whole the mission was a lot of fun and the plan went reasonably well. I got a bit sloppy in the end sending Alpha across open terrain but...it happens. I will try and learn from it.
Great games last night guys. Thanks!