Are you a commander? Do you struggle with leading your squad to victory? Do you panic in the thick of battle, leading to your squad’s untimely demise? Well, I have the article for you! Introducing…
THE COMMANDER’S HANDBOOK OF STRATEGY!
Introduction
Attention commanders! Do you often find your squad being mowed down by Jerry’s Machine guns? Do you struggle to flush out those enemy snipers picking off your boys? Well do I have the guide for you! So next time you’re in a heated battle, reach for the commander’s handbook of strategies, and watch Jerry run!
This handbook comes with a few, very common situations and how to deal with them, but it also has sections on lesser known strategies and tactics to crush your enemies. Have fun, and stay frosty, Sergeant!
Something’s wrong…
Let’s set a scene. A plucky British officer is guiding his high hoped platoon through a narrow street, but he senses something is off. He can’t point his finger on it, but something is slightly wrong. He orders his platoon to stop and figures out what to do – big mistake! Due to his hesitation, he has given the concealed MG42 time to reload, and an ambush has sprung into action, mowing down the hapless brits.
So what went wrong here? Well, if you think something is wrong, but don’t know what, get your men into cover ASAP. You never know what’s around the corner. For example, if you hear a rumbling noise, get down low and tell your platoon to take out any explosives they have, until either an enemy or allied vehicle passes by. If you hear a footstep or a rustle in the bushes, fan out your squad and unload a bullet into where the noise came from. Chances are, if a bullet passes by someone, they’ll think they’ve been spotted, and will accidentally reveal themselves.
ACHTUNG! PANZER!
Imagine the following. Your squad is pinned down by an enemy tank, let’s say, a Tiger I. All you have are a bunch of grenades and your rifles. What can you possibly do?
First of all, know your enemy. Learn about the turn speeds of turrets. Find out the movement speed. Research the blast radius of the shells it fires. Overall, learn about every nook and cranny of the tanks in the game, and know their weaknesses.
Now, ask yourself this question: What does every WWII tank have in common with each other? They all have what tank hunters called “Dead space”. For those who don’t know, Dead space is the area that a Tank turret cannot go, or just isn’t pointing. You want to take advantage of this. Split the squad in half. Half will bayonet charge the tank and climb on top of it, while the other half will throw smokes, shoot at the hatches, and overall suppress the tank crew. You are the squad leader, and therefore you are the most important asset to the squad. You will have the boring job. You will sit further back, just behind the suppressing section of the squad, and send out orders, telling everyone where to go. Eventually, the tank crew will either retreat because they are out of ammo, or the commander will surface from the tank and attempt to deal with your squad, and will obviously be gunned down.
Area clear?
So you’ve taken an area from the enemy, or perhaps an enemy sector has fallen. Now what do you do?
Well, the most important thing to do is to hold the sector. Most squads will go straight for the next objective or the next batch of enemies, because they want some action. Not you. Get your squad together and build some defenses. Riflemen are equipped with some sandbags, which can be used as an improvised bunker. Then, get your machine gunner on those sandbags, and scatter the riflemen into the surrounding area. You never know if a plucky squad will try to take that objective on their own, so be wary. Place a spawn point, Get behind the MG with your radioman, and play the waiting game. Frequently ask other squad leaders if they need assistance. You never know if an infantry squad is taking casualties and needs help, or if an allied tank needs to get out of a sticky situation. Always be on standby
Cleaning sweep
Here’s a very common situation. A bunch of enemies are holed up inside a building with MGs or Sniper rifles, and are mowing down your team. You and your squad are stuck on the street and are almost close enough to get in, but anyone who tries is gunned down instantly. How do you handle this situation?
The first thing you have to do is blind the enemy. Most people would throw a smoke in the street to conceal themselves, but the enemies would still be able to fire blindly into the street, and might even get a few hits on your soldiers. Instead, Order each soldier to throw their smokes in a different window, completely blocking the enemy’s vision. This works brilliantly with white phosphorus, as it damages soldier’s overtime. Seize this opportunity and get inside.
OK. Now you’re inside the building and on the bottom floor. Get three to five soldiers together and get them all to throw their grenades upstairs. The rest of the squad might need them later. After the grenades explode, get all the riflemen to fix bayonets and charge upstairs, while everyone with an automatic gun will cover them. The order that you send the units upstairs should be this:
- Riflemen
- Submachine gunners
- Automatic riflemen
- Machine gunners
- And finally, you.
Remember to clear every room, and before you enter one, Shoot through the walls and if you manage to get a kill by doing this, shoot the bodies. You never know if they’re faking.
Surprise!
Most of these sections are from the perspective of an attacker, so I thought I would create an article on defending, or more accurately, how to destroy the enemy before they even begin attacking the objective.
One of the best defending tactics is to ambush. There are a few brilliant ambush spots all over PS maps, the most notable being the checkpoint on Utah beach. One of the best things to do is place mounted MGs in foliage or even better, Pre\-existing structures, like houses and pillboxes. Ambushing is especially effective for logistics squads, as they can place whatever they like as long as there are enough materials. Sandbags are a massive giveaway, as they stick out like a sore thumb in a hedgerow, so avoid those.
Tanks are the bane of logistics squads, so reinforce roads with mines and most importantly, AT Hedgehogs. If you are aiming to ambush tanks, don’t place the hedgehogs too close to where the enemies are going to come from, as it’s a bit of a giveaway. Instead, build them near the end of the road or better still, the middle. Build an AT gun in some nearby foliage and place a batch of mines where the tanks will come through. When they come, wait for the mines to explode, and they open fire.
If you want to ambush infantry though, you need a different approach. Choose a narrow road / street for your attack. Place a single stretch of barbed wire in the middle of the street. Remember, this will only work if the road is narrow. As the infantry moves in, wait for them to stop at the barbed wire. Chances are, they will stop and figure out what to do. This is your chance. You are the squad leader, so you call the shots. The best thing to do is to open up with the MG, as he will scatter the enemy everywhere and send them into a panic or even better, Mow them down instantly.
There’s a Ghost in the hedgerows…
This one is for the tank commanders out there! Chances are, you have moved through an open field, turned a corner, and immediately got blown to hell by an enemy tank you never saw. Here’s how to stop this:
Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to prevent an ambush before it happens, but there are a couple of ways to spot one. Firstly, Keep an eye on where you are on the map, as the further you get into the enemy’s territory, the more alert for tanks you should be.
Secondly, Watch the surrounding area round the clock, and only enter the tank if you are in combat. Expect a tank to be around every corner, and expect an anti tank soldier to be in every window. Basically, expect to be attacked from the moment the engine revs up.
Lastly, if you have a phone, prop it up against your computer and screenshot a picture of all vehicles in the enemy team. Play it on a looping slideshow next to your computer so that way, you remember the Camouflage patterns of each tank and you will be able to spot them out easier.
INCOMING!
Imagine the following: Most of your squad is dead and won’t get to your position any time soon. There are only 3 or 4 of you left and as you are thinking of falling back, an enemy transport rolls by the hedgerow you’re hiding in. The passengers disembark and decide to begin building fortifications just a few meters away from you. The nearest spawn point is miles away and if you die, the next squad to pass through will be completely destroyed. Looks like you’re out of luck, right?
WRONG! You are a squad leader, your job is SUPPOSED to be hard! You’re forgetting your most powerful ability: Calling for Support. If you have your eyes on an enemy squad and don’t want to face them head on, call in a bombing run or artillery, and get to a vantage point. When the explosions die down, pick off the dazed enemies with your grenades.
Here’s another example: Say you’re walking down a road and in the distance, you see an enemy tank slowly coming down the road. If the tank is fast, then just let it pass, as the trap probably won’t work. If it’s a heavy tank, like a king tiger, run down the road away from the tank until it’s at least 100 meters away, and call artillery on your position. To make sure the tank comes into the trap, split the platoon into two different sides of the road and start a fake firefight, by firing just above one another to impersonate a skirmish. Naturally, the tank crew will want to check it out. When the tank arrives, climb on top of the tank, and begin bashing it with bayonets and shooting the armor to confuse the crew. Listen for the whistle of Artillery and then scatter. Hopefully, the tank won’t make it out alive. If it comes out unscathed, RUN.
Conclusion
So, now you’ve reached the end of the article. We’ve taken out Tigers, prevented ambushes, outwitted superior odds, and learned how to manage our squads. Now it’s your turn. Take some of these strategies into battle, and get creative! This article was mainly designed to inspire commanders to create their own tactics and crush their enemies underfoot. Have fun, soldier!
Credit to PaleoAli24