MechWar 2 Exercise: Offensive Tactics

US ONLY This is not an official scenario. A US Army battalion task force received orders from higher headquarters to independently eliminate a Soviet force of approximately company strength operating near the northeastern area of the map. This exemplifies the doctrinal form of a hasty attack against a stationary enemy: a stationary enemy typically occupies defensive positions consisting of individual foxholes and hasty obstacles. The key tenets for attacking such an enemy are as follows: After the reconnaissance platoon locates the enemy’s positions, it first determines the enemy’s strength. If the enemy’s strength is smaller than anticipated in the higher headquarters’ plan, the enemy shall be bypassed; otherwise, the platoon must quickly identify weaknesses in the enemy’s positions to prepare for the hasty attack. While conducting reconnaissance on the enemy, the reconnaissance platoon directs the field artillery and mortar units to engage the enemy’s positions; the field artillery additionally delivers smoke barrages to isolate and blind the enemy. Simultaneously, the reconnaissance platoon dispatches one section to reconnoiter assault routes. The battalion commander orders the lead company to establish a direct-fire support base to support the assault and designates assault axes, objectives, or directions of attack for the remaining companies. The battalion commander uses the direct fire of the lead company team and the indirect fire of the field artillery to suppress and isolate the enemy’s positions, while committing the battalion’s main body to assault the enemy’s defenses. The battalion task force typically advances with tanks in the vanguard, launching the assault along respective assault axes and using mine-clearing devices mounted on the front of tanks to clear minefields. After seizing the enemy’s positions, tanks shift fire to engage enemy anti-tank weapons, and infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) protect the tanks’ flanks and rear. The assault force must