27th Sep 2019
5 Battlefield Tactics You Can Apply To Airsoft
There are 2 kinds of airsoft team: The kind consisting of individual players, each doing their own thing for their own fun; or the singular team, each player fighting toward a central purpose, strategy and with specific tactics.
There’s nothing wrong with either approach, you play the game how you want to play it. However, when one kind of team plays against the other, the team with the thought-out strategy, tactics and unified approach is going to come out on top 9 times out of 10.
With that in mind, here are 5 tactics commonly used on the battlefield that can help you and your team come out on top, destroy the opposing team or claw back from the brink of defeat in an airsoft game.
1.Fire & Movement
When attacking and defending as part of a team, there will often be occasions when you or other members of your team are unable to move due to enemy fire. Fire and Movement, often referred to simply as ‘suppressing fire’, is when parts of your team fire upon the enemy position (to get them to take cover) whilst the remaining members of the team move to a more favourable position. This favourable position could be closer to the enemy, further away or simply to a more favourable position.
2.Shoot & Scoot
Shoot and scoot, often referred to as ‘Fire & Move’ (not to be confused with Fire & Movement), is a tactic originating from artillery. When artillery would fire, the trail of the projectile would allow the enemy to pinpoint the location, so the firer would have to move position sharpish to avoid incoming attacks. This is what’s known as a Shoot and Scoot and is now applied to pretty much all parts of combat.
This tactic can be simply and easily applied to airsoft. Where an attack is made that makes your position known to the enemy, do not stay in that position. If you fire from a position, the enemy knows where you are, so move position afterwards. Thrown a grenade? Someone may have seen where it was thrown from, you should move. If you’re not able to move your position entirely, simply don’t appear in the same spot – change height or which side of the cover you appear on.
Bonus Tip – The idea of this is trick your opponent into thinking you’re somewhere you’re not. If you think the enemy has seen you fire and then see you begin to move position, it may be worth doubling back and re-using the same position (without being seen). This will trick the enemy into thinking that you’ve moved, when you’re still in the same position. We’ll dub it the Shoot & Shoot
3.Envelopment
Envelopment is a fancy word for flanking. It’s a simple tactic and you will be astounded how often it works. Instead of hitting the enemy head on, time after time, dying-respawning-dying-respawning etc, try taking an alternate route and getting on the side or behind the enemy.
Envelopment can be simply sneaking past the enemy’s flank or it can be fighting through the flank forces and doubling back to assist the central column from the rear. This can be done on one side, known as single envelopment, or on both as a double envelopment.
4.Patrol Spacing
A simple tactic that gets overlooked by the less experienced or maybe over eager players is patrol spacing. Patrol spacing is the distance that you leave between you and the man in front of you as you move towards an enemy position, or patrol across the terrain.
It’s all too common for players to stand too close together during these activities. This results in clumps of players that can be taken out simply with a few shots, or a grenade throw.
Instead, ensure that you are keeping adequate distance between you and your friendly players. This could be 20 meters or 3 meters, it simply depends on your surroundings. The main thing to ensure is that an opportunistic enemy couldn’t take out the majority of your team with only a little effort.
5.Follow the grenade
This tactic is 2 fold, both from a defensive and an offensive position. When attacking, you might often throw a grenade into an area –perhaps a room or compound. Some players will simply throw the grenade into the area and let it do its work. However, experienced players will throw the grenade and follow it into the area. The grenade causes a panic amongst the occupants and might cause them to abandon their position if compromised or leap for cover. This is the perfect opportunity to strike and clear up some easy kills. However, make sure that you wait for the grenade to go off, before entering the room; otherwise you might inadvertently hit yourself.
On the defensive side of this, remember to expect players to follow a grenade in. If a grenade enters the bunker you’re defending, pay careful attention to where it was thrown from, it’s a good indicator of where they’re assaulting from. Next, ensure that you have good cover from the grenade. Finally, brace yourself for the impending assault. Assaulters often think their grenade has had more of an effect than it has, so they might not expect a fully prepared defence.