Fire and Maneuver

In real life, airsoft and tactical paintball games, the ability to scoot and shoot is a prized skill that separates the survivors from the casualties. A team that is able to maneuver on the fly while keeping the opposing team down with suppressive will more often than not outflank the enemy and cut them down. Although the urge to hunker down and stay put often seems more preferable than charging towards the enemy, the one hiding in the hole will always be at the disadvantage because the other team will have the initiative. And pretty soon, the ones who are hiding will find their teammates slowly being decimated until there is no one left. In the following article from Wikipedia, the basics of Fire and Maneuver is outlined perfectly, and shows the reader why this is one of the most effective tactics to date.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fire and movement is the basic military tactic used by small unit commanders on the modern battlefield. It uses the power of suppressive fire, or threat thereof, to decrease the enemy's ability to return fire, its organization and unit cohesion, its intelligence through suppression, and morale. The "Movement" part of the action, consists of a separate organizational unit moving forward in greater safety afforded by the suppressive fire laid down on the enemy.

Overview

Fire and movement works on the basis of a section of, or entire military unit suppressing the enemy with an appropriate level of fire, while at the same time, another section of, or entire military unit advancing. This will take the form of two units of whatever size appropriate, be it two soldiers or larger. Enemy suppression can also be achieved with direct and/or indirect fire from combat support units. Artillery, mortars and armor are a few examples of combat support units often used in fire and movement tactics.

In the United States Military, a basic fire and movement tactic is called overwatch. There also exists several variations of overwatch, generally adding further description to more accurately describe the specific maneuver.

A unit fires upon an enemy to distract or suppress them allowing another unit to assault, flank or encircle the enemy. The enemy will be pinned down and can not react, and will be forced to take cover until the flanking unit engages them.

Suppression
Heavy and continuous fire keeps an opponent suppressed and therefore limits the overall firepower of a unit (if a platoon has 30 soldiers, but only 15 are shooting back because the other 15 are being suppressed, that unit's firepower has been reduced by 50%). The fire cuts down on an enemy's intelligence in that they are not able to assess the situation clearly.

Advance

While a base of fire is set up, the second unit will advance to cover in front, in the process setting up a new base of fire at this point.

After a new base of fire has been set up the first unit will advance, under cover of the new fire base, to a new position and set up another base of fire.

Assault

This is repeated until the units have closed upon the enemy position. At this point a unit will close in on the enemy and destroy them. Often throwing grenades, close-quarters combat techniques, and hand-to-hand combat.