Airsoft Playing Tips For Clearing a Room

In airsoft battles, you may encounter separate rooms that may have enemy soldiers in them. These enemies may be sniping from a window or just waiting around the corner for you to come in. It is important to be able to safely enter that room and neutralize your enemy before he gets to you. There are many ways to do this. Here are some tips for safely clearing out a room.

If you are working with a teammate or many teammates in your airsoft team, they should be supplying cover fire for you in all directions. Before you enter the room, stop and listen for enemy activity in there. Quickly open the door and begin your attack. You should have a strategy worked out before hand. You need to know who is going to take what direction and what weapon will be the most appropriate.

Airsoft M203 grenade launchers can be very effective at neutralizing multiple enemies. These attach to almost any M4 or M16 Airsoft Rifle. The grenade shells can launch 18 to 168 airsoft bb's in one shot. The actually grenade never leaves the launcher. These grenade shells are powered by green gas. You should burst into the room and fire the grenade in the direction of the highest concentration of enemy soldiers. You can also use a window if there is one.

An airsoft grenade such as the ICS or Deep Fire Grenade Launcher are very useful for clearing out a room. Crack the door and roll one of these in and your sure to get a kill or two. Imagine a that there is an airsoft sniper up in a second floor room shooting out of the window and you can't shoot him. Toss an airsoft grenade up there and light him up! Some airsoft grenades have powder packs in them. The powder acts as smoke and can confuse the enemy while you are laying heavy fire into them and they can't see you. You can also consider Airsoft Flash Bangs, these are a great distraction device.

Landmines and claymore are a great trick to picking off the enemy as they enter or leave a room. Set up a claymore at the door. Throw a powder grenade in the room through a window and force the enemy out. When they leave, the claymore will blast 100 bb's at them. This technique works like a charm.

CQB Radio - Episode 9: Party Like It's 2009

http://www.apple.com/search/ipoditunes/?q=cqb+radio

and we're available on the Libsyn site at:

http://www.cqbradio.libsyn.com/

Just a few guns to look over - part of Ox's assortment of weapons.

Contact CQB Radio on email at CQBRadio@gmail.com. We're also on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Skype - all under the name CQBRadio.

CQB Radio - Episode 9: Party Like It's 2009
-Introduction and Welcome
- Word on the Street: The latest New England airsoft events
- Assessment: Accessorized Guns - Jing Gong 416, CYMA M14 Scout, King Arms SIG 556 HOLO, and UTG M4 Commando
- Tricks of the Trade, Part 1: Carl of Airsoft Innovations
- Tricks of the Trade, Part 2: Ronald of NL Airsoft
- Loadout: Batteries
- Retailer Review: Kenneth Wu, CEO/Founder of Airsplat
- Just In: New items on the market
- Closing

An Introduction to Airsoft-based Tactical Training

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to hook up with Roy Mobsby of Delta Team 3 - a former British Army small arms instructor who served many years as a Grunt in the Parachute Regiment and is also a PSD operator and trainer. So on a nice wet soggy Sunday morning in late November I trekked down to Sopley Camp near Bournemouth to see how a local martial arts club came to terms with some milsim training of a different sort.

Given the limited opportunities for real shooting in this country, and the restrictive gun laws, it was no surprise that most of these lads had never handled or shot a gun before – or even been trained how to shoot. So first on the agenda – after they’d warmed up by knocking each other around a bit – was a basic introduction to weapons functioning, feeding and handling; various shooting positions; and finally, BBs downrange for some target practice on the indoor range. All of this was conducted using milsim airsoft weapons.

After a lunch of grilled burgers and bacon rolls, we all got tooled up for the outdoor tactical lessons and some fast-paced mil-sim, force-on-force CQB skirmishing. With myself and the lead martial arts instructor as assistants, Roy showed the group just how difficult house-to-house fighting can be – as the 3 of us were able to repeatedly eliminate or tie-down a force 4 times our size in numbers. But after several more attempts, and getting a feel for the layout of the buildings, the lads were able to maneuver through our blind spots and take us out by assaulting both ends of the building at once – whilst having over-watch elements in place at the front and rear.

But the tables were most definitely turned when it came time for the lads to try and flush me out of the specially-adapted “killing house”. This building is the old enlisted men’s mess hall – but all of the windows and front door have been boarded up so that virtually no natural light penetrates the interior, and the only way in is via the back, kitchen door (simulating a “mouse-hole” through the wall). The lads rather quickly learned that a lone gunman can put a stop to a much larger force – especially if he sticks to the darkest shadows and never shoots twice from the same spot. Several also learned the hard way about the importance of tactical use of a torch / flashlight – as every flick of the switch was greeted with a well-aimed burst of automatic fire. Eventually, they got the hang of working in pairs, communicating well between each other and moving in a coordinated advance – until at last they had me trapped in the far corner, and going out in a suicidal blaze of glory was the only option left.


Overall, the thing that impressed me the most was seeing how a bunch of guys who were total newbies to everything airsoft and tactical became quite passable airsoft players by the end of the day – and in fact were more tactically-proficient than a lot of milsim airsofters I see who’ve got ALL the “right” kit, but no idea really on how to use it. So that just leaves me to ask in conclusion: What do you want to be? A poser, or a fighter?

Ambushes & Counter-Ambushes

All information below is Copyright U.S.A.S.O.C. - The Magazine 2008; no use without granted permission may be used.

Photo Credit: S.N.A.F.U.

We’re back with one of our hit series – “Tactics” – and ready to bring you a much talked about tactical subject: ambushes and counter-ambushes. As with all of our tactics, there are as many ways to conduct them as there are people out there, so take what you want from them, and through the rest away. I’m merely listing out the “theories”, if you will, that have worked for me and my unit in the past, successfully. I’ll be discussing, and diagramming, different types of ambushing techniques and counter-ambushing techniques throughout this article; so with the introduction out of the way, let’s jump right into the topic.

Classic “Linear” Ambush:

The classic “linear” ambush is a quick, easy, and effective ambushing technique; not many people are required for this type of ambush, and it can be set up rather quickly. As you can see in the photo above, the blue team has set up along a road, trail, etc and have waited until the enemy force, the black team, has crossed into their fields of fire.

Some things you’ll want to keep in mind: if possible, you want to have some kind of rear-guard to cover the team’s flank in case of enemy scouts, or in case the enemy doesn’t take the path that your team believes it is going to take. Also, the last guy in the ambushing team (in our example, it would be the far-left blue teammate) and the point-man (far-right blue teammate) should initiate the ambush once given a signal by the team-lead. Why the rear-guard and the point-man? Think of it as two walls closing in on the black team. If you cut off the way they came from and the way they are advancing, the black team is pretty much stuck for a few seconds; during those few seconds, the entire blue team opens up on them and can quickly eliminate them – simple, yet if done right, highly effective.

Where can this ambush be set up? Practically anywhere – ambushes don’t always have to be set up on a road, trail, etc – although, those are the best options in most circumstances. As long as your team has more cover then the enemy and can get a good field of fire on the enemy, then you are good to go. One thing to keep in mind when picking an ambushing spot – a good military friend of mind used to tell me, “If the enemy can’t get into your location, then you’ll, also, have a hard time getting out.” The point of that – don’t pick a location that you and your team can’t easily get out of. Lastly, people…most players out there are LAZY. After a few hours in the woods or desert, a good number of them get lazy and don’t remain focused; they see a trail that could take them to the next objective or whatnot, and they take it. Bingo – all your team has to do is get into the right position along the trail, and you should be good to go. Oh – and as a reminder…don’t become lazy; it’s a fast-track to getting spotted or killed.

Counter-Ambush to the “Linear” Ambush:

Now for a QRD (Quick-Reaction-Drill) for the “Linear” ambush. Alright, your team just got ambushed...what are you going to do? Well the first thing the TL (Team-Lead) should have done before the mission started was to have a QRD procedure if an ambush was to happen to his team. One of the best bets that your team will come out alive is to have a good QRD – that and mental toughness.

What I, and my unit, like to do is the Australian Center-Peel. It’s a successfully and fast drill that gets your team out of a bad situation in little to no time. I’ll lay it out so you can see how this type of reaction is done.

You’re team needs to be in a “zig-zag” formation – basically like a long chain of “Z’s”. Note – completing an Australian Center-Peel is somewhat difficult when being ambushed in the “Linear” formation, but it works flawlessly if you and your teammates are in sync.

Ok – your team is patrolling. All is quiet – then “crack-crack” – contact is made. In this situation, we’ll say that the ambushing team had bad aim and didn’t hit their targets. The red, blue, and green units fire together (see photo on above page); after a few rounds, the red unit pulls back through the center of the team and sets up back behind the black unit – far enough away so he can continue to provide suffice fire-power. The green unit then pulls back, taps the blue unit on the shoulder letting him know he’s the “last-man”, and circles around behind the brown unit. Then the blue unit turns 180 degrees, taps the brown unit on the shoulder, and heads back down the center of the formation. Lastly, the brown unit turns 180 degrees, taps the black unit on the shoulder, and goes down the center of the formation – the entire cycle is then repeated over until contact is broken with the enemy.

A couple of tips – once tapped on the shoulder, usually you fire a complete magazine down range. That way, when falling-back via the center of the formation, you can swap out magazines and get back into the fight by the time you get to your next location. Second, the Australian Center-Peel is hard to do when being attacked in the “Linear” ambush technique, but I’ll show you how it is works better in other ambush techniques; and when I say “harder”, I mean communication-wise. Each teammate has to know who goes first and has to react very quickly – in any of these counter-ambush techniques, your team needs to react quickly.

Traditional “L-Shape” Ambush:

The classic “L-Shape” ambush formation works great. It’s better to have more men, but if you squad is small, it’s still doable. Basically, you want to have the long-leg of the “L” along the main location that the enemy will be traveling; the short-leg of the “L” is set up directly in front of the enemy – this way, you’ll catch the enemy from two separate directions without having to worry about friendly-fire. This type of ambush is by far one of the most effective that I’ve used; also, with any ambush, be very aggressive. The more sound, fire-power, etc that you can make to create more confusion, the better your chances of winning the fight. Use whatever you’ve got – sound devices, airsoft grenades/mines, your voice – seriously, etc. One of the best tools you can use is free – your mouth. Yell, scream, do whatever you can to create chaos for the enemy. The more time the enemy is confused, the more time you and your team will have to place accurate fire-power on them.

Counter-Ambush to the “L-Shape” Ambush:

Here, the Australian Center-Peel works very well. Note – I have the ambushed team falling back directly from where they came from – what’s wrong with that? You’re correct if you answered, “Hey, they are still in ambushing team’s trap.” Right - even though they are falling back, the long-leg of the “L” is still in close contact; a better fall-back route is shifted about 45 degrees to their left (45 degrees to their right from looking at the photo above); that way, they are falling back from the entire ambush team and not just part of them.

Anyways, the point-man fires a complete magazine once contact is made, falls-back via the center of the formation, taps the red unit on the shoulder as a sign of “last-man”, and sets up shop behind the green unit. The red unit finishes what is left of his magazine, falls back via the center, taps the grey unit on the shoulder, and sets up behind the black unit. This cycle is repeated down through the team and over and over again until your team is safe from enemy contact.

“V-Shape” Ambush:

The “V-Shape” ambush is also just effective as the “L-Shape” technique; as you can see from the photo above, your team encloses the enemy team in a “V-Shape.” Simple put, once the signal from the TL has been given, your team opens fire on the enemy catching them in the “V” shape.

Yet the trick is that the enemy can break through at the neck of the “V” – the weakest point – i.e. the least amount of combined fire-power. As most of you know, conventional military units are told to take the offense when ambushed – instead of falling back, they are taught to focus their fire- power on the center of the ambushing force and break through using superior fire power/suppression. It’s not a bad idea – take the fight to the enemy, but with milsim airsoft, usually we are dealing with small teams of five-ten members per unit; either falling back (I.E. Special Operations/Recon units’ procedure) or taking the fight to the enemy can work for the ambushed team.

From my experience with this type of ambush, it’s been 50/50, and it all depends on how well your team communicates and operates with each other. The times that it has succeeded, it went very well, was lighting fast, and shocked the hell out of the opposing force; the times it hasn’t...well, let’s just say that it wasn’t pretty.
Counter-Ambush to the “V-Shape” Ambush:

For this counter-ambush section, no diagrams are needed – or ones that we haven’t already shown. There are two main QRD that work well in this situation, and they are both very simple; one, use the Australian Center-Peel and haul ass out of the ambush location – this I would not recommend that much in this situation, though. Why? Because your entire team has to turn tail and fall back through enemy fire by the ambushing team in the “V-Shape”. Second, and what I suggest doing if you get caught in a “V-Shape” ambush, is to forge on through the center of the ambushing force – use speed, suppressive fire, and aggression to gain the advantage and win the fight – turn a typical defensive strategy into an offensive one. All your team needs to do is to keep moving and always firing – in a sense, it’s like a reversed Australian Center-Peel. Either way, one of your best bets in any fight is mental toughness – always value living more then, “Oh well – I’ll only have to respawn and start over.” Having the right kind of mindset is a key advantage in any fight – get your “Type A” personality on.

“Dual Linear” Ambush:

Now for a little twist on the classic “Linear” ambush technique –the “Dual Linear.” Some of you may have been wondering, “Why not set up two teams across from each other and catch the enemy squad in a crossfire/broadside?” Well, common logic tells you (or it should…) that, unless the enemy is in a valley and your two teams are on hills firing down, friendly-fire is likely to happen – i.e. not good; in airsoft, you’ll have pissed teammates while the still-alive enemy laughs, but in real life, your best friend of six years is now dead.

Anyways, the “Dual-Linear” is a modified broadsides ambushing technique. As you can see in the photo on the page above, the enemy squad passes the first ambush team on the right (from looking at the photo); the second ambush team on the left waits until the enemy enters the team’s field of fire and then opens up on them. The ambushed team will usually fall back in some sort of fashion, and that is when the other ambush team on the right comes in. While the enemy is falling back and trying to get fire on the primary ambushing team, the secondary ambush team waits until they arrive in their fire sectors – once the enemy gets in the team’s fire-zone, open up and finish them off. Again, this technique is very simple and easy to set up and is one of the most effective ways to take down a squad.

Now – back to the tactical aspect of this method. Alright, the enemy is retreating, and all of a sudden, the secondary team opens fire on them; now they are really caught off guard – two different enemies from two different directions. What I suggest is that the primary ambushing team – the one the initiated contact first – circles around and turns the “Dual-Linear” into an “L-Shape” ambush. See the photo on the page below; once your team is in position, open up fire on the enemy again, thus eliminating them for good.


But what if the enemy doesn’t retreat and takes the fight to the primary ambushing team? Or what if the enemy falls back directly across from the primary team (to the right on the picture two pages above)?

For the first question, one possibility is for the secondary ambushing team to turn the “Dual-Linear” into an “L-Shape” ambush by moving to their left (from looking at the photo).

For the second question, another possibility is, again, to turn the “Dual-Linear” into a “L-Shape” ambush by having the primary team focusing their fire on the retreating enemy, directly across from them; while the secondary ambushing team turns their field of fire downwards (from looking at the photo) onto the enemy.

For any ambush, there are a number of different possible scenarios that your team and/or the enemy team can, and will, do. The best tip I can give you is to have a general plan in mind, but always be ready to adapt to a new situation that your team hasn’t planned for. Also – communication is vital.

Counter-Ambush to the “Dual Linear” Ambush:

There’s really nothing new that I’ll discuss that I haven’t already done before for other counter-ambushing methods; but one idea that stands out in my mind, and has worked a few times, is to take the fight to the enemy when ambushed in the “Dual-Linear” type. Unless the ambushing force has a large number of people in it, then, usually, each ambushing unit (primary and secondary) would be half the strength of a normal ambushing force – i.e. split one team into two smaller ones. If that’s the case, then your team will have more members then either one of the ambushing teams, and there’s a good possibility that your team can take the fight to one of the ambushing units and win; or at least get out of there alive and take out some of the bad guys at the same time.

You’ll just have to remember that, somewhere, there is a secondary team that can reinitiate the ambush if they get into the right position – keep that in mind.

I hope you all have liked our brief look into different methods for ambushing and counter-ambushing tactics. Take some of these methods and apply them to your team – have a general plan, rehearse, and also be able to adapt to new situations when they arise. Until next time – have a good one and be smart out there on the field.

Getting On Line

Giving your Airsoft team the ability to move like a team

Last month I talked about how to organize your team, now that we have established a baseline of what we are working with, I am able to slowly walk through the basics of tactics and move you through how to utilize advanced tactics on the battlefield. Again the advanced milsim tactics are only going to be successful if you have a team following the orders form the Squad leader and working together as a team.

The first thing your team is going to need to master, is the different types of formations you can move and hold in. Reacting to contact is one thing but you need to know how to patrol and get to your objectives in a safe and secure way so if you do encounter an attack you have the ability to easily counteract what the enemy was trying to do. Your basic means of movement formations are the File and Wedge. The file is when you and your teammates move in a single file line, one behind the other. This formation is used for very thick brush and has great security on you flanks but very little security to your front and rear. The other main formation is the Wedge. With a squad sized team you will actually have 2 small wedges where fire team will form a V shape and the second fire team will form another V shape behind them walking in the same direction. The wedge gives you great Flank and front security, but still limited rear security.

The biggest and most important thing your team needs to practice and learn is how to get on line. Whenever you encounter an attack this is always the first step to reaction, Getting On Line. This is where all your soldiers will run to the fire team leader or squad leader and get in a horizontal line together facing the enemy. This is now where the Squad leader is going to make the decision on what needs to be done, break contact or start a Squad Attack. Having all his men in one large line getting in the prone or taking cover and returning fire to the enemy lets him gauge the situation at hand and then easily issue orders because everyone is right there.

Breaking Contact

After coming in contact the Squad leader will assess the situation and decide what needs to be done. In the US Military we use a 3:1 ratio. We will not attack unless we have 3 coalition to every 1 enemy we have come in contact with. So if the squad leader feels he does not have the firepower and manpower to defeat the enemy he may make the decision to break contact. One of the main methods of breaking contact is the Australian Peel. This is where you will bound backwards with your team taking turns laying suppressive fire down on the enemy. As one guy runs backwards everyone is firing to the enemy, once he gets behind everyone and lays down and starts to fir himself, the next guy starts to retreat backwards and goes behind him. This is designed to have the team suppress the enemy as they pull back.

Do not look at breaking contact as retreating, later on I will explain how to do a baited ambush or diversion attack in which you can use the breaking contact as a trap for your enemy. This just means you want to pull back for a bit and give you Team leaders and Squad leader the ability to possibly formulate a new plan.

Squad Attack

On the other end of the spectrum is the basic squad attack move. When the squad leader decides it is time to go after the enemy and attack them he can use the basic squad attack method. This should start with the whole squad on line suppressing the enemy. One fire team will stay on line facing the enemy and continuing to fire at them in hopes to keep their heads down and their attention drawn. The second fire team will then get up and sprint to the enemy’s flanks either right or left, and then get on line as well. So now you have an “L” shape of fire being thrown at the enemy. If you outnumber your enemy this quickly overwhelms them and you will see if properly executed is very successful.

There is a ton of detail that goes into these moves but these are the brief and general breakdowns in attempt to try and get the basics drilled in and laid down.

Stopping in a Hostile Area

If you are behind your opponent’s lines and you are in a danger area of being found or ambushed and need to stop for whatever reason you need to know how to be secure when you stop. The main and easiest means of having a secure stop, is a tight 360. Make sure all your guys form a circle facing out while your squad leader and fire team leaders meet in the middle of the circle. You don’t want to leave any portion uncovered and let someone sneak up on your team because you had your backs to them.

Okay now that we have some basic movement techniques and organization to the team we can start getting down right sneaky with some very fun and cool tricks to play on your opponents. Be sure to check the next issue of AI for the beginning of Advanced Mil-Sim Tactics. If you have any questions feel free to email me at Donnie@ai-mag.com