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The Offense - Movement to Contact
By: Marc "Bayonet" Bellizzi

The previous excellent articles on movement have set the conditions so that the Platoon and Company units can get to the battlefield as quickly, safely and efficiently as possible. Once contact is made, the fighting elements transition to offensive operations.


There are four forms of The Offense -the Movement to Contact, Attack (including hasty and deliberate), Exploitation and Pursuit. Each of these has a time, place and condition for use.


The Movement to Contact is by nature, an extension of what we have learned so far in movement -this kind of operation is used when only sketchy, or vague information is available about the enemy, or when we have an assignment to 'keep moving and fight only once contact is made'. A force transitions to the more formal Attack (hasty or deliberate) once it is determined that an enemy cannot be brushed aside or once our forces have pinpointed an enemy's main defensive positions.


Examples of when Movement to Contact was used historically are; the initial German invasions of Poland, France or Russia, the American's racing across France in '44, the Israelis racing across the Sinai in '67 or the Coalition Offensive into Iraq in 1991. In game terms, a Movement to Contact would consist of forces arriving piecemeal on the battlefield over a period of time. This presents a unique challenge to the commander; he must be prepared to fight with what he has on hand, as well as continuously evaluate what is about to arrive on the map and how to employ it (or how to do without).


Finally, as we previously learned in Grunt School #3, a player wants to make contact with the smallest element possible; this allows one to 'develop the situation' and 'take the initiative away from the enemy'. This is done by using your engaged element to pin the enemy forces, thus letting the rest of your un-engaged forces swing around and hit the enemy in the flanks, rolling him up.














For our purposes, we are going to assume both the enemy and friendly forces are conducting movement when they meet and become engaged. Any other situation, such as if our forces come upon a stationary or dug in enemy, would result in a Hasty Attack.


Below you see a platoon in a Wedge as it first encounters an enemy force of two Russian squads. Our German Platoon consists of 3 rifle squads, a Platoon Leader and a 50mm Mortar team trailing. The Germans are moving towards the top of the screen, the Russians, towards the bottom.









Our German Platoon uses its point squad to establish a Base of Fire (BOF), with both direct fire and the platoon 50mm Mortars (both fires shown in red). Our Platoon Leader moves up to the point squad to assess the situation and direct fires more effectively. All this firepower causes the Russian squads to drop prone, and the Germans thus have gained fire superiority.









The Russians are not going to sit idly by during this firefight; they have decided to maneuver the rear squad on line (shown in blue) to bring more firepower against the German BOF. A serious firefight is developing (German fires in red, Russian in green). The German has decided to flank to the left with both squads (yellow lines) in order to destroy the Russian forces -and the Russians respond with fires against this force as well. Notice, however, that this is splitting the Russian fires, thus preventing the two Russian squads from concentrating fires on the BOF and allowing the Germans to maintain overall fire superiority.

All is not perfect for the German, however. We see that the German leader has gotten himself stuck with the BOF and cannot attack with the assault force (this is so he could rally the assault force if it falters in the attack). Arguments can be made for either method in this case -by staying with the BOF he ensures the mortars and base squad don't crack which is also very important. It is ultimately up to the player how he commits his attack.








The German flanking forces have maneuvered into position to conduct their overrun of the Russians; now all that remains is the German needs to ensure the Russians are sufficiently suppressed and attrited so that the German assault force can have a reasonable chance of success. The Russians have continued to move their rear squad forward in an attempt to break the German fire superiority. Both Russian squads become pinned from all the concentrated German fires.








With a loud "Hurrah" the two German flank squads rush into the enemy positions and assault through both Russian squads. This causes the Russians to break (in this battle they actually fled towards the BOF), thus ensuring their destruction in a few more turns. In combat, a force that found itself stuck in such a predicament would probably surrender quickly. Notice that our assault squads have taken significant casualties of their own. Chances are if this was our lead platoon in a company movement to contact, it would be rotated to the back of the formation or put in reserve until replacements arrive.


Finally, if the enemy forces were equal to or larger than our Platoon, the Platoon Leader would have signaled this to the Company Commander, and the Platoon would have become a base of fire for the rest of the Company to Maneuver on the enemy in similar fashion.










As previously stated in the Company Movement article (Grunt School #3), the formation used during a Movement to Contact is determined by what we know of the current combat situation; if we want to move fast, we use the Company Wedge or any of its variations; if we know contact is eminent, we may use a Vee or Line or Echelon.


One of the most interesting facets of a Company in the Offense, is there are so many different ways to attain a successful outcome in an attack. A player has at his disposal three or four platoons worth of men; machineguns, mortars, anti-tank weapons, etc. A Company Commander (Co CDR) also has access to assets not available at the Platoon level - mainly the Battalion Mortars and Brigade/Division Artillery, and the means to quickly call for them with an FSO - a dedicated Fire Support Officer from the Artillery.


In the following action, our forces are again moving towards the top of the picture, the enemy towards the bottom. A Russian Combat Recon Patrol (CRP) consisting of 3 infantry squads, an Armored Car and a Mortar section (riding in a truck), are moving along a railway. A German Company is conducting a Movement To Contact along the same railway. The German formation is a Company Wedge, with Platoons in Wedge. The Co CDR has decided to keep the Company Machineguns with him in the formation (they could have just as easily been doled out to the combat platoons to enhance their firepower). Remember that this Company is part of a Battalion formation, and as this battle unfolds, other assets will present themselves to support the German effort. On the other hand, the CRP operates 30 to 45 minutes in front of a Russian Battalion, and so the German must act fast or he will be facing a much more formidable force.








The 1st Plt must react quickly and decisively. The Platoon Leader (PL) tells his squads to take cover in the woods, get online, and fire on the enemy. He moves his mortars where they can bring effective fire upon the enemy as well. He has thus established the BOF.


He also must pass on to the Co CDR a report of what he is facing.


The Commander has sized up the situation based on what information he has gathered, and starts to maneuver his company to deal with the threat. Our Commander has decided to move forward with the two machinegun teams and FSO to add firepower to the 1st Plt BOF. This is called ‘fixing' the enemy. The 3d Plt is maneuvering to the right with the intention of using the village and woodline to cover their movement, ultimately hitting the enemy with a surprise flank attack. The 2d Plt is swinging around behind the company and will serve as additional firepower/assault capability if 3d Plt encounters problems. As an aside, the commander just as easily could have had his 2d Plt move up on the left and hit the enemy in a double envelopment, or kept 2d Plt in reserve, or put 2d Plt in an echelon to screen his left flank during this attack, or any other tactic he dreamed up; this is what was meant when I referred to how flexible a Company sized element is.








Once again, the Russians are not living in a vacuum, and are going to do their best to counter this enemy action. The Mortar team has deployed out of the truck and is firing on the German BOF. The Russian Armored Car with its heavy machine gun, is going to present us with a different challenge. As you will see below, the Germans are continuing to maneuver their two unengaged platoons to the right, while the Co CDR and the MGs are getting into position to add to the BOF. The FSO (pink background German unit) has moved into a copse of trees, and has made a call for a Battalion Mortar fire mission.












While the German BOF has taken a few casualties, the Russians are already starting to Pin. Below we see that the Russians have realized they are exposed and start to maneuver into cover, with one squad entering the woods, while the truck backs out of the area (no reason to lose an expensive truck to small arms fire).





Off the bottom of our picture, two sections of the German Battalion Mortars have just entered the playing area and are about to add their firepower to the German effort.


The Co CDR has moved up online and is directing fires, as well as reporting to Battalion HQ the current situation. If the Battalion CDR, in consult with his Co CDR feels he needs to add more umpf to the German effort, he has at his disposal 3 more Rifle Companies, plus a plethora of additional weapons systems as well.












The German plan is coming together. The 1st Plt is gaining fire superiority, while the 2d Plt is getting online in the woods. Their entire movement has gone unnoticed by the Russians, who are about to get a nasty surprise. To try and regain the initiative, the Russian Platoon LDR is running around rallying his troops; but just as he rallies one squad, concentrated BOF fires coupled with the first rounds of 81mm Battalion Mortar fires re-pin his men. In desperation, the Armored Car and a squad are maneuvering through the woods to try and get out of the kill zone, as well as return fires.









These actions by the Russians force the German to launch his assault sooner than planned, but luck is with the Germans who destroy the Armored Car and route the squad in close combat. The Russians are combat ineffective at this point and start to surrender and/or run from the field.









As was mentioned earlier, the Russians were a CRP which is a scout element in front of a larger formation. Realizing contact is now imminent, the German Co CDR and Bn CDR agree that a new formation is needed for this new threat - and the Company moves into a Vee formation, with two Platoon Vee's forward, thus providing massive firepower to the front, while still having one Platoon in reserve to swing into action where needed.


Finally, our 2d Plt in the assault did not take many casualties; the BOF actually had more men lost. Therefore, 1st Plt (the BOF) goes into reserve, whilst 2d Plt and 3d Plt become our new lead elements. The Co CDR has retained the MG's at his side, but will send them forward once the exact disposition of the enemy is determined.






















Characteristics of the Offense - The Army defines four characteristic elements to the Offense. Surprise, Concentration, Tempo and Audacity.


Surprise: Critical to a successful Movement to Contact is preventing the enemy from knowing where you are and how your forces are arrayed, while trying to learn as much as possible about his forces. If you can surprise the enemy, say with an ambush, you can quickly tip the odds of success permanently in your favor. In our Company Movement to Contact, we surprised the enemy with our movement along the woods and village, and he was totally unaware of the German platoon in the woods til it was too late.


Concentration: As shown in our examples, a player who can concentrate his fires will achieve fire superiority; a player who concentrates his forces in an attack achieves success.
Tempo: Put simply, a fast, violent tempo of combat operations helps you keep the initiative. Engage the enemy, establish fire superiority, maneuver your assault elements to the flank and attack, attack, attack. If you hesitate in your tempo, the enemy may be able to get equal fires back on you, break up or stall your assault, or worse, give him the time he needs to call for air support or artillery and destroy you. In both our examples, each picture was taken from each turn; the battle unfolded so quickly, there was no reason to skip any turns.


Audacity: Audacity is defined as ‘daring boldness'. It is also possibly the most risk involved of all the characteristics. There is a fine line between beating the enemy, and attacking too soon thus resulting in your forces taking more casualties than necessary. Experience is the best teacher…and some luck helps too.




How to "cheat" at the movement to contact - a Lieutenant Colonel once told me that, "all a Movement to Contact is, is a race for key terrain." What he meant by this, is that if you have a rough idea where the enemy is and where he is going, then move your forces fast, capture the important ground, set up a defense and let the enemy come to you and have to do all the attacking. Once the enemy is spent, transition back to the offense and continue your attack against a much weaker enemy.


This method can work if the conditions he mentioned all come in to play at once; but on the vast expanses of Russia, or the Libyan Desert, where units moved huge amounts of miles without contact, finding that key terrain might be a lot harder. Coupled with an enemy that finds you setting up a defense and avoids it, instead racing around you and getting into your rear, and this technique fails.


However, the Colonel's idea does warrant consideration by a player. What he also meant by this, is that as you move your forces along your chosen attack route, always be looking for key land formations - anything that would give someone an advantage in a fight, like a hill, wooded ambush site, defensible gully or river, etc. The reason for this is simple; by keeping an eye on terrain, you can seize it first, thus preventing the enemy from having a choice defense site, and if you have to transition to the defense because the enemy is more powerful, having already determined where the key terrain is you can quickly occupy it, thus making the enemy ‘come to you' - and that is the most important part of warfare - make the enemy react to you and fight on terms of your choosing.




Sources:
The German Infantry Handbook, A. Buchner, Schiffer Publishing 1987
SH 21-76 The Ranger Handbook, US Army 1988
TM-E 30-451 The German Armed Forces, US Army, 1945
FM 7-7 The Infantry Platoon in Combat, US Army, 1992
FM 71-1 The Tank & Mechanized Inf Cbt Tm, US Army, 1988
US Army Infantry School CATD training supplements, US Army, 1995



















Articles by
Frank "Echo-Four" Harmon