For awhile I was getting into a rut. My battles were too often set piece with one side attacking and often the programmed side defending. Then, quite unexpectedly, inspiration arrived. In my career as a defense contractor I got the chance to review tactical doctrine that I had not considered since my days on active duty. What I found was encouraging. While I had been gaming attack and defend, I was ignoring a wide range of offensive and defensive operations that will certainly spice up my scenarios.

The following is specifically U.S. tactical doctrine but is very close to standard NATO parlance and I offer it to the readers of these pages for their consideration.

Offensive Operations

There are several kinds of offensive operations such as:

movement to contact
hasty attack
deliberate attack
exploitation
pursuit
raid
reconnaissance in force
ambush
feint
demonstration

In these operations, the commander wants to gain the initiative so that the enemy must react. By keeping the enemy reacting, he is much more likely to blunder and expose himself to decisive defeat.

A ground force uses a movement to contact when the enemy is out of contact, the situation is vague, and the commander wants to re-establish contact, develop the situation, and transition to a full-blown offensive. For example, the enemy has withdrawn, presumably to set up a defensive line on a more advantageous position. The friendlies launch a movement to contact to find the main enemy line and breach it before it is strengthened. If the enemy is encountered while he is moving, this is called a meeting engagement. Since the exact whereabouts of the enemy is unknown, the friendly force moves with security to the front (i.e. advance guard), flanks and rear. The commander may bypass small enemy forces left to delay him.

A hasty attack is made as a result of the movement to contact or whenever the enemy is discovered unexpectedly. The friendly commander attacks quickly with the forces he has available with the expectation that gaining the initiative will more than offset his lack of preparation.

If the enemy is too well prepared to succumb to a hasty attack, the commander launches a deliberate attack which is characterized by more detailed preparations in areas such as breaching obstacles, indirect fire planning, air support, and the use of deception, and supporting attacks.

Once the enemy line is breached, the commander launches a part of his force on an exploitation. The object of the exploitation is not to destroy enemy combat units in the rear areas but to force the enemy commander to withdraw from his defensive line. Therefore the exploitation force concentrates on soft yet vital targets such as supply dumps, headquarters, artillery positions, and key terrain (such as dominating hill or a bridge across an unfordable river).

The enemy commander has two tasks. He must seal the breach in the defensive line and he must eliminate the exploitation force before it does irreparable harm to the logistical, command, and communications infrastructure.

Pursuit follows a successful exploitation. If the enemy commander decides that he must withdraw his force to a subsequent defensive line, then the friendly commander launches a pursuit with the object of destroying the enemy's combat force as it is moving rearward. Typically the friendly commander divides his forces in two. He sends an encircling force to move parallel to the enemy's line of retreat to seize some advantageous battle position that effectively cuts off further withdrawal. A second force, the direct pressure force, maintains contact with the main body of the enemy attacking hard enough to keep the enemy moving rearward.

Raids are fun to wargame. The object of the raid is to destroy some key installation, enemy force, or to free prisoners. The intention is to penetrate the lines, move quickly by a devious route to the target, attack the target, and exit enemy territory by a different route. There is no intention of holding terrain in enemy land.

A reconnaissance in force is conducted to learn more about the enemy. Typically the unit conducting the reconnaissance in force moves along the enemy lines delivering probing attacks to discern the enemy's strength and location. Weak probes can detect the enemy's front line trace while stronger probes can learn the strength of his fire support, depth of his obstacle belts, and even the location of counterattack forces. Typically a reconnaissance in force is followed by a deliberate attack but the friendly commander may launch a hasty attack if the enemy is discovered to be weak in an area.

Feints and demonstrations are deceptions. The object of both operations is to draw the enemy's attention, and perhaps his reserves, away from the location of the main attack. Both the feint and the demonstration should appear to the enemy to be full-blown deliberate attacks. The difference between the two is that a feint is a limited attack which makes contact and penetrates the lines sufficiently to draw the proper response. A demonstration force moves toward but does not make contact with the main enemy lines. In both, artillery fire, smoke, electronic warfare and all the preparatory activities of a real attack are made in order to persuade the enemy commander that this is the real thing.

Offensive Maneuvers

Offensive operations take on several forms of maneuver such as:

envelopment
turning movement
infiltration
penetration
frontal attack

These forms are used in conjunction with one another as necessary.

The goal of an envelopment is to fight the enemy's weakness rather than his strength. Supporting attacks, feints, and demonstrations are launched against the enemy's front while the main attack is delivered against a flank or rear. The classic double envelopment seeks to surround combat forces and ultimately destroy them. A double envelopment is usually labor intensive and requires considerable force and mobility advantages or is accomplished before the enemy quite knows what is happening. Vertical envelopment refers to the insertion of airborne or airmobile forces over rather than through enemy lines. A turning movement is a large scale single envelopment in which the target is not the combat units of the enemy's main body but key installations or terrain deep in the enemy rear, the destruction or possession of which will unhinge the enemy's plan.

Infiltration is the covert movement through the enemy's lines and is followed by an attack from the rear or seizure of a piece of key terrain which places the enemy at a disadvantage. Infiltration's often occur at night and the enemy wakes up to find his opponent atop a hill to his rear. Often an infiltration is followed by a conventional attack from the front which links up with the infiltrating force.

A penetration is an attack on a narrow front. The purpose is to create flanks open to attack as well as to let loose an exploitation force into the enemy rear areas. A penetration is used when there are no apparent weak spots in the enemy's line. Since a penetration is a narrow opening, it can be closed by the enemy unless sufficient force is allocated to hold open the shoulders of the penetration and to widen it. Sometimes a small force will make a penetration so that a larger force can move through the hole to make an envelopment or turning movement.

The frontal attack is delivered against a broader front than the penetration and can be used to overrun weak positions or to fix the enemy while another form of attack is delivered elsewhere. Because the attacker's strength is spread out over a wider area, the chances of moving deeply through the enemy lines is less likely. The advantage is that the enemy too must be strong everywhere. When a portion of a frontal attack shows particular success, the commander commits follow on forces. Thus what began as a frontal attack transitions into a penetration or envelopment.

Defensive Operations

Defensive operations are less varied. They consist of the:

defense
counterattack
spoiling attack

There are two types of defense - the area defense and the mobile defense. In an area defense, the enemy is defeated by forces fighting from stationary defensive positions. Local counterattacks are launched to destroy or push back enemy forces which have penetrated the lines. A mobile defense is different in that the defeat mechanism (how the enemy will be defeated) is a large counterattack force. The stationary forces (the anvil) are used to shape the enemy's penetration to conform to the area where the mobile force (the hammer) will strike.

A counterattack is an operation launched to defeat an attacking enemy. Usually the counterattack is conducted entirely behind friendly lines. The counterattack is used as part of either a mobile or area defense.

A spoiling attack is a limited attack launched prior to the enemy's main attack. The purpose of the spoiling attack is to delay the enemy's timetable by seizing a key position (which will be retained) or destroying a key enemy force (such as an artillery position). Typically a spoiling attack is shallow and its purpose is to buy more time for the defender to prepare his defenses.

Of course, the combinations of these types operations and forms of maneuver are almost numberless and can add some real interesting moments to solo play. Imagine that the defender is the programmed force. Based on a table and odds of your construction, he can launch a spoiling attack before you ever cross the start line. Once you get going with a brilliantly conceived double envelopment, you may find that a local counterattack closes off one of your penetrations while the second penetration makes good headway only to be hit by the strong hammer of a mobile defense.

Given another scenario, you may want to build probability tables on the success of a feint or demonstration. In the best of circumstances, the enemy commits his reserve to counterattack your demonstration while in less happy times, your feint gains some ground but the enemy remains postured to deal with your main attack. In any event, I hope this little exposition sparks some innovation and creativity in your solo play.