TDG 19: Attack by Fire

A TDG is a Tactical Decision Game, a mental wargaming exercise designed to give you practice making tactically sound decisions in a hypothetical scenario.  The ability to make sound and timely decisions based off incomplete and imperfect information is a critical skill to have, especially as a team leader.

You will be given a scenario, confronted with a tactical problem, and given a time limit to think about and write out your answer.  The time limit is to simulate the pressure of a real-world tactical decision, where you must quickly assess the information you are given and come up with the best answer you can.  Then comment below with your answer so you can discuss each others’ solutions.

TDG 19: Attack by Fire

This is a continuation of the scenario from TDG 18: Anti-Materiel. I strongly recommend you complete TDG 18 before reading further.

YOU are the squad leader of a border militia conducting a raid on a compound occupied by cartel soldiers. Your mission is to damage 10 enemy vehicles, including 3 “Monstruo” improvised APCs, to stop the cartel from conducting further attacks on Americans. You brief the plan to your men.

“Gentlemen, we will depart for this raid at 4pm. Enemy troops on the objective greatly outnumber and out-gun us, so we will not attempt an assault. Instead, we will conduct an Attack by Fire from 400m away. The Anti-Materiel Rifle (AMR) will disable the Monstruos with 2 API rounds to each engine, and then put 1 round into the engine block of every other vehicle that they see.”

“Due to the size of the objective, we cannot hit every vehicle from a single firing point. The AMR team is the main effort and will be located South-East of the objective where they can engage the Monstruos. Team 2 will split off and take up an attack by fire position on the North-East side of the objective to engage the remaining soft-skin vehicles with their rifles. Team 1 will be our security element watching the road, located no more than 100m from the AMR team. I will be located with the AMR team where I can observe the objective.

“Both the AMR team and Team 2 will commence firing simultaneously. As soon as the AMR is finished engaging its targets, I will give the signal to withdraw. We will meet back at the Objective Rally Point (ORP), consolidate, and immediately begin our exfil to the South-East. The whole attack should take about 5 minutes from Commence Fire to Exfil.

“We will begin the attack at 6:30pm, right as the sun sets. This way we will have just enough daylight to complete the attack and then slip away into the darkness before the enemy has a chance to counter-attack. Any questions?”

You go over the communications plan and hand radios out to each team leader and supervise as they conduct pre-combat checks and inspections of their men. At 4pm everyone loads up into 3 pickup trucks and you convoy out to a location 2 miles away from the objective where you dismount, camouflage the vehicles, and infiltrate on foot to the ORP.

Infil goes smoothly and everyone arrives at the ORP undetected. You advance with Team 2’s Team Leader and the AMR sniper for a Leader’s recon. Just as your recon patrol said, there are only two men on guard in a small shack by the entrance to the compound. One of the Monstruos has moved and is now parked in front of the main building. It’s still on the south side where the AMR can engage it, so no need to change the plans at this time. You return to the ORP.

At 6pm, everyone begins movement into their attack positions. You and the AMR team get into position first, then Team 1 reports that they are in place. Team 2 still has 200m to go, advancing slowly northward using the ridgeline to conceal their movement.

As the AMR team sets up, you notice an uptick in activity on the objective. Men are scurrying around the Monstruo that was moved earlier. There are also two soft-skinned pickups staged in front and behind it being loaded up. You watch as about a dozen camo-clad men wearing body armor and carrying weapons load up into the three vehicles and start the engines. After another minute, the three vehicles start moving in a column towards the driveway that leads to the road.

The time is 6:14pm. You aren’t taking fire and there is no change in behavior from the two guards in the shack. You radio Team 2 for an update and learn that they are only halfway to their firing position.

In a time limit of 5 minutes, write down what you would do in this situation. Include any instructions that you would give to your team leaders. Provide a brief rationale for your actions.

Comment your answers below and debate each other’s solutions to get the best training value possible from this exercise.