Estar camuflado apenas não basta

Estar camuflado apenas não basta, o soldado precisa levar em consideração algumas questões sobre sua movimentação em combate. Por exemplo:

1) Fundos. Fundos são importantes, e o combatente deve se misturar com eles o máximo possível. As árvores, arbustos, grama, terra, lama e estruturas artificiais que formam o fundo variam em cor e textura. Isto torna possível para o soldado se misturar com eles. Deve-se selecionar árvores ou arbustos ou outros fundos para se misturar com a camuflagem e absorver a sua figura. O soldado deve sempre considerar que o inimigo pode conseguir observá-lo.

2) Sombras. Um soldado é facilmente visto ao ar livre em um dia claro, mas nas sombras é difícil de ser visto. As sombras existem na maioria das condições, dia e noite e em vários ambientes. Sempre que possível a movimentação deve ser feita nas sombras.

3) Silhuetas. Uma silhueta baixa é mais difícil de ser vista pelo inimigo. Então, o soldado deve se manter abaixado, agachado ou deitado a maior parte do tempo.

4) Reflexos brilhantes. Reflectir a luz é quase que suicídio. Uma superfície brilhante chama a atenção imediatamente e pode ser vista a grandes distâncias. Por isso todas as superfícies brilhantes devem ser camufladas de forma criteriosa. Deve-se ter muito cuidado com óculos e lentes de binóculos.

5) Linhas do horizonte. Podem ser facilmente vistas figuras na linha do horizonte de uma grande distância, mesmo a noite, porque um esboço escuro se salienta contra o céu mais claro. Uma patrulha deve usar a cobertura do terreno e só cruzar áreas abertas apenas nos pontos mais estreitos.

6) Alterar de esboços familiares. Equipamentos militares e o corpo humano são esboços familiares ao olho humano. O soldado propositadamente alterar essas silhuetas ou disfarçá-las usando por exemplo capas de camuflagem (ghillie suit). Deve-se também sempre que possível alterar os seus esboços da cabeça às solas das botas.

7) Disciplina de ruídos. De nada adianta a mais perfeita camuflagem se os soldados não guardam silêncio. Um simples ruído ou barulho da voz humana pode ser detectado pelo inimigo. O soldado deve manter o silêncio o máximo possível, comunicando por sinais ou toques, e só falando quando extremamente necessário em tom baixíssimo e com a absoluta certeza de que o inimigo não poderá escutar nada.

Fonte: http://tropasdeelite.cjb.net

saber mais: www.paintugal.com

A Arte da Guerra

Guerrilha

Guerrilha (do espanhol guerrilla, “pequena guerra”) é um tipo de guerra não convencional no qual o principal estratagema é a ocultação e extrema mobilidade dos combatentes, chamados de guerrilheiros.

Pode se constituir também como uma movimentação híbrida, ou seja, ora centralizada por uma atitude bélica cujo aspecto pode ser colaboracionista com as forças regulares de determinadas regiões, e ora pode se dar o enfrentamento sem conexão com qualquer força armada regular.

Índice 1 Origem 2 A Guerra de Guerrilha 3 Estratégia 4 Plano Material 5 Plano Psicológico 6 Contra-Guerrilha 7 Vietnã 8 Resistência e guerra revolucionária 9 Guerrilheirismo 10 Contato com a população civil 11 América Latina 12 Brasil 13 Fonte 14 Literatura recomendada

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Origem

Presume-se que tenha sido utilizada a palavra guerrilha (guerrilla) pela primeira vez na Guerra Peninsular contra a invasão napoleônica a Portugal e Espanha, entre 1808 e 1812, embora as técnicas guerrilheiras remontem da antigüidade. Portanto, o termo passou a ser utilizado a partir da sua origem ibérica, tendo sua grafia original preservada em muitos idiomas.

A guerra de guerrilhas também recebeu outras denominações. Na América Latina, por exemplo, foi chamada de montonera no Rio da Prata e bola no México, entre outras nomencalturas que não prevaleceram.

A Guerra de Guerrilha

Trata-se de levar um adversário, por muito mais forte que seja, a admitir condições freqüentemente muito duras, não engajando contra ele senão meios extremamente limitados. É então que entra em jogo, em toda a sua plenitude, a fórmula das variáveis complementares que já encontramos: a inferioridade das forças militares deve ser compensada por uma superioridade crescente das forças morais, à medida que a ação se prolonga. Assim, a operação desenvolve-se simultaneamente em dois planos, o plano material, das forças militares, e o plano moral, da ação psicológica.

Estratégia

Se a margem de liberdade de ação é grande, mas os meios disponíveis excessivamente fracos para obter uma decisão militar, pode-se recorrer a uma estratégia de conflito de longa duração, visando a promover a usura moral, a lassidão do adversário. Para poder durar, os meios empregados serão muito rústicos, mas a técnica de emprego (geralmente uma guerra total apoiada sobre uma guerrilha generalizada) obrigará o adversário a um esforço bem mais considerável do que ele poderá suportar indefinidamente. Este modelo de luta total prolongada de fraca intensidade militar foi geralmente empregado com sucesso nas guerras de descolonização. Seu teórico principal é Mao-Tse-Tung. Observemos que Está estratégia, que exige considerável esforço moral de parte de quem toma s iniciativa, pressupõe forte elemento passional e muito boa coesão da alma nacional. Assim, ela corresponde o mais completamente possível às guerras de liberação. Mas ela somente tem chances de sucesso se o que está em jogo entre as partes é bem desigual (caso das guerras de descolonização), ou bem ela se beneficia de intervenções armadas (caso das guerras de liberação, na Europa, entre 1944-45, e na Espanha, em 1813-14) às quais elas servem de reforço.

Plano Material

Em situação de grande inferioridade de meios, não se pode esperar sobreviver senão recusando combater, e empregando uma tática de fustigamento para manter vivo o conflito. Isto conduz à guerrilha, velha como o mundo e, no entanto, esquecida e depois reaprendida, a cada geração. Mas esta tática há quarenta anos é objeto de codificações estratégicas muito importantes, as quais permitem conduzir tal gênero de operações segundo conceitos racionais que lhe aumentam consideravelmente a eficácia e, conseqüentemente, permitem reduzir bastante o desequilíbrio de forças materiais. Mao-Tse-Tung definiu em sete regras a essência da guerrilha: íntimo acordo entre a população e os guerrilheiros, retraimento ante um avanço inimigo em força, fustigamento e ataque ante um retraimento inimigo, estratégia de um contra cinco, tática de cinco contra um, particularmente graças ao que se chama o “retraimento centrípeto“, isto é, a concentração de forças durante o retraimento (ele dispunha de muito espaço na China); enfim, logística e armamento graças ao que é tomado do inimigo.

Estas sete regras constituem o mínimo necessário para tal forma de guerra, mínimo, no entanto, às vezes desconhecido, como, por exemplo, quando a OAS pretendeu estabelecer um “reduto” na Argélia, ou quando os americanos aceitaram a idéia de um desembarque em Cuba, sob a forma de “cabeça de ponte” clássica.

Mais além desse mínimo, duas noções capitais foram formuladas, para garantir a liberdade de ação da guerrilha A primeira, de origem soviética, mas já aplicada pêlos irlandeses, visa a impedir a repressão, dissuadindo a população de informar o inimigo, mediante a prática de terrorismo sistemático. A segunda, luminosamente explicada por Lawrence, a propósito de Medina, tem por princípio estender em superfície, ao máximo, a ameaça da guerrilha, sem, no entanto, incitar o inimigo a retrair-se, de forma a criar para ele um problema de proteção cada vez mais difícil. A aplicação deste última noção tem como efeito levar o adversário a despender mais e mais forças para a guarda de um número crescente de pontos, o que, em larga medida, é capaz de modificar o equilíbrio prático das forças em presença. É assim que, na Argélia, mais de 300.000 homens eram mantidos na incerteza por menos de 30.000.

Enfim, as forças de guerrilha, cujo desgaste é terrível, devem ser mantidas e constantemente desenvolvidas para que a pressão seja crescente. Isto exige um sistema inicial de contrabando de armas (ou de lançamento por pára-quedas, como na França, em 1944), seguido, desde que possível, do estabelecimento de bases próximas do território atacado, cuja inviolabilidade será assegurada pêlos meios de dissuasão da manobra exterior. Tal foi o papel das bases da China para a guerra da Indochina, das do Egito, inicialmente, e, depois das da Tunísia e do Marrocos, para a Guerra da Argélia, das do Congo, ex-belga, para a Angola portuguesa etc. Certos autores viram na organização dessas bases o elemento decisivo de tal gênero de guerra. Se ele não é decisivo em si mesmo, certamente é muito importante, pois pode-se notar que as guerrilhas que fracassaram no Quênia e na Malásia são justamente as que se encontravam isoladas. Este último ponto confere à manobra exterior capital valor operacional, que se agrega ao que já se disse de seu papel-chave no domínio da liberdade de ação global.

Plano Psicológico

No plano psicológico, a idéia geral é, ainda, saber durar. Para isto, é indispensável que as forças morais dos combatentes e da população sejam desenvolvidas e mantidas em nível elevado. A alavanca moral é, por conseguinte, capital. Simetricamente, é preciso levar o adversário a ceder por lassidão. Ainda aqui, a ação psicoló¬gica será essencial para explorar nesse sentido os resultados obtidos. Esta ação psicológica complexa, pois que deve dirigir-se simultaneamente aos combatentes e à população amiga e inimiga, repousa sobre dois elementos principais, a “linha política” de base e a escolha da tática psicológica.

A linha política de base, que deve estar em harmonia com a linha política necessária à manobra exterior, deve ser tal que possa mobilizar, em vista da luta, as paixões latentes do povo que se quer emocionar. Por outro lado, estas paixões (patrióticas, religiosas, sociais etc) devem ser apresentadas segundo uma orientação que demonstre a justiça da causa que se quer apoiar. Do mesmo modo, o sucesso da operação deve parecer certo, não como em 1940, “porque nós somos os mais fortes” – o que, nesse gênero de guerra, no início jamais é verdadeiro – mas porque “Deus (ou obscuras forcas históricas) está conosco”. O determinismo histórico, predestinando a História no sentido desejado, vem assim substituir as imagens santas ou as aparições que galvanizavam os cruzados.

Ele cria uma espécie de fatalismo otimista e, simetricamente, uni fatalismo pessimista no inimigo, que se aparentam com o fatalismo dos muçulmanos, sucessivamente conquistadores e subjugados. Este último ponto: é particularmente importante, porque foi medido mal o papel que representou na rápida conquista do mundo pela raça branca o sentimento dos povos submetidos de que éramos trazidos pelo destino, e de que não podíam deixar de ser os senhores de seu futuro. Os revezes sofridos pelo Ocidente na primeira parte da II Guerra Mundial desmentiram tal previsão: perderam a face, e as mesmas forças que operaram em favor dele passaram a atuar contra ele. As táticas psicológicas comportam, evidentemente, o emprego de técnicas hoje bem conhecidas, de propaganda, doutrinação e organização da população, através de um enquadramento cerrado e cuidadosamente vigiado. Porém, nesse gênero de guerra é, sobretudo, indispensável compreender que os únicos êxitos são de ordem psicológica, e que, portanto, todas as ações materiais somente têm interesse pelo seu valor para levantar o moral ou o prestígio dos combatentes, ou da população. Por conseguinte, a guerrilha deverá, mais freqüentemente, ser conduzida nesse sentido. Por outro lado, se faltam os êxitos, ou se eles são mínimos, o blefe – e mesmo a mentira total – poderão suplementá-los. (Cf. “a heróica” defesa de Port. Said, a destruição do “Suffren” pêlos norte-vietnamitas, do “Jean Bart” pêlos egípcios, o desembarque do Exército egípcio na Kabilia etc). No mesmo sentido, um prurido de notícias sensacionais, como é hábito da imprensa ocidental, permite ao adversário multiplicar o efeito psicológico de ações modestas e repetidas. Pode-se notar aqui que, se a linha política deve apresentar séria unidade, a propaganda pode ser muito diferente no plano exterior e no plano interior.

Se a guerrilha não é sufocada desde o início, existem as maiores probabilidades de um desfecho vitorioso. Na melhor das hipóteses, conseguir-se-á a renúncia à luta pelo adversário (Tunísia, Marrocos, Argélia). Se a manobra exterior não consegue impedir a intervenção de outras potências, chegar-se-á a uma solução de compromisso, sob a forma de uma partição (Israel, Indochina). Se a manobra exterior não consegue alimentar suficientemente a ação interior e se o adversário se agarra, então chega-se ao fracasso (Quênia, Malásia). Porém, os germes semeados durante a luta, mais tarde se desenvolverão e, no mínimo, ter-se-á imposto ao adversário um esforço considerável ao preço de meios irrisórios.

Contra-Guerrilha

Em uma agressão do tipo guerra de guerrilha, pode-se hesitar entre diversas soluções. A melhor, se ela for possível, consistiria em salvaguardar o essencial (isto é, o controle governamental), sem engajar grandes meios, e em resolver o conflito.

A linha política, será a de reduzir os trunfos do adversário. Por conseguinte, será necessário, por um lado, manter e desenvolver o prestígio, mediante uma demonstração de força, sem dúvida, como também persuadindo de nossas possibilidades futuras (civilização em progresso, apoio internacional etc); e, por outro lado, desarmar reivindicações através de reformas profundas.

No plano militar, é indispensável frustrar a estratégia da guerrilha, tal como foi descrita mais acima; é preciso, antes de mais nada, evitar-se deixar desbordar pela manobra de superfície, praticando estrita economia de forças, colocando em xeque a “manobra de Medina”(durante a Guerra de 1914/18, as forças árabes, sob a liderança de Lawrence da Arábia, mantiveram sob ataque a ferrovia Damasco-Medina, cortando as ligações do Exército turco com Damasco e fixando-o em Medina). Isto levará a limitar a proteção generalizada de pessoas e de bens, graças a uma forte densidade de ocupação em zonas reduzidas e bem escolhidas, em função de sua importância política e econômica; e em consentir certo grau de insegurança no resto do país. Os postos que aí serão deixados terão por finalidade, somente, manter um sistema de informações, graças ao qual se poderá desencadear uma série de operações destinadas a impedir a organização de bases adversas. Em certos casos mesmo, poder-se-á dei¬xar o inimigo aí se instalar à vontade, para destruí-lo mais facilmente. Correlativamente, as fronteiras deverão ser hermeticamente fechadas, graças a uma tática de barragens, das quais as guerras da Líbia (da Itália fascista) e da Argélia deram o exemplo. Mesmo bem conduzidas, essas operações requererão meios muito importantes. É sua grande fraqueza, para uma guerra necessariamente prolongada. A estratégia deverá, então, esforçar-se por encontrar soluções económicas, enquanto que a organização deverá aplicar fórmulas (substituições etc) concebidas para o tempo de duração da guerra. Em circunstâncias, excepcionalmente favoráveis poder-se-á tentar obter a decisão por um considerável esforço de meios, sob a condição de que os resultados sejam rapidamente compensadores. Se não fosse assim (Argélia, 1956), não se faria senão reduzir a sua própria capacidade de durar; por conseguinte, fazendo o jogo da guerra de guerrilha.

Enfim, é bem certo que as operações deverão ser conduzidas com a constante preocupação de obter um efeito psicológico sobre o inimigo e sobre a população. Sendo esta completamente protegida nas zonas de forte densidade de ocupação, dever-se-á poder com¬parar sua sorte invejável com a das populações vivendo em zonas mais ou menos controladas pelo adversário. As partes protegidas, tornadas zonas de refúgio, não deverão, sob pretexto algum, ser reduzidas(isto obriga a prever, a longo prazo, uma política de efetivos que não comportem variações), de modo a dar confiança; e, se elas se estenderem, não deverá jamais haver recuos. Os combates devem ser úteis para o prestígio. Os fracassos devem ser ocultados ou compensados por êxitos mais importantes, convenientemente realçados.

Malgrado todas estas precauções, cuja enumeração sublinha um bom número de erros levantados na campanha da Argélia, em particular, é necessário ter presente no espírito que esse gênero de luta só excepcionalmente foi favorável à defesa e, como foí sublinhado, somente quando não existiam bases exteriores próximas que pudessem alimentara guerrilha. Em estratégia de contra-guerrilha, responder a um ataque por uma defesa direta é solução tão má como a do um touro investindo contra uma muleta vermelha. É contra o toureiro que é preciso investir, isto é, contra a guerra de guerrilha.

Vietnã

A Guerra do Vietnã é um exemplo típico no qual o exército regular estadunidense sem conhecer o terreno por não ser nativo da região, acabou vencido pela guerrilha vietnamita, embora aquele conflito tenha outros fatores e características bem próprios.

Resistência e guerra revolucionária

A guerrilha não é necessariamente um tipo de guerra de resistência onde os insurgentes se opõem à uma força de ocupação, como no Iraque ocupado pelos estadunidenses ou como na União Soviética invadida pelos nazistas. Ela é também comum em guerras revolucionárias (com fator político-ideológico) que podem ocorrer entre partidos ou facções de um mesmo povo. (v.g. El Salvador, Guerrilha do Araguaia, Forças Armadas Revolucionárias da Colômbia etc.)

As guerras de guerrilhas, quase em sua totalidade, buscaram a independência de determinada região ou grupos. Utilizam armamentos leve e de fácil deslocamento. Atualmente se mantêm com recusros financeiros advindos de operações ligadas ao tráfico de armas e drogas.

Guerrilheirismo

Os guerrilheiros, em geral, são elementos voluntários da própria região de conflito. Inicialmente possuem pouco treinamento militar e vão se organizando e treinando empiricamente.

Existem também grupos guerrilheiros treinados na arte da guerra por mestres militares que estudam esta técnica e desenvolvem metodologias de ataque, defesa e sobrevivência. A estes grupos pode-se conceituar como uma elite combatente, cuja tendência de atuação é a independência e autonomia.

Pelo fato de ser uma força irregular de origem voluntária, a guerrilha age com espontaneidade não só em relação a grupos políticos mas também relativamente a centros militares.

Contato com a população civil

Em geral, os grupos guerrilheiros tendem a apoiar soluções progressistas, pois, sendo oriundos de grupos locais, mantém contatos estreitos com a população da região onde atuam, ao contrário das Forças Armadas regulares. Porém, é muito comum a estes grupos aceitarem a liderança de “caciques“ ou “caudilhos“.

Foi justamente por esta ligação estreita que o chamado “guerrilheirismo latino-americano” proliferou na América Latina enfrentando o poder chamado de “Forças Realistas Coloniais Espanholas“.

América Latina

A queda das colônias espanholas entre 1810 e 1824 foi decidida pelas guerras de guerrilhas. Muitos grupos foram chefiados por diversos líderes que carregaram consigo a responsabilidade da vitória ou do fracasso dos movimentos de libertação. Houve também guerrilhas de Estado, isto é, aquelas financiadas e incentivadas por grupos que detinham o poder em determinada região, mas que tinham por finalidade a desestabilização dos movimentos de libertação.

Entre diversos movimentos de guerrilhas e seus líderes que ocorreram na América Latina, podem ser destacados:

• Uruguai: José Gervasio Artigas.
• México: Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, José María Morelos y Pavón e Vicente Guerrero, Rafael de Riego y Núñez.
• Argentina: Martín Güemes.
• Chile: Manuel Rodríguez, irmãos Pincheira.
• Venezuela: José Tomás Boves.
• Cuba: Fidel Castro, Che Guevara e Camilo Cienfuegos.

Brasil

No Brasil, houve muitos movimentos guerrilheiros nas províncias contra o centralismo executado pelo Império.

• Pode ser citada também a década de 30, a Coluna Prestes, oriunda do tenentismo, que foi um movimento guerrilheiro executado pela Aliança Nacional Libertadora.
• O ex-dirigente do Partido Comunista, Carlos Marighella, morto em 4 de novembro de 1969, criou e comandou a guerrilha urbana nas cidades de São Paulo e Rio de Janeiro por dois anos.
• Carlos Lamarca, morto em Ipupiara, localidade do interior da Bahia, em 17 de setembro de 1971, comandou no vale da Ribeira, em meados de abril de 1964, em São Paulo um movimento guerrilheiro.
• Em 1972, o Exército Brasileiro enfrentou com mais de 5.000 homens a guerrilha do Araguaia, organizada pelo Partido Comunista do Brasil (PCdoB).

Fonte

André Beaufre – Introdução a Estratégia

Literatura recomendada

• Chevalier, F.; Caudillos et caciques en Amérique. Contribution à l’étude des liens personnels. Bordeaux, 1962.
• Guevara, Guerra de guerrillas; La Habana: Dep. de Instrucción del MINFAR, 1960.
• R. Debray; ¿Revolución en la revolución? La Habana: Casa de las Américas, 1966.
• R. Gott, La guerrilla en América Latina; Santiago de Chile: Universitaria, 1971.
• Minimanual de la guerrilla urbana; La Habana, 1967.
• Il Risorgimento; Einaudi, Torino, 1950.
• Hanlweg, W.; Storia della guerriglia. Milano, Feltrineli, 1973.
• Rama, C. M.; La nouvelle gauche latino-américaine. In: Raison présente. Paris, 1970.

Estratégia militar

Fonte: http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estrat%C3%A9gia_militar

Estratégia Militar é uma designação abrangente para o planejamento de atuação em uma guerra. Deriva do grego strategos, a estratégia era vista como a arte do general. A estratégia militar lida com o planejamento e condução de campanhas, o movimento e divisão de forças, e a burla do inimigo. O pai do estudo moderno da estratégia , Carl von Clausewitz, define estratégia militar como o emprego de batalhas para obter o fim da Guerra. Portanto, ele deu a preeminência de objetivos políticos em relação a conquistas militares, garantindo controle civil sobre os militares. Estratégias militares se baseiam em um tripé: a preparação das táticas militares, a aplicação dos planos no campo de batalha e a logística envolvida na manutenção do exercito.

Estratagema Militar da Batalha de Waterloo.

Índice 1 Fundamentos da estratégia militar 2 Princípios da estratégia militar 3 Desenvolvimentos da estratégia militar 3.1 Primeiros desenvolvimentos da estratégia militar 3.2 Genghis Khan e os Mongóis 3.3 Estratégia Napoleônica 3.4 Estratégias na era industrial 3.5 Estratégia na Primeira Guerra Mundial 3.6 Estratégia desenvolvidas entre as guerras 3.7 Estratégias na Segunda Guerra Mundial 3.8 Estratégia da Guerra Fria 3.9 Estratégias pós Guerra Fria 4 Princípios da estratégia militar 5 Estrategistas militares 6 Ligações externas 7 Veja também

Fundamentos da estratégia militar

“Não repita as táticas as quais o levaram a ganhar uma batalha, mas deixe seus métodos preparados para uma infinita variedade de circunstâncias. –Sun Tzu

Estratégia e tática estão intimamente relacionadas. Ambas lidam com a distância, tempo e força, mas a estratégia é empregada em larga escala enquanto a tática atua em pequena escala. Originalmente a estratégia era entendida como a organização do prelúdio para a batalha enquanto a tática controlava a sua execução. Contundo, nas guerras mundiais do século 20, a distinção entre manobra e batalha, estratégia e tática tornaram-se obscuras. Táticas que se originaram da tropa de cavalaria poderia ser aplicada para uma divisão panzer.

Em sua forma mais pura, estratégia somente lida com problemas militares. Em sociedades primitivas, um rei ou líder político eram freqüentemente também o líder militar. Se ele não era, a distância de comunicação entre o líder político e militar eram pequenas. Mas com a necessidade de profissionalização do exercito aumentando, a distância entre os políticos e militares começaram a aparecer. Em muitos casos, se decidiu que uma separação era necessária. Como o estadista Francês Georges Clemenceau disse, a guerra é um negocio muito importante para ser deixada para os soldados. Isto deu origem ao conceito da grande estratégia a qual engloba o gerenciamento dos recursos de uma nação inteira para a condução de uma guerra. No ambiente da grande estratégia, o componente militar é grandemente reduzido para estratégia operacional – o planejamento e controle de grandes unidades militares tais como tropa e divisões. Com o aumento em tamanho e número dos exércitos e melhoramento da tecnologia de controle e comunicação, a diferença entre estratégia militar e a grande estratégia diminuiu.

Os fundamentos para a grande estratégia é a diplomacia através da qual a nação deve forjar alianças ou pressionar outras nações a ceder, desta forma alcançando a vitória sem a necessidade do combate. Outro elemento da grande estratégia é o gerenciamento da paz no pós-guerra. Como Clausewitz estabeleceu, uma estratégia militar de sucesso deve ser um meio para um fim, mas ela não é um fim em si mesmo. Há numerosos exemplos na história onde a vitória no campo de batalha não se traduziu em uma paz de longa duração e segurança.

Estratégia (e tática) deve constantemente estar desenvolvendo-se em resposta a avanços tecnológicos. Uma estratégia bem sucedida de uma era tende a se tornar obsoleta logo após novos desenvolvimentos em armas e materiais. A Primeira Guerra Mundial viu as táticas Napoleônicas de ofensiva a todo custo anulada em relação ao poder defensivo da trincheira, metralhadora e barragem de artilharia. Como uma reação a sua experiência na Primeira Guerra Mundial, a França entrou na Segunda Guerra Mundial com uma doutrina puramente defensiva, encabeçada pela inexpugnável Linha Maginot, mas unicamente para ser completamente lograda pela a blitzkrieg Alemã.

Princípios da estratégia militar

Muitos estrategistas militares tentaram resumir uma estratégia de sucesso em um conjunto de princípios. Sun Tzu definiu 13 princípios em sua A arte da Guerra enquanto Napoleão listou 115 máximas. O general da Guerra Civil Americana Nathan Bedford Forrest preconizava somente um: “pegue o primeiro com o maior”. Os conceitos fundamentais para maioria das listas de princípios são:

1. O Objetivo
2. Ofensiva
3. Cooperação
4. Concentração (Massa)
5. Economia
6. Manobras
7. Surpresa
8. Segurança
9. Simplicidade

Alguns estrategistas asseguram que a aderência aos princípios fundamentais garante a vitória enquanto outros argumentam que a guerra é imprevisível e o general deve ser flexível na formulação de uma estratégia. Helmuth von Moltke expressa a estratégia como um sistema de expediente ad hoc pelo qual o general deve atuar enquanto se encontra sob pressão. Os princípios básicos da estratégia têm sobrevivido relativamente intocados apesar dos desenvolvimentos tecnológicos ocorridos.

Desenvolvimentos da estratégia militar

Primeiros desenvolvimentos da estratégia militar

Os princípios da estratégia militar podem ser retrocedidos até 500 a.C nas palavras de Sun Tzu e nos primeiros pensadores em Esparta. As campanhas de Alexandre o Grande, Hannibal, Julio Cesar e Qin shi Huang demonstram o planejamento estratégico e a movimentação. Mahan descreve no prefácio de The Influence of Sea Power upon History como os Romanos usavam seu poderio marítimo para efetivamente bloquear as linhas de comunicação marinha de Hannibal com Cartago; e então via uma estratégia marítima alcançar expulsão de Hannibal da Itália, a despeito de nunca tê-lo derrotado com suas legiões.

Em 1520 Dell’arte della guerra (Arte da Guerra) de Niccolò Machiavelli lidava com a relação entre os assuntos civis e militares e a formação de uma grande estratégia. Na Guerra dos Trinta Anos, Gustavus Adolphus da Suécia demonstrou uma avançada estratégia operacional que o levou a vitórias na área do Sacro Império Romano.

Foi somente no século XVIII que a estratégia militar foi sujeita a estudos sérios. Na Guerra dos Seis Anos (1756–1763), Frederico o Grande empreendeu a estratégia da exaustão para se livrar de seus oponentes e conservar suas forças Prussianas. Atacado por todos os lados pela França, Áustria, Rússia e Suécia, Frederico explorou sua posição central a qual o possibilitava mover seus exércitos ao longo de linhas interiores e concentrá-los contra um oponente de cada vez. Incapaz de alcançar a vitória, ele foi capaz de empreender uma defesa até que uma solução diplomática fosse alcançada. A vitória de Frederico levou a um grande inicio da estratégia geométrica a qual enfatiza linhas de manobra, conhecimento dos terrenos e obtenção de pontos críticos.

Genghis Khan e os Mongóis

Como um contra ponto aos desenvolvimentos Europeus na arte da estratégia, o Imperador Mongol Genghis Khan fornece um exemplo útil. Os sucessos de Genghis Khan e de seus sucessores foram baseados na dominação e no terror. O aspecto da estratégia de assalto de Genghis Khan era nada menos que a psicologia de contrapor-se a população. Através de uma implementação meticulosa e cuidadosa de sua estratégia, Genghis Khan e seus descendentes foram capazes de conquistar a maior parte da Eurásia.

Os blocos de construção do exercito de Genghis Khan e sua estratégia eram levas tribais de arqueiros montados e (o ponto importante) o vasto rebanho de cavalos da Mongólia. Cada arqueiro tinha pelo menos um cavalo extra; (havia uma média de 5 cavalos por homem) portanto o exército inteiro poderia se mover com inacreditável rapidez. Alem disto desde o leite de cavalo e seu sangue eram os pratos principais da dieta mongol. As tropas de cavalos de Genghis Khan funcionavam nem somente como seu meio de movimentação, mas também como seu suporte logístico. Todas as outras necessidades poderiam ser exploradas ou saqueada.

Comparado aos exércitos de Genghis Khan, todos os outros exércitos eram passados e comparativamente imóveis. Através de assaltos contínuos, os exércitos europeus, chineses, persas e árabes puderam ser estressados até sua queda, e então aniquilados em perseguição. Quando se confrontavam com cidades fortificadas, os imperativos mongóis de manobrabilidade e velocidade que possuíam eram facilmente superados. Aqui o medo engendrado pela terrível reputação dos mongóis ajudava. Também uma primitiva guerra biológica era utilizada. Uma trebuche ou outros tipos de armas de balística poderia ser usada para lançar animais mortos e corpos em dentro de uma cidade sitiada, espalhando doenças e morte entre seus habitantes. Se uma cidade ou vila em particular desagradasse o Ka Mongoliano, todos na cidade poderiam ser mortos para servir de exemplo para todas as outras cidades. Isto pode ser encarado como uma forma de guerra psicológica.

A estratégia mongol era direcionada a um objetivo (no qual o (foco principal) era inicialmente e nada menos que a psicologia de contrapor-se a população) alcançado através da ofensiva; a ofensiva era caracterizada pela concentração de forças, manobras, surpresas e simplicidade. Por isto as hordas mongóis alcançaram por dois séculos um domínio sem paralelo na Eurásia.

Estratégia Napoleônica

A Revolução Francesa e as Guerras Napoleônicas que se seguiram revolucionaram a estratégia militar. O impacto deste período foi ainda sentido na Guerra Civil Americana e nas primeiras fases da Primeira Guerra Mundial. Com o advento de armas pequenas baratas e o surgimento de tropas de soldados civis, os exércitos cresceram rapidamente em tamanho tornando-se formações de massa. Isto trouxe a divisão dos exércitos primeiro em divisões e mais tarde em batalhões. Juntamente com as divisões veio a divisão de artilharia; leve, móvel e com grande alcance e poder de fogo. A rígida formação de lanceiros e mosqueteiros disparando conjuntamente abriu caminho para infantaria leve combater na linha de frente.

Napoleão I da França obteve vantagem destes desenvolvimentos para prosseguir em uma brutalmente efetiva estratégia de aniquilação que pouco se importa com a perfeição matemática da estratégia geométrica. Napoleão invariavelmente buscava obter o controle na batalha, usualmente alcançando o sucesso através manobras superiores. Como regra geral, ele lidava com a grande estratégia como também com a estratégia operacional, fazendo uso de meios políticos e econômicos. Napoleão só foi finalmente derrotado quando seus oponentes adotaram a estratégia que ele tinha desenvolvido.

O triunfo da estratégia pratica de Napoleão inspirou um novo campo de estudo na estratégia militar. Os dois estudos mais significativos de seu trabalho foram feitos por Carl von Clausewitz, um Prussiano como formação em filosofia, e Antoine-Henri Jomini, que foi um dos oficiais sob seu comando. On War de Clausewitz tornou-se uma bíblia da estratégia, dividindo-se entre a liderança militar tanto quanto política. Um das suas mais famosas afirmações é:

A guerra não é meramente um ato político, mas também um instrumento político real, uma continuação da política conduzidas por outros meios.”

Clausewitz categorizou a geometria como um fator insignificante na estratégia, acreditando ao invés disto no conceito Napoleônico da vitória através do confronto e destruição da força de oposição, a qualquer custo. Contudo, ele também reconheceu que um conflito limitado poderia influenciar politicamente pela eliminação da oposição através de uma estratégia de atrito.

Em contraste á Clausewitz, Antoine-Henri Jomini lidava principalmente com a estratégia operacional, inteligência & planejamento, a condução da campanha, e liderança ao invés da política. Ele propôs que a vitória poderia se obtida pela ocupação do território do inimigo ao invés da destruição de suas armas. Tal que, considerações estratégicas foram proeminente em sua teoria da estratégia. Os dois princípios básicos da estratégia de Jomini era a concentração contra a fragmentação das forças do inimigo de uma única vez e atacar o objetivo mais decisivo.

Uma notável exceção da estratégia de aniquilação de Napoleão e uma precursora da guerra de trincheiras foi a Linha de Torres Vedras usada durante a campanha Peninsular. O exercito Francês se encontrava fora de seu território e quando eles foram confrontados por uma linha de fortificações as quais não poderiam ser flanqueadas, eles foram incapazes de continuar o avanço e foram forçados a se retirar uma vez que consumiram todas as provisões da região na linha de frente.

A campanha peninsular foi notável para o desenvolvimento de outros métodos de Guerra os quais permaneceram intocados com passar do tempo, mas tornaram-se mais comuns no século 20. Foi a ajuda e encorajamento que os Britânicos deram para os Portugueses o que forçou os Franceses a desperdiçar a maioria dos bens da armada Espanhola na proteção das linhas de comunicação de seus exércitos. Isto foi um custo muito efetivo movido pelos Britânicos, porque era mais barato para ela ajudar os insurgentes de Portugal do que equipar e pagar uma unidade exercito Britânico para ocupar o mesmo número de tropas Francesas. Como o exercito Britânico poderia ser correspondentemente menor ele seria capaz de abastecer suas tropas por mar e terra sem ter que abandonar território como era norma naquele tempo. Alem disto, por eles não terem de procurar por alimento eles não tinham o antagonismo dos moradores locais e por isto eles não tinham que guarnecer suas linhas de comunicação da mesma forma que os Franceses. Então a estratégia de ajudar seus aliados Portugueses na guerrilha beneficiou os Britânicos de muitas formas, algumas das quais não são imediatamente obvias.

Estratégias na era industrial

A evolução da estratégia militar prosseguiu com a Guerra Civil Americana (1861–65). A pratica da estratégia militar foi melhorada por generais tais como Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant e William Tecumseh Sherman, todos estes foram influenciados pelas façanhas de Napoleão. Contudo, a aderência aos princípios de Napoleão em face aos avanços tecnológicos tais como o rifle de infantaria de longo alcance geralmente levou a conseqüências desastrosas. O tempo e espaço no qual estas guerras foram travadas também mudaram. Ferrovias possibilitaram movimentos de troca de grandes forças, mas as manobras estavam restringidas a corredores estreitos e vulneráveis. A energia a Vapor e encouraçados transformaram o combate no mar.

Havia ainda abertura para triunfos da estratégia de manobra tais como Marcha para o Mar de Sherman em 1864, mas estas dependiam da falta de vontade do inimigo cavar trincheiras. Mais próximo ao termino da guerra, especialmente na defesa de alvos estáticos como nas batalhas de Cold Harbor e na Vicksburg, as trincheiras de ambos os lados proliferaram em uma escala semelhante a da Primeira Guerra Mundial. Muitas das lições da Guerra Civil Americana foram esquecidas quando de guerras tais como Guerra Austro-Prussiana ou das manobras vencedoras da Guerra Franco-Prussiana.

Nos períodos precedentes a Primeira Guerra Mundial, dois dos mais influente estrategistas foram os generais Prussianos, Helmuth von Moltke e Alfred von Schlieffen. Sob o comando de Moltke o exercito Prussiano alcançou a vitória na Guerra Austro-Prusiana (1886) e na guerra Franco-Prussiana (1870–71), a campanha final é largamente aceita como um exemplo clássico da concepção e execução da estratégia militar. Em conjunto com a exploração de rodovias e ferrovias, Moltke utilizou o telegrafo para controle de grandes exércitos. Ele reconheceu a necessidade de aumentar a delegação de controle para comandantes subordinados e cunhar diretivas para tratamento de problemas do que gerar ordens especificas. Moltke é mais lembrado como um estrategista por sua crença na necessidade de flexibilidade e que nenhum plano, não importa quão bem preparado seja, pode garantir a sobrevivência alem do primeiro encontro com o inimigo.

O Marechal de campo Schlieffen, que sucedeu Moltke, dirigiu o planejamento Germânico na condução para a Primeira Guerra Mundial . Ele defendia a estratégia de aniquilação mas foi forçado a uma guerra em duas frentes contra inimigos numericamente superiores. A estratégia formulada por ele foi o Plano Schlieffen, defendendo-se a leste enquanto agrupava-se para uma decisiva vitória no oeste, depois da qual os Germânicos poderiam ir para a ofensiva no leste. Influenciado pelos sucessos de Hannibal na Batalha de Cannae, Schlieffen preparou-se para uma única grande batalha de envolvimento, levando a aniquilação de seu inimigo.

Outro grande estrategista Alemão do período foi Hans Delbrück que expandiu o conceito de Clausewitz de conflito limitado para produzir uma teoria da estratégia de exaustão. Sua teoria desafiava o pensamento militar popular na época, que era amplamente favorável a vitória em batalha. Ainda na Primeira Guerra Mundial ficaria demonstrado as falhas da desastrosa estratégia da aniquilação

Quando a industrialização trouxe novos avanços na tecnologia naval, um estrategista Americano, Alfred Thayer Mahan, trouxe novidades para o campo da estratégia naval. Influenciado pelos princípios de estratégia de Jomini, ele visualizou que nas próximas guerras, onde a estratégia econômica poderia ser mais importante que estratégia militar, o controle dos mares daria o poder para controlar o comercio e os recursos necessários para travar a guerra. Mahan lançou o conceito da grande marinha, em uma visão expansionista onde a defesa era alcançada pelo controle da aproximação marítima do que pela a fortificação das costas. Suas teorias contribuíram para a corrida armamentista naval entre 1898 e 1914.

Estratégia na Primeira Guerra Mundial

No inicio da Primeira Guerra Mundial a estratégia era dominada por um pensamento ofensivo em voga desde 1870, a despeito de experiências mais recentes da Segunda Guerra da Boemia (1899–1902) e na Guerra Russo-Nipônica (1904–05), onde as metralhadoras demonstraram sua capacidade defensiva. Ao fim de 1914, o Front Oeste estava em um impasse e todas as possibilidades de manobras estratégicas tinham sido perdidas. Os combatentes lançaram mão de uma estratégia de desgaste. A batalha Alemã em Verdun, e a Britânica em Somme e Passchendaele estão entre as primeiras batalhas em grande escala, dirigidas para exaurir o inimigo. O desgaste consumia tanto tempo que a duração da batalhas na Primeira Guerra Mundial freqüentemente se estendiam por semanas e meses. O problema com o desgaste era que o uso de Defesas fortificadas em profundidade geralmente requer uma razão de dez atacantes para um defensor para ser ter qualquer chance razoável de vitória. A habilidade dos defensores para mover suas tropas usando linhas interiores previne a possibilidade de atalhos.

Em outras frentes, havia ainda espaço para o uso de estratégia de manobras. Os germânicos executaram uma perfeita batalha de aniquilação contra os Russos na Batalha de Tannenberg (1914). Os Britânicos e Franceses lançaram a desastrosa Campanha Dardanelles, combinando poder naval e desembarque de anfíbio, num esforço de ajudar seus aliados Russos e golpear o Império Otomano para fora da Guerra. A campanha Palestina foi dominada pela cavalaria e os Britânicos alcançaram duas vitórias de infiltração na Gaza (1917) e em Megiddo (1918). O coronel T.E. Lawrence e outros oficiais britânicos guiaram tropas paramilitares Árabes numa campanha de guerrilha contra os Otomanos, usando estratégias e tática desenvolvidas na Guerra da Boêmia.

A Primeira Guerra Mundial presenciou exércitos em uma escala nunca antes vista. A Inglaterra, que sempre contou com uma marinha forte e um pequeno exercito regular, experimentou uma rápida expansão que extrapolou o treinamento de seus generais e a capacidade de seus auxiliares em lidar com tal força monumental. Os avanços tecnológicos também tiveram uma larga influência na estratégia: reconhecimento aéreo, técnicas de artilharia, gás venenoso, o automóvel e o tanque, o telefone e a rádio telegrafia.

Mais do que nas guerras anteriores, a estratégia militar na Primeira Guerra Mundial foi dirigida pela grande estratégia de uma aliança de nações, a tríplice Entente de um lado e o Impérios centrais do outro.A sociedade e a economia estavam mobilizadas para uma guerra total. O ataque à economia do inimigo incluía o uso pela Inglaterra de um bloqueio naval e o emprego Germano de submarinos de guerra contra marinha mercante.

A unidade de comando tornou-se uma questão importante quando várias nações iniciaram assaltos e defesas e coordenados. A Entente foi eventualmente comanda pelo Marechal de Campo Foch. Os Germânicos geralmente comandavam o Império central, embora a autoridade Germânica diminuísse e as linhas de comando tornaram-se confusas ao fim da guerra.

A Primeira Guerra Mundial terminou quando a vontade dos soldados Germânicos para lutar diminui tanto que os Germânicos buscaram a paz. O ímpeto dos militares Germânicos foi destruído durante a batalha de Amiens (de 8 a 11 de Agosto de 1918) quando a frente germânica entrou revolta geral contra a falta de comida e a destruição da economia. A vitória para a Entente foi, contudo, assegurada por este ponto. Entretanto, era somente uma questão de tempo antes que o tanque re-introduzisse a manobra como uma estratégia viável.

Estratégia desenvolvidas entre as guerras

Nos anos que se seguiram a Primeira Guerra Mundial, duas das tecnologias que foram introduzidas durante aquele conflito, o avião de combate e o tanque, tornaram-se objeto de estudo na estratégia.

A principal teoria de poder aéreo foi a do general Italiano Giulio Douhet. Ela pregava que no futuro as guerras poderiam ser ganhas ou perdidas no ar. A força aérea comandaria o ataque e o conjunto das forças terrestres seriam simplesmente defensivas. A doutrina de Douhet do bombardeio estratégico implicava em acertar a terra natal do inimigo — suas cidades, industrias e comunicações. A força área poderia com isto reduzir sua disposição e capacidade para a luta.

O general Britânico J. F. C. Fuller, arquitetou a primeira grande batalha de tanques em Cambrai, e seu contemporâneo, B. H. Liddell Hart, estava entre um dos mais proeminentes defensores da motorização e mecanização do exercito Britânico. Na Alemanha, grupos de estudo estavam sendo preparados por Von Seekt para as 34 áreas da estratégia e táticas aprendidas na Primeira Guerra Mundial, de forma a adaptá-las para evitar o impasse e a derrota que eles haviam sofrido. Todos pareciam ter visto o valor da estratégia de choque de mobilidade e as novas possibilidades apresentadas pelas forças motorizadas. Ambos também perceberam que os veículos armados de combate demonstraram seu poder, mobilidade e proteção. Os Alemães pareciam ter visto mais claramente a necessidade de tornar todas as ramificações do exercito tão moveis quanto possível para maximizar o resultados de sua estratégia. Isto destruiria as defesas estáticas de trincheiras e metralhadoras e restaurava os princípios da estratégia de manobra e ofensiva.

As inovações do General Alemão Heinz Guderian tiveram sua estratégia desenvolvidas, sendo incorporadas as idéias de Fuller e Liddell Hart de forma a amplificar o revolucionário efeito blitzkrieg que foi usado pela Alemanha contra a Polônia em 1939 e depois contra a França em 1940, que ainda usava a estratégia estacionaria da Primeira Guerra Mundial, foi completamente surpreendida e sobrepujada pela mobilidade alemã combinada a doutrina de armas e divisões Panzer.

As transformações tecnológicas tiveram um enorme efeito na estratégica, mas pouco efeito na liderança. O uso do telegrafo e mais tarde do rádio, juntamente com melhoria nos transportes, possibilitaram a movimentação rápida de grande número de homens. Um das chaves para possibilitar a mobilidade Alemã na guerra foi o uso de rádios, ao quais eram colocados em cada tanque. Contudo, o número de homens que um oficial poderia efetivamente controlar tinha diminuído. O aumento no tamanho do exercito levou a um aumento no número dos oficiais. Embora a quadro dos oficiais no exercito Americano tenha inchado, no exercito germânico a razão de oficiais para o totais de homens permaneceu a mesma.

Estratégias na Segunda Guerra Mundial

Durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial, levado pela inteligência Britânica, as forças aliadas desenvolveram e aplicaram sofisticados estratagemas e estratégias de despistamento, projetadas para enganar os planos do Eixo resultando em ações mal sucedidas.

Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin e outros lideres de estado se encontraram em diversas conferencias para priorizar as estratégias.

Estratégia da Guerra Fria

A Guerra Fria foi o primeiro período dominado pelo temor da total aniquilação do mundo através do uso de armas nucleares, numa política conhecida como garantia de aniquilação mutua. Uma outra conseqüência disto foi uma guerra na qual os ataques não poderia ser trocados entre os dois principais rivais, o Estados Unidos e a União Soviética. Ao contrário disto, a guerra se deu através de procuração. Ao invés de iniciar um conflito principal confinado na Europa ou no Pacifico, o mundo inteiro era o campo de batalha, com nações no lugar de exércitos atuando como os jogadores principais. A única regra constante era que tropas da União Soviética e dos Estados Unidos não poderiam se confrontar diretamente.

As diferenças entre as táticas, estratégias e grande estratégia começaram a se alterar durante a Guerra Fria conforme as tecnologias de comando e comunicação sofreram grandes melhoras, nas forças armadas do primeiro mundo. A forças armadas do terceiro mundo controladas pelas duas super-potencias descobriram esta grande estratégia, estratégia e táticas, senão tudo, era controlado pelos lideres das super potencias.

Combatentes Americanos da Guerra fria como Dean Acheson e George C. Marshall rapidamente reconheceram que a chave para vitória era derrota econômica da União Soviética. A União Soviética tinha adotado uma postura defensiva após o fim da Segunda Guerra Mundial, com Estados Unidos e sua forte marinha rapidamente adotando uma postura agressiva de defesa da maior parte do mundo contra a União Soviética e a expansão do Comunismo. Isto era uma das muitas aparentes contradições na lógica desta estratégia.

Estratégias durante a Guerra fria também lidava ataque nucleares e retaliação. Os Estados Unidos mantinha uma política de ataque inicial limitado durante a Guerra Fria. Em um eventual ataque dos Soviéticos ao Front Ocidental, resultando em uma invasão, os Estados Unidos poderia usar armas nucleares táticas para interromper o ataque. A União Soviética respondeu pela adoção da política do não usar primeiro, envolvendo o retaliação massiva resultando em mutua destruição assegurada. Então, se o Pacto de Varsóvia atacar usando armas convencionais, a OTAN poderá usar armas táticas. A União Soviética poderia responder com ataque nuclear massivo, resultando em um ataque similar dos Estados Unidos, com todas as conseqüências que advenham do fato. Os Estados Unidos continuam mantendo esta política do primeiro ataque limitado ate hoje.

Estratégias pós Guerra Fria

As estratégias no pós Guerra Fria estão sendo definidas pela situação de super-potência dos Estados Unidos.

Estão progredindo os avanços tecnológicos para minimizar a casualidade e melhorar a eficiência.

Os avanços trazidos pela revolução digital tornaram-se essenciais para esta estratégia.

Princípios da estratégia militar

• O principio da massa – dado que todas as coisas começam iguais, enviar uma única unidade tática aliada para combater uma única unidade tática inimiga resultará em uma chance de 50% de derrota, resultando em uma razão de 1 para 1 de perda em nível estratégico. Contudo, enviar duas ou mais unidades para combater uma única unidade inimiga ira resultar em um razão de perda menor que 1 para 1.
• Selecionar objetivos decisivos
• Tomar a iniciativa de seu inimigo.
• Concentrar suas forças em um ponto decisivo.
• Economizar seus recursos pela redução dos gastos
• Coordenar o movimento de seus recursos para alcançar seu objetivo.
• Manter a cadeia de comando.
• Coordenar suas tarefas para alcançar a máxima eficiência.
• Manter segredo até que seja tarde para seu oponente reagir.
• Empregar elementos inesperados tais como burla, velocidade, criatividade e audácia.
• Manter seus planos tão simples quanto possível

para completar sua tarefa.

• Escolher estratégias flexíveis para você poder se adaptar as mudanças de condições.
• Organize para maximizar a eficiência.
• Mantenha a moral alta mesmo em face dos revezes.
• Saiba a hora certa de atacar.

Estrategistas militares

• Sun Tzu
• Friedrich von Bernhardi
• Ivan Bloch
• F. de Brack
• C. E. Callwell
• Lazare Carnot
• Carl von Clausewitz
• Menno van Coehoorn
• John Colomb
• John Boyd
• Julian Corbett
• Giulio Douhet
• Mikhail Dragomirov
• Frederick II of Prussia
• Otto von Bismarck
• J. F. C. Fuller
• Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz
• Heinz Guderian
• Che Guevara
• Antoine de Jomini
• John Knox Laughton
• Luís Carlos Prestes
• T. E. Lawrence
• B. H. Liddell-Hart
• Stephen B. Luce
• Niccolò Machiavelli
• Mao Zedong
• Alfred Thayer Mahan
• Maurice of Nassau
• Billy Mitchell
• François-Henri de Montmorency
• Ardant du Picq
• Hugh Trenchard
• Sigismund von Schlichting
• Alexander Suvorov
• Eduard Totleben
• Sebastien le Prestre de Vauban
• Vegetius
• Julius von Verdy du Vernois
• H. G. Wells
• Garnet Wolseley
• André Beaufre
• Miyamoto Musashi
• Zhuge Liang
• Adolf Hitler
• Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell

Ligações externas

www.aestrategia.com

Veja também

• Tática militar
• Doutrina militar
• Lista de táticas militares
• Lista de doutrinas militares
• Estratégia Atômica

Outros conceitos relacionados à estratégia militar

• Bombardeio estratégico

Tips And Paintball Strategies

Are paintball strategies important? Answer: If you want to win more often than not, you must plan your strategy before each game.
For example, we just finished up a 5 game set of capture the flag on a friends property. The only two games we lost were games that started without a planned attack and defense. The games we won incorporated several paint-ball strategies. Lets begin with a couple of intermediate to advanced paintball strategies…

If you are a begginner this page has interesting basic paintball strategies. Otherwise read these paintball tactics…

Study the opposing team. Knowing their strengths and weaknesses gives you an advantage because you can plan paintball tactics that work to your advantage.

For example, if you know who the stronger players are you can focus on them at the beggining. Then pick off the weaker players after you eliminate the stronger players.

Or, you can stay away from the stronger players side and work the weaker side.

Paintball Strategies: Your Skillset…

If you want to be part of a team decide on the skillset you bring to the table. For example, if you are a quick player, meaning you can run faster than most you may want to move up to the front of your team.
paintball strategies

If you feel that you are not as fast as your teamates anchor the back and support your teamates who are up front. Maybe protect the flag (if you are playing capture the flag or related games.) In our last game I protected the flag beause my knee is recovering from an injury. I found this to be very challenging becasue you have to anticipate where your opposition is going to attack.

If you have an advantage in shooting skill, like shooting to your left or right, volunteer to move up the opposite side of your better shooting side.

Important Paintball Strategeis: Movement

Move into position. The game is won and lost by obtaining some kind of advantage. Paintball strategies that incorporate lot of movement usually have the advantage. In paintball the advantage is in movement (usually). When all else fails, shoot and move to gain an better position. Keep you opponent from viewing your next move by shooting at their position a few times, then move quickly to your next position. A better advantage is where you move to a position that gives you a better angle on your opponent without him or here seeing you get there.

Staying in one position increases your chance of getting eliminated. It does not increase your chances gettting more eliminations.

If you don’t get an angle on your opponent, move to a better position. And if you don’t eliminate your opponent after a few attempts, move.

paintball strategy If you get to a better position, don’t give your position away by immediatly standing up and shooting like crazy. This will give your position away. Take a peak to see what your battle field looks like. There may be a few targets, or there may be an even better position (or bunker) in your grasp.

Paintball Tip: Pinching…

“Pinching” is very effective. Bascially, pinching is wear you attack from both sides of the bunker your enemy is in. If you don’t eliminate the player they may be forced to get out and this gives you a better opportunity to eliminate them. Paintball tactics that incorporate pinching are very effective when done properly.

Paintball strategies TIP:Make your first shot count. Aim, and then shoot. If your first shot misses, fire a few more shots quickly. Shoot in bursts because not every paintball will break when your tarket is hit. Then sit back into a protected position.

Fire at anything that is sticking out and exposed. That includes the gun, hopper, feet, visors, etc.

Advanced Paintball Strategies…

Practice shooting while moving. This is more difficult than it sounds. But it’s also a very effective means of protecting yourself and also eliminating your opponents as well. Try to keep your gun as level as possble by keeping your body from moving up and down. If found that being in a slight crouch and running a bit slower than usual will make your shots more accurate.
Paintball Strategies TIP:

Set up a target and run side to side at different distances and try to hit the target. Try running slowly and at a slight crouch. This will come in handy on the battle field because most people are simply running and shooting with their gun flying around.
Paintball Strategies TIP:

Conversly, shoot in front of your opponents while they are running. Paintballs are not as fast as bullets so let your opponent move into the path of your paintballs.

Terrain

paintball tactics

Look for a advantages throughout the terrain. For example hills and trees. You can start at the base of a hill and slowly climb up at a crouch. As you near the top, pop-up and take a quick look and then fall on your belly for protection. This way you get a good look to see what targets are available.

If you are protecting a flag and there are trees, look for trees that give you good protection and allow for movement. Or, try sitting in the tree and surprise a few opponents.

Paintball Tip: After they are hit, move. Also, look for holes and gaps to shoot through to hit your opponent.
The most effective paintball strategies will incorporate consistent movement.

Trick your opponent. Fire at an opponent from one side, keeping him or her busy. Have your teammate sneak to their weak side and eliminate them.

Find bunkers with good back protection to keep opponents from comming around and surprise attacking you without protection.

That’s just a small taste of the various tips and techniques to incorporate into your next game.

Ambush Sniper

Longbow Sniper Paintball GunLike an alligator silently cruising his domain, the sniper slips into ambush position then waits. Some snipers push the envelope of paintball ballistics to fire off long, aimed shots. Others use superior camo and stealth to take targets up close and personal.

In either case, the paintball sniper turns fieldcraft and marksmanship to his advantage. While others attempt to power their way across the field, the sniper outplays the opposition on the strength of his wits. Patience is a minimum requirement and practice is a must.

Even the term “sniper” is controversial among woodsballers. Some claim that, since paintball guns have no real long-range potential, that a paintball sniper is a contradiction in terms. Paintball snipers know, however, that it takes much more than long shots to call yourself a sniper. Victory on the field comes in the wake of stealth and mental discipline – attributes that non-snipers know little about.

Tips for Snipers

* Your gearkit needs to be tuned for just oneSpecial Ops Action Ghillie thing: stealth and concealment. If you can’t make one-shot kills consistently at thirty yards, you’ve got no
business being a sniper. So, you can get away with carrying very little paint and few other pieces of gear. A ghillie suit is a great idea and you’ll probably need
at least a partial ghillie before you can call yourself
an expert sniper.

* You’ll need an ultra-light sniping gun. Heavy guns make it too
hard to low-crawl so you will want to stay away from the heavier guns. Remember, you won’t be taking a
lot of super long shots. Rather, you’re an ace at one-shot kills within the normal range of paintballs (thirty
to fifty yards.)

* Again, paintball snipers don’t take very long shots because paintball guns don’t shoot very far (regardless of your barrel, gun, etc..) Paintball sniping is the art of ambush, concealment and stealthy movement. You take few shots and you do it from a hidden position.

* Every time you get taken out, take a few minutes to figure out why. Pick apart the situation and determine how your cover was blown. Then, figure out what you can do in the same situation next time to stay alive. If you’re having trouble figuring it out, go ask your Squad or Team Commander what he thinks you should’ve done differently.

* When a sniper moves, a sniper can easily be seen. Unless you’re pulling a slow, flanking low-crawl, you need to stay absolutely motionless on ambush. The human eye picks up even the slightest movement. You must have the patience and discipline to stay stock-still, even when you’re bored.

* Here are the keys to precision paintball shooting (in this order!)

1. Use a sight or scope. Nothing will give you more accuracy on first-shot kills than a decent sight or scope. No barrel comes close to giving that kind of advantage. As a Sniper, “instinct shooting” or “walking the shot in” are not an option. Buy a sight and practice with it often.

paintballs
2. Buy premium paint. Paint quality makes a big difference to a sharpshooter. Save money by shooting less and plough those savings into the best paint you can find.

3. Become a master of estimating range. All paintballs arc drastically over distance and that makes range estimation one of the keys to one-shot accuracy. Buy a range finder and practice guessing ranges between sixty and twenty yards. You can even find small range finders that can mount to a paintball gun (they’re made for bow hunting and they will add a little weight to your gun.) Learn your gun’s drop at 280 fps (or at your field’s maximum fps) and hold over to get your shot to drop right into target. Click here for a more complete discussion of range estimation and hold.

4. Keep your barrel impeccably clean. Carry a squeegee and a swab and if you break a ball, clean the barrel until it’s spotlessly clean. Even a small amount of moisture in your barrel will blow your accuracy all to hell.

paintball air tank
5. Use compressed air (nitro) instead of CO2. This sucks because CO2 can be used in lighter packages than air. However, air is way, way more consistent than CO2 and it’s worth it to shoot air, even if you have to carry your air tank remote on your hip (recommended.)

6. Dial your gun in to EXACTLY your field maximum fps. The faster you shoot, the flatter your shots will be. Flatter shots equal more accurate, longer shots. Set your range estimation, your sights and your drop estimates to this maximum fps.

7. Build up a light paintball gun. A light gun will be easier to aim and easier to tote around the field on your belly. Think hard before you add heavy accessories to your paintgun.

Dye UltraLite 14″ Barrel Spyder
8. Buy a good barrel. Okay, fine. We know you want to do it, so buy a fourteen to eighteen-inch barrel. Tests do show that barrels over fourteen-inches long out-perform shorter barrels. Click here to check out a great test matching premium paint and barrels.

9. Practice. Practice A LOT. This should be number one on this list, but we thought you’d probably already know it.

* We love the Tippmann Flatline barrel, but we don’t recommend it for Snipers. If you’ve ever seen a ping-pong player put backspin on a ping-pong ball, then you understand how the Flatline works. The barrel is roughened and curved and this causes the paintball to pick up backspin as it speeds out the barrel. Backspin, in turn, causes the paintball to “float” noticeably further than a paintball from any other barrel. But there are prices to pay for all that distance (other than the cost of the Flatline barrel.) Each paintball is slightly different, so the Flatline affects each ‘ball just a little differently than the last ball. That translates into decreased consistency and decreased accuracy. Standard paintball barrels put the paintball in the same place with greater frequency than the Flatline. Also, the Flatline’s roughened interior surface is slightly more apt to shred weak paintballs than smooth-bore barrels.

Field Tactics for Snipers

* You have three basic choices of sniper style: Ambush Sniper, Ghost Flanker and Longbow Sniper. Each style utilizes different tactics:

Ambush Sniper

* When the team plan is to reduceSpecial Ops Action Ghillie enemy numbers before launching the main assault, you must put up an ambush-style defense. The objective of the ambush-style “D” is to suck the enemy in where they can be methodically wiped out.

* A good ambush defense is more about where you leave gaps
then it is about where you position your defense. If you leave one
side completely open, for example, the enemy is likely to fill into that side.

* Since the main assault is waiting to reduce the enemy numbers before attacking, you should have a ton of extra players to place in ambush positions. Decide where your gaps will be and place your defenders in a wide “U” shape to encircle the op-force attack elements. Make sure the gap is wide enough for the entire attack squad to fit inside. Otherwise, they will make contact with the tops of your “U” too soon and simply bog down trading shots. Often during capture the flag games, the “U” shape will span the entire field – giving the attackers a huge gap to fill in.

* It’s often a good idea to bury the legs of your ambush along the deep side boundaries of your half of the field or along natural boundaries. Then, when the attackers fill into the middle, your side players can collapse on them and gain target-rich, side-door angles.

* Ambush D is all about patience and holding your fire until they are in your trap. If you shoot too soon, they will bunker up way before wandering into the kill zone. Unlike a survival-style defense, you want to wait to shoot until you have lethal range.

* The Ambush Sniper should conceal himself on the very tips of the “U” formation, where his concealment gives the trap its greatest chance of success.

Special Ops Action Ghillie
* However, the Sniper must wait patiently, if at
all possible, for the entire op-force to enter the trap before picking off players. If the
Sniper springs the trap too early, then the enemy attack force will hold up outside of the perimeter and concentrate its efforts on eliminating the Sniper (which is easy to do when the Sniper is alone on the tip of a formation.)

* Any time, in fact, that a Sniper is on ambush, he should wait until the op-force is on its way out of his kill zone. By waiting, the Sniper will have easy shots on the tail end of the attack element and he will have the option of rolling in from behind the enemy. Being fired on from behind is very unusual in paintball and it will thoroughly confuse the enemy – giving the Sniper a prolonged opportunity to execute the entire op-force.

* When the team plays a “survival-style defense,” the Ambush Sniper’s job is very similar to an ambush-style defense. A survival-style defense is constructed to hold the enemy off for as long as possible. This gives your assault force the maximum possible time to hit the enemy flag base, take the flag and back-door anyone who’s hitting your defense. In a survival-style defense, you will keep back the MINIMUM number of defenders that you possibly can and still hold your flag for the entire game time (but just barely.) By keeping only the bare minimum, you free up as many men as possible to hit the opposition’s flag. By strengthening the attack force, you speed the end of the game. If the game ends and you still have a big posse of defenders, then you probably held back too many.

* On a survival-style defense, the Sniper ranges out and away from the main area of attack (that usually comes from the center and center-sides.) One of the best natural hides for the Sniper is along the deep sides of the field, around mid-field. From this position, the Sniper can slide behind an attack force without fearing that someone has gotten behind the Sniper. Often, the Sniper buries himself and the Defensive Squad Leader will call him up via radio when the enemy have filled in around the flag and the trap is ready to be sprung.

* The Sniper’s side should always be the side that your friendly attack force did not move up. If you fill in behind your attackers, the chances of you seeing any enemy are very slim. Rather, conceal yourself on the weak side of the field so that the odds of an enemy encounter are higher.

* Don’t forget to cover the back routes to your flag. A smart opponent will send attackers around to encircle your flag base from behind. If that happens, you’re toast. A Sniper might wish to place himself in a position to interdict a flanking maneuver around his flag. Still, the Sniper should wait until the op-force has passed before making his attack.

* If you fire on enemy and they dig in and stop, sneak or belly crawl away, back toward your flag, unseen by the attackers. They will spend precious minutes trying to figure out if you’re still where they saw you last. You can then slide to another ambush location and reset yourself.

Ghost Flanker

* Once your squad has the enemy position engSpecial Ops Action Ghillieaged
and trading fire, the flanking elements are released
to one or both sides. To flank, move cross-ways to
the enemy and push a little up-field. The idea is to get angles on the side of the enemy shooters. When you begin to pummel them from the side, and your squad’s hitting them from the front, you will have them in a cross fire and they will need to retreat or
be eliminated.

* A Ghost Flanker spends a lot of the game flat on
his belly. Creeping into flanking position is extremely effective since most woodsballTM fields provide plenty of low ground cover. Also, nobody expects
a belly crawl in paintball, since paintballers are typically too lazy to get their cammies dirty.

* A very low, slow crawl will get you shooting angles that any other player could only dream of. Practice
a slow, quiet creep until you’re virtually invisible to observers.

* Beware of other elements of the enemy force. You may be flanking right into another piece of the op-force. If you do encounter more resistance, radio your Squad Leader and have him dispatch another Medium or Heavy Rifleman to set another base of fire in front of the extended force. Then, begin a new flanking move.

* Remember, if your guys and theirs’ are trading fire, you can use the noise as cover. Also, you have the security of knowing that the shooters, at least, are totally focused on their little firefight. You can probably creep quickly without them noticing. Paintballers usually scoot to a firefight like moths to a flame. A fully engulfed firefight will draw attention and should give you a clear crawl into side-door position.

* Look for chances to creep all the way around back of the enemy’s flag base. Sometimes, this will require that you pass up on kill shots. Getting in behind the flag is worth it. Think hard before you take gravy shots at enemy players. Achieving a superior position on the flag is often more valuable than one or two kills.

Longbow Sniper

* Again, there is no huge ballistic advantage fSpecial Ops Action Ghillierom one paintball gun to another. If there were, we’d sell you that super-long-shooting gun. Anyone who tells you that longer
barrels, etc. make your paintball gun shoot like a sniper rifle are dreaming. Longer barrels can give you slight advantages. With that said, the Longbow Sniper makes the most
out of any ballistic advantage he can wring out of his gun.

* Firing from a tower or high hillside, the Longbow can extend his ballistic advantage to make long hits. Concealment isn’t as great a priority for the Longbow, since connecting on long shots requires more tries and makes more noise. It’s just harder to hide as a Longbow Sniper.

* Longbow is a good alternate position for a Commander since it gives him a commanding view of the field without the requirements of silence (the Commander needs to talk to his team.)

* The Longbow should carry more paint and air than the other snipers since he’ll need shot volume to make up for the distances he’s shooting. No matter how good you are at shooting, long shots are still very hard in paintball. There’s nothing you can do to completely remove some of the variables in long shooting: wind, paint shell imperfections, inexact distance estimations, etc..

Ideal Attributes for Sniper

* Patient and Disciplined. Few paintballers have the will or the patience to play Sniper. Some games, the Sniper won’t see an enemy player. Other games, he’ll need nerves of steel to allow players to walk within yards of his hide. He’s a meticulous person who loves a job well done.

* Decent physical fitness. He doesn’t need to work real hard at being a Sniper, but he must be able to spend long periods creeping on his belly without freaking out.

* Iron-will and giant reserves of stubbornness. To out-wit the competition, he must be very committed to winning (his way.) And, yet, he can’t be a total lone wolf. The Sniper is useless unless he’s part of the team’s larger strategy and willing to take direction from the Commander.

Sniper Skill Progression

Basic
Requires at least one paintball day playing SnSpecial Ops Action Ghillieiper position.

When a player proclaims that he has set his mind to becoming a paintball sniper, he is in for a long learning curve. It takes guts to even consider playing the sniper position, since failure to a sniper can mean point-blank execution when his hiding place is discovered. What’s more, woodsball™
is full of yahoos who will tell you that there’s no such thing as a
paintball sniper.

But, if the Basic Sniper has truckloads of patience and discipline, he may have a future in the position. A Basic Sniper begins with the realization that he may get lucky, but more often than not his ambushes will be blown and will produce only a couple of eliminations. The bigger test will be if the novice sniper can wait patiently through the games where he never sees another soul. Playing Sniper is no place for dudes with ADD.

A Basic Sniper gearkit can include virtually any paintball gun. However, good camo is a must. Gun and facemask camo is also a very good idea. Do your best with the gear you have. If the sniper game agrees with you, then a better gun and better gear may be in your future.

So, get on the ground, Sniper, and get crawling!

Senior
Requires at least six paintball days playing Sniper position.

This guy has spent some serious time in the bush (BUSHES, we mean.)

By now, the man knows he is cut out to be a true paintball sniper. He’s had a pretty good number of ambushes come together, though he still gets blown on occasion (his COVER gets blown, we mean.) But, he’s getting the ambush down as well as his long shot.

Most likely, a Senior Sniper has put a case or two of paint through his paintball gun practicing his one-shot-kill-skill. He has figured out that the other team finds him far less often when his one-shot game is on.

His gear is coming together nicely. His paintgun packs a point sight or scope and his barrel length is growing like a high school kid’s johnson in the morning. He’s either going ghillie, or he’s added ghillie elements to his mask, camo and paintgun.

You know this dude’s serious, because his bedroom floor has scraps of leaves and brush that got drug in on his cammies. Keep on creeping, bro!

Master
Requires at least fifteen paintball days playing Sniper position.

This dude’s no joke. All those peckers who say that paintball snipers don’t exist shut the hell up when he’s around. That’s because he’s owned their sorry asses in enough ambushes that they’re ashamed to open their mouths.

His legendary ambushes have forced the enemy to a crawl – their overactive imaginations see him in every bush and around every corner. And, still, the Master Sniper catches them with their pants down every game or two.

When our boy gets the high ground, the muppets run for cover. He’s hell on wheels when he’s got the long shot. He’s an expert at measuring distances and gauging the drop and windage of a single, deadly paintball shot.

His paintgun is fully hooked up, with a reliable sight and some serious sound suppression. When he pops you from fifty yards, you can’t even tell which zip code he shot from. He is a monster for stealth and the locals all live in fear of his backdoor ambush.

You best make sure you’re on this dude’s team.

Elite
Requires at least fifteen paintball days playing SnipeSpecial Ops Action Ghillier
position and a special commendation from Team Special Ops Paintball.

Out there in the bush, there was no forgetting this guy. He is a Master Sniper with undeniable skills. He either ran with the Special Ops guys and proved his mettle, or he put the drop
on their asses in some distant battlefield.

Either way, the SpecOps boys had to tip their hats to this stealthy badass. Even more than his gear (which is top-flight all the way,) he showed elite skills and iron nerve. He has a legendary rep as an Elite Sniper and Team SpecOps couldn’t ignore his skills.

Rock on, Sniper!

Dagger Light Rifleman

When you’ve hammered the enemy’s line thin, all it takes is a fast, hard stab to break through. For those times when you need someone bunkered, you call the Light Rifleman to streak through the gap and break their backs.

He is the guts and glory boy — called for when your team’s getting their flank-thing on, ordered on point when you’re covering ground, and handed the flag when it’s time to make the last run. He’s fast and light and he doesn’t mind having his butt hanging in the wind.

When it comes to buildings and bunkers, he’s the close quarters specialist. His paintgun is short, light and maneuverable and it spends a lot of time getting shoved into dark corners. The Dagger’s an action junkie, and it’s a good thing, because he ends up in the shit more than anyone.

Tips for Light Riflemen

* You need a very light gearkit. Don’t take anything you don’t need. Go super-light on paint and air.

* Your paintball gun needs to be good in close quarters. Shorten your barrel and consider carrying your air on-gun instead of remote. You won’t be as low-profile when you’re crawling, but you’ll need the speed advantage on the quick assault.

* You’re probably the most aggressive player on the team and that can be a huge problem. You do your team absolutely no good in the dead man hut, so constantly remind yourself to play conservatively. Stay alive!

* If you’re getting taken out most games, then you’re putting your butt out there too far. Tighten up and be ready to dart back in a quick retreat whenever you come under fire.

* Every time you get taken out, take a few minutes to figure out why. Pick apart the situation and determine what you did to get your butt blown off. Then, figure out what you can do in the same situation next time to stay alive. If you’re having trouble figuring it out, go ask your Squad or Team Commander what he thinks you should’ve done differently.

* Wear a watch so you can pace your runs when you’re returning the flag to your base. You wouldn’t want to run out of time with the flag in your hands, would you?

* Remember, great Daggers aren’t judged by how many people they take out. Great Daggers are judged by how many games they survive. Play quick, but stay alive. That is the Dagger motto.

Field Tactics for Light Riflemen

* You have several key jobs: running point, pushing flanks, quick assaults and flag runs (when playing capture the flag.)

Running Point

* Your main job on point is to draw enemy fire and not get killed. Spook the ambushes and trick the snipers into taking marginal shots at you. Then, dive backwards and bring your squad up to engage the op-force.

* “Spooking” the ambush is an art that you must master. When you’re running point, keep behind cover as much as possible. Look ahead and assess each possible ambush point, then offer yourself as a target, but a bad target. Get them to shoot at you when the shot’s still too long or the shot’s through too much brush.

* Once you’ve spooked the ambush or hit any kind of op-force, you become part of a quick trap that will engulf the opposition. To do this, drop backwards, just a little, the instant you encounter fire. Then, your Squad Leader should send up Medium or Heavy Riflemen to create a solid base of fire. They will trade fire with the enemy and give you (and other flankers) a pivot off of which you can slide to one side and catch the ambush in a side-door cross fire.

Pushing Flanks

* Once your squad has the enemy position engaged and trading fire, the flanking elements are released to one or both sides. To flank, move cross-ways to the enemy and push a little up-field. The idea is to get angles on the side of the enemy shooters. When you begin to pummel them from the side, and your squad’s hitting them from the front, you will have them in a cross fire and they will need to retreat or be eliminated.

* When flanking, stealth is key. Don’t hesitate to belly crawl. Belly crawling is a great way to spook a shot without exposing yourself to danger. Also, nobody expects a belly crawl in paintball, since paintballers are typically too lazy to get their cammies dirty.

* Beware of other elements of the enemy force. You may be flanking right into another piece of the ambush. If you do encounter more resistance, radio your Squad Leader and have him dispatch another Medium or Heavy Rifleman to set another base of fire in front of the extended force. Then, begin a new flanking move.

* Remember, if your guys and theirs’ are trading fire, you can use the noise as cover. Also, you have the security of knowing that the shooters, at least, are totally focused on their little firefight. You can probably move freely without them noticing. (Just be sure to watch for another ambush!) Paintballers usually scoot to a firefight like moths to a flame. A fully engulfed firefight will draw attention and should give you a clear crawl into side-door position.

Quick Assaults

* On a quick assault, you will be rushing the enemy under the cover of your suppressive fire guys. This sounds like a risky proposition, but it shouldn’t be that risky, if your Squad Leader sets it up right.

* One key to a safe assault is tons of suppressive fire. Rushing directly into enemy is suicide unless someone is hammering their position with a BUTT-LOAD of paint. Sporadic suppressive fire won’t do. You need full-blown, mind-numbing, hurricane-from-hell sort of suppressive fire to ensure a safe run.

* Don’t count on any ONE player to suppress any more than ONE angle. In other words, your suppression dude can cover one small bunker or one window of a pillbox. If you’re taking fire from more angles than you have suppression men, then don’t make the rush. This also applies to enemy shooters who are way across the field. When you go rushing in, you have no way to know beforehand the angles you’re giving other players on you. Make reasonably sure that you’ve limited the number of enemy players who have a shot at you before you charge in.

* Another key to a successful rush is to put the enemy under fire from multiple angles at once. If you’re attacking a defensive bunker from only one direction, then you’re putting yourself at huge risk by rushing. Your squad must hit that bunker from two or three sides. You need to make life really, really stressful for the defenders before you go busting ass out there in the open.

* As you can see, quick assaults are a lot more like surgery than they are like a football blitz. Think it through before you go trucking out into the open.

Flag Runs

* You should never really “rush” for the flag. Before you go wading in after the flag, or other objective, your team should have cleared the defenses around the objective. There’s not usually a good reason to “rush” for the flag. You’re responsible for flag runs BACK to your base, not necessarily getting the flag into your hands.

* Before you make a run back to your base, you should know exactly what is going on at your base. Remind your Team Commander to radio the Defensive Squad Leader to get the 4-1-1 on the situation back at your flag. If the flag is lost, or is under heavy attack, your Team Commander should leave a substantial contingent in the enemy defenses. If your flag is in good shape, then everyone can head back. Also, when your Commander checks with defense, he should find out where any known enemy are hiding and how to avoid them.

* When you head back to the flag, hold back and let your squad run interference in front of you. It’s too late in the game to be running into an ambush.

* Stay clear on the time. You should have a good idea of how much time’s left in the game before you begin your flag run. Pace yourself to whatever time is remaining. No need to get sloppy if there’s plenty of time left.

Ideal Attributes for Light Rifleman

* Aggressive. To run point and make rushes, the Dagger must have a lust for battle. The biggest challenge will be getting him to dial it back and play smart.

* Excellent physical fitness. This guy is the team runner. He never tires and he’s ready to run the flag after a hard game of assaulting. Usually, he’s light and fast.

* Good street smarts. A guy with a lot of common sense will begin to see combat patterns (without being able to explain it) and he’ll stalk the field like a mountain lion.

* Willing to take orders. Hard-core, type-A guys can’t be controlled by a Squad Leader. Too much aggression and hard-headedness in a Dagger just gets him taken out quickly. The commands of a Squad Leader can be the perfect leash for the Light Rifleman – if he’ll accept quality coaching.

Light Rifleman Skill Progression

Basic
Requires at least one paintball day playing Dagger position.

The mad rush is one of the lamest plays in paintball. He who charges usually dies. However, a good Light Rifleman turns the mad rush into high art.

While he’s learning when to rush and when to wait, the Light Rifleman will pick up a few dozen welts from poorly timed breakouts. There’s really no other way to learn. A good Dagger will err to the side of getting shot up rather than waiting too long.

Likewise, learning to flank and run point are also high-risk positions, but to sign up for the Dagger position is to volunteer for the serious action. Eventually, you will beat the odds with speed, agility and a keen sense of timing. A super-light gearkit doesn’t hurt, either; with a light gun and just a couple of hundred paintballs in reserve, the Light Rifleman can float through the melee like Neo from the Matrix.

It takes time to learn the art, so wear your welts with pride!

Senior
Requires at least six paintball days playing Dagger position.

He’s getting his groove thing going, now that the Dagger has a little time under his belt. He’s seeing the holes, watching the firing lanes and picking his paths carefully. The timing’s coming together as the Dagger matches his runs to sync with his team’s bursts of suppressive fire.

On flank, the dude’s pulling together some sweet side-door moves. When his squad hits a roadblock, he flips to one side or the other and slithers up until he finds that perfect window. By now, he’s taking out at least three or four of the bad guys before he gets eliminated.

His gearkit is looking better, too. His gun is trimmed down and he’s packing the bare minimum in paint and accessories. He’s wearing, or considering buying, more athletically-cut fatigues since standard military issue doesn’t give him the agility he needs.

With all that running and gunning, he’s dropped a couple of pounds and he’s faster on his feet than ever.

Master
Requires at least fifteen paintball days playing Dagger position.

Like a martial arts expert, the Master Dagger can slide into enemy bunker complexes before they have any idea he’s there. He frequently wipes out whole squads with lightning fast pushes and flanking maneuvers.

He’s the ultimate badass pointman. He pushes upfield fast enough to get there but slowly enough to sucker the opposition into shooting at him before they have a good shot – giving away their positions and bringing down the full wrath of the squad. He draws the shot, drops back and then puts the killer flank on the ambushers.

If ambush is the problem then the Master Dagger is the solution. He’s honed that game of cat and mouse to a high art. Rarely does his team get caught with their pants down, and they usually chew through an ambush with speed and style.

His gearkit is feather light, with a compact paintgun and pods carried out-of-the-way.

As the sharp point of his squad, the Master Dagger takes the game to the enemy with guts, speed and grace.

Elite
Requires at least fifteen paintball days playing Dagger position and a special commendation from Team Special Ops Paintball.

His level of skill was plainly obvious when Team SpecOps ran across this ultimate speed player and he has earned the commendation of Elite Dagger. His drives, flanks and feints are the best-in-his-class and any squad would rock with him on point.

His sense of an ambush is uncanny and he knows the perfect moment to lead a breakout charge. To watch him play Dagger is like watching a mongoose fight a cobra. He twists and turns and, when the moment is perfect, puts the bite on his opponents.

Broadsword Heavy Rifleman

The use of suppressive fire is one of the greatest advantages that an organized team has over walk-on players. The militaries of the world rely on suppressive fire to advance their squads and to put enemy heads down. Paintball can work exactly the same way.

Photo: Special Ops – Broadsword – Heavy Rifleman The Heavy Rifleman unleashes a sustained rate of fire that freezes the opposition’s battle line while lighter elements of his team maneuver for advantage. He’s the perfect man for defending the flag or hammering on the opposition’s base. With an enormous load of paint and a fully automatic paintgun, the Broadsword isn’t the fastest-moving member of his squad.

But, when he gets into position, he provides a hefty base of fire that carves a path for his buddies who will be assaulting. Heavy Riflemen don’t always score the most kills, but they are crucial to attacks on entrenched defenses – the same defenses that can cause a squad to bog down in a frustrating stalemate.

Most paintball games end in a ball-for-ball standoff, so it’s amazing that more paintball teams don’t employ bunker-busting Heavy Riflemen. If you want to be part of your team’s solution to the standoff, grab a big bag of paint and join the corps of the Broadsword.

Tips for Heavy Riflemen

* You’re being counted on to lay paint, so your gearkit will be heavy, including grenades and a ton of pods. You carry loads of paint (900 rounds or more,) and plenty of air to back it up.

* Low-profile and high-volume are best when it comes to choosing a Broadsword gun. You will spend a lot of time on your belly, hammering away at enemy positions. You want to present a VERY low profile when you’re lying on the ground. With your air on-gun, you will sit high and you’ll have to crane your neck to shoot. That’s not a good thing. Consider buying a remote air system to get your paintgun down and your head tucked right into the nap of the earth.

* Your offensive position should usually be at the hairy edge of maximum paintball range. Give yourself advantages like a Tippmann Flatline barrel so that you extend your range and get your butt out of harm’s way.

* Every time you get taken out, take a few minutes to figure out why. Pick apart the situation and determine what you did to get your butt blown off. Then, figure out what you can do in the same situation next time to stay alive. If you’re having trouble figuring it out, go ask your Squad or Team Commander what he thinks you should’ve done differently.

* One hint: if you’re getting eliminated more than half the time, you’re probably too much in the fray. Let your lighter players make the bold moves while you back them up. You’ll still be in the fight, but you shouldn’t be at the point of the sword.

* Look for ways to increase your paint capacity. If you’re shooting a Tippmann A-5, you might want to jump to a jumbo hopper.

* A good defensive player will rack up more kills than anyone else on the team. If your defense is set up right, you will have a two-to-one advantage or better. In other words, a player set in a strong defensive position can take out two guys or more for every time he gets eliminated. Elite defenders will commonly rack up twenty kills in a game. If the team’s plan is good, then defense will see tons of action and will enjoy a very target-rich environment.

Field Tactics for Heavy Riflemen

* Photo: Motorola – Talkabout T4900 – 3 mile rangeYou have several main jobs: suppression fire, providing a base of fire for flankers and defense. You might as well know how to assault and flank, too, since you’ll sometimes be called on to do stuff not necessarily in your “job description.”

Suppression Fire

* When a teammate is preparing to make a bold move (maybe a rush or a leapfrog forward) they will need suppression fire to cover their advance. By laying paint heavily into a known or suspected enemy position, you put heads down to clear the way for your buddy’s push.

* It rarely works to try to suppress more than one angle at a time. You can cover one small bunker or one window of a pillbox. If you agree to cover more, you will probably fail to fully suppress the opposition, and this can get your buddy taken out.

* When you suppress, give it all you’ve got. Time your fire to match the exact moment when your buddy will be making his move. As soon as he’s under cover again, let up so you don’t run out of paint.

* Photo: Fire Fox – Throat Mic Paintball EditionWatch your buddy’s move carefully so that you can pull your stream of paint if he runs into it. Don’t stop shooting, just raise your fire or angle it to one side.

* Full-auto is best for suppression fire. If your home field doesn’t allow full-auto, try a Firestorm crank. The Firestorm is legal on most fields and it lays down enough paint to make anyone think twice about putting their head up.

* When you’re setting up to provide suppression fire, you shouldn’t be so far forward that you’re a feasible target. You should be firing from the very edge of paintball range. It helps, if you do a lot of suppression fire, to carry a Flatline-equipped Tippmann A-5. The Flatline can out-range most paintball guns by twenty-percent or more. Though the Flatline isn’t as accurate as most barrels, you don’t need tight accuracy for suppression fire.

Providing a Base of Fire

* When your pointman encounters enemy, your
squad will respond by building a base of fire and sending flankers. As soon as your pointman hits resistance, you should hustle up and join him. Begin trading fire (it’s not important that you make
a kill at this point) with any known enemy.

* Don’t trade fire from a position where there is a substantial threat to you. If your opponents are vigorously returning fire, then you’re probably too exposed. Back up a little until your cover improves. If you’re taking fire from multiple angles, then you’re
way too far out. Retreat quickly, turn and bump up
until you engage with one angle of fire (only!)

* Even if you don’t have a good shot at your opponents, keep up consistent fire. You need to keep their attention locked on you so that your flankers can get around to their side without being noticed.

* Watch your paint supply. While it’s important that you keep the enemy engaged, you can’t run out of paint in the process. Shoot enough to keep them interested, but not enough to burn up all your paint.

* Establish a code with your flankers so that they can radio and let you know when they need you to step up the covering fire. When they call, you can inch forward and begin to pour it on. Soon, your flankers will open up their own angles of fire and the opposition will be taken out or retreat.

Defense

* How you set your defense will depend on the team’s overall strategy. If the team’s playing a strong-side attack, then your objective on defense will be to stall and survive for as long as possible. If your team’s playing an early game ambush-style strategy, then your objective will be to whittle down the numbers of the enemy before launching an assault.

Survival-style Defense

* A survival-style defense is constructed to hold the enemy off for as long as possible. This gives your assault force the maximum possible time to hit the enemy flag base, take the flag and back-door anyone who’s hitting your defense. In a survival-style defense, you will keep back the MINIMUM number of defenders that you possibly can and still hold your flag for the entire game time (but just barely.) By keeping only the bare minimum, you free up as many men as possible to hit the opposition’s flag. By strengthening the attack force, you speed the end of the game. If the game ends and you still have a big posse of defenders, then you probably held back too many.

* Photo: Goggles & LensesFire on the enemy when they’re at maximum range – this is especially effective when you’re shooting a Tippmann Flatline. Making the enemy bunker up way, way out there will buy you more time. Keep them from advancing by popping away at them every time they look ready to move.

* If you have fortress-strong defenses around your flag, then begin and end your game in these bunkers. However, if the defenses around your flag are natural barricades and waist-high bunkers, then you should set a series of staged, fall-back positions. When using a staged defense, you set perimeters of defense where your defenders hit the approaching enemy, then slide back to the next, closer perimeter. By hitting them
in mini-ambushes, you will slow their advance to a crawl.

* Don’t forget to cover the back routes to your flag. A smart opponent will send attackers around to encircle your flag base from behind. If that happens, you’re toast.

* When you shrink the perimeter, take special care to sneak or belly crawl back to the next position unseen by the attackers. Take a few shots, then slink away unseen. They will spend precious minutes trying to figure out if you’re still where they saw you last.

* When your defensive line shrinks, be careful not to leave a teammate out where the attackers can flank him. It’s best to shrink the defensive perimeter all at the same time so that everyone covers everybody else’s flank. When you lose a player, that’s a good time to shrink the perimeter and tighten everything up. Coordinate all of this with liberal use of radio communication.

* On most fields, your last-stand defensive position should be behind the flag (and up against the back boundary, if you can still cover the flag from there.)

Ambush-style Defense

* When the team plan is to reduce enemy numbers before launching the main assault, you must put up an ambush-style defense. The objective of the ambush-style “D” is to suck the enemy in where they can be methodically wiped out.

* A good ambush defense is more about where you leave gaps then it is about where you position your defense. If you leave one side completely open, for example, the enemy is likely to fill into that side.

* Since the main assault is waiting to reduce the enemy numbers before attacking, you should have a ton of extra players to place in ambush positions. Decide where your gaps will be and place your defenders in a wide “U” shape to encircle the op-force attack elements. Make sure the gap is wide enough for the entire attack squad to fit inside. Otherwise, they will make contact with the tops of your “U” too soon and simply bog down trading shots. Often during capture the flag games, the “U” shape will span the entire field – giving the attackers a huge gap to fill in.

* It’s often a good idea to bury the legs of your ambush along the deep side boundaries of your half of the field or along natural boundaries. Then, when the attackers fill into the middle, your side players can collapse on them and gain target-rich, side-door angles.

* Ambush D is all about patience and holding your fire until they are in your trap. If you shoot too soon, they will bunker up way before wandering into the kill zone. Unlike a survival-style defense, you want to wait to shoot until you have lethal range.

Assaults

* When you execute an assault, you will be attacking a static (stationary) enemy position. Maybe you’re assaulting a bunker or maybe you’re assaulting the flag.
In either case, you’re moving hard on an entrenched position that has a defensive advantage.

* The biggest key to a successful assault is to put the enemy under fire from multiple angles at once. If you’re attacking a defensive bunker from only one direction, then you’re putting yourself at huge risk by assaulting. Your squad must hit that bunker from two or three sides, at least. You need to make life really, really stressful for the defenders before you go busting ass out there in the open.

* So, the main assault should come after several mini-assaults that buy you all kinds of angles around the defended position. Then, you can have players move in from all sides at precisely the same moment. The Commander will typically call the moment of assault over the radio when all the chess pieces are in place.

* Another key to a safe assault is suppressive fire. You can cover the most dangerous paths of assault, such as pillboxes, by assigning one or more of your squad to supply suppressive fire.

* Don’t count on any ONE player to suppress any more than ONE angle. In other words, your suppression dude can cover one small bunker or one window of a pillbox. If you’re taking fire from more angles than you have suppression men, then don’t make the move. This also applies to enemy shooters who are across the field. When you move in, you have no way of knowing beforehand the angles you’re giving enemy players. Make reasonably sure that you’ve limited the number of enemy players who have a shot at you before you charge in.

* One handy form of suppressive fire is the leapfrog. A two or three man team can trade off hammering a fixed position with suppressive fire while one guy runs past. As soon as the runner is five yards ahead of the suppressive fire guy, he drops and starts his own suppression fire thing while his buddy picks up and runs five yards past him. This routine keeps going – fire, run past, fire, run past – until cover is reached or the bunker is overrun. Leapfrogging is a great way to attack an enclosed pillbox.

* When you assault, don’t forget to ask yourself what exposure you’ll have once you’ve overrun your objective. Too often, an assault will take a flag base only to discover that there is an ambush waiting behind the flag. Clear all dangerous angles before going in.

Pushing Flanks

* Once your squad has the enemy position engaged and trading fire, the flanking elements are released to one
or both sides. To flank, move cross-ways to the enemy and push a little up-field. The idea is to get angles from the side of the enemy shooters. When you begin to pummel them from the side, and your squad’s hitting them from the front, you will have them in a cross fire and they will need to retreat or be eliminated.

* When flanking, stealth is key. Don’t hesitate to belly crawl. Belly crawling is a great way to spook a shot without exposing yourself to danger. Also, nobody expects you to belly crawl in paintball, since paintballers are typically too lazy to get their cammies dirty.

* Beware of other elements of the enemy force. You may be flanking right into another piece of their ambush. If you do encounter more resistance, radio your Squad Leader and have him dispatch another Medium or Heavy Rifleman to
set another base of fire in front of the extended force. Then, begin a new flanking move.

* Remember, if your guys and theirs’ are trading fire, you
can use the noise as cover. Also, you have the security of knowing that the shooters, at least, are totally focused on their little firefight. You can probably move freely without them noticing. (Just be sure to watch for another ambush!) Paintballers usually scoot to a firefight like moths to a flame. A fully engulfed firefight will draw attention and should give you a clear crawl into side-door position.

Ideal Attributes for Heavy Rifleman

* Laid back. The Heavy Rifleman will play careful ‘ball. He likes to serve as a backstop for the team. Also, if he’ll be playing defense, he will be the kind of guy who’s proud to do a good job, even if some of the glory goes to the boys on assault.

* Any level of physical fitness. A defensive Heavy Rifleman can be hefty or fit. A Broadsword that runs with a squad will need to keep up, but he doesn’t need to be a runner, by any means.

* Methodical. A Broadsword must love to throw paint. He likes to play consistently. Like a guy mowing his lawn, the Heavy Rifleman works through enemy attackers (all with a cherubic smile on his face.)

* Big-time Team Player. Playing defense and supplying suppressive fire prove that the Broadsword is willing to do his part for the team. If he’s more of an aggressive, glory-hounding player, he’ll prefer to play up-front.

Heavy Rifleman Skill Progression

Basic
Requires at least one paintball day playing Broadsword position.

Don’t think he’s a wussy just because he’s hanging back a little. Hey, if you had to carry his load of paint, you’d be hanging back a little, too. It’s the Broadsword’s job to stay off the front line until he’s called up for suppression.

Then, he lets loose a barrage of paint that puts the opposition on the ground. Heavy Rifleman is a defensive position, even when attacking. The idea is to tie up an
area and to inflict enough fear and confusion that your flanking or rushing elements can kick the hell out of the opposition.

At first, it’ll be tempting to jump into the middle of any battle that breaks out. While the Broadsword can certainly hold his own in a gunfight, he’s much better at breaking up gunfights by giving his teammates cover while they put on the sneaky moves. A beginner Heavy Rifleman can start by just adding to his paint load. Later on, he’s going to want to get as close to full auto as his local field will allow.

So, welcome to the ranks of the Heavy Riflemen. Don’t blame us if you get addicted to heavy doses of paint.

Senior
Requires at least six paintball days playing Broadsword position.

After playing Broadsword a spell, it’s become clear to the team that this guy is the key to breaking gridlock. He can play static defense or roam the field with an assault team. In either case, he lays paint liberally wherever it’s needed.

He may be racking up crazy numbers of kills on defense or he may be backing up an assault squad. Wherever he is on the field, he’s learned that monstrous amounts of paint can yield killer results.

His gearkit’s ballooning the better he becomes. His air tank is getting fatter and he’s traded in his pod belt for a jumbo belt or a vest. He’s getting sick of yelling for “ammo” so he’s packing more and more of his own.

Muppets keep coming up to him asking, “Are you the guy who’s shooting the MACHINE GUN?”

Master
Requires at least fifteen paintball days playing Broadsword position.

If he’s a defense player, the Master Broadsword racks up double-digit kills almost every game. He burns through an insane amount of paint and air and he’s even tried to sneak a scuba fill station back into the defensive bunkers.

If he’s on an assault team, the Master Broadsword may get fewer kills, but the opposition still swallows their gum when they see him amble forward and rev up his big gun.

The Heavy Rifleman has gone Biggie Size on everything – his air, his vest, his paint pack, and his hopper. He’s loaded for bear and he can sustain major suppressive fire for three or four full assaults.

The Master Broadsword looks so intimidating and so BIG on the field that muppets have quit coming up to him asking if he’s the guy shooting the “MACHINE GUN.”

Elite
Requires at least fifteen paintball days playing Broadsword position and a special commendation from Team Special Ops Paintball.

Great defensive players never get enough props. But, when the SpecOps guys saw this Heavy Rifleman getting down to business, it was obvious that he deserved to be recognized as an Elite MoFo.

The Elite Broadsword is a committed team player. He’s not interested in personal glory over team victory. Rather, he’s stoked to play support to an assault or even to play defense. (He also secretly knows that the dudes on defense get to spank more muppets than anyone else.)

Whether in the field or back on “D,” the Elite Broadswordsman is one tough hombre – even if he has to beg for gas money after spending every dime on his voracious paint habit.

Sabre Medium Rifleman

The Sabre is the most versatile position on the team. He flanks, he suppresses, he runs point, he snipes and he serves as the team’s all-around backbone. He covers any position that has been left empty by a downed comrade. With a balanced gearkit, he carries enough paint for a series of tough engagements, but not so much as to slow him down.

Photo: Special Ops – A-5A2 Digi-camo The Light Riflemen pivot off him, the Heavy Gunners tee off his base of fire and the Commander relies on him to anchor the team’s position. Even though he can (and sometimes does) pull a flanking maneuver, he more often sets the center and trades punches with the enemy position. While he’s keeping the bad guys occupied, his flankers and snipers are moving in for the quick, side-door kill.

Since he spends a lot of time assaulting and trading fire, the Medium Rifleman plays best with a low-profile paintgun that lays flush against the ground. He carries enough paint to justify a full vest and, as with all positions, his radio is his lifeline to the team.

The team couldn’t function without the Sabre and his challenge is to master all positions. Because, when it really hits the fan, he’s the one who will be holding center and covering for his fallen buddies.

Tips for Medium Riflemen

* You may have to lay a lot of paint, so your gearkit should be balanced and probably even include a couple of grenades. Plenty of paint, plenty of air, but not so much that it slows you down significantly.

* Low-profile and high-volume are best when it comes to choosing a Sabre gun. You will spend a lot of time on your belly, trading shots. You want to present a VERY low profile when you’re lying on the ground. With your air on-gun, you will sit high and you’ll have to crane your neck to shoot. That’s not a good thing. Consider buying a remote air system to get your paintgun down and your head tucked right into the nap of the earth.

* You are the backbone of the team, so take as few chances with your life as you can. If you’re getting taken out more than half of the games, your probably playing too aggressively. Most paintballers play way too aggressively, so don’t feel bad about it. Just get it fixed!!

* Every time you get taken out, take a few minutes to figure out why. Pick apart the situation and determine what you did to get your butt blown off. Then, figure out what you can do in the same situation next time to stay alive. If you’re having trouble figuring it out, go ask your Squad or Team Commander what he thinks you should’ve done differently.

* You’re the do-it-all guy on the team. Stay flexible and keep close tabs on your Squad Leader.

Field Tactics for Medium Riflemen

* You have several main jobs: providing a base of fire for flankers, suppression fire, flanking pushes and assaults. Also, you may be called in to replace one of your buddies, so know their jobs, too. When the Dagger gets taken out, who do you think will be on point? (Answer: you!)

Providing a Base of Fire

* When your pointman encounters enemy, your squad will respond by building a base of fire
and sending flankers. As soon as your pointman hits resistance, you should hustle up and join him. Begin trading fire (it’s not important that you make a kill at this point) with any known enemy.

* Don’t trade fire from a position where there is a substantial threat to you. If your opponents are vigorously returning fire, then you’re probably too exposed. Back up a little until your cover improves. If you’re taking fire from multiple angles, then you’re way too far out. Retreat quickly, turn and bump up until you engage with one angle of fire (only!)

* Even if you don’t have a good shot at your opponents, keep up
consistent fire. You need to keep their attention locked on you so that your flankers can get around to their side without being noticed.

* Watch your paint supply. While it’s important that you keep the enemy engaged, you can’t run out of paint in the process. Shoot enough to keep them interested, but not enough to burn up all your paint.

* Establish a code with your flankers so that they can radio and let you know when they need you to step up the covering fire. When they call, you can inch forward and begin to pour it on. Soon, your flankers will open up their own angles of fire and the opposition will be taken out or retreat.

Suppression Fire

* When a teammate is preparing to make a bold move (maybe a rush or a leapfrog forward) they will need suppression fire to cover their advance. By laying paint heavily into a known or suspected enemy position, you put heads down to clear the way for your buddy’s push.

* It rarely works to try to suppress more than one angle at a time. You can cover one small bunker or one window of a pillbox. If you agree to cover more, you will probably fail to fully suppress the opposition, and this can get your buddy taken out.

* When you suppress, give it all you’ve got. Time your fire to match the exact moment when your buddy will be making his move. As soon as he’s under cover again, let up so you don’t run out of paint.

* Watch your buddy’s move carefully so that you can pull your stream of paint if he runs into it. Don’t stop shooting, just raise your fire or angle it to one side.

* Full-auto is best for suppression fire. If your home field doesn’t allow full-auto, try a Firestorm crank. The Firestorm is legal on most fields and it lays down enough paint to make anyone think twice about putting their head up.

* When you’re setting up to provide suppression fire, you shouldn’t be so far forward that you’re a feasible target. You should be firing from the very edge of paintball range. It helps, if you do a lot of suppression fire, to carry a Flatline-equipped Tippmann A-5. The Flatline can out-range most paintball guns by twenty-percent or more. Though the Flatline isn’t as accurate as most barrels, you don’t need tight accuracy for suppression fire.

* Truth be told, if you’re doing a lot of suppression fire, you’re probably better off changing over to the Heavy Rifleman position.

Pushing Flanks

* Once your squad has the enemy position engaged and trading fire, the flanking elements are released to one
or both sides. To flank, move cross-ways to the enemy
and push a little up-field. The idea is to get angles from
the side of the enemy shooters. When you begin to
pummel them from the side, and your squad’s hitting them from the front, you will have them in a cross fire and they will need to retreat or be eliminated.

* When flanking, stealth is key. Don’t hesitate to belly crawl. Belly crawling is a great way to spook a shot without exposing yourself to danger. Also, nobody expects you to belly crawl in paintball, since paintballers are typically too lazy to get their cammies dirty.

* Beware of other elements of the enemy force. You may
be flanking right into another piece of their ambush. If you do encounter more resistance, radio your Squad Leader and have him dispatch another Medium or Heavy Rifleman to set another base of fire in front of the extended force.
Then, begin a new flanking move.

* Remember, if your guys and theirs’ are trading fire, you
can use the noise as cover. Also, you have the security
of knowing that the shooters, at least, are totally focused
on their little firefight. You can probably move freely without them noticing. (Just be sure to watch for another ambush!) Paintballers usually scoot to a firefight like moths to a flame. A fully engulfed firefight will draw attention and should give you a clear crawl into side-door position.

Assaults

* When you execute an assault, you will be attacking a static (stationary) enemy position. Maybe you’re assaulting a bunker or maybe you’re assaulting the flag. In either case, you’re moving hard on an entrenched position that has a defensive advantage.

* The biggest key to a successful assault is to put the enemy under fire from multiple angles at once. If you’re attacking a defensive bunker from only one direction, then you’re putting yourself at huge risk by assaulting. Your squad must hit that bunker from two or three sides, at least. You need to make life really, really stressful for the defenders before you go busting ass out there in the open.

* So, the main assault should come after several mini-assaults that buy you all kinds of angles around the defended position. Then, you can have players move in from all sides at precisely the same moment. The Commander will typically call the moment of assault over the radio when all the chess pieces are in place.

* Another key to a safe assault is suppressive fire. You can cover the most dangerous paths of assault, such as pillboxes, by assigning one or more of your squad to supply suppressive fire.

* Don’t count on any ONE player to suppress any more than ONE angle. In other words, your suppression dude can cover one small bunker or one window of a pillbox. If you’re taking fire from more angles than you have suppression men, then don’t make the move. This also applies to enemy shooters who are across the field. When you move in, you have no way of knowing beforehand the angles you’re giving enemy players. Make reasonably sure that you’ve limited the number of enemy players who have a shot at you before you charge in.

* One handy form of suppressive fire is the leapfrog. A two or three man team can trade off hammering a fixed position with suppressive fire while one guy runs past. As soon as the runner is five yards ahead of the suppressive fire guy, he drops and starts his own suppression fire thing while his buddy picks up and runs five yards past him. This routine keeps going – fire, run past, fire, run past – until cover is reached or the bunker is overrun. Leapfrogging is a great way to attack an enclosed pillbox.

* When you assault, don’t forget to ask yourself what exposure you’ll have once you’ve overrun your objective. Too often, an assault will take a flag base only to discover that there is an ambush waiting behind the flag. Clear all dangerous angles before going in.

Running Point (If your Dagger is toast)

* Your main job on point is to draw enemy fire and not get killed. Spook the ambushes and trick the snipers into taking marginal shots at you. Then, dive backwards and bring your squad up to engage the
op-force.

* “Spooking” the ambush is an art that you must master. When you’re running point, keep behind
cover as much as possible. Look ahead and assess each possible ambush point, then offer yourself as
a target, but a bad target. Get them to shoot at you when the shot’s still too long or the shot’s through
too much brush.

* Once you’ve spooked the ambush or hit any kind of op-force, you become part of a quick trap that will engulf the opposition. To do this, drop backwards,
just a little, the instant you encounter fire. Then,
your Squad Leader should send up Medium or Heavy Riflemen to create a solid base of fire. They will trade fire with the enemy and give you (and other flankers) a pivot off of which you can slide to one side and catch the ambush in a side-door cross fire.

Ideal Attributes for Medium Rifleman

* Somewhat aggressive. The Sabre is aggressive, but not as hard-core as the Light Rifleman. He needs to have a healthy urge to mix-it-up but not so much that he’s uncontrollable.

* Good physical fitness. Most any physique, other than seriously hefty, can make a good Sabre. He needs to be able to keep up with the squad, but he doesn’t need to be a sprinter.

* A good spread of paintball skills. The best Sabres have played a lot of different positions. They have good command of flanking, rushing and assaulting basics.

* Team players. Since they hold the center of the squad, a Sabre must be willing to let glory slip past to better serve the squad. Guys who can’t be held back from a fight are no good when setting bases of fire and executing on solid squad tactics.

* Newbies. If a new player is looking to learn fast, playing in the middle of a good squad is the best way to pick up experience. Coaching from the Squad Leader and his bros on the squad will improve his game fast.

Medium Rifleman Skill Progression

Basic
Requires at least one paintball day playing Sabre position.

Sabre is a great position for someone just starting a paintball career. Tucked in the middle of the squad, the Medium Rifleman learns the squad’s moves under the watchful eye of the Squad Commander
and his squad buddies.

The Medium Rifleman can carry just about any paintball gun, as he starts out, but he’ll always play better with a gun configured for woodsballTM. Generally, he begins with a basic pod pack and
camo. A radio is a must for all team play.

Even experienced woodsballers play Medium Rifleman because it requires so many different skills. Fire and maneuver, flanking, marksmanship, suppression fire and assault; the Sabre finds
himself in the middle of everything.

So, grab your gun and get cracking in the good ole school
of hard knocks.

Senior
Requires at least six paintball days playing Sabre position.

Having spent a respectable amount of time mid-field, the Senior Sabre is a solid asset to his team and squad. He can trade paint with the best of them and he’s starting to get a feel for the game. He’s learning not to mad-dog rush the opposition, as he sees that rushing isn’t as good for his team as proven fire and maneuver tactics.

Hearing and following orders under fire was tough at first, but he’s getting the hang of playing at the center of a coordinated squad. His Commander can count on him to be where he’s supposed to be.

The Senior Sabre’s gearkit is coming together, but the biggest improvement has been his mastery of radio communications. After much confusion and many false starts, he’s using his radio and headset effectively. It’s a huge relief for him to know where he should be and what he should be doing.

He was scattered at first, but as he gains experience, his team is counting on great things from the Senior Sabre.

Master
Requires at least fifteen paintball days playing Sabre position.

The Master Sabre rocks the field. He can play any position almost as well as the specialist and he’s a force-to-be-reckoned-with when he’s anchoring his squad. If he’s not already in command of his squad, he’s definitely second in command.

His squad works the field like a lawnmower cutting grass. They scythe through the competition methodically and with care not to lose a single member of their team. It’s remarkable to see the Master Sabre at work – he bumps upfield, hacks apart fixed enemy positions, then bumps again.

The Master’s gearkit is finely honed, now. His marker is perfectly customized and his load bearing equipment is in perfect order. He’s a master at radio communications and he fits into the team plan like the last piece of a puzzle.

Elite
Requires at least fifteen paintball days playing Sabre position and a special commendation from Team Special Ops Paintball.

When Team SpecOps came across this guy, it was obvious
that he had massive experience in dealing destruction to the opposition. To observe him on the field is to think that he’s impervious to paintballs. However, if you watch closely, you’ll
see that the Elite Sabre takes no chances – he risks himself and his buddies only to maximum advantage.

Any team would be lucky to play alongside the Elite Sabre. He carries his weight and
then some.

Hammer Mobile Heavy Gunner

Few are prepared to carry the enormous burdens, or the bulging gearkit, of the Heavy Gunner. Few can afford his monster gun or it’s limitless appetite for paint.

Photo: Special Ops – Hammer – Mobile Heavy Gunner But for those who have the brawn and bucks, the Heavy Gunner position is like a horseman of the apocalypse on the field. To qualify as a Heavy Gunner, as opposed to a less-endowed Heavy Rifleman, you need to be toting something really, really heavy. . . something like a Double-trouble Tippmann A-5 Gatlin. At thirty rounds per second, the Double-trouble slams the bad guys like Zeus throwing lightning bolts.

You have to see it to believe it.

The fully equipped Heavy Gunner can raise many kinds of hell; he can hammer through any amount of brush, mercilessly pound defensive fortifications to clear for an assault and throw clouds of artillery-like long balls into far-distant clumps of enemy.

Much hated by the walk-ons and much loved by his team, the Heavy Gunner looks, sounds and smack-talks like death incarnate. All hail the king!

Tips for Heavy Gunner

* You’re being counted on to lay paint, so your gearkit will be heavy, including grenades and a ton of pods. You carry loads of paint (900 rounds or more,) and plenty of air to back it up.

* Low-profile and high-volume are best when it comes to choosing a Broadsword gun. You will spend a lot of time on your belly, hammering away at enemy positions. You want to present a VERY low profile when you’re lying on the ground. With your air on-gun, you will sit high and you’ll have to crane your neck to shoot. That’s not a good thing. Consider buying a remote air system to get your paintgun down and your head tucked right into the nap of the earth.

* Your offensive position should usually be at the hairy edge of maximum paintball range. Give yourself advantages like a Tippmann Flatline barrel so that you extend your range and get your butt out of harm’s way.

* Every time you get taken out, take a few minutes to figure out why. Pick apart the situation and determine what you did to get your butt blown off. Then, figure out what you can do in the same situation next time to stay alive. If you’re having trouble figuring it
out, go ask your Squad or Team Commander what he thinks you
should’ve done differently.

* One hint: if you’re getting eliminated more than half the time, you’re probably too much in the fray. Let your lighter players make the bold moves while you back them up. You’ll still be in the fight, but you shouldn’t be at the point of the sword.

* Look for ways to increase your paint capacity. If you’re shooting a Tippmann A-5, you might want to jump to a jumbo hopper.

* A good defensive player will rack up more kills than anyone else on the team. If your defense is set up right, you will have a two-to-one advantage or better. In other words, a player set in a strong defensive position can take out two guys or more for every time he gets eliminated. Elite defenders will commonly rack up twenty kills in a game. If the team’s plan is good, then defense will see tons of action and will enjoy a very target-rich environment.

Field Tactics for Heavy Gunner

* You have several main jobs: suppression fire, long-ball barrages, bushwhacking and defense. Sometimes, if there’s no Heavy Rifleman around, you might be asked to provide a base of fire for a flanking maneuver, too.

Suppression Fire

* When a teammate is preparing to make a bold move (maybe a rush or a leapfrog forward) they will need suppression fire to cover their advance. By laying paint heavily into a known or suspected enemy position, you put heads down to clear the way for your buddy’s push.

* It rarely works to try to suppress more than one angle at a time. You can cover one small bunker or one window of a pillbox. If you agree to cover more, you will probably fail to fully suppress the opposition, and this can get your buddy taken out.

* When you suppress, give it all you’ve got. Time your fire to match the exact moment when your buddy will be making his move. As soon as he’s under cover again, let up so you don’t run out of paint.

* Watch your buddy’s move carefully so that you can pull your stream of paint if he runs into it. Don’t stop shooting, just raise your fire or angle it to one side.

* Full-auto is best for suppression fire. If your home field doesn’t allow full-auto, try a Firestorm crank. The Firestorm is legal on most fields and it lays down enough paint to make anyone think twice about putting their head up.

* When you’re setting up to provide suppression fire, you shouldn’t be so far forward that you’re a feasible target. You should be firing from the very edge of paintball range. It helps, if you do a lot of suppression fire, to carry a Flatline-equipped Tippmann A-5. The Flatline can out-range most paintball guns by twenty-percent or more. Though the Flatline isn’t as accurate as most barrels, you don’t need tight accuracy for suppression fire.

Long-ball Barrages

* If your heavy gun is equipped with Flatline barrels, then you have the capability of launching long, arcing shots into clusters of enemy. This is very effective when your team bogs down against an op-force across an open area.

* By giving your shots an insane amount of arc, you can reach over one hundred yards. However, you will have zero accuracy. The paintballs will fall from the sky and splatter around and between the enemy. Even a dropped paintball will break if it hits something firm (like the other guy’s head.)

* Bracket your arcing shots to dial them in on the enemy. Begin shooting low and raise your aim steadily until your barrage passes over top of the clustered players. You probably won’t be able to see the point of impact, but bracketing is your best way to walk in your barrage. One way or another, it will probably force them to abandon their position (giving your team the open space.)

Bushwhacking

* When the enemy hides behind screens of brush, and nobody is getting through, the Heavy Gunner can often pound through the screen with a liberal dose of paint.

* If you’re called up to bushwhack, make sure not to expose yourself to other angles of fire when you hit the brush. Enemy players behind the screen will probably high-tail it when you start blasting away, but you still must be cautious. A big gun doesn’t make you impervious to paintballs.

Defense

* How you set your defense will depend on the team’s overall strategy. If the team’s playing a strong-side attack, then your objective on defense will be to stall and survive for as long as possible. If your team’s playing an early game ambush-style strategy, then your objective will be to whittle down the numbers of the enemy before launching an assault.

Survival-style Defense

* A survival-style defense is constructed to hold the enemy off for as long as possible. This gives your assault force the maximum possible time to hit the enemy flag base, take the flag and back-door anyone who’s hitting your defense. In a survival-style defense, you will keep back the MINIMUM number of defenders that you possibly can and still hold your flag for the entire game time (but just barely.) By keeping only the bare minimum, you free up as many men as possible to hit the opposition’s flag. By strengthening the attack force, you speed the end of the game. If the game ends and you still have a big posse of defenders, then you probably held back too many.

* Fire on the enemy when they’re at maximum range – this is especially effective when you’re shooting a Tippmann Flatline. Making the enemy bunker up way, way out there will buy you more time. Keep them from advancing by popping away at them every time they look ready to move.

* If you have fortress-strong defenses around your flag, then begin and end your game in these bunkers. However, if the defenses around your flag are natural barricades and waist-high bunkers, then you should set a series of staged, fall-back positions. When using a staged defense, you set perimeters of defense where your defenders hit the approaching enemy, then slide back to the next, closer perimeter. By hitting them in mini-ambushes, you will slow their advance to a crawl.

* Don’t forget to cover the back routes to your flag. A smart opponent will send attackers around to encircle your flag base from behind. If that happens, you’re toast.

* When you shrink the perimeter, take special care to sneak or belly crawl back to the next position unseen by the attackers. Take a few shots, then slink away unseen. They will spend precious minutes trying to figure out if you’re still where they saw you last.

* When your defensive line shrinks, be careful not to leave a teammate out where the attackers can flank him. It’s best to shrink the defensive perimeter all at the same time so that everyone covers everybody else’s flank. When you lose a player, that’s a good time to shrink the perimeter and tighten everything up. Coordinate all of this with liberal use of radio communication.

* On most fields, your last-stand defensive position should be behind the flag (and up against the back boundary, if you can still cover the flag from there.)

Ambush-style Defense

* When the team plan is to reduce enemy numbers before launching the main assault, you must put up an ambush-style defense. The objective of the ambush-style “D” is to suck the enemy in where they can be methodically wiped out.

* A good ambush defense is more about where you leave gaps then it is about where you position your defense. If you leave one side completely open, for example, the enemy is likely to fill into that side.

* Since the main assault is waiting to reduce the enemy numbers before attacking, you should have a ton of extra players to place in ambush positions. Decide where your gaps will be and place your defenders in a wide “U” shape to encircle the op-force attack elements. Make sure the gap is wide enough for the entire attack squad to fit inside. Otherwise, they will make contact with the tops of your “U” too soon and simply bog down trading shots. Often during capture the flag games, the “U” shape will span the entire field – giving the attackers a huge gap to fill in.

* It’s often a good idea to bury the legs of your ambush along the deep side boundaries of your half of the field or along natural boundaries. Then, when the attackers fill into the middle, your side players can collapse on them and gain target-rich, side-door angles.

* Ambush D is all about patience and holding your fire until they are in your trap. If you shoot too soon, they will bunker up way before wandering into the kill zone. Unlike a survival-style defense, you want to wait to shoot until you have lethal range.

Providing a Base of Fire

* When your pointman encounters enemy, your squad will respond by building a base of fire and sending flankers. As soon as your pointman hits resistance, you should hustle up and join him. Begin trading fire (it’s not important that you make a kill at this point) with any known enemy.

* Don’t trade fire from a position where there is a substantial threat to you. If your opponents are vigorously returning fire, then you’re probably too exposed. Back up a little until your cover improves. If you’re taking fire from multiple angles, then you’re way too far out. Retreat quickly, turn and bump up until you engage with one angle of fire (only!)

* Even if you don’t have a good shot at your opponents, keep up consistent fire. You need to keep their attention locked on you so that your flankers can get around to their side without being noticed.

* Watch your paint supply. While it’s important that you keep the enemy engaged, you can’t run out of paint in the process. Shoot enough to keep them interested, but not enough to burn up all your paint.

* Establish a code with your flankers so that they can radio and let you know when they need you to step up the covering fire. When they call, you can inch forward and begin to pour it on. Soon, your flankers will open up their own angles of fire and the opposition will be taken out or retreat.

Ideal Attributes for Heavy Gunner

* Hardy. This guy loves to lay it on thick. He’s probably big, both in stature and attitude.

* Moderate physical fitness. While the HG must lug a ton of gear around the field, nobody expects him to be really quick about it. Your friendly neighborhood football center should do fine.

* A love of firepower. You’ve got to love shooting paintballs to make it worth lugging the Heavy Gunner package around the field.

* Happy to pitch in. The HG needs to come hustling to the front when his Squad Leader calls for volume fire.

* Huge inheritance or a side-job as a porn star. It costs a few bucks to buy and fire the Double-T or other HG gun. Unless the team’s helping him out, he’ll need to drop his other expensive habits to take up the HG addiction.

Heavy Gunner Skill Progression

Basic
Requires at least one paintball day playing Heavy Gunner position.

There’s no cheap way to play Heavy Gunner. If you’re serious, you spend whatever it takes to strap on the big guns. With a Double-trouble A-5 Gatlin or better, you’ll spend over a thousand bucks to even CALL yourself a Heavy. That alone might be worth a commendation.

But, as our HG hammers away at the muppets on his local field, he will gain valuable insight and experience. It isn’t ALL in the gun. Success has something to do with where the beast is pointed, too.

Playing HG is really several positions. The big boy plays suppressive fire specialist, brush hammer and artillery expert all-in-one. One important skill that must be developed is knowing when NOT to crank up the big guns. If he lays too much paint in the wrong place, even a massive paint load will run out. Then, he’s just a big, slow target.

No matter how good you’ve become as the Heavy Gunner, one thing is certain: it’s a freaking crap-load of fun. You’ll laugh all the way to the poorhouse, if you’re not careful (or rich.)

Senior
Requires at least six paintball days playing Heavy Gunner position.

Officially, the Senior HG’s a menace. Everyone grumbles when they hear him rev up his hammerwagon, and no place is safe from the roar of his beast. He stomps to the front whenever his Commander yells, “SAW!!” There, he pummels defenses, rips through bushes or barrages distant positions.

In any case, the opposition rarely shoots back. Who wants to stand against the storm of paint unleashed by the Double-T Gatlin? Better to wait it out. But, by the time the storm subsides, his buddies are usually crawling up your six.

A Senior HG’s kit is coming together nicely. He straps on a custom-made vest that totes a mountain of paint and air while still leaving him somewhat mobile. His guns also clip to the vest, giving him a solid shooting platform from any upright position.

Suppressive fire isn’t supposed to rack up a ton of kills, but as the Senior HG gains experience, he’s posting some rep-worthy stats, in addition to clearing the way for his team’s fast-movers.

Master
Requires at least fifteen paintball days playing Heavy Gunner position.

Even Jesse Ventura in “Predator,” mini-gun and all, could learn a few things from the Master Heavy Gunner. Having unleashed literally tens of thousands of paintballs through his Double-T Gatlin, this dude knows his guns, his field and his victims.

Now, the opposition doesn’t just duck when they hear the cry of “SAW!,” they bolt like frightened rabbits. That’s what he’s starting to call the sad creatures who face the wrath of his guns, “rabbits.” You can sometimes hear him bellow, “Run little rabbits!”

With his flatlines tuned, the HG can reach out and touch someone. He takes a different approach than the “one shot, one kill” snipers. His motto is “three hundred shots, three kills.” He’s a master of long-range, super-arc, barrages and he can inflict harm at well over one hundred twenty yards.

The other team’s still stumped over how to counter the raging firestorm of the Heavy Gunner. Other than getting an HG of their own, who knows if anything can stop him?

Elite
Requires at least fifteen paintball days playing Heavy Gunner position and a special commendation from Team Special Ops Paintball.

Buying the gearkit alone won’t earn you an Elite HG commendation from Team SpecOps. But when the team runs across one of the few who can ride the thunder of the Double-T Gatlin, they’ve got to give him his props.

It takes skill and care to keep the big guns from going to your head. An Elite HG never gets any closer to the enemy than he must. Truly great HGs hardly ever get eliminated. They deal destruction from a distance that can’t be matched by mere mortal shooters.

When he knows his guns and masters his technique, the Elite Heavy Gunner becomes some kind of invincible Norse god on the field.