The Rules of Infantry Combat

[Bob_Mackenzie]

Hi All

That's real-life rules not wargames rules, though the ultimate intention is inform a set of rules

http://www.testofbattle.com/upload/bob/ ... Combat.htm

Hopefully it may get some of your thinking

Cheers

Bob

Table of contents

Rule 1a: Don't join the infantry.

Rule 1b: Don't send replacements directly to the front line with experienced men.

Rule 1c: Don't get promoted

Rule 2a: Combat is the most stressful thing you'll ever do.

Rule 2b: Everything in combat takes a long time.

Rule 2c: (nearly) Everyone is suppressed all the time

Rule 3a: Many soldiers don't bother shooting or are otherwise utterly useless in combat

Rule 3b: Six Gutful Men

Rule 3c: Somewhat less Gutful Men

Rule 4: Everyone is Invisible

Rule 5a: "Couldn't hit the side of a barn at 10m"

Rule 5b: Gutful Men shoot better

Rule 5c: Heavy weapons shoot better

Rule 6a: The rifle doesn't make that much difference

Rule 6b: Automatic fire is a good way of wasting ammo

Rule 6c: The boys (and girls) like to make some noise

Rule 6d: Machine guns are awesome but some are more awesome than others

Rule 6e: Overkill, enough is enough

Rule 6f: Mortars and artillery hurt

Rule 6g: If you can't get a mortar use an RPG

Rule 6h: They don't like it up 'em

Rule 7a: Skirmishes are important

Rule 7b: Fire, fire and manoeuvre

Rule 7c: Fiddling with squad organisation makes no difference

Rule 8a: We shall shock them

Rule 8b: Tanks are scary.

Rule 8c: Leadership is critical, the four top factors for morale

Rule 8d: Casualties are bad, but not that bad

Rule 9: The woodpeckers will be OK

Reading between the lines

RBL 10a: Special forces are special

RBL 10b: Snipers are lethal

RBL 11a: Loss of leaders leads to loss of impetus

RBL 11b: Elite units won't remain elite for long in sustained combat

Conclusions

[Timotheus]

Thank you, fantastic reading.

[Fire at Will]

A useful summary

[S_P]

Very interesting reading Bob- thanks

[Faustnik]

Very enlighten. Well done

Thanks for posting

[mausmann]

Many thanx for posting....

[empecinado]

Really interesting. Thanks for sharing!

[dead1]

Excellent post! This kind of stuff is fascinating and could lead to some interesting wargaming rule ideas.