I am starting this post in order to collect continuously my the CQB tactics that I have encountered or tested in games. Only tested and proven tactics will be posted here and this will be a work in progress.

So here it is...

JASON'S CQB DAIRY

General Principles
- Weapons always pointed, aimed and ready following your line of sight. About the common arguement that you may hit your own teammate should they accidentally "appear" in your line of sight, I can only say that if your team is not cohesive enough in the first place and land yourselves in a situation where you don't know where everyone is, then you should retrain your team before moving on.

- Stealth over dynamic. A stealth approach to point of contact must be maintained. Kicking in a door or storming in dynamic should happen only if the tango is behind that particular door.

- Aim only for center mass as such close range can result in nasty facial wounds to your opposing player. Center mass is also far easier to hit in times of fast engagement.

- Never hang around a particular area without knowing how to move on from there as your team is setting yourselves up for a nasty ambush.

- Mobility is the key of the game... camp and you will die for sure.

- Use only low caps mags for CQB... bring many. This is becos hi-caps make an unmistakeable rattle especially in a team.

- Rushing an enemy is only applicable if your team clearly outnumbers the enemy.

- Never stand before an opened door.

Door[b][u]
[u]Approach

- Never approach a door directly. Approach from the sides as far as possible... Especially if it is an opened door.. you will never know what may surprise you.

- Move as fast and silently as humanly possible and stack up on one or both sides of the door. A slow approach to a door is absolutly unnecessary.

- At the door, quickly crouch, lean and slice the pie from one side of the door to the other to make sure that there are no tangos within line of sight. (notice that at this point, you are missing where the tangos will most commonly hide... the nearest corners beside the door)

- After slicing the pie, stay very very still to listen for any movement for a couple of seconds. This is because any tangos that know that you guys are coming will try to set themselves up quickly for your entry. The rattle of their bbs in their hi-cap mags or gears can be heared very clearly.

- If no movement is heard, kneel, stay very low and quickly check the nearest corners by darting your head in and out quickly. Check only one side at a time! IF no one is seen at one side, doesn't mean no one is in the other. Any tangos will be aiming high and will likely miss your head if you are fast and low enough.

- The whole procedure above should take no more than 10 seconds.

Entry
- If a tango is hiding in nearest corner of the other room, you will almost definitely be killed if you charge into the room. In this case, kneel, stay low and quickly take a pot shot with your pistol into the corner, followed by a quick standing shot into that corner on auto by your teammate. This confuses the tango as to where exactly to aim.

- If no tangos are behind the door, quickly move in, stay close to the walls and clear the door way. Close the door behind you so as not to give away your position.

[b]Corridor
Moving Along

- A corridor is where you want to clear quickly. You do not want to fight in a corridor... especially a narrow one.

- Quick silent steps to where you want to get to.

- Stick very close to wall when moving. If pillars are available, move along behind pillar in a line. This affords a little cover should you be surprise attacked from the front.

- One team mate must always cover the rear and walk backwards together with the team.

- Enter and Clear each and every door that you come across along the corridor... a single tango ambushed in any of these rooms can kill your whole team.

Engagement

- When engaged in along a corridor, first reaction must be for the first persons that see the tango to return a sustained and heavy volley of fire in order to pin the tango back into the corner or room where he came from. The rest of the team out of direct line of sight must either dart for doors or if theres no doors, lay prone quickly as bbs tend to fly up rather than down. The return fire is very critical and all assualters must be trained for this reaction. Some of your teammates will be hit in such surprise engagement but that must not deter you and the rest from returning fire and pinning those tangos down.

- Darting for cover first when engaged is a sure way for tangos to pin your team in and to plan for a wipeout attack.

- Only when you have effectively pinned your enemy into a door or corner can you plan an attack as there is usually no where else to hide or flank along a corridor.

Starcase
Narrow Staircases
- When the stairwell is only wide enough for one man at a time, only 2 man should walk up or down it at any one time. The rest of the team must wait at the bottom of the stairwell. This is to facilitate a quick retreat should heavy resistance be encounted at the bend.

- one man should hold a tactical mirror, and stay as low as possible to mirror the bend of the stairwell the other man should stand high and cover with weapon in case a tango should rush down or up.

- If a tango is sighted covering the exit of the stairwell, there will virtually be no way to attack without sacrifice. (becos we have no flashbangs or that jazz, right?) In this case, either search for an alternative way up or stack up in one line with the front man on full auto. The front man should rush up and kill the tango on full auto... definitely he will be hit too but once the tango is cleared, the team can then move on. This is especially useful when your team clearly outnumbers the tangos that are remaining in play.

- The rest of the team should rush up and take up defensive positions after the tango is cleared by the front man. Other tangos may be attracted by the sound of fire , therefore, stay in defensive position for a while before moving on.

Wide Staircases

- Move up or down in 2 lines together. Mirror the bends or exit as above.

Assaulting through a door
- Speed is of essence.

- Rush in line. First man should run through without shooting in a line adjacent to the position of the tango.. this is to attract fire... the first man will likely be hit anyways if the tango is camping and ready to fire.

- The second man must rush in and quickly shoot the tango on full auto.

- After that, clear the door quickly so as to allow your whole team into the room quickly. This is because very likely another tango might have been on the way behind the team assaulting the room.

When in Room and under assualt
- Your team is in a room and opposing players are stacked and ready to assualt your team.

- Press yourself flat against the wall beside the door and aim straight at the door. This exposes the least possible angle to the incoming enemy and will definitely give you an edge if they are coming in with rifles which takes time to turn and see you in that deep corner that you are in. You will also not be seen or shot at when enemy slices the pie on the doorway.

- Shoot quickly at anything that comes through the door while pressed against the wall... you have only one shot at it....

Thanks for the article Jason. Its always nice to see another persons point of view on CQB tactics. Take a minute when you have time to spell check your article. Use word or you can DL iespell check (for internet explorer, a life saver for me) which you can DL for free at http://www.iespell.com

Thanks

lol I know airsoft isnt a SWAT team, or other group of highly trained proffessionals, but you had a lot of "probably gonna lose someone in these situations" lol I don't know maybe theres a way to not lose two or three people in your team

James

A very insightful article. Very well done. It has been my experience through SWAT training, etc. that its usually the 4rth guy in the door (when an entry is done correctly by a highly trained team) that gets shot first. You can push a team of 8 into a room in 2 or 3 seconds and neutralize a threat quickly. But again, this was not airsoft teams, but the PD's SWAT that got to train all the time. I also discovered that pushing more than 4 or 5 guys into a room tends to overcrowd and you jumble up on each other. Again though, great article!

Yes, I understand where you are coming from. :) Indeed in all games or war, we aim for zero casualties on our side with all sorts of counter measures but let's not forget that our enemies are no fools too. They will have counter counter measures on their hands too and they definitely don't set themselves up or ambush without certain degree of confidence that they can kill some one... thats the same way we think when we do the same things, isn't it? :) We must accept that people must be hit, similar to a game of chess where sometimes, sacrificing a piece is the only way to set your opponents up for a checkmate. If you are the tango and you are conducting a surprise attack on a team thats walking down a corridor, won't you be very certain of a kill? If you are camping at the top of a narrow stairway aimed and shooting on sight, wouldn't you be confident of a kill? :) Sometimes, when there are no way around being engaged in such a situation, then sacrifice is necessary. Of course, finding a way not to engage in those situations must be top priority... I was suggesting if there is no way around it.

I know, that was me being me, and giving you crap more then "everyone should be top notch and never die" I understand how it works, im just messing with ya

Firstly, great article, as it cross applies some real-world room clearing techniques with a focus on uses for airsoft. Simply great job, as it look like it took some time to organize them into there own particular sections. I like your focus on the various CQB environments, from stair ways to long corridors. I definitely agree with all the various tips and suggestions you gave on how teams should stack, and how to approach various environments in CQB airsoft games.

Good job identifying even the smallest of details. For instance one of the best recommendations I think in your article is, the use of low capacity magazines, especially if your attempting to maintain the element of surprise, or the need for a stealth entry.

I think this is a definite must read for either an amateur or veteran CQB player. I'll definitely recommend other members on my team to read this. But again, most important aspect to prevail in CQB scenarios is not to simply read what you must do, but to apply it.



For airsoft, the thought of casualities is of no concern, unless there is a "medic" and regulated rules surrounding the use of a "medic". Moreover, I think that the element of surprise is further reduced in CQB games with airsoft, as games ussually have a fixed time, and players know they will need to cover door ways, and expect an assualt to occur. While in the real-world applications, special operation teams have the element of surprise since the enemy does not know if, and when the call for breach will occur. And there are diversionary tactics, which can add confusion the enemy, distract, and permitting the assualters to overwhelm them with power & aggression.

Thank you for seeing the value in this article. Please let me know how it works for your team in real application and I will also be adding to it everytime I finish a weekend game or training.

This is very informative and accurate. It's exactly how LEO and military personnel taught it to me.

yo jason :)

you missed one key point in your article



always check for moving shadows


when we had that game against edward and we where doing the CQB part I always checked for moving shadows :)

got three kills like that



it will be good to play with you and SA again on saturday

Good point, again display your attention to the smallest of details.

I can testify to that. I was killed, since the person inside the building saw the outline of my body's shadow against the wall before I breached. I am not sure if there is any way to avoid a shadow for airsoft, as we can't take out the lights in a building, nor operate solely at night.

wow

but some of the more hard core or less safety contious do have flashbangs and smoke grenades, and in that case, "open flash and clear" and the works are plausible options for door breaches
which you would do these things

smoke
walk off some smoke at the door so they get some visual distracition when you barge through
then take another which is already smoking and toss it into the center but slightly towards your entry to give you the visual advantage since you are more likely to see through the smoke when you are closer to it

flashbangs

walkit off until it is 2 seconds off and open the door just enough to tossit in, try to get it near the door since the movement will draw there attention. close the door and wait until the nade detonates and the move in making sure when you open the door, the nade shell is pushed out of the way to prevent falls

Though I have never been close to a flashbang, I remember reading somewhere, a tip.

Close your eyes, put one hand over the ear and move your shoulder and head together with side that you grip your weapon, so you too won't be too disoriented after releasing the flashbang.

I dislike the smoke grenade, unless your using it to mask your approach, or exit, but using it for breaching, jeez. Bad idea, you can't differeniate between hostages and hostiles, and your chances of tripping or falling increases, which is bad in the tight room.

I know, it is just what I've read in manuals online and stuff
I would personnaly rather just use a phosphorous grenade or flush them out with tear gas
but then, agin,I don't have those

[b]Corridor
Moving Along

- A corridor is where you want to clear quickly. You do not want to fight in a corridor... especially a narrow one.

- Quick silent steps to where you want to get to.

- Stick very close to wall when moving. If pillars are available, move along behind pillar in a line. This affords a little cover should you be surprise attacked from the front.
[quote]

I had heard before that in urban combat or cqb you want to stay away from walls, because of the possibility of richochetes. ( I think that's how you spell it? ) Okay, well whatever

nice guide =) , I might print it out and show to friends. a spell check might help like battlepriest said..


EDIT:
I just necroposted didn't I? I need to be more careful. *hit on head*

very informative. I agree with you on the low cap mags since high caps do give out your position...and always remember to...watch those corners!

This thread seems quite old, but I'd thought I'd add...

If you're going into a small room, and your field allows it, make sure to use a "bang kill" instead of lighting the hell out of them.

Although it may not be as fun, it will keep everyone happy. I usually take a shot with my pistol when I'm about 20 ft away from the target, but anything less than 5-10 feet you should really be calling "bang kills".

Also, if your target is within the legal range of your AEG, but does not see you, give the target a nice semi-auto shot on the thickest part of their vest. He/she will remember that when he/she has YOU in their sights.

Remember, the objective is to win, not to make your opponent bleed.

"Kicking in a door or storming in dynamic should happen only if the tango is behind that particular door."

Tango isn't universal for hostile.

a little to add on to aid thread revival

You really shouldn't really kick in a door unless there is no other way through. That is becuase you kick it open, and then you have to have a second to regain your balance from kicking it it. Not to mention having to pay for it...
Much more effective, to swing it open using you hand to turn the door knob, let the guy spray into empty space, figure out where the guy is based on the angle the bb's are flying out at, then go in and take him out as he reloads.
Kicking in doors work probably the best when no one is in the room, or expecting it.
If I had a gun that could go through doors, and I heard someone kick a door in, first thing I would do, turn around, and shoot directly into the door, because I know where the guy is going to be for that second. Airsoft, this doesn't work, but this is supposed to be realistic, isn't it?

This is a very well written article. The only peeve I have is that you don't bring the point up about the pointman. He should have a compact weapon such as a P90, MP5/MP5K, MP7, or pistol. You wouldn't have a pointman use a G3 (which is over 40 inches long, I use one), that would just be foolish and asking for trouble. Your article is written almost solely from the interior of a structure to another interior point of the same structure. You might need to add a couple pointers about entering a one-roomed structure from the exterior, which frequently happens in games where MOUT is applicable. An example is entering a shack in the woods: It would probably have one door with multiple windows which could present in casualties for your team and possible and probably you. Overall, an excellently written article about common CQB and MOUT situations.


NOTE: When referring to combat in close spaces within usually one building with multiple rooms, please use the term CQB (Close Quarters Battle). When talking about fighting in a built-up area with multifarious structures, please use the term MOUT (Military Operations in Urban Terrain). Also note that I'm not referring to the writer, who has done a fine job distinguishing between the two.

Keep It Real,
-CPosko

It's a good guide except for one thing. When scanning a room before entry NEVER EVER EVER stick your head through the door way. Sure you may be able to see if any tango's are in there but if there are, you just gave up the element of surprise.

The second I see some poor stick his head through a door way not only will I take the shot, but I will reposition and call for reinforcements.

The two key points in CQB is SPEED AND VIOLENCE OF ACTION. Your goal is to put as many people through that fatal funnel in as short a time as possible to overwhelm the objective and quite frankly give them so many bodies, they don't know which one to shoot.

I'd rather assault an empty room at full speed balls to the wall then risk sticking my head in and compromising not only that entry, but every entry into the building and give away that yes, we are about to attack.

Another thing to remember, engage the most immediate threat to you, not the team and keep moving no matter what. Once you're committed to the action, never stop, never give up. The worst thing you can do is stop to help a downed teammate and dragging yourself into a firefight in such confines of a building.