Tactical Decision Game #1 Results

There were several really good solutions submitted for the TDG. The winning submission, awarded for simplicity, speed, and effective assignment of individual units, came from Jacob Copper. Honorable mentions go to a newcomer, Will, for some sound decisions, and Anachronism for good execution and original thinking. An for ENV... Well, I'll just say it was entertaining.

A few things.

Will, I'm not sure how you're suggesting to employ the sniper team; the way you've described it implies that they'll be put to use side by side with one of your rifle squads. Snipers are employed in a fixed position, generally with some distance between them and the action. If I'm misinterpreting your intent, I apologize. Also (and it was pointed out by a comment on your blog) you employ machine guns (vice SAWs) in pairs, never separating them. They're essentially a stationary element (sort of like the snipers), and can't really be employed as mobile weapons.

ENV, your scenario is entertaining, but not very realistic. Even if it worked, you'd probably get a severe dressing down from your senior (in this case, me). Essentially, there are too many moving parts; jury-rigged fuel lines on boats, heat sources, "aiming" a boat on a collision course, instructing Marines to bail out of a boat with no real plan for getting them out of the situation isn't a great plan. Also, a speed boat ramming into a patrol boat probably wouldn't do much damage. You risk not completing your objective at all, and putting your men in danger in the process.

Anachronism, we'll assume that the CP is within range for the sniper, but not the riflemen. If you're going to actively engage the CP, I'd recommend doing so only when more firepower (snipers) are available to you. Your plan to quickly eliminate the dock guards is good. One drawback to your plan is that four guys can't crew the number of Zodiacs it would take to bring an entire platoon plus attached units ashore, so you would need to send additional personnel to recover those rafts. You have a good grasp of commander's intent. Here's Anachronism's writeup for everyone else who hasn't read it yet:

Here are the assignments I hand out and my reasoning.

From the edge of the treeline: Assuming that it’s within range, my opening move is to have my sniper take out someone at the command post (you said it’s visible, but that isn’t the same as in range) and continue shooting at targets there. If the command post is out of range he’ll target the dock guards. As soon as he fires a few of my better marksmen target the dock guards with small arms fire and the rest open up on the tents with machine guns, phosphorus grenades, and fragmentation grenades.

Hitting the command post (if possible) might break down the enemy chain of command and will hopefully slow the arrival of reinforcements, from that station at least, as their first reaction will likely be defensive, rather than counterattacking to the scene of the actual battle.

That said, the immediate concern is the guards and crews between me and my objective, and I want them eliminated as quickly as possible. My plan should eliminate them very quickly, with very little return fire. It’s conceivable that there are civilians (i.e. native women) in the tents, but there’s no way to keep them out of the crossfire if they are, and I’m not going to risk my men’s lives on the chance.

Once the firing starts, my rearguard is to eliminate the man on the beach, if they think he’s a threat. That is, if he starts running toward the fight, he’s an enemy who needs to be taken down (innocent civilians never run towards the gunfire). If he flees or cowers or the like, he’s not a danger. In short, the rear guard has to use their discretion.

That’s the first phase, after which improvisation will probably be necessary, for no plan survives first contact with the enemy. Here’s what I think I would likely do

After the dock guards and crews are neutralized, a machine gun crew and a quarter of my riflemen head to the defense of the bridge against any enemy reinforcements coming from there.

A small squad of those with demolitions and mechanical expertise will move onto the docks.

The rest of the riflemen will move to defend us against any reinforcements coming from the hilltop defense post.

The sniper team will be assigned to one of the defensive teams, depending on where I feel they will do the most good (that is, harm to the enemy).

My reasoning on the docks is thus: why blow up what you can steal? If we can commandeer some of the pirate fleet, we increase our firepower significantly and provide an easy means of retreat, so they go boat to boat, seeing if anyone left the keys in the ignition and ammo onboard. In particular, we’re interested in the patrol boats which will have the heavier weapons and capacity to carry us out.

If we can "liberate" enough boats to carry us, we call back the defending squads, drop grenades into those boats we’re not taking, and head out to sea, calling the Zodiac guys to tell them to head out themselves. We shoot at anything on the shore that looks threatening, as well as any boats we didn’t take that look like they survived the grenades. That’s the optimal scenario since we would probably complete the objective and leave before enemy reinforcements were scrambled to meet us.

If we can’t do that, then we still blow up the boats, and then begin to retreat. This might require us to engage the enemy reinforcements, depending on how much alacrity they responded with. Here, our goal is to discourage pursuit enough for us to retreat and push off to sea without getting killed. We are not trying to destroy the enemy forces, so lay down heavy fire, then disengage quickly. If we’re getting pressed hard, then we call in the gunships.

Jacob, great writeup, simple, direct, effective. Great job, mate. I'll figure out something decent for you.

I'll write up my own solution in the morning. And no, I haven't formulated it yet, I didn't approach this with a preconceived "correct" answer in mind. Given the success of this TDG (thanks for everyone who participated, and thanks to those who heckled) I'll plan to do one next week as well.