The Basics of War

Department of HumanitiesPsychology/Sociology Section

For: Chief EngineerSubject: Squad Tactics: The building blocks of strategic warfare.

Since time immortal, there has been war. It is one of the oldest forms of politics that the beings of the multiverse have openly embraced and, quite frequently, engaged in. No place outside of Acheron's First Layer can boast of such precision in war. The Baatezu Blood War armies are close in comparison, but due to their devotions to the Blood War, politics & corruption of mortal souls, they don't spend as much time as the Acheronian militaries do. Granted, the Baatezu are ageless, but they have other, and according to them, much more important things to do.

The basic element of squad tactics depends on the style of unit. The following is all of the current military units that I know of:

Light InfantryHeavy InfantrySkirmishersLight CalvaryHeavy CalvaryDragoonsArtilleristsSappersEngineers

Again, this follows the Rule-of-Threes. Light & Heavy Infantry and Skirmishers fall under the Foot Units category. Light & Heavy Calvary and Dragoons all are grouped together as Mounted Units. Artillerists, Sappers & Engineers are all Special/Heavy Weapons Units.

To start, I'll cover the basic Foot Unit tactics. These tactics are learned and used by all soldiers of Acheron, regardless if they are part of the Combat Arms branch or not. There are only a handful of basic tactics that are taught. These tactics are based upon the use of the following basic weaponry: sword, shield, pike & club.

Swords & shield is the primary weaponry used by the infantryman. They rely heavily upon it due to its lethal power. When travelling on patrol, the pike or other pole arm is often used to keep hostile forces at a distance as long as possible while half of the unit readies their shield & sword. Clubs and other bludgeoning weapons are used as a last resort. The main strategy of the squad uses groupings of a minimum of two soldiers. This allows the squad a higher survivability rate. However, the general formation of the squad is the most important aspect in planning the squad's mission.

For purposes of covering the most ground, the column is the best formation. It spreads the squad out in a thin line over some distance, but allows easy passage though rough terrain. The major drawbacks of this formation are its vulnerability to flank and rear attacks.

When caution is called upon, the squad relies upon the "V" or wedge formation. The wedge formation, is as the name implies a vee-shaped pattern with a point man in front and the other members of the squad spread out at a pre-determined interval (normally about fifteen feet) for open terrains and closer distances for areas where LOS (Line Of Sight) can be lost easily. When in this formation, it is harder to sneak up on the squad, but it is equally hard on the squad to regroup if attacked. However, there is very little chance of a successful ambush against this style of formation and is the preferred formation of the infantry squad & platoon when they are close to their enemies, but have not solid information to their exact locale. This formation also allows for the quick dispersal of troops in areas providing concealment to keep from being spotted.

The last of the major formations of the squad is the square. Square formations, are designed for heavy defense. Squares cannot be taken by surprise due to the way they are structured. All members of the square face out towards the direction of the square they happen to be on. The major drawback of this formation is the sacrifice of speed and mobility. Squares are clumsy and can only be maintained on a clear and open field.

More important than the formation is the soldier's ability to keep out of sight of the enemy (go to ground) by hiding. While protecting the soldier, and ultimately the squad, it impedes the mission by delaying it until the soldier can move on. Sometimes, this is the mission of the squad. Such missions are normally conducted by scouts specifically trained in the art of camouflage and basic intelligence/ counterintelligence skills. They entrench themselves behind the enemy lines and gather as much information they can on the whereabouts of the enemy reports and send word back to the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) allowing them more time, if any to modify their attack/defense plans and strategies.

Their secondary mission is to harry any enemy scouts and delay their reports as well as running a simple interference screen while elements of Light Infantry and Skirmisher units come up to the front to take over and flex their military might against the smaller forces of the enemy. To this end, it is common practice for the greater military units of Acheron to keep a contingent of skirmishers close by to their scouts to move up quickly and engage the enemy forces. This effectively destroys any counterintelligence the enemy may attempt. Successful uses of this tactic will blind an opposing army of the danger to their exposed front and allow the main body of the attacking force to move in and establish a foothold on the enemy's strongpoints. The scouts and skirmishers constantly move forward screening the way until they are in sight of the main body of the enemy all the whiles keeping the enemy blind to it.

Thus using these methods, Acheron weeds out the weaker armies who fail to plan for such simple attacks. For my next letter, I shall use these tactics to better illustrate what we are drilled on.

Calix Arvandus, Shaper 2.