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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FormerlyHemlock" data-source="post: 6978754" data-attributes="member: 6787650">Iraq, as proven by Greg Benage's post. That post, especially the "recon by fire" bit, also makes it clear that from a D&D perspective, the "encounter" started for the U.S. troops long before the troops began their movement-to-contact. That post actually supports the opposite conclusion from yours: 5E encounters should begin at long range even in urban areas like Iraq. "It bears recognizing also that the rules of engagement in Iraq were very restrictive and tended to suppress one of the principal uses of machine guns in previous conflicts: to conduct recon by fire. When units located a terrain feature that seemed useful for enemy defenders, they would hose it down with MG fire. If return fire came back, the battle was on (more likely, they would call for artillery and blow it away)... But infantry couldn't do recon by fire in Iraq, at least very much, because the potential for civilian deaths was too great. So Iraqi defenders retained the initiative of when to begin the firefight." If the PCs are deciding whether or not to conduct recon by fire on a potential hobgoblin strong point, then they're interacting with it--which means the encounter has already begun.In Afghanistan the combat ranges are even greater, with 300 meters (about 1000') the median range.</blockquote>