Real-world squad level tactics in D&D?

[Plane Sailing]

Except that the OP said squad level tactics. A US Army squad is eight to ten men and sergeant, for instance. A fire team, four to five men in the US Army, is closer to a party in size.

Probably getting a little picky there

It seems likely that the OPs wife was thinking about 'small groups rather than big armies' and chose squad as an appropriate representation...

Cheers

 

[S'mon]

One reason the squad-level tactics I was taught in the TA don't work in D&D is the lack of a phased combat round in modern iterations. Unless you apply ad hoc simultneity in combat, every figure completes its entire action while everyone else is frozen in place around it. This makes eg bounding overwatch or fire element + assault element L-shaped assaults effectively impossible, and encourages a disjointed, every man for himself approach.

 

[mmadsen]

If you want to be good at D&D tactics then the only way to do that is to be good at the D&D rules.

Sad but true. I knew better, but I was hoping the new edition would base its highly tactical rules on known real-world tactics and then branch out into more fanciful elements.

While that is going on your strikers are concentrating fire on one enemy at a time until he is dead because spreading out damage is of little benefit.

That's an artifact of (high) hit points, incidentally.

One thing that gets lost in a lot of combat simulations is that a huge factor in combat is simply trying to establish and maintain control over a large mass of men who don't want to die, and who don't really want to kill either. Many tactics are really clever ways to hold soldiers accountable. We all load and shoot together, so that we all in fact load and shoot at all. We put the young, green soldiers up front, with the veterans behind them, because then the young, green soldiers won't run away.

 

[Bluenose]

Except that the OP said squad level tactics. A US Army squad is eight to ten men and sergeant, for instance. A fire team, four to five men in the US Army, is closer to a party in size.

In the Medieval period, the smallest battlefield unit any one really cared about was a company. The Roman Legions were more stuctured, breaking a Legion all the way down into eight man formations, but even then the typical fighting unit was a century (eighty heavy infantrymen).

What being a soldier and the tactical knowledge it conferred depends on the time period, the armament, the social structure, and a number of other things.

In medieval periods, at least in much of Western Europe, the Lance was the lowest level group to be hired. That would consist of a knight; his squire, if any; his page, possibly; one or two armed servants, who would be mounted to keep up with a mounted column. They wouldn't fight in that sort of group, but at the lower level of conflict that's how they're hired and paid.

As for how groups were organised in combat, that would depend on what was needed. Organisation for a set piece battle is very different from how a party of raiders would appear. The closest thing to a D&D party would be a small group assembled for some particular mission, such as seizing a small tower or opening the gates to a keep as part of a coup de main.

 

[taliesin15]

I saw a documentary a few months ago on the Military Channel about the elite Army Rangers school, and thought that a number of the techniques they used could be employed by parties in D&D settings. They did say that a number of their techniques are very old, some based on 18th century guerilla tactics, some older.

One of the very basic ones is having a set of non-verbal hand signals known by all in the party for use in scouting. I'm often surprised that the PCs don't work out something like this ahead of time, especially given that parties I run usually have a Ranger in the group. Maybe I should be handing the player running the Ranger a note saying in effect "your training suggests that you should teach the other party members these basic hand signals for use in reconoittering" etc.

 

[Zaruthustran]

My lovely wife wants to learn some of the basics on squad tactics... her new character has training as a soldier, but neither she nor I know much about it. Are there any old Dragon magazine articles or anything like that which deal with it? Any resources or opinions would be welcome, thanks guys!

-Arravis

One of the basics of squad level tactics is recognizing the role of each member of the squad, and working together to optimize the appropriate role for the current situation. 4E helps with this by labeling each class's role.

So in a situation vs. a lot of minions, the other party members work to confine groups of minions together so the wizard can bomb them. In situations vs single opponents, it's all about giving the striker the best opportunity to do his thing. Etc.

So I think the best basic advice is to ask your wife to pay attention to the elements in the current encounter, including foes and allies. Then choose actions that most benefit the squad/the squad's mission--not necessarily the action that most benefits her own character.

 

[Serendipity]

Might find this interesting. Standard orders for those serving during the French and Indian War. Neat stuff. http://www.phcadet.com/pdf%20files/Standing%20Orders%20and%20Creed.pdf

 

[Arravis]

A US Army squad is eight to ten men and sergeant, for instance. A fire team, four to five men in the US Army, is closer to a party in size.

Amusingly enough... our group has eight people, so squad might work well .
Anyway... thanks for all the responses, I'll have to carefully look through all the links posted etc. Thanks guys and if you think of any more suggestions or advice, please feel free to post!

-Arravis