Fields of Fire: Organized for action

In the initial scenario of Field of Fire’s Normandy campaign, task organization isn’t rocket science. Everybody is at full-strength and the mission seems fairly straightforward. As a player, all you have to do is remember two things: 1) organize according to mission tasks and 2) organize to keep your cardboard company under control.

In the historical time frame covered by the game, organic fire support is a real challenge for the US. Compared to your run-of-the-mill German infantry company, a run-of-the-mill American infantry company has very few machineguns. Light machineguns were a squad-level weapon in the German Army. American tactical doctrine at the time kept the machineguns (and not very many of them, at that) at the company level so they could be doled out as support teams by the CO.

This means machineguns are a precious asset. As I organize my company for action, I’ve got three teams to assign: two light MG teams (.30 cal guns) and one heavy MG team (.50 cal gun). This is a very straight ‘by the book’ TO&E, so apparently all of the skilled scroungers have been taken by one of the other rifle companies.

The Starting Lineup

The game system encourages dispersion when it comes to assigning assets. Here’s why: If you concentrate the deployment of your support weapons, it’s very likely that they will all spot and engage the same target at the same time. The result will be a huge waste of valuable machinegun ammo, because combat is based on a Volume-of-Fire principle that is NOT additive – usually only the ‘best’ VOF rating (in terms of combat modifier) is applied to a target card. So if both of your light machinegun teams and the heavy machinegun team all engage the same target, you still only get a net -1 combat modifier – but all three teams expend a unit of ammo.

So my machinegun teams are going to be deployed with a little distance between them. First platoon and second platoon each get a light MG team. I figure that 1 Plt, my main maneuver element, may need some close-in firepower as it tries to close on the objectives. 2 Plt is my base of fire, so it gets a light MG too. The heavy MG team stays unattached and under the direct control of the CO.

There are some other support assets to dole out. Each platoon gets one of the company’s three bazooka teams. Then there’s the matter of what to do with the company’s 3-tube platoon of 60mm mortars.

Two options are available for deployment of the mortars. Option 1 is to deploy them as a complete platoon which can lay down an ‘H’ (heavy weapons) rated VOF. Option 2 is to break the platoon up into its three constituent 1-tube mortar teams, each of which can generate a ‘G!’ (grenade) rated VOF.

An H-rated VOF carries an -3 net combat modifier that impacts every unit on the target card. A G!-rated VOF generates a -4 NCM against a single target unit — IF a grenade attack attempt is successful. And G!-rated VOF is the only VOF in the game that is additive.

Tough decision. But I’m fairly new to the game and I want to keep as tight a rein on my cardboard grunts as possible, so I opt to deploy the mortars as a unitary platoon. This will also simplify ammo resupply.

One further note to amend some of my earlier organization. The company’s XO will not be deploying with 3 Plt as I had originally planned. For the time being, our Junior Butterbars is going to stay under the CO’s thumb as a sort of combination licensed troubleshooter/glorified gofer.