desert tactics

[Hawk555]

I'm an infantry sort of guy and I have been having problems fighting in desert warfare. Do you know any good Infantry or combined arms tactics in the desert? or should I be asking, are there any good infantry or combined arms desert tactics?

[Soldier]

From my experience in the desert, there's only one problem that you don't encounter elsewhere.
DUST...
No matter where and how slow you move a vehicle, it raises clouds of dust. The more the vehicles the larger the dust cloud.
So tricks like pretending to attack in one place and really attack elsewhere, don't work.
Your foe will know by the sizes of your generated dust clouds, where your main body is located and moving from and to... :-)

Oh.. and your troops will tire much quicker, because of the hi temperatures and walking on sand..

[Copper]

You need to get down low and check for every little fold in the land. It may look flat from a birds eye view but get down and dirty and you can see so much more detail which could give you cover during an advance etc. another little tip is to use vehicle dust clouds to shield advancing infantry.

[Hawk555]

Thanls for the advice. I know this isn't an infantry tactic but I heard about a german tactic called a box formation, how does it work?

[Copper]

Found this on recent box formation - may give you a brief clue of how its used.

In their movement across the line of departure, and whenever not engaging enemy forces, battalions of the 24th Infantry Division moved in 'battle box' formation. With a cavalry troop screening five to ten miles to the front, four companies, or multi-platoon task forces, dispersed to form corner positions. Heavier units of the battalion, whether tanks or Bradleys occupied one or both of the front corners. One company, or smaller units, advanced outside the box to provide flank security. The battalion commander placed inside the box the vehicles carrying ammunition, fuel, and water needed to continue the advance in jumps of about 40 miles. The box covered a front of about four to five miles and extended about 15 to 20 miles front to rear.

[Hawk555]

It's something then that might not fit into the typical cm game?

[Hawk555]

It's something then that might not fit into the typical cm game?

[Zemke]

I tend to use lots of smoke and keep infantry mounted on the tanks in the back of the dust cloud so they are relatively safe, and then close fast using smoke and the dust to cover my advance, massing on my point of attack. Also, as Bootie said, use the terrain to your advantage to provide cover till your are ready to creast the hill and mass fire power or move over the hill to attack, or both.... Desert fighting is a different game completely.