'Cross, Buttonhook, Snap': Room Clearance

[astutecat]

Greetings Comrades!

I've not always played ArmA (I know, a cardinal sin, but in my defence, it didn't always exist...), and in these distant times I used to play two main games tactically: Raven Shield, and SWAT4. These games (when put on a suitably insane difficulty level) were murderous in co-op, and their focus was exclusively related to CQB. The group I used to play with had gathered and written down a bunch of knowledge related to room clearance, and we played and practised these quite often indeed - we perhaps went a bit too far into milsim territory (yes, we'd use the term SOP) - but this flash file came out at the end, and some of it very much is useful for room clearance in any game that has a focus on small-r 'realism'.

Now, that's not to say that everything that may end up in this post/thread will be 100% applicable to ArmA, however there are some basic principles which would be very useful to assist in FOLK's continued survival in close-quarters.

First, some general tips:

Tip 1: Do not go in alone!
It's tempting enough, it's only a small building, it's just a tiny room. Don't be tempted to clear it alone! At least two people should clear any room. Two eyes are better than one, and it means that the majority of the room can be cleared quickly. If you're on your own, you -will- be looking in the wrong direction sooner-or-later.

Tip 2: Don't cross an open door / doorway!
This used to get people all the time. Generally, the 'stack' is either side of a door (more detail on this later). It means that people can get into the room easier and are naturally facing in the directions they want to face once they are in the room. However, when a door is open or there is no door, don't cross it! You don't know, until you have cleared the room, who or what is in there, and where. They could be facing that doorway waiting for a chump to walk across it - it's an easy kill.

In this situation, everyone stacks on one side of the door - I'll get into more detail on who goes where later.

Tip 3: First man doesn't open or throw grenades.
This is simple enough but it's surprising how many people fall for it. If you're lucky enough to be first to enter, you are not responsible for opening doors or throwing grenades. That honour will fall upon the second person in the stack, or the person the other side of the door. The rationale is simple enough - you are watching the door. When it's opened, someone could run out and try to bumrush you. You can't deal with that if you're fiddling with the grenade or the door - so you keep your weapon out and up and watching the door.

Tip 4: Don't clog the room!
Generally speaking, it's rare that all members of a squad will enter a room or building. Two people will enter most small to medium rooms, at most four people will enter first of all. However, the first room is not the only room - there will be others, and more people will be required to clear the subsequent rooms. What will happen here is simple:

* First team enters - they will call any doors or doorways they see (e.g. 'Closed door left", "Open door right", etc.)
* If there's only one - great! they'll stack up and get ready to clear that room too.
* If there's more than one door, or a hallway etc - they will call "Trailer" or "Trailers" - this means 'We need more bodies'. The people already in the room will stack up on doors regardless, one per door if possible, in order to keep the room secure.

Tip 5: Enter the room quickly!
This tip is quite important in dynamic entries - particularly where tactical aids such as flashbangs are unavailable. The door is the most dangerous part of the room to be at when entering - so don't hang about! The temptation is to stop as soon as you see someone in the room - but don't! This means that the people behind you can't enter and help you - they are effectively useless, and you will be on your own. Clear past the doorway and get to where you need to go in the room. Similarly, the people behind you need to also enter quickly to avoid leaving you in the lurch.

Note: This does not mean sprint or run, as you still need to be able to fire accurately. This is about keeping on the move so everyone can get into the room.

Tip 6: Don't look where your team-mate is looking
Simple, but again, important - When you enter the room follow a simple rule-of-thumb - look where your team-mate isn't. If your team-made is clearing the right-side of the room, clear the left. Let your team-mate worry about what is on their side, focus on yours. Once your side is clear, then you can look to helping your buddy out.

Tip 7: Call 'Coming Out'!
As mentioned earlier, generally the whole squad will not be clearing a room. Therefore, when coming back out of the room, call it when you're coming out. Otherwise, the rest of the squad, who are watching the doorway you just entered apprehensively and hearing gunshots from might mistake you for an enemy.



More specific scenarios to come, I need to draw some diagrams first... in the meantime, the flash-file linked above goes into far too much detail, but feel free to take a look.

To be continued!

[Tigershark]

Good advice. Practical and easily executed.