A common mistake amongst players, and particularly amongst Airsoft teams, is over-planning a game. As the timeless military maxim goes:
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy."
The point of this phrase is not to suggest planning isn't worthwhile, but rather to remind planners that the enemy has plans of their own, and generally isn't interested in following your plan.
Keep it Flexible
The best plans are therefore flexible, with a broad objective in mind and taskings that leave room for manoeuvre. This is especially true in Airsoft, where most games involve large numbers of people on both sides who don't have a plan and don't intend to follow a plan, they're just here to run about and shoot people for fun.
So why bother with a plan at all?
Why indeed: this is absolutely true of an over-detailed plan, that has lots of steps and assumes everyone is in the right place at the right time doing the right things. Such plans will fall apart when half your team decides it's more fun to fight over the first objective they come across than it is to march on that wide flanking strike deep into the enemy's territory that your plan relies on for success.
Planning still has benefits, however, especially the early stages of the planning process that focus on developing an understanding of the terrain, objectives, enemy forces, and their possible actions.
Evaluate the Battlefield
Simply knowing how the field is laid out, what the major terrain features are, and where the objectives are, can make you a valuable asset to your team. Is there a large hill in the way of the enemy spawn and objective 1, but a clear run towards objective 2? Is there a block of trees running from your spawn right up to objective 3? Is objective 4 downhill from the enemy spawn but uphill from yours?
Knowing all this, you can make predictions about the fight to come: there'll probably be more enemy at objective 2 than at objective 1, your team will have a fairly easy time keeping the pressure on objective 3, and it's going to be really hard to keep objective 4 out of enemy hands because of the height, and therefore range, advantage they'll have.
Where does that leave your squad?
Maybe your squad should hit objective 2 because your coordination and teamwork will really help carry the day there for your side, or maybe you rush that hill and dominate the high ground to ensure objective 1 is always well covered, locking it down for your side from the very start.
There's no point trying to make a lengthy plan that gives step by step instructions that'll give you all four objectives, because most of your team won't necessarily follow your orders, but your own squad, with this sort of knowledge, can really maximise the benefit you give to your wider team.
Estimate the Enemy
Doing the same line of thinking from the other team's perspective can let you estimate what they're likely to do, or rather what more of them are likely to do. Most Sunday skirmishers want to find a decent scrap and get stuck in, so where is that likely to happen? Where's the easiest or fastest place the enemy can go and get into a firefight that they'll keep going back to when they respawn? That place is probably where most of the enemy team, and probably most of your own team, will end up spending most of the game.
With this in mind, you can plan your own squad's opening moves to take advantage! Is it worth spending an extra 10 minutes moving into a choice spot that will let you pressure the enemy flank once they're all engaged around that central hotspot? Is there a particular hill, ditch, row of bushes, road, etc that will offer a solid advantage over that objective that your squad might want to focus in on?
Stay Alert to Changes
An Airsoft game is a lively beast and the centre of action can shift throughout the game. Players will go where the action is, and that might shift as advantages or disadvantages allow one team to consolidate control over some terrain or make progress on some objectives. Some game modes feature mobile or roaming spawn points, or change those spawn points based on who controls what objectives.
All of these and more can shift the weight of players to elsewhere on the field.
Always be ready to re-evaluate the state of the game and reconsider where you, or your squad, are best off going to make the best impact for your team. Don't be afraid to break off of an objective you've been fiercely contesting all game if your position is becoming untenable and your efforts would be better spent somewhere else on the field.
Lastly, don't be afraid to just get stuck in yourself. Many Airsoft teams feel they must engage in some grand flanking attack or some sneaky infiltration effort. Sometimes the best thing you can do is add your numbers to the main effort, to throw yourself into the thickest fighting, and to help your team push through an objective by sheer weight of numbers.
Be impartial and dispassionate in your analysis. If your team really needs a solid backbone keeping their scrap in midfield alive then get yourself into midfield and be that backbone! Some battles are just best won by getting up close and personal, rather than through clever tactical plays.
Comments