Using Terrain

Cover vs Concealment

Certain terrain features offer you a tactical advantage in combat; height for spotting, natural defenses like rock formations, or ditches and gullies that offer defilade from enemy observation can all provide cover to fire from. Low ground obscured by bushes and trees may provide concealment to move through unseen.

These terrain features mark ‘key’ positions, positions that give one side an edge over the other and should be exploited in order to give you a better chance at accomplishing your task and overwhelming the enemy.

The decision over what terrain is valuable will usually be left to your PLT and SL elements when it comes to taking hills or forests for approach, but that doesn’t mean the decision stops with them. The number of times a team has had to halt at the base of a mountain or take up a defensive posture inside a bowl is too high to count— these are times where the FTL must speak up in order to prevent casualties.

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Seeing for the SL

Often times we as FTLs have a much better view of the immediate battlespace than the SL does, and that means we can best see what terrain features will give us a tactical advantage. When you stop in bad terrain, like a bowl, you need to tell that to your SL and make a recommendation of how to move in order to get out of it. Use the suggestions we talked about earlier:

“ASL, A1, we’re defending from a bowl right now and could be walked up on, suggest we move 100M north and take the ridge.”

“ASL, A1, if we move 50M West, we’ll be able to set up on a hilltop and get better eyes.”

You want to think of this as persuading an angry driver in heavy traffic to change routes. Your SL is overloaded with decisions, so you need to give a little extra context: why should we be shifting our position?

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Deciding Movement

The more experience you gain as a leader, the more opportunities you’ll see to exploit the landscape around you.

Look for intersections to block when you’re trying to establish a blocking force, as motorized and mechanized forces will have to maneuver towards or through you in order to hit your friendlies. Look for elevated terrain when you’re on overwatch, or for particularly dense rock clusters if you’re trying to find a natural defensive formation.

Some of this will seem obvious, but the more you pay attention the more you’ll be surprised how many opportunities there are to improve your team’s positioning.

Terrain is only key in the sense that it gives you an advantage. Don’t take a hill just to take a hill, especially if it compromises your ability to support your team. Instead, think about how the landscape around you is going to help you fight, and how you can use it to your benefit.