Indoor Airsoft Tactics

[Joker]

Hey everyone, I recently went to Spec Ops Group in Martinsville on a random Sunday for some pew pew and it got me thinking.

 

Playing Airsoft outside versus playing Airsoft inside are technically the same thing, but they are also very different. I prefer to play outside, I’m much more comfortable and it’s more my pace of play. But every now and again I like to mix it up and I do like to make sure my CQB skills don’t get too rusty. But here in Indiana our indoor fields are very limited and over the years I've noticed a lot of players who (how shall I put this nicely?) are more Noobs with indoor Airsoft than they may want to admit. I also noticed a lot of players who may think they know what they are doing because they’ve seen some YouTube videos or something and it doesn’t always work like that haha.

 

Now I know for a fact we have several members here who are former Military and or Police who probably have experience doing this in the real world. I also know for a fact that some of us civilians here have been “trained” by those with said experience. With that being said, this is a topic for Airsoft. And what I mean by that is some things that may apply in the real world may not work well in Airsoft and of course vise-versa.

 

What I would like everyone to discuss is their CQB tactics or helpful hints for playing inside to help those that may be somewhat new at it who are looking to improve.

 

My contributions to this firstly is getting out and playing in said indoor environments. Knowledge of tactics is all well and good but in order to be helpful you need to be able to execute those tactics. So get out and play. You will gain experience and see what works for you and what doesn’t.

 

Strength in numbers and COMMUNICATION. Much like playing outside it helps to have a squad to run and gun with. But maybe more important inside than outside is communicating with your teammates. This can really make or break you indoors. Sometimes you need, radios, hand signals, or just straight up yelling but use whatever you can to take advantage. And while you may be able to lone wolf it outside, you have to be pretty lucky or good to try that indoors.

 

Mobility. This one seems like common sense but I still see tons of players using kit that would be used for an all day or even two day event for indoors. Sure there are fields and environments that have both indoor and outdoor elements and if you are playing 8+ hours straight then by all mean kit up with a heavy load. But if you are strictly playing inside, especially if it’s not continuous, then you should definitely lighten your load. Drop the PC for a simple chest rig. You may not need to carry 6-8 mags unless you are super trigger happy. You may not need that backpack with water, snack, and other random stuff when you will be going back to staging once the round is over. You want to be able to move quickly and quietly. Which brings me to my last point...

 

Violence of Action. Perhaps one of my favorite tactics for indoor (and outdoor) use is this. It’s also one that to this very day, even after all of these years, I still find myself struggling with sometimes. But in short and not to get too in-depth on this, it is overwhelming your enemy with fast paced movement and action preferably within a squad. Don’t just stand there, keep pushing forward and taking new and better positions. Now it definitely helps to know what you are actually doing and not just running around like a lunatic. But moving quickly and striking fast and efficiently can be very effective indoors if done properly.

 

Well that’s all I’m going to post for now. I just wanted to get the ball rolling on this subject. Please add more to what I’ve posted or add your own ideas. I may add more later.

 

~Joker

Edited April 10, 2019 by Joker

[Crimson]

I can add a little to this myself.. still much more of a outdoor guy.. but what I have seen time and time again..  Hold on for this one it hurts to say.   Some of the best indoor airsoft players I have seen are the way because they also play Paintball.   Speedball mostly.   Why because its aggressive.. much the same environment.   And super competitive..  Much like airsoft want to get better.. go up against guys 10 times better than you are.   So as much as it hurts me to say it.  Watch some paintball players go at it.   Watch how they move.. how they use cover.. how agressive they play..  And then go own the field.     Now im gonna go cry a little for promoting paintball.   Used to play myself before I started airsoft.  No plans to ever return..  airsoft for life.. but man those guys can play.  

[Endgame]

I've always been the type of guy who favored stealth over everything else. There's no better feeling over catching an opponent by surprise and putting them down before they have a chance to react or counter attack. When I play indoor Airsoft, I try to remain as quiet as I can while moving because I don't know who's around the next corner. I can recall one time at Indianapolis indoor Airsoft, me and Harvest stacked on a corner and then moved in and took out about 6 guys in a span of about 10 seconds. They had no idea that we were there as we have stealthed over to that point. That was one of the best feelings in the world when it comes to playing Airsoft. Stealth, quick action, and violence of action.

[Whitedog]

I found this to work for CQB. Most players normal reaction is to duck or hide behind cover when being fired upon. Not to give away my secrets I like to shoot, they duck, I move up. As soon as they pop back out I shoot, they duck, I move. Just have to watch your flanks. 90% of the time when this doesn't work I didnt see the individual on my flanks. I hardly ever get hit by the person I'm putting pressure on. Walk crouched down keeping your gun aim at their spot they pop out at and keeping yourself in narrow line reducing yourself as a target like walking a plank. The other 10% when it doesn't work is an aggressive player thats decided they are taking you down or taking a hit or a lucky shot that will get you but it almost always works for me. Keep in mind you're being aggressive if not you'll more likely will fail. Pushing gets the squaters.

[Crazycarol]

On 4/22/2019 at 12:09 AM, Whitedog said:

I found this to work for CQB. Most players normal reaction is to duck or hide behind cover when being fired upon. Not to give away my secrets I like to shoot, they duck, I move up. As soon as they pop back out I shoot, they duck, I move. Just have to watch your flanks. 90% of the time when this doesn't work I didnt see the individual on my flanks. I hardly ever get hit by the person I'm putting pressure on. Walk crouched down keeping your gun aim at their spot they pop out at and keeping yourself in narrow line reducing yourself as a target like walking a plank. The other 10% when it doesn't work is an aggressive player thats decided they are taking you down or taking a hit or a lucky shot that will get you but it almost always works for me. Keep in mind you're being aggressive if not you'll more likely will fail. Pushing gets the squaters.

This right here is my major flaw playing indoors. It's almost as if I get grounded and a deer in the headlight stance. Outdoors i can see my next position to run to. For some reason indoors, i cannot. I like to find good spots and hunker down. I can only count a hand full of times it worked.

Now occasionally I do like running around like a lunatic, in jokers words. Lol but I wouldn't be crazy if I didn't. If I gotta die, at least make it interesting.

[Hanback]

"Violence of Action"

 

Joker nailed it with that. Keep movements swift. Know when to stay quiet and when to make as much noise as possible. Much like aggro in the old Army of Two games, the loudest guy with the gun barking the most will take the attention of the entire field. Know how to use that as distraction to move to better position, but also know how to be that guy. Effective CQB is about being able to transition between the quiet sneakiness and violent screaming maneuvers instantly and seamlessly. Those who practive only one of these are destined to fail; those who practice both are hard to beat.

Constant movement. Left of cover, back right, back Left, back right, gun up, scanning. Engage when needed then immediately transition back to the other side of the cover to check that sector. If you are solo then you have the job of 2+ men. Know how to do both jobs, and know how to multitask and do both simultaneously. If someone gets the drop on you from a flank or your 6, then you aren't bouncing from all sides of your cover rapidly enough. When leaning from cover, never lean from the same place. Go high, go low, peak over the top, there shouldn't be a rhym or reason to it, make the opponent have to guess where you will show yourself next. Keep it random and don't make a routine. When you engage, snap shoot. Don't pause to steady yourself and shoot. Keep your bouncing momentum and snap shoot then transition.

 

Most importantly, read the field, read the opponent, and anticipate the movements they will make. Counter those movements before they are even made and they are dead to rights for you. Learn to anticipate and prepare for it, all while doing the job above. This is how you control a field.

 

When you manage to infiltrated and the opponent doesn't know you are there, they will the moment you pull the trigger, so time your engagement appropriately and explode out. Keep on the trigger and run and gun and don't stop. If you pause you give the opponent the necessary time to recognize, react, and reposition. Use that element of surprise to shield you and don't stop moving and shooting, just lay the hate.

 

Most importantly, in CQB every second counts. You don't have time to reload typically. Readymags on the side of the gun aren't bad, but still take too long for reload, too many steps. Before running and gunning, breaching, or engaging, pull a spare mag from your kit and keep it in your non-dominant hand. The instant you dry fire, drop mag from the gun while simultaneously slamming ready mag into position, and do it all without looking so that you can maintain your vision on a rapidly changing battlefield. It takes practice and lots of it, but once effectively learned, reloads will take less than half a second which is monumental in rapid CQB environments. Transitioning to sidearm is only done when primary goes down for any reason. If you try this in engagements, you lose your speed advantage and will be killed almost every time.

 

And lastly, as joker said "Violence of action," I say shock and awe. When you decide to roll heavy, hit them with everything you have. Scream, hold the trigger, and scare them into submission. This is the point when conserving ammo is not a thing. Put as many rounds downrage as humanly possible in all directions and don't let up. Make your force seem larger and more powerful than it really is. Mow the grass with rounds. No normal person dares step out of cover during this, which allows you and your unit to do as they see fit. If you have someone pinned, shoot the ever living snot out of their cover. Make as much noise as possible on that peice of cover. For most, the sounds of bbs impacting on their cover at 25+ rounds a second non stop is demoralizing. The sounds of a unit screaming and rocking full auto with amplifiers and bbs ricocheting off every single thing in the vicinity is a force multiplier. It's not about killing, it's about psychologically disabling and demoralizing the opponent. Creating a situation in which they say "there is nothing I can do about this." That is the greatest form of defeat.

 

In the reverse, also know how to counteract this. Desensatize yourself to force multipliers and psychological aspects. The only way to counter Violence of Action is with your own Violence of Action. Those perpetuating it are focused on an entire section of the field, a broad frontline to suppress. Analyze their line and exploit the weaknesses. Violence of Action is only as good as the will of those behind it. If you can break the line and punch through, or flank if from the side and impose your own Violence of Action in response, they lose their advantage. It becomes a force on force engagement now, and welcome to the meat grinder where every inch is paved with the dead.

 

The most important thing to remember, CQB is fast paced and there is no room for error. Thus, NEVER stop to analyze and NEVER second guess. Analyze while in the fight and moving and make your decisions quickly and stick to them. 9 times out of 10, those that fail either second guessed themselves and/or paused to analyze the field. Always keep your momentum up and program analyzing and decisions making to be second nature: muscle memory: auto pilot.