How do real life armies clear cities?

[narwan]

One building a ta time.

Seriously, for the game it is good to realise that the faster you move your infantry the easier they'll be spotted and shot at. So move them slowly.
Also, the more suppression a unit has the less likely it'll spot another unit and open fire on it.
Putting these two together it means that you'll have to put suppressing fire on an area and then move in slowly (1 hex at a time usually) with infantry.
The problem with using artillery is that you have to target it some distance from your own units or risk hitting friendlies. The further you keep your infantry out of harms way the more distance they'll have to cross which means either taking several turns (by which time the enemy had shrugged of most of the suppression) or move faster. Which will likely result in higher casualties through OP fire.
One solution is to use light artillery (as light as you can get it and a lot of it) and keep your infantry as close behind it as you dare. The light artillery should restrict friendly casualties to a minimum while still inflicting suppression on the enemy. You will receive some suppression yourself too. Keep your force well organised so there are enough rally options for your troops (use two platoons with the platoon leaders just behind (up to 2 hexes) the other aquads (just out of light arty range hopefully). Put the company commander just behind them, in range of all units. That should give you give you enough rally capacity to unpin any of your own units. Keep the third platoon well back in fast movers to relieve whichever of the other two platoons becomes combat ineffective first.

Another way is to use scout type units to move slowly through the buildings. Even an unsuppressed enemy will often fail spot a scout moving next to it if the scout moves one hex at a time. Much depends on experience (of both units) and the facing of the enemey unit.
Once you've spotted an enemy unit, it is tempting to fire at it with the unseen scouts. Don't. Pull them back immediately and start plotting the heavy firepower on the position. This works best if you've spotted more than one enemy squad already and have a good idea where his defense is concentrated. Once they've been pounded with heavy firepower, rush them. Either with infnatry on foot or in APC's. Craters and rubble will be a serious hindrance for you so here too you may want to elect lighter calibres (but more of them). Use lots's of MMG and HMG units. Fire them at hexes adjacent to the enemy. Splash effect and the occasional drift into his hex will cause suppression too.

You will take serious casualties. That's almost unavoidable in urban combat.

From a more startegic viewpoint, advance from different angles. It'll increase the ods of the enemy unit not facing your way and not spotting your squad or team as it closes in on them.
You can also use helicopters to overfly enemy positions and get the enemy squads looking over their shoulder at the choppers and not at the buidling in front of them where your troops are just creeping into.

Narwan

[hoplitis]

1) Don't forget the bulldozers!
2) Try to find out how the Israelis do it!

[troopie]

Something we don't have to do in the game, but armies have to do in reality, is consider the political implications of an action. If the city is an enemy city, and there's a war on (WW2 is an excellent example of this) you can bomb and shell the bejasus out of it. If it's one of yours, you are reluctant to do so, 1: because you don't want to alienate the PBs and 2: you want to use it when you've recaptured it. In a COIN situation you are also reluctant to use maximum force. P!ssing off the PBs adds strength to the terrs.

You go slowly, house by house and block by block, clearing a building floor by floor. Everyone packs spare grenades, bunker bombs and wp. The people tiffies have a lot of work to do. Expect high casualties on both sides.

troopie

[Pazam]

In real urban warfare, more and more armies are avoiding the streets and moving between buildings - I was watching CNN and saw how US forces in Iraq will cut through walls in order to avoid firefights in the street.

[Capt_White]

Well I dont know about any other army but I imagine the Soviet Union would have just used heavy bombers and lots of artilary to
a) create cover
b) demoralise
c) create fear
d) supress

They would then just roll through with tanks APCs and Infantry.

Apart from anything else I dont think the Commies would have been to bothered about collateral damage

[thatguy96]

We'll never really know will we, collateral damage and the fear of creating it really is a post-Cold War phenomenon. During the Cold War, the idea of buring the village to save it from the dreaded communists won out in debates over how many innocents got caught in the way.

[troopie]

I was intimating how I was trained to do it. I've done kraals in reality, but never had to do a really built up area.

troopie

[PlasmaKrab]

Capt_White said:
Well I dont know about any other army but I imagine the Soviet Union would have just used heavy bombers and lots of artilary to
a) create cover
b) demoralise
c) create fear
d) supress

They would then just roll through with tanks APCs and Infantry.

Sounds like what the book would be calling for indeed... at least until, say, mid-90s!

They tried that in Grozny, and I think we all know the result it had at the moment!

Urban assault in a Cold-War-Gone-Hot setting s an interesting thought, but in that case, given the highly mechanized character of any assaulting force (on both sides), the strategy of avoiding and encircling cities would have prevailed IMHO.
Dunno how much the Soviet high command was aware of the western defensive tactics though....