MnB:Open Plains Warfare

## Overview

### *"Roses are red, violets are gray. Wait a mi-" - Private Joe seconds before disaster*

Ah yes, the green scenery lush of grass and... yea that's it grass. A nature's testament to mundane beauty and not so elegant view, not like you're going to enjoy it anyway in a war. Open plains warfare generally references to a combat zone with minimal to no cover and obstacles which can range from grasslands to a swamp or basically anything that lacks cover and obstacles. Any sort of cover that are available will be either under enemy control or a trap set by said party.

This type of scenario is a heaven for defenders and a nightmare for attackers due to the lack of available elements capable of giving protection or even block line of sight. Moreover, due to the ample amount of space an open plains provide, it becomes a perfect spot for building fortifications such as trenches and sandbags which complicates the attacking force even more than it already is. As an extra detail to know, long range units such as snipers and 88 or Pak 40 will dominate the fields as they have free reign of sight.

## Setup

As stated earlier, there's barely any LOS block available in open plains warfare. This means that any units with long range capability will excel greatly in this type of environment. Here are the recommended lists of weapons that you should use in this scenario:

1. **Sniper rifles** : A scoped rifle as basic as a scoped k98 or a scoped Garand will guarantee extra range that is very much needed in an open plains firefight, these type of weapons are usually assigned to a sniper or a marksman who can exploit their strengths perfectly with their accurate fire.
2. **Rifles** : Your average rifle from a Springfield all the way to a T20 is a good choice of weaponry which provides decent range and stopping power. Getting a semi automatic rifle such as the M1 Garand can provide a good suppression while keeping much of the range and power. As an extra bonus, you can fire a rifle grenade with a rifle! (duh)
3. **Light machine guns** : May that in offense or defense, maintaining a consistent suppressive fire is a must in open plains. Your average BAR is a good choice, but it's recommended that you get a machine gun with more firepower and capacity such as the Bren or a Vickers. Make sure to hand these bad boys to your gunner as they are the only ones capable of switch firing with an automatic weapon (Switching targets while shooting a burst).

There are some additional gears that you may bring to help improve your odds, though they do not provide significant impact on your success:

1. **Rifle grenades** : Contrary to your ordinary frag grenade, rifle grenades have a much longer reach and more accurate than a frag grenade though they lack the explosive punch that a frag provides.
2. **Smoke Grenades** : A smoke grenade is useful to retreat from an ambush or to assault a position through an open field as they block LOS, giving your men precious time to act.
3. **Mortars** : Though inaccurate, they can provide decent suppression by bombarding an area with mortar shells causing shrapnel wounds or even blow up a vehicle or an enemy!
4. **Artillery** : Artilleries such as the M5 AT Gun or a Wolverine *(shut up it's basically artillery on tracks)*, or halftracks with the 105MM or the 81MM upgrade can provide a much bigger blasting power and due to their long range, it serves as a perfect way to deliver punishments to any enemy on the field.
5. Shovels : There's alot of things you can do with a shovel, one of which is digging a hole that is more comfortable as a grave than as cover. Well, at least it's something isn't it?

## Tactics

### Offensive

You will always at a significant disadvantage as you lack any sort of cover whatsoever, snipers and artillery emplacements will take full advantage of the minimal LOS blocker so expect to be shot at from halfway of the map. Here are the foundation of what you should do, the rest is up to you to get creative and adapt:

* Stay high on the aggressiveness, time is of the essence as every second you waste a sniper may take a shot or a pak may blow your guys.
* Establish 2 fireteam, where one would provide suppression fire while the other would assault the enemy fortifications. Gaining the upper hand in the exchange of fire is vital as you want to minimize as much enemy fire as you can. ***See fire and maneuver for a more in-depth explanation.***
* SPACING! You are more likely to be fired upon by enemy emplacements. A simple thing such as spacing will reduce the chance of your boys getting gibbed.
* A new greenie called joe is ready for service, put that freshie up front to take up all the initial heat. After contact, decide if you should rotate your men to put joe in the back rank to recover. A sudden hail of fire on your recruit is better than on your veteran.

### Defensive

Read everything from the offensive section? Good, because now you're the one exploiting it. Open fields are playgrounds for long range units such as snipers and artilleries. Better bring out the big guns since this is now **YOUR** playground >:) :

* Due to the wide space available, feel free to build up a stronghold may that be trenches or pillboxes. Remember that most buildings (wooden bunker doesn't) block LOS, so keep in mind on where you place them so you don't block the sight of your rear lines.
* Deploy your artillery pieces such as the M5 and the mortar crews, then bring out the Wolverine as they can deliver devastating damage to oncoming enemy waves, especially in later waves as there are more krauts per wave.
* Optionally, you can bring out the howitzer halftrack though it will force the enemy to bring out their Wespes, so be careful when you play with those.
* Bring out snipers to quickly eliminate high value target before they become a threat
* You can't take full advantage of the open field without a scout, these guys have a far vision which helps your long range units pick their targets. Fun fact, give him a sniper rifle :).
* Rifle grenades are an excellent choice if you want to bring more booms into the field, just give them to any of your troops with a rifle and watch those nades fly high.
* Place a trench further up the frontline and place expendable soldiers there, that way any unwanted artilleries will land there instead of your main defense line