[headquarters]

4 PCs are advancing down a hall way with guns ready - they get to an open door on the right hand side of the hallway.

They decide to clear it out .

By using the principles in the links from CQBteam site you can approach in different ways.

1.Caution :
slicing the pai : 1 or prefearbly 2 shooters gradually expose themselves to the door-opening by moving a few inches sideways at a time . They never enter ,but aim carefully as they slide sideways away from the wall .All the time gaining optional fire on their sector .
They cannot get optional fire over the whole room, so someone will have to go in and clear out the corners they cant reach in their line of sight .But atleast a good deal of the room and possible positions on the inside can be covered by marksmen before the 2 next guys enter and clear the room.
4 shooters with 2 at each side of the room can cover most of it by slicing the pai with crossing sectors of fire befoee any entry is made.

By presenting many targets the players make sure that 1 man opposition will have to divide their shots and minimize over all risk.
Also if you loose one man in this move ,atleast you will have others still in position to fire and have gained this position -not lost a man for nothing .

After the initial phase of shooting the PCs still standing will have optional fire if they did not shoot last phase.

2. speed
is essential in some game circumstances. chatter about who is to do what will eat up valuable phases that could mean alot when it comes to exploiting windows of opportunity .

Entering in a rapid violent assault that follows a pre planned drill on a short command is more efficient .Also a massive attack will give any enemy multiple targets to engage and force them to divide their fire .Even if PCs are hit ,there are still someone in position that now can return fire or gain optional fire if possible.Sending in one and one PC to be cautious will put the group at a disadvantage when assaulting a small enemy team of 2 - 3 enemy.You will still loose one man and have gained nothing .Going in with more you loose the same man but ensure domination of the situation.

3. Agility minus bulk
In most cases there will be a question of agility minus bulk to determine who goes first .Being able to deliver effective fire before the other guy is alfa and omega .This often entails taking rounds to the body armour as a calculated risk , but rapid firing decent caliber handgun or submachinegun/carbine should end the conflict before that is necessary. Massive caliber guns or battle type rifles will be less useful than smaller weapons .Unless you are super agile ..

4.
this leads to another important lesson:
fire superiority .
Optional fire is what you get within an 8 - x antall m area if you cover that area by aiming for one phase .The next phase some target appear you will be the first to shoot regardless of agility minus bulk .You already have that area covered.
getting firesuperiority means that a concerted action must be taken .Exposing your self to enemy fire must be coordinated so that even if one or more is hit there is someone who also stick their head around the corner and cover the same target.That way ,the losses you took will atleast result in you winning the corner and getting fire superiority .

Bear in mind that there is a 3 target limit for aimed /quick shots so that anyone covering an area alone with a no full auto weapon will have a serious problem if 4 or more targets appear. ( spray and pray/full auto rules opens up the possibility for clipping all targets aimed/quick only 3 ).
The same is of course true of the enemy NPCs .

Any hit or disturbance -like looking behind you alot will mean that you have to aim for 5 sec /1 phase again .

Moving towards an area without covering it with optional fire first is a rookie mistake.

Cover fire:
firing at an area with no apparent targets seems dumb ,but it might just be what is needed to keep heads down and fear levels up for the enemy .The GM will consider the liklyness of any NPC to risk his life -if bullets are constantly impacting the corner you are supposed to round to engage the PCs ,many NPCs will fail their Initiative check.(pinned )

MOMENTUM /INITIATIVE /DYNAMIC ENTRY:
To get the upper hand is one thing ,but to keep it ,each success must be followed rapidly by the next one .
If taking an area was costly ,then there is no time to waste in getting the next one .Give the enemy time to prepare or get his wits about him means that he will defend more efficiently .
In a house that means instantly following through to the living room from the bloody scene in the kitchen were you first entered and won .The next phase the assault on teh adjacent room must start .
calling a drill is the fastest way to get things moving .

PICK YOUR BATTLES:
not all rooms can be cleared right away .If you need to go from A to B , maybe clearing C is a good idea.But what about D ,E and far lying F ? you could be at "B" long before you ever finished the rest of the areas.

When all this is said - this are principles to use when in trouble and outgunned etc .If you are surrounding someone ,and they have hostages and what not - different tactics ar called for.
But for what you are about to do -this is pretty good advice.

COVERING FIRE / SUPPORTING FIRE :

IT IS SUPPOSED TO SUPPORT YOUR OWN SIDE!

tossing frags that land with PCs in the blast radius is not very helpful in 95% of the cases.

Letting the enemy have it with 10 bursts sprayed around a corner without aiming when your own guys are in your line of fire is not helping either.

Bursting at a target close to one of your own is bad for a variety of reasons -but if you cant figure them out your own self -just know that it is BAD!

Someone should issue the perpetrators of these sort of "combat moves" a bolt action rifle of small caliber and have their grenade licenses rescinded.