NA Infantry Formations

[Legbreaker]

I tend to disagree. Just ask anyone who's been through FIBUA training (Fighting In Built Up Areas aka CQB). Even a plywood wall is of some benefit to a defender - an attacker has to know where to shoot to be effective and who's to say that plywood isn't just a veneer over a reinforced concrete slab?

There are so many ways that the urban environment is deadly to an attacking force. The defender usually has better knowledge of the layout and can be hiding almost anywhere. It's also a three dimensional battlefield - ground level, upper stories and underground (basements, sewers, service tunnels, dry water mains, etc).

An attacking force may take the ground floor only to find itself catching grenades from the floor above, or defenders springing up behind them, taking a few shots into their rear before ducking back into cover again.

This is not to say it's all to the defenders advantage though. With the cornucopia of cover, an attacking force may be able to get almost within touching range before being spotted/shot at.