Airsoft CQB: Basic Tactics for Buildings

Airsoft Close Quarters Battle(s) (CQB) are some of the most intense and fun battles you can participate in.  In this 3 part series we will examine how to enter buildings, clear rooms, and find out what type of gear and equipment you will need to be effective in a CQB environment.

Note: The use of cover is vital to your success as an effective CQB solider.  You have to know how to move to cover and how to stay nice and tight behind it.  Keeping your gear, elbows, head, etc. close to your body and behind cover is vital.  At such close distances your enemy’s accuracy will be dead on and you have to give him less chances of eliminating you.  Check out this video and this post for more on how to use cover.

Entering Buildings

CQB often involves buildings.  Buildings have rooms.  Rooms make it difficult to eliminate tactical enemies.  There is usually one main entrance (a door) and that is where the enemy will be concentrating his fire power.

There are two methods to entering and “clearing” out buildings.  One method is the noisy method.  Your team enters the building with a lot of shooting and yelling.  The goal is to confuse the enemy and keep him from reacting.  The noisy method also allows you to communicate quickly and get the job done faster.

The other method is the quiet method.  Your team silently enters the building through an unguarded back door or window.  Your team tries to sneak into the heart of the enemy building and eliminate a key enemy, or rescue hostages without being detected.  This method is difficult and risky because the whole plan can fall apart if the enemy finds you before you complete your mission.

Now that you understand the basic methods of clearing a building, let’s look at how to enter a building and start clearing it.

Entering a Building Example

When entering buildings it is best to have at least a 6 man team.  Separate the team into 2 man buddy teams.  Two of these buddy teams will clear rooms and the third buddy team will provide support and prevent the enemy from reoccupying the rooms that have already been cleared.

The team enters the building from the same side of the door or window.  You may want to recon the room you will be entering before hand by cracking open the door and waiting to see if anyone starts shooting.  You can also examine a window from a distance to see if the enemy is using that room.  If you are unsure if the people in the building are enemies or friendly soldiers be sure to yell out your team name upon entering the building.

After you have entered the building have the room clearing teams start searching the rooms and eliminating the enemy.  The support team will stay outside of the rooms to eliminate any enemies that try to advance toward the room clearing teams from other rooms.

The room clearing teams leap frog each other as they clear the building.  The support team moves up just behind the room clearing teams as they “push” the building.

If there is only one room clearing team they will snake back and forth between rooms.

In the next post in this series we will look at how to clear rooms effectively and without getting eliminated in the process.

CQB Series:
Basic Tactics for Buildings
Clearing Rooms
CQB Gear