Close Quarter Battle or CQB challenges players differently from any other kind of scenario: narrow spaces, short-distance clashes, corners, lights, walls, doors, and furniture all influence your play style. Many elements are different from the woodland scenario, and players should be able to handle the stress that comes with CQB engagements. Many precautions can be taken to make life easier in these situations so in today’s article we’re bringing you airsoft CQB tips and tactics to help you dominate close-quarter battles.
Table of Contents
Airsoft CQB Tips And Tactics: 12 Tips For CQB Domination
Keep Your Gear Light and Easy to Reach
Keep your gear light and easy to reach. You may need to move quickly if the situations require so. Reduce the footprint of your gear: there could be narrow spaces to fight within and you may be unable to do that properly if your gear is too bulky. Make sure your gear does not produce any noises. Close combat means closer threats, which also mean noise can be easily heard and your position or movement can be revealed.
Be Prepared
Remember that things can change. Fast. A door can be opened, a light can be turned on or down, or a grenade can be thrown in the room you are. No relaxation in CQB, try to make the operation last as short as possible.
Carefully Choose a Camouflage Pattern
Carefully choose the camouflage pattern you’re about to wear. Make sure every member of the team will use the same pattern, to avoid friend or foe identification problems. Short distance engagements don’t mean camouflage is not important. Obviously, you will not blend in with the surroundings, but being harder to spot or identified may give you the time to react, or possibly even make you not seen by the enemy if staying still. Also, CQB scenarios are very different one from another, so choosing a camouflage pattern instead of another will make the difference exactly as it would for any other kind of operation. Stick with your teammates, don’t lose visual contact with allied forces, and try to get back to them if you find yourself alone. Operating in CQB solo is very difficult and will probably lead to a big disadvantage or elimination.
If Not Spotted, Go Easy
In CQB engagements, if you’re not spotted, you should proceed to clear rooms as slowly and silently as possible. There’s no need to put yourself or your team in danger if the enemy is not aware that you are near. Try to surprise the enemy making the first contact way more near him than he would have expected.
When the Clash Starts, Go Hard
On the other hand, if you get spotted or take down a hostile producing too much noise, the action should proceed differently. From that moment on, the maximum speed is required. Do not say still, don’t give the enemy the time to react. Clear rooms as fast, aggressively, and dynamically as possible. Hostiles will know where you and your team are anyways because of the noise. Don’t give them the time to react staying still in a room, or you’ll be likely just fragged out.
Use Hand Signals
During the silent movement phase, use hand signals to communicate with the nearer teammates and the radio to reach for the team members you cannot see. During the shooting phase, every communication should become verbal and loud, so that every team member can hear that despite the noise produced during this kind of situation. Customized terms should be adopted in order not to make the hostiles understand what the communications are about.
Stick With Your Teammates
Make sure to perform every movement sticking with another teammate. This will provide more firepower and cover if your gun fails or something else goes wrong. The first player will have to explore the field, take down primary threats, and to stop when directives are needed. The following teammate will have to communicate with the rest of the team, cover the rear and get ready to cover the first player during a mag change or any other operation he may need to perform. This will also allow not to lose the first player without being able to take down the opponents as well. If that happens, the second player should not miss the shot, so that at least, your team doesn’t lose a player for nothing.
Be Aware of Your Stance
Keep in mind that the stance you assume may lead to major problems if not properly adjusted. Standing in front of windows will allow enemies that are on the other side to see you. Standing behind low walls and barricades while keeping a high-ready stance will make you visible to the enemies. Keeping your legs too wide can result in one of your feet being visible from the other side of a threshold. You should also take care of where your feet are. Remember they are often visible when hiding behind vehicles or can be seen by someone who’s hiding under a bed. Always be aware of your surroundings and think about how would you react to unexpected opponents. They will probably do the same, so don’t give them a chance.
Slicing Corners
Corners are one of the biggest issues in room-clearing procedures. You should carefully explore each part of a room for threats. The corner must be explored calmly following specific procedures in order to lower the risk of being taken down:
- When you approach a threshold, proceed as it follows: Stay close to the wall of the room you’re going to get in and point your gun right next to the nearer side of the threshold and look in the room
- That little slice of the room you see is the first part of the clearing process. If that slice is clear, keep opening up and slicing the room until you get all the way to the other side, always keeping yourself covered by the wall.
- At this point, only the “hard corners” are left. The lower right and left corner of the room, we can say. They must be cleared by entering the room. If the door of the rooms opens inside of it, clear the corner of the room that allows you to be covered by the door first. If this is not possible, you can first lean out from the threshold to clean one of the corners, then lean back out of the room, turn yourself around the other way, and enter the room to clear the other corner. During the whole process, try not to skip hiding spots, like dark spaces, doors and windows, and furniture.
The Discipline of Light and Shadow
Light and shadows are something you should think about when operating in CQB, both in day and night. If you’re operating in an area where the sunlight arrives, make sure to not reveal your presence with your shadow – your opponents will know that you’re approaching. The direction of movement should therefore be planned according to the exposition of the field to the sunlight before the operation starts.
During the night, avoid the use of the flashlight unless it is strictly necessary. Keep your eyes away from the lights 1 hour before the start of the operation, so your eyes will adjust to the light condition on the battlefield. If you’re forced to use the flashlight to blind the enemy or explore a dangerous spot, try to save one of your eyes from the light by closing it. This way you should be able to preserve some of your night vision.
Keep in mind that using the flashlight will signal your position when directly visible and produce a shadow when not directly visible. So, if you use your flashlight, you’re either going to push hard against the illuminated enemy to finish the clash or turn it off and promptly change your position to avoid incoming fire.
Remember that lights pointed towards you rise the contrast with the surrounding dark spots because your vision must adjust to the higher light source. Fighting with a light pointed towards you or facing sunrise or twilight is not recommended and should be avoided when possible.
Use Flashbangs and Grenades
Nothing makes clearing rooms easier than a grenade. You don’t have to mind hidden spots, corners, number of enemies expected, and many other parameters that would be taken into account when clearing with a gun. You just throw grenades (2 are recommended, to make sure one of them will work), wait for the explosion, and then get into the room and take down any opponent the grenade could have failed to reach. Pretty effective, but pretty expensive, and not that fun if that’s what you’re looking for.
If you want something more fun-oriented or more “hostage friendly”, go for flashbangs. Flashbangs are great for clearing rooms: they incapacitate everyone in the room, both hostiles, and hostages. If exposed players have to stay still for, let’s say, 5 seconds after the explosion, the entry team will have the time to perform friend or foe discrimination, take down the hostiles, rescue the hostages and get a lot of fun and adrenaline from the action. Make sure at least one or two grenades/flashbangs are carried by each operator of the entry team, just to have the “easy option2 for hard spots and crucial moments.
Purchase CQB Optimized Gun and Accessories
And the last tip on our list is to get an airsoft gun optimized for CQB. Many airsoft guns that would be particularly suitable in different situations, lose much of their effectiveness in CQB because of the clutter, weight, or lack of speed during the movements. You’re not going to be effective with a sniper or a long rifle in CQB clashes. However, some airsoft guns are designed specifically to address such scenarios, and to help you choose the best airsoft gun for CQB, we suggest that you check out our article 12 Best Airsoft Guns For CQB (Close Quarter Battle): Hands-on Review where we analyzed and reviewed airsoft replicas that we consider are the best and most effective for CQB.
Also, we would recommend that you get a red dot sight which can be really helpful especially in darker conditions as they allow faster target acquisition and shot adjustment than iron sights. You can also check our guide to the best airsoft red dot sights to make an easier decision on which one to get.
Summary
As you can see CQB requires different tactics to win the game. We hope that these airsoft CQB tips and tactics were helpful but if you have some additional questions feel free to contact us via the contact form or send us an email and we’ll be glad to help you.
1 comment
Great tips. Thanks.