Battleplan Flanking Attack Guide: How to Draw Pincer Maneuvers That Break Enemy Lines

A frontal assault in Battleplan is the fastest way to turn a fresh division into a casualty list. The Battleplan flanking attack — a drawn, multi-stage maneuver that strikes an enemy's exposed flank and supply line instead of their rifle line — is how you win month-long battles without shredding your order of battle. Because every mission is simulated second by second, the game punishes commanders who simply point units forward and hope for the best.

Battleplan is a WW2 real-time strategy game from Foolish Mortals Games Inc., published by Slitherine Ltd. and released on October 12, 2026. Its signature mechanic is that you never click-drag units into combat. You draw your plan directly onto the map and let your officers and companies carry it out autonomously. That design makes the Battleplan flanking attack a genuine skill check: the quality of your drawing decides whether your pincer closes cleanly or your armor stalls in a swamp with no fuel.

Why the Battleplan Flanking Attack Beats a Frontal Push

Head-on attacks are cheap to draw and expensive to survive. When you order a division straight into a prepared defender, you trade ammunition, fuel, and companies for a few hundred meters of ground. A flank, by contrast, attacks the things a defender cannot easily replace: their command structure, their supply route, and their sense of where the battle actually is.

That is the core argument for the Battleplan flanking attack. You are not trying to out-shoot the enemy; you are trying to make their position untenable. Once a defender realizes their rear is compromised, the whole sector becomes fragile — and the game's autonomous officer system will happily exploit that collapse for you if your orders are clear enough.

The comparison below is the mental model most players settle into after their first few campaigns.

Note the pattern: the more elegant the maneuver, the more it depends on preparation. Flanking is not a shortcut around planning — it is a heavier investment in planning that pays off in saved divisions.

Reading Terrain and Supply Before You Draw a Pincer

Battlefields in Battleplan are built from real-world geographic data, so every road, town, forest, and swamp sits exactly where it sits in real life. That is a gift for flanking, because the map itself tells you where a maneuver is physically possible. Before you draw a single line, open the elevation view and study the ground you intend to cross.

Artillery placed on real high ground can cover your approach. A low, flooded field will slow a mechanized hook to a crawl. A single road might be the only route that can carry enough supply to keep your spearhead moving — which also makes it the route your opponent is most likely to watch.

Supply is the second half of reconnaissance. Supply is realistically simulated, and terrain dictates how it flows, so a flank that swings wide of every road may arrive with empty trucks and silent guns. Identify the enemy's depots before you commit — those are the real targets of a Battleplan flanking attack, not the enemy's front-line companies.

Drawing the Battleplan Flanking Attack: Orders, Timing, and Phases

Everything in Battleplan begins with a line on the map. Multi-step, multi-unit plans are drawn intuitively, and orders flow down through the chain of command to the units that execute them. For a flank, you want at least three drawn phases: a fixing phase, a movement phase, and a decisive phase.

The table below maps common drawing actions to the orders they produce, so you can build a flanking plan without guessing at the interface.

Timing matters because missions run from one week to a month of simulated time, and you can pause, play in real time, or fast-forward at will. Use the pause to draw, fast-forward to let the approach march unfold, and drop back to real time the moment your lead companies make contact. Missing that moment is how pincers turn into traffic jams.

Unit Roles and the Chain of Command in a Flanking Force

Each division is modeled down to headquarters, regiments, battalions, and companies. You can combine divisions into corps or split them down to companies, which means a flanking force is something you tailor — not just a slice cut off the line. Infantry, tanks, engineers, anti-tank guns, artillery, and scouts all work together autonomously once the orders are drawn, but they do very different jobs on a hook.

Officers are a resource too. Keep them alive and they gain veterancy — along with quirks that can cut both ways. You can hire and fire commanders as a campaign evolves, and their advice is often worth reading even when you ignore it. A veteran officer leading a hook is worth more than an extra company in most situations.

Logistics, Timing, and Mistakes That Break a Pincer

Most failed flanking attacks fail for boring reasons: no fuel, no ammunition, or a hook that simply took too long. The game rewards you for starving the enemy by cutting their supply lines, fueling your own advance by capturing depots, and pulling back when units run low. A pincer that arrives empty-handed is just a very long walk.

One practical habit that pays off: use the geo-tagged historical photos and videos the game places on the map. They show what the ground looked like in real life and where it was actually fought over, which is often a better flanking hint than any tooltip. For patch notes, system requirements, and the current state of the game, the official Battleplan page on Steam is the most reliable reference.

Above all, be patient. A Battleplan flanking attack that takes three simulated days to develop is usually cheaper than one that takes three hours and arrives without artillery support.

FAQ

What is a Battleplan flanking attack? It is a drawn, multi-stage maneuver that avoids the enemy's front and strikes their flank, rear, or supply line instead. You sketch the route directly on the map, and your officers and companies execute it autonomously.

Can I pause while planning a Battleplan flanking attack? Yes. Missions can be paused, played in real time, or fast-forwarded at will. Most players draw the entire plan while paused, then fast-forward the approach march and slow down at the moment of contact.

How large should my flanking force be? It depends on the front you have to hold. Player experience suggests leaving a fixing force strong enough to survive on its own, and sending a tailored maneuver group — scouts, armor, engineers, and mobile artillery — around the seam.

Why does my flanking attack run out of supply? Supply is realistically simulated and flows along terrain. If your hook crosses swamps or avoids roads entirely, it arrives dry. Plan the route with logistics in mind, or capture a depot along the way to keep the advance fed.