# Tactics to expect in a rural environment...



## Kauboy

*This thread is part of the "Coming Civil War" group of threads.
Please see the Primer/Premise thread --> HERE <-- for context and links to other related topics.*

Fire, plain and simple.
We're seeing it in the Northeast with staged canisters of flammable liquids being left in the brush. There have already been arrests charging arsonists with attempting to start more wildfires.
This will be the primary tactic that anyone with a few acres can expect. As I've repeated numerous times, have fire extinguishers. Keep one or two in your vehicle or on your ATV. You might come up on someone starting something on your property line. Best to have it.
If you have your own well, have you looked into what it would take to set up a fire suppression system? Can you generate sufficient pressure to use a fire hose? 
Do you know how to dig a fire line?
Response times are already slower when you get farther from the city, and there are coordinated fires across the area, resources could be very thin.

Storming the countryside just won't be a strategy. Too much effort to get people out there, spread too thin to be effective, and no important ground to be gained.
I could see focused attacks on key areas such as farming communities or other sources of food, just to disrupt the supply. These attacks would still primarily involve scorching the earth. Attacks would come at night. Lives lost would be few.

Natural gas wells could be another fast target with low chance of casualties, but resulting in a fear response just as well. These things dot the landscape now, and can be found all over the south. Pick a back road and drive for 10 minutes. You'll pass at least 3. A big fireball and the resulting tower of flame would scare anyone in the area. If their goal is disrupting energy supply and terrorizing people, this would be a prime target with little risk. The sites are not manned, and generally only protected by a locked gate.

The vast majority of people out in the sticks are only going to hear about what's happening from media and word-of-mouth accounts. Most will never see any of it. We're just too big of a country and the opposition doesn't have the manpower.

Does anyone have other ideas about what "flyover country" might have to put up with that can be prepared for now?


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## rice paddy daddy

After a wildfire came within 30 FEET of our homestead 17 years ago, we cleared all trees from about two acres around the house.
I seriously doubt any group would try to cause trouble out here. There are no strategic target, but a whole lot of good old boys with deer rifles who are good shots. And used to becoming close to invisible in the woods.


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## Denton

I don’t know if I am rural or suburban as my home is in a neighborhood in a town in the Deep South.


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## Steve40th

I am in a suburb. I know the tactic will be fast in fast out, and fire tactics. Vinyl sided homes burn fast too. Thats if they are stupid enough to come into our neighborhood.
Their will be no media, but our LE is pretty big with very fast response times here...


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## Slippy

I've never felt as safe as I do when I'm at Slippy Lodge...


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## jimcosta

*This does not respond to a civil war but instead focuses on Food Raiders.*

*Two years ago I had some of our members prepare plans to raid the rural area for food. *
Two members were quite upset because they missed the part in the instructions that the survey was to help prepare ourselves from food raiders.

The information gained was then studied for common tactics of the raiders and then resulted in our defensive planning.

*To sum it up for you, we determined:*
Raids would occur right at dawn;
Raiders will seek easy targets so learn how to make yourself invisible and a non-target to them;
Raiders will arrive in a truck and keep it in sight;
Two will go around the back and two will go to the front door.
We are not concerned about being burned out - they don't want the food overcooked or to hang around until your neighbors arrive.
To end the raid make them aware that you are attacking their truck. Destroy them as they retreat.


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## Chipper

You bring up a great point with winter coming just around the corner. Knock out the natural gas lines and supply then watch the general public freeze. Exactly why I have 2 500 lb LP tanks which is enough for 4-5 years plus the wood stove. All those idiots fell for a little cheaper price but at what cost hooking up to natural gas, stupid IMHO.


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## Notold63

rice paddy daddy said:


> After a wildfire came within 30 FEET of our homestead 17 years ago, we cleared all trees from about two acres around the house.
> I seriously doubt any group would try to cause trouble out here. There are no strategic target, but a whole lot of good old boys with deer rifles who are good shots. And used to becoming close to invisible in the woods.


I have never understood why people who live in areas where there are wildfires don't clean out the trees and brush from around their homes and if they can afford it, put metal roofs on their homes, and if the house is made of wood put aluminum siding on your home. Keep a bunch of fire extinguishers and other fire fighting implements handy.


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## ND_ponyexpress_

It doesn't get much more rural than where I live. If "raiders" try to go the fire route to attain food, it will all be burned and lost. A strong wind during dry conditions and half the state could burn without a fire dept. Where does that get them? Now if they burning it just to get people out and destroy, then by gawd it's going to be effective.

The problem in rural areas for "raiders" is every farmhouse could shoot back.. say you loot 10 farms a week.. and lose a member to lead poisoning every 4 farms.. that's 2.5 lost per week. you had better come up with a system to produce an endless supply of loyal raiders.

If an area of farmers had decent communication/scouting and superior knowledge of the land, with enough fighters they could put a good dent in most raiding parties. it becomes a war of attrition without fresh recruits.

One thing to think about in rural area especially western ND.. Oil Wells.. lefties would likely love to save the environment by torching the wells to hurt the country. ignoring the plumes of black smoke that could fill the sky for weeks/months.


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## Kauboy

For those more focused on neighborhood tactics, there's a thread for that too: Tactics to expect in a suburban environment...


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## rice paddy daddy

Slippy said:


> I've never felt as safe as I do when I'm at Slippy Lodge...


The only thing I worry about here at Answered Prayers Farm is raccoons or bobcats after our chickens.


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## Kauboy

I hope the intent of these topics is not being lost.

Even if the given scenario is not expected to affect you directly, you can still offer ideas or suggestions to others who may suffer a different fate.
I was expecting this to become a collaborative effort where we lean on each other's experience and knowledge to build a more comprehensive view of what could be coming, and plan out how best to address those scenarios. We likely won't think up every possible outcome, but it's best to hit some of the more likely ones than none at all.

I've tried to spark discussion with questions. I'd like to hear answers from folks who've thought about, or even dealt with, these topics before.


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## rice paddy daddy

Tactics in a rural environment?
Kill livestock. Burn isolated farms.
Try to destroy grain silos.
Open farm diesel storage tanks and let them drain.
Put sand in tractor and combine crankcases.

Any of this would have to be done on the sly. Otherwise the enemy would be shot on sight.


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## inceptor

rice paddy daddy said:


> Tactics in a rural environment?
> Kill livestock. Burn isolated farms.
> Try to destroy grain silos.
> Open farm diesel storage tanks and let them drain.
> Put sand in tractor and combine crankcases.
> 
> Any of this would have to be done on the sly. Otherwise the enemy would be shot on sight.


Locally you are on the money. But on a national and international scale, it has already begun.
*
"Who controls the food supply controls the people; who controls the energy can control whole continents; who controls money can control the world." - Henry Kissinger*

Grain silos have been destroyed by the derecho. One was blown sky high in the middle east. Grain silos in Iowa, the UK and one in Houston containing sugar suffered spontaneous combustion issues.

Many farms have been shut down and processing plants closed due to the WuFlu. Much of the livestock had to be put down due to no income to purchase feed. Fields are being plowed under because no labor force to pick it.

Controlling the food is already running. Even Fauci is promoting this. He stated that man has been facing pandemics for 12k years. This can be stopped by going to insect based and lab grown food. I'm sorry but roach milk doesn't appeal to me. I can post his report if you like. So a good part of that has already happened.

There are few grain silos in our area, one I know of is right on the freeway about 20 minutes north of me. So far, no issues.

I do expect attacks on fuel and the grid before long. DHS issued a statement recently that they are hardening the grid. Yet even the anarchists need fuel and communications.


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## Steve40th

Who controls the people that are out to destroy our lifestyles and lives as we know it? Who are they?


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## inceptor

Steve40th said:


> Who controls the people that are out to destroy our lifestyles and lives as we know it? Who are they?


Understand this is my opinion but I do believe this is on the money. Watch this video.

https://www.prepperforums.net/forum/news-links/123355-2020-truth-may-shock-you.html


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## Prepared One

Out in the country power lines, communication towers, granaries, train tracks, and pipe lines, will be low risk easy targets. Isolating central food distribution points and trucking routs would top my list. Stop the trucks and you can bring the country to it's knees.


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## Chiefster23

I vote ‘stopping the trucks’. This would be easy. Over the course of a day or two, shoot a few dozen truckers driving down the interstates and make sure these shootings occurred all over the country. Drivers would stop delivering fearing for their safety. Panic starts and shelves and gas stations empty in hours. Mission accomplished as the sheep will go nuts. 

There would be no way to guard every overpass on every interstate so returning to normal interstate deliveries would be close to impossible. This would be quite a shit-show in very short order.


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## Prepared One

Chiefster23 said:


> I vote 'stopping the trucks'. This would be easy. Over the course of a day or two, shoot a few dozen truckers driving down the interstates and make sure these shootings occurred all over the country. Drivers would stop delivering fearing for their safety. Panic starts and shelves and gas stations empty in hours. Mission accomplished as the sheep will go nuts.
> 
> There would be no way to guard every overpass on every interstate so returning to normal interstate deliveries would be close to impossible. This would be quite a shit-show in very short order.


I agree, disrupt the supply lines, trucking, trains, power, pipe lines, all easy targets in the country. Trucks are isolated on the open highway and you can't guard every mile of track, power line, and pipe line. I would make Trucks the priority followed closely by power and trains


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## inceptor

Prepared One said:


> I agree, disrupt the supply lines, trucking, trains, power, pipe lines, all easy targets in the country. Trucks are isolated on the open highway and you can't guard every mile of track, power line, and pipe line. I would make Trucks the priority followed closely by power and trains


They have been doing that but in the cities. Truckers are refusing to go into the cities with rioting. A number of them have been pulled out of their trucks and beaten and the loads taken. When it gets worse, I'll bet you won't see any without an armed escort.


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## Kauboy

I agree that stopping supply lines would be a rather simple ordeal, and its result would be extraordinary.
However, we are discussing an environment where friend and foe occupy the same areas. Supply shortages will affect both sides. Unless there has been a significant effort to stockpile goods to support the communist/socialist push later on, such an event would not serve them well.
Napoleon said "An army marches on its stomach."
If you can't feed your own fighters, you'll have no fighters to feed.

Of course, if the goal is extreme depopulation with the elites hunkering down in their holes for the next decade, maybe they don't care.
The "useful idiots" won't be able to think far enough ahead to see the outcome that will be their own undoing.

It's something to keep an eye out for, but I don't see it as a primary, or even secondary, tactic.


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## Buttoni

ND_ponyexpress_ said:


> One thing to think about in rural area especially western ND.. Oil Wells.. lefties would likely love to save the environment by torching the wells to hurt the country. ignoring the plumes of black smoke that could fill the sky for weeks/months.


I sure hope not. There's an oil well literally 1300' from our BOL cabin. It flanks our easement access lane. In fact, we are actually one of many dividend recipients (small fraction) on that and another well not much farther away. Hope the wackos don't decide to torch wells. Not much we could do to prep for that scenario our neighboring 40 acre parcel.


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## Captjim_NM

Growing up in Texas, I have seen shelves stripped bare before a hurricane or ice storm. This past spring our local Walmart got down to only about 50% stocked shelves, and stayed that way for 3 months. In a town of 20,000 people we have a Walmart and a local food store. IF THE TRUCKS STOPPED, IN A WEEK THERE WOULD NO FOOD TO BUY. Really makes you think about rice, beans and those that can butcher their own meat. NOW is the time to network with your neighbors.


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## 2020 Convert

Everyone has a different set of circumstances. Here are a few of my unique ones. 

I live 3 miles from the main road. Very hilly rugged terrain. How do I defend? Use my obvious sniper advantage. This will work for typical ANTIFA and unorganized types. 2 of us are not going to defend against para military. I know the limitations. 

Who would want to come up here? Closest house to 2 reservoirs for a major city. 3 and 1 1/2 miles away. Gotta think about Para Military coming.

Fire- mainly grass lands so it will be quick burning, but I can see a long ways off. 40 gallon sprayer tank for the tractor filled to 32 gallon mark and 8 gallons of Phoscheck to add, takes me an hour to spray around the buildings.

Power out- 7500 gen hooked up to propane. Gives me 6 circuits of house to survive on but I need to be able to get power well pump. Looking at MSG trailer from a company that went bankrupt. More than I need, but 50k worth of equipment for 8k. Probably will just do a few hundred for another transfer switch. 

My food is at a 3 month supply, with plenty of game and cattle nearby if SHTF.


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## Sasquatch

2020 Convert said:


> Everyone has a different set of circumstances. Here are a few of my unique ones.
> 
> I live 3 miles from the main road. Very hilly rugged terrain. How do I defend? Use my obvious sniper advantage. This will work for typical ANTIFA and unorganized types. 2 of us are not going to defend against para military. I know the limitations.
> 
> Who would want to come up here? Closest house to 2 reservoirs for a major city. 3 and 1 1/2 miles away. Gotta think about Para Military coming.
> 
> Fire- mainly grass lands so it will be quick burning, but I can see a long ways off. 40 gallon sprayer tank for the tractor filled to 32 gallon mark and 8 gallons of Phoscheck to add, takes me an hour to spray around the buildings.
> 
> Power out- 7500 gen hooked up to propane. Gives me 6 circuits of house to survive on but I need to be able to get power well pump. Looking at MSG trailer from a company that went bankrupt. More than I need, but 50k worth of equipment for 8k. Probably will just do a few hundred for another transfer switch.
> 
> My food is at a 3 month supply, with plenty of game and cattle nearby if SHTF.


Dude, you are seriously okay. From your description you'll be the last person to see action in case of CW or whatever. I'd focus on the aftermath and how to deal with it if I were you.


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## 2020 Convert

Sasquatch said:


> Dude, you are seriously okay. From your description you'll be the last person to see action in case of CW or whatever. I'd focus on the aftermath and how to deal with it if I were you.


I would like to think so, but every so often I get a reminder from idiot visitors to the wilderness area next to me.
The thing you don't plan for will be the thing that bites you in the butt


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## Sasquatch

2020 Convert said:


> I would like to think so, but every so often I get a reminder from idiot visitors to the wilderness area next to me.
> *The thing you don't plan for will be the thing that bites you in the butt*


Very true, but no one can plan for EVERY scenario. Chances are if things go sideways all the idiots you're worried about will be in the cities trying to figure out how the government will save them. Sounds like you are in a pretty good strategic location. Worry more about feeding your family and things around the house. But always be vigilant. But I'm sure you know that already.


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## Elvis

The OP post seems to be more about civil insurrection or racial/political fighting causing the problem but in rural areas I don't think you'd see much of that. 
But in a serious SHTF situation I could see people coming out of the cities and attempting to raid secluded farms for food and shelter. In that case I don't see a raider gaining much by burning the shelter and food they want to capture. 

But there would be a high potential for people from the city trying to raid or capture a rural home. I suspect that the most likely people would be people from the city who are hunters and possibly rent hunting rights in the area or driven the area looking for hunting locations. Many farmers and rural land owners lease out the hunting rights to their land. Also good hunting land attracts poachers who are usually local guys who live in a town close by. They've seen the area and may choose to go there if forced out of the city.

With an aggressor like that I would expect them to set up in the woods and try to take the property owners from long distance. They know that most people in rural areas keep guns in the house to deal with pests so they'd want to take you in the open from cover. 

Two poachers arrested in the field across the road from me this fall but a 3rd one while seen several times was never caught, usually just his truck would be seen. The hunting club that rents 800 acres near me has 12 members, most of whom live in urban areas at least 30 miles from me. Another poacher busted about a mile down the road from me.

Different but related topic. Even if your house is surrounded with grass in all directions that yard will quickly become a fire potential when the grass grows tall from no mowing and the weather is dry. Even a stone house will burn when sparks from a grass fire gets up in your soffits. The wood in your attic is bone dry,


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## 2020 Convert

Sasquatch said:


> Very true, but no one can plan for EVERY scenario. Chances are if things go sideways all the idiots you're worried about will be in the cities trying to figure out how the government will save them. Sounds like you are in a pretty good strategic location. Worry more about feeding your family and things around the house. But always be vigilant. But I'm sure you know that already.


Very true. This morning I had to chip ice in the horse troughs. Then I started to think, if it got cold enough the hose from the IBC tanks to the trough would freeze. It got to 56, so I didn't worry about it.

But I did use it to plan. Extra hose, extra fittings. It's all in thinking ahead.


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