One scenario I'm prepping for is the possibility that the coming economic collapse will lead to roving bands of thugs looking for resources. Our 10 acre homestead is pretty self-sufficient and well-stocked, meaning we'll eventually be a target when the food runs out in the metro area and the gangs start moving out into the countryside. I'll spare the details, but we're in a pretty good tactical position here, at least according to the worksheets in Joe Nobody's book - high ground, not visible from the road, surrounded by natural barriers, etc. But eventually, they'll find us, and we need to be ready.
My choice is to stand and fight, or retreat and lay low while they ransack. Given the fact that I have three kids and a wife to look after, my best bet may be to retreat. Not that we are untrained - my wife and two of the kids are Appleseed Riflemen, as am I, and we could theoretically control everything for 400 yards in any direction with four rifles. But punching holes in paper is a much different thing that putting your sights on a human, and I'm not sure any of us could do that. Plus, my fear is that the gangs will be better organized and trained by the time they get here, the riff-raff having been weeded out in a brutal process of artificial selection. We may be outnumbered and outclassed.
I know the solution is community and cross-training, but time is running out. I need a detailed plan for bugging out, but not too far out. I've got 10 acres of terrain to play with, with many natural places to hide out, pre-stage supplies, observe the house, camp out, etc. My idea is that I'll have some warning and have already cleared long-term food preps, weapons and ammo, gear, etc., out of the house and dispersed it in the woods. On "go day," we move out to the woods and keep the house under surveillance until the threat has passed, and hopefully not a single shot is fired. Lather, rinse, repeat.
So, my question is: what resources are there that I can use to plan such things as rally points, ammo caches, LP-OPs, etc.? I'm having no luck searching for "rally point" - I get links to some stupid video games. Is there an Army manual available that I can download that covers the principles I need to understand to make sure my family survives an attack such as I describe?
2p