How F.O.B.'s should be built

[Blackburn92xBHD]

Sometimes I have the feeling the assets are dropped randomly.. be it because the SL don't know better or because he just dont care.

now in my opinion it is important to set the assets up in a specific pattern (if you got space arround you) so the H.M.G.'s are able to cover your flanks and whats more important the T.O.W. is not blocked by anything.

i made a picture to show you exacly what i mean:


-This example is of course for a flat open field area and needs to be adjusted to the actual terrain
(use the terrain for cover as much as possible it cannot be destroyed and doesnt need to be digged)

-I didnt draw any defences at 180 degree because i think if you build a big fob with defences you should pic a place where the enemy comes from only one direction, otherwise i think it's better if the fob just stays hidden

but whats important:
-HMG's are being set on the flanks so they can cover 45 to 90 degrees respectively 270 to 315 degrees.

-TOW should be placed in the front so it got a clear line of sight, it can also be further away from the defensive position as long as the squad can cover it.

-between the assets there should be foxholes so the INF can move between the assets without getting shot at. and also you can make your AR or any other soldier setup there to fill the gaps between the assets.


whats often done wrong:

-HMG's are often placed in the same direction wich is a waste of these assets in my opinion. just make sure the firing sectors of these useful lovly things arent crossing!

-i often found TOW's behind foxholes or wires (for anyone who doesnt know: TOW cant shoot through wire) just put them in front of the defensive position.

-foxholes are being placed randomly (to far away or in the way of HMG or TOW)

optional:

-defensive position can also be placed further away from the fob. maybe you can even place the fob somewhere where its hidden.

-if you have a mortar squad, put the mortars behind the defensive position and behind the FOB, bomb cars often go for the defensive position or the FOB so if you have the crates close by your mortars then the chances are good that you can rebuild everything.


just let me know what you think about this, sorry for bad english i learned it from MTV

[Cavazos]

I like you being the first to build a FOB building strategy. However, using the wire in front of foxholes may be pretty but not practical. Put foxholes on line with the heavy weapon assets and use the wire to block off the flanks of the FOB to protect from vehicles driving over infantry and provide partial cover on flanks.

[redman0123]

Also assuming that the "front" of the fire base is pointed at the general enemy area, the puts the TOW gunner in a seriously exposed postion. Youve already mentioned moving the TOW back behind some where which is what I prefer. He cant TOW armor if he's sniped!

[Stemplus]

Big FOBs are very cool and all, but they get killed in the first 5 minutes by mortars so I don't see a point of them since a smart team can set up, fire and undeploy mortars in about 2 minutes which makes it almost impossible to kill them

[Moszeusz6Pl]

There are some changes in 1.0, which are making mortars less powerful versus deployable, which should make it last longer. Also mortars are not available on 1km maps, so you can be quite safe then, except area attack.

[=-=kittykiller]

you have to show agression when building a fob no matter what the terrain. thus they should always be built like this.!!


Make a picture without naughty bits and try again.

[Blackburn92xBHD]

of course this is not perfect... i am no magic god of warfare. but i think sometime epecially in wide open areas it is smart to build all the assets to a fob or also to give the defending team an advantage defending a flag in AAS.

i still think the tow should be in the front so there are no obsticles only better solution in my opinion would be behind the defensive position on a hill so it can fire above the foxholes.

[matty1053]

what about AA?

Plus the Back of the FOB is vunerable to attack.

[Blackburn92xBHD]

i forgot the AA :-/ but i usually try to place it in a ditch so it can't take direct fire

[Trooper909]

Looks all pretty on paper but in practice its much better to build the FOB with no assets to keep it hidden.All those pretty MG's wont be manned through 99% of the game and it takes about 15mins to build all that lot up,Time spent better doing anything else then shoveling and faffing about trying to get the placement just right.

[PFunk]

In practice you build the assets to suit the situation. If you have a FOB smack dab in the middle of the front line flag radius, damn straight those fortifications can be very useful. Use the wire to block off alley ways and you force the enemy to give his intentions away when he blows them up.

MGs and TOWs control the easy access routes in a town that favours them because there are some choke points.

In other situations, like say Yamalia, you definitely wanna keep it low key. Its all a matter of situation.

Anybody who's ever read a Field Manual that includes lots of pictures that make milsimmers giddy should remember that almost every section ends with the advisory that goes something like "this doesn't preclude common sense and situational factors. This example is ideal, and not typical", or some such.

Formulae die hard, common sense rules.

As for the above example. I'd put the heavy weapons BEHIND the front line foxholes because you want to use those useless riflemen as fodder to protect your precious TOW if its really worth having there in the first place. If you're sure the enemy has to attack from one direction I'd also put my MGs on the flanks, hidden, so that they can rake the whole frontage and do so from an angle you're not expecting them to be advancing towards, but then again how often do you really know in PR that the enemy is coming from one direction?

[007.SirBond]

Not a bad guide; However I disagree that foxholes should be behind the Tow. Fox-holes should always be in front of the Tow, allowing INF to spot more targets out and provide a base of fire if needed. The height of foxholes are not very high, anyone operating the Tow should not have a issue firing over the foxholes.

Razor-wire being build in front of foxholes is a very bad idea, as it hinders the ability to effectively fire from a foxhole. You have to remember, it's not just razor wire itself, it also includes hedgehog obstacles. I personally only use the razor wire/hedgehogs only on thresholds or choke points to prevent vehicles from passing, or force them into a narrow point where a land mine is placed.

It's a shame that this is the BF2 engine as razor wire is really effective in combination with a heavy machine gun in real life, it is possible but not always to place a razor wire/hedgehogs effectively against infantry. But most of the time it's effectiveness is only for vehicles.