Masaq's 0.86 Infantry Tips

[Masaq]

[CENTER]Masaq's tips for Infantry Combat in 0.86

Preface:


When someone requested some advice from Devs on how 0.86 was intended to be played; the below was my advice. It's not so much "This is how the DEV team built 0.86 to be played" so much as my own advice on the subject, but I'd imagine many/most in the team would agree.

It only really covers the basics, and much of it can be found elsewhere in this forum, but I may keep expanding on it if people find it helpful.

Anyways, to business!

[/CENTER]
General Tips:

1. Your Squad's LMG is the second most important man in your squad, after the SL. You should not be running an infantry squad without an LMG, and between them the Officer, Automatic Rifleman and Medic kits are the three "must have" kits for an infantry squad.
2. Move slowly. You cannot appropriately respond to threats if you're putting yourselves at risk too fast. You need to know what's around you, and you need to be able to respond to it. Ideally, your AR should be able to provide supressive fire on the biggest threat within moments.
3. Watch your spacing. The enemy AR is just as lethal as yours is! If you are too closely bunched up, one-to-two bursts will mow you all down just as effectively as a single grenade or IED.

Supression, Fire and Manouver:

1. On contact, your AR should adopt a good firing position (ideally from behind some form of cover) and supress the enemy. That means placing sustained fire on the target's immediate area so the target's primary concern becomes just staying alive.
2. You do not have to actually see your target to supress them. Steady, sustained fire from an AR and a rifleman or two, spaced over a 10-15 meter target area, will keep most people's heads down. Don't stop firing just because the target has hidden - your fire is what made him hide!
3. With the target supressed, the rest of the squad are able to move from their position to one from which they are able to kill the enemy. Use of smoke, cover and concealment will allow them to do this in as much safely as can be hoped for.

Arcs of Fire, Covering Fire:

1. Ideally, the squad should have a 360' field of vision; ie, people in the squad should be looking in different directions.
2. This should be achieved without excessive radio spam saying "I'm covering North" "I'm looking East" etc. Just look left and right, see where your squadmates are looking - then look in a different direction.
3. As part of this awareness, watch where you're walking/running. Nothing is more frustrating than stopping, crouching, taking careful aim at a target... and then having to hold the shot because one of your squad just walked into your sights. Or worse, taking the shot and having it plough into the back of their head. Do not wander into a friendly's line of fire!
4. When crossing wide expanses, split up. Half the squad should stay back - ideally your "golden three" - the Squad Leader, AR and Medic. Medic should watch their back, AR and Officer should cover the other three squad members as they cross the exposed ground.
5. Once they are safely across the road/field, confirm that they are able to cover you - they may have walked into contacts on the other side - and then cross yourselves. This method means that if the first group get mown down, you can either fall back and place a fresh rally (you have the SL safe) or you can smoke the area and recover them (you have the Medic safe). Supressive fire can immediately be bought to bare on the hostiles targetting your squad (you have the AR safe).

Squad Movement:

1. Infantry squads should operate as a cohesive unit. That means every squad member should be, ideally, within line-of-sight of their squad leader.
2. Where this is not possible (defending a building or other fixed asset from scattered positions, for example) use a metaphorical 'shouting distance' as your guide. Ie, don't stray further than you would be able to shout, in real life.
3. Like all good rules there are times when this doesn't apply and you will want to scatter the squad further; however as a general rule of thumb it will do!
4. As mentioned above, 360' field of vision is required.
5. Keep the 'Golden Three' in the centre of your formation. The guy at the front is often the first to die - don't let that be your squad's medic, squad leader or automatic rifleman. Likewise, the squad's tail might get picked off quicker than the rest of the squad, so don't let them loiter at the back.
6. Watch your spacing! You do not want to have the entire squad wiped out by a single grenade or 120mm HEAT round from a tank. Stay close, but not so close that you can smell their breakfast.

Radio (VOIP) Use:

1. Keep it clear, concise and accurate.
2. In combat, avoid rambling on or excessive silliness. Screaming because you've been shot is awfully funny, but it's also awfully distracting for your squadmates who are trying to secure your position and revive you.
3. In quiet times, have a laugh and a joke. The game is about a thousand times more fun if you feel relaxed with your squadmates.
4. When calling out enemy positions, don't use "over there" or "on the left" - because that's too vague. Use a compass baring.
5. A short-form call like "Hostile infantry, <baring> <distance>" is most useful.
6. Please be polite with strangers. Don't forget to say please and thank-you when requesting or receiving bandages and ammobags.
7. Keep spam to a minimum; don't talk over people and let people finish talking before replying.

Smoke:

1. Smoke is a great tool, and vastly underused. Start using it correctly and you'll live longer.
2. Use smoke ahead of your position to conceal your position.
3. Use smoke behind or away from your position to mislead the enemy as to where your position actually is.
4. Use smoke on a hostile position to blind them as you attack or fall back
5. Always smoke an area before attempting to recover critically wounded comrades! They aren't going to go anywhere - take the time to place smoke, supress and clear the hostiles still firing at you, and then move in to recover. Remember that if someone has been hit, the ground they're lying on is obviously within the enemy's view!
6. Remember that smoke is big, visible from miles away and will attract fire. If your aim is stealth, smoking needlessly is the last thing you should do. Conversely, if you've been spotted and you're trying to leave the area - not being seen is better than being seen, so smoke.
7. Tanks and APCs hate being surrounded in smoke, and will often withdraw if heavily smoked.
8. Tanks and APCs will often fire at smoke in the hope of mowing down whoever is behind it. Use this to your advantage - chuck smoke in one direction, run in the opposite direction. If they're firing at the smoke, they can't fire at you.

Grenades:

1. Fragmentation grenades are a short-range, hand-thrown weapon for close-quarters combat.
2. Frags are most useful for clearing buildings, bunkers, foxholes, firebases, machine-gun nests, courtyards and other enclosed spaces.
3. They have a short fuse and are generally hard to escape from especially if thrown some distance.
4. Grenades work best in groups. It's better to throw too many than too few! Have two mates chuck a grenade at the same time.
5. In addition to the lethal/wounding effects, grenades also make a loud noise and act as supression. Several grenades detonating at once will usually freak an enemy out if it doesn't kill them.
6. They can also be highly disorientating, especially if thrown into a cloud of smoke.
7. Underbarrel Grenade Launchers (UGLs) fire either 40mm or 30mm rounds from an underslung launcher carried on a Grenadier kit. They are an excellent way of providing indirect fire from within the squad.
8. You do not carry many UGL rounds, so practice offline to get used to the leaf-sight at various ranges.

Ambushes, IEDs and Mines:

1. Ambushes needn't be complex to set up. Simply waiting at a high-traffic location that is commonly used by the enemy is enough.
2. Mines are often spotted with enough time to divert the vehicle. Use this to your advantage - place a mine in the open to divert traffic towards an IED, or vice versa.
3. If you are attemping to ambush a vehicle that carries more firepower than your squad can lay down, you must ensure that you are able to neutralise it before it can return fire. Wait until it has come close; this will minimize the chances of you missing, the vehicle stopping outside of your effective range, or the crew being able to open fire on you.
4. "Close" generally means much closer than you are comfortable with.
5. Two or three explosions in sucession is more disorientating and confusing than a single detonation. If you want to get fancy with your ambush, set three IEDs in a row, and detonate the middle one as the enemy vehicle passes over it. Then use the other two as the vehicle either continues, reverses or disembarks the infantry inside.
6. As with all things - do not take on a target you have no hope of killing!
7. If the enemy are aware you are ambushing on a particular stretch of road, they may adjust their tactics accordingly and either search for you or progress with more caution. In turn, you should adjust yours likewise.
8. If they search for you; relocate quickly and set up a new ambush point elsewhere. If they progress with caution, let several vehicles or patrols pass by unmolestled; they will report they passed without trouble and become overconfident.

Sniping:

1. Although not strictly a conventional infantry role, I'll touch on it briefly.
2. Sniping should not be seen as long-range pot-shots at targets, but more of a recon role.
3. Always operate in pairs, join up with a buddy with a weapon that is more effective close-in. You'll need them if you stumble onto enemy at under 100m.
4. Hold your fire for a good long while after aimimg. If you fire too soon, you'll miss, alerting your target and they'll hide or return fire.
5. When firing at a static, well-defended position, don't fire at every target that presents itself. Allow the enemy to feel comfortable between shots; there is no point firing and missing at quickly-moving or frequently-hiding infantry. Let them settle down and go stationary before you shoot.
6. Even near-misses can be effective at supressing the enemy, so long as you don't reveal your position - once they know where you are, they will return fire. If you're hidden, they'll hide too.

More might be added as I think of it and if people find the above helpful.

[Scot]

Can you add a heading?

Grenades:

1. Grenades, although lacking in power compared to BF2, still are a lethal tool.
2. Grenades are the best way if close enough to clear a position without risking your life.
3. By the time a grenade lands at someone's feet, it is often to late to run away, so you either get heavily wounded, or die.
4. Throw more than 1 grenade. Get a buddy or two to throw an extra grenade at the enemy position, maximising on the death radius.
5. Grenades go BOOOM! When clearing a position, nothing is more confusing and distracting than have a massive explosion with sounds and the suppression effect going off. 9/10 people will look there, and not at you trying to kill them.
6. Grenades have more of a 'where the fu*k did that come from?' Use them over rifles if you can.


Hope those help some people, and convince them to use their hand grenades. You have 3 of them as a rifleman, and a bag of ammo. You won't be running dry!

[cyberzomby]

Nice guide so far!

[sakils2]

1. Grenades, although lacking in power compared to BF2, still are a lethal tool.

Care to elaborate?

Masaq, very good guide!

[Epim3theus]

Always try to keep a way/fall back position, out of where you are going. If you are cought in a disadvatious position, fall back if you can. Don't stay and let yourself get shot or grenaded.
Don't always try to press through with an atack.

[Scot]

@ Saklis, read my other points.

They can be used to suppress, confuse, kill or wound your enemy = lethal

[sakils2]

Well, I can read and I understand that they are lethal . But, lacking in power compared to BF2?

[Scot]

Oh sorry, misunderstood. What I meant was that compared to BF2, they don't kill you nearly as easily, however because of that, a lot of people deem them useless, however on the contrary, they are one of the most useful bits of kit ever.

[sakils2]

I always thought that grenades in PR are more lethal and useful then in BF2. Must be only me

[baptist_christian]

Can you add a heading?

Grenades:

1. Grenades, although lacking in power compared to BF2, still are a lethal tool.

wut? I have found grenades to be vastly more powerful in PR than BF2

[Masaq]

OP updated. New sections: Grenades, Squad Movement, Radio/VOIP use, IED/Ambushes, and sniping.

[SSG Jay]

On contact, your AR should adopt a good firing position (ideally from behind some form of cover) and supress the enemy. That means placing sustained, accurate fire on the target so the target's primary concern becomes just staying alive.

Sustained would be correct, but as far as accuracy goes, when people see accurate they think dead on. The role of the AR is not to be dead on but like you said to be sustainable for support of squad operations thus the name for the SAW squad automatic weapon. About 90% of the guys who pick up the automatic rifle, which may have jumped to 99% since .86 is using it as their precision weapon, or automatic sniper rifle due to its dead on accuracy, even in fully automatic. First thing we used to say when training soldiers in US Weapons is "The M249(or M240B), is NOT a precision weapon, you don't have to kill anyone to be considered a good ARman".

[Masaq]

Good point, I'll tinker a little

[SSG Jay]

Great guide by the way.

[Masaq]

Ty.

Further additions coming shortly.

[LostWraith]

Suppression fire is certainly a sound concept, but in most infantry firefights still it is dominated by deviation control and actually hitting your enemy. You have to aim to shoot to kill because if you don't then suppression won't work because the smart enemy will just wait for deviation to settle and kill you in 1 shot. People aren't afraid of being shot in this game or even being killed so suppression has to equate effective fire or it's not going to work well.

[Small]

You might add to squad movement to use terrain to your advantage.. Running through depressions and below ridge lines will keep you concealed.

[SSG Jay]

Suppression fire is certainly a sound concept, but in most infantry firefights still it is dominated by deviation control and actually hitting your enemy. You have to aim to shoot to kill because if you don't then suppression won't work because the smart enemy will just wait for deviation to settle and kill you in 1 shot. People aren't afraid of being shot in this game or even being killed so suppression has to equate effective fire or it's not going to work well.

True indeed, my opinion is his first sentence.

When someone requested some advice from Devs on how 0.86 was intended to be played

[LiL JRG]

Great guide, its helped me alot on the Battlefield, especially Squad Leading.

[Cavazos]

I'm surprised this thread hasn't been rated yet. I'll be the first to give it a much needed 5 star rating! Personally I think the only sections needed are the original ones. Everything is very redundant in these tactic forums and this information is exactly the sort of information people need when it comes to tips. Simple and to the point and is the perfect reference guide.