Project Reality Forums

Well, the BMP3 and the Bradley seem to be very powerful and capable vehicles, but I have no idea how to really use them.

Tanks in PR seem to just waddle off on their own, so there is little point in carrying infantry, because then you just get raped by LAT and other tanks, so you really can't perform your job unless you are the only armor asset in town. In Kashan, you can't really help out in direct support of infantry, functioning as cover, because you can't get in the bunker complex in the first place. You'd still be ripe for getting ambushed.

If you decide to try to save your hide and stay with the tanks, you're pretty much useless and you are just a mini-tank with some seats inside.

The obvious answer seems to be "get the tanks to stay with you," but in pubs we know this is absolutely impossible.

A BMP or Bradley are DEADLY inside the bunker on kashan. Just get there first, engine off and wait for unsuspecting enemies to walk into your crosshair. On Silent Eagle you just need to be patient and let the team do the work. If you have a bad team it's tough but if you're getting intel relayed to you you can make good decisions on where to go and what to do.

The bottom line though, is you need to be fast, and hit your shots. If you whiff on AT, they're going to kill you. And now that there are 3 tow's per map, the threat of AT just got that much more severe. I find the best BMP/Bradley crews are ones that are experienced, and have good aim. If you can't aim a gun don't use an IFV

I find their best role in Kashan is to be like a big humvee for a squad. Ferry them places, engage stuff they see, & take the fire they would be taking, if you weren't there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LM6POzvLBg

One of the tactics I have had success with is carrying an AT team inside the AFV (Armored Fighting Vehicle.) Hiding behind hills and dropping of the AT team to cover your back. You can pop up and get enemy Armor from the rear and then disappear before they can find your firing position, if you relocate after every shot you can keep that going for a long time.

But you have to have people willing to just sit and cover your rear. Which can get boring, but the plus in this tactic is if the AFV is taken out, the AT team can engage the Armor. Normally the Armor isn't expecting another shot.

Works for me.

[R-MOD]Thermis wrote:One of the tactics I have had success with is carrying an AT team inside the AFV (Armored Fighting Vehicle.) Hiding behind hills and dropping of the AT team to cover your back. You can pop up and get enemy Armor from the rear and then disappear before they can find your firing position, if you relocate after every shot you can keep that going for a long time.

But you have to have people willing to just sit and cover your rear. Which can get boring, but the plus in this tactic is if the AFV is taken out, the AT team can engage the Armor. Normally the Armor isn't expecting another shot.

Works for me.

I do this with the BTR's and such, with maps like kashan it's better to have more guys on flags/crewing other assets than having a dedicated flankcovering team/at team. But for APCs without AT missles, or weak APCs (M113) this is a MUST.

theRVD wrote:I do this with the BTR's and such, with maps like kashan it's better to have more guys on flags/crewing other assets than having a dedicated flankcovering team/at team. But for APCs without AT missles, or weak APCs (M113) this is a MUST.

Look at it this way,

If you can position yourself that you cut of enemy Armored assets before they reach the objective your guys are on. It's easier for your guys to take the object. Whenever I play, whether Armor or Infantry, we try do effect delaying actions on the enemy. Which when we do it well our team can get 2 flags to the enemy's 1. But you have to have a good team behind you or else the enemy eventually overwhelms you before you team does anything.

Well, on large maps, I've found the following is a GREAT idea, and got us to win on Yamalia on the Russian side, 252-0:

• Make an IFV squad, 1 APC, the rest INF.
• As soon as you spawn, bumrush into the IFV. NO STOPPING. Bumrush the objectives, as soon as you get in cap range, stop. Everyone but the gunner should get out.
• Blitzkrieg. In Kashan, it's a lot harder to be able to hide.
• If you can get in the bunkers, DO IT.

I'm trying to get together some tactics to soundly win maps like Qinling, Kashan, etc. It seems like the key is that you have a squad that is 1 APC/IFV/vehicle, 4 infantry as standard. At the start, GET INTO THE VEHICLE, AND GET GOING. Rush the flag. As soon as you enter the cap zone, gunner stays in his seat, but everyone else jumps out to help with the cap.

Keep rushing. If you do it right, you should be able to blitzkrieg your way through. If you have two or so squads doing this, you should be able to cap INCREDIBLY fast. As long as you just have a firebase or two per flag, you are pretty much assured to control the flags. The people who lag should focus on defending the objective that you just captured.

As soon as you reach an objective, then you use your IFV as a breakthrough weapon. Spray MG everywhere, use up your HE autocannon, clear it all out. If there's tanks on the map, ensure that they take out enemy armor for you.

Well said hunter. The BTR-80A mechanized squad is absolute domination: we had 2 of them on Yamalia and capped the Canadians back to their 2nd last before they got their act together.

The BTR-80 tends to do the roll better than any other APC, I think due to the maps its on (Iron Ridge dominates as well).

Its much harder to go mechanized on maps like Fools due to the bottlenecks for the Warrior, and on 100% city maps (Fallujah) and Insurgency maps, bar Karbala with the Stryker.

dtacs wrote:Well said hunter. The BTR-80A mechanized squad is absolute domination: we had 2 of them on Yamalia and capped the Canadians back to their 2nd last before they got their act together.

The BTR-80 tends to do the roll better than any other APC, I think due to the maps its on (Iron Ridge dominates as well).

Its much harder to go mechanized on maps like Fools due to the bottlenecks for the Warrior, and on 100% city maps (Fallujah) and Insurgency maps, bar Karbala with the Stryker.

I don't know if the BMP and Bradley can do this in Kashan though...

Can anyone say?

Hunt3r wrote:Well, on large maps, I've found the following is a GREAT idea, and got us to win on Yamalia on the Russian side, 252-0:

• Make an IFV squad, 1 APC, the rest INF.
• As soon as you spawn, bumrush into the IFV. NO STOPPING. Bumrush the objectives, as soon as you get in cap range, stop. Everyone but the gunner should get out.
• Blitzkrieg. In Kashan, it's a lot harder to be able to hide.
• If you can get in the bunkers, DO IT.

I'm trying to get together some tactics to soundly win maps like Qinling, Kashan, etc. It seems like the key is that you have a squad that is 1 APC/IFV/vehicle, 4 infantry as standard. At the start, GET INTO THE VEHICLE, AND GET GOING. Rush the flag. As soon as you enter the cap zone, gunner stays in his seat, but everyone else jumps out to help with the cap.

Keep rushing. If you do it right, you should be able to blitzkrieg your way through. If you have two or so squads doing this, you should be able to cap INCREDIBLY fast. As long as you just have a firebase or two per flag, you are pretty much assured to control the flags. The people who lag should focus on defending the objective that you just captured.

As soon as you reach an objective, then you use your IFV as a breakthrough weapon. Spray MG everywhere, use up your HE autocannon, clear it all out. If there's tanks on the map, ensure that they take out enemy armor for you.

So we're back to "zerging" is a great tactic?...............hmmmm.

IMO, the Bradley is only good for ambushing, my record on kashan in 087 was 8 tanks + bmps w/o dying once, mostly by simply hiding behind stuff in the eastern part of the map (wide open desert) and waiting for enemy armor.
The BMP.. Its like a mini tank with badass weaponry, good for rushing bunkarz, less good for ambushing enemy armor than the brad.

Use them as armoured recce with a small detachment of mounted infantry if you really want to get the "teamplay" buzz.

Basically get behind the conventional lines, ambush things, kill stuff, stay safe. Stay moving.


No matter what anyone tells you, this is the only way to use the APCs in PR. They act as cavalry, not fire support vehicles.

Well, it is actually possible to have armor stay together on pubs, seen it happen a few times.

First off, don't be a ******. Don't take one of these apcs AND a hat kit. I've seen this countless time because it gives you the advantage of using less easily spotted infantry to engage enemy armor. This seems nice and all until you realize its a bloody big map and there are only two hat kits available. You already have one of the strongest AT weapons at your disposal, don't deprive your infantry squads of their AT capabilities.
The idea is to spread the AT capabilites around a little, that way if you die, we don't loose both at once, and inf isn't 100% reliant on you to take out armor.


Basically however, I prefer to use the BMP/Bradley to ambush enemy armored vehicles as opposed to transporting inf (in most cases, if there is no other transport available, I will of course do this). This is because taking out large chunks of enemy armor is a huge relief for your team, as well as a big ticket loss for the enemy team.

smiley wrote:So we're back to "zerging" is a great tactic?...............hmmmm.

There is a difference between zerging and speed & agility. Zerging would involve everybody, assetless, rushing the flag without the intent of staying safe and tactical and just capping the flag with sheer numbers, regardless of deaths. A good example of this is that video that popped up awhile ago of the human blob formation on Mestia, where the team moved around in one huge group without caring for deaths bar a few medics.

The tactic he was talking about however is simply having the instacap mindset, having a group ready on every next flag to be able to cap it. This works on larger maps very well.

Hunt3r wrote:I don't know if the BMP and Bradley can do this in Kashan though...

Can anyone say?

No, they can not. I tend to find that with the increased firepower the Bradley and BMP on maps like Silent Eagle tend to become fire support vehicles or tankhunters instead of their infantry-carrying nature (plus on Kashan, mechanized doesn't work because there isn't cover which infantry need after they dismount). BTR-80A is the best vehicle for mechanized, I would take the BTR-80A over anything, anytime, anywhere, any map thanks to its speed, incredibly small turning circle, and ROF on the 30mm main cannon.

Simply the best.

Yo dog, you guys know there's a while fork for this kinda stuff? If you go to AARs then in that forum there is a tactics forum.

in an ideal PR world, there'd be CAAT teams as well as everyone working together in a combined arms fashion. where an OPFOR tries to react to one threat, it'll make him vulnerable to another.

however throughout my 2 and a bit years of playing PR, this has only happened like once haha. Like you said, on a pub server, it's impossible.

dtacs wrote:There is a difference between zerging and speed & agility. Zerging would involve everybody, assetless, rushing the flag without the intent of staying safe and tactical and just capping the flag with sheer numbers, regardless of deaths. A good example of this is that video that popped up awhile ago of the human blob formation on Mestia, where the team moved around in one huge group without caring for deaths bar a few medics.

The tactic he was talking about however is simply having the instacap mindset, having a group ready on every next flag to be able to cap it. This works on larger maps very well.


No, they can not. I tend to find that with the increased firepower the Bradley and BMP on maps like Silent Eagle tend to become fire support vehicles or tankhunters instead of their infantry-carrying nature (plus on Kashan, mechanized doesn't work because there isn't cover which infantry need after they dismount). BTR-80A is the best vehicle for mechanized, I would take the BTR-80A over anything, anytime, anywhere, any map thanks to its speed, incredibly small turning circle, and ROF on the 30mm main cannon.

Simply the best.

Sorry but i disagree but thanks for the assumption that i didn't understand what he meant. For me and it's just my opinion this kind of charging around the map is what kills off games and doesn't allow for any immersion. It is only your opinion of the definition of that made up word and therefore doesn't necessarily have to mean the whole team. For me zerging means getting the biggest and most powerful tool at your disposal and charging up the map hoping to mow people down who are just getting set up.
Sorry but it's the oldest trick in internet gaming, doesn't require any thought or cleverness and usually is employed by people under the age of 20 who cant wait to finish a map in 20 mins and then complain that it's boring or to boast about how they pwned the other team.
This i reasoned by his use of the term "blitzkrieg" or lightning war if you prefer.

Okay i see a lot of uninformed unsupported opinouns thrown around here, so i will try to clear something out.

1. There is a difference between an APC and an IFV and their respective uses. The first one is a mobile bunker with an added machingun the other one is a minitank with completary support infantry.

2. Mechanised infantry does not equal IFV supporting infantry, it equals the opposite which is infantry supporting the IFV. That is a very big difference.


An APC squad should use the APC as a mobile bunker and fast taxi vehicle, in engagment it should only be used to cover with its HMG from afar out of engagment range from enemy LAT. Actaully i would be in favor of using APC as dedicated ferry vehicle with ability to recover infantry from hotzones which a truck can't, also that it got offroad capability. This is more inline of what the avreaged Joe picture of mechanised infantry is.

An IFV on the other hand is a offensive weapon with a respectable main automated cannon that has it's irl streangth of being nimbler, which means that it can move more agile in broken terrain like forrest compeared to a tank, and got their completarry infantry. In my military service my Platoon Leader (rank Lieutenant) estimated that atleast 50% of the targets they spooted where spotted by the infantry in open hatch mode and atlesat only 50% was spotted by the vehicle crew. This is actually one of the primary mission for the mechanised infantry, observe enemys and report in to the Crew chief in open hatch mode.

A main use if IFV in mobile warfare is that it's smaller size and being more agile allows it to cost effective fight tanks in forrest by ambushing and moving around. Do not interpert ambush as defensive, you can be very offensive and still use ambush, or more like manouriver around the enemy and getting in the flanks and behind them, Here the infantry should be used as observers or as a stationary firepoint, the infantry dismount move forward with their LAT ready and act as a mobile firebase that can report target and kill targets of oppertunities.

The paradox here is that the actuall biggest threat to a IFV is infantry with LAT in broken terrain (since IFV has armorue that is vounrable to LAT even in front compeard to the heavy amroru of a tank), then the IFV needs dismoputed infantry support. By dismounting it's infantry and having them move infront of the IFV to spot and kill enemy LAT gunners or camoflagued AFV.

So in short IFV infantry uses are:

1. Observer from unhatch mode and report targets to the wagon cheif.

2. Clear out dangerous broken terrain from enemy threats to the IFV (includes urban terrain).

3. Act as a anchor defence or a anchor offensive fire unit that the IFV can swarm around and using it's mobility while the infantry provide security in their firesector.

Use of IFV is to assaulting on a big scale and having the capability to deal with threats that tanks have problem with, like broken terrain, forrets, urban terrain, and being cost effective. For really big infantry duties you have APC and heavy motorised infantry to use, not IFV infantry, since theres a big difference in endurance between a standard 12 man squad and the smaller 6 man sqaud that usually is standard in IFV.

So the wording. dtacs: "No, they can not. I tend to find that with the increased firepower the Bradley and BMP on maps like Silent Eagle tend to become fire support vehicles or tankhunters instead of their infantry-carrying nature (plus on Kashan, mechanized doesn't work because there isn't cover which infantry need after they dismount)."
Is wrong since the poster has misunderstood the nature of mechanised infantry warfare for IFV.

To prove my point i was a Squad leader over a IFV squad, one driver, one gunner, me Officer, and one LAT + rifelmens. And when we were in danger i orderd dismount, then we the ifnantry moved coutuisly infornt with LAT fire ready and the IFV 50 meters behind us. We saw a tank, called halt on the IFV, the tank charged from right ot left never saw us. And then our IFV came up and killed it in the back.

And for the critizism i am going to recive i would like that you present evidence in some form, i have 11 month mechanised infantry training so i won't accept that some convertet vanilla bf2 just say "nuuohh you re wrong!!one!".

TBH, the Bradley and BMP 3 are battle taxis. Get over it, because the fact that they cannot sustain much combat damage beyond light small arms and autocannon means that they will be very weak against tanks, unless you ambush.

Yes, PR is all about rushing the flags as much as you can in early game, because that's just simply how AAS is set up. We just prefer to call it blitzkrieg.

The IFV should be immediately exited by all but the driver to try and get as many people actively capping the first known safe flag. As soon as that is accomplished, you immediately all get back in, dash to the next flag, everyone helps with the cap effort at the bunkers. After that, the IFV should leave the infantry alone, and instead have all armor rush to the other side of bunkers to prevent capping by the enemy and to defeat enemy armor. They should, however, get inside a bunker to get ready to cap, and to make an ambush by having the drivers get out and help with the cap effort.

Ensure that those who are taking alternate transport set up firebases to help with defense. Ensure that once both bunkers are capped, that there are firebases reasonably close to the flags. Then, one or two squads get back into the IFVs, and IFV/tanks move out, going straight to the enemy village, all infantry out, and armor immediately should start taking up defensive positions, blowing up the village statics to clear out all enemies, ensure that armor is gone.

Once you cap, infantry all load back into the IFVs, tanks and IFVs then immediately go to the outpost, and cap. From there, just wait, establish your firebases, and fortify them. Light victory cigar, feel proud for your side.

As a side note, getting a tank into the bunkers are pretty much impossible in the central bunker areas.

In my opinion, IFVs are great for offensive tactics when used in pairs. The best thing about Bradley or BMP-3 is that they're armed with that TOW missile. A tank won't necessarily go down from one TOW hit, but they definitely go down from two.

IFVs are also great for troop transportation, which is good because IFVs just need cover when they are in constructed environment. These things are very effective, but their armor is light so you have to be careful.