Mechanized infantry – a study of transport vehicles
Looking at the guides list I’ve seen guides for pretty much any situation, except transports. Why? A properly used humvee is a killing MACHINE. This guide is intended to remedy that, there will probably be a link to my battlefield stats somewhere so if you think I’m a noob or haven’t played enough to comment feel free not to read. In fact feel free to constructively criticise.
for those that wish to skim the underlined text forms the theory of the tactics, the normal text is the tactics section.
A vehicle, any vehicle in battlefield two, to an infantry man is basically a tank, or if you prefer an armoured fighting vehicle. Don’t believe me? Ok, let’s discuss the basic features of the tank. It must be armoured, right? To the point where it is superior to the protection afforded to infantry. It has to have firepower, superior to that available to the infantry. Finally it must have mobility so that it can leverage its advantages against superior numbers of infantry without having to engage them as a cohesive unit.
Armour
Ok so they are vulnerable to lots of things, especially the FAV and the pickup truck, but even they can give a decent level of protection against small arms fire if dismounted and cowered behind, so fight smart and fight dismounted. The Hummvee and the Vodnik meanwhile offer effective protection for both the driver and the gunner against small arms fire except for a well aimed shoot from the head. Fortunately the vehicle comes equipped with a tactical distraction device explained below. Artillery can still kill vehicles, but it has to get much closer than it does to an infantry man, of course you’re a bigger more open target, but then again your best defence in any vehicle is to clear the target zone fast, easier in a car than on foot.
Firepower
What’s the best weapon in the game? The M95? The PKM? Nope it’s the 50 cal mount, found on humvees, vodniks, tank turrets, transport choppers. It has obscene accuracy once you get used to its aiming peculiarities, long effective range, stopping power and armour piercing bullets that work on jeeps and choppers. Though I have no idea about whether it will go through cockpit glass or not. The smaller mounts are more of a toss up, lots of bullets, however your individual weapon could well have an advantage in range, power or both. I’ll be reasonable; it does have a major weakness, unless you’re static whilst firing your not going to hit much except other vehicles. Not much different from the support’s machine gun which needs to be fired from prone to be used to full effect. The difference is the transports have 50 cal bullets and an inch thick plate steel shield welded to them.
Mobility
Fast, faster than a tank and smaller than a tank, meaning it allows you to fit through gaps a tank could struggle with. Also gives the player the ability to move in and out of the battlefield confines without being punished for a tactically useful distance. The speed also makes them a harder target generally. Finally the transport offers one more crucial advantage; whereas only a fool would abandon a tank nobody is going to throw a fit over you walking away from your shiny never-been-scratched hummer. So if you need to get over a wall to cap a flag and there’s a stack of crates, you don’t need to steer through a minefield instead, sometimes its more important to know when to use a weapon than how.
The point of this little lecture? Transports are not just taxis or battering rams. with adequate tactics they are a valuable enhancement to the BF2 infantryman’s fighting capabilities by improving his armour firepower and mobility.
AA role
The transport vehicle, when equipped with the 50 cal machine gun makes in my opinion the perfect AA platform. Why? Three reasons. Its stealthy, no missile warning locks, no ruff-puff anti aircraft rounds, the pilot can just see his health bar steadily dropping and if he’s lucky, the occasional tracer round. Movement, the Hummer or the Vodnik is more mobile than armoured AA and even more so than static mounts. A moving target is a hard target, especially if the helicopter turns round for a second pass, instead of sitting on one spot and getting wasted relocate, especially if you can position yourself in cover so the chopper can’t hit you but you can hit him as he flies by. Firepower, the 50 cal mount is not only effective against the choppers (UNLIKE the smaller mounted guns) but its extreme accuracy at long ranges (against a big target like a chopper) means that its still effective beyond visual range, if a chopper flies out of sight on a predictable flight path, predict and keep firing, just be ready for if he comes back your way with murder in mind.
Hull down
Tired of being blown apart by RPGs time and time again? Simple solution: go hull down. Position your vehicle so that a wall or fence or any cover protects the vehicle, leaving only the turret ring above the feature. Unless the AT is a fantastic shot, they will miss and let’s face it ATs usually aren’t good shots because they are used to big targets (though there are some fine shots on-line), same goes for tank rounds. This is maximising your firepower and armour, since you are static and impervious to all weaponry unless employed with a higher level of accuracy than most people possess whilst being shot at with 50 cal. If they get accurate, duck inside the turret ring until they stop. The draw back comes with your loss of mobility. Not only are your flanks vulnerable but people will know where you are and will be actively seeking to sneak up on you, this tactic is best employed when you are guaranteed support either from a dedicated squad or a nearby spawn point to cover your back. It does have the advantage of being suited for a more urban environment where cover is plentiful and people will die to quickly to shoot back.
Finally there is one final enemy you must look out for. That team-mate who needs some wheels so that he can sweep for mines. Or collect machine gun bullets. Or go scuba diving.
Support
Take an engineer class and mount up. Get behind a tank and follow it. Rack up points and kills as required. Please note this is a tactic for the more open maps. It is death in an urban environment. Combat occurs at too a short range and you will get AT’d. At longer range however the tank will draw the heat also acting as a meat shield for your transport and you will get a decent chance to repair it or enough time to use your wheels to sidestep any AT fire. Added to which you can pop rounds off at targets of opportunity or cover the tanks flanks/rear. Tactic requires either impromptu teamwork or coordination with the tank. As an aside watch the tank carefully, in an encounter with a TOW or enemy armour they will want to back up, either park to one side when behind the tank or keep an eye out to avoid being run over. Your there to help not to hinder.
Raiding
A role in which the lighter transports are more suited than the big wheels, for either delivering a squad quickly to a weak point in the enemy formation, taking spec ops to their targets and capturing flags behind the main point of conflict that are thus unguarded. Here the crucial element is not armour or firepower but mobility. as such here is the key point to bear in mind. PLAN AHEAD. Hop in your vehicle. CHECK YOUR MAP. What route are you going to take? Bear in mind that this being a raiding force it is unlikely to be able to fight through any heavy opposition, even a manned static machine gun mount or a TOW could ruin your whole day, plan a route to avoid them. Use back routes, routes unsuitable for armour. Best case use a route that looks impassable to vehicles, even better use a route that for all intents and purposes IS IMPASSABLE. Better to walk, than to bleed. Also bear in mind the likely position of enemy counter mobility assets. This is a polite way of saying DON’T DRIVE OVER THE MINES (could also include a vehicle roadblock). Anticipate the position of likely minefields; keep your eyes on the road, let the passengers worry about infantry ambushes. If necessary and you have to cross long grass where you suspect or have already encountered mines, dismount and check on foot. Finally know when to dismount; if a stealthy approach makes more sense, the vehicle is a big fat noisy encumbrance. Ditch it, blow it out of ear shot, enjoy a nice stroll and crawl to your objective. Always consider destroying your vehicle if the time comes to dismount. On warlord for example, you can always tell when the SAS have launched a raid on the palace because there’s a taxi rank of abandoned vehicles on the mini map, or the taxi rank outside the suburbs in Karkand if you want a vanilla example. This tactic is equally suited to urban or open terrain if planned properly, though open terrain makes it easier to spot, especially from the air.
Other ideas – things I’ve seen/thought of that I haven’t enough experience with to comment on, or one off tactics.
Roadblocks, park a jeep on a road used regularly for raids, as they slow down/dismount to clear it. Shoot them from a concealed position, rinse repeat. Alternatively use the vehicles gun to shoot them. Alternatively use the vehicle to force them off road into a concealed minefield.
Check your mini map, so you can spot any vehicles that are abandoned in suspicious places (like your uncap).
Jihad Jeeps, covered elsewhere jihad jeeping and by and large not what this guide is about which is getting away from such tactics but as a tactic its out there and makes sense at times.
Dancing to the death, also covered elsewhere in Medic Vs Tank but with an interesting variation, if you encounter armour in your vehicle jump out and stand up close, so it can’t shoot you if the terrain is enclosed, like on one of those sharp corners in karkand the armour won’t be able to manoeuvre to get a shot. Because as it twists and turns to try and aim you stay at its side the effect is akin to dancing, they’ll either have to drive off or panic and bail out, hop in their vehicle and shoot them. Or if you’re packing AT firepower, ignore this and just shoot them.
Taxi, most people treat them like this, a convenient way to avoid a long walk after respawning away from the action, probably after someone’s grabbed the last tank.
Bumper cars, no gunner? just plain in a hurry? a Squad blocked the road? don't worry, their on foot, your in a truck, i think i see a way out of this. STEP ON IT. on the flip side on your own turf slow down, obey the pedestrian right of way law. hit that horn so your enemies are splattered on your bumpers not your teamates.
the followin hints from general breetai
- When being in a vodnic or humvee, apart from AT, your main infantry opponent is the sniper, which can headshot you even if you are in your turret. BUT, being a sniper myself, I can tell this is very, very difficult to do unless in close range or from the side. When I shot vodnic gunners, about 90% of my headshots result from a shot to the side of his head (Side shots hit more often than not at a distance of 300+). So when placing your vodnic, think where enemy infantry could be. Even if at long distance, when they could at your side, choose another place.
- When you drive and have infantry in front of you (especially snipers with M95) which you want to roadkill, never drive a straight line. Always jiggle. I hit most straight line drivers very easy. I also hit jiggling drivers, but less often, since it IS more difficult.
- Last but not least: When you run over the enemy, use your horn and play some funny rhythm, tactically this is quite stupid, but as far as I feel, real fun. Driving over 5 guys in a row and pressing the horn after everyone can really be annoying.
the following from magicandy
-The larger transports can make effective mine layers. You just need to engineers in the back seats and a resupply driving. Simply drive through an enemy's base and drop as many mines as possible, and then drive away. Works great on the flags that spawn loads of vehicles and uncaps.
Looking at the guides list I’ve seen guides for pretty much any situation, except transports. Why? A properly used humvee is a killing MACHINE. This guide is intended to remedy that, there will probably be a link to my battlefield stats somewhere so if you think I’m a noob or haven’t played enough to comment feel free not to read. In fact feel free to constructively criticise.
for those that wish to skim the underlined text forms the theory of the tactics, the normal text is the tactics section.
A vehicle, any vehicle in battlefield two, to an infantry man is basically a tank, or if you prefer an armoured fighting vehicle. Don’t believe me? Ok, let’s discuss the basic features of the tank. It must be armoured, right? To the point where it is superior to the protection afforded to infantry. It has to have firepower, superior to that available to the infantry. Finally it must have mobility so that it can leverage its advantages against superior numbers of infantry without having to engage them as a cohesive unit.
Armour
Ok so they are vulnerable to lots of things, especially the FAV and the pickup truck, but even they can give a decent level of protection against small arms fire if dismounted and cowered behind, so fight smart and fight dismounted. The Hummvee and the Vodnik meanwhile offer effective protection for both the driver and the gunner against small arms fire except for a well aimed shoot from the head. Fortunately the vehicle comes equipped with a tactical distraction device explained below. Artillery can still kill vehicles, but it has to get much closer than it does to an infantry man, of course you’re a bigger more open target, but then again your best defence in any vehicle is to clear the target zone fast, easier in a car than on foot.
Firepower
What’s the best weapon in the game? The M95? The PKM? Nope it’s the 50 cal mount, found on humvees, vodniks, tank turrets, transport choppers. It has obscene accuracy once you get used to its aiming peculiarities, long effective range, stopping power and armour piercing bullets that work on jeeps and choppers. Though I have no idea about whether it will go through cockpit glass or not. The smaller mounts are more of a toss up, lots of bullets, however your individual weapon could well have an advantage in range, power or both. I’ll be reasonable; it does have a major weakness, unless you’re static whilst firing your not going to hit much except other vehicles. Not much different from the support’s machine gun which needs to be fired from prone to be used to full effect. The difference is the transports have 50 cal bullets and an inch thick plate steel shield welded to them.
Mobility
Fast, faster than a tank and smaller than a tank, meaning it allows you to fit through gaps a tank could struggle with. Also gives the player the ability to move in and out of the battlefield confines without being punished for a tactically useful distance. The speed also makes them a harder target generally. Finally the transport offers one more crucial advantage; whereas only a fool would abandon a tank nobody is going to throw a fit over you walking away from your shiny never-been-scratched hummer. So if you need to get over a wall to cap a flag and there’s a stack of crates, you don’t need to steer through a minefield instead, sometimes its more important to know when to use a weapon than how.
The point of this little lecture? Transports are not just taxis or battering rams. with adequate tactics they are a valuable enhancement to the BF2 infantryman’s fighting capabilities by improving his armour firepower and mobility.
AA role
The transport vehicle, when equipped with the 50 cal machine gun makes in my opinion the perfect AA platform. Why? Three reasons. Its stealthy, no missile warning locks, no ruff-puff anti aircraft rounds, the pilot can just see his health bar steadily dropping and if he’s lucky, the occasional tracer round. Movement, the Hummer or the Vodnik is more mobile than armoured AA and even more so than static mounts. A moving target is a hard target, especially if the helicopter turns round for a second pass, instead of sitting on one spot and getting wasted relocate, especially if you can position yourself in cover so the chopper can’t hit you but you can hit him as he flies by. Firepower, the 50 cal mount is not only effective against the choppers (UNLIKE the smaller mounted guns) but its extreme accuracy at long ranges (against a big target like a chopper) means that its still effective beyond visual range, if a chopper flies out of sight on a predictable flight path, predict and keep firing, just be ready for if he comes back your way with murder in mind.
Hull down
Tired of being blown apart by RPGs time and time again? Simple solution: go hull down. Position your vehicle so that a wall or fence or any cover protects the vehicle, leaving only the turret ring above the feature. Unless the AT is a fantastic shot, they will miss and let’s face it ATs usually aren’t good shots because they are used to big targets (though there are some fine shots on-line), same goes for tank rounds. This is maximising your firepower and armour, since you are static and impervious to all weaponry unless employed with a higher level of accuracy than most people possess whilst being shot at with 50 cal. If they get accurate, duck inside the turret ring until they stop. The draw back comes with your loss of mobility. Not only are your flanks vulnerable but people will know where you are and will be actively seeking to sneak up on you, this tactic is best employed when you are guaranteed support either from a dedicated squad or a nearby spawn point to cover your back. It does have the advantage of being suited for a more urban environment where cover is plentiful and people will die to quickly to shoot back.
Finally there is one final enemy you must look out for. That team-mate who needs some wheels so that he can sweep for mines. Or collect machine gun bullets. Or go scuba diving.
Support
Take an engineer class and mount up. Get behind a tank and follow it. Rack up points and kills as required. Please note this is a tactic for the more open maps. It is death in an urban environment. Combat occurs at too a short range and you will get AT’d. At longer range however the tank will draw the heat also acting as a meat shield for your transport and you will get a decent chance to repair it or enough time to use your wheels to sidestep any AT fire. Added to which you can pop rounds off at targets of opportunity or cover the tanks flanks/rear. Tactic requires either impromptu teamwork or coordination with the tank. As an aside watch the tank carefully, in an encounter with a TOW or enemy armour they will want to back up, either park to one side when behind the tank or keep an eye out to avoid being run over. Your there to help not to hinder.
Raiding
A role in which the lighter transports are more suited than the big wheels, for either delivering a squad quickly to a weak point in the enemy formation, taking spec ops to their targets and capturing flags behind the main point of conflict that are thus unguarded. Here the crucial element is not armour or firepower but mobility. as such here is the key point to bear in mind. PLAN AHEAD. Hop in your vehicle. CHECK YOUR MAP. What route are you going to take? Bear in mind that this being a raiding force it is unlikely to be able to fight through any heavy opposition, even a manned static machine gun mount or a TOW could ruin your whole day, plan a route to avoid them. Use back routes, routes unsuitable for armour. Best case use a route that looks impassable to vehicles, even better use a route that for all intents and purposes IS IMPASSABLE. Better to walk, than to bleed. Also bear in mind the likely position of enemy counter mobility assets. This is a polite way of saying DON’T DRIVE OVER THE MINES (could also include a vehicle roadblock). Anticipate the position of likely minefields; keep your eyes on the road, let the passengers worry about infantry ambushes. If necessary and you have to cross long grass where you suspect or have already encountered mines, dismount and check on foot. Finally know when to dismount; if a stealthy approach makes more sense, the vehicle is a big fat noisy encumbrance. Ditch it, blow it out of ear shot, enjoy a nice stroll and crawl to your objective. Always consider destroying your vehicle if the time comes to dismount. On warlord for example, you can always tell when the SAS have launched a raid on the palace because there’s a taxi rank of abandoned vehicles on the mini map, or the taxi rank outside the suburbs in Karkand if you want a vanilla example. This tactic is equally suited to urban or open terrain if planned properly, though open terrain makes it easier to spot, especially from the air.
Other ideas – things I’ve seen/thought of that I haven’t enough experience with to comment on, or one off tactics.
Roadblocks, park a jeep on a road used regularly for raids, as they slow down/dismount to clear it. Shoot them from a concealed position, rinse repeat. Alternatively use the vehicles gun to shoot them. Alternatively use the vehicle to force them off road into a concealed minefield.
Check your mini map, so you can spot any vehicles that are abandoned in suspicious places (like your uncap).
Jihad Jeeps, covered elsewhere jihad jeeping and by and large not what this guide is about which is getting away from such tactics but as a tactic its out there and makes sense at times.
Dancing to the death, also covered elsewhere in Medic Vs Tank but with an interesting variation, if you encounter armour in your vehicle jump out and stand up close, so it can’t shoot you if the terrain is enclosed, like on one of those sharp corners in karkand the armour won’t be able to manoeuvre to get a shot. Because as it twists and turns to try and aim you stay at its side the effect is akin to dancing, they’ll either have to drive off or panic and bail out, hop in their vehicle and shoot them. Or if you’re packing AT firepower, ignore this and just shoot them.
Taxi, most people treat them like this, a convenient way to avoid a long walk after respawning away from the action, probably after someone’s grabbed the last tank.
Bumper cars, no gunner? just plain in a hurry? a Squad blocked the road? don't worry, their on foot, your in a truck, i think i see a way out of this. STEP ON IT. on the flip side on your own turf slow down, obey the pedestrian right of way law. hit that horn so your enemies are splattered on your bumpers not your teamates.
the followin hints from general breetai
- When being in a vodnic or humvee, apart from AT, your main infantry opponent is the sniper, which can headshot you even if you are in your turret. BUT, being a sniper myself, I can tell this is very, very difficult to do unless in close range or from the side. When I shot vodnic gunners, about 90% of my headshots result from a shot to the side of his head (Side shots hit more often than not at a distance of 300+). So when placing your vodnic, think where enemy infantry could be. Even if at long distance, when they could at your side, choose another place.
- When you drive and have infantry in front of you (especially snipers with M95) which you want to roadkill, never drive a straight line. Always jiggle. I hit most straight line drivers very easy. I also hit jiggling drivers, but less often, since it IS more difficult.
- Last but not least: When you run over the enemy, use your horn and play some funny rhythm, tactically this is quite stupid, but as far as I feel, real fun. Driving over 5 guys in a row and pressing the horn after everyone can really be annoying.
the following from magicandy
-The larger transports can make effective mine layers. You just need to engineers in the back seats and a resupply driving. Simply drive through an enemy's base and drop as many mines as possible, and then drive away. Works great on the flags that spawn loads of vehicles and uncaps.
Last edited by Vernedead (2007-04-07 03:45:56)