Airborne Infantry unit?

[TG_JBRanger]

Airborne - We have parachutes implemented in the game so why not use them. Most people just use them for getting off tall structures and for bailing out of aircraft that are going down. While the latter is a more "realistic" use of the parachutes I have yet to see an airborne unit.

I guess I'm just wondering what is stopping a squad from doing this? It seems a airborne attack would be hard to counter. Not to mention that would alleviate the already slow Blackhawks from having to maneuver and land and then take off again.

So, is it done and I am just not seeing it or what? Just wondering.

[munchkin]

Originally Posted by TG_JBRanger

Airborne - We have parachutes implemented in the game so why not use them. Most people just use them for getting off tall structures and for bailing out of aircraft that are going down. While the latter is a more "realistic" use of the parachutes I have yet to see an airborne unit.

I guess I'm just wondering what is stopping a squad from doing this? It seems a airborne attack would be hard to counter. Not to mention that would alleviate the already slow Blackhawks from having to maneuver and land and then take off again.

So, is it done and I am just not seeing it or what? Just wondering.

It's used, but just not by dedicated squads. HALO jumps and the like are quite common, but IMO fast landings and coming out of the chopper shooting is a much finer thing.

[FPS_Douglas]

A lil while back, some squads would use that a LOT on Oman.

[munchkin]

Originally Posted by FPS_Douglas

A lil while back, some squads would use that a LOT on Oman.

That was before it became suicide to get into the air with something besides an attack chopper or a jet.

[TG_JBRanger]

Originally Posted by munchkin

That was before it became suicide to get into the air with something besides an attack chopper or a jet.

So true. Too many good pilots out there nowadays. Nevermind. I was just wondering. Thanks.

[Iamthefallen]

Originally Posted by TG_JBRanger

So, is it done and I am just not seeing it or what? Just wondering.

In my experience, which mostly is defending against it, is that a BH used as a HALO platform isn't maximizing its potential.
You can see the attackers dropping in allowing you to immediately engage them and most often neutralize them. While eventually the steady stream of paratroppers might overrrun the flag, it will cost far more tickets than had they simply made a pass or two with the miniguns followed by getting a lot of bodies on the flag.

The Chinese/MEC flying seacows are somewhat different with their weak guns, but then I tend to think that stealth would be a better strategy against a well defended flag than HALO is.

[TG_JBRanger]

Originally Posted by Iamthefallen

In my experience, which mostly is defending against it, is that a BH used as a HALO platform isn't maximizing its potential.
You can see the attackers dropping in allowing you to immediately engage them and most often neutralize them. While eventually the steady stream of paratroppers might overrrun the flag, it will cost far more tickets than had they simply made a pass or two with the miniguns followed by getting a lot of bodies on the flag.

The Chinese/MEC flying seacows are somewhat different with their weak guns, but then I tend to think that stealth would be a better strategy against a well defended flag than HALO is.

Thank you for your insight.

[jepzilla]

I find the best way to use a helo to assault a flag is to land it right next to the flag, and unload everybody into the cap radius. HALO jumping doesn't work as well because you can't use the helo as cover and its weapons aren't as effective when hovering over a CP as they are on the ground. It's also less of a surprise. The 'steady stream of HALO jumpers' doesn't work very well, they get picked off by defenders easily.

I think if you wanted to do HALO capping, you'd have to train with a squad to be very precise at parachuting and make sure everybody lands -within- the cap radius, at the same time. Frankly, parachuting is one thing that most TGers suck at; failing to either open their chutes, or opening them far, far, far too early (your chute should be open for a second, at most).

[ABRA]

Let's get some terms straight first off. There is a difference between HALO, HAHO, and LAHO, LALO. High Altitude High- or Low- Open. And Low Altitude Low/High Open.

To me to be considered HALO or HAHO you need the chopper to be in the clouds, out of sight from the ground, i.e. HIGH altitude. This is much rarer than what many people are calling 'common' HALO tactics in my experience.

Similarly in BF2 Low Open really means less then 7m above the ground for a save touchdown. The floating targets that open as low as 20m should still be considered High Open(in this way you can still have a LAHO drop with a low flying visible chopper with chutes open above 7m).

So let's not mince words here.

That being said a true HALO jump, which is damn rare in this game, can be a worthwhile tactic. It needs a target landing zone waypoint that everyone hits nearly simulanteously. Optimially this will be close but screened from the enemy. The screen should be high enough to allow the entire chute delpoyment and flight to be behind the cover of a tall building or hill(only as tall as is needed for a save chute deployment <10m max).

Any other insertion mode such as the commonly doomed LAHO prevents the squad from rallying quickly before taking enemy fire. They end up scattered and cut off from one another or killed floating to earth even if they are hitting a tight LZ waypoint.

Try the HALO guys. In freefall looking down you have an amazing amount of steerage to hit the SL waypoint LZ before opening your chute(no higher than 10 m!!!). The extra time ascending to HA is worth it as it keeps you from getting spotted by jets as well often times.

[Iamthefallen]

Originally Posted by jepzilla

Frankly, parachuting is one thing that most TGers suck at; failing to either open their chutes

I fully blame the riggers for any parachute-related deaths I may or may not have had.

[omega]

I used a true HALO to great effectiveness.
Squad leader was pilot of chopper, and we were REALLY HIGH (bout 1km or so) wed spawn into the chopper, get 4-5 ready and all bail at once, landing onto building roofs and behind walls, so they barely saw the chute and we had cover, then suddenly 2 assults, a medic and an anti tank charge under rooftop cover of a support.

Capped 3 flags before they got wise and shot us as we fell.

[HellRazor61]

Originally Posted by jepzilla

Frankly, parachuting is one thing that most TGers suck at; failing to either open their chutes,

Hey its not my fault when I pull the ripcord and only pots and pans fly out!!

[Shiner]

Ripcord failure has killed me on many occasions.. but I always forget if the parachute is the 9 or 10 key dooming me on 50% of the occasions anyway.

[percu]

Originally Posted by Shiner

Ripcord failure has killed me on many occasions.. but I always forget if the parachute is the 9 or 10 key dooming me on 50% of the occasions anyway.

Remap parachute key (default 9) to Backspace. Works like a charm for me.

[TG_JBRanger]

Yea, I was fully intending HALO (High Altitude, Low Opening) when starting this post.

The real issue is typically the time it takes the BH to get to altitude is quite substantial even from map start. This could allow a jet to see you climbing since most enemy jets make their way straight to the enemy carrier/ airfield straight off to get as many people in one run as possible.

Not only that but the helos are generally already stocked with a squad going to a particular area and the pilot is typically the SL to allow spawning inside the helo.

It seems it'd need to be split up with the SL jumping with the squad and the pilot being someone else (transport pilot revisited?). This could be communicated via Teamspeak.

Any other ideas/ suggestions are open to ridicule... JK! LOL! Thanks for the input guys.