Advancing Infantry Behind Armour - Tank & Walker

[TheFatKidDeath]

Does anyone utilize this as a tactic? It dawned on me during a round on Tunis Harbor that having my squad move behind the Walker was pretty darn effective. I told the driver to move slowly so the squad could advance behind the Walker. We were moving to capture the PAC flag and we took the long way around the large building to the east of the bottom EU flag. I believe we held the opposing team off for a good ten minutes and got close to their flag before the Walker was brought down. Advancing with the Walker accomplished a few things:

1)Helped protect the Walker from ground infantry. Was able to spot for the Walker - where the opposing team is, someone is underneath you, etc. Also the added infantry could go after those throwing EMP's or that Recon player with the DMX pack.

2)Had the Walker protect us from ground infantry. Alot of fire power comes out of both guns so it's able to suppress enemy fire. It also can be used as cover from fire.

It takes a bit of patience on the drivers part as the infantry cannot move as fast as the Walker but on many of the maps it's worth moving to support each other.

Now this tactic could apply to tanks as well. The back of a tank has enough room for four squad members to advance behind. The tank could advance slowly with the squad running behind. This is not difficult to coordinate as everyone can look at their mini-map to see where squad mates are positioned. This can be really valueable on a map like Verdun where cover can be difficult to come by.

Thoughts?

[InfernoBLT11]

Kudos for ya man. Me and my squad did the same thing on Tunis too. But unless the pilot is on your squad, we end up got stepped on more than often while supporting the beast. Walker on Infantry map need A LOT of support from all classes. Sniper to blow mines, Supports to supply ammo(trust me I ran outta ammo just after 3 minutes in Tunis), at least one Engie to fix it, and driver preferred to be a medic to heal the other. I found myself playing heavy sniper on Tunis more than often to clear way for our walker. Sniper are damn nice for mine clearing in a right hand, too bad DICE should reward you points for clearing enemy mines.

[Elite_Master]

Originally Posted by InfernoBLT11

Kudos for ya man. Me and my squad did the same thing on Tunis too. But unless the pilot is on your squad, we end up got stepped on more than often while supporting the beast. Walker on Infantry map need A LOT of support from all classes. Sniper to blow mines, Supports to supply ammo(trust me I ran outta ammo just after 3 minutes in Tunis), at least one Engie to fix it, and driver preferred to be a medic to heal the other. I found myself playing heavy sniper on Tunis more than often to clear way for our walker. Sniper are damn nice for mine clearing in a right hand, too bad DICE should reward you points for clearing enemy mines.

Totally agree that it's lame that you don't get points for disabling mines as the sniper - or Sentry drones for that matter!
As for using armor as a support device for troops to hide behind it during an advance, this is not only sound logic in the game but also is used regularly as a real tactic in most all ground battles in history. The military uses it and it should be followed because it has a lot of good points, frankly I do not usually storm ahead with a walker on Tunis w/ out ground troops because I'll have to contend with 5+ engineers with railguns coming out of the wood work from all around and it's just a waste of a walker = overextended. Always a good way to spot a sophisticated/good pilot of ground armor on conquest map is to see if the pilot is supporting his ground troops in this way.

[InfernoBLT11]

Funny that American troop couldn't backup some of their armors. The worst is the M1 tank. Buddy of mine in the army told me that the thing's tail pipe is so hot that it done more harm than good advancing behind it especially in the desert or urban combat. M1A2 pretty much mounted a jet engine on a tank chassis so it would certainly light you up if standing too close to the exhaust port.

[chaf3d]

I'm in the Canadian Armed Forces as an Infantry Soldier. I would rather NOT walk the 20Km to an enemy target just because an ambush MIGHT happen and it MAY be good cover. Its general practice that if you ever get ambushed, you take cover behind the big bullet proof tank.

As for Tunis harbor, man, if it worked for you, thats awesome. I'm just saying that it isn't practical to practice in real life.

[TheFatKidDeath]

Originally Posted by chaf3d

I'm in the Canadian Armed Forces as an Infantry Soldier. I would rather NOT walk the 20Km to an enemy target just because an ambush MIGHT happen and it MAY be good cover. Its general practice that if you ever get ambushed, you take cover behind the big bullet proof tank.

As for Tunis harbor, man, if it worked for you, thats awesome. I'm just saying that it isn't practical to practice in real life.

C'mon (as I'm rolling my eyes). We know it's not practical in real life but what about the fantasy world of BF 2142?

[Talon-D]

This sounds a good tactic on infantry heavy boards. On vehicle heavy boards I think you would hamper the walker too much, as it really needs to exploit its mobility to stay intact.

It seems you would probably want at least a couple medics so that one can not be too close to the walker which is a target for the biggest booms the enemy can muster. I also wonder if an enemy commander sees this, if the slow movement makes it too easy for them to artillary the whole progression in one boom.

One thing this conversation got me wondering is if a engy in right at the walkers feet when it sets off its shield, does the foot soldier get protection? I assume no, but might be interesting to test.

[Prophaniti]

I look at vehicles as big honkin' targets. As a sniper, I am constantly on the lookout for those pesky Engineers hovering around a tank/walker with their Fourth-of-July sparklers working at repairing the big lunk of cursed metal.

I hate vehicles.
Mostly because I have an inferiority complex since I can't hurt the darn things...instead, I settle for picking on their little friends.

The way I've seen it in past games (both from sniping side, as well as being an occasional Engine-Hugging hippie)...Engies have two options...hide behind the vehicle and take a chance on getting run over by a careless driver, or hide on the sides of the vehicle. Usually, the Engie is hiding not from me (the sniper), but from whatever big, mean-looking vehicle is trading shots with the one he's repairing. With me being out-of-sight & out-of-mind, picking off the Engie is usually no problem.

Now that you know how I view a single person hanging around a tank/walker, on to the true subject at hand...

I see a squad following behind a vehicle as a target-rich environment. Snipe one guy and chances are a medic is going to try to revive him. By the time he realizes his squaddie is down, I've reloaded and am ready for it.
The vehicle has moved forward, so the dead guy and the medic are left in the open. Then just pop the medic. Headshots are tricky since I'm trying to kill him before he revives his friend, so I usually go for the body shot. While he freezes to decide whether to save his own hide or defib his friend, I reload and squeeze off my last shot to finish him off.

Not a perfect way of thinking...and I'm assuming that I'm shooting at a bunch of non-TG pubbies (TG-ers would NEVER freeze under fire...much less let me go unpunished for whacking two of their squadmates), but as self-appointed devil's advocate for this thread, I must disagree with using a vehicle as mobile squad cover.

[Bommando]

If they are in your squad, then this can be effective. Just please DO NOT use a vehicle as cover if you can't talk to the pilot.

People hugging my vehicles make me very mad due to the fact that merely touching a moving vehicle will earn me a fat juicy Teamkill. DON'T DO IT! If you are not repairing me or getting in, stay the hell away from me. Armour and Walkers especially need room to move in order to back up and repair. Roads also should primarily be for vehicles. Infantry should be using building cover to advance, not running down the middle of the road as they so often do.

On another note, vehicle entry in 2142 isn't as consistent as BF2. Always enter from the sides and always hold down the E key while you approach to avoid Teamkills.

I am not kidding, 80% of my teamkills are from roadkills, about 15% from people flocking into my grenades / running into my firing lane and only about 5% from actually making the wrong choice. It's pretty depressing.

[Sir. AAK625]

If I am not in communication with the driver, I stay the hell away from vehicles. I always get crushed by friendly walkers.

[TheFatKidDeath]

Man, my squad and I had such a great round with this idea put into motion. No one could touch us on Tunis Harbor this evening. We kept the bottom flag for our Team the whole round. Cymba was the Walker driver and did a great job of keeping the PAC infantry at bay and using the Walker to support the squad. Props!

[LuckyStrike]

I like this idea.

[jepzilla]

Originally Posted by TheFatKidDeath

Does anyone utilize this as a tactic? It dawned on me during a round on Tunis Harbor that having my squad move behind the Walker was pretty darn effective. I told the driver to move slowly so the squad could advance behind the Walker. We were moving to capture the PAC flag and we took the long way around the large building to the east of the bottom EU flag. I believe we held the opposing team off for a good ten minutes and got close to their flag before the Walker was brought down. Advancing with the Walker accomplished a few things:

1)Helped protect the Walker from ground infantry. Was able to spot for the Walker - where the opposing team is, someone is underneath you, etc. Also the added infantry could go after those throwing EMP's or that Recon player with the DMX pack.

2)Had the Walker protect us from ground infantry. Alot of fire power comes out of both guns so it's able to suppress enemy fire. It also can be used as cover from fire.

It takes a bit of patience on the drivers part as the infantry cannot move as fast as the Walker but on many of the maps it's worth moving to support each other.

Now this tactic could apply to tanks as well. The back of a tank has enough room for four squad members to advance behind. The tank could advance slowly with the squad running behind. This is not difficult to coordinate as everyone can look at their mini-map to see where squad mates are positioned. This can be really valueable on a map like Verdun where cover can be difficult to come by.

Thoughts?

Hehe, anyone who thinks there's no such thing as suppressive fire in Battlefield has never driven a Reisig. Yes, I think walkers are most effective when you have good, close infantry support. Walkers are essentially close-in weapons, it's their strength; it's also their weakness, since in a close setting there's a lot of cover, and a few hidden Engineers can reduce your walking death machine into slag in a short period of time. Even if your infantry squad can't kill the engineers, just the extra eyes to spot them out is extremely helpful- the walker has enough firepower if you know where to shoot.

On the other hand, I wouldn't recommend this strategy with a tank. Tanks shouldn't be driven into close quarters except under the most dire circumstances. Tanks in 2142 actually have really, really effective optics: you have a zoom, and a reticle which is really helpful for long-range aiming when used correctly. The best strategy for a tank is to get into a good firing position and provide your infantry with fire support from a distance while they advance.

[Arf]

I prefer to have infantry in front of the Walker. The advantage is that dead infantry can be revived but the Walker is often a very limited resource. By putting infantry in front of the Walker you protect it's base but it's tall enough that from it's vantage it can clear the way for the infantry.

I don't think the Walkers make good cover since the legs can be cleared by the grenade launcher. The tanks could make good cover but the Nekotoma would need a disciplined driver since moving the main gun to a new target might end up crushing all the people using it as cover. APCs would be better to just ride, if I could figure out how to get the pods to go where I want you wouldn't have to take those onto a flag either.

[LuckyStrike]

Nothing worse than being in a walker and getting EMP'd by the enemy. Get out and they steal the walker. The only solution is death or help from close infantry support.