smokingGUN

Sniper Tactics by |TG-Irr| smok1ngGUN

I got a little bored the other day, and decided to come up with a new tactical setup for snipers in Project Reality (may apply to other BF2 mods as well).

Through my experience as a sniper and any other kit for the matter, I've observed that the sniper kit is usually not used effectively in the tactical sense in most servers (including TG unfortunately). Especially in PR where the sniper kits are very limited (usually limited to only 1 to 2 kits, 3 if pickup is available), players typically "hog" the kit and camp in an area usually in disfavor of friendly forces (in terms of effectively supporting them) for the exclusive purpose of racking up kills. This is usually if not always done out of self-interest and subsequently not for effective tactical application. Because of this, the kit is rarely available later on throughout the game/ map. In the rare case (in my experience) that a sniper does attach himself/ herself to a squad, he provides only precise directed fire, but the bolt-action sniper rifle is considerably less effective when the semi-automatic marksman rifle is available for the role/ purpose. Bear in mind that the sniper rifle/ sniper kit is designed for distance (long range) engagement and not for close quarters, i.e. not designed to stick with a fireteam. The Marksman kit however is the perfect candidate for the role--my point is that snipers should stay far and concealed whilst providing support for friendly forces, while designated marksmen should provide precise direct fire for a fireteam as part of that fireteam. Anyhow, I've constructed an outline for how I believe snipers (not designated marksmen, i.e. sniper kit only) should behave in Project Reality. Please read the GENERAL background on the tactics set for a general idea of the tactics’ operation, then the SPECIFIC excerpt for a more detailed description of tactics. I hope that those of you whom after reading the tactical outline become interested and would like to participate in a possible a training exercise in the field, rep this post and confirm your interest in your reply.

Also bear in mind that application of the following tactic is for serious-minded players who wish to bring a real-time tactical edge to the virtual battlefield. Those who do carry out the tactics should be of the strictest of discipline.

GENERAL:
A single squad, named “Sniper” or such (a tag that clearly designates it as a sniper squad) will be comprised of 3 snipers and 3 spotters. Each spotter and sniper will constitute a “team” in the squad. The squad is considered the exclusive sniper squad on the faction played for.

A faction that agrees to use this tactic will encourage all others with the sniper kit who are not involved in the squad, to provide the kit to a designated sniper in the squad. Otherwise, that player who has the sniper kit, if he/ she has the communication requirements (voice, text) may become the designated sniper in the squad if he/ she is willing to carry out orders by the SL with discipline.

A minimum of 2 snipers should exist in the squad, all using the “sniper kit”, and a 3rd sniper may use the “marksman kit”, otherwise adopt a support role (ammo/ medic, more on this later). The SL will always be a spotter and loadout with the officer kit. All other spotters (2) will loadout with the SpecOps kit which is armed with a carbine with a high rate of fire, perfect for team security. Ideally the sniper team will consist of the following kits: 3 sniper, 1 Officer, 2 SpecOps.

A sniper/ spotter pair constitutes a “team” in the squad. 3 teams in total will exist in the sniper squad. The sniper/ shooter’s task is to locate and engage targets. The spotter’s task is to observe, locate targets for the shooter and squad (updates on assigned area’s status), and also provide team security. Teams are assigned according to number and or area assigned; e.g. “Viper 1” – Lead team w/ SL, “Viper 2”, and “Viper 3” or alternatively “Viper Outpost“ (team assigned to “Outpost” flag) or Outpost NW (based on direction team is positioned at “Outpost” flag), or simply just Outpost.

Communication is crucial to squad success: teams will prioritize targets and engage accordingly (e.g. hostile SL, CO, Medic, Gunner, RPG/AT/AA). Controlled fire, which includes not engaging every hostile spotted, is key for tactical success and preservation of concealment. SMs will relay activity observed to the SL, and Fire Missions/ Artillery will be coordinated by SL to CO if appropriate. CO may also take control of the sniper squad and coordinate their movements by advising the squad SL.

As previously mentioned, each team will usually operate independently, i.e. assigned to different locations on map (coordinated by SL), otherwise if moving together, they will move in a spread formation and each team will position itself as to cover all threatening trajectories/ vectors.

The teams will typically operate independently, distant from one another, but in an orderly fashion in that they remain in constant communication with each other and have a rally point for retreats (more on this later).

Teams may play different roles or conjoin in a single role, i.e. entire squad plays a single role. Roles may include Recon/ Forward observation (one team plays this role and relays info to other teams, SL will relay info to CO and other squads if appropriate), Security (for other squads, other teams (in same squad), friendly forces, e.g. vehicular convoy), or in rare cases Psych Warfare (may involve multiple shooters engaging particular group of hostiles, etc.).

SPECIFIC:
Loadout and Start
At map start, squad will rally and SL will brief:
Option 1) assign marker for move to 1 team -> when team reaches marker and gives a clear (secures a nest) -> SL repositions move marker for 2nd team -> SL moves last.
Option 2) Squad will move together to a marker, proceed from there, then follow Option 1 (please note that is option would be more appropriate to reach areas farther out on map from squads current location).
Option 3) SL assigns each team to a flag (flag’s vicinity) or geographical area and orders to cover/ defend, monitor, anything appropriate.

Team Formation (2 –man)
2-man positions:

1) Shooter and spotter can be ontop/ beside each other (sticking close). Recommended for location in which sides and rear aren’t too exposed.

2) or Spotter can a) provide forward observation for shooter (who is always in position that offers maximum concealment and clear line of sight, and is usually from a farther distance) by moving ahead of the shooter or b) provide rear or side security for shooter (should be used in situations where team is in a high risk area, e.g. on base ground level or high hostile density zone.

Movement/ Positioning/ Repositioning
When moving together ( as a squad) or as a team (2-man), to a waypoint, a team or SM move a segment and hold -> cover area needed for 2nd team/ SM to move to (if moving as squad, 3rd team hangs back and covers rear sectors) -> then, if appropriate, 3rd team moves up and repeat until destination is reached.

In the case of a squad movement (all teams together), when present at destination, set up a close and immediate perimeter covering all directions (triangular formation w/ 3 positions is probably most effective for this purpose). When area is deemed secure and individual team locations are needed, teams will move out individually.

In the case of a team movement, the 2 constituents (shooter and spotter) will perform a similar move, hold, and secure pattern between each other until destination is reached. Bear in mind that this is necessary for tactical success as the sniper role inherently requires stealth to maintain its advantage.

The SL will usually move to setup a Rally Point as safety spawn, which advisably should be placed a good distance from the nest locations and high risk zone. Alternatively the SL can set an RP at his position/ nest. After placing the RP, the SL will proceed to his appropriate location.

Positioning and repositioning movement must be swift, calculated, and efficient. If a team encounters hostiles on path to destination, the rule of thumb is to engage if there are 2 or less hostile infantry, otherwise conceal and move when clear. If threat is immediate, i.e. taking fire and hostile number is overwhelming, i.e. > 2 infantry, then evasive maneuver/ retreat is advised; return fire only if considered absolutely necessary.

Situational Roles
In the circumstances that the squad be assigned to cover a hostile or friendly flag, for offensive or defensive reasons, the 3 teams in the squad will position themselves in various locations around the target area. The teams should position themselves as to approximately make a triangular perimeter (discussed earlier) around the target area in order to cover all directions and provide maximum efficiency in area surveillance and engagement. When approved by SL, engage targets in target area that are of multiple numbers, e.g. all teams engage a single exposed squad or each team assigned to different individual hostiles/ squads.

Typical locations for teams to cover include overwatch on main roads, alleyways, rooftops, windows/ buildings, flags (both hostile and friendly) and their respective vicinities. These positions may be implemented for various purposes such as providing overwatch security for friendly forces, surveillance, observation, etc.

(update: Blitzer66 suggestion) The sniper's inherent role as a forward observer allows snipers to report hostile movement patterns/ observation of armor/ vehicles/ infantry, as well as spot Artillery Strikes. If a non-SL team within the squad spots a prime opportunity for a fire mission, it will alert the SL of area and SL's team, who should be in vicinity, and in an elevated position should reposition accordingly to mark artillery target. However, it would be advisable to place lead sniper team (SL team) in a forward position with CO's request for firemission assignment to the squad.

General Rules
Remember that the sniper squad is for selective and precise long distance engagement and observation.

Shooters should fire only at stationary targets; rule of thumb is that he/ she should not fire unless he/ she is sure he/ she can secure a hit.

All teams alert SL of anything that comes up (ammo, activity, status, etc.)

SL coordinates tactics: no team will let itself defy sound judgment and reveal itself purposefully in a situation that guarantees termination of team if the option of retreat is available, i.e. do not purposefully engage with guns blazing when the odds are against you.

Sniper squad can be called upon by other friendlies for support if a location is near a team’s position; team must await SL approval to proceed.

SL occasionally checks each team’s status; SMs must be willing to wait/ be patient for activity and/ or targets—waiting out targets and engagement must require patience and must be required for a successful team/ sniper squad/ individual SMs.

A team is considered exposed when a team is spotted and takes moderate to overwhelming fire. They should reposition or retreat in this scenario. If a team is spotted, but eliminates threats, they should alert the SL of their status, await instructions, and reposition (locally or elsewhere).

If not all sniper kits are available, squad may choose to assign 1 or 2 teams to provide support to the sniper team(s) (ammo, medic, extra security). May also choose the option of creating a special close quarters detachment (SpecOps), to sabotage or engage close quarters whilst being covered by sniper team(s).

All constituents of the squad must be tactically serious – effective communication, positioning, and execution of tasks are key to tactical success of this tactics set.

Sniper/ Spotter may exchange duties.

Recap/ Rundown of Sniper Squad or Team Routine
1) Position at assigned marker
2) Set up sniper nest, est. team or squad security
3) Proceed with orders
if exposed:
1) Contact SL
2) Evasive repositioning to: a) safety zone (e.g. rally point) b) alternative marker provided by SL
3) If 2a) is executed, then hold and await new location assignment then proceed with orders upon reaching destination.
----------------------------------------------------------
Please note that parts of this tactics set are theoretical, and some parts already confirmed to work. Players who decide to participate in such a squad must have voice and use it. Alternatively an exception can be made to a member who can use text effectively. Shooters should be experienced with the sniper role; ability to engage and eliminate targets in a narrow window of opportunity is a must. This tactics set is very likely not suitable for all players, especially those who prefer a casual arcade playing style.

I encourage any in house squad to try this tactics set and report their experience of it to me. I anticipate that Covert Op-centralized squads such as the 4th will be able to utilize this tactics set in their operations.

For clarification on any parts of the tactics set, please leave inquiries in replies, or await an introduction/ demo video that I may make if given the opportunity to practice the tactics in the field. Any suggestions are welcome. Again, I hope that those of you whom after reading the tactical outline have become interested and would like to participate in a possible a training exercise in the field, rep this post and confirm your interest in your reply.

__________________

Blitzer66

most of your thoughts are pretty standard, and correct. I would have to put more emphasis on relocation, especially in urban environments. Having a set number of positions a team uses all around the same objective area seems like a wise decison. One thing I must disagre on is overloading the squad. I would say 3 per sniper squad AT MOST, 2 is ideal. spotter should be squad leader since he can set range finding markers which are extremly cruical to a snipers effectiveness. This is especially true if your engagements are beyond 200 meters on average because thats where you see the real shot drop compensation come into play. If the team has good communications and leadership, I would recomend a cease fire on targets inside 125-150 meters to reduce the chance that your location is revealed. The reason for this is we all know that in this mod specifically where there is one there is surely another with him/her. If communications are not exactly steller, you might have to take a few more shots to cover your teammates back. Most important of all is intelligence, with the snipers extreme view distance being able to report enemy movement is, in my opinion, more important than being able to kill from that distance. Sure we all want a good K : D R, but team has to come first. In addition, your spotter needs to hone in those artillery calling skills, leep in contact with the commander and ask him where he needs arty calls. The best wayt o do this is to ask him to make a target he wants arty on (eg rally poitns armor etc) and have the spotter call it in. Remember to use things in the area to get a call on, like trees, lamp posts, water towers, rock formations, the list goes on. A sniper does much more than just kill people at a distance, and his ability to do more than just kill is what makes him an asset to the team.

smokingGUN

I did include recon and surveillance as a primary role of the sniper exclusive squad, as well as artillery spotting. However, for the sake of the game, in most situations, the sniper is placed in the position of eliminating targets to provide effective tactical support to friendly fireteams. The whole idea is that the entire squad would be sniper exclusive, and that snipers in the squad would more times than others position themselves in different areas to provide a more effective sniping element for the entire team (this way the CO would just need to direct a single squad if a sniper's uses are required). A more thorough read of what I posted would prolly clear up some things you pointed out, although I do agree with you on the importance of the sniper's role as a scout and observer. The idea of the SL providing markers as range finders is also something that should definitely be considered to be used...nice of you to point that out.

__________________

ednos

Range-finding markers... isn't that what the binoculars are for? Or is it only the SpecOps SOFLAM that has a distance-to-target meter?

__________________

The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell
I have a tendency to key out three or four things and then let them battle for supremacy while I key, so there's a lot of backspacing as potential statements are slaughtered and eaten by the victors. ~ Magna Centipede

Acid

Only the SOFLAM has the distance marker, the binocs are just a static overlay.

Second of all, great writeup SmokingGUN! This would be put into effect if pubbies would follow squad names, but that is rarely done without CO intervention. A single sniper/spotter squad would be more effective than a full squad of 3 sniper teams, only because the spotter can lay down attack markers on the enemies though the SOFLAM making for efficent takeout of any targets. The SL can then also call in arty for the commander, and the team can take direct orders from the CO and recieve intel. The bolt-action rifle is supprisingly fast in firing rate, last night I took down an entire squad of 6 attacking Fishing Village within 10 seconds (the last guy started to run away). The marksman kit has the advantage with a bigger clip, but relativly the same firing rate when you take into account the recoil vs accuracy.

__________________

Jeepo_SAS

will be very interesting to watch this in version 0.6 with the new view distances and less fog of war.....

__________________
|TG-22nd|Jeepo

smokingGUN

Really the SOFLAM has a real-time distance-to-target meter? I never knew...if that's the case, then the SL wouldn't have to put waypoint markers (e.g. yellow smoke/ move marker) to aid in range finding for a sniper team as Blitzer suggested.

__________________

smokingGUN

Maybe, but for the sake of keeping the roles separate for tactical purposes, the sniper kit should be used exclusively for more very long-long distance engagements and the marksman kit for medium-long range engagement, whilst being attached to a fireteam or assault squad. The marksman rifles only have 1 level of zoom as compared to the 2 levels of zoom of the sniper rifles, which probably suggests that the developers had this in mind as well when introducing the marksman kit into 0.5. Plus the sniper kit has a ghillie suit.

__________________

msdz

I disagree with all the snipers being in ONE squad, one squad may be doing a completely different thing than another and the other be just as important for a sniper to be covering. I think that for every squad 1 sniper rifle should be allowed, but then everybody in that squad would probably whine over it. In other words, with the 2 sniper rifles and 2 markmanship rifles 4 squads can be overlooked by their sniper/marksman.
A sniper squad should really consist of a spotter and the sniper and that is ALL. Check some other games and strategies used in real life and you will see this formation implemented. No need for 2 snipers in the same general area.
Also, I would rather have the special ops gun from the US or British sides over the snipers or marksman, they are way more accurate than either of these even at a far distance. Stick your head up somewhere with me around sometime, as long as I can see it and have the gun on single shot you are most likely nailed and DEAD. Only disadvantage of these compared to sniper rifles are they do not have the same zoom for the acog sights.

Blitzer66

if your spotter sets a range marker next to the target, it shows distance to waypoint, only the SL or commander can set waypoints

smokingGUN

I was talking about a sniper exclusive squad that was further divided into 3 separate sniper teams, i.e. "Sniper Squad" - Team 1: SL(coordinator and spotter) and Sniper, Team 2: SpecOps(spotter) and Sniper, Team 3: SpecOps(spotter) and Sniper. The squad on the whole is then considered as the Faction's (USMC, PLA, etc.) sniper element. This way, the CO or any squads can simply call on the sniper squad for any application of it's uses. The idea is that one squad with all the snipers in it will be easier to communicate with and manipulate in the tactical sense within the game. The sniper teams within the squad don't have to be close to each other all the time (plz read my original post), as the SL will typically place them in various tactically sound positions across the map and coordinate their actions. This way all the snipers can communicate better (using voice), alert the SL, who will then relay intel gathered to the CO or other squads (CO can use voice to update the other squads with intel gathered). This should be effective if all sniper teams were to cover different zones/ areas on the map (a possible role of the squad). If the voice feature were to be used in TS, all SLs and COs could be in an "SL" designated room, and the SL would be able to relay intel gathered to the SLs through voice that way (prolly more likely for a pre-planned structure).

__________________

ednos

It's the little red number.

Yeah, this would still be necessary, as the sniper's binoculars have no means of discovering range.

Is anyone interested in planning one of these squads to try it out? I'd be interested in being a spotter for one. I mean, all this postulation is great, but it'd be to everyone's benefit to put it to the test.

__________________

The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell
I have a tendency to key out three or four things and then let them battle for supremacy while I key, so there's a lot of backspacing as potential statements are slaughtered and eaten by the victors. ~ Magna Centipede

smokingGUN

Thx, ednos for your interest...yea definitely, any volunteers to try this tactics set would be appreciated.

__________________

ednos

Contact me through some means (info in my profile, or forum PM) if you want to do this TOMORROW (i.e. Saturday), since there's no one here this weekend and I'll be playing a lot.

__________________

The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell
I have a tendency to key out three or four things and then let them battle for supremacy while I key, so there's a lot of backspacing as potential statements are slaughtered and eaten by the victors. ~ Magna Centipede

Acid

I will be on later tomorrow night ednos, so we can definatly try this out, although one of us will have to go CO or tell the CO to assign the sniper kits.

__________________