Crux's Infantry Guide Part V: The Devil is in the Details

So by now if you’ve read the earlier parts of the guide, you have an understanding of the psychology of combat necessary. Competency at it however requires dedication and work. Mastery of it takes that, plus perhaps some innate abilities – quickness of thought, the ability to resolve complex tactical situations at a glance, and the reflexes to act upon these. That said, this part of the guide will focus on the minutae of being a superior soldier. A sculptor might know what type of sculpture lies inside a block of stone or wood, but it is only through dedication to his craft that he gains the skill to actually bring it out. Likewise knowing where to be and what to be looking for on the battlefield is of paramount importance. But what carries you through when you cannot gain the advantage? Or if someone has managed to gain the advantage over you? When you cannot gain a tactical advantage, the Devil is in the details.

What follows is a list of things you should work hard to make habits.

1. Know how many bullets you need to kill two people in CQB with your current weapon. Whenever your ammunition count drops below this number, find a safe place and reload
2. Expect an enemy around every corner
3. When you know you’ve got your target cold, fire rockets in salvos of two
4. If you must fire three rockets, fire a fourth for good measure – one rocket in the chamber will only wound a healthy soldier, and then you’re reloading while he is killing you
5. Multitask. If you must retreat to heal, take the opportunity to reload. If you must stop to reload, drop a medkit and heal while you do it.
6. Put grenades on the dead bodies of enemies you kill. If you’re out of grenades, put rockets there instead
7. Never reload out in the open. Find a safe place to do so.
8. Don’t stop in the middle of an open space to shoot an enemy unless you must (ie he is shooting you and no cover is nearby)
9. If you don’t practice shooting, throwing grenades and using rockets you won’t get better at any of these important skills
10. Every time you have a safe chance to do so, look at the big map. Watch which flags are held by whom, and look for possible or likely troop movements. This will stop you getting enveloped unawares
11. If you find yourself standing next to, or running directly alongside a squadmate, move. You’re more likely to shoot each other if surprised in CQB, and also more likely to both get killed by the same rocket or grenade
12. Move from cover to cover. Every time you hit cover pause and survey the area for 1-3 seconds before moving on
13. Plan out your cover-to-cover moves 2 or 3 steps ahead. That way if you get caught by surprise and need to find cover quickly, you know what your options are
14. Everything is a weapon. When surprised by an enemy while healing I’ve thrown my medkit in his face and used that moment to dodge to the side and get my own weapon out
15. Always be alert. Surprises are only good when they happen to the other guy!

Show Them Something With One Hand…

And perform your magic trick with the other. Feinting is an incredibly valuable tool and should be used constantly. There are many ways to make your enemy believe you are doing one thing while you are actually doing another.

1) If you get slightly wounded, duck around a corner and drop your medkit right at the corner where he can see it. He thinks you are easy prey and usually will sprint forward. Duck out from behind cover and shoot him while he’s in mid-sprint and cannot fire back
2) If your opponent gets behind cover and cannot see you, throw a grenade in his general direction and sprint to a new location, preferrably to approach him from behind
3) Wounded people expect to be chased. Throw a grenade after them and then move in a flanking direction instead. If they stop the grenade gets them. If they keep going they run into you and are surprised. Either way the grenade exploding behind them gives them the sense of being chased directly
4) If you and an opponent are both behind cover, ducking out to fire at each other, set them up. Duck out and fire twice, then the third time either sprint directly at them or leave the area. Firing twice gives them the feeling of being in a rhythm of exchanging fire, and lulls them into not expecting the movement
5) If you are being chased, drop a grenade in your footsteps with a right click throw. This will hold them up momentarily. Use the opportunity to keep running… in a big circle so now you are the chaser instead of the chasee

These are just some examples, but will hopefully get you thinking the right vein. Take the time to work on your craft. It doesn’t require a lot of practice to dramatically improve your shooting, rocketing and grenade-throwing skills. Always shoot from the knee – going prone is the suckers’ beat and just increases the chances of being headshot. Kneel, zoom in while kneeling and open fire. Short bursts of 2-5 bullets, depending on the gun (2 for the baur, 5 for the engineer smg).

Practice, practice, practice.