1. You cannot ignore armor on Belgrade. Lyra made a wonderful thread -- you should read it: http://www.tacticalgamer.com/battlef...armor-map.html

2. Armor kills are often unrevivable. A smart armor squad can run 30-70 kills in an average Belgrade round. This is a huge ticket impact on the basis of 4 people alone. We're talking about tickets -- not Voss kills that get revived a moment later.

3. Armor is a different kind of fun. Armor is very different from infantry, and often spoils the fun. Tough luck, it is here to stay, we should adapt. I ran from it for a long time, but I recently embraced my inner armor whore and now I am a better SL for it.

4. Help your armor or deny the enemy theirs. It's simple:
- Holding first flag out of the UCB and Statue = happy friendly armor
- Holding Statue or holding the first flag out of the enemy UCB = unhappy enemy armor. Holding both = very unhappy enemy armor.

5. If no one is running armor, do it yourself. Be conservative, ask for supply drops, run away from Walkers, use external views to prevent EMP/OS from enemy CO. Don't cap flags, don't expose your back, don't move anywhere unless friendlies are ahead of you.

6. Change the way you think as an SL.
Three modes on Belgrade, as far as infantry is concerned
- Default mode: remove bleed from self, make enemy bleed -- straight forward.
- Crux mode: choose your flags so that you have the advantage in firefights
- Armor mode: help friendly armor and deny enemy armor by holding key flags

These are not three separate concepts -- they mush together for a lovely concoction of win and six-flag-bleed.

I am addressing infantry squad leaders with this thread because infantry is fun on Belgrade. Comm Tower firefights are a beautiful thing, and you disagree, you are a dirty Communist.
But.
When you're deciding whether to push Ruin or Playground from Comm, take a sec, and see if your armor is doing OK.

a) If the first flag out of your UCB is hostile -- your armor is hurting. Your armor is not leaving the UCB, and it's having a lot of trouble. Hit that flag, make sure it's yours, then move on. Usually, the people holding it are engies so you can steamroll them with your medics.

b) If Statue is hostile -- your armor is limited. It's useful, sure, but it's about 40-60% of its capacity. Statue grants a walker (awesome against enemy armor), higher ground, and free candy.

c) If you have both the first flag out of your UCB, and Statue -- you're golden. Your APC/Tank/Walker are ripping things to shreds and stealing your gold star. But -- don't be content. Be angry and be mean.

d) Hit the flag closest to enemy UCB. Mine up the roads, man the Rorsches, deny them their armor. Your infantry will have armor support in the back (FREE armor support, because your friendly armor doesn't need to worry about enemy armor), and you can take more flags, and steamroll the enemy.



This is all. I've learned these things by playing locked armor squads recently. The more aspects I get to experience of this game (pure medic, gung-ho shottie, long range tanks, cautious APCs, grenade-only rounds), the better SL I become, and the easier it becomes to win a game.
I think Lyra's comment is the smartest I can give here as a closing remark: be like a chameleon, ready to blend in and adapt into whatever the situation requires.