Wow, this mission is hard to play. So I went out and found a player guide!
Swedge’s Top 10 Tips For Playing as Blufor
Use distant overwatch When clearing grids or assaulting a town, have some units take high ground at range and provide overwatch as the other units move in close and assault. Usually when players try to do this they will use a Jackal or HumV as overwatch. This only tends to be effective if the vehicle is ‘hull down’ with the vehicle behind cover and only the weapon exposed to engage the enemy, or if the vehicle can pop back behind good cover at a moment’s notice. In general though these vehicles are RPG-magnets, high-value targets easily spotted, easily heard and easily destroyed with an RPG (with vanilla Arma) at great ranges. A machine gun or automatic rifle is also often chosen but I find that the continual chatter of these tends to give away their position. Personally, I think it is more effective if overwatch is provided by 1 marksman or sniper, ideally with 1 additional unit nearby to spot, provide security, medical support, and a respawn option. They should take a covered high-ground position at a range where they are able to exploit the advantages of their long-range weapon and outside the effective range of Insurgent weapons. They should be eyes and ears covering and communicating to the assault team as they move up and and they should fire their weapon as little as possible, to reduce the chances of the Insurgents identifying their position. Human insurgents are terrified and frustrated by good snipers hidden and outside of the range of their own iron-sights. Blufor should exploit the advantages they do have over Redfor, including superior weapons and optics. The overwatch element should discreetly displace when needed to keep the Insurgents guessing about their location. This overwatch element also provides an excellent spawn option for the rest of the team should they be killed during the assault. Resist the temptation of having a line of snipers providing overwatch without any actual assaulting elements for them to provide overwatch for. This will be slow progress and it will make it easier for Redfor to fix your position.
Focus on the cache When briefcases have been found and marker clues appear for the cache, focus on the cache. Do not worry about clearing random red-grid squares nearby because you are OCD or because you lost a lot of good men there, for revenge, or because there is a particular sneaky bastard human insurgent there. Focus on the cache. Find it and destroy it. That also means get briefcases. I have often wandered through cleared grids and found 4 or 5 briefcases just laying there. Players sometimes focus on killing insurgents or clearing red-grid squares and forget about the briefcases. More briefcases also means more clues and a better idea of where the cache is. Which means having to clear less grids, get shot at less, and search less buildings.
Take the path of least resistance Approach the cache area with the path of least resistance. This is from whichever direction has the smallest number of red grid-squares nearby or the best cover, even if it means driving well out of the way through the remote country-side or inserting via helicopter.
I recall one game where there was a town of red-grid squares that ran in a long line from north to south with the cache somewhere at the south-side. I watched one team north of the town drive south in a direct line using ‘the path of most convenience’ through, they hoped, 12 red grid-squares to try get to the cache marker. They were taken out with an RPG in minutes. Then they tried the next path of most convenience, facing 4 or 5 grids from the side, trying to insert from the west, and were engaged from grids to the North-East, East, and South-West simultaneously. I took the long-way around with my team via helo, it took a few minutes, and we inserted south of the town, pushing up to the north, and only facing one red grid-square at a time. We captured the first few grid-squares in sequence and found the cache.
Clear grids decisively If you’re not physically room-checking for the cache yet, you need to clear grids decisively and bite off one chunk at a time. Don’t run around like a chicken with it’s head cut-off or get distracted by different irrelevant firefights or insurgents. Soften up the target grid first with grenades or whatever. Then get in there son. Maybe smash a wall down with a Jackal. Enter the compound decisively with your team, set up security, clear it systematically, and enter and mark each cleared building on your map with a dot until the grid is clear. Then remove the markers. Some players only close building doors to indicate that they have cleared them. For a number of reasons I no longer do that and use map markers instead. Firstly, not all buildings have doors. So, those buildings will have unknown cleared status. Secondly, if a friend is wounded and you need to drag them into a building for cover while you provide medical assistance, it can be difficult to do if you are trying to back into closed doors. Thirdly, they can be handy to duck into in a pinch if you are suddenly fired upon. Fourth, as an Insurgent, I know that Blufor closes doors and I use this to figure out which buildings they think they have cleared. I will shoot from those, or go around opening doors they have closed or closing doors they haven’t. There’s sneaky bastards and there’s just plain bastards.
Minimise the angles you’re exposed to Although I’ve championed high-ground in other hints above, a lot of players think it is the be-all and end-all. High-ground gives you maximum visibility of the battlefield but it also usually gives the battlefield maximum visibility of you. I use valleys and low-ground alot. This can be used in conjunction with some high-ground overwatch or sometimes as an alternative (with recon prior). With the right approach you can radically limit the number of angles that you’re exposed to and visible from, and you can more effectively penetrate the enemy lines and engage any enemy within those narrower limits. With the right angles and speed you can keep other terrain and buildings between you and the enemy, infiltrating closer and closer and popping out and slicing the pie gradually. This comes with experience and practice and requires decisiveness, speed, and good all-round security. It takes a keen eye for angles. The same thing goes for urban combat. As much as possible I like to keep buildings between me and the enemy, avoiding the open spaces that have better lines of sight as much as possible. It’s important to decisively penetrate, clear, and strong-point compounds that limit the number of angles from which Insurgents can view or engage you. Then cross the open ground as quickly as possible, while covered, and move on to the next compound or cluster of buildings.
Provide all-round security Different members of your team should be covering different directions or you will be flanked by Insurgents. As a team you should have security in 360 degrees, looking for enemy in every direction. When you enter a compound, have a unit covering each entrance. Be aware of this at all times.
Heal smart If a Blufor unit is wounded, do not just bolt out into the open and start providing first aid. As an Insurgent, this is one of the most common mistakes I see and a source of never-ending amusement and corpses. I have hundreds of screenshots. As Blufor, you need to ask yourself these questions:
Is there still a threat? Whatever wounded your guy, could it still wound you if you go out there?
How can I or another team-member kill/destroy the threat?
If we can’t do that, where should we throw smoke grenade(s) to screen the wounded from possible enemy directions, to screen our approach, or as a decoy?
Which team-members can provide cover or all-round security while we recover and heal the wounded?
Where is a safe place, such as a building, that we can drag the wounded before providing first aid?
Is it ultimately not feasible to recover the wounded in this particular situation and do we need to pull back a safe distance so that friendlies can respawn?
Spread out Also known as, ‘maintain appropriate tactical interval’’. A single IED, RPG or well-placed machine gun can wipe out your entire team in a heartbeat if you are all bunched up in each other’s pockets. Spread out so that the team has different angle and cover options and so that there is always somebody available to provide cover, smoke, medical assistance, or to fall back out of enemy range and become a respawn point.
Avoid the open, use cover, and cover each other It’s a bit odd to list it here because it’s just such basic infantry stuff, but it’s still unfortunately so rare to see too. You need to avoid open areas as much as possible. In these you are easily spotted and shot at from multiple angles, and you have no cover to protect you. Use buildings, walls and rocks as cover as much as possible. Move from one to the other. When you move, have another team member cover you. When they move, you cover them. As an Insurgent, I almost never see Blufor units covering each other while one moves.
Work as a team and lead by example When I’m an Insurgent, what scares me is a team of Blufor working together, with good spacing, all-round security, and decisive speedy movement under marksman overwatch. If you practise the techniques listed above you will quite often find that team-members just naturally start following you, particularly if you have earned their respect by providing careful medical assistance or some fancy shooting. Take care of your team-members and gradually encourage and assist them to protect each other using things like smart first aid, all-round security, spreading out, and efficient compound clearing. Be patient, demonstrate, help new players, and lead by example.
Last night was an epic fail tbh. And tbag was playing in god-mode, not really fair haha This video shows you how to clear that town we were trying to take (And we all remember how that went), watch and learn kids
Here is the most comprehensive Arma2 all purpose guide you will find on the internet, done by Dyslexi (leader of ShackTact clan). It will probably take like 6+ hours of reading so don't plan to do it in one sitting.
Here is the most comprehensive Arma2 all purpose guide you will find on the internet, done by Dyslexi (leader of ShackTact clan). It will probably take like 6+ hours of reading so don't plan to do it in one sitting.
Touch wood, the mission edit is going well. I am going to increase the squad size to 10 or more, so we can all see each other (and try to avoid embarrassing blue on blue scenarios). I will also add 2 pilots, 2 medics and 2 snipers to the squad, as suggested by Teabag. Tested this morning, seems to be working. My other plan this weekend is to convert my old 2007 rig into a server. No idea how that will pan out, but its gotta be better than hosting locally right?
What up mother bitches? This happened last Friday. Watch general get shot, Teabag sit in a stupid position, us fuck shit up, and other general shenanigans.
We can start around 7/8PM GMT
Swedge’s Top 10 Tips For Playing as Blufor
Use distant overwatch
When clearing grids or assaulting a town, have some units take high ground at range and provide overwatch as the other units move in close and assault. Usually when players try to do this they will use a Jackal or HumV as overwatch. This only tends to be effective if the vehicle is ‘hull down’ with the vehicle behind cover and only the weapon exposed to engage the enemy, or if the vehicle can pop back behind good cover at a moment’s notice. In general though these vehicles are RPG-magnets, high-value targets easily spotted, easily heard and easily destroyed with an RPG (with vanilla Arma) at great ranges. A machine gun or automatic rifle is also often chosen but I find that the continual chatter of these tends to give away their position. Personally, I think it is more effective if overwatch is provided by 1 marksman or sniper, ideally with 1 additional unit nearby to spot, provide security, medical support, and a respawn option. They should take a covered high-ground position at a range where they are able to exploit the advantages of their long-range weapon and outside the effective range of Insurgent weapons. They should be eyes and ears covering and communicating to the assault team as they move up and and they should fire their weapon as little as possible, to reduce the chances of the Insurgents identifying their position. Human insurgents are terrified and frustrated by good snipers hidden and outside of the range of their own iron-sights. Blufor should exploit the advantages they do have over Redfor, including superior weapons and optics. The overwatch element should discreetly displace when needed to keep the Insurgents guessing about their location. This overwatch element also provides an excellent spawn option for the rest of the team should they be killed during the assault. Resist the temptation of having a line of snipers providing overwatch without any actual assaulting elements for them to provide overwatch for. This will be slow progress and it will make it easier for Redfor to fix your position.
Focus on the cache
When briefcases have been found and marker clues appear for the cache, focus on the cache. Do not worry about clearing random red-grid squares nearby because you are OCD or because you lost a lot of good men there, for revenge, or because there is a particular sneaky bastard human insurgent there. Focus on the cache. Find it and destroy it. That also means get briefcases. I have often wandered through cleared grids and found 4 or 5 briefcases just laying there. Players sometimes focus on killing insurgents or clearing red-grid squares and forget about the briefcases. More briefcases also means more clues and a better idea of where the cache is. Which means having to clear less grids, get shot at less, and search less buildings.
Take the path of least resistance
Approach the cache area with the path of least resistance. This is from whichever direction has the smallest number of red grid-squares nearby or the best cover, even if it means driving well out of the way through the remote country-side or inserting via helicopter.
I recall one game where there was a town of red-grid squares that ran in a long line from north to south with the cache somewhere at the south-side. I watched one team north of the town drive south in a direct line using ‘the path of most convenience’ through, they hoped, 12 red grid-squares to try get to the cache marker. They were taken out with an RPG in minutes. Then they tried the next path of most convenience, facing 4 or 5 grids from the side, trying to insert from the west, and were engaged from grids to the North-East, East, and South-West simultaneously.
I took the long-way around with my team via helo, it took a few minutes, and we inserted south of the town, pushing up to the north, and only facing one red grid-square at a time. We captured the first few grid-squares in sequence and found the cache.
Clear grids decisively
If you’re not physically room-checking for the cache yet, you need to clear grids decisively and bite off one chunk at a time. Don’t run around like a chicken with it’s head cut-off or get distracted by different irrelevant firefights or insurgents. Soften up the target grid first with grenades or whatever. Then get in there son. Maybe smash a wall down with a Jackal. Enter the compound decisively with your team, set up security, clear it systematically, and enter and mark each cleared building on your map with a dot until the grid is clear. Then remove the markers. Some players only close building doors to indicate that they have cleared them. For a number of reasons I no longer do that and use map markers instead. Firstly, not all buildings have doors. So, those buildings will have unknown cleared status. Secondly, if a friend is wounded and you need to drag them into a building for cover while you provide medical assistance, it can be difficult to do if you are trying to back into closed doors. Thirdly, they can be handy to duck into in a pinch if you are suddenly fired upon. Fourth, as an Insurgent, I know that Blufor closes doors and I use this to figure out which buildings they think they have cleared. I will shoot from those, or go around opening doors they have closed or closing doors they haven’t.
There’s sneaky bastards and there’s just plain bastards.
Minimise the angles you’re exposed to
Although I’ve championed high-ground in other hints above, a lot of players think it is the be-all and end-all. High-ground gives you maximum visibility of the battlefield but it also usually gives the battlefield maximum visibility of you. I use valleys and low-ground alot. This can be used in conjunction with some high-ground overwatch or sometimes as an alternative (with recon prior). With the right approach you can radically limit the number of angles that you’re exposed to and visible from, and you can more effectively penetrate the enemy lines and engage any enemy within those narrower limits. With the right angles and speed you can keep other terrain and buildings between you and the enemy, infiltrating closer and closer and popping out and slicing the pie gradually. This comes with experience and practice and requires decisiveness, speed, and good all-round security. It takes a keen eye for angles. The same thing goes for urban combat. As much as possible I like to keep buildings between me and the enemy, avoiding the open spaces that have better lines of sight as much as possible. It’s important to decisively penetrate, clear, and strong-point compounds that limit the number of angles from which Insurgents can view or engage you. Then cross the open ground as quickly as possible, while covered, and move on to the next compound or cluster of buildings.
Provide all-round security
Different members of your team should be covering different directions or you will be flanked by Insurgents. As a team you should have security in 360 degrees, looking for enemy in every direction. When you enter a compound, have a unit covering each entrance. Be aware of this at all times.
Heal smart
If a Blufor unit is wounded, do not just bolt out into the open and start providing first aid. As an Insurgent, this is one of the most common mistakes I see and a source of never-ending amusement and corpses. I have hundreds of screenshots. As Blufor, you need to ask yourself these questions:
Spread out
Also known as, ‘maintain appropriate tactical interval’’. A single IED, RPG or well-placed machine gun can wipe out your entire team in a heartbeat if you are all bunched up in each other’s pockets. Spread out so that the team has different angle and cover options and so that there is always somebody available to provide cover, smoke, medical assistance, or to fall back out of enemy range and become a respawn point.
Avoid the open, use cover, and cover each other
It’s a bit odd to list it here because it’s just such basic infantry stuff, but it’s still unfortunately so rare to see too. You need to avoid open areas as much as possible. In these you are easily spotted and shot at from multiple angles, and you have no cover to protect you. Use buildings, walls and rocks as cover as much as possible. Move from one to the other. When you move, have another team member cover you. When they move, you cover them. As an Insurgent, I almost never see Blufor units covering each other while one moves.
Work as a team and lead by example
When I’m an Insurgent, what scares me is a team of Blufor working together, with good spacing, all-round security, and decisive speedy movement under marksman overwatch.
If you practise the techniques listed above you will quite often find that team-members just naturally start following you, particularly if you have earned their respect by providing careful medical assistance or some fancy shooting. Take care of your team-members and gradually encourage and assist them to protect each other using things like smart first aid, all-round security, spreading out, and efficient compound clearing. Be patient, demonstrate, help new players, and lead by example.
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