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Harmor
05-03-2006, 06:35 PM
Here are some tips that I use in BF2:Vanilla...thought they might be helpful here.

So you and your buddy want to own with a tank? Well perhaps its time for both of ya to consider some basic tactics to help in your survival and success.

These suggestions are just that, suggestions that I've learned over the months playing this awesome game. If I'm wrong or need clarification, please don't hesitate to reply and clarify me.

Step 0: Make a squad

The tank's driver should be the squad leader of said squad. The reason is that the driver will survive more encounters than the exposed gunner.

Step 1: Kit Selection

A tank crew of two should consider their kits for a variety of situations. Here are some combinations to consider:
Engineer + Engineer: This combo is good in keeping the tank alive, but often leads to a dead gunner more often than not. Repairing a tank is vital in keeping it running for sustained periods of time, but not at the cost of a gunner that keeps dying to small arms fire.
Engineer + Medic: This is probably the best combo for a tank crew since the gunner will be shot at with small arms fire the most and can recover from an encounter. The gunner can also protect the engineer when he's repairing and if necessary revive him if he dies while repairing (the engineer is most vunerable when he's repairing the tank).
Engineer + Anti-tank: For a more gun-ho type crew this is good when taking on multiple armored opponents. For whatever reason people tend to ignore the Anti-tank guy when they are being fired at by a tank and thus allows for the Anti-tank guy to assist in damage potential of the crew.
Engineer + Support: This is good when you have overly sustained combat periods. As support you can jump into a nearby vehicle and resupply your teammate, but honestly I usually never have to worry about ammo since most commanders will drop a supply crate during sustained combat encounters.
Engineer + Assault: Good anti-infantry support, especially against those Jihad jeeps and Special Ops trying to lay C4 on you guys. The n00b tube, in this instance usually can knock out the driver of a Jihad jeep if your aim is good enough. Also sometimes people hide behind buildings or obstacles that your tank driver can't get to...while your tank driver is giving you cover you can jump out and circle around usually for an easy kill (most people hiding from a tank don't expect someone to come out of the tank to kill them).
Engineer + Sniper: Why?
Engineer + Special Ops: The only benifit I see to this combo is when you want to destroy bridges or lay C4 at flags you have just taken.No matter what kit you select always know that you're not stuck in the tank. As gunner don't hesitate to jump out of the tank to drop med or ammo packs for teammates, to revive a fallen teammate, or to fix or destroy a bridge. Also don't hesitate to jump out of a tank to kill someone beind an obstacle your driver can't shoot behind - your driver can give you cover.

Step 2: Communicate

Most games you won't have the luxury of Teamspeak or VOIP to communicate with each other so make sure to SPOT enemy's for each other, especially enemy armor. As gunner you have a much larger view of the battlefield than your gunner in first person view. This is especially important when defending against Special Ops and locating the position of an Anti-tank enemy.

Step 3: Keep moving

Don't stop at any time. By being a moving target you'll be harder to hit. You'll also keep your gunner alive longer since he'll be a prime target for enemy snipers. A good gunner will crouch (press 'LEFT CONTROL'), to duck into the turret when moving into an area where a sniper is known to be - this is another reason to be a medic. As driver, try to always have a getaway. Don't get stuck on obstacles. Sometimes in the heat of battle you may have to twist your tank's body to keep it pointed at your enemy (the front part of the tank has more armor than the back), so whatever damage you take is minimized. When this happens make sure you align yourself back quickly after the encounter so you can move quickly away if you have to.

Step 4: Go down with the tank

This maybe contrary to some, but dying with your tank will mean that you can respawn with your tank and try again. If you bail out of your tank you may just die anyway especially if it was another tank that killed you. If not and you survive the encounter than you and possibly your gunner will be stranded.

Step 5: Steal your enemy's tank whenever possible

If you see your enemy's tank, steal it. Better for your team that you deprive the enemy of a tank to help your team. Have your gunner take the second tank and say in a small convoy - as an engineer you can repair his tank.

Step 6: Use your terrain

Corners of buildings are probably your best cover against any type of fire. You can fire your main gun and quickly duck back behind the building for cover. In tight quarters like alley ways in cities you are most vulerable against infantry attacks. Infantry attacks can come from the alleyways or the roof tops so stay alert gunner.

Step 7: Use alernate views (F10 & F11 are your friends)

You can press F10 and F11 to have a larger viewing area. Almost any infantry worth his ammo will jump out of cover when your turret is turned away from them. This is when you press F11 to see behind you. Switching between F10 and F11 quickly you can see 360 degrees around you, however doing this while moving can get a little disorientating - do this when you have no obstacles ahead of you on straight-aways or when you're capping a flag with your gunner..

Step 8: Enemy aircraft

Enemy aircraft, especially a good jet or helicopter pilot are probably your worst foes on the battlefield. In these situations you want to use buildings and the terrain to stop them from getting a clear shot. A good gunner will spot enemy aircraft for their driver so he can get cover. Although shooting a hovering helicopter is great (aim for the cocckpit) since it only takes two shots to take down an attack helicopter. To take down a transport helicopter with engineers you'll need to take out the crew with your machinegun if you can't get the pilot with your main gun. With both you and a gunner you should easily take down any Blackhawk crew, although your gunner may not survive the encounter because of the Blackhawk's mini-guns. Don't try to get under a Blackhawk, the engineers will just throw AT mines on you. If that happens DON'T MOVE (this includes using your MAIN gun since it will move your tank). Wait til the Blackhawk leaves and remove the AT mines with your wrench when its safe.


Conclusion

Those are just a few tips I've learned working with my friends in a good tank crew. Having two people in a tank always makes capping flag faster. You'll be surprised how well a good working tank crew can do when they work together. Stay alert and prioritize your targets in every encounter.


Good luck soldier!


When to pop smoke:


Just outside of opposing spawn areas - your team knows where the enemy is, right where the flag is. They can come in behind you under cover.
To avoid AT rockets when you need repairs ASAP. I haven't seen too many drivers that are good at this. After you pop smoke MOVE. I can still see your muzzle flash idiot. Stop shooting and get outta there.


When not to pop smoke:


Right next to the enemy's flag. I am going to spawn as a spec ops and C4 your *** to hell.
Right next to your team's flag. I am going to spawn and get disoriented, walk right behind your tank, you're going to crush me, and I am going to punish you for the TK. I can't see that helo firing at us, so I can't very well get a rocket off. He knows very well where WE are spawning though.


Take a look at where to AIM with this Vehicle Hit Point site:
http://www.secretsofbattlefield.com/hitpoints.php

$kelet0r
05-03-2006, 06:39 PM
Good tips
You should include paragraphs
1. Using smoke effectively
2. Aiming for the forward or rear threads at all times in tank on tank battles
3. Avoiding helicopter attacks by driving towards the direction it is facing
4. Teaming up with other armour

Harmor
05-03-2006, 06:49 PM
Well since I don't have Armored Fury yet I don't think I can make those recommendations. The thread was for a 2-man tank crew, not geared towards multiple pieces of armor working together.

Granted, having several armors together, all repairing each other is very difficult for the enemy to break. Also when working together in a multi-armor convoy you want to protect the weaker or lower health members of your convoy. If your tank just got hit by a TOW, get in front of the tank and protect it while its getting repaired. Or like having one piece of armor cover your back...or having a full squad inside an APC. APC tactics are a completely separate thread in and of themselves.

-(PK)-DarkIllusion
05-09-2006, 02:02 AM
instead of the F11 keys and such.. there's a little magic button "C". switches camera angle...

ConscriptVirus
05-09-2006, 04:04 AM
i get frustrated wit hte C cuz it always lags so i use the F keys

Harmor
05-25-2006, 01:52 AM
Good tips
You should include paragraphs
1. Using smoke effectively
2. Aiming for the forward or rear threads at all times in tank on tank battles
3. Avoiding helicopter attacks by driving towards the direction it is facing
4. Teaming up with other armour

Added the Smoke and a link to this page for Vehicle HP:
http://www.secretsofbattlefield.com/hitpoints.php

troybob
06-06-2006, 04:27 PM
another good tip is to repair the tank from the bottom (crawl underneath) so you can't be shot at.

IcecreamLtDan
06-07-2006, 01:16 AM
One thing I like to do is play support and get in the Linebacker/Tunguska, whichever one I end up with. It's nice to be able to use all those AA missiles and then be able to rearm the thing. I tend to find myself firing all 4 whenever I target an aircraft.

coldsteal
06-07-2006, 02:40 PM
Mmm Very wise words Kimosabi
great info!
tanks!

Colonel_Krust
06-10-2006, 02:02 PM
Really the best thing to do is to make a armor sqaud. grab apc and a tank or a couple of tanks or more the more the merrier. Instrumental to the tactic is to have at least 1 engineer(normally the driver) in each vehicle as an engineer. The rest can be a mix of medic and antitank.

This convoy if you stay close together repairs itself rapidly. is almost immune to arty strikes. If one vehicle dies...spawn at the location of the vehicle and meet up with your sqaud when you get a chance. for example the factory spawn on karkand has a tank and 2 apcs. this is a good place to try this tactic.

Key goal should be to elminate the opponents access to armor.

If you have lost access to armor...your armor sqaud should become a mobile infantry antitank sqaud. mostly AT and a couple of Spec ops. Most tanks can't deal with a sqaud of AT rockets flying at them from all directions. Their goal should be to reclaim acess to your teams armor.

UnknownSoldier
06-10-2006, 05:36 PM
Some good advice all around, from people that know armor way better than me--as I'm a bonified airwhore. With that in mind, I'll betray my kind and offer you some tips on escaping those 500-lbers. (If any of this seems elementary, then skip ahead. The more advanced details are towards the end).

First, as Harmor said, use your terrain. If you're staying still for a little while (i.e. capping a flag, or shooting at something in the distance), then ideally get under a roof of some kind, or at the very least next to a building, cliff or treeline (most wooded areas in the game will stop a bomb just as well as a building). When moving, try to stay close to large obstructions that would be a pain in the *** to fly around. Remember that a jet has to fly pretty much straight at you to hit you with bombs, and has to be able to pull away without hitting something on the way out--so the closer you are to big objects, the harder it's going to be to hit you with those bombs. If you know you're about to be bombed, (you see the plane coming or it starts hitting you with its gun), then take a sharp turn to the side and keep moving until the bombs hit. Don't bother dropping smoke, because the pilot will just aim for the smoke cloud itself and will still hit you. If you're the gunner, then duck.

Speaking of smoke--if you're on a map with vanilla bombers (oman/cleansweep/daqing/taraba) then watch out for the targeting buzzer--it doesn't just indicate an AT/TOW/APC missile being pointed at you, it also sounds when you're being targeted by the weapons officer on a bomber. If that's what it is, your only hope is to immediately drop smoke and stay still for a second or two until it shrouds you completely (if you move immediately the cloud won't conceal you and break the lock). This will usually do the trick but if he's already fired (and it only takes a split-second to get a lock) the missile could still hit you or at least hit close enough to damage you.

Also, be aware that forming up a tight engi-column makes you an especially juicy target for AF attack jets and vanilla bombers. So, the lesson is: on those maps, stay a little spread out (at least 2-3 vehicle-lengths) when you don't need repairs. A well-placed bomb drop from one of those things is a lot more concentrated than an artillery strike, so don't think that being an engineer is going to save you. On vanilla maps with only fighters you don't need to worry as their mere 2 bombs won't be enough to take out both of you unless you're already seriously damaged.

Last, and most importantly, stick close to your AA and protect it from enemy armor--especially in AF. In fact, clustering in AF is not nearly as much of a worry if you have AA in the rear of the formation, as AF jets are extremely vulnerable to AA when flying directly towards it (although vanilla bombers are still a problem--note that AA has no smoke to protect itself from their missiles). Also, of course the corollary is true--taking out enemy AA will allow your planes to help you deal with enemy armor

Hope this helps you frustrate some flyboys!

Ouija
06-11-2006, 06:43 PM
Speaking of smoke--if you're on a map with vanilla bombers (oman/cleansweep/daqing/taraba) then watch out for the targeting buzzer--it doesn't just indicate an AT/TOW/APC missile being pointed at you, it also sounds when you're being targeted by the weapons officer on a bomber. If that's what it is, your only hope is to immediately drop smoke and stay still for a second or two until it shrouds you completely (if you move immediately the cloud won't conceal you and break the lock). This will usually do the trick but if he's already fired (and it only takes a split-second to get a lock) the missile could still hit you or at least hit close enough to damage you.

Doesn't work. I fire the missile before the lock is obtained and (as long as the pilot doesn't alter his flight path) the missile will obtain lock in the air, by then it is too late.

Yes, I am that good with the laser guided missile. I've taken out enemy Blackhawks, Cobras and even an F-15 (all in mid-air) with the laser guided missile.

Smoke won't help you on maps like Operation Clean Sweep.

[99MB]J|Pvt.JumpArtist
06-11-2006, 07:31 PM
As far as armor goes, paying attention is the key, along with sticking to large buildings to stay away from bombers, use flanking manuvers to out fox your enemy, if you clear out that enemy armor, then you can move in and attempt to cap. But if you steam full throttle into the mouth of waiting tanks and A.T. troop,s you'll be waiting 15 more seconds. keep a mental note of AC dropping bombs, How many enemy AC are in the air, and (If possible) note any repeat routes the pilots might be flying. All this, and learn how to lead targets, while on the move, If you can shwack an enemy target while at full speed in a tank, the odds of accurate return fire are greatly reduced. See ya on the Battlefield.. Hope that helps a bit.

UnknownSoldier
06-12-2006, 05:21 PM
Doesn't work. I fire the missile before the lock is obtained and (as long as the pilot doesn't alter his flight path) the missile will obtain lock in the air, by then it is too late.

Yes, I am that good with the laser guided missile. I've taken out enemy Blackhawks, Cobras and even an F-15 (all in mid-air) with the laser guided missile.

Smoke won't help you on maps like Operation Clean Sweep.

That's why I said 'your only hope is to drop smoke immediately' and 'the missile could still hit you'. That being said, most people aren't as good as you with that missile (my buddy's taken out an F15 too, but like you, he's the exception, not the rule). A lot of people don't even realize you can guide it without a lock, so the smoke will work, just not all the time.

b` m3ow
06-16-2006, 12:39 AM
Very good tip!
Plus.. Use ur Smoke Key (x) to get out of Hot Areas.. When there is like 2+ tanks hunting you, then u run like h3ll :P

Rafterman
06-19-2006, 07:46 PM
I find the best tactic when you've been targeted by an attack chopper and he is on his attack run is to immediately head towards him - I know it's counter intuitive, but very few pilots can compensate that fast when they're at full attack speed. In most cases the rockets will fly over you.

It's then easy to target him with you up gun until he gets oriented for another pass, then repeat the entire process. I've actually brought down choppers like this and took very little damage in the process. In some cases I've gotten lucky and the chopper crashed trying to compensate for my movement.

Of course, this doesn't work when you're up against a gunner who's good with the TV missle - luckily very few are.

Fulman
06-29-2006, 01:17 PM
Some additional observations:

1) Tanks that fight alone, die alone.
This will depend on who you are playing with.
Forming up with other tanks. Having Hummers or Buggys as Scouts.
Having helicopters scout and cover your advance.

2) Smoke is not always just for you.
Throwing a screen can be used to cover friendlies (read squad leader)
Smoke can also be used to confuse your opponent.
(Alot of people fire the screen and then move straight through. Move your unit to the flanks of the opponent and the screen)


3) Be patient. Dont go charging in without support. Have a Plan.
And Rememeber the enemy will make himself a target anyway and on your terms.

[RS]LSO|Maj.Colinloves
07-03-2006, 03:55 PM
Engineer in every tank. Move as a group. Each tank then reapirs the other.

Learn how to break formantion when attacked by Jihad's.

Pick your targets. If facing an enemy armor group. Shoot from left to right.
Try to get your armor group to shoot at the same time, thus stopping tank getting a little repair time between shots.

Try doing this on a pub server - LOL