SN1P3R001
January 13th, 2012, 11:08 PM
Found another good one on the TG forums. It was taken from Reddit and re-posted there, so I'm re-posting again. I'm gonna' copy-paste, since there were some things that needed to be censored. This one's about doing tank support effectively (when you're that guy on the machine gun).
The difference between a supported tank and an unsupported tank is night and day. When two people work together in a tank, you can absolutely wreck the battlefield, mowing through enemy forces and armor like gods. Flawless 8k-10k point games will become the norm, and against a weaker team, 15k-20k is not unrealistic.
Unfortunately, it seems that a lot of people don't really understand how tank support is supposed to work - they hop into the second seat to gun, and just sit there trying to pick off opponents until the tank blows up - which is usually just two or three kills later, if you're lucky.
A good tank team shouldn't be aiming for two or three kills per tank; they should be aiming for 20, 30, or more - not to mention the more important job of capturing points and securing a front line.
So what makes a good tank gunner? As a gunner, you have several jobs:
Communication: This one is so obvious I almost didn't want to put it here. You should be playing on a server that supports automatic squad VOIP through Teamspeak, Mumble, or Ventrilo (I recommend TacticalGamer servers). You should have a headset, and you should use it. When you join the game, ask in team chat if any tank drivers need a dedicated gunner/support, and join their squad. Communicating with your partner is incredibly important.
Let the driver do most of the killing: If your driver is good, he is going to be able to kill enemies long before you ever get a shot in. With thermal optics, he's going to be able to spot even the tiniest little glimpse of an enemy sticking out behind a corner, and anything he shells is going to be wrecked instantly. If you look at tank gunning as a competition with your driver, you're going to lose. End of story. The goal is not to compete with each other, but to work together as a team to form a dual-headed machine of death, then take all the credit for how awesome you guys are. A good tank driver will gladly admit that you're the only reason he was able to go 50-0. Shooting bad guys is easy - knowing how to play support effectively is hard and impressive. If you really want to try killing, ask if you can take turns driving and gunning. You should both be engineers, anyway.
In tank-vs-tank fights, repair like you mean it: The moment you engage an enemy tank, your machine gun is worthless. In tank-on-tank battles, mechanics decide the victor. Your job is to get out, stay alive, and watch the points roll in as you repair. If your torch goes on cooldown, you can try to hop back in for a couple seconds and pick off an enemy engineer hiding behind their tank, but you only have time for a quick burst, then you need to be right back in action. Pro tip: when you exit a tank, you exit in the direction you were facing, so you should always look directly away from the enemy tank before jumping out so that you spawn right where you need to be. If your driver is good, he will try to turn in place so that his front side is taking all of the damage. Don't get run over while he's making this turn. He shouldn't be doing a lot of moving forward or back once he's in position. Again, communication is key.
Watch the tank's flanks for C4 runners: The driver cannot aim downward while facing the back of the tank, so any time you're in a tight location (especially near buildings and crates), it's your job to watch the back and sides for anyone trying to sneak up and plant C4. The moment you see someone approach, you should call out which direction the enemy is coming from ("right," "left," and "behind" are fine), so your driver can either run away, giving you more time to kill him, or jump out and shoot him. Unlike BC2, there is no beep when C4 is planted, so it's incredibly important for you to keep a keen eye on suspicious doorways and crates.
Reacting to infantry ambushes: A good tank driver shouldn't find himself in ambushes very often, but it happens to the best of us - especially in crowded areas with lots of little hiding places (like <C> on Damavand Peak or <A> on Noshahr Canals). When it happens, the driver's first reaction is usually going to be to run away as fast as he can, then approach the field with a better angle. While he's running, your goal should be to watch the back for anyone laying mines or trying to hit the tank with an RPG from behind (a single RPG on the back side of a tank can do a massive amount of damage). If the tank is disabled before you are able to escape, your job gets a lot more interesting. You need to balance between spotting/killing enemies on the tank's flank (the driver will cover the front) and jumping out to repair. The more enemies there are, the more you should focus on killing, rather than repairing. If you're only dealing with two or three engineers shelling the tank, you should be able to repair through everything just fine while your driver spots and kills the enemy engineers. Against four or more targets, you're going to have a much harder time keeping the tank repaired, and you're also much more likely to get whacked the second you step out of the tank. In those situations, your best bet is to try to kill one or two of the enemies behind the tank, then jump out and repair while you have a good opening. A lot of the time, it just comes down to how well the driver is able to pick off engineers before they're able to fire. Getting out of an ambush is very difficult to do, but it can be done with a good sense of timing, and a quick reaction time from your driver.
Stay alive: As soon as you die, the tank dies. That's all there is to it. A tank without a mechanic is dead in the water, so it's important for you to do everything possible to stay alive at all costs. You should always be ready to jump back into the tank the moment you take a hit. You should always be using a flak jacket perk (either your own personal perk or a squad perk) to avoid getting whacked by RPGs and grenades from behind. You should always exit the vehicle in the safest direction possible when getting out to repair, and preferably right after the tank takes a hit, so you know there's a short break while the enemy reloads.
Don't give away your position: Every time you fire the minigun, you give away the tank's position. The idea of a tank being sneaky might be hard to imagine, but it definitely happens, and there is nothing better than sneaking up on an enemy tank and disabling it in a single shot to the rear. It can be tempting to open fire the moment you spot an enemy, and if the enemy is already aware of your position or if they're coming towards the tank to plant C4, it's not a bad idea. Just don't be "that guy" who sits up top spraying at an enemy behind cover from a mile away. You're not going to kill him. Just fire one or two shots to show your gunner where he's hiding, and he'll blast them out from behind cover.
Watch for air: Good chopper pilots, like good C4 runners, are sneaky. They spot their victim from far away, swoop in for the kill, and before you know it, you're dead and they're gone. On maps with attack choppers, it's very important for you to remain vigilant in watching the skies: your driver is busy watching the road and suspicious flanks.
If anyone wants the original link (this text was edited to be forum appropriate), lemme' know.
The difference between a supported tank and an unsupported tank is night and day. When two people work together in a tank, you can absolutely wreck the battlefield, mowing through enemy forces and armor like gods. Flawless 8k-10k point games will become the norm, and against a weaker team, 15k-20k is not unrealistic.
Unfortunately, it seems that a lot of people don't really understand how tank support is supposed to work - they hop into the second seat to gun, and just sit there trying to pick off opponents until the tank blows up - which is usually just two or three kills later, if you're lucky.
A good tank team shouldn't be aiming for two or three kills per tank; they should be aiming for 20, 30, or more - not to mention the more important job of capturing points and securing a front line.
So what makes a good tank gunner? As a gunner, you have several jobs:
Communication: This one is so obvious I almost didn't want to put it here. You should be playing on a server that supports automatic squad VOIP through Teamspeak, Mumble, or Ventrilo (I recommend TacticalGamer servers). You should have a headset, and you should use it. When you join the game, ask in team chat if any tank drivers need a dedicated gunner/support, and join their squad. Communicating with your partner is incredibly important.
Let the driver do most of the killing: If your driver is good, he is going to be able to kill enemies long before you ever get a shot in. With thermal optics, he's going to be able to spot even the tiniest little glimpse of an enemy sticking out behind a corner, and anything he shells is going to be wrecked instantly. If you look at tank gunning as a competition with your driver, you're going to lose. End of story. The goal is not to compete with each other, but to work together as a team to form a dual-headed machine of death, then take all the credit for how awesome you guys are. A good tank driver will gladly admit that you're the only reason he was able to go 50-0. Shooting bad guys is easy - knowing how to play support effectively is hard and impressive. If you really want to try killing, ask if you can take turns driving and gunning. You should both be engineers, anyway.
In tank-vs-tank fights, repair like you mean it: The moment you engage an enemy tank, your machine gun is worthless. In tank-on-tank battles, mechanics decide the victor. Your job is to get out, stay alive, and watch the points roll in as you repair. If your torch goes on cooldown, you can try to hop back in for a couple seconds and pick off an enemy engineer hiding behind their tank, but you only have time for a quick burst, then you need to be right back in action. Pro tip: when you exit a tank, you exit in the direction you were facing, so you should always look directly away from the enemy tank before jumping out so that you spawn right where you need to be. If your driver is good, he will try to turn in place so that his front side is taking all of the damage. Don't get run over while he's making this turn. He shouldn't be doing a lot of moving forward or back once he's in position. Again, communication is key.
Watch the tank's flanks for C4 runners: The driver cannot aim downward while facing the back of the tank, so any time you're in a tight location (especially near buildings and crates), it's your job to watch the back and sides for anyone trying to sneak up and plant C4. The moment you see someone approach, you should call out which direction the enemy is coming from ("right," "left," and "behind" are fine), so your driver can either run away, giving you more time to kill him, or jump out and shoot him. Unlike BC2, there is no beep when C4 is planted, so it's incredibly important for you to keep a keen eye on suspicious doorways and crates.
Reacting to infantry ambushes: A good tank driver shouldn't find himself in ambushes very often, but it happens to the best of us - especially in crowded areas with lots of little hiding places (like <C> on Damavand Peak or <A> on Noshahr Canals). When it happens, the driver's first reaction is usually going to be to run away as fast as he can, then approach the field with a better angle. While he's running, your goal should be to watch the back for anyone laying mines or trying to hit the tank with an RPG from behind (a single RPG on the back side of a tank can do a massive amount of damage). If the tank is disabled before you are able to escape, your job gets a lot more interesting. You need to balance between spotting/killing enemies on the tank's flank (the driver will cover the front) and jumping out to repair. The more enemies there are, the more you should focus on killing, rather than repairing. If you're only dealing with two or three engineers shelling the tank, you should be able to repair through everything just fine while your driver spots and kills the enemy engineers. Against four or more targets, you're going to have a much harder time keeping the tank repaired, and you're also much more likely to get whacked the second you step out of the tank. In those situations, your best bet is to try to kill one or two of the enemies behind the tank, then jump out and repair while you have a good opening. A lot of the time, it just comes down to how well the driver is able to pick off engineers before they're able to fire. Getting out of an ambush is very difficult to do, but it can be done with a good sense of timing, and a quick reaction time from your driver.
Stay alive: As soon as you die, the tank dies. That's all there is to it. A tank without a mechanic is dead in the water, so it's important for you to do everything possible to stay alive at all costs. You should always be ready to jump back into the tank the moment you take a hit. You should always be using a flak jacket perk (either your own personal perk or a squad perk) to avoid getting whacked by RPGs and grenades from behind. You should always exit the vehicle in the safest direction possible when getting out to repair, and preferably right after the tank takes a hit, so you know there's a short break while the enemy reloads.
Don't give away your position: Every time you fire the minigun, you give away the tank's position. The idea of a tank being sneaky might be hard to imagine, but it definitely happens, and there is nothing better than sneaking up on an enemy tank and disabling it in a single shot to the rear. It can be tempting to open fire the moment you spot an enemy, and if the enemy is already aware of your position or if they're coming towards the tank to plant C4, it's not a bad idea. Just don't be "that guy" who sits up top spraying at an enemy behind cover from a mile away. You're not going to kill him. Just fire one or two shots to show your gunner where he's hiding, and he'll blast them out from behind cover.
Watch for air: Good chopper pilots, like good C4 runners, are sneaky. They spot their victim from far away, swoop in for the kill, and before you know it, you're dead and they're gone. On maps with attack choppers, it's very important for you to remain vigilant in watching the skies: your driver is busy watching the road and suspicious flanks.
If anyone wants the original link (this text was edited to be forum appropriate), lemme' know.