APC usage tips

[daranz]

I am by no means an expert in how to use APCs, so these are merely my own thoughts, based on what experience I do have with them in PR. Nevertheless, I do consider them important things to keep in mind when using an APC, if you want to use it effectively.

• Know your limitations: An APC/IFV is a powerful asset. The armor protects you and the guys riding in the back from all sorts of small arms fire, making most infantry useless against you. However, you are by no means indestructible. Driving right into the middle of enemy territory is definitely a bad idea. Just like when you're on foot, you have to make an effort to stay alive.
  
• Don't stay stationary: A stationary APC is like a sniper. If you stay in one spot for too long, the enemy will pinpoint your location, communicate it to the appropriate people, who will then flank you and destroy you. It might be tempting to stay in one spot on Basrah and lay waste on the insurgent team, but somebody is eventually gonna get in that suicide car and drive right to your position.
  
• Stay unpredictable: This ties to the previous tip. You have to remember that the other team isn't omniscient, and they gotta communicate the same as your team. In .8, they often will not have a commander at all, which means they gotta relay information to each other using chat. The more mobile you stay, and the less predictable paths you take, the more difficult it will be for the enemy team to communicate your position and get their vital assets in the right place. Take Muttrah docks, for instance. Often, APCs will drive all over the place around the entire docks area, which forces the enemy out of the open, as they do not know if and when the APCs will suddenly come up upon them and wipe them out. Also note that unlike tanks, APCs are often quite capable of engaging targets effectively while in motion, especially while on flat terrain, such as is often found in urban maps.
  
• Don't endanger passengers: When transporting passengers, you are not much different from a chopper. Yes, You have a big friggin autocannon in most cases, but that doesn't mean one lucky guy with a rocket launcher can't take you and your passengers out with ease. In most cases, your passenger should only be in the vehicle for transport. Try to make your best speed towards the drop-off point, let the dismounts out and THEN support them. Sitting around with a bunch of guys in the back means that they won't be able to support you and that one hit with an AT launcher can take out you, your APC, but also a whole another squad.
  
• Suppressive fire: Suppressive fire is usually a hit or miss in PR (no pun intended). However, APCs/IFVs are almost invariably very good at it. While enemies might not hesitate to charge headlong into a squad of infantry, they will usually cower in fear when an APC shows up. HEI-T rounds from your autocannon generally make people think twice about hanging outside of cover for too long. Combine that with the new deviation, and the enemy won't be able to effectively engage you as long as you can spot him and toss a bunch of explosive rounds in his direction.
  
• Situational awareness: Watch your flanks. It's easy to zoom in on some distant enemy position and get tunnel vision. Most of the time, though, attacks will come from flanks. Remember that APC drivers don't have the high periscope viewpoint of a MBT, and can only see 180 degrees in front of them. On the other hand, APC turrets can traverse very fast and can engage targets rapidly, so don't get caught in tunnel vision.
  
• Ammo: Your APC has two ammo boxes in the back. These can often be a lifesaver to infantry. Your APC can't really engage a tank effectively, but a H-AT guy can after you deliver him some spare rockets. In .8, logistics don't involve just spawning as a rifleman and dropping your ammo bag, and APCs are actually involved in them, so don't forget about those boxes full of delicious ammo when you hear your team requesting some.

If anyone has any comments, or tips to add, I'd like to hear them.

[Rudd]

Nice tips

my addition

Mechanized unity An APC can carry a whole squad, but you aren't just a taxi. Work with the squad you transported, if fighting AT enemies, let the infantry go forward and lay down fire to cover them. If fighting non-AT enemies, let the infantry use you as a shield. For this close unit strategy to succeed you need (in order of effectiveness) a TS setup, a commander, or the ability to type VERY quickly.

[[R-CON]Tomato-Rifle]

Nice work, but i would suggest some spaces between tips to go easier on the eyes

[hx.bjoffe]

Nice guide. The old one was a little outdated on game mechanics.
Go TS/VT and 8-man squads, is my advice.

[Razick]

You forgot "Distance is your friend"

[cat]

Don't stay stationary: A stationary APC is like a sniper. If you stay in one spot for too long, the enemy will pinpoint your location, communicate it to the appropriate people, who will then flank you and destroy you. It might be tempting to stay in one spot on Basrah and lay waste on the insurgent team, but somebody is eventually gonna get in that suicide car and drive right to your position.

I have to disagree on this.

Staying put AND keeping huge distance from the enemy is more effective. The APC has a range advantage in zoom and the stability of the weapon. Ie an APC has less problems hitting an infantry man from 500m than an AT guy has hitting the APC.

Driving around is basically a side effect of the 2-man apc and the forced 30 seconds gun access delay. Because of this limitation, players need to have a driver. Now a driver would get bored if they would stya parked all the time. So a very advantageous camping away from the targets is in direct competition with the driver feeling bored.

Now what happens is that APCs drive around a lot. This mobility decreases the survivability A lot because the best thing that can happen for an AT guy uis an APC driving around city blocks because the driver needs to combat the boredom of staying put. On Muttrah Apcs driving around the streets are the most predictable thing. They move in very dangerous proximity to possible AT spots (roofs, windows).
If an APC however parks on the sandy area at the hills , and uses some hull down, it can aim down long roads, shutting them completely off from any infantry. Also it is almost not possible to hit with AT.

So keeping distance AND staying put is the best way to survive and kill many players. However this causes competetion by the driver feeling bored. Which is a problem caused by the necessity of 2 man apcs.

[daranz]

Originally Posted by cat

I have to disagree on this.

Staying put AND keeping huge distance from the enemy is more effective. The APC has a range advantage in zoom and the stability of the weapon. Ie an APC has less problems hitting an infantry man from 500m than an AT guy has hitting the APC.

Driving around is basically a side effect of the 2-man apc and the forced 30 seconds gun access delay. Because of this limitation, players need to have a driver. Now a driver would get bored if they would stya parked all the time. So a very advantageous camping away from the targets is in direct competition with the driver feeling bored.

Now what happens is that APCs drive around a lot. This mobility decreases the survivability A lot because the best thing that can happen for an AT guy uis an APC driving around city blocks because the driver needs to combat the boredom of staying put. On Muttrah Apcs driving around the streets are the most predictable thing. They move in very dangerous proximity to possible AT spots (roofs, windows).
If an APC however parks on the sandy area at the hills , and uses some hull down, it can aim down long roads, shutting them completely off from any infantry. Also it is almost not possible to hit with AT.

So keeping distance AND staying put is the best way to survive and kill many players. However this causes competetion by the driver feeling bored. Which is a problem caused by the necessity of 2 man apcs.

On Al Basrah, a lot of APCs just stay in one spot south of the VCP. This usually leads to the insurgent team relaying the APC's position down to the keypad grid, and then sending all manners of AT at it. They can often manage to send a suicide car the long way around to approach the APC from the back, or get some RPGs from the mosque to somewhere from where they can shoot the APC. If the APC relocates elsewhere after sitting around for some minutes, the suicide cars, the RPG gunners, etc., need to be updated on its location, and possibly need to get to different spots to be able to attack it effectively. The suicide cars are significantly less effective if they don't have a precise location of an armored vehicle, as they need to actively look for it instead of using terrain for cover as they sneak up on it.

[Scandicci]

Daranz, that is a great guide. It would be useful for me to see a similar guide that involves the use of an APC within a single squad, that is to say, a guide for a squad leader with an APC as an asset in the squad. I saw a good guide for Mech Inf involving multiple squads but realistically in public play I do not have the luxury of using TS to communicate with the squad leader of another squad. There is also a great video of a multiple squad Mech Inf unit on Al Basrah. However, again I never have the option of just getting on TS and getting realtime voice communication with another squad.

How would you run a squad with an APC?

I have run squads before with an APC and usually adhere to the notion that less-is-more. I stay low and stay away from the action, engaging the enemy on my terms. APCs are immediately at the top of the enemy's list for targets to neutralize when they know where you are and get at you.

As SL I make sure that both the driver and gunner have voip and speak the same language (once I translated for a gunner so that the driver knew where to put the APC, ridiculously inefficient.) I also demand an engineer be in my squad. A good tactic then is to sit back and use the powerful zoom on the SL binocs to spot and mark targets for the APC. One problem I encounter as SL in this scenario is that the engineer, the medic and the LAT kit get extremely bored. Next time I run a squad like this I thought it would be fun to swap out kits periodically among the squad members and let everyone have a go at gunning and or driving.

[Rudd]

the only thing that gets me about being in the same squad as an APC when every1 else is infantry, is that the driver and gunner create ALOT of voip traffic, making it hard to communicate or even hear thats why I like to work with APCs that aren't in my squad.

[Scandicci]

about the conversation between Daranz and Cat... with APCs I try to stay far away but ALSO mobile. If you are far from the action but stay in one spot, a good shot with a HAT will smoke you pretty easily.

Distance plus mobility = effective APC usage