ARMA II Thread

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by Hottentot

Dammit, missed you guys again despite of waiting on TeamSpeak and server for a good while last night.

Edit: oops, apparently Penguin wasn't talking about last night. Bah, shouldn't start commenting right after spending two hours in a real forest for a change.

hmm, i was also on a deserted ts last night, not before 22:30 cet though, later played (=died) alone for a while on the server.

I'll be back (spoken with an Arnold accent) today at about 19CET - screw going out on Saturday night! :

[Oberon]

Right, let's talk about Tanks.

In my view, the role of me, TF and Raptor in the Abrams is to take out as much of the armoured forces as we can, then mop up what infantry we can see before the infantry goes into the town to mop up the rest and capture the objective. At no point should the tank go into the town, but find the best vantage point overlooking the town until the infantry are ready to go in, and then the tank should either retire or assist the infantry as called upon by them, defending itself against local hostiles in the meantime.
If we ride too close to the approaching infantry then they can't aim because of our vibrations, and we draw every single Russkie or Muji in the area on top of them. Likewise if the infantry go ahead too early, then we land up shooting them in the middle of the town. Sometimes when I aim the gun at you, text will come up stating your name, however that doesn't seem to work at ranges over 200-300m and so all I see is an infra-red human shape walking around with an RPG, which is a threat to both the advancing infantry and our tank, so it gets either an HE shell, or the Co-ax, or if I forgot to change shells, it gets a SABOT and two heads.

So, how do we fix this, well communication helps, but when you're glued to the IFR it's hard to know exactly where people are in relation to you, pre-planning would be worth considering were it not for the fact that it would likely fall apart within fifteen seconds, so my primary recommendation is that we download ACE, tailor it to our needs in its menu and use the IR-strobes that are provided so that when I see a flashing infantryman I know that it's probably Dowly, and when I see one with an IR strobe, I know that it's friendly.

Thoughts?

[Arclight]

Problem with separating from the infantry is that you often have no shot on what threatens them. If you are behind them, it is easy to relay targets (since you can see them) and you can quickly move up into a firing position.

With the armor on the other side of town you lose some degree of situational awareness (friendly fire incidents), and getting an angle on threats requires either to drive back around to join up with the infantry or push through unknown territory.


I think a problem we have now is that people want that kill/be a hero. The armor rumbling up because the infantry reported a guy with a rifle running somewhere isn't necessary, nor should the infantry insist on peeking out to shoot that HMG gunner that is pinning them down. Keep your angles covered and let the right tool for the job deal with it.

My understanding of combined arms is advancing infantry screening the armor, with calls for support being made when that advance is impeded. Having the armor anywhere but on close support exposes it to AT weapons and diminishes coordination and situational awareness.

[Red October1984]

Have you guys ever thought of taking a couple Little Birds or other Attack Choppers with you? It'd be easier with that I'd think. Just mark targets with smoke/preferred marker.

That's what I'd do.

EDIT: Just thought of this. MECHANIZED INFANTRY! Eh?

[Arclight]

What makes you think we're charging them with bayonets?

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Arclight

Problem with separating from the infantry is that you often have no shot on what threatens them. If you are behind them, it is easy to relay targets (since you can see them) and you can quickly move up into a firing position.

With the armor on the other side of town you lose some degree of situational awareness (friendly fire incidents), and getting an angle on threats requires either to drive back around to join up with the infantry or push through unknown territory.


I think a problem we have now is that people want that kill/be a hero. The armor rumbling up because the infantry reported a guy with a rifle running somewhere isn't necessary, nor should the infantry insist on peeking out to shoot that HMG gunner that is pinning them down. Keep your angles covered and let the right tool for the job deal with it.

My understanding of combined arms is advancing infantry screening the armor, with calls for support being made when that advance is impeded. Having the armor anywhere but on close support exposes it to AT weapons and diminishes coordination and situational awareness.

True, the trouble is finding the sweet spot of distance from the target, too close and we close aiming difficulties for the infantry, too far and we're not that helpful. Also there's the problem of angles, most of the approaches to these towns are either up hill or on a level which means that anything could be behind the buildings further in the town and we can't see it to engage, and going actually IN to the town in a tank is a bad idea.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Arclight

What makes you think we're charging them with bayonets?

Nothing! I was just simply putting my ideas out there. Adding my two cents.

The picture I see is this. An infantry squad supported by one tank. Why not put the infantry in a Stryker equipped with a Mk 19 and take the Mechanized approach.

The Air Support? Take an Attack Chopper with you so the infantry can mark targets. It just seems like a good plan to do so.

[Raptor1]

Originally Posted by Red October1984

Have you guys ever thought of taking a couple Little Birds or other Attack Choppers with you? It'd be easier with that I'd think. Just mark targets with smoke/preferred marker.

That's what I'd do.

Yes, they get shot down.

Originally Posted by Red October1984

EDIT: Just thought of this. MECHANIZED INFANTRY! Eh?

And that's the problem, isn't it?

Anyway, before getting into the actual tactics of using armour in conjunction with infantry, I think we should use the in-game chat in the vehicle channel for any internal communication between the crew. That's what it's for and it would keep the TS channel from becoming too much of a mess. Furthermore, I think that if we're working with infantry but not in close support, we should keep the thermals off; it does make it more difficult to spot targets, but at least you can see what colour their uniforms are.

Now, if close support isn't an option because of ground vibrations, then I think that the best thing to do with the tank is keep it back in reserve in case the infantry gets bogged down by a Vodnik or an emplaced machine gun or a ninja commie or something and only move it up when that happens. Alternatively, we can use lighter vehicles for close support, like the Humvee, LAV-25 or Pandur II, though I'm not sure whether those have the same problem as the Abrams does.

[Dowly]

We should scout the target a bit before going in. Mark threats for the initial push,
naturally the marked targets will start moving as soon as we are spotted, so
the tank might want to keep that in mind.

The scout can also mark good positions for the tank, but keeping in mind that
line of sight works both ways.

Once the closest threats have been dealt with, the tank can start moving closer,
while keeping an eye on the friendly infantry and which areas have been secured.

Enemy air can be kept at bay with our own jet circling over the target.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Raptor1

Yes, they get shot down.

Originally Posted by Dowly

Enemy air can be kept at bay with our own jet circling over the target.

Why not use Jets for CAS?

They should avoid getting shot down. They're called Fast Movers for a reason. The problem is, in my experience with ArmA 1, jets are tricky to fly and they don't see targets marked with smoke real well.

ArmA 2 is probably completely different though.

[Raptor1]

Originally Posted by Red October1984

Why not use Jets for CAS?

They should avoid getting shot down. They're called Fast Movers for a reason. The problem is, in my experience with ArmA 1, jets are tricky to fly and they don't see targets marked with smoke real well.

ArmA 2 is probably completely different though.

Jets are fine for engaging armour and other aircraft, or for precision bombing with LGBs, but they move too fast and don't have enough endurance for effective ground support besides that.

The problem here isn't providing support to begin with, though, it's providing close support without interfering with (or massacring) our own forces. We can just move in without any support if it comes down to that; it might make some situations more difficult, but it's not like there's a problem that we can't solve by applying enough Douglas Haig to it.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Raptor1

Jets are fine for engaging armour and other aircraft, or for precision bombing with LGBs, but they move too fast and don't have enough endurance for effective ground support besides that.

The problem here isn't providing support to begin with, though, it's providing close support without interfering with (or massacring) our own forces. We can just move in without any support if it comes down to that; it might make some situations more difficult, but it's not like there's a problem that we can't solve by applying enough Douglas Haig to it.

Too fast was the problem with ArmA 1.

Does the game have AC-130 gunships? That'd be your problem solver.

If not, I'd have to think about it.

[Task Force]

I'd say our biggest issue with the current tactic is the tank doesn't know the infantry's position, we also need to stand and take a look at what were all wearing, as some uniforms look a lot like the enemy. EX At the end of that last city I didn't realize one of our guys was dressed like a enemy (with a ski mask) and I was about to run him over till I took about got real close and his name came up.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Task Force

I'd say our biggest issue with the current tactic is the tank doesn't know the infantry's position, we also need to stand and take a look at what were all wearing, as some uniforms look a lot like the enemy. EX At the end of that last city I didn't realize one of our guys was dressed like a enemy (with a ski mask) and I was about to run him over till I took about got real close and his name came up.

US Military Uniforms.









They're supposed to blend in...but they end up sticking out in any environment. It's just a matter of picking the right one.

[Hottentot]

Originally Posted by Dowly

We should scout the target a bit before going in.

Dibs on that role. I have been trying to put markers on the map as I have seen threats while looking for a position, but the problem is that sometimes the targets move so my markers are not up to date. I suppose there is a way to remove them too and therefore put new ones for updates? I would gladly play eyes for the rest of you seeing that I'm usually searching for high ground position for sniping anyway.

Anyways, some screenshots from yesterday.




Penguin parachuting into the middle of nowhere with yours truly.




Lasing radio tower for Raptor. The constant infantry patrols and the choppers flying over the AO didn't exactly help me feeling any more comfortable.




Raptor almost crashes on my parachute after I, in my infinite wisdom, clicked to paradrop over the base instead of the AO. Incidentally the army refused to issue me another parachute for the rest of the night after that.




Don't mind me, I'm only a bush, go about your business.




Capturing target with the rest of the crew. Despite of the fact that we all ingloriously died moments after this screenshot taken, at least we managed to use our last moments to look really professional.




And this is the moment when Penguin almost got another ventilation hole in his helmet.