Bridge fighting rules 101

[SilverLord]

Remember that time i was assaulting a base dsythe and u telled me that u were trying to snipe me and couldn't?

[dscytherulez]

Yeah, might have been the fact that there were about 20 some people around you and I was getting shot at from god knows how many angles lol. Didn't help that I was sitting right in the middle of the entrance, but the enemy snipers never think to look there (plus I was to lazy to go back up top)

It was all those damn cycler people rushing the hell outta me.

[Rbstr]

Yeah ther eis nothing i hate more than sniping a stupid friendly cloacker, though i have gotten Enemy cloakers that way too

[TheN00b]

A Tactical Review of Defensive Bridge Fighting
By: TheN00b

By their very nature, bridge-fights are limited to only a few continents, as while almost all continents have bridges, only a few, namely Cyssor, Cershen, and Esamir provide the large bodies of water or chasms required for serious bridge-fighting. This review will attempt to cover a large portion of the tactics involved to take a bridge, as well as how to hold one against an assault. Please be cautioned, however, that this is not a comprehensive guide, but rather an effort to offer some useful tips and strategies. Thank you.

#1
I. The most important thing to do in a bridge fight, as well as in every other battle, is to coordinate. Countless, unintelligent zergs have been wasted at bridges, because sheer numbers simply cannot force their way over a bridge that is under heavy shelling and bombing raids. Rather, a commander in the area must organize the attackers or defenders in such a way as to soundly defeat the opposing force, and hopefully take the tower that is likely on the other side of the almost impassable gap in the terrain previously crossed. Below are some ways to coordinate your troops.

II. If your troops are defending, you must first and foremost assemble some order to your artillery strikes. Uncoordinated, Flails are often just mindless griefers occasionally nabbing an enemy out of luck. But when 10 or more Flails (and, occasionally, Prowlers or Vanguards) gather together, you can make an enemies' taking of a bridge extremely difficult. Perhaps the best way to coordinate your Flails is to have them attempt at the least to stagger their fire. If you can get your artillery's shells to always be landing on the bridge, infantry and light vehicles will find the space utterly impassable, and even heavy tanks will take considerable damage crossing. Make sure, however, that your Flails are out of enemy Anti-Vehicular Infantry range: if they are, move them back immediately, or the sudden surge in AV use will quickly destroy them.

III. While vehicles are fighting it out over a bridge, using weapons that would quickly and efficiently terminate normal infantry, ground-pounders may find that there does not seem like much to do. However, there are three essential jobs for infantry during a bridge battle. The first is to attempt to stop any vehicles from crossing the bridge. While sensible pilots will not let their vehicles take much damage from AV weapons, their is practically no way to avoid it when you are actually crossing. If enough troopers get together some coordinated AV fire, they can destroy any vehicles within range in less than 5 seconds flat (which seems ridiculous, but can be done). Another highly useful role of Combat Engineers takes place before the battle: To mine the area intensely. By that, I mean that there should be upwards of 300 mines on the bridge before the battle, certainly no less. These mines are critical for slowing down the enemy assault. Fianlly, the third job for infantry will be covered below.

IV. The incredibly important role infantry play in a bridge battle actually takes place miles away from it. When one side is significantly larger than the other, no matter how well you defend the area or assault enemy artillery, your position is likely to be overrun. No matter what you make of it, Planetside is still a game of numbers, and hugely superior numbers will almost always win, barring outside intervention. However, such outside intervention is highly possible. Remember all those bored Combat Engineers who didn't really know what to do after they mined up the place? Well, their new purpose is paramount to the success of the bridge battle. What you the commander must do is first to bring in at least 2-3 Gals, and then load them up with a mixture of CE Infs, CE grunts and MAXes only. If the base the enemy are attacking from is a tech plant, then you will have to divide your forces; send your Infs to the tech plant generator, and your grunts and MAXes 'elsewhere'. If, however, Tech Plant benefits are being supplied by another base, then make sure that every non-sniping infantry is loaded up in a Gal and sent off their. Once they drop in what is likely to be a fairly uncontested base, they should immediately hack or, if they do not have a lattice logic link, destroy the base's generator with Boomers. In doing so, they will have effectively crippled the enemy's at the bridges ability to fight, as you cannot successfully attack or defend a base without tanks and Reavers, ever .

V. When your Reavers are fruitlessly trying to assail the enemy positions in a straightforward manner, immediately rein them in. Reavers are one of the most critical resources in the game, and should be used as such. Try to gather all of them up in one spot, and then detail your plan for them. Since there are likely a plethora of AV users, Skyguards, and other AA on the other side of the bridge, you should use them to attack the base directly. Have them fly in a roundabout manner, then curve in and attack the enemy base's vehicle terminal. Besides the high number of kills they'll likely get, which is certainly a bonus for the pilots themselves, it puts a sort of time limit on the enemy forces. While your troops can continue to pour out of the base with new vehicles after they die, the enemy only has their vehicles so long as they can keep them alive; once they die, they won't be able to get them again for a good bit, assuming your pilots can keep the VT down. If the enemy catches on and begins to place too much AA around the base for the Reavers to get through, begin sporadically attacking the enemy Flails as well. If you can generate enough uncertainty about your next target, you can score huge victories sometimes at undefended places.

VI. Finally, we come to the last section for now: The use of the Liberator. This is actually a fairly easy usage, so do not prepare yourselves for a long discourse on my part. In my opinion, it's easy: Just make a 27 man platoon, and attack enemy lines with 9 synchronized Liberators. If you stay at high altitude, you're almost invincible: If your pilot is good enough to kill enemy aircraft with his 35mm, then the TG is certainly good enough to kill chasers. Just stick with normal ammo, and aim for the AMS's. Good luck with the fighting.

Thank you for your time, I hoped you enjoyed this. I might make an attacker's article, I might not. Laters .

[UncleDynamite]

Originally Posted by TheN00b

During bridge battles, I always try to get into a Lib with one of my squaddies. It's insane what one Liberator, let alone a small squadron, can do to a bridge clogged with Prowlers.

I agree 100%. A single Liberator bombing run can inflict an amazing amount of damage to enemies on and around a bridge. Organized defenders, where possible, should coordinate a group of Libs to bomb while getting a couple of Reavers to sneak up behind the Skyguards to destroy them.

Speaking of sneaking, bridge battles are prime scenarios for flanking tactics (for both attackers and defenders). The main reason is that everyone is focused on one thing: the bridge. A big mistake is to send airpower directly over the crossing. Instead, try approach the bridge and surrounding land from the side, where little attention is paid.

[TheN00b]

Uncle, I kind of said that same thing about the Reavers in my post . But thanks for your kind comments .

[Lonehunter]

Originally Posted by JakeLogan

Rule #1:Vehicles on the left infantry on the right

Are you from England or something?

[Firefly]

Most of those are engineers behind the tank, supporting its repair. Some of them are riflemen (well they all are actually, but some are equipped with repair tools).

[MrVicchio]

Why make rules? Just break em an hack in some JANES's Aircraft into PS and POWN.

Call in an airstrike with B-2's loaded with Slams to take out the AA then fly over a 12 ship, 4 across, 3 deep B-52 run, 110 500lbs bombs Do the math people.

12 x 110 x 500 = 660,000lbs of high explosives all on the bridge side of your enemy.

[Biohazzard56]

Originally Posted by Rbstr

Reavers, and Sniper become your best friends

[SilverLord]

Originally Posted by Firefly

Most of those are engineers behind the tank, supporting its repair. Some of them are riflemen (well they all are actually, but some are equipped with repair tools).

All too familier.

[JakeLogan]

Originally Posted by Lonehunter187

Are you from England or something?

no it's just in my experience most fire comes from the left (at least it seems to) might as well have those tanks intercepting some fire.

[SilverLord]

Nobody will ever abide by vehs on the left and inf on the right.

[JakeLogan]

Originally Posted by SilverLord

Nobody will ever abide by vehs on the left and inf on the right.

I know this but it would be nice to have people on one side, Instead of having to mow the asshats in front of my tank so I don't get wasted.

[SlyMarbo]

Blackhawks In The House!!!!!!!!!!!