Tactics:Taking Towers

Doppler · 2003-05-30, 07:47 PM

Welcome gentle reader, since my previous posts on small unit tactics have been fairly well recieved I thought I'd give a new one a crack to try and clear up some definite tactical shortcomings.

For the purposes of my post we'll look at two difrent types of tower captures. Contested and noncontested. Noncontested are obviously those towers that show little or no resistance. Usualy one infiltrator can take these out. Contested tower assaults are against towers that a squad or squads are launching active operations against one of your facilities from. Or what seems to happen more often it's one faction or anothers last toe hold on the continent/area of operations, and you'd just assume move on to bigger and better things. Lets cover some basic rules:

1. High ground trumps all.

2. Friendly fire kills.

3. Teamowk wins battles.

The ideal way to penetrate a contested or heavily contested trower is via airdrop on top of the tower (see first rule) obviously this is easier said then done as any good tower defenders will be using those turrents for all their worth, as they should. When penetrating the ideal team is one guy to disable the door. A max ready to move into the breach, a decimator/sweeper man ready to follow the max and another squad member to cover them all from behind so they dont get bushwacked while performing their entrance. For the purpose of our excersize let us assume you dont have air transport for whatever reason and are breaching at the ground floor. The ideal way to do this it seems is to use the above breaching method and break off into two teams. Our base necleus for a tower taking is 5 guys. 3 to go upstairs, 2 to go down, obviously depending on your squad composition/number of guys free and handy you can have more. Your three guys going upstairs must at bare minimum include a hacker or better. One guy with anti-MAX weaponry. One guy with the ability to kill infantry quickly. The latter can be accomplished through jackhammer/thumper/sweepershotgun/chaingun or through an anti infantry max. I've found that if everyone on my tower clearing team uses surge the fight is generaly very decisive because they can easily use the corners of the stairwell as cover. The jub of the two man team is fairly simple. Both are hopefully configurations that can kill infantry quickly as they pop out of the spawn tubes. Simply move downstairs and kill anyone not wearing blue (ok i'm biased). Then hold the position for as long as possible. The team going for the CC fights there way up. One man posts near the central colum of the stairwell so he can still cover in the updirection with his gun while being ready to shoot downstairs if he has to. The other holds the line against attack fromb elow until the attack is completed.

Now obviously these tactics are soemwhat ideal, the biggest caveat of all this is no matter what strategy you use, dont go it alone, do communicate with yoiru squad/factionmates and watch your fields of fire.

Final notes will be on approaching a defended tower. I thought this went without saying befor eI manned a turrent on evening and got massive kills. So when approaching a tower,

1. Zig and Zag when on open ground.

2. Don't be on open ground in the first place.

3. Suppress turrents with antivehicular fire. Fire go to cover, move to another spot to fire again, repeat withf riends.

4. Watch for mines on the ground surrounding the tower.

5. Approach from the side away from the facility if possible as it is usualy the least defended.

wasupx · 2003-05-30, 07:58 PM

airdrop is great against VS/NC heavily contested towers. But if its TR and they are locked down, best bet is zerg basement and respawn tubes. Take out the tubes/terminals, then your assault will work from my experience. Lower the max:infantry ratio by attackers, the longer the assault will go on when even numbers.

btw, respawn tubes=3decimator shots each (distinct electric discharge sound will occur 3seconds after 3rd decimator).
equi terminals=2decimators each, or 2boomers(place inbetween two terminals and it will destroy 2 at a time).

Doppler · 2003-05-30, 08:13 PM

I kill locked down TR max's like it's going out of style with a decimator and my surge implant alternatively thumper plasma rounds bounced around corners will dislodge them as well. It maybe jsut a personal thing but since i can never guarantee having an engie in squad I like to capture facilities intact. Could be just a wierd quirk of mine. Although sometimes you have to kill the inventory terms, guys in the basic armor are easy to kil and free exp. As to the max ratio, generaly the strategy assumes you ahve one max' maybe two. Personaly i've noticed max's dont seem to fight uphill/stairs very well, so their not a necissity for th taking the cc just a nice bonus, thanks for the advice thought.

1024 · 2003-05-30, 08:16 PM

i dont even find MAXs that much of a problem. Although it might just be the fact the im NC and ALWAYS carry aroudn a phoenix with me.

Phoenix = MAX sniper rifle

Although it might also be the fact that i own with the phoenix.

Streamline · 2003-05-30, 09:43 PM

I ninja hack em all the time. Fresh spawns dont have DL. So don't usually need to jammer unless I know for a fact a DL is waiting up there. I usually creep to the door and wait for one of them to rush out. Chosing carfully on when i surge my way in. Even if theres huge congestion, surge and a well timed jump can get me most of the way down the stairs. More often than not unnoticed. Hack a term, switch to something like Reinforced Thumper/plasma. Then procede to weed them out. I usually do this from a ams in relative close proximity to the tower. So i can do it all over as soon as posible.

After 3 or 4 successions into the spawn room. I figure this sets them all to as close to the same spawn time as posible. Plus it plants a seed in their minds that they are way behind where thye should be. So they can tend to want to get out of the tower and make up time. Often not checking the CC and often leaving it unguarded. Now is the time to put the Adv.hack cert to use. Same entry but i surge about half way up the stairs. Or however long it takes to get past the MAXs. If someone sees me i got all the way to the top. Go outside and wait, hide, whatever i gotta do. To stall long enough for whoever noticed me to lose interest. Or kill him. Once i've rehacked the tower all enemies in it are or should be on the way. As they can no longer loadout and they get booted from the turrets.

I like to go up. No matter if it's 6 enemies or 60 comin out of the tower. But dont open the doors. Make them do it if they even can. I keep my inv hud open during the hack so i can switch to the plasma nade right away. By now the enemy is making there first final approach to the CC. I like the wait for the cluster. But if i gotta potential darklighter i'll let em rip. 3 plasmas, 2 if i'm confedent enough. Back the top of the stairs. It is posible that someone was slow to try to come back in. Most of the time if anyone is up there. They dont have the sense to carry a REK. If you're quik on the plamsa you can take him in 2. Audio amp help alot right here. Basicly you don't want them reentering cuz you let em in.

Hopefully i got enough health left to jump to the ground. Jumping off the tower MA turning 180 degrees and throwing a plamsa on two guys trying to hack the door. Before you hit the ground. Thats movie material.

By now i'm out of ammo so i pilfer whatever i can from wherever
i can get it. Go in straight back up the CC. If this is a last ditch effort. Then i go specificly for the hacker. If i kill him. Then it means i can respawn. Hopefully they didn't send a MAX down there since the last time i was.

And even though there maybe several friendies around. And once the tower is hacked freindlies can start zerging out of it. I've done this basiclly alone as far a my objectives and order i proceed. Since i can't communicate things like when and where allies should strike on the fly. I try to time it with their rushes. Like riding a wave that carries me into the tower. Then i let the tide roll back and wait for the next wave before proceding. Alot of time if they're zerging the shit of the tower. And start to push on to the base. It eases tension inside the tower and hacking is alot easier. So it does pay to wait for your implants to que and your teammates to spawn and rush in waves

Jarlo · 2003-05-30, 10:18 PM

Don't forget the reaver elevator!

Stand right on the middle of a reaver and it can lift you up and you can jump off up top.

Streamline · 2003-05-30, 10:31 PM

Yep, i carried a MAX to the ceiling level and he goes "d00d... you're freaking me out"

There are occasional times i will walk on treetops aswell.

Doppler · 2003-05-30, 10:40 PM

I wasnt trying to downplay the importants of infiltrators just their usualy fof doing their own thing then working aacticly witht he team. Their the one members of sqads I usualy dont mind being mostly autonomous especialy when their scouting.

Sando138 · 2003-05-30, 11:17 PM

Simple plans work best.

Basic rule: if i'm covering the doorway, i'll give you time to get in. i only launch a barrage of fire if i see an enemy. but if you dash out into my obvious fire, i promise, if i might kill an enemy with you, i will.

In summary:
Don't run in front of me when i'm shooting, and if you do, don't blame me.

MilitantB0B · 2003-05-31, 01:33 AM

Thats why my MAX certified character is also an engineer. First order of bussiness when I breach the tower is to make my way to the basement and destroy the terms, then camp the spawn. After all is said and done and the base is ours, I have someone in my squad kill me, come back and raid the repair gun from my locker and repair the terms. That is always so fun.

wasupx · 2003-05-31, 12:03 PM

heavy seige tower fighting (40+ folks on each side)i remember went like this:

Initial: spawn (ams or base, rarely tower) destroyed forcing opponent to nearest controlled tower.

First 5min: Friendly tanks/vehicles/reavers approach said tower finding numerous infantry/max outside between tower and nearest base. Infantry and max killed/suppressed, forcing them to retreat to tower perimeter and balcony's. Several friendly vehicles destroyed. Seige has not started however, active engagements around outside usually. Vehicles very prone to heavy damage here.

within 10min: ams/Max's/infantry show up. Snipers effectively pin the tower folks inside forcing seige, where as before AV/special assault seriously engage vehicles. If this wave of max/infantry rush is defeated, expect a long ass tower assault generally. Even if coordinated, the sheer numbers of defenders guarding doorways of tower is enough to suppress any infantry attack. The max ratio outside will drop seriously after this point as people will prefer to spawn at nearby ams with very few max's making the run knowing they are desperately needed. Tower max ratio is generally close to 4:6 infantry at this point.

after 15-20min: max ratio of attackers reaches lowpoint. Tower defeat determined randomly if not coordinated from what i have experienced. Coordination, and respawn timer sync really. Hot dropping on top is not as useful, many guarding tower DO stay alive over 3min and have DL. Good news is i have really never seen a tower get past the infantry/max rush and defeat the vehicles outside and win in these large tower battles. However the cost for these long tower seiges usually is loss of towers/bases elsewhere.

-key is initial assault with max's must be coordinated. Ive seen seiges at towers where hotdrops/attacks from top failed continuously and lasted for hours. Attackers will only lose if vehicles outside tower are eliminated (couple tanks and reavers come out of nowhere and blow the vehicles standing outside to bits)