Insurgency mode - thoughts from an armchair general.

[Guard81]

Before we begin, I would encourage regular commanders to keep a paper and pen (or pencil) to hand during a round. Doing so allows you to make note of key information that can be later exploited to the benifit of your team.

This started out as a "gripe sheet" of things that annoy me when commanding in insugency and developed from there into an attempt to provide some ideas on how to be a better BLUFOR commander.

Feedback, comments, further discussion and suchlike are welcome. At the moment, these are quite general guidelines rather than aimed at a particular map or force.

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On PR and Insurgency mode - notes from an armchair general.

Insurgency mode is quite unlike any other style of play in the online world to date. With this in mind, standard approaches commonly applied to other games or game modes available. Conventional forces (BLUFOR) typically excell at taking an area and securing it against a counter assault. In such cases, troops are usually expecting this attack and have no further assignments to complicate things.

Insurgency mode is not so easy. In order to succede we must not allow ourselves or our Squad Leaders (SLs) to forget our assigned task; The neutralisation of Insurgent (OPFOR) weapon caches, rather than securing a given objective. To further complicate things, the location of these caches is (at best) unpredictable and often difficult to locate; Cache literally meaning "hidden" in French.

Killing OPFOR troops will never, under any circumstances, win the round.

From the BLUFOR perspective, we have several advantages;

• Superior Equipment.
• Superior Mobility.
• Control of Airspace - Helicopters and UAVs.
• Superior command and control (henceforth, C&C)

To expand on the bullet points above and also to caution against overconfidence, let's have a look at our advantages and how OPFOR might attempt to counter them.

Firstly, Superior Equipment. In PR a soldiers equipment and that of supporting armour is represented by vehicles and kits. Of the two, kits are most vulnerable.

All kits carried by BLUFOR troops is superior to that used by the OPFOR. Each soldier is worth more than thier value in tickets, but also in the value of the equipment they posses, particularly in instances where a soldier is carrying a special kit (such as a sniper or HAT, for example).

Some SLs and Commanders maintain that there simply is no use for long-range specialist kits in insurgency mode gameplay and results in "giving kits to the enemy". Indeed, if left unsupervised and unprotected a single or pair of infantrymen can be easilly killed and thier kits looted to supply the OPFOR effort.

It is best that SLs containing such kits remain aware of thier specalists' locations and work with the commander to make effective use of the asset they represent. Close-range however, specialist kits are of limited value and are all the more vulnerable to ambush.

Wherever possible, I would encourage the team as a whole to be responsible for each and every kit used. Squad medics are essential to keeping BLUFOR kits safely in our hands. I won't pretend to give SLs impossible directives, but merely to be aware of the consequences; By loosing kits, we strengthen our opposition and make the teams job that little bit harder. Small groups and lone individuals are most at risk to canny OPFOR players.

Vehicles then, are supposedly a less risky proposition. Not so!
While BLUFOR have a wonderous array of vehicles, OPFOR have a number of cunning ways to destroy them; Ranging from the dreaded "Big Red" to the humble RPG.
Such methodology however, appears to be most effective in urban or confined areas. As a result, vehicle crew operating in small groups or solo vehicles should try to keep as much open space between themselves and potential ambush sites.

When working in concert with infantry groups, vehicles may wish to be closer to "thier" infantry in order to provide immediate support. Even in supposedly "safe" areas, this is likely to expose not only the vehicle, but also the supporting troops to ambush. Caution is our watchword. Vehicles should attempt to keep a decent amount of distance from confined areas to avoid Molotov, IED and RPG ambushes. While infantry groups can often identify these in advance, it can take vital seconds to pass word and react to the threat.

To our next advantage, Superior Mobility. Unlike our opposition, we are often capable of relocating squads of infantry quickly and efficiently via helicopter, truck or APC. Unfortunately, Helicopters and trucks are quite vulnerable to small-arms fire and APCs can be a magnet for RPG and suicide attacks.

To counter this, attempt to provide "safe zones" for transports, either secured by a designated squad or through being a suitably remote location which can serve as a staging ground for assaults.

SLs have a very good idea of where they need to be and when. As a commander, try to co-ordinate with them and the transport squads as well as letting them know your intentions.

Control of airspace then, contributes to keeping your squads mobile as well as providing much-needed intelligence. A helicopter with an observer can be used to identify OPFOR movement as well as locating caches - our ultimate aim. A UAV can also help locate caches and OPFOR much more directly, but will distract the commander from the key role of co-ordinating SLs and passing information to the team.

Use your air assets sparingly to avoid the inevitable hail of small-arms, MG and RPG fire. If your assets identify dedicated anti-air, then consider tasking a squad or two to neutralising it.

OPFOR very rarely have a commander and thus, through simply communicating useful intelligence and requests to your team, you are ensuring continued Superior C&C. This can be disrupted through attempting to micromanaging your squads, constantly giving ALL SQUAD (default key - V) comms or failing to read team chat.

Most SLs know what they are doing, give them an assignment and let them get on with it.


To summarise;

• Try to keep your infantry in support of each other and your longer-ranged firepower away from confined areas/potential ambush sites.
• Attempt to provide "safe zones" for transports.
• Use your air assets sparingly.
• Most SLs know what they are doing, give them a job and let them get on with it.
• The neutralisation of OPFOR weapon caches should be your primary concern.

[Jigsaw]

Moved to In-game Tactics and Strategies.

[Guard81]

Thanks again, Jigsaw.

[Wakain]

interesting read, it's reassuring that some commanders do know what they are doing