Also, APCs/tanks can roll around relatively unopposed in the desert, and thanks to their zoom are basically just as good as snipers. Thus, on Basrah, the sniper's niche is more or less limited to urban areas.
In light of all this, where/when can snipers be useful? I can think of 5 possible places, only 2 of which would be really good.
Position 1 - on the tall building on the north of the island. This could be good when other team members are searching for caches on the island. It also has the advantage of being high enough to make it hard/impossible to molotov from the ground. Its proximity to the water is another advantage: you wouldn't have to worry as much about enemies coming from the north.
2 - On the hotel. This is probably the best sniping position on the map. It's high enough that it can't be molotov'd from the ground, and the only way to kill a Brit sniper on it would be to climb to the top or snipe him from a nearby building. From the top you can watch the island to the east, the city to the west, as well as the suburbs to the southwest (all of which are places where caches frequently appear). I also *think* this place isn't too heavily trafficked, so if you kept quiet and didn't open fire on every possible target, you could stay perched up there unnoticed for quite a while.
3 - On the roofs north of the mosque. This isn't a great spot - it doesn't overlook any frequent cache locations (except possibly industry to the east/northeast), is very near the main insurgent spawn point where insurgent sniper rifles can easily be obtained, and is quite vulnerable to molotovs as well as insurgents shooting with AKs from nearby rooftops. I only mention it because every once in a while you can get lots of kills (and therefore intel) from up there.
4 - on rooftops in the southwest suburbs of the city. These roofs are quite low and easy to molotov, so you'd have to be extra careful to not get noticed here. However, these rooftops are relatively easy to get to (as they are on the outskirts of the city), and provide a good viewpoint from which to monitor enemy movements to the east and north/northeast.
5 - on the 2nd floor or roof of a 2-story building just west of the village. This would be very dangerous spot, as the village is usually swarming with insurgents when there are revealed caches there, but it would be an excellent vantage point from which to cover an advancing squad. It is low enough to be vulnerable to molotovs, but the surrounding area is open enough that you have a better chance of spotting approaching insurgents.
In all instances, snipers would need to be accompanied AT LEAST by 1 medic/rifleman who could provide healing/ammo and keep a lookout. Probably at the more vulnerable areas, like positions 3-5, the sniper should be accompanied by a rifleman as well as a medic. At position 5, it might even be reasonable to have a medic, rifleman, plus a marksman and/or officer with the sniper (basically a whole squad) to back him up.
Anyone else know of any good sniping locations/tactics here?
), position yourself properly and you can cover your squad moving in to check the area. Insurgents like to loiter over that little sloping wall southmost refinery.
