APC usage tips

[daranz]

I am by no means an expert in how to use APCs, so these are merely my own thoughts, based on what experience I do have with them in PR. Nevertheless, I do consider them important things to keep in mind when using an APC, if you want to use it effectively.

• Know your limitations: An APC/IFV is a powerful asset. The armor protects you and the guys riding in the back from all sorts of small arms fire, making most infantry useless against you. However, you are by no means indestructible. Driving right into the middle of enemy territory is definitely a bad idea. Just like when you're on foot, you have to make an effort to stay alive.
• Don't stay stationary: A stationary APC is like a sniper. If you stay in one spot for too long, the enemy will pinpoint your location, communicate it to the appropriate people, who will then flank you and destroy you. It might be tempting to stay in one spot on Basrah and lay waste on the insurgent team, but somebody is eventually gonna get in that suicide car and drive right to your position.
• Stay unpredictable: This ties to the previous tip. You have to remember that the other team isn't omniscient, and they gotta communicate the same as your team. In .8, they often will not have a commander at all, which means they gotta relay information to each other using chat. The more mobile you stay, and the less predictable paths you take, the more difficult it will be for the enemy team to communicate your position and get their vital assets in the right place. Take Muttrah docks, for instance. Often, APCs will drive all over the place around the entire docks area, which forces the enemy out of the open, as they do not know if and when the APCs will suddenly come up upon them and wipe them out. Also note that unlike tanks, APCs are often quite capable of engaging targets effectively while in motion, especially while on flat terrain, such as is often found in urban maps.
• Don't endanger passengers: When transporting passengers, you are not much different from a chopper. Yes, You have a big friggin autocannon in most cases, but that doesn't mean one lucky guy with a rocket launcher can't take you and your passengers out with ease. In most cases, your passenger should only be in the vehicle for transport. Try to make your best speed towards the drop-off point, let the dismounts out and THEN support them. Sitting around with a bunch of guys in the back means that they won't be able to support you and that one hit with an AT launcher can take out you, your APC, but also a whole another squad.
• Suppressive fire: Suppressive fire is usually a hit or miss in PR (no pun intended). However, APCs/IFVs are almost invariably very good at it. While enemies might not hesitate to charge headlong into a squad of infantry, they will usually cower in fear when an APC shows up. HEI-T rounds from your autocannon generally make people think twice about hanging outside of cover for too long. Combine that with the new deviation, and the enemy won't be able to effectively engage you as long as you can spot him and toss a bunch of explosive rounds in his direction.
• Situational awareness: Watch your flanks. It's easy to zoom in on some distant enemy position and get tunnel vision. Most of the time, though, attacks will come from flanks. Remember that APC drivers don't have the high periscope viewpoint of a MBT, and can only see 180 degrees in front of them. On the other hand, APC turrets can traverse very fast and can engage targets rapidly, so don't get caught in tunnel vision.
• Ammo: Your APC has two ammo boxes in the back. These can often be a lifesaver to infantry. Your APC can't really engage a tank effectively, but a H-AT guy can after you deliver him some spare rockets. In .8, logistics don't involve just spawning as a rifleman and dropping your ammo bag, and APCs are actually involved in them, so don't forget about those boxes full of delicious ammo when you hear your team requesting some.

If anyone has any comments, or tips to add, I'd like to hear them.

[Rudd]

Nice tips

my addition

Mechanized unity An APC can carry a whole squad, but you aren't just a taxi. Work with the squad you transported, if fighting AT enemies, let the infantry go forward and lay down fire to cover them. If fighting non-AT enemies, let the infantry use you as a shield. For this close unit strategy to succeed you need (in order of effectiveness) a TS setup, a commander, or the ability to type VERY quickly.

[Tomato-Rifle]

Nice work, but i would suggest some spaces between tips to go easier on the eyes

[hx.bjoffe]

Nice guide. The old one was a little outdated on game mechanics.
Go TS/VT and 8-man squads, is my advice.

[Razick]

You forgot "Distance is your friend"

[cat]

Don't stay stationary: A stationary APC is like a sniper. If you stay in one spot for too long, the enemy will pinpoint your location, communicate it to the appropriate people, who will then flank you and destroy you. It might be tempting to stay in one spot on Basrah and lay waste on the insurgent team, but somebody is eventually gonna get in that suicide car and drive right to your position.

I have to disagree on this.

Staying put AND keeping huge distance from the enemy is more effective. The APC has a range advantage in zoom and the stability of the weapon. Ie an APC has less problems hitting an infantry man from 500m than an AT guy has hitting the APC.

Driving around is basically a side effect of the 2-man apc and the forced 30 seconds gun access delay. Because of this limitation, players need to have a driver. Now a driver would get bored if they would stya parked all the time. So a very advantageous camping away from the targets is in direct competition with the driver feeling bored.

Now what happens is that APCs drive around a lot. This mobility decreases the survivability A lot because the best thing that can happen for an AT guy uis an APC driving around city blocks because the driver needs to combat the boredom of staying put. On Muttrah Apcs driving around the streets are the most predictable thing. They move in very dangerous proximity to possible AT spots (roofs, windows).
If an APC however parks on the sandy area at the hills , and uses some hull down, it can aim down long roads, shutting them completely off from any infantry. Also it is almost not possible to hit with AT.

So keeping distance AND staying put is the best way to survive and kill many players. However this causes competetion by the driver feeling bored. Which is a problem caused by the necessity of 2 man apcs.

[daranz]

I have to disagree on this.

Staying put AND keeping huge distance from the enemy is more effective. The APC has a range advantage in zoom and the stability of the weapon. Ie an APC has less problems hitting an infantry man from 500m than an AT guy has hitting the APC.

Driving around is basically a side effect of the 2-man apc and the forced 30 seconds gun access delay. Because of this limitation, players need to have a driver. Now a driver would get bored if they would stya parked all the time. So a very advantageous camping away from the targets is in direct competition with the driver feeling bored.

Now what happens is that APCs drive around a lot. This mobility decreases the survivability A lot because the best thing that can happen for an AT guy uis an APC driving around city blocks because the driver needs to combat the boredom of staying put. On Muttrah Apcs driving around the streets are the most predictable thing. They move in very dangerous proximity to possible AT spots (roofs, windows).
If an APC however parks on the sandy area at the hills , and uses some hull down, it can aim down long roads, shutting them completely off from any infantry. Also it is almost not possible to hit with AT.

So keeping distance AND staying put is the best way to survive and kill many players. However this causes competetion by the driver feeling bored. Which is a problem caused by the necessity of 2 man apcs.

On Al Basrah, a lot of APCs just stay in one spot south of the VCP. This usually leads to the insurgent team relaying the APC's position down to the keypad grid, and then sending all manners of AT at it. They can often manage to send a suicide car the long way around to approach the APC from the back, or get some RPGs from the mosque to somewhere from where they can shoot the APC. If the APC relocates elsewhere after sitting around for some minutes, the suicide cars, the RPG gunners, etc., need to be updated on its location, and possibly need to get to different spots to be able to attack it effectively. The suicide cars are significantly less effective if they don't have a precise location of an armored vehicle, as they need to actively look for it instead of using terrain for cover as they sneak up on it.

[Scandicci]

Daranz, that is a great guide. It would be useful for me to see a similar guide that involves the use of an APC within a single squad, that is to say, a guide for a squad leader with an APC as an asset in the squad. I saw a good guide for Mech Inf involving multiple squads but realistically in public play I do not have the luxury of using TS to communicate with the squad leader of another squad. There is also a great video of a multiple squad Mech Inf unit on Al Basrah. However, again I never have the option of just getting on TS and getting realtime voice communication with another squad.

How would you run a squad with an APC?

I have run squads before with an APC and usually adhere to the notion that less-is-more. I stay low and stay away from the action, engaging the enemy on my terms. APCs are immediately at the top of the enemy's list for targets to neutralize when they know where you are and get at you.

As SL I make sure that both the driver and gunner have voip and speak the same language (once I translated for a gunner so that the driver knew where to put the APC, ridiculously inefficient.) I also demand an engineer be in my squad. A good tactic then is to sit back and use the powerful zoom on the SL binocs to spot and mark targets for the APC. One problem I encounter as SL in this scenario is that the engineer, the medic and the LAT kit get extremely bored. Next time I run a squad like this I thought it would be fun to swap out kits periodically among the squad members and let everyone have a go at gunning and or driving.

[Rudd]

the only thing that gets me about being in the same squad as an APC when every1 else is infantry, is that the driver and gunner create ALOT of voip traffic, making it hard to communicate or even hear thats why I like to work with APCs that aren't in my squad.

[Scandicci]

about the conversation between Daranz and Cat... with APCs I try to stay far away but ALSO mobile. If you are far from the action but stay in one spot, a good shot with a HAT will smoke you pretty easily.

Distance plus mobility = effective APC usage

[Scandicci]

the only thing that gets me about being in the same squad as an APC when every1 else is infantry, is that the driver and gunner create ALOT of voip traffic, making it hard to communicate or even hear thats why I like to work with APCs that aren't in my squad.

A four man APC squad with SL, engineer and two crewmen would be pretty effective. In this way the SL could use chat to communicate with infantry elements to coordinate activity and the crewmen are free to do their jobs more effectively.

...That is it... I am going online right now to play PR...

[Skodz]

I love mechanised infantry (Infantry supported by APC).

SL
Crewman
Crewman
Ingeneer
Medic
LMG/Rifleman/heavy AT, etc.

Very good in insurgency.

[cyberzomby]

Love it as well

[Scandicci]

Yesterday I ran a mixed APC Infantry squad on Seven Gates on the British side of the 10th Mountains Server.

The layout was

1. SL (Scandicci)
2. APC Gunner (Deathflesh)
3. APC Driver (Lord Alroar)
4. Engineer (Gabes)
5. Medic (PeteGlory)
6. Rifleman (Chunga)

I kept the APC back until we had targets and we were relatively sure that there were no serious threats to the APC. I put attack markers on the hostile troops moving to River Fort, the APC would roll up, engage the attack marker and then move back. This sort of use of the APC is extremely effective. Later we assualted and secured the outpost using the APC at a medium standoff distance that softened up the objective with high explosive rounds while we walked up to take the flag. We got to the top of the Outpost structure and there were just a bunch of dead Opfor. The guys in the squad have to be disciplined. The APC driver has to stay put and only engage when the SL and squad members have identified targets and are sure that the APC is not over-committing itself.

[GrimSoldier]

Very nice guide.

[wookimonsta]

well, i always find that there are certain things that keep me alive in an apc and give me a high success rate:
1. Be mobile, if you stand too still someone with an IED or something will manage to sneak up on you.
2. Keeping infantry around you can be a real live safer as they can pick off any sneaky buggers. They can also make it harder for enemies to flank you.
3. Keeping distance from enemies (especially against insurgents) is probably the most important, it makes it much harder to hit you with AT rockets and throwing IEDs at you means they have to walk a long way. Lets remember, you can shoot a good deal further and more accurate than most enemy infantry.
4. Use Cover. This is one of the most important ones, I don't know how often i see an APC standing in the open only to get slammed by an rpg 30 seconds in. If you see some low rocks or a sand bank, get behind it almost only your turret is poking out, and you will be ALOT harder to hit by AT rounds.
5. Dont drive infantry right into the middle of it. Even if you are a taxi, you are still a very valuable asset. You have a long respawn time and your team looses extra tickets for your death. If you think an area is dangerous to take the apc in, drop of the Infantry and use your cannon to give them support.
6. Lastly, dont take on enemy armored vehicles head on. I constantly see apcs rushing into head on engagements with other APCs, sometimes even MBTs. If you do encounter an enemy APC, feel free to fire, but try to engage them from the side or if possible the rear. This means the enemy will likely not have spotted you allowing you to put a lot of ammo in before he knows where you are. If you attack from the side the target will also present a larger shape. And of course the armor is strongest at the front.

[Solid Knight]

It's all circumstantial really and you're exact position has a lot to do with how vulnerable you are. Moving around can be just as dangerous as sitting still. I've taken out dozens of APCs on the move and mainly because they moved into my IED or into my field of fire.

Personally I like to just work an angle and shoot my way forward. So you hammer away at an angle for a bit then scoot forward a bit. You keep the pressure up the entire time giving the enemy minimal or no opportunity to make a concerted effort against you. They're too busy trying to not get killed to retaliate.

Your position relative to the terrain is paramount. You not only need to concern yourself with a good angle for attack but also a quick retreat to cover, reducing your profile, and angles of return fire. The last one is very important and is often never considered. I know lots of people who like to put themselves in a position that has a wide field of fire but also has an even wider field of return fire.

If you're squadleader then you should be the driver. Why? When you're stationary and your gunner is engaging targets you are free to scan for new threats. You place the marker on them as well as identifying what you've seen. Remember that the gunner has tunnel vision. He'll spend most of his time engaging the enemy in a particular area. While he is shooting, you should be looking around, checking your six, checking your flank, et cetera.

By the way, if you're on the .50 on a tank look somewhere other than where the driver and gunner are looking. You don't need three eyes forward--try looking rear sometime. This is important on maps like Qwai where the TOW HMMWV tends to approach from the rear.

[Cptkanito]

Nice guide

[wookimonsta]

Something i find annoying, on karbala (spelling?) especially, is that apcs never seldom seem to defend infantry.

I have had several occasions where the all three caches were placed in that little building complex in b3.
All around this is about 0 cover, and inside are a couple hundred places to shoot from. This is where apcs and humvees come in handy, but most of the time, i see infantry advancing with at most one humvee and they are usually killed off rather quickly.

Only one time, have i seen apcs and humvees and even supply trucks do their job properly here. Two apcs and three humvees had set up north of that position and kept up a VERY heavy suppressing fire from a distance that made it hard for rpgs to hit them and enemy to flank them. Behind them, someone had dropped a repair station meaning they could take alot of damage.

Their formation was that the two apcs were a little further back and on the flanks, and the humvees werea little further forward and in the middle.
While this was going on, i saw three infantry squads walking without needing cover about 150 meters up to the wall, go in, and eliminate the caches and get back out. They were taking 0 fire outside the complex simply due to the heavy suppression fire.

I guess that fits more into tales from the frontline, but iguess what im trying to say is, work as a team, and you will be much more useful than if you drive off and go chasing insurgents.

EDIT:
also, in insurgency, stay put, and do alot of shooting since the enemy has a much shorter effective anti tank range.
When you are fighting a standing army, keep on the move, since the enemy will be much more effective at destroying armor at a range.

[Mack Impact]

About the driver and gunner creating much noise on the squad voip...

I find that if you got the two crewman on a separate channel like most players have something, vent, teamspeak, skype or even msgr, it frees the squad voip for the SL and the rest of the infantry.. It is a great experience in leading a mech inf squad with this set up. Gunner is engaging all kinds of confirmed targets, the driver stays informed about the next objective, infantry can follow SLs orders and its still fairly quiet..next best thing to telepathy