War of the Pen - A Battlefield 2 Strategy Guide

APC Combat Strategies

2005-08-18T10:16:00.000-07:00

Versus Tanks

Offensively, APCs are much more dangerous to tanks than I had previously thought. As shown in the Tank Damage Table, a missile hit to the front/rear tread will knock off 10 bars of health. An APC can fire 25 rounds from its cannon before it overheats and every 2 hits to these locations knocks off 1 bar of health. As such, you could knock off approximately 22.5 bars of health in your opening attack. Tanks only have 20 bars of health. Tank goes boom!

Attacking a tank from the front successfully is difficult but can be done consistently with practice. If you can get a missile hit on the tank's front tread before the tank scores a hit, you will win the fight. All that is left to do is concentrate cannon fire on the front tread and the tank will go down quickly. You will most likely get hit once by the tank during this encounter taking half your health but he won't have nearly enough time to get off that second killer shot... just don't panic and make your shots count. Since you know you will win this fight you should be able to maintain your composure better than the oblivious tank driver.

Obviously a key here is to ensure you always have full health when engaging a tank.... if not then only fight noticeably weakened tanks or tanks driven by obvious newbs.

Defensively, if you are cruising around an urban map and suddenly take a blind hit that takes your health down by 9 or more bars, get the hell out of that APC and run. You cannot win as the next hit WILL destroy you and you really don't have time to figure out where the shot came from. As the damage chart shows, your opponent doesn't have to hit a certain spot... any hit he scores will take another 9 points of health... 2 hits and your APC is now a ticking time bomb at best.

Versus APCs

When confronting another APC, it is critical to get your shots off first and to hit. If you get your missile shot in first and can accurately spray cannon fire on your opponent you will win this engagement regardless of what he does. Keep in mind that hit location is not a real factor here. If you miss your first missile shot and he hits you then start thinking about how you are going to exit the vehicle safely because you only have seconds left.

Distance Encounters with Enemy Armor

The above scenarios have implied close quarters combat but what if you see an enemy tank or APC off in the distance? It really depends on who your opponent is. Hitting a distant APC with a tank shell seems to be pretty easy in this game. As such, if your enemy is a tank and the driver is of average ability you probably will lose this fight simply because hitting the front/rear tread of the tank at long distances is very difficult for you and the tank only needs to hit your APC twice (hit location is not a factor for the tank).

Personally, I prefer to engage tanks at distance only when I have the element of surprise. If I can get a rear missile hit on the tank before he notices me, I know I got a good chance of winning the encounter. Often I'll simply reposition my APC closer to ensure I get a good first missile strike. The reload time for missiles are unforgiving. If the tank driver appears to be a newb then I will usually take a risk and try to get him to miss his first couple of shots as I lay into him.

Versus Aircraft / Attack Choppers

The best tactic is to avoid confrontations. Keep your APC close to buildings and other structures that make it difficult for aircraft/attack choppers to get a line on you. It only takes 3-4 pilot fired missiles to take your APC down or only 20 hits from the chopper cannon so don't be brave and fire your cannon aimlessly at a chopper thus attracting its attention.

If you are spotted then keep positioning your APC to make it difficult for the chopper to make a pass (buildings, trees, structures, etc. are you friend). At the same time, fire quick 5 shot bursts from your cannon. Don't fire too quickly or you'll overheat. It takes around 33 cannon hits to take down a chopper. If you can fend off your attacker long enough, he'll be forced to retreat for repairs. When that happens reposition your vehicle quickly as the chopper will surely be back looking for you.

If the chopper pilot is inexperienced you might actually be able to get a missile hit on him. If you do, concentrate continuous cannon fire on him and he'll most likely go down.

Additional Tips for Avoiding Certain Death

Don't rush into the middle of a battle! Take your time and be patient. You should be fighting from the perimeter of the skirmish offering support to your main battle group. Your cannon is extremely effective at suppressing the enemy and you will rack up the frags. If you begin to feel like you are surrounded by the enemy, back track quickly and get the enemy back in front of you.

You do not want to take a hit from a Tow missile. You WILL die and it doesn't matter where you are hit. Be mindful of where the Tow Installations are and be sure to approach very cautiously. Whether occupied by the enemy or not, destroy them ASAP before moving forward.

Along with keeping the enemy in front of you, every 30 seconds or so change your camera view to an external view. You will stand a good chance of seeing sneaky Spec Ops soldiers trying to plant C4 on your ride. Switch camera views back and kill them before the C4 is planted. If the C4 has already been planted then get out immediately and sprint towards the Spec Ops soldier. Once he sees you, stop the sprint and shoot him. He shouldn't have enough time to switch to his gun and most likely will just trigger the C4 while you pump him full of lead. If you get him quickly enough you will save your ride but don't count on it.

Tank & APC Damage Guide

2005-08-17T08:50:00.000-07:00

Lets get right to the numbers. Each Tank and APC starts out with 20 bars of health. When vehicle health is reduced below 3, it basically turns into a ticking time bomb unless a mechanic is quick with the wrench. When health goes to 0 it is destroyed. Each vehicle has its own damage mapping such that a hit to the front of the vehicle will not necessarily carry the same amount of damage as a hit to the rear of the vehicle.

Below are tables detailing out how much damage is done when certain areas are hit on tanks and APCs. The numbers represent how many bars of health a hit will take away unless otherwise noted. For APC cannon fire, the measure is how many bullets must hit before 1 bar of health is taken away (Bullets Per Bar).

The biggest take away from the numbers is the huge weakness tanks have. Most players are under the impression that firing on the front of a tank will do minimal damage and generally that is true but if you hit the right spot with the right weapon you can do maximum damage. As such, an anti-tank soldier can destroy a tank in just 2 well placed shots. This isn't that difficult in heavily urban maps and is much safer than trying to run up to a moving tank to drop a couple of C4 on it without getting noticed.

Speaking of C4, the damage is the same regardless of where the C4 is placed on the vehicle. You get no additional damage against a tank for putting the C4 on the bottom of the tank chassis. So don't get fancy with location... just get it on the vehicle somewhere and it will do a damage of 14 period.

C4 will do a damage of 10 if it is blown approximately 1 tank width away (e.g. C4 placed on road where tank passes). Placing two packs on the side of the road proves very effective. Putting them in the middle of the road as you would mines is not a good tactic. They stand a better chance of getting spotted.

Inaugural Post

2005-07-05T10:36:00.000-07:00

Your APC slowly marches down a dusty road... enemy combat, medic & support soldiers cower behind burnt out cars and hollowed out buildings. You laugh as you get frag after frag after frag... eventually asking yourself "why don't they respawn as Anti-Tank soldiers!?!... oh well.. more frags for me!" Just then, in the distance, you begin to see the outline of a vehicle approaching... it's a tank! You hurry to get off a missle shot and begin to spray bullets into its armor all the time knowing that if the tank still has all its health you are inevitably dead (unless the driver is a total newb of course). An APC is just no match for a tank with full health... or is it?

This question is what I wanted to see answered in the Battlefield 2 strategy guide published by Prima Games. While the guide provided many colorful pictures, basic map strategies and some usefull gaming tips it didn't get into the fundamental questions such as "if I'm in an APC can I defeat a tank straight up or should I always run?" I will answer this question as well as many others in this blog. Welcome to the inaugural post of War of the Pen - A Battlefield 2 Strategy Guide.