Internal game Sunday 4th December

[J_Th4ng]

Taking what j0nno said a little further, what other kit specialisations do we have? It seems to me that was have a lot of people sinking time into assault and engy, but not so much on support. I played support last night on Metro, because (quite rightly) my SL needed an ammo dispenser), and so I took the role.

It was only about halfway through the first round that I accepted that I was really awful with an LMG in a clannie. LMG's are awesome with their suppressive abilities, but they do require a player to be well versed in the class, and also benefit a lot from careful placement in the right places on the map - particularly in choke points where the opposition has little time to lock on to their position. I do believe this to be a pretty specialised role in area denial.

Is anyone focusing their attention of fulfilling this role. As it ended up yesterday, I switched from the LMG to a PDW-R, and played in a far more 'Assaulty' manner that more suits my style of play. This did however mean that we lost the benefit of having a good LMGer in the squad.

[Hubris]

We did run short of ammo a bit and I think the nade spam cause could benefit from more boxes. Maybe we should have used more rockets too and those need boxes as well. I have been trying to get some experience with an LMG to fill that role at least temporarily. You can fit PDWs and shottys with the Support kit, but it forces that player to be pretty much dedicated to clearing the CQB meat grinder. This makes sense when you want to protect your Medics and free up your Engineers to attack tanks and buildings. Personally I prefer shotguns for CQB, but each unto their own play style.

All the heavy MGs deal big times damage with big times recoil. I have generally steered clear of these guns, but there might be some use for them in a clan match (the G3a3 Assault Rifle uses the same round and therefore deals the same dmg with similar recoil, but at a slower rate). I reckon it's illogical to carry a heavy MG without a bipod and without the mind to set up in an area and suppress from distance (+-50m) where a 3.4x and greater zoom is best. The M240B deals the most damage per second of all guns, if you can get it to point in the same direction each shot, it can be devastating even to snipers. Up close I'm not so comfortable.

You trade maneuverability absolutely for increased firepower. If you are too close to the enemy or are in the same location for too long, you are susceptible to good aiming, explosives and flanking - which WILL get you eventually if you're not well supported by Assault players no matter whether you have a bipod/foregrip, how clever you aim or how bad ass you click your mouse. On the front foot it takes a hell of a lot of skill, luck and bullets. Given the fluidity and precision of clan matches, I just can't bring myself to try it. I think in the absence of fixed .50 cal weapons in building etc. they make good substitutes for Rush games.

The light LMGs (M27 IAR and RPK) offer some maneuverability with decent damage and recoil. You do have to make do with smaller clips though. The M249 is something of a hybrid and is very potent. With these you really do need to fit a foregrip and play a more supportive role to Engineers and other guys handling corners at close range. While you have a weaker "set up and lay waste" ability for channels, you are still effective and able to put suppression on the front line. By blazing an edge for a second or two, you can force the enemy onto the backfoot to rush them while you still have ammo (preferably with squadies) or wait scoped for them to come to you.

The reality is in clannies you should not be able to raise your MG fast enough from sprint to deal with any other class nozzle to nozzle (except maybe Recon). On the flip side, you are generally very hard to fire back at and are able to deal with two or three players at once. I chose to play a lot slower (sprint much less), with a red dot sight and a laser to help me with hip firing (no point scoping up when rushed). So far I am in love with the M27 IAR; it's a great piece of kit for taking down over-zealous enemies who fall into your defensive trap.

As far as equipment goes, I can only see use for the C4 pack and claymores for clannies. Let's be honest, mortar kills are a bonus while having a smoke in a rush game you're completely winning or losing. To use effectively you need open spaces, a dedicated Recon player with an MAV and a very solid defence. I would still like to place C4 on a choke point and pull back to lure a full squad to their doom. I think dropping C4 off the edge at the back escalators on Metro could be quite effective too. Clays are good for protecting rooms or routes to your flank (max 2 down at any time and gone with your death) I think.

We need a definitive call on CQB domination in terms of the M26-MASS, Shotty+Frag Rounds and the PDW weapons. Also we need to practice regrouping when we lose our primary objective and smoking our way back in. I don't think anyone has figured this out yet and it could give us a big edge over teams if we can master it, especially at match start and when a flag behind. Lets assume the frag rounds are not banned (try list a top 5) and give the smoke a go tomorrow night. Squad frag allows more tube ammo, so it should provide double smoke too.

[s3xy_j0nny]

M26-MASS > just about everything in close quarters. Only rival I've found is the USAS with expl rounds. M26 reloads at fast semi auto rate and when used with certain rifles it fits as an underslung attachment which means time taken to switch between rifle and shottie is about .5sec, thus making it a squad killer.