Introduction
Ok, Atacama Desert is a map with a fairly large array of strategies that could be adapted to suite the clan’s strengths. Despite it being predominately an armor map, infantry only tactics can yield very good results as well. Armor is easy to take out with the right approach, and even less effective if you have a good chopper pilot.
Equipment
Each spawn point is blessed with a chopper and 2 pieces of armor. Once the flag closest to you is captured, another piece of armor will spawn there. The UAV is situated at “B”. The UAV operator is a bit exposed to snipers.
Amongst the light vehicles, each team gets a quad bike and either a Humvee or a Cobra. The map is quite wide in terms of driving which makes the quad bike a very good wide area flanking vehicle. Fixed guns are located at the two main bases as well as the middle flag.
Kits
Recon is under estimated kit on this map, especially the ninja type snipers that can engage in short to medium range combat. Not only does the indestructible terrain at the broken ship (flag B) allow for several hiding spots, the ability to use motion sensors and artillery should be considered a valuable asset against infantry as well as armor.
Assault is very effective especially with the destructible terrain at A and C. An assault guy, armed with a tracer dart could also provide very valuable support to the recon person at “B”. Darting the tanks is sometimes all that is needed for the rest of the engineers, from all over the map to take it out. Another option for the assault team is to spawn with C4 and booby trap our own tanks. More on this later.
Medic, medic is a difficult kit to play on this map and depending on the strategy followed could be very ineffective as well. Should you opt for a armor kind of strategy, the medic can’t do anything with a driver if he is destroyed in the tank. If the driver did manage to jump out, then that means, within 40 seconds a piece of armor will spawn back in the base without a driver. The same goes for the chopper pilots. However, should one opt for an infantry based strategy, then medics becomes much more vital to the success of the team.
Engineer is the first choice kit for most players on this map, however, having an engineer in a tank removes him from obtaining a lock on darted armor. The armor in BC2 is much more efficient as a defensive asset than an attack piece. It is suggested that both the chopper pilots select engineer as their preferred kit since that will allow them to repair the chopper in remote locations without having to remove somebody else from the battle.
Air dominance
If the clan have good chopper pilots, and gunners, that can really dominate the skies then one approach is to steal their chopper as soon as possible and then have both choppers. You could have one chopper (preferably ours) just raping them in their base while the other one ensures the rest of the team have air support to take out enemy armor. However, this is a very high risk tactic and will fail more often than not.
It always remains an option to steal the enemy’s toys and the chopper should be no exception. Even if your squad doesn’t put the equipment to use, you could always just go and park it in the distance thereby removing the ability for the enemy to kill you with it. Should one find that the enemy has a very good chopper pilot, and ours gets owned in the game, then it is an option to steal their chopper and just park it at our base.
Armor
Armor is overrated on this map because everybody is aware of their presence, most teams will have a number of engineers on the ground. All that is need is a single dart, and then several engineers, from all over the map, will launch RPG’s at you. A well oiled team will launch the RPG’s simultaneously thereby increasing the likelyhood of not only destroying the tank, but getting the kill as well. Most gunners will sit in the tank waiting for that first strike before getting out repairing. We know that RPG’s are very effective against armor and as such we should have in our team at least a couple of RPG carriers.
By allowing mortar strikes back into the game, especially with the explosive perk, furthermore reduces the effectiveness of armor. Just being hit by half an arty strike is sometimes enough to damage the Armor to such an extent that one more shot from an RPG will take it out.
The above negates the effective use of armor as an assault vehicle. Using the armor more as defensive as such should therefore yield better results, subject to the effectiveness of their chopper pilot. A good tank driver, swapping between main gunner and secondary gunner is a good match for several infantry any time of the day.
Strategy 1: The infantry
Kit selection: 4 engineers, 1 recon, 1 assault, 2 medics
With the increase of the tracer dart speed, the chopper can be tagged without too much an issue. Once the chopper is tagged, very little can be done to prevent it from coming down. Likewise, the effectiveness of armor is questioned against 4 engineers and two medics keeping them alive.
The recon assumes a ninja position at any point on the map and just act as a safe haven for lost souls to spawn on when the flag is endangered. The recon guy can also launch mortar strikes at OTHER flags before the main team moves in to take it. Lastly, the recon guy need to rely information about what is happening at his / her flag and then a call could be made by the squad leader as to whether to engage in the fight or just give up the flag, wait for the enemy to move out, and then just let one or two guys spawn to recapture the flag. This will keep the enemy frustrated by them having to commit resources to the specific flag.
The assault guy, once he provided enough ammo to the recon guy to keep him in business for a fair amount of time, should move out to either replenish the engineer’s ammo, or he should make a move to an enemy flag, and act as spawn point.
This tactic allows for us to either play a rolling kind of tactic, moving from one flag to the next, as well as it provides the opportunity to just dig in at a flag and defend it.
Oh, before I forget, the assault guy should poison our tanks with C4, thereby should the enemy steal it, they will be very vulnerable to attack.
Assume the following scenario. Recon guy act as recon / spawn point near our “A” flag. Engineers (and medics) engaging in fighting at “B”. Assault sneak past everybody to flag “C” without necessarily capping it. As the engineers / medics die they can start spawning on either the recon guy (if flag “A” is in danger) or at flag “C” thereby forcing the enemy to move away from “B” defending “C”. Which leaves use with a nice arty strike from the recon guy on “B”, and allowing the assault guy to again sneak past to “B” and the cycle restarts itself.
To start with this strategy, you have the recon and assault guy making a run to the closest flag, capture it, tag the enemy helicopter, and start digging in. The rest of the squad could take the quad / Humvee to “B” or to the longest flag and just start spawning there.
Strategy 2: Armor
Armor as an offensive weapon is only effective if you could get it in the enemy base and you could start raping them from within. Having armor at “B” is dangerous given all the heavy mounted guns, the effectiveness of RPG with a Tracer, recon hiding with C4, and who knows what else. Armor should only be used as long range engagers and or defenders. A well placed tank will be a match for several infantry before it can be destroyed.
All the above therefore actually limits the viability of driving armor on this map, saying that, it will be foolish not to make use of their shooting powers especially the mounted machine gun to take out the enemy helicopter. Armor on this map is a potential death trap and should only be used by well trained and people with a lot of patience.
Strategy 3: Helicopters
Another tactic that is a good tactic to use is to use the chopper as a transport vehicle. Drop a couple of guys off in their base and allow them to cause some havoc. Unfortunately, this assumes a GREAT pilot given how easy it is to take down choppers.
Ok, and now it is getting late, and my code has finished running, so I need to stop typing. But in summary, I would say, we should perhaps try Strategy 1 in a practice session tonight or tomorrow. Anybody else have comments on what I’ve typed?
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