Acknowledgements
Credit to Lee for measuring quad bike speeds (which I have unashamedly reused), while Gravity figured sneaky routes out. Also credit to Lee for creating a picture diagram for the road that is traveled.
Introduction
Laguna Alta, is a very nice map with both teams able to bottleneck the other side in their base with the right tactic. Several people hate this map on the public servers, due to the fact that it is very difficult once bottlenecked to get out of the trap.
The Russian base is the one in the North, while the US starts in the South of the map.
Flag Analysis
Flag “A”:
Flag “A” is the closest to the Russian Base. Using a quad the Russians will get to “A” 4 seconds before the US do. The Russian APC will get to the flag in 15 seconds (timer started when jumping into the APC) while the American APC will take 18 seconds, i.e. a 3 second difference. The Russians will get to “A” flag considerably quicker than the Americans; however, the Russians approach is very exposed, unlike that of the Americans.
You can destroy the building at A by taking out the supports between the first floor and the roof.
Flag “B”:
This is the flag located in the top right corner of the map. The Russians get to the “B-flag” 18 seconds before the US does. The APC takes 19 seconds to move from “A” to “B”. Taking the APC to “B” from the US base to this flag just takes too long and is also too exposed. There are several nice hiding spots for ninjas to hide around this flag and of all the places, motion sensors is the most valuable around here. Depending on the strategy adopted, it may be an option to have a ninja stationary around here.
Flag “C”:
This is the flag located in the bottom right corner of the map and secured by an indestructible construction building. The US can get to the flag 4 seconds before the Russians which doesn’t allow a lot of time for securing the position before the enemy arrives. The APC will take 15 seconds from “B” to reach “C”, while the APC will take 18 seconds to go from “C” to “A”. Getting the APC from the American base to “C” is not a worthwhile exercise.
The flag is very approachable from the West side since there are ample hills / ridges there. This will definitely be an approach for infantry. There is a very nice, secret hiding spot below that is extremely well covered behind the west staircase which for a squad leader could make a nice spawn point.
Securing this flag will require a massive attack force, and some very smart play. Keeping this flag will require us all to setup a very strong security perimeter with a combination of various kits. If an enemy dig themselves in here, it is very difficult to win this flag, and will require the need for the APC to provide some support to the infantry.
If we are to attack this flag, then there are two ways. We can sneak a ninja into a spawning point close to the back of the flag, and get a couple of guys to spawn on him, or we go a full medic squad move in from the West side of the building. Both will work, but the later one of the greatest chance of success.
When holding this flag, you will be granted with the ability to utilize the UAV. In several games now, the UAV was our downfall and definitely an asset that we don’t use enough. The ideal position for the UAV is to go around to the back of “B” while the infantry attack from the front.
Assets
The quad bikes:
There are 2 quad bikes spawning in each base.
Russians will get to “A” 4 seconds before the US do.
Russians get to the “B-flag” 18 seconds before the US does
US can get to “C” 4 seconds before the Russians
The APC
I did some testing on shooting power with the different perks one can select. I pulled each of the APC's roughly 20 meters apart from each other. Shot one shot with the one APC straight to the front of the other one, ran to the other one, monitor the damage, return the fire, run to the first APC monitor the damage and so forth until one is blown up. Both APC's have 6 shots before they need to reload. Unless otherwise stated, the shots are based with the primary weapon applicable to the driver.
Column "USA" refers to the damage made to the American APC from the Russian APC. Kindly note, that in the entire test the American APC is vastly superior to the Russian APC. This is a critical point to note since it means that the US, though inferior in position, has the superior upper hand with a stronger APC.
Using the V-Armour perk that supposedly provide additional armour to the APCs.
US RU
96 95
91 89
86 83
81 77
76 72
72 66
67 60
62 54
57 49
52 43
48 37
43 31
38 26
33 20
28 14
24 8
19 3
14 Destroyed
.
.
V-Warheads
The Warheads perk provide additional strength to the warheads. Let's see how effective they are.
USA RUS
94 93
88 86
82 79
76 72
70 64
64 57
58 50
52 43
46 36
40 28
34 21
28 14
22 7
. Destroyed
.
.
V-Alternative Weapon
This perk provides an additional gun to the driver, in the case of the APC this is a guided missile that is extremely efficient. Note that you still have the 6 standard shots you can fire with left click, but now have an additional right click weapon as well. (if you shoot at maximum speed, you'll shoot 6 left clicks for every right click. A suggestion, your first shot into an enemy APC must be the missile (right clock), then shoot your primary weapon till it is empty (i.e. 6) all ensuring they hit, then while reloading click the right button and nearly finish the APC off. This should allow your primary to reload in time to maintain continuous shooting. Making sure you hit that APC with the first shot is critical since that will throw the enemy APC off balance and will actually move it, thereby ensuring you have a bit of lee-way before the enemy will be able to hit you.
USA RUS:
96 95 (Left click)
91 89 (Left click)
57 49 (right click)
24 8 (right click)
Destroyed Destroyed
Basically, that right click weapon is dangerous! Without it, you need 17 left clicks on the Russian tank. With it enabled, you can drop the tank within just a couple of clicks. The APC drivers need to have the v-Alt-Weapon perk.
Ok, a lesser known fact is that the APC can carry 4 people, and that the 4 people’s perks are cumulative if selected carefully. I.e. if the main gunner uses v-Alt-Armor, and the driver have v-Alt-Weapon then the APC is not only stronger, it also have the secondary weapon. Ideally, in a perfect world, you would have a v-Alt-Weapon for the driver, a v-Alt-Warheads for the main gunner, v-Alt-Armor for the window gunner, and v-Alt-Proximity sensor for the 4th guy.
UAV
I am getting tired to get nailed by the enemy UAV and not be able to use it to the same effectiveness in our game. Can I ask that somebody please put up their hand and start specializing with the UAV please. If nobody else puts up their hand, then I would like to recommend Leelo to be the Dangler UAV specialist.
Role Assignment:
3 squads again, Alpha squad will be 3 infantry guys, bravo will be 3 infantry guys, and Charlie squad will have an APC driver and a spanner monkey.
Murgs and Leelo should be the two dedicated quad bike drivers for this game. Please ensure that you know the quickest routes from one point to the next.
When enemy armor is available for the taking, then it will be j0nny (and only j0nny) that will go and steal the armor. If a Ninja is needed, then it is j0nny’s job.
If the enemy armor becomes a problem, then it is the job of Charlie squad firstly, and then Bravo squad to remove the threat. The two SL at the time will call which squad is closest and need engineers.
Spawn Timers
The UAV takes 120 seconds to spawn after it crashed, and if memory serves me correct, 60 seconds for the APC to spawn again.
The below ticket bleed need to be measured again after the latest patch:
Enemy hold 0 flags: Friendly hold all flags: Ticket bleed = 1 every x-seconds
Enemy hold 1 flag: friendly hold 2 flags: Ticket bleed = 1 every x-seconds
Strategy 1: Go for broke
Opening move
Alpha squad takes a buggy to “C” flag. Once the buggy arrives, then the whole squad spawns on the driver. Alpha squad, remember that you will have enemy to content with at the flag when you get there so it may be an option to come in as an all medic squad initially. Just until the flag is capped.
Bravo squad, takes the other buggy to “B” flag. Please ensure that Alpha squad has the right of passage when you two start driving since he has a longer route to travel and is going for a more important flag. Bravo squad will be responsible for the “B” flag, and need to cap it as soon as possible.
Charlie squad, takes the APC, the driver have alt-fire enabled, while the main gunner have either quick reload, or armor, or hard warheads enabled. Charlie’s squad sole objective is to fight over “A” flag, even if we don’t cap the flag, to kill enemy, and keep drawing resources away from Alpha and Bravo squad.
After the opening move:
At least one of the three squads will be successful with the opening move and cap their respective flag. At least one squad will fail miserably in the opening stages. It will all depend on which strategy the enemy employs and how they allocated their resources. As a guide line, each squad member should spawn 2 times trying to cap a specific flag, which means each squad will be allocated roughly 8 tickets in the opening move which is an acceptable loss. If your squad used up their allocated chances to get the flag (SL need to be aware of this), then instead of spawning back trying to take your flag, spawn on the flag that was capped and help defend that flag because the guys that killed you off at your flag is about to come for that flag next. When you spawned on another squad’s flag, WAIT for orders from your SL or the commander on what to do next, and while you wait, help defend THAT flag. Should we be successful with 2 flags, then the losing SQUAD (there will be one) SL’ need to find out where his squad is needed and get his squad members to spawn (and defend) that flag.
It is up to each individual SL to find out exactly how they want to setup the perimeter for their respective flags, and they need to make sure that the Squad Members know exactly where and how that is. If you are the successful Squad in securing your flag, then first ensure that you’ve secured your flag to the maximum, asking the new squad to assist where needed. Only when the flag is fully secured, should the losing squad be moving to their flag again.
[/TD]
