Thread: First Play

It all depends on the map... anything that might resemble an airfield is a hot ticket, also if it looks like it could be the enemy main base (capturable ones, not the uncaps). If you run into an enemy capture area and see an empty armored vehicle, it's probably a good place to have. Or if it's a main throughfare/choke point (Gas Station on Highway Tampa is a good example) it's a good idea to take it.

Above all else though, listen to your SL, especially if he/she's a reg.. they'll know the strategic ones to take.

When defending a flag it is absolutely essential to be close to the flag. If an enemy squad rolls in on the flag, they will cap it in a few seconds, and then you are shit out of luck if it is an important flag, as the rest of their team will quickly spawn in there, and suddenly you are fighting 15 guys with a spawnpoint. Always be ready to run from the arty, a good defence is frustrating, and arty will rain from the heavens as often as it is available to the enemy commander. Use an egg timer like Lump, or put your ear to the ground.

Being able to see the flag is not enough, you have to be close enough to toss nades, and put yourself on the flag in 5 seconds flat.

Some flags, like airfield on Wake have a huge flag zone, so you have to be within the flag zone at all times, to avoid someone sneaking in and capping it while you have your back turned. Remember to pay attention to the flag indicator on your screen tho...

Another thing about defence is that your objective is not to kill every enemy on the map, it is simply to keep the flag. So don't get drawn away from the flag by chasing enemies. Someone will come in behind you and steal your flag. They can't cap the flag from behind that hill, so let 'em live until they pose a threat to the flag.

Originally Posted by Pineapple!

Right on.

Now, I'm assuming it's possible that there's a base with two airfields. so that'd mean twice the air vehicles, twice the bombs, twice the carnage, twice as nice, correct?

Now are there spots on maps you can capture to make the commander's UAV, Supply Drop, or Vehicle Drop replenish faster?

Last question for the night: When you're told to defend a station....I know in CSS, it's a pretty good idea to keep the bomb in your sight after you've planted it. Do I need to be able to see the flag pretty much all times while defending?

Wolverine quite succinctly answered your defense question.

As to the UAV and such question, I'll give you an example from SF lastnight. We were on a map (I don't recall the name cuz I'm newer to SF and haven't learnt them all), one of the night boards; we were the british and the insurgent "main base" was capturable. So elk led us into the charge and we capped it. From that moment on, my job as the spec ops was to keep the enemy assets down with my trusty C4. This was made easier by the fact that we held that cap and I could continue to spawn there and re-destroy any asset that was repaired. I held their assets down the entire round because we continuously held that capture point. Had I had to make long road marches or vehicle drives, I could not have as effectively held the assets down, especially if a team's worth of defenders could spawn in to defend them at any time.

It's not always that way, as on some maps the main base is an uncap, but when it is, defending it helps keep your assets up. That's as close to "enhancing" the assets as it gets in BF2. The replenish times are always the same otherwise.

There are maps with multiple airfields, such as Operation Cleansweep and others... otherwise I'm not sure what you mean.