All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned
by their respective trademark and copyright holders.
Copyright 2004 Rory Wilkins
---------------------------------
If you wish to use this guide on a website, shoot me an email,
captrory@email.com and I'll make a decision on a website by website
basis. As a rule of thumb, if you agree to keep it updated, and give
me credit for writing it, I won't have a problem so just ask.
I'm not planning any updates to this guide, that doesn't mean there
won't be any, I'm just not planning on any as of this writing. If you
have any questions, comments, or disagreements email me
captrory@email.com MAKE SURE YOUR EMAIL IS CLEARLY
MARKED! If I think it is spam mail it gets deleted. If it has an
attachment it gets deleted. It should look something like:
YourName/Engineer Guide: A New Use For Landmines.
-----------
Update September 6th, 2004
I discovered another expack dirty trick and corrected a typo that I
could have sworn I had corrected at least three times when writing
this.
----------
Here is an index of the guide. To skip to a section press Control+F
and type in the code in (parentheses) Using copy and paste is even
better.
1) Introduction (!ntro)
2) Landmines (l@ndmines)
3) Expacks (exp@cks)
4) European Theatre Rifles (e-r!fles)
5) Pacific Theatre Rifles (p-r!fles)
6) The Engineer Wrench (wr3nch)
7) Engineer Map Strategies (str@tegy)
---Pacific Theatre (p-the@tre)
---European Theatre (e-the@tre)
---African Theatre (a-the@tre)
8) Conclusion (conclus!on)
-----------------------------------------------
The Big Book of Engineer Dirty Tricks: Battlefield 1942 v1.01
!ntro
1) Introduction
If you are an engineer, and you are playing fair, you are not playing
the Engineer Kit correctly. Being an engineer is all about fighting
dirty. Now I don't claim to be the best engineer, but I have learned
how to exploit the strengths of the engineer kit to the irritation of my
opponents. I almost exclusively play as an engineer and as such have
little experience with the other kits. This guide is designed to improve
upon a players existing skill as an Engineer. It is not designed to be a
general guide and as such almost all information pertains exclusively
to the Engineer Kit.
l@ndmines
2) Landmines: Watch Your Step
There are several methods employed when placing landmines, I will
cover all of the ones I know of in this section.
A) Landmine Basics:
Landmines guarantee a one hit kill against vehicles. A Tiger at full
health will take several bazooka rounds to kill, but can be removed
with one landmine. Landmines are both active and passive weapons.
You carry four landmines at a time and can have nine placed at one
time. When you place your tenth the first will disappear.
-----------
Important: If you place nine landmines, and someone drives over
one, when you replace it the first landmine you placed will disappear.
This means that if you are maintaining a minefield in an active area
you will be replacing the entire field quite regularly.
----------
As an engineer, select your landmines as your active weapon (your
avatar will be holding a big green Frisbee looking contraption) and
use your active weapon (default left click) to throw one onto the
ground. Running, jumping, and moving backwards all change how far
your landmine will travel. With practice you can throw a landmine
quite a ways, though not near as far as a grenade. Keep this in mind
when fighting an active tank by yourself. If it's moving you may
still have time to destroy it with a landmine if you have practiced
milking your landmines for distance. In the situation described
above, a landmine is preferable to two expacks because you only
need one mine and there is no need to detonate it. When fighting
armor as infantry there is no guarantee you will be alive to detonate
your expacks.
You can spread mines very thin and still have an effective barrier
against vehicles. If you look at the width of a jeep, you can place
mines a bit further apart then that and still stop jeeps. If you're
interested in only stopping tanks and similar then use the width of a
tank as your base. Basically, use the smallest vehicle you want to
destroy to set the distance between mines.
If you want blanket protection over a larger area, you can spread
mines up to twice the width of the smallest vehicle and still provide
an effective screen so long as the mines are hidden. On El Alamein
the one flag in the middle of the desert has a sudden drop facing the
Allied Base. An Axis engineer can make use of this to hide his
landmines out of sight over the lip of the dune. Axis engineers have
the benefit of knowing that the Allied forces will be coming primarily
from the main base in a more or less direct line. With this
knowledge the Axis can effectively screen off the base from Allied
ground vehicles.
If a team mate has placed mines, you will get a graphic warning
(a warning icon will appear) to inform you you're near it/them.
Enemy mines give NO indicator. Beware of sneaky engineers hiding
their landmines in your friendly minefield.
---------------
Important: Landmines Do Not Work On Infantry
--------------
B) Helter Skelter:
The dropping of landmines more or less randomly is almost wholly
ineffective. You may get a lucky kill but odds are not. You are better
off carrying them for later use then dropping them any old place
"just in case" an enemy unit happens by.
Exception: If the enemy is coming at you, and you know you're going
to die, you can do worse then to drop landmines and hope they run
over one. Even then though try and survive long enough to form a
row of landmines that are more difficult to avoid. Like this: O--O--O--O
C) Blockade
Using landmines to block passage through an area is very effective
if you are cognizant of its limitations.
1) If you die so do your mines (After a time).
2) If the enemy has an engineer they can be removed.
3) They do not stop a tank etc. from firing into the area you've
blocked off.
4) If coverage is minimal (only one row of mines) they can sacrifice
a jeep to clear out the mines and bring in the tanks.
Knowing these to be true, mines can be used to stall or force the
enemy to assault with infantry with minimal support from armor.
Example: Guadalcanal: The Village Flag There are two entrances a
vehicle can drive through. When mined they can still shoot into the
base but they can't drive into it. This allows your team to swarm the
enemy tank or prepare a defense against infantry, or simply slow
down the capture of the base.
______________________
Important Note: Whenever possible try and set up the blockade so
the enemy is stopped where they can not shoot into the area you are
protecting. Example: The Southwest Flag in Berlin can be mined
several ways but only one offers almost complete protection from
tank fire. Actually there is a way to get full protection but your own
armor would be setting off your mines when leaving the base so you
must settle for almost complete or replacing mines every time a
tank respawns.
_____________________
When blocking access across bridges I like to use a diamond pattern
for my mines. On the other hand you can leave a side of the bridge
open so they hit a hidden mine further along the bridge. Either way
works. Here's an example of the diamond pattern:
O
O O
O
It's longer then it is wide but then so are bridges. It keeps vehicles
from rolling down the middle and the sides.
D) The Stick and Carrot
If you place several diversionary mines, say on a road, that are easy
to spot, this forces the enemy to stop or go in a direction of your
choosing. Example: Mining three quarters of a road and hiding one or
more mines behind a low hill where they can't be seen. Good places
to hide landmines include but are not limited to: Plants, barbed wire,
behind hills and in dips in the road, and near sandbags. Also, laying
your landmines directly on top of the enemy landmines will give them
the friendly landmine warning sign so they'll drive over both your
mine and their teammate's mine. And trust me, they will drive over
their engineer's mines. They always do. Am I angry at having to
constantly repair my minefields? No. Not me. Bah.
E) Bait and Boom
Sabotage vehicles by mining them. Placing landmines on the tops of
tanks and APCs, under the wheels of planes, and in landing craft
will slow the enemy, earn you kills, and get you cursed out. If friendly
fire is off your team can safely use the vehicles even though they will
still set off the mines. To mine jeeps you can place the mine on the
hood, in the seat, or under the wheels.
F) Mining on the Run
Throw landmines under the wheels or on the hood of tanks that are
moving for a cheap kill (and probably a suicide.) A tank or mobile
artillery firing it's main gun will detonate a mine if it's place on the
vehicle. APCs and jeeps are best killed in this fashion by going for
their wheels (treads). You can also destroy planes taking off by
throwing mines in front of them. Though you don't have much time
before they lift off the ground.
G) Targeted Randomness
This differs from "B" because here, although you're not certain the
enemy will hit them, you do know they'll be passing by that way.
Example: On Wake Island, there are small plants all over the place.
If you know the enemy will be coming down a certain road you can
mine the roadsides and rack up some kills. I know for one that I go
off road a lot on Wake Island and I'd never see a mine hidden in the
brush.
exp@cks
3) Expacks: How to Earn the Undying Hatred of the Enemy
Note, though mentioned, some of these not even I will do.
Expacks are almost assuredly the cheapest and most effective
weapon in Battlefield 1942. In the following paragraphs I will detail
how to use them effectively. Don't forget however if you are killed, or
an engineer removes them they won't detonate.
A) Expack Basics
Select your expacks as your active weapon (your avatar will be
holding a bundle of TNT) and activate your active weapon (left click
by default). This will throw the bundle onto the ground in front of you.
Jumping, running, and moving backwards will alter how far they
travel. To detonate, bring up the plunger by right clicking or using all
the expacks you had in your inventory. When the plunger is active
left click again to detonate your expacks. They last for several
minutes before self-detonating. To switch back from plunger to
expacks right click again. You carry four expacks at a time and can
have nine placed at any one time. When you place the tenth the
first expack you placed will disappear.
Expacks work on all vehicles except ships and can be used to destroy
defguns and flak cannons as well. It takes two expacks to remove
a defgun or flak cannon at 100% health. One expack will kill a jeep
and two will destroy tanks. It does matter where you set them.
Expacking the underside of a tank in the back does more damage
then the front hood.
Example: Panzer (Tank)
63% damage in the front.
74% damage in the back.
The damage is substantial in both cases but you do more damage
by attacking the back.
Example: Corsair (Fighter)
4 1/2 bubbles of damage under the tail
10 bubbles of damage under the propeller.
B) Setting Traps for Fun and Profit
All maps and modes have an objective of some sort.
In Conquest expacking a flag with a small radius is a cheap way to
get kills. Take full advantage of it. When the flag goes white detonate.
In Capture the Flag expacking your teams flag is a good way to halt
the other team's capture attempt. (Note! I will never expack my own
flag in CTF! It is cheap and far from foolproof. Some servers will
vote kick you for doing it. However expacking your enemies flag is
dastardly and evil muahahaha!)
Expacking a spawn spot (like in Operation Battleaxe) is a good way to
capture a location. Spawn camping with expacks is cheap and evil
and something else I'll never do. If you see me expack you at a spawn
point it means I'm capturing it and not spawn camping.
Placing expacks at a entrance to a base works as well. You can score
kills by blowing up enemies as they walk blindly past your
explosives. Placing them at healing cabinets works great too. If the
enemy is hurt while assaulting a position he will most likely hide
near the kit to heal before continuing his attack.
In Stalingrad there are buildings with flags on the top floor. An
engineer can go prone in the flag room, expack it, and blow up
anyone entering the flag radius. A good place to hide the expack is
in the corner near the door between the window with the ladder and
the doorway. It's actually propped up in the corner.
C) Booby Trapping Vehicles
Don't do this with expacks. When expacks disappear they explode
damaging everything around them. If a teammate is near a vehicle
and it is destroyed by one of your explosions, there's a good chance
you'll earn yourself a teamkill. It's unavoidable in the heat of battle
sometimes, but this is one situation where you can avoid it
completely.
On the other hand you can put expacks in a jeep (jeeps that act like
a bowl are best such as the Axis model). Then drive the jeep to the
enemy. Jump out and detonate to surprise everyone with a large
explosion. Useful against tanks, infantry, and darn near everything
else.
-------------------------------------------
Important Note: Drive carefully or the expacks will fall out!
-------------------------------------------
See if you can locate other vehicles you can expack. Look for APCs
with big openings like the Japanese model. The allied truck has a
machine gun on top, you can place expacks in the hole there if you
drive very carefully.
D) In Close Quarters Combat
As a last ditch effort you can drop an expack at your feet and try to
detonate it. If anyone complains mention how infantry drop grenades
at their feet to win. Note it takes several seconds to equip, drop,
and detonate an expack which leaves you vulnerable.
When assaulting an enemy flag, running through crowds of enemy
soldiers and dropping expacks is effective. If you drop enough
expacks and manage to detonate, you can clear the way for other
attackers even if you are gunned down in the attempt.
E) When using expacks against Vehicles and Manned Stationary
Targets (Defguns, Flak Cannons, etc.) be aware they make a clinking
sound. If the enemy hears that and recognizes it (as I do) they will
realize they're going to be expacked and will turn to attack you!
It takes two expacks to destroy AA guns and defguns and more then
eight to destroy the radar stations in Battle of Britain.
F) Fun With Defguns
A Defgun can be destroyed with one expack if it is placed inside the
door to the bunker or on top of the defgun. If placed on top of the
defgun it will be invisible to someone using the defgun. They would
need to get out and look on top of the emplacement to see the
expack. Also if they hear the telltale clinking noise and they exit
to investigate they probably won't notice you on top of their defgun.
e-r!fles
4) The Engineer's Rifles
The Engineer's rifle comes in two flavors. Old World Single Shot and
Pacific Spicy Flavor. I will be covering these separately.
A) Bolt Action Basics
The single shot rifles used in the European and African Theatres
all have the same characteristics. Four clips of five rounds a clip
equates to you carrying twenty rounds of ammunition. The rifle is
bolt action meaning you fire, wait, then fire again.
B) Accuracy Never Goes Down
As said above the rifle is slow to fire. You need to make your shots
count. If you don't kill him with the first bullet pull your sidearm, or
jump, dodge, and weave (or take cover) until you can fire again. Since
the accuracy never changes it is just as accurate while you are
moving as when you are standing still or kneeling or prone. If you can
aim accurately while jumping around like a monkey the engineer rifle
is made for you. If you become proficient with the engineer rifle, you
will be able to do serious damage with what is considered a "poor
weapon." It is slow, but it is accurate and very powerful. If your
opponent is already low on health, you don't even need to score a
headshot. Hitting him in the torso should be sufficient.
B) Be an Engineer Sniper
As a rule of thumb, if you can see your opponent you can kill him. At
long range the engineer rifle is still accurate enough to kill if you are
willing to expend some ammunition. At anything closer then long
range you can out-sniper scouts with actual sniper rifles and can
easily pick off enemy infantry. A great example of this is Operation
Battleaxe, where close set bunkers are ranged just right for
engineer sniping. Depending on the range, aim for the head, neck, or
torso. The bullet will hit anywhere within the crosshairs, so at closer
ranges a headshot is something to shoot for, at longer ranger aiming
for the neck will hit the head or upper body, and at long range placing
several rounds into your targets body will be just as effective,
especially if they are wounded. (That's why it's always a good idea to
be at full health all the time. Even if a sniper misses your head and
hits your body or limbs he can still score a kill if you're almost dead!)
C) The Engineer Rifle Hurts Planes and Jeeps
If memory serves, shooting a German fighter with a full clip of
ammunition in the nose drops it's health TO approx 62% (feel free to
test me on that.) At one point I took a potshot at an enemy fighter
with my rifle and actually scored a kill. So it never hurts to try.
p-r!fles
5) The Engineer Rifle: Pacific Theatre Edition Basic Training
This model is gas powered meaning you can empty the whole clip
without stopping. The accuracy is lowered when moving and after
firing. The American model can not be reloaded until the clip is
emptied. The Japanese model can be reloaded at any time. The
American Rifle comes with three clips with eight rounds a clip. The
Japanese model has two clips of ten rounds each.
A) This Rifle Kicks Butt
This model is all around better then the models in the European
Theatre. It is more accurate and fires more rapidly. You can really
snipe and I mean if the enemy is a tiny black spot in the distance,
if you have been practicing, you can get kills. People have accused
me of cheating because I've gotten so good at sniping with this rifle.
After you fire, it is best to let the recoil subside and the crosshairs
come back together before firing again. You can use this rifle to
assault enemy positions it packs so much firepower. When sniping
keep shooting even if you miss, if you're American you can't reload
until you empty the clip anyway.
B) When sniping with this rifle, aim for the head, or whatever looks
like the head when the enemy is a black dot way in the distance.
Just keep shooting. If you empty a whole clip reload and keep trying.
If your target is moving wait for him to stop. Always keep an eye out
for enemy soldiers manning machine gun positions. Even novice
engineer snipers can pick them off without any difficulty. There's a
reason the coaxial machine gunner's seat on tanks is called the
Suicide Seat.
C) CHARGE!
When attacking an enemy position with this rifle, take advantage of
your ability to shoot rapidly. Wait only long enough between shots
to let the crosshairs come back together (you need not even wait
for them to come all the way back together, just close enough to be
accurate.) If you have to, stop-shoot-move stop-shoot-move, the rifle
is a lot more accurate when standing still so stop moving when you
fire if you need to.
wr3nch
6) Throwing a Wrench Into the Works
The engineers wrench can be used to repair any vehicle or gadget.
From jeeps to tanks to battleships. Defguns and flak cannons. Even
the radar stations and factory in Battle of Britain.
A) "I Need a Grease Monkey!"
As an engineer you can see the health of a vehicle an ally is currently
using. If someone requests a repair a wrench icon will appear on the
mini-map. To repair something, stand or lay prone, equip the wrench
and use it until the wrench is drained or the object is at 100% or
whatever percentage you choose. Sometimes you'll need to repair
two or more objects at once and need to split your healing power so
that neither is at 100% nor damaged enough to be destroyed the
next time they take damage. When repairing a vehicle in combat, put
the vehicle between you and whatever is shooting at it. The tank has
armor, you do not.
B) Eliminate the Competition
To remove an engineer's expacks and mines, crouch near the item in
question, equip your wrench, and use it. If you have space for that
item it will go into your stockpile. (If you have 3 mines, and remove
one you will now have 4)
If you spy expacks at a flag, you have 10 seconds to remove all
expacks before the flag turns white. As stated earlier, a flag turning
white is an engineers signal to detonate.
In CTF if the expacks are at the flag pole your best bet is to have
someone steal the flag, let him die, then have another person grab
the flag off his corpse before the engineer puts more expacks out. If
when disarming the expacks you accidentally steal the flag, you are
out of luck.
str@tegy
7) Engineer Strategies for Every Map.
The following section details things an engineer can do to be useful
on every map. Some like Coral Sea are straightforward while others
are more ambiguous. This only covers Basic Battlefield 1942. This
does not cover expansions or modifications.
--------
p-the@tre
Pacific Theatre
-------
A) Wake Island
Engineers on Wake Island are very useful. When the armor starts
rolling in you'll realize how few people play anti-tank on this map.
Thus the job of stopping the enemy armor falls to the engineers.
1 Most flags are surrounded by bunkers. This sets up a perfect
barricade that allows us to block enemy access with landmines.
---------
The American Flag in CTF is in a base that is especially suited to a
mine defense. Three mines in the middle at the main opening
between the sand bags. One mine on the right by the drop to the
beach. And four mines on the left side of the left grouping of
sandbags. Eight mines completely seal off the base to enemy tanks
and jeeps. Beware of enemy pilots parachuting out of a plane and
into the tank that spawns there. You may choose to use your ninth
mine to booby trap the tank.
---------
2 Japanese engineers coming over on landing craft can use their
expacks to destroy shore defenses. You may not want to destroy
flak guns though. Defguns are almost completely useless against
the Americans because they are locked into one firing arc, but the
flak cannons can be used to shoot down American planes until you
capture the Airfield.
3 Wake Island roads don't follow a straight path making it common
to cut corners and go off road. Mining the roadsides, especially if
using "Landmine Tactic: D The Stick and Carrot" outlined above, can
be very effective.
B) The Battle of Midway
Engineers can play an important role both on the island and at sea.
1 Anchors Away! You've just set sail on a battleship, and you come
under enemy fire! Are you gonna go hide under your bunk like a sissy
medic? Heck no, you stand up on deck in the line of fire and repair
like a man possessed.
---------
Imagine a battle between ships like a scale.
Every engineer on your ship repairing it adds one marble to your side
of the scale. All things being equal, the ship with the most engineers
wins the battle.
---------
2 As an engineer, you can gain access to the enemy carrier and
cause all sorts of havoc. Mining the runway, expacking planes,
and Frisbee-ing mines into landing craft before they launch are all
nasty things an engineer can do to an enemy aircraft carrier.
3 On the island, engineers can mine the bridge connecting the two
parts of the island. They can stall the enemy airforce by mining
the hangar. And with the Pacific Theatre rifles you'll have enough
offensive power to capture points and kill enemy soldiers without
backup.
C) Iwo Jima
Winning this map is all about air superiority! The Japanese need to
control the Airfield and the Northernmost flag. The North flag has
a pair of flak cannons, and the airfield spawns planes and has a
plethora of flak guns.
1) The Northernmost flag is easier to defend then any other base.
As an engineer, the best way to defend it is to mine the entrance,
move the tank next to a flak cannon, use the flak gun to destroy
planes and the tank to destroy infantry, and use your wrench to keep
both in full health. BEWARE of enemy pilots parachuting into the
tank. I successfully defended the northernmost point solo for most
of a round using that strategy. The one time the Americans captured
it I spawned in and assaulted the position quickly enough I managed
to retake it alone.
2) The Airbase is very difficult to defend. It can be attacked from
all sides. It is impossible to mine effectively without an entire
corps of engineers. Your efforts are best focused on the
Northernmost flag.
3) The American strategy isn't much different from the Japanese
once they capture the points. Remember to use your wrench to
keep the American fleet afloat. And when attacking the Northern
flag you can snipe UP the hill at the people shooting Down the hill.
D) Coral Sea
Coral Sea is a air battle between the aircraft flown off of carriers.
If your carrier is sunk you lose, sinking the enemy carrier nets a win.
Once in awhile a team will win on points if both sides have an army
of engineers keeping their carrier afloat.
1 Repair, repair, repair! If the ship sinks you're sunk. Everyone should
be an engineer.
2 If you're a pilot engineer, use your wrench then take
off in a plane. Parachuting onto the enemy carrier allow you to
mine the runway and do nasty things with expacks. Neither mines
nor expacks hurt carriers but denying your opponent flight, even
if just for half a minute is a great benefit to your team.
3 Since expacks don't hurt carriers, use your expacks on your own
ship to setup explosive ambushes for boarders. Good places are at
the cargo nets to kills enemies climbing up, near ammo boxes to
kill grenade spamming enemies, and near the flak gun you're
manning since you won't always have time to hop out and aim all you
need to do is hop out and use the plunger.
E) Guadalcanal
Engineer sniping at it's best!
1 Be all you can be in the engineer corps of snipers.
Copious amounts of hills near spawn points allow you the ability to
pick off enemy infantry at a good range. Just zoom in and aim for the
head. Keep shooting as it's easy to resupply on this map.
2 There's a flag by the water with a guard tower, one engineer can
block road access along the water with 7 mines, leaving two as
extra or as a stopgap measure at the third entrance at the giant
hill.
3 There's another flag that resembles a village (and may very well be
called The Village) one engineer can block the two entrances with
mines and hide until infantry come into the base. At which point
you can try and eliminate them.
4 In CTF at the American Base, mining the openings to the airfield
prevents the enemy from swiping a flag and driving to a plane. The
seconds added to their escape attempt can be the difference
between a recovered flag and the enemy scoring a point.
F) Invasion of the Phillipines
This map isn't exactly engineer friendly. Armor plays a limited role.
It's mainly an air and sea map as far as vehicles are concerned.
1 Don't exit a Patrol Boat while it's still moving to repair it. You'll
just get thrown out of the back of it.
2 Repair the big capital ship. If it's sunk you won't have a spawn spot
until it respawns. Anything that delays your attack costs you ticket
bleed and helps the other team prepare a more solid defense. If you
have one or more spawn points the ship is expendable, use it as
mobile artillery.
3 Mine the bridges linking the two halves of the airfield island. It
will keep enemy jeeps from driving into your half. By the same token
remove enemy mines so your jeeps can attack the enemy half.
-----------
e-the@tre
European Theatre
-----------
A) Berlin
This city map can be confusing for an engineer (and everyone else.)
There are many paths through the city for infantry which limits
expack ambush potential, however the tanks and APC can take
limited routes creating opportunities for havoc.
1 If working solo pick a location and defend it. A good choice is the
bottom left hand flag. Four mines behind the tank that spawns there
(start at the corner of the building by the alley and mine to the
water) and three to four on the "main" entrance will close it off to
physical entry by vehicles and prevent most shooting into the base.
2 If working as a coordinated unit, you can set up an ambush. Place
landmines in such a way as to herd armor to a specific point,
preferably one with good cover, and have a few anti-tank kits ready
to blow the heck out of whatever happens along. There are no Tigers
so defeating the armor on this map will be no trouble for a pair of
anti-armor with the element of surprise. On a narrow road, with
the jump on a tank commander, two bazookas can rip through a
tank like it's made of aluminum foil.
3 As Allied there's a back way out of the base. When the round starts
an Axis player will always take up position at the end of the alley
in the upper windows of a building (the building at the end of the
street.) If he gets there before you, you can pick him off with little
trouble if he holds still. If you get there before him, setup an expack
ambush in the alley, when he/they go to enter blow them to
smithereens. If you try and enter the building before killing him
you'll probably be shot in the back, or grenaded, or something
equally not nice. Just wait patiently, he'll be there shortly.
4 Tanks don't last long on this map, use your wrench to make yours
last longer. This is especially important as allied because your tanks
make breaking out a lot easier.
B) Stalingrad
This is an interesting map. As an engineer, you'll need everything
you know about the kit, and have to invent some new things to be
successful here.
1) Increase your rifle effectiveness with sniping.
This map lends itself to engineer sniping, so long as you don't do it
for too long at one time. A good plan would be to defend an upstairs
flag (more on that below) and when things quiet down snipe at enemy
infantry through a window. This is a bad map to stand still on, so use
your rifle to soften up an enemy base for your team to capture or
just to generally annoy the enemy into doing something stupid. Just
don't spend the whole round sniping, it's more of a target of
opportunity thing for engineers. The middle flag at the railroad tracks
is a great flag to snipe at.
2) There are two upstairs flags. Each are accessible by a window
ladder and the front door and up the stairs. You can hold one of
these flags single handedly with a cheap expack trick. Between the
window with the ladder and the door is a corner. Prop an expack up
in this corner and it will be hard to see (or invisible) to anyone
assaulting the position. When you see the enemy, detonate. When
doing this beware of grenades. They can be chucked in any of the
windows or through the door and catch you unaware. While
defending these flags, you may find time to take potshots at the
enemy outside. Go for it, but beware of counter-sniping, and since
you're looking out a window, the enemy may sneak in behind you.
3 Landmines are hard to use on this map. The importance of armor
on Stalingrad ranges from imperative to zilch depending on
circumstances. Infantry can move freely but vehicles are very
limited. Just try and choke off access to a key area and hope your
infantry can deal with the enemy infantry. A good place for mines is
the middle flag, armor passes it regularly. Cut off easy access by
mining across the rail lines so the enemy has to go around the base
entirely.
C) Kharkov
This map is all about air superiority!
1 TAKE THE MIDDLE FLAG! TAKE IT! TAKE IT! TAKE IT!
No matter whether you're playing Conquest or Capture the Flag (CTF)
the middle flag is THE MOST IMPORTANT FLAG! The flak cannons
grant Air Superiority. This is a small map. Flak fired from there can
reach a long way. In the beginning take the jeep and preferably
another player. Drive to the middle flag, bypass the first flag. You
hop out at the entrance and place your first four mines, he runs up
to capture the flag. If you use five mines on the entrance place
three more in a triangle shape in front of the ramp. Example:
o-o-o-o-o
o o
o
The idea being they'll expect mines on the ramp (which you'll provide)
so they won't expect them extending out off of the ramp in front
of the base.
Enemy pilots will pick your forces apart if you do not hold this base
and make use of the flak guns. In capture the flag, without this base,
enemy pilots can parachute into your base, steal your flag, then take
off from your airfield and you'll have no way to retaliate if you can't
get a plane in the air to give chase.
As an engineer, you can not do better then to defend this flag. In
Conquest it is an important base to hold as it is defendable and
grants air superiority. Keep the entrance mined and use those flak
guns. In Capture the Flag it is even more important. Mine the
entrance, use the lower flak cannon nearest to your home base to
shoot at planes and you can get out and snipe enemy infantry on foot.
You may think it unlikely that enemy infantry will travel on foot but if
you shoot their plane out from under them they'll have no choice.
One round I killed the flag carrier, from that base, at least six times.
Mostly with my rifle after destroying his plane or jeep or tank with the
flak gun. Remember to also use your wrench to keep your team's
equipment repaired. There is no repair pad there so your Wespes
and rocket trucks will take damage as will flak guns as enemy planes
retaliate.
D) Karkov
This is an irritating map for engineers. Wide open spaces make mines
inefficient.
1 There are two capturable bases. Both of them have a very small
flag radius. Saturate the base with expacks and wait for the flag to
turn white, then detonate. Use mines to keep tanks from rolling up
and attacking, with any luck several infantry will attack at once
netting you a very successful ambush. The flag on the right side of
the map spawns a Tiger tank. Beware of enemy infantry stealing it.
It's a good idea to booby trap it if friendly fire is off.
2 Sniping is effective on this map. There are plenty of rocks and trees
for cover, just beware of counter-sniping as it works both ways.
E) Battle of the Bulge
This is a good map for an engineer as a defender.
1 Allied engineers should spawn in, not at the windmill, but to the
base to the right of it. It's across the bridge. Spawn in and race to the
bridge. You need to get there before the German tanks. Mine it and
hide. Expacks work well in addition to mines. You can hold off the
German advance by keeping that bridge mined. If you're hurt there is
a medical cabinet in a bunker high up on the hill behind the base,
it's at the edge of the map before going out of bounds.
2 Axis engineers need to support their armor attacking the base
mentioned in "1." Disarm the mines and expacks on the bridge so
your tanks can roll through.
3 With a clear view, this map is great for sniping. You can cover a
bridge and pick off anyone trying to remove your landmines.
4 The main allied base way in the back is mineable. You'll need
another engineer to help though. The back entrance can be mined
with five mines, the northeast entrance two, a small gap near the
front entrance with one. You'll need another engineer to completely
mine the main front entrance.
F) Operation Market Garden
There are two locations that need mining and one that benefits
heavily from it.
1 The two bridges leading to the axis base need mining. The big main
bridge is often mined. Just make sure the sides of the bridge are
mined as well, I've driven jeeps down the sides and only once were
they mined. The second bridge is easy to mine using the diamond
pattern mentioned earlier in this guide. "Mining Technique C
Blockade"
2 The place I defend (and you'll need another engineer's help) is the
first base off of the bridge. If you're Axis and coming off of the
bridge, it's the base on your left. Two mines on the ramp, one in the
narrow passage with the giant hill thing, three at the entrance
looking out at the guardhouse (it's white) and two behind the
buildings starting at the stone pillar jutting out. That leaves four
mines for the big opening in back that leads to a narrow path under
the bridge and four mines at the entrance with the anti-tank
obstacles. When mining the ramp, keep in mind the path tanks
will have to take around obstacles to find where to place them
exactly. The area I said can be mined in three, you need to use the
corners of the buildings to good effect to make the three stretch
across the entrance.
G) Omaha Beach
This is an interesting map for engineers. Be aware that what's
working now may not be ten seconds from now, as both sides try and
adapt to what the other side is doing.
1 In general, you *can* engineer snipe here but the terrain makes
seeing scouts hard and for some reason both teams are usually
saturated by scouts who'll pick you off without much trouble.
2 Allied Engineers have several roles. Keep the ship repaired, keep
the tank repaired, and remove obstacles like landmines and expacks.
3 Axis engineers, keep your defguns repaired, keep mines and
expacks active on the ramps, and keep your tigers repaired. A good
place to defend is at the uppermost base. There's only one approach
and it is filled with obstacles. Mine it to death, and what the heck,
expack it too. In a building overlooking this entrance, is a machine
gun emplacement. Using that to remove infantry trying to get by is
not a bad idea. Just be aware that you're a sitting duck while using it.
Best bet is to watch from a window and be ready to hop in and fire.
Your engineer rifle will work to pick off the enemy as well. Alternate
so the enemy won't know where you're at.
H) Bocage
This is a fun engineer map. Lots of not nice things to do here.
1 Engineer sniping at its best. You can see a long way on Bocage,
and with so many rolling hills sniping frequently happens at
mid-range. A good place for sniping is near the lumber mill. The base
itself allows you to shoot into the flag near the Axis Main Base. And
the windmill is right there. Climbing to the top of the windmill allows a
great view of the flag closest to the Allied Main Base. Also, you can
fire out of several small windows in the windmill to good effect.
2 As Allied, the lumber mill is a great defensive position. Mine from
the corner of the building across to the water (well to the dropoff
down the hill that leads to the water.) If you beat the Axis there mine
immediately. Your first four will keep you within flag radius as will
resupplying at the ammo box. By then you'll have captured the flag
and you can finish placing mines. Frequently Tigers thinking they'd
have an easy capture are stopped at the mines. It's an opportunity
to sneak out one of the other exits, get to the Tiger, and blow it to
scrap with expacks. You may want to wait til it's engaged by your
team mates before doing this. Remember, if you die so do your
mines.
3 As Allied, if you capture the flag closest to the Axis base, you can
mine the main exit of the Axis Main Base. Hide the mines behind
hills and in dips in the road for maximum effect.
4 Both teams can defend their side of the river by mining the small
narrow bridges that lead across.
5 Axis engineers, take advantage of the windmill to snipe into the
Allied half of the map.
6 Axis engineers, keep those Tigers running. They are very potent
weapons if used well. Keep an eye out for landmines and don't be
afraid of dying to remove a minefield.
7 In CTF, Axis engineers can really help there team by holding the
flag closest to their base. It has a flak cannon to shoot down enemy
planes, and it's accessible to armor only by that bridge. If infantry
are spawning right outside your base, you're going to have a hard
time holding onto your flag.
I) The Battle of Britain
Engineers will make or break this map for the Allied team.
1 Allied Engineers! Man and repair the radar stations. And keep the
factory repaired as well.
2 Axis engineers, expack and destroy the radar stations. Swipe a
truck or APC and use it to resupply right at the radar stations. If
you have several engineers with you, using the truck, you can almost
win the map single handedly.
J) Liberation of Caen
This map requires critical thinking skills to make good use of the
engineer's equipment.
1 Mine the bridge to keep the Allies out.
2 You can mine interior roads at the back bases to slow down Allied
attack.
3 Expacking the flags is efective, but be careful of expacking flags
with lots of vehicles. Even if friendly fire is off, if you trash a neutral
or unfriendly vehicle with a team mate next to it you can score a
team kill.
4 There are these funny bike-like halftrack things. Since helmets
count as part of the head model, you can get headshots on people
riding in them. Aim carefully!
A) Tobruk
This map is a nightmare for the Allied team.
1 Enough landmines will choke the Axis. If you can organize four
or five engineers, you can choke the Axis offensive. The line is HUGE
but using sandbags you should be able to close off enough map to
really slow down the Axis assault. But getting that many engineers
together and coordinated would require you all be in the equivalent
of a clan.
2 As an Allied engineer, try and close off the path around the base to
the rear flag. I've seen (and taken) jeeps, tanks, and APCs through
this hidden route to capture the rear flag without much difficulty.
One guy even tried it in a wespe.
3 If you can badly damage the Tiger, the driver will hop out. This is
your chance to steal the Tiger and repair it. You'll need to be quick
though as your team will be shooting at it as will the Axis. I was
playing Tobruk one time, I did this and they accused me of going to
their base and stealing it. I replied "I didn't steal it, it was left parked
at our base." Ok so it's only funny if you were there, and were me.
4 Engineers from both teams should keep their tanks running. It is
important to keep your tanks intact if you want to sustain an
offensive.
5 Axis engineers, I haven't found anything for you to do here that
isn't allready outlined in the guide above. If anyone knows of
anything let me know.
B) Battleaxe
This is a great map for engineers. The sniping alone makes it worth
taking the engineer kit.
1 The distance between bunkers is such that sniping is a worthwhile
endeavor.
2 Landmines can be used to block off more easily accessible tank
routes forcing them to detour through areas with obstacles thus
slowing the enemy's attack.
3 In capture the flag, mining the upper lip of your base's hill is just
as important as mining the entrance ramp. Tanks can drive right
up the steep cliff face.
C) Gazala
There are so many paths through Gazala it makes landmines
difficult to use effectively.
1 In one area of the map, are three capturable bases all in a line.
The base on the right is accessible by a bridge and a road. Mine the
main entrance and the areas to the sides of the sandbags. Tanks
can drive across the cliff face and around the mines if you only mine
the middle. Don't forget to mine the bridge too.
2 The middle flag can be blocked off by mines, but it's easy to attack
with infantry. The best way to hold it is to control all three bases.
3 The flag on the left is accessible from the mountainous area (the
back road leads there) and from the direction of the two other flags.
Be sure to mine both. If a tank parks on the repair pad, you can
sneak into the garage building and landmine it. If you choose to use
expacks use all four, even if it catches on fire the repair pad will heal
it, so make sure it's a complete and utter destruction.
4 You can mine the entrances to your enemy's main base to rack up
some kills. Some people will think your mines belong to their
engineers and some simply won't see them. Either way works.
D) El Alamein
This map, with it's wide open spaces, makes landmines harder to use
just anywhere. You really need to pick your location well.
1 Axis Engineers the middle flag in the desert is a great location to
defend. You know the Allies will be coming from there base, so mine
the upper lip of the hill the base is situated on. Spread your mines
thin and you're still guaranteed kills. Hop into a tank and harry the
Allies as they approach so they hit your mines.
2 Allied engineers do something ultra not nice. Grab a buddy or
three, take a truck, and mine the access roads from the German
main base. Use the truck/APC to resupply. Two engineers and two
anti-tank should be able to cause some real havoc.
3 The southern base is extremely mineable. Place one mine visibly
and eight hidden behind the hills and in the barbed wire. You'll rack
up jeep kills. Tanks, being slower and having guns, will pose more of a
problem. Just try and get them to hit a mine. You are most vulnerable
while re-mining the area. Use the flak cannon to fend off air attack
and harry enemy vehicles.
4 The Northern base has more entrances then one of those circular
mousetraps you see in the Tom and Jerry cartoons. Even when mined
this area is hard to defend. For the effort you put in defending that
flag you could more easily defend either of the other two.
E) Operation Aberdeen
This is decidedly an engineer unfriendly map. Armor is prevalent
making sniping difficult. Wide open spaces and bases make
landmines less useful.
1 Keep tanks repaired. In fact, one engineer and one anti-tank in
each tank will help sustain an offensive.
2 Mines are useful almost exclusively in defending the main bases.
The access roads can be mined.
3 In The Village, the flag radius is miniscule. Drop an expack there
and you're guaranteed a kill. Watch for grenades thrown from
street level. Tank and artillery shells are less of a concern when at
the flag if you remain prone.
4 The Village area is one of the areas where sniping is effective.
With the flag uncapturable by tank your rifle can make a difference.
Especially if you're covering the flag radius from another building
while your team assaults it.
conclus!on
8) The Conclusion
The Engineer Kit is one of the most difficult kits to play correctly.
Knowing what tool to use, and how to employ it in any given situation
is difficult, yet only the tip of the iceburg. To be a "Master Engineer"
means being able to use every tool in the engineer's bag of tricks.
Mining, Expacking, Sniping, Close Quarters Combat, Ordinance
Removal, all of these things comprise the role of...
The Engineer.
Copyright 2004 Rory Wilkins
All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned
by their respective trademark and copyright holders.
