My artillery sense is tingling

[Jon]

I did a brief search and this didn’t turn up so let me know if it has already been posted.

After playing way too much BF2 I’ve begun to notice that there are certain situations in which an artillery strike is virtually inevitable. With increasing regularity I’ve found myself accurately predicting strikes moments before they happen. What surprises me is that, more often than not, fellow team members seem to either fail to recognize such situations or perhaps fail to trust their intuition. These are just a few hints as to when you might want to start thinking about getting under cover.

1. Trust your intuition. If you think you’re at risk of a strike, move. Might seem simple but I’ve found that trusting the sense of unease which preludes an artillery strike to be the best way of avoiding them.

2. Avoid large groups of friendlies. More than 2 stationary, manned friendly vehicles in one place? More than 3 stationary infantry? Don’t stand too close.

3. Stay alert after a flag capture/defense. Just valiantly fought off the enemy? Don’t rest on your laurels for too long. Pride comes before fall. Chances are that the enemy will want to thin your side out before the they try again. Get under cover.

4. Avoid the post flag capture/defense huddle. After a flag has been successfully taken/defended there is a tendency for medics and supply to start piling med and ammo packs around the flag. This has the effect of drawing everyone together in a tight huddle, perfect for an artillery strike. Ammo and med packs are better spread around the larger flag area, not concentrated in one place.

5. Listen. If you hear the enemy artillery firing assess your situation. Are you capturing a flag with no enemies in sight? Are you lying on a rooftop far from the conflict? That artillery might just be for you.

6. Watch for suspicious enemy movements. Why is that enemy tank sitting back? Why is that enemy squad running away from your flag? Why has a high conflict zone suddenly turned quiet? Perhaps they know something you don’t.

7. Watch for Trojan supply drops. Friendly supply drops come with notification: “Supplies at your position”. If there are no enemies around and a box floats down out of the air without warning don’t trust it. Chances are that a rain of explosives will follow.

That’s all for now. Hope the tips help. If you can think of any other artillery strike indicators please post them!

[SaladFork]

Very useful. Most of this goes without saying, but I've never actually thought about second-guessing the drop of artillery.

My only question is as to why an enemy commander would use the supply drop if he's planning on dropping artillery after it. I mean, the artillery will destroy the supply drop, making the drop completely useless.

EDIT: Hm.. I guess he could be trying to use the supply drop to draw a crowd of enemies around it?

~Salad

[Kronos]

Very useful. Most of this goes without saying, but I've never actually thought about second-guessing the drop of artillery.

My only question is as to why an enemy commander would use the supply drop if he's planning on dropping artillery after it. I mean, the artillery will destroy the supply drop, making the drop completely useless.

EDIT: Hm.. I guess he could be trying to use the supply drop to draw a crowd of enemies around it?

~Salad

Actually thats not a half bad idea, especially if they just captured a spawn, it could keep them there for a moment until the artillery arrives *under the assumption they need reload/repair/health after taking the objective*...quite clever...will have to try that if the supplies aren't needed elsewhere...

[Ogrt48]

Haha, I drop supplies for the enemies all the time right before I drop my arty on their poor souls. It always works great. :laugh:

[Dr. Bullet]

I never thought about using the supplies to draw enemies. That's so hilarious

Great tips. Also, if you listen closely, you can hear the arty above you. What I've noticed is it sounds like distant falling arty, and you can only hear it in the vicinity that it's dropping. Try it out, and see how it works for you...maybe I'm just really paranoid and it turns out to be true :P

[MrChris_CJ]

hehe i would like to say sorry to any commanders who have i have been under in games where i go into a red zone...i will only do this if im in a tank cos usually ill be safe and if there are baddies around then ill stay...sorry for those - points for team vehicle damage :cry:

[C11.Nemisis]

sometimes you can hear the arty coming down

[Kronos]

Out of curiousity...there have been times where I have heard the commander yell out 'Artillery in your area...' and do it repeatidly...how did they do that ?

[Handy388]

6. Watch for suspicious enemy movements. Why is that enemy tank sitting back? Why is that enemy squad running away from your flag? Why has a high conflict zone suddenly turned quiet? Perhaps they know something you don’t.

on Dalian, I was C4ing US artillery on an island, those guns fired, and I didn't care too much, but then artillery dropped on my head, soon I realized that it was a battle of life and death, whether i can blow them up in time.


7. Watch for Trojan supply drops. Friendly supply drops come with notification: “Supplies at your position”. If there are no enemies around and a box floats down out of the air without warning don’t trust it. Chances are that a rain of explosives will follow.

I do that a lot, people really group up around those drops.

[Dr. Bullet]

Out of curiousity...there have been times where I have heard the commander yell out 'Artillery in your area...' and do it repeatidly...how did they do that ?

It's automatic, just like the "Supplies in your area" voice over and text.

[baggygreen]

Its always handy to listen when someone says arty inbound or something like that, esp if they're not the commander of your team. chances are, they heard the enemy's artillery going off and are trying to warn you.

If you hear a warning call and you're either in a group or near a flag, run like all buggery! it'll stop the yellow artillery kills scrolling up the screen like nothing else (14 from 1 strike last night!!!!!)

[Yezo]

6. Watch for suspicious enemy movements. Why is that enemy tank sitting back? Why is that enemy squad running away from your flag? Why has a high conflict zone suddenly turned quiet? Perhaps they know something you don’t.

Just like to point out thats not always true... I go onto some of these servers where the idiots walk right into the artillery for no apparent reason. Happens all the time when I'm commander.

[baggygreen]

Just like to point out thats not always true... I go onto some of these servers where the idiots walk right into the artillery for no apparent reason. Happens all the time when I'm commander.

Thats true, it isnt always true. But if you're playing against a team that is well organised, and you will always know this, they will hold back from a clear flag, they will move out and stop firing before artillery hits, etc.

On a side note, I'm so much happier these days, there is more and more good teamwork and good commanders going round, it makes it so much more enjoyable!

[pt.TreffnX.fps]

Out of curiousity...there have been times where I have heard the commander yell out 'Artillery in your area...' and do it repeatidly...how did they do that ?

in your commander screen you got the option to send extra voice messages to your squads by right-clicking on the squads number.

"My Grandmother could do better" :laugh:

[Papigiulio]

great tips, I'm always more carefull when I hear the sound of artillery, especially if i don't see my commanders artillery sign on the map. Then im hiding :)