Before I begin, I won't say that I'm a master sniper. I'm not, my overall k:d as a sniper is only 1.09 on this account. That, however, is also because I usually only play BF2 with friends, and I never get the peace and quiet to just sit tight in a spot somewhere instead of running around all hell with them.
Today after my friend logged off, I got a chance to actually sit tight, relax with a beer, and snipe. These are my thoughts. I ended up with fourteen kills one round even while people were hunting me without dying since the beginning of the round. I was pretty happy with that, then my team started losing all the points.
*le sigh* Can't have everything.
A short treatise on sniping
Location
I cannot even begin to say how many ridiculous positions I've seen snipers in, including myself. The most important thing about a sniper is his invisibility (I bought Special Forces today, and I'm actually quite upset about the lack of a ghillie suit). Therefore:
Don't snipe from the tops of buildings, barren hills, cranes, etc... unless you cannot find any other spot.
There are, of course, exceptions to that rule. There are locations on a crane which are near impossible to hit from ground level.
Invisibility is key. Bushes, dark corners, under bridges, and other spots such as these are often good places where you won't be seen.
Which leads to my second part: deception.
Sniping from a location in the general direction of a very obvious sniping spot (e.g. a tower or tall building... note the proper use of exempli gratia and not id est ) while not actually being on it is a very, very smart move. Just don't be too close to it. If enemies believe you are shooting from a place that you are not, you can easily pick them off while they're puzzled over why they can't see you there.
Thirdly, line of sight. Rule of thumb being, if you can see them, eventually they'll be able to see you. Your l.o.s. should be in the direction you're sniping in, and nowhere else. The top of a building, for example, can be shot at from many angles. The side of a hill, on the other hand, provides a decent vantage point to shoot down on enemies, whilst leaving the side facing the top of the hill relatively protected. (unless someone gets to the top of the hill in a rough climb just to get you)
Fourthly, take note that you are wearing a ghillie. A ghillie suit is at home in areas with grass, bushes, ferns, etc. A barren field is not a place to plunk down looking like a sore thumb. Neither, then, is a concrete structure, unless you are on one with good protection on several sides. (some buildings are actually several attached, and parts of them will be higher than the other. These are decent spots)
The shot, and your weapons
We'll talk briefly about your weapons first. You have several things: a knife, a pistol, your sniper rifle, grenades, and claymores.
Your knife may come in handy on rare occasions, but in my experience, it will be near useless to you. The proverb "don't bring a knife to a gun fight" has plenty meaning here, because as a sniper you generally don't move. You won't be sneaking up on all too many people, unless, of course, you are relocating.
Pistols are generally all the same. Besides your rifle, it's your best friend. In a close-range battle, if someone has located you, hit them with the sniper rifle and use the pistol to finish the kill. Or even long range. Instant kill. Good times.
Your rifle. Now, I'm sure everyone's aware of the debate between the rifles, and the extreme dislike of the semi-automatics. Personally, my favorite rifle has to be the M24. I'm a little headshot happy though. Bulletdrop is barely an issue, I have my view range set to 100% and even at the farthest I can see I can still pop off a headshot on a stationary target, or at least a torso hit. However, I disagree slightly on the stance on semi-autos. I use the M95 a lot, when I'm on MEC or the Chinese, but if used properly, I think the semi-auto rifles have more potential. They're headshot happy weapons, so long as you're not treating them like your DAO-12. And as far as a long-range weapon, they are excellent for those pesky sprinting medics trying to revive everyone you just killed. (though, they kind of are nice, as far as getting free kills go)
Grenades, everyone should know how to use. As a sniper, I use them when I'm relocating or fleeing. Otherwise they make too much of an action and give away my position.
Claymores are great, so long as your teammates aren't idiots. If you're in a decent spot with little traffic though, they shouldn't be a problem. Put one a metre or so behind you, and if anyone tries to sneak up on you (especially if you're on the side of a hill and they have to come over the lip to get to you) they're out, real fast.
Now speaking of the shot: Don't shoot unless you mean to hit something. Especially with the semi-autos, when you feel like you could throw away your ammo. Not only do you have to deal with the bolt, and lose your sight, but you also run the chance of giving away your position. I always felt this to be a sort of discrepancy, since many rifles (and riflemen) are trained in charging their weapon without moving their sights off target.
But what can you do.
Aim for the head, unless they're sprinting. Know where the enemy generally move, and keep track of who you kill. Eventually if you kill the same person enough times, they'll want to come after you. Make snipers priority, especially if they're facing in your direction and might see your shots.
RE-location
As a sniper, you generally don't want to move. Generally. If you stand up, you'll be seen. A ghillie won't do anything to mask your outline against the surrounding terrain. Once you've found a spot, you generally want to sit there. Sit there and stay there.
Of course, eventually someone's going to see you. And trust me they'll be looking for you, if you've pestered them enough. It's in the human identity not to give up, I'm sure you know it yourself, spawning at a closeby point over and over again because you want to get rid of that sniper.
(and when you do, doesn't it feel damned good?)
If they're a sniper, no problem. Shoot them before they shoot you. Relocate somewhere close once they're dead, so that they'll be standing (or lying) there those precious seconds trying to find you once they're back.
Automatic weapons are another story. If they sneak behind you... well, that claymore better have been there. If it goes off and you know that you've killed that person several times, you've been found out. Time to relocate. If they're shooting at you, pray they're not a good shot and get the heck out of dodge. Don't run backwards into your claymore.
Relocating is key. Always know where you can go, how you can get there, and how long it'll take.
Counter-sniping
I'm not talking about facing off snipers that are coming after you here, if you've been following so far that really shouldn't be a problem, unless they killed you at a point, in which case you do not want to go back to that spot.
If someone, as I have been doing above, has pinned you down somewhere at your spawn, and you're miraculously not dead... get on your belly. Crawl somewhere they won't expect you.
This is tough. They'll expect you practically everywhere once you've disappeared. If you don't know where the sniper is, you're better off sprinting like a maniac to the first availible vehicle.
If you're dead set on finding out where he is, then watch your teammates. It may be a sort of brutal way to figure it out, but by seeing where they get shot at and where they don't, you can get a pretty good heads up of where the sniper can or cannot see, and therefore generally where he is.
Shoot first and hit them. And keep an eye out on your map, maybe someone else already knows where they are.
Desperate situations
If you absolutely must snipe from a building, say... you have been reduced to only one point on an urban map and you need to fight your way out (... I'd ask, why are you still being a sniper?) don't use the roof. It's a bad, bad place to be. And don't stand in front of windows and doors. A) You block the passage... B) it's so ridiculously obvious.
Instead, sit inside the building, where you can still see out the window at an important angle, and shoot from there. Crouch or stand, instead of going prone, or else you won't be able to see anything. If you're being shot at, go prone and hope their aim with grenades isn't very good.
If it's outside, then find a spot where they would least expect you, but a spot where you can see a major lane of approach and also get away if you must. Alleyways facing major streets are nice, if not a point that will be attacked from all sides.
No matter what you do, don't walk and shoot. If you try it out (say, in single player so as not to embarrass yourself) your shots will go astray with any gun if you're walking and shooting. For most weapons this is not a big deal, you've got 29 more bullets to put in the right place. For a sniper rifle, it is deadly.
Anyway, that's all I have to say on the matter. I felt like writing something and I really didn't feel like working any more on my papers.
Cheers.
Today after my friend logged off, I got a chance to actually sit tight, relax with a beer, and snipe. These are my thoughts. I ended up with fourteen kills one round even while people were hunting me without dying since the beginning of the round. I was pretty happy with that, then my team started losing all the points.
*le sigh* Can't have everything.
A short treatise on sniping
Location
I cannot even begin to say how many ridiculous positions I've seen snipers in, including myself. The most important thing about a sniper is his invisibility (I bought Special Forces today, and I'm actually quite upset about the lack of a ghillie suit). Therefore:
Don't snipe from the tops of buildings, barren hills, cranes, etc... unless you cannot find any other spot.
There are, of course, exceptions to that rule. There are locations on a crane which are near impossible to hit from ground level.
Invisibility is key. Bushes, dark corners, under bridges, and other spots such as these are often good places where you won't be seen.
Which leads to my second part: deception.
Sniping from a location in the general direction of a very obvious sniping spot (e.g. a tower or tall building... note the proper use of exempli gratia and not id est ) while not actually being on it is a very, very smart move. Just don't be too close to it. If enemies believe you are shooting from a place that you are not, you can easily pick them off while they're puzzled over why they can't see you there.
Thirdly, line of sight. Rule of thumb being, if you can see them, eventually they'll be able to see you. Your l.o.s. should be in the direction you're sniping in, and nowhere else. The top of a building, for example, can be shot at from many angles. The side of a hill, on the other hand, provides a decent vantage point to shoot down on enemies, whilst leaving the side facing the top of the hill relatively protected. (unless someone gets to the top of the hill in a rough climb just to get you)
Fourthly, take note that you are wearing a ghillie. A ghillie suit is at home in areas with grass, bushes, ferns, etc. A barren field is not a place to plunk down looking like a sore thumb. Neither, then, is a concrete structure, unless you are on one with good protection on several sides. (some buildings are actually several attached, and parts of them will be higher than the other. These are decent spots)
The shot, and your weapons
We'll talk briefly about your weapons first. You have several things: a knife, a pistol, your sniper rifle, grenades, and claymores.
Your knife may come in handy on rare occasions, but in my experience, it will be near useless to you. The proverb "don't bring a knife to a gun fight" has plenty meaning here, because as a sniper you generally don't move. You won't be sneaking up on all too many people, unless, of course, you are relocating.
Pistols are generally all the same. Besides your rifle, it's your best friend. In a close-range battle, if someone has located you, hit them with the sniper rifle and use the pistol to finish the kill. Or even long range. Instant kill. Good times.
Your rifle. Now, I'm sure everyone's aware of the debate between the rifles, and the extreme dislike of the semi-automatics. Personally, my favorite rifle has to be the M24. I'm a little headshot happy though. Bulletdrop is barely an issue, I have my view range set to 100% and even at the farthest I can see I can still pop off a headshot on a stationary target, or at least a torso hit. However, I disagree slightly on the stance on semi-autos. I use the M95 a lot, when I'm on MEC or the Chinese, but if used properly, I think the semi-auto rifles have more potential. They're headshot happy weapons, so long as you're not treating them like your DAO-12. And as far as a long-range weapon, they are excellent for those pesky sprinting medics trying to revive everyone you just killed. (though, they kind of are nice, as far as getting free kills go)
Grenades, everyone should know how to use. As a sniper, I use them when I'm relocating or fleeing. Otherwise they make too much of an action and give away my position.
Claymores are great, so long as your teammates aren't idiots. If you're in a decent spot with little traffic though, they shouldn't be a problem. Put one a metre or so behind you, and if anyone tries to sneak up on you (especially if you're on the side of a hill and they have to come over the lip to get to you) they're out, real fast.
Now speaking of the shot: Don't shoot unless you mean to hit something. Especially with the semi-autos, when you feel like you could throw away your ammo. Not only do you have to deal with the bolt, and lose your sight, but you also run the chance of giving away your position. I always felt this to be a sort of discrepancy, since many rifles (and riflemen) are trained in charging their weapon without moving their sights off target.
But what can you do.
Aim for the head, unless they're sprinting. Know where the enemy generally move, and keep track of who you kill. Eventually if you kill the same person enough times, they'll want to come after you. Make snipers priority, especially if they're facing in your direction and might see your shots.
RE-location
As a sniper, you generally don't want to move. Generally. If you stand up, you'll be seen. A ghillie won't do anything to mask your outline against the surrounding terrain. Once you've found a spot, you generally want to sit there. Sit there and stay there.
Of course, eventually someone's going to see you. And trust me they'll be looking for you, if you've pestered them enough. It's in the human identity not to give up, I'm sure you know it yourself, spawning at a closeby point over and over again because you want to get rid of that sniper.
(and when you do, doesn't it feel damned good?)
If they're a sniper, no problem. Shoot them before they shoot you. Relocate somewhere close once they're dead, so that they'll be standing (or lying) there those precious seconds trying to find you once they're back.
Automatic weapons are another story. If they sneak behind you... well, that claymore better have been there. If it goes off and you know that you've killed that person several times, you've been found out. Time to relocate. If they're shooting at you, pray they're not a good shot and get the heck out of dodge. Don't run backwards into your claymore.
Relocating is key. Always know where you can go, how you can get there, and how long it'll take.
Counter-sniping
I'm not talking about facing off snipers that are coming after you here, if you've been following so far that really shouldn't be a problem, unless they killed you at a point, in which case you do not want to go back to that spot.
If someone, as I have been doing above, has pinned you down somewhere at your spawn, and you're miraculously not dead... get on your belly. Crawl somewhere they won't expect you.
This is tough. They'll expect you practically everywhere once you've disappeared. If you don't know where the sniper is, you're better off sprinting like a maniac to the first availible vehicle.
If you're dead set on finding out where he is, then watch your teammates. It may be a sort of brutal way to figure it out, but by seeing where they get shot at and where they don't, you can get a pretty good heads up of where the sniper can or cannot see, and therefore generally where he is.
Shoot first and hit them. And keep an eye out on your map, maybe someone else already knows where they are.
Desperate situations
If you absolutely must snipe from a building, say... you have been reduced to only one point on an urban map and you need to fight your way out (... I'd ask, why are you still being a sniper?) don't use the roof. It's a bad, bad place to be. And don't stand in front of windows and doors. A) You block the passage... B) it's so ridiculously obvious.
Instead, sit inside the building, where you can still see out the window at an important angle, and shoot from there. Crouch or stand, instead of going prone, or else you won't be able to see anything. If you're being shot at, go prone and hope their aim with grenades isn't very good.
If it's outside, then find a spot where they would least expect you, but a spot where you can see a major lane of approach and also get away if you must. Alleyways facing major streets are nice, if not a point that will be attacked from all sides.
No matter what you do, don't walk and shoot. If you try it out (say, in single player so as not to embarrass yourself) your shots will go astray with any gun if you're walking and shooting. For most weapons this is not a big deal, you've got 29 more bullets to put in the right place. For a sniper rifle, it is deadly.
Anyway, that's all I have to say on the matter. I felt like writing something and I really didn't feel like working any more on my papers.
Cheers.
Last edited by TigrisJK (2005-12-06 23:24:38)
