Battlefield 3

[derspiess]

Had a Monitor vs. Merrimac experience last night on Operation Firestorm/Rush.  Was lucky enough to get a good machinegunner that kept repairing my tank, and the other side's tank apparently had the same.  After a few minutes we both gave up & switched to other targets.

Also noticed that my next unlock on IFVs is APFSDS-T.  WTF is that?  Does it shoot tiny sabot rounds out of its 25mm gun, or do you bolt on some big 120mm gun that shoots sabot rounds? 

[CountDeMoney]

Couldn't tell ya.  I avoid IFVs like the plague.  Deathtraps.
I'd rather suicide them, insha'allah.

[Neil]

Had a Monitor vs. Merrimac experience last night on Operation Firestorm/Rush.  Was lucky enough to get a good machinegunner that kept repairing my tank, and the other side's tank apparently had the same.  After a few minutes we both gave up & switched to other targets.

Also noticed that my next unlock on IFVs is APFSDS-T.  WTF is that?  Does it shoot tiny sabot rounds out of its 25mm gun, or do you bolt on some big 120mm gun that shoots sabot rounds? 

It shoots the tiny sabot rounds.  And those will help you win engagements like that.  I don't know that I would use them, since I generally use the IFVs to massacre infantry and avoid fighting other armoured vehicles.

I finally got some upgrades for the jet and attack helicopter, so I can actually dogfight a bit now.  And I finally got to Colonel this weekend.

[derspiess]

Had a Monitor vs. Merrimac experience last night on Operation Firestorm/Rush.  Was lucky enough to get a good machinegunner that kept repairing my tank, and the other side's tank apparently had the same.  After a few minutes we both gave up & switched to other targets.

Also noticed that my next unlock on IFVs is APFSDS-T.  WTF is that?  Does it shoot tiny sabot rounds out of its 25mm gun, or do you bolt on some big 120mm gun that shoots sabot rounds? 

It shoots the tiny sabot rounds.  And those will help you win engagements like that.  I don't know that I would use them, since I generally use the IFVs to massacre infantry and avoid fighting other armoured vehicles.

I generally use IFVs like I do tanks-- as stand-off weapons.  Unless I have a really good machinegunner to pick off engineers and those annoying support guys who try to sneak up with C4, I stay far back.

I finally got some upgrades for the jet and attack helicopter, so I can actually dogfight a bit now.

Being able to jump in the gunner seat in an attack helicopter makes it a bit easier to get upgrades, plus I kinda prefer to be there anyway if I have a really skilled pilot.

The jet is another story.  I was lucky (very lucky) to get a kill the first time I flew an F-35, and from that point it took me quite a while just to unlock the flares.  With the flares I can definitely stay alive longer, but it's still hard for me to get kills with that gun.  If I can just get that damned heat seaking missile I'll be okay.

And I finally got to Colonel this weekend.

Ah, you're one of those now.  I always see lots of Colonels on the other team, but rarely on my own.  Whatever you do, don't give in to the dark side & use 12ga. f(r)ag rounds. 

I got my goofy-looking Warrant Officer bar last night.

[Neil]

Ah, you're one of those now.  I always see lots of Colonels on the other team, but rarely on my own.  Whatever you do, don't give in to the dark side & use 12ga. f(r)ag rounds. 

As far as I'm concerned, anybody using USAS-12 (and to a lesser extent, FAMAS) is a scrub who is playing in easy mode.  Besides, I'm playing around right now trying to get service stars in all the main weapons, so I haven't got time for that sort of nonsense.

[CountDeMoney]

I'm a level 5 Colonel.  And my principal weapons are still the M16 and the AK74.  Although on Team Death Match, I go with the pig.

[derspiess]

Played a couple Rush matches with Neil the other night, one of which was a wacky one on Damavand Peak where we had the attackers down to 0 tickets in the second stage but they were able to blow up the second M-COM station and push us back.  They then pushed us out of the third stage pretty easily but we stopped them cold in the final area thanks in part to a couple guys on our side stealing the other side's tanks.

Next time you're on, we can play Conquest.  I need to get some more practice with jets, anyway.

Also, last night I was playing Seine Crossing on Rush and we were getting blasted left & right on the bridge in the second area.  Checked my map & they had three dudes spamming mortars.  So I switched to Support w/ Mortar on my next spawn & sent those guys to hell a few times.  Two of them were clustered right next to each other, so I was able to take both out with one shell.  The other one was close by so I was able to get him with the next shot. 

For the rest of the map I'd hold my fire until I saw a red mortar icon on the map, take him out with one shot, then move to a different position.  Rinse, lather, repeat.  Match ended before I could rack up more than 7 kills, but it somehow got me 4 savior ribbons.

So after some rough past experience with mortars, what I've learned is that your position is not compromised until you fire your first shell or two (unless you're spotted directly) and that one shell will always kill an enemy that is using a deployed mortar.  Counterbattery shooting & scooting: good, clean fun.

Also apparently something is glitched with switching between smoke & HE rounds, to the point where you can sometimes fire an HE round, then smoke, then HE in less time than it takes to fire two consecutive HE.  I don't use this-- unless maybe I'm attacking and we need the smoke

[CountDeMoney]

Also apparently something is glitched with switching between smoke & HE rounds, to the point where you can sometimes fire an HE round, then smoke, then HE in less time than it takes to fire two consecutive HE.  I don't use this-- unless maybe I'm attacking and we need the smoke

Yeah, it is a glitch;  I alternate between the two faster than just one type of round.  And, as an added bonus, you do cause some damage with a smoker if it lands directly on an opposing player.

[derspiess]

Yeah, it is a glitch;  I alternate between the two faster than just one type of round.  And, as an added bonus, you do cause some damage with a smoker if it lands directly on an opposing player.

I've noticed hit markers with them & wondered if it was a delayed hit from an HE shell or something.  Any idea how long smoke rounds last?  I've hardly ever seen anyone else using them, but on some maps (like Bazaar/Rush in particular) they can do a lot of good if the attacking side is bottled up at the spawn.

[CountDeMoney]

I'd say maybe 8 seconds.  Maybe.  Not long, but it's a wide radius.

[derspiess]

Played a couple matches with Neil again last night.  Towards the end of the Caspian Border map he grabbed a tank in our spawn & I hopped in as machinegunner.  We were doing well until we had to hop out for repairs & whatnot.  I jumped back in at the gunner spot & wondered why the hell he was driving us all the way to the enemy spawn rather than defending our objectives.  I looked down & realized some other dude had stolen his tank & was driving.  Had to run all the way back to the spawn.  Can't remember if we won or not.

Also on a Metro/Rush match last night I got 10 resupply ribbons from being slightly less aggressive & playing the role a bit more.  Also 6 claymore kills as attacker.  Serves them right for not playing their f-ing objectives.

Got my first Support service star and my 5th M249 service star, so now I'm trying to level up some other support weapons.  Not sure if I'll ever get the Recon service star.

Also the only thing I need to do to complete all my Assignments is to win 5 Squad Deathmatches, which I think will actually take me quite a while to do.  I totally suck in that type of game since there's no objective other than to just get as many kills as possible.  It's also a bit confusing not to have any territory to take or defend.

[Neil]

Yeah, that tank-thief was annoying.  But shortly after that I made an amazing shot, blasting a Humvee with an RPG from at least 200+ metres.  It's amazing that we lost that round, given all the free kills we were getting off that stupid squad of snipers at the back pf the objective.

That Kharh map after that was shit.

[CountDeMoney]

PM me your PS3 names, and I'll PM yours;  we can squad up.

[Neil]

360

[CountDeMoney]

Fags.