Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of World War II
Combat Tricks FAQ
by Epitropou Victor
Battlefield 1942: Combat Tricks and Trivia Guide
(AKA Kaptain Zyklon's Dirty Tricks!)
Version 1.6
First created on: 3/11/03
Last update on: 28/4/04
By Epitropou Victor
vicet80@hotmail.com
VEpitropou on GameFAQs (R)
Copyright Victor Epitropou 2003-2004
This guide is best seen with a fixed-font editor/viewer,such as Notepad
or by using any fixed-size font,such as Courier,10 CPI.
===============================================================================
Table of Contents
===============================================================================
[0] Before you read this.
[0.1] Quick Questions and Answers (go here if you REALLY are in a hurry)
[0.2] Other FAQs
[1]
[1.1] Introduction
[1.2] About the author
[1.3] So,what's this guide about?
[1.4] What makes it different/necessary?
[1.5] Version history
[1.6] Credits and acknowledgements
[2] vs Ships
[2.0] To be on not to be (a pirate?)
[2.1] Boarding enemy ships.
[2.2] Damaging enemy ships.
[2.3] Other annoying things to do on board of enemy ships.
[2.4] Other ship trivia and cheesy tricks.
[3] General and Special Tactics
[3.1] Defending
[3.2] Fighting and combat
[3.3] Exploits and tricks
[3.4] Bazooka Mania
[3.5] Being an Engineer
[3.6] Individual Infantry Weapons
[4] Special map-related strategies.
[4.1] The Battle Of Britain map.
[5] Secret Weapons Of WWII: Where and How to use them?
[5.1] Jetpacks
[5.2] Sturmtiger
[5.3] Sherman T-34
[5.4] Wasserfall V3
[5.5] FlakPanzer
[5.6] Natter
[6] Special Vehicle Trivia
===============================================================================
[0] Before you read this.
===============================================================================
This guide is provided "as is" carrying no implicit or explicit warranties
of any kind,about its contents.
The author assumes no responsability for any kind of damage or loss caused
directly or indirectly by the use of this guide,Point.
Battlefield 1942,Road To Rome and Secret Weapons Of WWII is a registered
trademark of Electronic Arts and Dice (Digital Illusions),and in any case,
of their respective owners.
Same goes for any trademarks and registered names mentioned here in this
guide. Point.
This guide is a freeware unofficial BF1942 product,and the author is not
affiliated in any way with EA games or Dice. Point.
The author reserves all rights and the copyright for this FAQ,and
appreciates being asked before using it in no-profit activities.
Commercial use of this guide is prohibited/discouraged. Point
This Guide and its updates are to be distributed ONLY by GameFAQs and
a few other SELECTED FAQ pages,such as www.cheats.de,dhl.net,ignfaqs and
a few others,ONLY after having asked me for permission. That's all,soldier!
===============================================================================
[0.1] Quick questions and answers
===============================================================================
These pop up more than once in a while...
q: Where are the jetpacks???
a: Read section [5.1] of this guide.
q: Where are the subs?
a: They're only in the "Guadalcanal" and "Battle Of Midway" maps in
multiplayer mode only.They are single spawn spots in the sea when not
in use,dive with up arrow and resurface with down arrow (by default).
q: How do I open my parachute?
a: Keep hitting the "9" key (default) continuously UNTIL it opens,not just
once.
q: How do I open the landing crafts door?
a: Simple,it opens with "up arrow" and closes with "down arrow"(by default).
q: How can I do the wall-hack trick with the Allied Hangar in El-Alamein?
a: Read the end of section [3.3] Of this guide (*NEW*).
q: How do I deal with nasty n00bs,TKers,planecampers and the such?
a: If you feel like bringing justice in this rotten (BF1942) world,
then set up your own server,be an admin and kick and ban to your hearts
content. As a "humble" player,use the console commands:
"kick #NumberOfBastard" and "kt #NumberOfBastard",for example to kick
the player number 5 type "kick 5" or "kt 5".
You don't really kick him right away,you just start a vote poll,hoping
that anybody else knows how to vote...There's a console commands FAQ for
this job,look next section.
Update: v1.6 of the game adds a whole new voting and kicking system,GUI
based this time,and supposedly easier to use.
q: ...what is the console???
a: It's that DOS/command line looking thing that pops out each time you
press the ~ key (that is,the key with a ` and a ~ on it,on U.S. keyboards,
and generally the one just above the TAB key).
It's used to type special commands in. It closes by pressing the same key
used for opening,in case you recalled it by mistake.
q: I REALLY want to punish that bad n00b,but I don't want to TK myself...
a: Ok,so if you're REALLY that desperate the only solution is to run bad
n00bs over with any vehicle,exiting moments before impact,so he will die
and you won't TK. Also,be sure to type "PTK" in the console each time
so he will surely get a long delay at respawn.
q: Why does my team always lose in the "Battle Of Britain" map?
a: Read section [4.1] of this guide.
q: How do I deal with ALL OTHER situations in the game?
a: Read this guide carefully,especially section [3]!
===============================================================================
[0.2] Other FAQs
===============================================================================
If you need more map-related strategy oriented and more generic FAQs,try out
Joe Momma's and Matthias99's BF1942 FAQs. If you need more info about
Road To Rome and Secret Weapons Of WWII then get Pierre "Masamune2" Maris's
specialised FAQs. And,regarding the mysterious console commands of BF1942,there
is a great FAQ by KenZoe.All of the above can be found at GameFAQs,by searching
for "battlefield 1942".
===============================================================================
[1.1] Introduction
===============================================================================
This is my first FAQ/Guide ever written for a "contemporary" and "recent"
game since I wrote my first guides and FAQs for "retro" arcade and
computer games.
The objective of this guide is to illustrate to BF1942 players of all
levels and skill some general combat techniques and notes,including what
could be defined as "cheap tricks" or "dirty combat" inside BF1942,by some
players.
Please bear in mind,this is not a cheat guide,it's just a kind of strategy
oriented guide giving a particular weight to non-orthodox combat techniques
and tricks,which CANNOT be considered cheats but rather exploits and taking
advantage of the game's physics and combat system's "weak points".
Besides,every BF1942 player did AT LEAST ONE of the "tricks" mentioned here!
===============================================================================
[1.2] About the author
===============================================================================
As I said before,this is my first piece of guide ever written for a
"modern" game.Personally,I'm an arcade game's fan and abuse regularly of
emulators and such :-).
I have written FAQs and guides mainly for TAITO games including The New
Zealand Story,Cadash and Liquid Kids. You can find all of them from GameFAQs.
Recently,I discovered the great fun of Battlefield 1942,and being a DOOM
and Quake veteran it caught on me very quickly :-). When I discovered the
Multiplayer side of the medal,I began playing frantically and started
discovering several funny/obscure points in this game,discoveries which
I felt like sharing with gamers all over the world and especially fellow
BF1942 players.
I can only play online once or maybe twice a week,and when I'm on,I
usually (well,actually,all the time) play with the nickname "Kaptain Zyklon".
Sometimes,you can see me online with my teammates "MAD MAX","mision","loxias"
and "RAMBO".
Despite the name,no racial offense is intended and no "strange" political
preferences are implied,honest. I just find them cool and original to use,
that's all.It's better to put these things straight right from the
beginning,you never know.
Besides,I've seen much worse,scurrile,racially/politically explicit
and insulting nicknames around...I hope that they were used just for FUN,
like mine.
As for teams,well,I generally prefer playing as the axis but I DO care
about balanced teams,so don't worry when you see me logging: I will join
the team which needs more men at the moment,or which proves to be weaker
and lacking expert players.
In case you wondered,I'd like to receive some feedback about this or
the other guides or BF1942 or whatever...comments are welcome.
Especially invitations for password games,hint hint :-)
My e-mail is at the beginning of the guide. Try vicet80@hotmail.com however.
===============================================================================
[1.3] So,what's this guide about?
===============================================================================
Briefly,it's for telling you about some not-quite-orthodox and
not-quite-clear gameplay/combat techniques to use during Single and/or
Multiplayer games of BF1942.. Of course there's more "standard" stuff
to be found here,but I wanted to make a guide which included BOTH,giving
a relevant weight to "non-standard" stuff.
These are things you can do to get more kills,cause losses of
vehicles/ships/time to the enemy team,create diversive actions,really
piss your opponents off,survive longer than you should, come out of
desperate situations etc. etc. and all this not by actually cheating but
by rather by exploiting obscure bugs or mere features of the game,taken
to the extreme!
Not only that,but in the latest versions I also added tons of Secret Weapons
info,including the much debated jetpacks :-) and also a special "historical"
section at the end of the guide.
===============================================================================
[1.4] So,what makes this guide different/necessary?
===============================================================================
It's a "People have the right to know" kind of thing,actually.
The point is that BF1942,while not being the state-of-the-art in facts
of physics and interactivity,still allows a large degree of freedom to
the player,allowing trying almost anything involving moving,flying,shooting,
bombing etc.,sometimes with very hilarious results and more than once
resulting in interesting exploits or tricks,yet perfectly "legal" within
the game, meaning they can't be labelled exactly "cheating" but rather
"cheap" or "cheesy" or simply "smart" tricks,most of the time.
Some of these things I figured out by myself,some (very few) can be found
on other FAQs,but in general they're neither mentioned nor used a lot,and
it's rather unclear (at least to me) if they should be/are considered
"common knowledge" among BF1942 fans,or if they're some sort of taboo.
If that's the case,then,like it or not,this guide is here to stay!
To make an example,Joe Momma's FAQ,which is one of the best,categorically
states that "ships can't be sabotaged" and so trying to do so has no sense,
while I found for myself (and USED it in combat) that some enemy ships take
good damage from bazooka rockets,and so "pirating" enemy ships HAS sense...
I might get into an argument with Joe Momma or others for having stated
that,but I made this example so everybody can understand what kinds of
"tricks" and "exploits" I'm presenting here in this guide.
===============================================================================
[1.5] Version History
===============================================================================
Version: 0.0
Date: 3/11/2003
Just the idea of writing this guide,and a first attempt at doing so.
I started with the "vs ships" section,which was the "hottest" one
in my mind!
Version: 0.5
Date 13/11/2003
A pre-release version,the result of many edits,layout corrections,
additions,and continous revisions.It could be released as a quasi-complete
guide but I can surely do better...
Version: 0.6
Date: 15/11/2003
It's almost ready for a first release. Added a passable layout and
chapter/sections separation. Not much info to add as of now...I'll
wait and see what people think.Please contact me at vicet80@hotmail.com
and tell me what you think,or challenge/invite me to your server for
a game or two of BF1942! I'll appreciate both.
Version: 0.7
Date: 16/11/2003
This is going to be (hopefully) the first release,planned for
GameFAQs only,like the other FAQs.
Made a significant layout change,no new info added.
Version: 1.0
Date: 17/11/2003
Already a major update!
Corrected a stupid character mistake: commas didn't show correctly in
some text-editors,due to non-ASCII coding (that's what happens if someone
mixes text editors and word processors!).It looked annoying so I fixed it.
I noticed it only after looking at the file with Notepad. I deleted
some redundant questions in section [3],pasted multiple times by mistake.
I also made some minor-major typo corrections and added two new tricks
regarding the "Battle of Britain" map in section [3.3],and one in
section [2.3] (Annoying things to do on ships).
A whole new section,[3.5] Being an engineer has been added! Have fun!
Also optimized to guide to look its best in fixed-font text viewers.
This is surely the way the first release was meant to be...
Version 1.1
Date: 20/11/2003
Intermediate update,mainly converted the whole layout to a nice
quasi-80 column text format,after seeing that there were several
visualization problems. It looks fine with Notepad,Wordpad,DOS edit
and several browsers such as IE or Mozilla. I suspect that the upload
process introduces some corruption of the format...but I'm not sure.
We'll see!
Other than that,I updated the [2] "vs Ships" sections with new info,
and added some more trivia all around the guide. Happy Sinking!!!
version 1.2
Date: 28/11/2003
Minor update,mainly layout,grammar and spelling corrections.
Also added some sparse Secret Weapons trivia and corrected some technical
info here and there.
version 1.3
Date: 24/12/2003
Major XMAS update,added a full Battle Of Britain combat guide after taking
part in a disastrous battle,where my team (allied) had no clue :-(
I hope that this way things will even up a bit. BTW,Merry XMAS,and may
battles be seen only in games such as BF1942...
version 1.31
Date: 1/1/2004
Hey,nothing better to do right now...so some little corrections here and
there are surely welcome. BTW,I'd like to note that,even if it wasn't on my
initial intentions,the other 'major' BF1942 FAQs are getting a bit outdated...
c'mon guys,keep up!! I try to include elements from Road To Rome,Secret
Weapons and v1.5 of the game,where needed. Unreleased
version 1.4
Date: 9/1/2004
VERY MAJOR update,containing extensive SW info,Jetpacks usage and location
and much more! Secret Weapons of WWII is now fully part of this guide!
I hope you enjoy it...the guide has more than doubled since its first
releases!
version 1.45
Date: 14/1/2004
Intermediate update,correcting many mistakes left in in v1.4 (my apologies to
all readers).I also added some info about the new INDIVIDUAL weapons found in
the SW expansion pack,like rifles etc.
version 1.5
Date: 20/1/2004
Minor update,adding extra jetpack info (two new locations) and shortening some
sections,with the ever-present error corrections.I also added a "quick
questions and answers" section [0.1],for those ever-present small questions.
version 1.51
Date 27/1/2004
Tiny update,corrected the "Kettenkrad" section at the end,which was completely
mispelled and added a new jetpack location,so the total of known jetpacks is
now 8. Minor typo and spelling corrections here and there,too.
version 1.6
Date 28/4/2004
Quite a long time,too many events such as the v1.6 patch and Battlefield
Vietnam coming out and new responsabilities for me.That's what has kept me
from updating. Not many additions,apart from the definitive solution on how
to do the "wall-hacking" trick consistently,and some sparse comments on v1.6.
Unluckily for me and all my BF1942 friends met during these last months (who
has played with me should remember it),I can't get online access to play BF1942
anymore.I used playing at a cyber-cafe in my hometown (the only places with fast
computers AND broadband connections) but the advent of v1.6 really paralized
them all...
===============================================================================
[1.6] Credits and acknowledgements
===============================================================================
Some credit goes to myself,for writing this stuff (almost) from scratch.
Special credits go to Joe Momma and Matthias99,authors of the two major
BF1942 Faqs.Even if they aren't directly involved in writing this FAQ,I
learned many things about the game from THEIR FAQs,and some of the info
found in here comes from their faqs.Special greetings go to Pierre
"Masamune2" Maris,who wrote a Road To Rome and a Secret Weapons FAQ,and
I included some of his info here. Also I greet KenZoe for writing the
precious console commands FAQ for BF1942. Practically all the GameFAQs
BF1942 authors!
Then greetings go of course to all BF1942 players all over the world,
especially those with who I had a chance to play together in some server...
Needless to say,credits go also to DICE for making the game and EA for
publishing it.
==========================================================================
[2] vs Ships
==========================================================================
All the things you wanted to know about ships and you've never been told!
==========================================================================
[2.0] The Infamous Question: To be or not to be (a pirate?)
==========================================================================
I of course mean being a SHIP pirate in BF1942,which in this game's slang
denotes all people boarding enemy ships hoping to deal them damage.
This is a rather obscure argument,as stated before. I never heard of
anyone illustrating if and how this can be done yet,while the most
important FAQs (Joe Momma's and Matthias99's) claim that it's either
impossible (or useless) or that you can just try and board an enemy ship
(without saying what goes next), respectively.
Now,my thesis is that: you CAN board enemy ships (several ways to do it)
and you CAN damage them while you're ON them,down to the point of SINKING
them,usually more easily than with "conventional" means like using other
ships' cannons,coastal defence,artillery,etc. I like to think that I'm the
first to have used such tactics in combat (even in a game with Joe Momma!).
Probably I am not,after one year the game was out...but I'm surely the first
to write down in a Guide about the "Where and How" of these tactics,and
dismiss some commonplace and close-minded ideas about the game!
==========================================================================
[2.1] Boarding enemy ships.
==========================================================================
In one word,what this whole fuss is about :-).
You may have read in other FAQs that it can't be done. Point.
I state: It CAN be done if you're doing it correctly!
OK,so what do you have to do? Two things:
a) Get on the enemy ship (use a landing craft or airplane or swim to it),
possibly unnoticed.
b) Deal damage with SPECIFIC weaponry (bazookas only,so far!).
Step a) should be straightforward: You can use your own team's landing
craft to approach enemy ships (they're usually unguarded against "pirates")
or steal the enemy's landing craft and make it to their ship (like in Omaha
Beach or operation Overlord,D-Day,although it's very hard to find an unstuck
boat and remain ignored by the enemy while you try stealing it!
Then you must try to approach the enemy ships STEALTHILY!
That is,if somebody on the deck actually SEES you approaching or trying
to board his ship,that is NOT a stealthy approach,and if your opponents
are any good then you can guess you had it.
Please note that,as I found out the hard way,if your opponents are MOVING
the ship around continuously,you may have a very hard time trying boarding it.
An easier (if avaiable) way is that of just piloting a plane and
parachuting ON the enemy ship (or nearby and then swimming to it,but
I don't suggest doing this unless you have to,like when you "missed" the
ship or your plane got shot down).
Of course,you must know how to fly a plane...
You're not as much stealthy as when using a boat,especially after opening
your parachute...
You must not crash BEFORE you reach destination...
More likely,some of your teammates might not appreciate your taking a
perfectly operating plane just to abandon it or crash on some enemy ship
or in the middle of the sea...Apart from these drawbacks,a plane is the
best and fastest way to board an enemy ship.
OK,so let's say that one way or the other you manage to get ON the enemy
ship.What can you do now?
==========================================================================
[2.2] Sabotaging enemy ships.
==========================================================================
Ok,this is where I get flamed for encouraging ship piracy in BF1942 :-)
Joe Momma (him,again!) mentioned some (failed) pirates which tried to blow
up his ship "with a bunch of TNT". Well,he is right! Am I on acid?
Did I say "he is right" while I'm writing this whole stuff just to prove
exactly the opposite? Well not,read on!
In fact,he's surely right in one point: You can't damage ships with TNT,
as they seem to be IMMUNE to it,no matter if "friend" of "foe".
This of course can be exploited by engineers guarding ships,which can set
TNT traps against pirates,without damaging their own ships! That's the
problem with most wannabe pirates: they start off as engineers,and then
discover that their TNT is useless on ships!
In fact,ships in BF1942 are either totally or partially immune to the
so-called "splash damage",which is,the damage done "only" by explosions,
such as the ones from artillery,bombs,AA fire,grenades and,yes,TNT.
But,I hear somebody yelling,bombs DO damage ships! Yes,but you must hit
them with the bomb itself.Dropping a bomb "near" the ship will have
absolutely no effect,and the same goes for cannon and artillery fire!
Grenades and TNT on the other hand do almost exclusively "splash damage"
and thus do practically nothing to ships. Landing craft are an exception,
as they're vulnerable to almost anything! They can even take damage from
their own machine gun!
What most people don't know,it that BAZOOKA rockets actually DO
damage ships,although not all and not to the same degree.
Not only that,but you can shoot ships while ON them,including YOUR
OWN TEAM's ships,so be careful with that!
Later in this guide you will find out that bazookas are a much more
versatile weapon than most people think,able to kill anything from
infantry to ships,and even some special buildings like defguns and
radar towers!
So,the correct approach,if you want to be a "pirate" is to start off
as an Anti-armor and when you get on board of the targeted enemy ship
start shooting it! But where are you supposed to "attack" a ship,and
how many shots can a ship withstand? It depends on the ship type;
==========================================================================
[2.2.a] Sabotaging enemy ships: Aircraft Carriers
==========================================================================
Aircraft carriers are,surprisingly,the most vulnerable,going down in
about a dozen (!) hits: Their "hot spots" for hitting them with your
bazooka are:
a) The whole landing/takeoff deck! Yes,just shoot at the "floor"!
It does moderate damage to the carrier,so expect it to "withstand"
at least 15-20 hits.
b) If you prefer a more stealthy approach,you can still damage the enemy
carrier while remaining (relatively) unseen: You can attack any of the
4 AA (AntiAircraft) Guns of the ship.They're usually negleted by the crew,
and so they just sit there for your consumption.
Hitting them directly with a perfectly perpendicular bazooka shot deals
more than 8% damage TO THE SHIP,almost like directly dropping a bomb
(maybe that's the whole point of this exploit: the game expects attacking
pilots to bomb the AA guns,and so they were made to "count" as a great
damage to the ship).
Sometimes a carrier goes down with less than 8 hits (!),especially if it has
already received a bomb or two,and is shot very efficiently on the AA guns.
This usually happens if you manage to hit an AA gun while on the plane deck.
It seems that this is the optimal angle for doing so!
The problem is that 6 rockets are (usually) not enough to destroy it in one
go, so you will have to get on the top deck for getting more ammo,thus
exposing yourself.
In this sense,the Japanese carrier is "easier" to sink,since it's easier
to get your ammo refilled without been seen,by going from the front-right
AA gun to the control tower and then hiding into the big entrance...near
the ammo crate.On the U.S. carriers you will have to expose yourself
somehow more than that.
You can workaround this problem by bringing a partner or two with you,
for guarding each other's back and to "distribute the work load" :-)
Needless to say,the engineer's TNT and ordinary grenades do NOTHING to
the CARRIER's AA guns.
ALL other places on the carrier (lower decks,front/rear armor etc.) are
invulnerable to bazooka and to most other projectyles for that matter,
so don't bother.
Attack only the plane deck and the AA guns,and WITH A BAZOOKA ONLY,please!
*** WARNING ***, this tactic can make for a REALLY cheesy and corny
victory at the "Coral Sea" Map! Your opponents will probably hate you
and call you a cheap bastard (if they figured out what happened)
but,hey,you probably WANT to be one if you're reading this :-)
==========================================================================
[2.2.b] Sabotaging enemy ships: Destroyers
==========================================================================
For Destroyers and Battleships things get a bit more complicated:
As far as I could find,only the U.S. Fletcher class destroyers are
vulnerable to bazooka fire,and only if shot directly on the gun/cannon
turrets (each Destroyer has 4 of them,2 in the back and 2 in the front).
If hit there,they take about 15 hits before the alarm siren starts sounding,
and 20 in total to go down.
Most other parts of a Destroyer seem to take no damage from bazooka
fire (including the "floor" itself,unlike the carrier),so the only
"sure hits" are the gun/cannon turrets. What seems strange,is that
only the U.S. (Fletcher class) Destroyers are vulnerable to this
exploit,maybe for map-related reasons.
As the axis,if you manage to sink the Destroyer at Omaha beach with this
tactic,then probably your opponents will be rather surprised and then
pissed off for having let you go all the way to their ship! Your team
will probably admire you,especially if the allies haven't captured the
beach: Istant Victory for the axis!
This may be a deliberate weakness for helping (?) the axis in Omaha beach,
but else it's clearly in favour of the Japanese,whose Destroyers are not
vulnerable to it while the U.S. ones are,on all Pacific maps,and also in
some Road To Rome map (operation Husky?).
==========================================================================
[2.2.c] Sabotaging enemy ships: Battleships and the rest.
==========================================================================
Both U.S. and Japanese Battleships are vulnerable if hit directly on
the wooden "pavement" of their deck. This means that you simply shoot
the floor where you walk on! Yes,it's that simple!!!
This fact of course introduces a whole new series of exploits in all
Pacific maps,and especially in the "Iwo Jima" map,where the U.S.
have an aircraft carrier and a Battleship. Now,BOTH are vulnerable
to "pirate" bazookamen,so be careful if you're the allies!
Please take note that no other part of these ships is vulnerable
to bazooka fire,so forget ALL cannon towers and all other "structures"
on the deck of these ships.Attack only the deck's floor,and ONLY with
a bazooka,please!!!
Regarding the Battleships' endurance,it's hard to estimate,but it looks
something like 25 to 30 hits "on the floor". Again,trying to get
quasi-vertical shots or having thrown a bomb or two help a lot.
There's an ammo source on both sides' Battleships,and what plays to the
"pirate"'s advantage is that the Battleships are HUGE and have plenty of
places to hide or to run away from your enemies.
A good tactic is that of parachuting over the big central tower of the
ship,which is unreachable on foot,and deal your first 5-6 shots
"undercover".Then you must PARACHUTE (yes,parachute!) down to the deck to
get more ammo and continue your 'job' from there.
A good place,on the U.S. Battleship is to hide in the door near the ammo
crate,and shoot the floor in front of you. When you need more ammo,just walk
out and get some. You will also be protected against enemy bombs.
Yes,when on Single Player the computer bots will bomb their own ship trying
to kill YOU,actually doing most of the damage! In general,when playing
against the computer,just hiding on its ships is enough to get them damaged
by the computer itself,no kidding! I doubt this works in multi-player games,
however! :-)
As an interesting side node,all cannon turrets of all sizes,on the
Battleships,seem literally ENVELOPED in a THICK steel shell,unlike the
US Destroyer's ones which seem "naked" in comparison. What a coincidence,
that's EXACTLY the difference between US and Japanese Destroyers...
Submarines on the other hand are much more vulnerable,much like a
heavy tank. Their weakest spot is the commander's turret,unsurprisingly,
which is also the last part to dive and the first to re-surface...
Got the point?
==========================================================================
[2.2.d] To sum up
==========================================================================
As you can read from this Guide (and try for yourself) ships in
BF1942 CAN be damaged by a single soldier,only if he's an Anti-armor
using his trusty bazooka/panzerschreck/panzerfaust.
Each ship has its weak spots where it can receive damage,except for the
Japanese Destroyer (...yet!).
They're roughly the whole deck and AA guns on aircraft carriers,the whole
deck except cannons and structures on Battleships,and the cannon turrets
only on U.S. Fletcher class Destroyers. Submarines are all vulnerable,
and particularly weak if hit on their turret.
Aircraft carriers are the most vulnerable,Destroyers and Battleships
not that much but in the end they all go down. It's worth giving a try
to these tactics,especially if only the opponent team has ships (for example,
the allies in Iwo Jima or the axis on Wake Island.
It can also be used as en effective retaliation method and surprise attack,
and can become arguable if used in Coral Sea,where losing your carrier means
losing the game.
As a side note,I want to state that maps and gameplay usually have
differences between single and multiplayer,so there might well be
differences having to do with damaging ships. What I've written so
far about Carriers,Battleships and Destroyers seems valid,however,
for both single or multiplayer. If you find any interesting differences
and facts,please report.Thank you.
Finally,on Matthias99 BF1942 FAQ there's an obscure mention to an
exploit having to do with ships and a note saying thet this exploit
has been "fixed" in v1.31 of the game. It's not very clear what the
real meaning of that statement is,but I found ship "sabotage" to work
with all versions up to v1.5 (which I'm currently using) with no problems,
in both Single Player and Multi Player mode so that's the way it's meant
to be,probably.
==========================================================================
[2.3] Other annoying things to do on board of enemy ships.
==========================================================================
Annoying for the enemy,of course :-)
So,you boarded the enemy ship with no trouble,but only to find that
you're an engineer/scout/assault/medic! So what can you do now???
Well,if the ship you boarded is a Destroyer or Battleship then you better
leave: there's not much you can do,at most you can spawncamp some hapless
poor bastard who spawned in the wrong place at the wrong time,but you can't
expect to last too long doing that.As a medic or an assault you may bring
more than a couple of grunts down with you,but as an engineer or scout
you've had it...leave now,your team will surely have a better use for you!
But if you boarded an enemy carrier,then,eh-eh-eh, there ARE some little
nasty things you can do,in order of descending importance.
A) The best thing,again, is to be an Anti-tank.You can damage the ship or
shoot enemy planes down as they are trying to take off.
It works wonders,and youcan take down at least a couple before getting
caught.
B) The next best thing is being an Engineer. Probably you can't damage
the ship itself,but you CAN set TNT packs and place MINES under planes!
Yep,they blow up when they start moving,and you can place the mines a bit
everywhere on the deck, preferably on the course the planes use for
takeoff and (rarely) landing.
Sounds crazy,but you can actually get a lot of kills this way and cause
non-indifferent delay and/or damage to the enemy,by cutting his
"airplane supply", and helping your team a lot,especially in the
"Coral Sea" map.
C) Then you can be a Medic so you can try to damage (sometimes destroy)
some departing plane with your SMG and grenades,but you will be much
more useful if teamed-up with an Anti-tank and/or Engineer,backing them
up and healing them as they're doing their "job". Also useful for wiping
away planecampers and pissed-off enemies.
D) As an Assault you can still shoot at planes and kill planecampers and
enemies trying to kick you out of their ship,but you can do that also
as a Medic,and it's better to have the medikit than the stronger assault
rifle,since there are no medical closets on ship.
E) As a Scout,ehm,I can only imagine you throwing grenades at planes and
sniping planecampers from the control tower...only marginally useful,any
other class is much better in this case.
At best,you could also call for artillery by just "wielding" your
binoculars and clicking the LEFT mousebutton,no need for zooming in.
This way,your team's artillery will have a more than clear view of
the target,if they're smart enough to exploit it...and if you don't
get killed,of course.
F) A neat trick I saw the other day was landing your plane ON the enemy
carrier,so that you stop in the "back" of the landing deck,at the very
edge,right behind of where the enemy planes spawn,so that you can aim
at them with your tailgun.
Of course,you could also land in front of them,getting in their way.
The guy who did this told me that he shoots at enemies with the tailgun
as soon as they spawn and continously destroys planes.
Sounds nice...if you're good enough to actually LAND your plane on the
enemy carrier,without crashing. Probably he just slowed all the way down
and "dropped" the plane in the right place,as I saw a VERY weird manouver
in the map,like,the plane doing a 180 degrees turn with almost zero
speed! Anyway,he was a good pilot,no doubt!
Of course,there is an easier way of doing this: get on the enemy
carrier (you should know how by now!),steal their bomber but don't fly
it: Just move it a bit forward so that you can get a clear shot at most
of the deck behind you,and use the tailgun.
If done correctly,it should be VERY annoying!
G) This one is MEAN...be an Engineer,hide on any enemy ship which spawns
landing craft (all except the submarine,I think),approach the landing
craft when none sees you,and toss some TNT in them,then hide and wait
for one or more enemies to enter the boat. Let them sail and then...BOOM!
Got the point? ;-) Only blowing up a full APC can give you such
satisfaction...and kills! ;-]
===============================================================================
[2.4] Other ship trivia and cheap tricks.
===============================================================================
You can damage (and sink) an enemy ship by many other non-standard ways:
A) Bump a ship with another ship.Both will take damage,but weaker ships
will of course suffer the most.So feel free to bump destroyers and
(maybe) aircraft carriers with your battleship. Of course,it's better
to repair it after each bump!
B) Desperate case of aircraft carrier defense: This I learned in a "real"
situation: I was playing online the Battle Of Midway map as the axis,but
my team honestly sucked,and we got our carrier attacked by an enemy
Destroyer or Battleship (probably a Destroyer)!
Now,I was an engineer OK but the punishment was too heavy,the
situation was desperate,so as a last-ditch resort I manned an AA gun and
started shooting frantically at the enemy ship..which was luckily
close enough to get shot at,and whose captain obviously wasn't very good
at using the cannons...doing less damage than he could.
To my surprise,the damage indicator on my crosshair started flashing,
indicating that the enemy ship was actually taking damage.
Now and them one of our last planes tried to drop a bomb on it but it
was too little,too late anyway.
Once in a while I tried to repair my ship a bit,then restarted shooting
non-stop at the enemy ship...in the end my carrier started sinking,but to
my joy,the enemy ship started sinking too (first it had started smoking).
It took almost 5 minutes to battle it out this way,and if somebody had
manned another AA gun or shot some bazooka rocket we could have saved
our ship,but anyway our team lost a bit later,so it didn't change much
of our luck but it was surely a fun and unusual battle!
C) Many times,when you're trying to "sabotage" an enemy ship and have
already done some damage,an enemy plane already in the air spots you,
and proceeds to attacking you by BOMBING and SHOOTING his OWN SHIP!
This way,the enemy more than once delivered the final blow to his own
carrier...not a great thing for the pilot,since it also adds TeamKilling
to his already huge problems!!!
To be fair however,I'll say that this is a mistake committed mostly by
A.I. Bots,but there ARE some human opponents who think of their ships
as concrete,indestructible bunkers :-)
D) Ehm...despite all this ship piracy etc. it doesn't seem possible to
"capture" enemy ships,at least not in recent (v1.5 and v1.6) versions
of the game. C'mon,what did you expect? Stealing the spawnpoints from the
enemy? Beaching his subs,maybe??? It would be delightfully cheesy,but
I doubt it can be done...maybe with the notable exception of the
submarine and the landing craft.
E) Another one involving landing craft: If you're an Engineer on a
landing beach and you can predict with a certain precision WHERE on
that beach an enemy landing craft will...land,then you can place some
MINES or TNT packs just below the surface of the water (REALLY close
to the beach!) and watch them blow up as they land,or set a booby trap
for them! ;-)
I tried this,and while you can really put mines and TNT underwater,
mines don't seem to activate when landing craft "drive" over them :-(
On the other hand,TNT still works,so you can still set "underwater
traps".Look at section [3.5],Being an Engineer.
==========================================================================
[3] General and Special Tactics
==========================================================================
There are some more miscellanea tricks having to do with general
gameplay or with particular maps or situations of the game. Some may have
been already described extensively or in an implicit manner before in this
guide.
==========================================================================
[3.1] Defending
==========================================================================
In this section I present some frequent defense-intensive situations,
in a problem-cause-solution fashion.Here we go:
Problem: "Aaaagh! Those damn planes don't give me a moment of peace,
always bombing the cr@p out of me and my tank,and no AA
guns are avaiable! What can I do?"
Cause: You're in front of the Sky Ace Of The Day...these are people
very good at flying planes and able to bomb and shoot with ease,
anything they spot.Usually they're experts in flight sims and
have a specialized joystick for manouvering so well,which means
that keyboard pilots are no match for them.
They can be a serious problem at places such as Guadalcanal or
Market Garden's church,where there are no AA guns outside
the main bases.
Solution: Organize YOUR TEAM for countering them!
It has to be a collective effort for it to have any chance of
success,unless of course you're none less than Sky Ace Punisher
in person who can do it all by yourself.
If you have any decent pilots and planes,then send a couple of
fighters on their tails,just to keep them busy,if not shooting
them down.
If none on your team is that good,then bring some tanks or APCs
and use their machine guns against the planes,by leading your
shots according to plane position and speed. You may still get
bombed or shot,but at least you will have done something to stop
them, and if you place the tank/APC in a strategical way,you won't
have to die after each attack,just repair you vehicle and heal
yourself for the next attack (an APC & Engineer combo works
great in this and other cases).
If neither are avaiable ,as a last resort have some people
spawn as assaults and send them in places where planes can be
easily spotted and shot,such as the hills with the bunkers in
Guadalcanal or various scout towers. It's a bit poor but better
than nothing.
However,shooting a plane down is only a temporary solution,since
our "Ace" will either survive and parachute,thus giving you more
trouble,or he will re-spawn at his airport and grab another plane,
so you might want to consider a more effective way of keeping
your skies (enemy) airplane-free...
The best way is probably thay of infiltrating the enemy team's
airport and sabotaging their planes continuously.
You can either steal a tank and shoot them,use any AA guns near
their airport,or hide and use a bazooka,or (my favourite) place
mines under the unused airplanes,hide and watch them explode
as soon as our "Ace" sets off for another heroical mission...
Better yet,as some reader of this guide pointed out,would be
to STEAL (without destroying) the enemy's planes: this means that
your team gains an extra plane and the enemy team will LACK a plane,
since it won't respawn unless its destroyed.You could also just park
it in your base by minding it not exploding (keep "using" it by
entering and exiting). Great on Battle Of Britain (see section 4.1).
The only real drawback with that idea is that probably you will have
to compete with the enemy planecampers to grab a plane.These "people"
often don't mind killing THEIR OWN TEAM,let alone you...
This way you will probably get some kills and give your team
time to breathe,not to mention potentially starting a massive
spawncamping and retortion campaign! :-)
This of course can be done on enemy carriers too,apart from
sinking them,which is a more definitive solution...
Problem: "I need to fortify/defend a place frequently attacked by
enemy troops but lacking any stationary guns and vehicles."
Cause: You said it. Such places are Guadalcanal,Market Garden's
Church,southern part of the island on the "Battle Of Midway"
map etc.
Solution: You need a minimum of team cooperation.
Against enemy infantry,try bringing in an APC and a "crew"
composed of at least one Engineer and an Anti-tank or/and
a medic or assault.
This way,somebody sweeps the area with the APC's machine
gun,the APC provides ammo and health as needed,the Engineer
repairs it as needed and the Assault and Anti-tank back the whole
thing up,against infantry and Tanks,respectively.
Depending on the situation,get more Assaults or more
Anti-tanks as needed. You can also run enemy grunts over
with the thing.
If things start getting real bad,just hop into the thing and beat it,
Sounds too simple and corny,maybe but there are not many ways
you can "fortify" an otherwise "sterile" area, which is either
lacking vehicles and/or support structures,or which is too hard to
keep on your side all of the time.
An APC can replace a whole control point if manned with
an adequate crew knowing what they're doing,not to mention
backing it up with a tank,and can also be effectively used for
patrol and anti-aircraft purposes. Yet most people tend to
ignore the whole APC strategies,and regard APCs as useless,
bulky trucks! No sir,they can turn into deadly mobile
control points if used correctly!
Problem: "Damn! Enemy troops and tanks are invading my base
and all I have to use against them is a bloody AA gun!
Do I stand any chances?"
Cause: You or your teamates let them break in,so you're (all)
called for desperate,last ditch,back-against-the-wall etc.
defence.
Solution: The "bloody" AA gun you have,unless it can't be aimed
low enough,is anything but "bloody",so go grab it.
In fact,it can damage tanks,ships,planes and kill infantry,
although you will need direct hits to kill enemy soldiers
(the "smoke" doesn't hurt them). Vehicles are particularly
vulnerable,and if they're not too close to the AA gun,even
close hits will make the flak shells explode,creating the
typical smoke clouds,which do splash damage to anything
armored and mechanical!
The AA guns are built in such a way that you can aim almost
straight regardless of distance,so as you will see it's easier
to hit something with an AA gun than with more conventional means.
And BTW,the smoke clouds can break quite a havoc among your
opponents,making them panic,hiding things from view etc. when they
form close to the ground.
With just a little practice you can too become "The AA Man",
awe and fear of your fiends,in land,sea and sky!
Also,look at the new section [5.3] about the Flakpanzer,which
adds mobility to the AA's gun versatility.
==========================================================================
[3.2] Fighting and combat.
==========================================================================
This section presents common combat problems faced mainly by newbies but
by veterans as well.
Problem: "I can't survive any infantry one-on-one,even enemy Anti-armors
get me all the time".
Cause: You're not very good at foot combat (just for now,I hope).
You probably aren't familiar with your gun's ballistics and you
have no clue of WHERE to hit your opponent. You may also
have no guts,meaning that you don't react promptly and readily
when you see your enemy. You could also be the wrong class
for the situations you find yourself in (no sense being a Scout or
Engineer in Berlin or Stalingrad and the such,you simply won't
stand a chance).
Solution: Practice fighting as a lone soldier,in single player.
Be an assault,or better,a medic. As an assault,keep in mind that
your rifle has great range and power,especially the allied one,
so use them from far away. As a medic,then keep in mind that you
don't have half as much range and power as the assault,so you will
have to become more precise at aiming:
aiming too low will only make you "hit" the opponent's feet,which
does almost nothing in BF1942. Torso shots are already better,but
it may take way more than 2 hits,usually more than 5.
Head shots may resolve in 1 or 2 hits,depends.
You can (must) heal yourself afterwards.
As an engineer or scout at mid distances,you can risk it all in ONE,
ACCURATE head shot with your rifle. If you get it right,then you
saved your butt. If not,then prepare to die or try to beat it.
In closer combat forget the rifle: it's almost useless,especially
as a Scout.
Switch to the pistol,which is however so weak and imprecise that
in close combat's panic you will almost certainly miss or get
inefficient body shots,no good against an allied assault rifle!
Unless you can go straight for the head in any situation,it's
almost better to switch to the knife and approach you opponent
enough. If your opponent hasn't killed you yet after approaching
that much...he deserves getting knived,so give it to him! ;-)
Both will have a hard time aiming,but in this case the knife will
work better than most firearms,even if you don't "aim" it
somewhere precisely. Or you can try and use grenades at a close
to medium distance.
Many people will still focus on killing you,rather than running
away,but at least they will die from the grenade's explosion.
Oops what did you say? The engineers don't have grenades?
Yes,that's true and I HATE it...nothing to do about this.
Too bad,drop some TNT then and blow everybody up,so at least
you will take the harassing bastard with you ;-)
As an Anti-tank,if you have a rocket already loaded and
the launcher on your shoulder,then it's worth giving it a try.
If you get him,it's an istant kill,no wounding and the such.
If not,well,it's the same as for a Scout or Enginner.
You will be surprised however at finding how many Anti-tanks are
good at killing infantry with bazookas! Personally,I got a lot
of kills at close to mid distance on MOVING targets with a bazooka,
against single enemy soldiers of any class.
As a last piece of advice,try to be a little flexible,while you
still can.For example,try to pick up a kit from a dead soldier
(default key: g). If you barely survived a one-on-one as a Scout
against a Medic or Assault,don't risk your butt twice:
grab his kit,heal yourself if possible and kick butt with your new
assault rifle or SMG!
Problem: "A grenade or tank shell sent me flying up into the air.
I didn't die immediately,but I did so when I landed!
Can I avoid that?"
Cause : It has to do with the way shells work in this game,see next
question. Usually however,it works to the infantry's advantage,
in the case of tank shells.
Solution: Hmm,well,if you're sent flying this way then you're already
dead 90% of the time. The best thing you can do is to hit your
'open parachute' command button repeatedly and hopefuly it
will open,saving your butt and maybe your team's fate!
Look also at the next question:
Problem: "I keep shooting at those #$%@ soldiers with my tank's gun,but
all it does is just tossing them in all directions and they mostly
stay alive and blow me up afterwards!"
Cause: Hmm...this is an annoying bug/feature of the game,which has
never been corrected,as most of the time shooting at soldiers
with tanks does them a minimal splash damage and unless it's
a right-on hit,they're generally only tossed around like rag dolls.
Those who are thrown horizzontally receive a minimal amount
of damage,those who are sent up flying die after falling,if they
reached a certain height,unless they're smart and lucky enough
to open their parachute (it doesn't always work at low heights).
The only acceptable explanation for this behavior is that ALL
tanks in this game have ARMOR PIERCING ammo ONLY,which have no
explosive in them,just plain "metal". As a side note,this isn't
realistic,as tanks do have "fragmentation" and "antipersonel"
shells for use against infantry as well as armor piercing ones,
usually with a supply ratio of 3 to 1 or 2 to 1,in WW2 at least,
with the crew choosing the most "adequate" for every situation.
On the opposite,all artillery vehicles in this game,including
ships and defguns,use EXPLOSIVE shells which do much more splash
damage to infantry. Anyway,like it or not,this is how things work
here in BF1942...
Infantry inside BUNKERS,if they're sent up flying by a tank
shell,find themselves ALIVE on the bunker's roof,if they had
full health! Beware of this,as they might retaliate when you
least expect it!
Solution: There's nothing you can do about that really.
It seems that infantry is supposed to react this way when hit
by a tank shell. Very missed hits,roughly those >0.5 "meters"
(that's less than 2 "feet") will at most toss soldiers aside
with minimal damage.Closer ones but not really right-on will
toss the poor soldiers up,at a variable height,and most
(not all) will die from the fall.Right-on hits are an instant
kill but are very rare,and guess what,no flying around!
That's how it works,gentlemen,take it or leave it.
If you don't want to see "flying" or "strafing" soldiers then
just prefer using the coaxial machine gun against infantry,or
become better at aiming the main gun.
Better yet,if your tank is moving,try to run enemy infantry
over and beat it,this usually works better than targetting
them one by one and really "devastates" groups on enemy infantry.
Also,have at least some infantry or another tank to follow your
tank and back each other up.
Problem: "I seem to lose all tank vs tank duels! I keep shooting and
shooting and the grunt from the other tank wipes me out in a hit or
two,apparently unharmed...even if its a Tiger vs Sherman situation!"
Causes: Well,there are a lot of things that may go wrong in such a
confrontation: First of all,your shells may hit with a very
unfavourable angle,and thus deal ridicolous damage to even a
Sherman's side armour,and by not changing your aim or position
things won't get any better. There are also cases of buggy collision
detection happening at close distances,which means that you hit
the ground instead of the enemy tank,passing "through" it unharmed.
Second,even a Tiger can be destroyed in 2 or 3 shots if the
opponent's shells land "in the back" or manage to hit your tank
on the lower floor,by going upwards,not to mention how vulnerable
any tank exposing its rear is.
Computer bots are particularly good at doing this,so when you see
them shooting at your front armor,they're in reality aiming a bit
behind your turret,which is perfectly equivalent to shooting you in
the rear...goodnight!
Third,even a frontal armor hit,in some places and with a perfectly
aimed shot can take more than 30% of the life of a Tiger,so don't
feel invulnerable at all.
Fourth,are you facing a Sherman driving a Chi-Ha or something
equivalent? Look at the next section and see why this can be a
source of troubles and frustration.
Solution: You must become a better tank pilot and gunner,nothing to do.
Things to do when facing other tanks are:
a) Always trying to "face" the opponent with the front of your tank,
never exposing your back.
b) Keep moving for not letting him adjust his aim well on you.
c) Become an expert at long-distance fighting.
d) In close combat,try to run around your opponent while at the
same time aim for his sides or his rear,where he is more
vulnerable.
You'll be surprised at how many people are caught off-guard
if their opponent starts running circles around them!
e) Become an expert in driving and manouvering your tank.
f) As a Japanese,try to steal the allied tanks,they're 100% better.
The Japanese Chi-Ha tank is as frail as a rice-paper origami...
g) This a tactic working mainly against A.I. Bots: be an engineer,
and when your tank is damaged enough get out of it,hide behind
it and start repairing it. Suprisingly,A.I. Bots will stop
using the main gun of their tank (that's because they can
"see" you're not driving the tank any more,and they look at the
empty tank as they would with a boulder) will start using the
machine gun instead,fooled into believing they're facing "only"
enemy infantry,apparently ignoring that blowing up the tank
will kill you if you're too close to it,which you will.
Your tank will protect you,so when you're done repairing it,
jump in and go on with the duel. This balances a bit the deadly
precision of A.I. Bots.
Human players are rather unlikely to fall for it,so don't do
it too often,if at all.
Question: "Why is everybody jumping all the time,on this server?"
Answer: Because it's a good way to avoid headshots and,in general,to make
yourself a tougher target. It seems to work,and it's a common
feature among BF1942,Quake,Medal of Honor and most Front Person
Shooters,for that matter. Nothing do to ABOUT it,just DO it!
==========================================================================
[3.3] Exploits and tricks.
==========================================================================
In this section are presented some of the most frequent exploits or
tricks which you can stumble across (or better,become their victim).
After reading this you will be able to detect,counter and,why not,use
most of them.
Problem: "Help! My ship takes damage regularly and out of nowhere!
No enemy ship nor planes spotted ! What is going on?"
Cause: If you can exclude a submarine attack (according to the map
you're playing on or by sailing a Destroyer) then you
probably are under a "pirate"'s attack!
Do not underestimate this,somebody IS sinking your ship with a
bazooka! If you think that this can't be done then please read
section [2] of this guide and reconsider!
Solution: Walk all over your ship and try to find a bazooka guy shooting
either at your ships AA guns,cannon turrets or at your carrier's
deck and control tower and feed him to da sharks,cap'n!
Problem: "I think that my team's tanks and vehicles SUCK compared to
the enemy's. Is there REALLY a difference or is it just me?
Are they pulling my leg,perhaps? Aren't things supposed to
be even and balanced?"
Solution: Nope,you're not wrong,there are SIGNIFICATIVE differences.
Take Tanks for example: The game roughly classifies them
as Light (or Medium,unclearly) and Heavy,along with other
possibilities found in the expansion packs.
As I got to know more and more and more about tanks and WW2
vehicles,I've thought to add a tiny section at the end of the
FAQ,roughly describing the vehicles (mainly tanks) with some
interesting trivia about each one.
For example,the Allied Shermans,Soviet T-34/76,Axis PzkwIV and
Japanese Chi-ha are all classified as light/medium tanks,which
they mostly were, yet they had (and have) significant differences,
with the Sherman being a balanced design with no real drawback,
the PzkwIV being just a bit tougher and just a bit slower,
the T-34 probably being the most advanced tank design of its
time (historically matched only by the PzkwV "Panther" model)
and the Chi-ha being the worst,with armor as thin as paper and
a cheesy gun,being close in reality to a another vehicle type
found in the "Road To Rome" expansion pack,called "armored car",
which is in reality a light Italian tank,Carro Armato 11/39.
That's why you should grab a Sherman as the Japanese when you
can!
Same thing goes for the heavy tanks,with the axis Tiger
being the tougher(62t!) and more powerful,the allied (US) M10
Wolverine being simply a powerful 75mm gun on a Sherman chassis,
without much armor (around 30t),classified as a "Tank Buster".
and the Soviet T-34/85 being powerful and fast,based on the
reliable T-34 design.
Even the Priest and Wespe (self-propelled artillery,Howitzers)
have differences,with the Priest being surely tougher than the
Wespe. BTW,the Priest uses the Sherman chassis,too!
In the expansion packs,there is a clearer difference between
axis and allied armies,as each have some unique weapons.
Some of these weapons are the axis Sturmgeschutz,which is "frontal
assault self-propelled gun",or the SturmTiger,which is a Tiger
armed with a super powerful mortar or the FlakPanzer,a tank with
an AA flak gun.
There are a lot of other differences,such as the Jeeps,the
planes,the Battleships,even the basic weaponry of the infantry
classes! OK,now,you can't get mad at your opponents because they
start off with better equipment and vehicles than yours,or prefer
stealing your vehicles.That's what the game's about!
It's useful to know these things and being fully aware of them
when in combat,and,why not,using them to your advantage.
Problem: "I can't conquest a particular flag! It only remains grey
but I can't turn it to my team's side,and I can't see any
enemies around! What is going on?"
Cause: Your enemies found an exploit,such as hiding inside a
building (done very often in the Pacific maps) or by
parachuting on top of a building,in an otherwise
unreachable place,and keeping the flag grey from there.
This happens a lot in Operation Market Garden,where the
allies have planes and the axis not,and use them for
parachuting on top of the buildings near the bridge,keeping
at least one flag grey. It's annoying,I agree,but it can be done.
Solution: Find and kill the bastards doing that.As the axis,you can try
to shell them out of buildings,hunt them down one by one,
or steal a plane and follow their steps,doing the same thing
they did to you. In Operation Market Garden you can also
try to use scouts,artillery and AA guns to keep the rooftops
clear of...roofcampers.
On some servers where friendly fire is disabled,you can use TNT
packs to jump on top of building or reach other "interesting"
places.
Problem: "There's a constant rain of grenades coming from nowhere,
decimating our team!"
Cause: Your enemy probably found a "hot-spot" inside some
building,well hidden and with an ammo crate,and uses it
to his team's full advantage. It happens a lot in maps such
as Stalingrad and Berlin,which have a lot of buildings
with multiple stories AND ammo crates. It's a great
way of being a cheap bastard and frustrating the entire
enemy team!
Solution: This time,it's not a matter of planes and the such:
you should either know it yourself and get to these spots
before your enemy does,or organize a "blitz" with some
people brave (or crazy) enough to find and kill the
bastard(s) who are butching your camarades.
You can either use a "direct" approach (assault) or use
snipers to locate those bloodthirsty urchins and wipe them out.
In this case "an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure".
Question: "I wonder if vehicles/ships/planes can self-destruct or
self-damage!"
Answer: Well,most of them can,in a way or another!
If you enter any vehicle (except ships) and use it for a while,
then abandon it,it will blowup after a few minutes (3 or 4 in general
but it can be set by the admin to be any amount of time).
That's probably done for discouraging using them as private
transportation! Watch out,this can happen with landing craft,too!
Landing craft,again,can self-damage with their machine gun,and
of course you can kill anybody INSIDE the landing craft with it,
so be careful!
Entering any plane and releasing a bomb while on the ground is
instant suicide! Doing this on an aircraft carrier also
damages the ship...don't do it! At least,aircraft carriers
are immune to their own AA fire (luckily,because they're
by far the frailest ships and can be sunk even by a parachuting
Anti-armor!).
Another stupid way to die is to release a bomb with any plane
and then dive suddently: instant self-bombing in mid air!
Other vehicles which can self-damage are (so far) the
Japanese Dive-Bomber (The tail-gunner can shoot and damage the
tail of the plane,so be careful!) and the APCs can damage
themselves with their machine gun,if aimed backwards and fully
lowered! Please avoid doing these things,since they're a corny
way to die and make your team lose!
Now,the v1.5 patch fixed the Radar tower S.D. but the newly
introduced patrol boats can damage themselves if they shoot their
flag with the machine gun.AaaagH!!! Also,Destroyers and Battleships
can self-damage with their rear guns if aimed as close as possible,
although this doesn't always happen.
Question: "I wonder if in the "Battle of Britain" map,the objectives
can be destroyed in a way other than bombing them."
Answer: You shouldn't be surprised any more at this point:
Yes,they can be destroyed,and one of the alternative ways
of damaging them is to use,you guessed it,a bazooka!
So,it's on the axis advantage to spawn ALL MEN as Anti-Armors.
As stated before,bazookas deal damage to the Radar Towers
and the Harwich weapon factory. They don't deal MUCH damage,
however,it's only good as a retortion method,e.g. if your plane
was shot down,you can still inflict them damage. Who knows,you
might be a better saboteur than you were a pilot!
The problem is that the map designers probably wanted to
prevent (but not forbid) this by placing no ammo crates near
the radar towers,so you will have to search for more ammo in a
bunker nearby...luckily there are jeeps!
A possible solution is to steal the British APC near the southern
bridge and use it for ammo refilling as needed. You can also
carry a whole team of "saboteurs" with it,from tower to tower!
I'm not 100% sure,but I think that the engineer's TNT DOES damage
the radar towers(not the factory),only that they have much more
life than,say,defguns,so it may take more than 20 bazooka shots
or TNT packs to blow up. It's a helpful contribution to reaching
your team's objectives,however,especially if you suck at bombing
and/or flying.
Other ways include bumping towers and factory with a vehicle
(...lame) or plane (OUCH!) and using an AA gun against them!
There are some AA guns on the British coastline which can be
aimed against the radar turrets,and all AA guns defending the
factory can also be aimed against it,dealing bits of damage,but
damage nevertheless.
Update: It seems that in either v1.45 or v1.5 of the game,AA gun
and bazooka damage to the factory has been removed.It works in v1.4
however,which introduced the Battle Of Britain map.
Question: "Aye Kaptain...so how can we poor British soldiers defend
against such cheap bast.... ehm smart opponents?"
Answer: Read the new section [4.1] about Battle Of Britain,which goes
through a complete defense/counterattack strategy for that
particular map.
Problem: "Hey Kaptain! Have you ever though that after reading your "piracy"
guide,nobody will play the Coral Sea map 'normally' any more !?
Don't you think that you should do something about it?"
Cause: This is an imaginary complaint I thought up,as some of the
most hard-core players might think that sinking the carriers
with a bazooka when this is supposed to be a dogfight and
bombing map reserved to good pilots only simply spoils the whole
game and fun. I can understand that...yet:
a) The game allows it.
b) It can be countered. If you know of the trick and do nothing
to counter it (it doesn't take too much,you know) then you
deserve having your carrier sunk.
c) I didn't exactly "invent" this trick,I just wrote the Guide,
ignoring if it was already common knowledge,or a common secret,
or a taboo. In any case,'scripta manent'!
d) Anyway,the game has been out for more than a year and it has
thousands if not millions of players,so sooner or later somebody
would have discovered and disclosed this 'secret' (I bet that a lot
of people knew this before I even began playing BF1942),so it has no
sense picking on me,poor Kaptain Zyklon.
Solution: Yes,I will bother hinting to a possible solution,if you really
believe there's a problem.
If your carrier is particularly vulnerable to such attacks,then
probably it's also vulnerable to planes bombing it and defguns
shooting it from the island,even from the AA guns in the bay!
What I mean is,you're probably doing a very poor job defending it.
I've seen lots of teams where everybody was flying a plane
(not meaning that everybody was bombing the enemy carrier or
shooting down enemy planes) and nobody guarded,defended or
repaired their carrier.
Such a team will lose pretty quickly anyway,with or without
'pirates'. Sorry for being cynical,but that's the way it is.
An unrepaired carrier goes down in about 10-12 bomb drops,and
about 20 hits from a defgun.
The same team who let me get on their ship undisturbed and
sink it with a bazooka,would probably let me bombard their ship
from the defgun nearby,without ever repairing or hinting to a
minimum of resistance,so it's ridiculous to be so scandalised
about this exploit.
A 'pirate' sinking your ship just speeds up what would have
probably been your fate from the beginning...if you kept no people
defending and repairing.
And yet,defending is that simple: Have at least 2 or 3 people
defending the carrier,and all of these people should be Engineers.
One guards the deck,the others man the AA guns,everybody repairs
as needed and keeps his eyes open for "pirates".
The rest of your team,should spawn as Anti-Armors so that you can
at least try to sink the enemy carrier with your bazooka,if your
pretty plane is shot down.
Question: "What's that El-Alamein "hide under the allied hangar and grenade
the allies" stuff?"
Answer: Here goes,at last,the EXACT technique for doing this rather cheap
trick,thanks to the contributions of many people who I thank (and
mostly wish to remain anonymous).
The trick basically consists in "penetrating" certain walls of certain
buidings,like the mentioned El-Alamein Allied Hangar.
The trick requires a wall and a vehicle to perform.Any vehicle
will do,in general,but some will work better than others.
A tank is the best choice,then it goes jeep,APC etc.
The important thing is to "park" this vehicle as parallel as possible
to the wall you want to "penetrate",leaving some space. There must be
really little space,less than a soldier's width,and the ground under
the vehicle must be as flat as possible (bumpy or inclined terrain can
create problems).
After you parked the vehicle,exit it and then JUMP ON it like if it
was any obstacle.Then walk towards the wall and try to "fall" in the
gap left between the vehicle and wall. If you fall down to the ground,
then you need to bring the vehicle closer to the wall.
If you are instead blocked and cannot fall,then don't give up and
keep walking,eventually lay prone and crawl. If you got the "gap" right,
then you must be penetrating the wall. Once "inside" the wall,you will
be able to see and even shoot outside of it withour being seen or being
hit yourself.
Sometimes however you suddenly die during the "penetration" phase and
that happens more easily if the vehicle is somewhat inclined.You will
also die if you JUMP when "inside" the wall.
The trick works with ALL hangars (their back part) and most "one sided"
buildings,that is,those buildings you're not supposed to enter into
(like those decorative houses in Battle Of Britain). It's easier to do in
El-Alamein because the allied hangar has got lots of free,flat space
behind it,which is somehow unusual compared to most other maps.
Question: "Regarding the new "Invasion Of The Philippines Map",how do get
troops and vehicles across the reefs?"
Answer: In fact,troops can cross water to move from island to island
by passing from the lighter-coloured water on the map.These are
shallow-water passages apparently designed so troops can walk
(without swimming) over them while still able to use their weapons
(but unable to jump). Unluckily,getting vehicles across those
shallow waters is much more tougher,although it CAN be done.
Jeeps explode almost immediately when they touch water,APC's and
tanks last a bit longer (some seconds) so you can cross the
shortest water paths with a tank or APC provided you fully repair
them as soon as you can,like when you touch a small sand isle.
You could also have one or two engineers repair them continuously
as they do the crossing,with the engineers crossing on foot close
to them.
==========================================================================
[3.4] Bazooka Mania
==========================================================================
Yep,this is a chapter dedicated to this much debated weapon of BF1942,
the bazooka,AKA Panzerschreck or Panzerfaust.
For those of you that don't know German,"Panzerschreck" translates
literally as "Tank's Terror", and "Panzerfaust" as "(anti)Tank Punch".
OK,it sounds corny,but that's the way it is!
Speaking of German,a friend of mine (German) said that the German soldier
actually says "Next time..." when he dies. Ouch,aren't they avenging! :-)
Anyway,my point in this case is that the bazooka is a great all-purpose
weapon,probably the most versatile in the entire game,despite its many
limitations and weaknesses. Yet,it's probably the most powerful weapon
that a poor foot soldier can carry,and can be used in many unsuspected ways.
Now,any decent BF1942 player will tell you that the bazooka given to the
Anti-armor class is just for,well,fighting against armored vehicles,that
it's useless against infantry,and that it MAY be used occasionally against
other targets,such as planes,jeeps,landing craft etc.
Some people just love it (especially after having blown an enemy tank with
a single shot in the rear) and some people just hate it (especially after
being gunned down by some enemy assault in a 1 on 1).
This weapon surely has several drawbacks,such as one of the slowest fire
rates (even a plane's bomb is faster at reloading!) ,slow travel speed (the
enemy can actually SEE the rocket coming and even dodge it!),poor accuracy
and balistics and no splash damage (need to get "clean" hits),not to mention
that you can only carry 5 rockets plus one in the "barrel",and that you're
95% toast if faced with enemy infantry.Also,just the act of firing gives a
lot of visual clue,giving away your position almost immediately.
But a bazooka has also several advantages,like:
a) It's the only infantry weapon able to damage ships (see chapter [2]).
Carriers are particularly vulnerable, while Battleships and
Destroyers not as much,but they do take damage nevertheless.
b) It can blow up most "light" vehicles,including planes,in one hit.
It's great for stopping planes from taking-off!
c) It can damage ALL kinds of armored structures in the game,such as
Defguns,AA guns, Radar Towers and even the Harwich Weapon Factory
(in v1.45 and below) in the "Battle Of Britain" bonus map!
Of course,this allows for playing in a REALLY cheap manner.
Imagine every pilot being an Anti-Armor and landing on an enemy carrier
or near the Radar towers: ...goodnight!
d) It has got a much greater range than most people think: In fact,after
some distance a fired rocket just seems to "disappear" into nothing,
and thus many people think that it"extinguishes" or something...Nope!
It's still "alive and kicking" until it hits a target or the ground,
and it has no timed explosion,like grenades do.
Remember this so you can aim at things "beyond the horizon",which
BTW is a bit too limited in this game...you can't "see" past 300m!
e) Even against infantry,it still stands a chance if the user has a rocket
"ready for use" and has a decent aim: a right-on bazooka shot will kill
ANY enemy soldier,and in some situations it's the only thing you can
do to save your butt.
Then,the AI bots seem to use A LOT of bazookas on infantry,not really
caring about wasting rockets,and seem to get you 90% of the time.
Keep in mind that (this is a fact!) an Anti-armor is much better at
close combat than an Engineer or a Scout! The bazooka turns out deadlier
than the bolt-action rifle at short range,not to mention the sniper
rifle...I've survived more one-on-ones as an Antiarmor than as an
engineer (which is my favourite class,BTW).
f) In general,it can turn to be a rather precise weapon if you know how
to use it,and in many situations you actually have greater chances
of hitting something in the mid-distance with a bazooka than with a
pistol or a SMG,not to mention the RESULTS of scoring a direct hit.
What I'm suggesting,in a nutshell,is that teams should use more
bazookamen in some situations where this would seem out of place in a
first glance:
Coral Sea,Battle Of Britain,Omaha beach,Battle Of Midway,etc.
Of course these people must also know how to fly planes,board ships,have
read this Guide :-) and must also be bazooka marksmen!
Remeber however,I'm NOT saying that everyone should be an Anti-armor,but
just that this particular class can be used in SOME particular situations
to give a distinct advantage to his team.Maybe too cheap sometimes,
I agree,but it'll always be an advantage.
==========================================================================
[3.5] Being an Engineer
==========================================================================
Ah...the Engineer...I just LOVE this guy: He can repair anything from
jeeps to ships,making him the Number One choice for being a ship captain
or mighty tank commander.
He can set landmines for all unsuspecting drivers,blowing up Tigers with
a single Landmine,even Landing Craft aren't safe from this guy!
Many people,especially newbies,don't like this class very much,because
he is, admittedly,one of the weakest soldiers in close combat,even lacking
the standard grenades all other classes have (only at long range he's to
be feared,due to his rifle) and he's almost useless in some maps
(Berlin,Stalingrad and the such).
To tell the whole truth,the rifle thing has changed a bit in v1.5 of the
game,where both Japanese and U.S. engineers get semi-automatic rifles which
shoot faster and hold more ammo per clip,but get less extra clips than before
(just 2) and aren't as much as accurate as the bolt-action model,neither do
they zoom in that much.
BTW,you can't reload the M1 Garand of the U.S. engineers before using ALL
of the clip! Realistic...really!
Veteran players on the other hand,as they realize how to play more
efficiently and discover more tricks and exploit of this game,slowly
start preferring him, as missions and objectives become more complicated,
and as vehicles and weaponry start becoming more vital and...hard to keep
in one piece for too long!
I won't tell you how to use your rifle or pistol or knife,but I will
show you,as usual,some interesting things and tricks regarding the
Engineer's unique equipment,which is the almighty wrench,the landmines
and the infamous ExpPack (TNT).
==========================================================================
[3.5.a] The wrench
==========================================================================
The wrench,as I stated,can repair anything that can be damaged,except
soldiers.That includes all types of land vehicles,ships,planes and also
every kind of stationary weaponry or structure,nominally the AA guns,the
fixed machine guns (yes,they can be damaged too!) ,the Defgun towers,
the Radar Towers,the Harwich weapon factory,and also some special
structures found in the official expansion packs,namely "The Road To Rome"
and the much debated "Secret Weapons of WWII". The latter is jam-packed
with special buildings and objectives,and so the engineer becomes a more
important figure.Some examples include the "Wasserfall" V3 rocket,some
buildings or objects in "objective mode" etc.
It can also be used for DEMINING,which is,removing either yours or
the enemy's mines from the ground.To do that,switch to the wrench,approach
the mine ON FOOT (it doesn't explode with soldiers) , press and hold down
the CROUCH button (default: LEFT CTRL) ,point to the mine and use the wrench.
It will be removed,and if you carried less than a total of 8 mines
and TNT packs,it will be added to your arsenal. You can remove TNT packs
in the same way, This way you can clear the path for your team,and
"recycle" useful mines and TNT packs,minimizing waste :-)
Cases of "extreme" repairing,also called "bringing back from the dead"
vahicles and ships are possible. A vehicle which started flaming usually
explodes very soon and you barely have time to abandon it and survive the
explosion. If you are an engineer you can risk it all on an "extreme" repair
attempt.Usually,using a "juiceful" of wrench in time on a flaming vehicle
stops the fire and even gives the vehicle a line or half-line of life.
There are even reported cases of repairing sinking ships (by crews of 3 or 4
engineers) and actually "unsiking" them,as they resurfaced after the
"repairs". Note that in these cases,wrench "juice" will be consumed without
giving life to the flaming/sinking vehicle,until the fire is put off or the
sinking stops.
==========================================================================
[3.5.b] The TNT packs and their thousand uses
==========================================================================
TNT packs are a very versatile weapon. However,they are used mainly for
setting booby traps,as they're not very useful in combat.I will just
illustrate some possible uses:
a) They can be used as remotely activated mines: You can lay down several
of them near a passage used often by the enemy,or near a flag with a
SMALL capture radius,possibly hiding them in so that they can't be
immediately spotted.
Then you hide too (no need to be near,you can also be on the other part
of the map!) and when you notice some "strange movements" you hit the
button and...BOOM!
For example,when you see the flag becoming grey,you know that somebody
is close enough,and unless he's super smart AND an engineer,he will die
a VERY sudden and unexpected death! You can enforce that by using a
Scout & Engineer combo: The Engineer places the TNT,and the Scout gives
the alarm!
b) You can trap vehicles with them. For example,toss some packs INSIDE a
jeep, drive it somewhere and then leave it. When somebody enters the
jeep then...BOOM!
In other words,use the jeep (or another vehicle) as a BAIT.
You can do the same thing to landing craft,especially if you're on an
enemy ship.Look also at section [2.3]!
Also,you can place TNT packs under ANY vehicle and blow it up
anytime,possibly when an enemy approaches and tries to use it.
c) The finest tricks are done with those vehicle which have "cavities"
in them,that is,they can actually CARRY the TNT on them without dropping
it. Such vehicles are the jeeps,the landing craft,and even some PLANES
which have an "open" cockpit when landed,for example,the rear gunner
position on dive bombers.This way,you can blow them up AFTER the enemy
has taken them. The "water buffalo" vehicle found in SW is like a huge
garbage bin,if you get the idea!
Imagine,blowing a plane IN THE AIR with a pack of TNT,or sinking a
landing craft full of people just before it reaches the beach or in
the middle of the sea and out of nowhere! They must be VERY HUMILIATING
ways to die...
d) TNT packs,unluckily,don't damage ships but they do damage defguns,
Radar Towers and Wasserfall rockets. Use this to your advantage.
You can also exploit this if you're guarding a ship,for example,by
placing a pack near each climbing net or near every AA gun on the
carrier,so to dissuade wannabe "pirates".
e) In combat,if you manage to sneak behind an enemy tank or vehicle and
they don't see you,then place some TNT over it,get away and blow it up.
Two TNT packs will blow up a fully repaired light tank,3 or more
required for the heavy ones.
f) Joe Momma's FAQ,states that in some servers where friendly fire is
disabled,which means that you don't suffer damage from your teammates
or your own bombs/TNT,you can use the TNT packs to make very high jumps
(!) and reach otherwise unreachable places,and other things along these
lines.
Sounds fun,although I never tried it! Read Joe Momma's BF1942 FAQ if you
want to learn more about these tricks!
g) In BF1942,the whole "sea" in the pacific maps,all water courses,all
lakes and the such are at most only a few meters deep (no more than 3 or 4),
while most of the sea's bottom is made of "white void".
You can check this yourself in some servers where the "free camera"
is activated (In single player,type "freecam 1" in the console,in v1.4
and above to enable it,and "freecam 0" to disable it) when you have not
spawned. Now,I found TNT packs to work very well underwater (at least
they explode,and hurt infantry),so one possible use is to "trap" landing
beaches with lots of TNT packs. This should be a very original "surprise"
for your opponents!
The fact that the "sea" isn't very deep means that any possible targets
will never be too far away from the TNT!
You could also thrown them in the mid of the sea and make them explode
when a soldier swims by or a landing craft passes by...OK,it probably
is useless or has a 1 in a Million chance of happening...but it can be done!
h) Ehm...the previous point raises a question: Are ships vulnerable
from "underwater" TNT? (UNTESTED,please report if you know more).
This could be the only way of actually hitting THE BOTTOM of a ship!
==========================================================================
[3.5.b] The Landmines
==========================================================================
Ah,the infamous landmines,the "menace from below"...Ok,just to get into
cheesyness,note that REAL mines aren't laid in such a visible manner as
in this game (they are more dropped than laid...) but nevertheless,for
the way the game and visuals are made,people still fall for them,in
other words,they usually don't/can't see them,especially from vehicles,
which is what makes them so deadly.
Landmines have an unique trait: They're an INSTANT kill no matter which
vehicle sets them off: A Tiger as well as a jeep,fully repaired,will both
go to pieces if they step on one,and there can be no survivors.
Also,the explosion from the vehicles also has effect on any INFANTRY near
the vehicle,so they can turn out to be much more deadlier than you first
thought!
To counter them,you should have an engineer follow each vehicle
(what? NO ENGINEERS on your team? Get this RIGHT,NOW!!!)
BTW,when you get a red "skull and crossbones" warning icon on the right
of HUD,then it means that there is "friendly" TNT or Landmines nearby,that
is,TNT and Landmines set by some of your teammates,or by yourself.
This feature has been introduced in v1.3,I recall,and it appears from a
decent distance,so you have time to avoid your own mines or move away from
a hidden TNT pack. Needless to say,your opponents don't get such a warning
about YOUR mines,and neither do you for THEIR mines.
Now,landmines don't offer themselves to many other uses other than blowing
up vehicles,unlike TNT,but you can still do a couple of cheesy tricks with
them:
a) Except from blocking roads,bridges etc. with them,you can also trap
vehicles,such as tanks,jeeps,APCs,etc.,by placing a mine in front
(and one behind,if you want) of the vehicle,and so any grunt hopping into
the vehicle will blow up as soon as he moves. You can do it EVEN worse,by
proning and placing the mine exactly UNDER the vehicle,as centered as
possible. This way,just BOARDING the trapped vehicle will result in its
destruction.
b) You can also place them under or in front of PLANES,in airfield or
aircraft carriers.It's rather unlikely that a pilot checks the airfield
for mines, and if you know exactly where the plane will pass for takeoff,
you can place them so far away from the plane that they won't be visible
until the very last moment, when the plane has already speeded up...BOOM!
It's also even more unlikely that the enemy will bother checking the
whole airfield before taking off,so you can make a couple of easy
(and humiliating) kills.
c) You can actually lay mines in shallow water of throw them in the sea
from a ship,like you can with TNT...only that they don't seem very
useful...not even landing craft explodes from contact with them...
pity. At least you can make TNT explode when you want,unlike mines.
d) A new,possible use (tested): place a mine somewhere on the ramp of the
"Natter" rocket,found in the SW expansion pack,possibly in a not too
obvious position. Needless to say...it will blow up before even taking
off.BTW,the Natter is the weakest vehicle in the game: 3 rifle shots
will make it burn and explode!
==========================================================================
[3.6] Individual Infantry Weapons
==========================================================================
Some of the new features introduced by the SW pack and to a lesser extent,
v1.5 of the Basic BF1942,are simply new infantry weapons and some new
vehicles replacing older ones,mostly.
--------------------------
Fallschirmjager Gewehr 42:
--------------------------
Avaiable to axis assaults in some SW maps,where it replaces the famous
Sturmgewehr 44.The FG 43 was also an innovative weapon,being a cross
between a lightweight assault rifle and a fully-powered machine gun,like
the allied Bar1918 or the Japanese Type99. Anyway,it makes up for the
Stg44's lack of power compared to the Bar1918,and it's also a bit more
accurate than both.
--------------
Gewehr 43 ZF4:
--------------
You will love this weapon.It's a semi-automatic sniper rifle weapon
avaiabe to axis scouts on some maps (like Kbely airfield).
It's as powerful and accurate as a normal scout rifle,but it can shoot
faster because it's semi-automatic,and it doesn't zoom out after each shot.
It also allows you to correct aiming errors by getting double and even
triple shots on a target before he even realized what happened.
The only drawback it has is that it only holds 5 rounds and you only
get 2 extra ammo clips,which somehow spoils the fun of semi-auto
sniping :-)
-----------------
M1 Garand/Type 5:
-----------------
They are both semiautomatic rifles,avaiable to U.S. and Japanese
engineers in pacific maps,with the v1.5 patch installed.
They hold 10 rounds and come with two extra clips but they aren't as
accurate as the standard bolt-action rifles used in previous versions,
and they don't "zoom in" half as much.They also have too much recoil,
which makes continous shooting difficult.You can greatly reduce the
recoil by crouching or proning,which makes them more acceptable.
At close range,they are somehow better than the single-action rifle
but there's recoil to take into account. Also,the U.S. engineers have
one extra handicap: they must shoot ALL of a clip to be able to reload!
In fact,it was very difficult to manually remove a round from the chamber
of the real M1 Garand,due to the awkward top-loading system,and this was
replicated in the game,including the characteristical "ping" and ejection
of the empty ammo clip.
----------
Mauser K98
----------
This is the name the game gives to a very common infantry rifle's
optional: a simple grenade launcher,which is ignited with a blank
cartridge,and is "plugged" before the rifle's muzzle.
It shoots grenades which go roughly as far as hand grenades and explode
after about 3 seconds,doing almost the same damage,only that they
bounce off walls and slide on the ground much more than hand grenades.
Avaiable to axis engineers on some maps (Hellendoorn,Essen...) as a
grenade substitute. Having used them in combat,they generally stand up to
their role as a hand-grenade substitute for the engineer class. They're
great for guarding narrow passages and if shot from behind alleys ,inside
buildings etc.and you get 6 at a time...not bad!
-------
Shotgun
-------
Duh...well,it's a 12 gauge semi-automatic shotgun,which holds 5
cartridges at a time,much like those used for hunting,only it can be
reloaded with a clip and you get 4 extra clips.
It shoots "buckshots",that is,spreading pellets.
From close range,a single shot is an instant kill 90% of the time,but
accuracy and effectiveness decreases a lot over distance,much like a
pistol. A good close-quarters combat weapon,and interesting against planes
and vehicles,or groups of infantry. It's avaiable to allied engineers
only,on some maps (Hellendoorn,Essen...).
==========================================================================
[4] Special map-related strategies.
==========================================================================
I felt that people could use some advice about some particular maps of
BF1942,where most players and teams seem to have serious difficulties at
comprehending "what's going on" and even more at winning or just being
decent. These include "The Battle Of Britain","Coral Sea" and "Operation
Aberdeen",each with its catches and glitches.
For now,I only include an extensive "Battle Of Britain" guide."Coral Sea"
is covered in the "vs Ships" section.
==========================================================================
[4.1] The Battle Of Britain map
==========================================================================
This is a map where a lot of people fail to understand what to do,despite
the very short and IMHO,very clear briefing of the map's objectives which
pops up before the game starts,in every map -and which nobody reads,of course-.
Failure to do often results in disastrous,total defeats,especially for the
poor allies.Keep on reading and find out yourself!
To begin with,the map is IMHO very unbalanced in favour of the axis team,
which 'only' has to destroy five enemy structures (it's EASIER than it
sounds,actually!!!),has a hundred of effective ways of doing it
(bombs,bazookas,TNT packs,even grenades!!! Hey,how'bout a Wespe and a
Defgun,too?) and what's best,the axis has -almost- nothing to lose
(like vital structures or spawnpoints).
The worse thing that can happen to the axis team is to get their airport
bombed or spawncamped by the allied team,which isn't much of a threat
unless the allies are REALLY good at that,or there's not much time left.
So,the simplicity of the mission and the relative "safety" of the whole team
plays greatly in favour of the axis,at least with long games (either lots of
time or lots of tickets).
The british team on the other hand has,alas,a much more complex mission:
there are 5 objectives to defend,which are the 4 radar towers on the coast
and the big weapon factory in the middle of the main base.Lose them to the
enemy and you lost the map,point. Hold AT LEAST ONE until the enemies
tickets run out and you win,point.
You just can't imagine how many people just don't get the point of this
map! I've even seen people NOT KNOWING what or where the radar towers
were,let alone using and/or repairing them...no wonder their team lost
in less than 10 minutes! But...don't worry ! The Kaptain is here to help
you out...
==========================================================================
[4.1.a] The Battle Of Britain map: axis strategy
==========================================================================
Ugh...this is too cheesy to describe even for me: just grab a plane,no
matter if a bomber or fighter and...bomb and dogfight,as you would expect.
Since most of your opponents will have no clue of how to defend,you can
quickly wipe out at least a radar tower in the first 3 minutes,encountering
little resistance. Later,you might have to face defending spitfires,yet
the BF109 as well as the JU-88 can both be very deadly at dogfighting.
Even if you're shot down but survive and parachute,you can still deal damage
by: a) being and antiarmor and shooting the objectives with the bazooka
b) being an Engineer and placing TNT packs near the objectives
c) use your grenades against towers
d) kill enemy soldiers,especially those manning AA guns
e) 'sabotage' the enemy airfield by placing mines,using their AA guns
against them etc.
f) Steal their planes and vehicles,creating even more havoc.
You can even defeat the radar towers' foresight by flying lower than them
(normal visual contact still works,though),cancelling out what little aid
the poor allies have.
The worst thing that can happen to your team is,as I said,having your
airfield bombed,spawncamped by enemy bazookamen and engineers,and your
planes stolen or sabotaged (mostly the JU-88s). All these things mainly
make you lose time and tickets,which are the only thing critical to the
axis.
It can be a serious threat if it's done to you at the beginning of the
battle,or when most of your team is grounded for some reason.
In fact,your team is costantly losing tickets since the beginning at a
costant rate (you can't stop that),and unless you have lots of losses,100
tickets 'last' for about 15 minutes at a normal rate. Increasing them to
200 or 300 means 30 or 45 minutes,which IMHO is really overkill,since the
objectives don't regenerate! Some servers put a time limit of 25 or 30
minutes,which usually means victory for the allies,if they manage to survive
that long. Deaths do deplet your tickets,though,but to a very minor extent.
So,unless your teammates have no clue about the objectives,your team counts
less than 6-7 persons,and your time/tickets start up very low (such as 100
tickets and 10 minutes),this map is almost a "piece of cake"!
In other words,if you want to be a (big or cheap,your choice) bastard,pick
the axis! :-)
==========================================================================
[4.1.a] The Battle Of Britain map: allies strategy - defending
==========================================================================
First of all,EVERYONE on the British team BE AN ENGINEER!!!
Later you will see why. This is true especially if your team has less than
ten (10) players. I've estimated that you need roughly a 2:1 friendly:enemy
forces ratio to stand a chance of surviving in the long term,unless games
are timed to be very short,or your opponents are not very smart (it has
happened...and I was GLAD...).
Let's make it clear once again: this is an objective map and you have
to DEFEND your objectives,which are static structures (buildings) which
cannot move,cannot fight for themselves,are very exposed to hostile fire,
and once you lost them you don't get them back.
You have FIVE (5) of these structures.
FOUR (4) of them are RADAR TOWERS,and ONE (1) of them is a weapon factory.
The Radar Towers:
-----------------
Don't expect anything fancy,they're just a defgun-like bunker with a radar
and an AA gun on top of them. They work as SPAWN POINTS and as WEAPONS,and,
guess what,they can be damaged and,luckily for you,repaired.
When you still have them,you can see them on the map like any spawn point.
They're distributed along the coastline,and SHOULD be your first line of
defense against the enemy.
How to use them:
-----------------
Enter them like you would with a defgun or vehicle,and you will have a
view from the top of their roofs,controlling an AA gun and having a
rotating RADAR TRACE on your mini-map and big map,too. This trace works
like the destroyers' sonar,by revealing you the enemies plane position
when they're in range (about one map square).
Again,don't expect anything too fancy: you only see a white spot BLINKING
and MOVING for a while on your minimap,when it's "scanned" by the trace.
This is usually enough to reveal you the enemy's position and direction
with a 1 to 3 second advantage ,which allows you to at least aim in the
right direction with the correct leading.
Why they're so important:
-------------------------
Yep,even if they're your first line of defense,they're also one of the
enemy's objectives! This means that they will be under constant attack
with all means possible: "standard" bombing attacks and sometimes "subtle"
grenade,bazooka or TNT attacks from the ground,usually by
shot-down eager-for-revenge axis pilots!
Very desperate/fanatic axis pilots will even crash their planes on them,
with devastating results!
Hell,at least they can't capture them or use them against you...
So,why are they so important? Because when destroyed THEY DON'T RESPAWN,
you have less defense means,and if you lose ALL of them (plus the factory)
you LOSE THE BATTLE!!!
How to keep them standing:
--------------------------
It's a fact,these things are very vulnerable to plane bombs (up to 30%
damage from a single bomb,reported in the field!!!),much less to TNT etc.
and can even self-damage (!) if you hit your own radar's antenna.Finally,
they can damage one another if carelessly aimed!
To be fair,I must say that in v1.5 of the damage done by a single bomb
seems reduced to roughly 15% (half of what it used to be),they do hit each
other and don't self-damage any more,but again,defense is problematic.
The only way of making them last longer is to repair them.
This is why you have to be an engineer. Unluckily,a single engineer can
repair at most 20% of a damaged tower in one go,and is somehow slow at
doing that,so having TWO people at each tower (one shooting,one repairing,
switching places when necessary) is already much better.
The one staying "out" can take cover from enemy bombs by hiding in the
nearby bunker or as "inside" as possible in the radad tower itself.
He should also be guarding against enemy "saboteurs". The bunker can also
provide healing (all bunkers near the radar towers have a medical closet),
so having a medic nearby is purely optional. Engineers and more Engineers,
again.
Now,if you team has LOTS of people (more than 15) or you lost one or two
towers,have 3 (three) or more engineers per tower and -maybe- a medic or an
APC for healing,ammo source and extra defense.
If that's not enough:
--------------------------
Unluckily,even with such care,if enemies "gang up" on a single tower and
manage to drop 3 or 4 consecutive bombs,then that tower is history,and
there's nothing you can do (it's impossible to shoot down 3 or 4 planes
at once,or repairing it as quickly as it's damaged).
A different strategy may be required then...look section [4.1.c]
The Harwich Weapon Factory:
---------------------------
It looks like the "standard" factory building found in other maps of this
game,only this time it can be bombed and damaged,and if you lose it,along
with the other structures on this map,then you lost.
Now,the factory itself can't be "manned" and doesn't have any weapon
mounted directly ON it,but it's surrounded by 3 or 4 AA guns,spawns several
jeeps and APCs,and has an airfield nearby,where 2 Spitfires at a time spawn
,and also has an extra AA gun,jeep and APC for your convenience.
Trivia: the factory is,in reality,a "box" containing a pile of rubble,the
one you see when it is destroyed.Not only that,but at least on Single Player,
the factory is "manned",having a poor lone soldier inside,under(!) the pile
of rubble. You see that soldier's name each time you look at the factory.
I don't know how you can "enter" the factory like that,or what you can do
in that position...who knows?
Defending it:
-------------
Defending is straightforward: man the AA guns and shoot'em down.Again,
all defenders be engineers and repair BOTH the factory and AA guns.
Keep in mind that though the factory has more life than the towers,it's
VERY hard to repair,taking about 5% damage with each bomb.
So don't have JUST ONE engineer...everybody should be one ,so they can
contribute as needed.
If an gun AA gets heavily damaged,it's better to repair it quickly or
else you will lose some time until a new one respawns,being left with
one or more AA gun less!
Remember that the enemy can still parachute in your base and do some
generic sabotage such as killing defenders,damaging the factory etc. so
have some people (one or two) guarding the area,preferably using the APC,
which has a powerful machine gun and provides healing and exra AA defense.
Oh and don't shoot your factory with the AA guns! It does little damage,
but damage nevertheless! Now,it seems that bazooka and AA damage to
the factory has been removed with v1.5...
==========================================================================
[4.1.b] The Battle Of Britain map: allies strategy - organisation
==========================================================================
Of course,all this defending and manning AA guns and towers is useless
unless done correctly and IN TIME,with EVERYBODY knowing their role.
Sorry if this sounds too complicated and hard,but so it is.
A very efficient team organization is required to even stand a chance
against the attacking axis,and not losing your structures right from the
start. So here goes:
a) Man all radar towers right from the start. Spawn there quickly,as
they're the first objectives to be attacked,especially the WESTMOST radar
tower, which faces directly the allied airfield.It's the first to be
attacked and,alas,usually the first to fall.
b) Be An Engineer ,B.A.E. I will never get tired of saying this.
Assaults and Scouts have no place on this map,especially on the allied
team. Medics? Hmm...barely...Engineers make good repairmen when defending
and good saboteurs, when on the enemy's airfield.
A medic can hide and survive longer,though when "spawncamping".
c) Use APCs. Make regular routes from tower to tower,patrolling the coast.
Use their machine gun against parachuters and saboteurs. Bring ammo and
healing to your teammates "working" at the towers. Move out quickly if
somebody sends an "infantry spotted" alarm from the factory or from the
towers. Have a whole team of engineers driving around with them.
You get A LOT of APCs in this map,so use them.
d) If you're a guarding engineer and your help is needed somewhere else,
grab a jeep (plenty of them) and drive there quickly. Run saboteurs over
with them. ;-)
e) The level is literallly cram-packed with AA and fixed machine guns,so
use them on the enemy planes and saboteurs. Each (good) shot brings you
closer to victory!
f) Use your planes,if you can,to intercept enemy planes,especially the
big JU-88 bombers. You get 2 airfields which spawn 2 Spitfires each
,replaced as soon as they're destroyed,or even faster.
They're also the only means of reaching the axis' airfield.
If you can't use them,then at least make it so that they don't fall in
the hands of the enemy and used against you,like they didn't get lots
of planes on their own...
A man using the AA at each airfield is enough for this job (and is an AA
gun more in the battle!).
g) Remember,an efficient defence is only half or maybe a quarter of victory.
For reasons that will be clear in a while,this defensive tactic basically
helps you BUY TIME for counter-attacking the enemy base,since it's very
hard to keep this pace for a full 30 minute game,and you can't stop 10 (not
even 3 or 4 !) planes ganging up on a single tower!
h) If you want(have) to counter-strike have only a PART of your team doing
it.If you have a too small team (<8 persons) then forget it,stay in and
defend,or send at most a person or two.
Anyway,always leave a reasonable number of defenders. Let's say 75% or
more defending and 25% or less attacking. If you have the numbers to do
it, a "task force" of 3 or 4 soldiers at the enemy's airfield really
means business!
==========================================================================
[4.1.c] The Battle Of Britain map: allies strategy - attacking
==========================================================================
Ok,so all staying in defending isn't always the best thing to do,as you
may have figured out. This is especially true if the game turns out
lasting too long due to the teams starting with too many tickets (>150)
or too much time (>30 or even infinite) and too many players (>10 on
both teams),since all of these things greatly favour the axis,which
have all the time and means to gang up on objectives and give the allies
no peace,with almost continous attacking waves.
The problem is that the axis team can keep an almost constant attack wave,
since they get a lot of bombers and a lot of fighter planes. If your
opponents are half decent,they won't let you even consider repairing your
objectives. As I said before,a radar tower goes down if 3 or 4 consecutive
bombs hit it. With little effort,the axis planes can gang up on a single
tower at a time,making defense almost impossible.
So,what to do? You have to cut-off or at least slow down the enemy's
plane's supply (this looks like the hint against enemy pilots,in section
3.1).
The whole idea is to fly to the enemy airfield and then do a whole series
of sabotage and diversive actions. If done correctly,you will cause loss
of vehicles,planes and get a few kills,but mostly you will make them lose
time and tickets,and prevent attacks on your territory.
Here are some ideas:
a) Simply bomb them and machine gun them,using your plane.Try to destroy
grounded planes,especially the JU-88s. Watch out,as these respawn at a
rather fast rate. Precisely,they respawn as soon as they're shot down!
Better yet is to...
b) ...steal THEIR planes and use them for bombing etc. The JU-88s machine
guns are great for use on the ground,too! I don't know if there's an
an actual limit to the number of JU-88s that can exist at once (maybe 3).
If that's the case,then even stealing (NOT destroying) one or two
greatly slows down their attack waves. Even stealing them and just
parking them in your british hangar will prevent them from respawning,
unless they are stolen back(!) or destroyed.
c) From the ground,use their airfield's AA gun and destroy their planes.
Simple but effective. Mind not getting caught,though!
d) Be an engineer and place TNT or better,MINES under planes:they will
go boom as soon as they are moved! Make their airfield a living hell!
e) Be an antiarmor and shoot at planes taking off,destroying them in one hit.
f) Drive vehicles and planes in the mid of the airfield and leave them there
as obstacles. Lame,but slows down/crashes planes!
==========================================================================
[5] The Secret Weapons Of WWII: Where and How to use them?
==========================================================================
Let's face it: the SW expansion pack has surely created some fuss around
and about it: some love it,some hate it,some say it's just a marketing
ploy,even that it's disrespectful to veterans and to the soldiers who
sacrificed their lives in WWII,as an anonymous letter to the U.S. edition
of PC gamer issue 10 of 11/03 stated.
What's sure is that it's a better expansion pack than "The Rome To Rome",
both in quantity AND quality,despite the hype and criticism.
And it's also sure that it has generated a lot of questions around it,
like "where are the Jetpacks and how do I use them" or "where is vehicle
x found?" etc. And surely,there's some space for a few new "combat tricks"
in this section,starting with...
==========================================================================
[5.1] The Jetpacks
==========================================================================
Probably,they are the reason why everyone bought this expansion. :-)
Ok,let's be quick about this: The Jetpacks are to be found only
in THREE (3) maps out of the 8 present in the expansion pack.
These are:
a) Hellendoorn (also in the stand-alone Demo):
Search the third floor of the building in front of the church,
which is in map square [D3],in the rightmost and lowermost corner of
that square,right next to the flag.You or the opponent must have
captured that flag for them to appear. There must be TWO jetpacks
in the same room.
b) Essen:
This map has three known jetpacks:
One spawns at the third floor of the building near the broken bridge
and the capturable flag in map square [C5],that's the eastmost flag
of this map. That building also has a sign saying "Wilder Eber"
(wild bore) outside.
Another one spawns at the third floor of the building in the alley
just after the factory's bridge,with a "Der Lowe" (The Lion) sign outside,
that's near the flag called "The Cafe'".
And,yet another one is avaiable to the germans right inside the bunker
near the factory's bridge!
Of course someone must capture the flags first for them to appear.
c) Kbely Airfield:
This map also has 3 known jetpacks:
You can find two of them in the back rooms of both hangars in the axis
airfield (in the middle room,to be precise).Two hangars,hence,two jetpacks.
The third one is found at the last floor (the loft) of the house in map
square [E5],near the flag called "CENTRAL HOUSE".
How to Use them:
----------------.
First of all,you pick them up like you would with a soldier's kit,by
using the (default) "g" key or whatever you chose for that function.
Oops,what's this? Your equipment changes to: Knife,Pistol,Submachine gun
and Grenades,much like a Medic without a medikit! You can't do nothing
about this,since this is supposed to be the "jetpack soldier's kit".In
other words,forget the brave British Commando (?) you see in the intro,
blowing a Sturmtiger up with his bazooka after he got "enhanced" with the
new jetpack...pity!
Using it requires some practice: practically it replaces your normal
jump abilities and (partly) your parachute.It is activated by using the
jump button (default:space).Pressing and holding it once results in
a stationary high jump.To "fly" you must keep tapping the space key
continuously,the faster you tap the higher you will fly,up to a certain
limit,depending on jetpack conditions and your initial height.
Also,if you want to fly "forward" you must first run for a while on the
ground to gain some initial forward speed (the jetpack mostly provides a
vertical boost).
Be careful however,as the jetpack has a heat indicator near your
health bar.In fact,it heats up each time you use it,and when it hits
the top the jetpack overheats and jams,and you can't "push" it anymore,
so you will just have to wait for it to cool down.BTW,v1.5 reduces the
heatup and cooldown time significantly over v1.45.
Now,there's another glitch with the jetpack: since you have no parachute
if you pick it up,it partly (I state that,PARTLY) replaces the parachute
function,but not quite! The jetpack,even when it overheats,somehow slows
down your descent in any case,but not to completely safe levels!
It's up to you to tap the jump button as needed to slow down to an
acceptable speed.
Usually this results in your soldier taking a bit of damage each time
he lands! Be aware of that,as you may end up half-alive in the middle of
a battle just because you tried to "fly" your way there.
Are they any good?
------------------
Well...IMHO the jetpack has been somehow over-hyped by SW ads,the
specialized press and the SW intro itself,while in reality it turns out
to be a gadget of limited combat value,at least as a "front line" weapon.
The "combat kit" it leaves you with is a bit scarce,there are only two
or three at a time (in three out of eight new levels...) and the usage
experience is really distant from the much promised "air battles for
infantry...".
In other words,if you dreamed of having a whole team of flying snipers
and bazookamen,hiding on the most remote roofs and leaping from roof
to roof like some sort of Spring-heeled Jack or Superman then forget it,
we're talking about two or three players at most. BTW,you can see if the
jetpacks are "taken" by pressing the TAB key and looking for the "jetpack
symbol" before some soldier's name.It's also lighter coloured,so it stands
out.
It surely enchances the MOBILITY potential of a soldier by making him
able to escape from most one-on-ones or from desperate situations and
allowing him to "sneak behind" enemy lines and bases in a way that's hard
to counter,allows him to cross rivers and hills with a giant "leap" etc.
The Jetpack Soldier:
--------------------
The ideal use of the jetpack soldier is to capture enemy flags in a
stealthy fashion,avoiding direct confrontation with "normal" infantry
unless it's strictly necessary.The Jetpack is a rare and precious item,
and it's surely a pity to get wasted by some grunt in the middle of
nowhere and losing it to the enemy team. Besides,if they figure out
you have the jetpack,they will actively hunt you down to get it for
themselves. Sadly,this sometimes includes your teammates (TKers...)
In other words,think of the Jetpack class as a STEALTH class,who can
elude heavy defenses and hide on the top of buildings,overcome natural
obstacles easily etc. When you DO capture an enemy flag then BEAT IT,and
go for another flag trying not to give your position away. Your place
isn't at the first line,and using the Jetpack is an even bigger
responsability than using your team's planes.
Also,the good Jetpack soldier should try to get healed every time he
can (APCs,medical closets and boxes etc.) as he is likely to lose some
health each time he lands.
Beware of low-flying planes though,as they will kill you if they "bump"
you,without exploding.Another possible (but somehow stupid) use of the
jetpack is to fight enemy planes and parachuters.I do not reccommend it,
though,it's better to cap flags and avoid the "groundhogs" as possible.
==========================================================================
[5.2] Sturmtiger
==========================================================================
Tough,boxy and powerful,that's the 'new' Sturmtiger introduced in SW.
It's probably the most powerful land-based weapon of all the game,as only
B-17 bombs and Battleships' artillery barrage can compare to the
destructive power of its 38 cm super-heavy mortar (it technically was a
big-big mortar shooting special rockets,not a naval gun).
It moves around a bit faster than the "normal" Tiger,with which it shares
the lower part of the hull,but has no anti-infantry and anti-airplane
protection,so keep it well-away from enemy infantry and planes,as it
constitutes a rather big target.
Using its main (and only) gun is a bit tricky. You only get 15 "shells"
per time,reloading time is long but acceptable,and the gun's horizontal
trasverse is very limited,so you will have to manually turn the whole tank
to aim accurately. Aiming ballistics are different from those of a normal
cannon: the missiles shot travel almost straight for quite a distance,so
its better to aim "directly" on enemy tanks or infantry,as trying to aim
slightly higher will usually result in the rocket passing OVER them with
no harm,unless they're REALLY far away.
It hurts enemy tanks a lot,being able to destroy most if not all of them
in one direct hit,and 2 or 3 hits with "splash" damage. Again,it's best
used by some distance taking advantage of the gun's power and accuracy,
which is surprisingly high,and it's very wise to guard it with another
"normal" tank,better if a FlakPanzer.
What's great,is that the Sturmtiger can also use artillery,enabling you
to strike enemy targets from REALLY far away,and with devastating results.
==========================================================================
[5.3] FlakPanzer
==========================================================================
The FlakPanzer is one of my favourite weapons in the SW expansion pack!
It makes for a really awesome weapon,in the right hands.
It shoots faster than the normal AA guns (almost twice as fast but can
overheat) and can be aimed much lower,becoming a deadly anti-infantry
weapon,apart from the fact that IT CAN BE MOVED,with the speed and
mobility of the trusty PanzerIV. It also seems to be more accurate against
infantry,thanks to the faster firing rate. Its quadruple AA guns can
damage virtually anything in the game,and if used from a safe distance
it can become a great anti-tank weapon too.
Aiming the guns is quite fun,as they have a practically straight shot
regardless of distance. Its ideal use is guarding bridges and narrow
streets and passages from a distance,like in Essen or Telemark,breaking
havoc and confusion due to the "smoke puffs" of its shells,which hide the
tank from view and spare no light vehicle.
Beware of close encounters with normal tanks and bazooka infantry though,
as it has less armor than a normal PanzerIV.Also,when you're using the
flak guns,you're exposed to enemy snipers and grenades dropped into the
"cavity" of the flak turret. Its better to be an engineer when using it,
as you usually get only one or two FlakPanzers at a time,so using it is a
kind of a responsability.
Also,don't forget to visit an ammo source from time to time,as the 300
flak shells it holds run out pretty quickly!
Needless to say,it's also great as an anti-aircraft weapon,which is the
point of its existence....
==========================================================================
[5.4] Sherman T34 "Calioppe"
==========================================================================
It works exactly like a regular Sherman until you switch to the secondary
gun position: then you control the famous T34 "Calioppe" rocket launcher
(nothing to do with the Soviet T-34 tank).
You shoot straight rockets which do roughly the same damage as grenades
or bazooka rockets.You can shoot them almost continuously but the launcher
overheats after 5 or 6 rockets,so you will have to keep a slower pace.
Once you finish the rockets you must visit an ammo source,as you get
no "spare" rocket load.It ideal usage is like that of the Flakpanzer
against ground forces,only it packs a heavier punch against enemy tanks
and infantry groups and it still has the ordinary gun and coaxial machine
gun,which is no small thing. Aiming the rocket launcher requires some
practice however,as the rockets are slow and rather inaccurate.
Also,it's more vulnerable to enemy planes compared to a normal Sherman,
so beware. As a last comment,the rocket launcher can use artillery just
like the "Stalin's Organ" of the original Battlefield 1942.
==========================================================================
[5.5] Wasserfall V3 rocket
==========================================================================
Even though they are one of the most difficult weapons to control in the
entire game,with some training you can become decent enough to shoot down
the larger planes such as the C-47 or the Flying Wing.
In the maps where it's avaiable (Essen,Mimoyecques,Peenemuende) it's best
used against the C-47 (transport plane) which is slower and bigger than
the others,and potentially carries more people.
It's relatively easy to track it down on the map and even make two or
three "attempts" with the same rocket,if at first you "miss" the enemy
plane. For people like me,who aren't exactly sky aces and somehow hate
those arrogant,self-confident pilots,the V3 rocket is a real gift from
above. Sweet,sweet revenge :-)
You have to be quick and precise,though. Low lag and high framerate help
a lot. Training in single player also helps a lot.And,last but not least,
having no people that TK for using the rocket would be nice,too :-)
However,once you shot down that (or any other) plane,the best thing to do
is to shoot rockets against the enemy airport and destroy the same plane
again even before it takes off (it usually respawns as soon as it's
destroyed).It works wonders in Mimoyecques and maybe Essen,if you're good.
This makes for a very sophisticated and demoralizing form of spawncamping,
if done right,and is more easy to do regularly than chasing enemy planes.
You only need to shoot down a plane or choose the right moment when you
know the enemy team just lost one,and start harassing them with the V3.
Hunting down fighter planes and Goblins is nearly impossible,Flying Wings
can be taken down more easily if you can point the rocket launcher in their
direction seconds before launch.
Crashing the rocket into something is usually an instant kill,while
making it explode manually does much less damage.Other possible targets
include landing craft and very large tanks such as the T-95 or even
Shermans (instant kill!). It also kills parachuters without exploding,
which can be helpful sometimes.
If you're really good you can harass a particular enemy soldier you
have unsolved issues with ;-)
Remember that you can't slow down the rocket after it's launched,it has
a limited fuel gauge (which seems to depend on the map) and that it can
be damaged and shot down. BTW,if it's destroyed when unlaunched than it
takes a long time to respawn,and you die if you were inside the bunker
at the moment.
A hint: when you're inside the rocket bunker,its radar trace can reveal
you the position of ANY enemy unit within range,including enemy infantry
trying to sneak in your base! Please DO call for support if you see such
strange movements,and the rest of your team should not underestimate
such warnings!
==========================================================================
[5.6] Natter
==========================================================================
Controlling it is almost like controlling the V3 rocket mentioned above,
and coming to think of it you could use it in almost the same manner.
The only differences are that the Natter is a bit slower,has a bit more
fuel and a bit less armor(!) than the V3 rocket.It also has straight
missiles of its own, apart from the fact that you ride WITH it!
So,if you feel like kamikazing you could just seek down and crash into
enemy planes and vehicles or/and use your missiles against them.
Of course you can still use it like a regular dive bomber,once you adjust
to the speed and the usage of the missiles,which DO deal quite a bit of
damage,and are worthwhile using.
The other reasonable use of the Natter is that of dropping behind enemy
lines quickly.It has similar limitations to the V3 rocket regarding
fuel (=limited flight time) and speed (it CAN'T be slowed down).
BTW,v1.5 significantly reduces the amount of fuel of both the Natter
and the Wasserfall rocket (mostly).You can glide for more time,though.
==========================================================================
[6] Special vehicle trivia.
==========================================================================
With the popularity gained by the Secret Weapons of WWII expansion pack,
I though that some (many,IMHO) BF1942 fans would like to know something
more about the vehicles presented in the game,such as some quick tech
specs,production numbers,whether they existed or not,etc.
So that you know what you're using. Here goes...
Sherman,M10 Wolverine,M7 Priest,M3 Grant:
-----------------------------------------
Not really secret weapons,but it might be interesting to consider that
they all shared the same hull,chassis and even running gear!
Even noticed how much similar they all look,at least the lower part of
their hulls?
And,regarding the "Sherman T34 Calioppe" presented in SW,there have been
over 40000 "basic" Shermans built (one of the most built tanks during the
war,if we consider a single model with minor "revisions") with a number
of variants,including special amphibius,demining etc. versions.
T-34 Soviet Tank series:
------------------------
While it was certainly no secret weapon (over 100000 were built,
including all variants and the T-34 based SU tank buster series) it
was a rather innovative tank,as the axis forces learned the hard way:
It had a powerful 76mm and later 85mm long barelled gun which could
easily destroy the PanzerIVs mostly deployed by the axis against the
USSR,and was one of the first tanks to feature sloped armor,which,
combined with the tank's low profile,made the short-barelled PanzerIVs'
shells just bounce away like annoying pebbles,even from close distances!
It also had a powerful 500 HP engine combined with a weight around 30-32t,
and a top speed of 40-50 Km/h,depending on the version. In a nutshell,the
T-34 was superior in armor,firepower and mobility to almost any other
tank in the world at the moment!
The Germans were caught so off guard and felt they had nothing really
comparable to counter it with,to the point they had to develop and deploy
a whole new series of tanks,the Panther (PanzerV) and Tiger (PanzerVI)
to stand up to the challenge. The Germans even used captured T-34s
against the Soviets themselves,after modifying them with German turrets!
Despite the overall superiority of the T-34 design and its sheer numbers,
a lot were lost in battle due to mechanical problems,inexperienced crews,
logistical and organization problems,lack of radio communication in early
versions etc. Even the design and evolution of the T-34 tank was slowed
down or heavily contested by internal contrasts inside the Soviet leadership,
including execution,imprisonment or exile of designers and engineers etc.!
After the war,the T-34 design inspired the latter "cold war" Soviet
tank designs like the T-55.
What's most amazing,is that after the war,the original T-34/85 tank
itself was produced until the late 50's by a lot of "eastern block"
countries,like Poland,and was exported to over 30 countries,primarily
Balcanic and Mid-Eastern countries,North Korea(!) and many African
countries as well.
It was even used in the "Six-day war" between Syria,Egypt and Israel,
and Israel itself has captured a lot of T-34/85s from its foes.
It was still in service until the 80s' or even the 90s'(20th century) in
many mid-eastern and eastern europe countries' armies, including Syria,Egypt,
Yugoslavia,Iraq(!),Bulgaria,Romania,Albania,etc. and it IS reportedly still
in service in many African countries!
Sturmtiger:
-----------
It really existed and was used in combat,but only a total of 18
Sturmtigers was built.Its frontal armor exceeded 150mm,and was more of
a giant (38cm) mortar than a "naval gun mounted on a Tiger",contrary to
what you may read in SW ads. The German army had got even bigger track
or rail propelled giant mortars,as they believed that "one shot should
do the job"...
It shot 1.5m long,300-350kg heavy missiles which could destroy buildings
and up to 2.5m thick concrete and steel fortification with ONE blow.
Each shot developed a force of 30-40t on the tank itself! The missiles
had a maximum range or 3.5-4 km.
It was very hard to use and aim,however,and gave out its position with
each shot,having to be moved afterwards.Otherwise it shared the same
pros and cons with the basic Tiger (weight,mechanical problems,limited
range etc.).
The British had built a similar weapon,called the "Churchill AVRE",
which was a Churchill Heavy Tank wiht a heavy "Petard" mortar mounted
on its turret.It shot 18kg missiles,able to destroy in few blows
fortifications which had survived naval bombing! It had much less range
however,200m at most.
For more information about the axis tanks visit www.achtungpanzer.com,
a great site with info,photos and technical data for most axis tanks,
including rare models and prototypes.
T28/T-95:
----------
As the name says,it was meant to be a 95t (!) heavy tank buster,built
to fill the almost complete lack of really heavy tanks of the allied
forces.However,it was so heavy that required a double set of tracks on
each side to keep it from sinking,and it could barely move because of
the weak 400HP (!) engine,which could move it at a top speed of 11 mph!
Shame,even a soviet T-34 had a 500HP engine,weighing only 30t!!!
It never saw combat,and only two prototypes were built.
You can figure out how unrealistically fast it moves and how impossibly
steep hills it can climb,when used in BF1942! ;-)
Oh well it's only a game...isn't it?
However,the T95 is probably the SECOND heaviest tank ever built.
Maus Panzer:
------------
This was the FIRST heaviest tank ever built,with a weight of nearly 180t,
as much as a Jumbo Jet but packed in much less space! Anyway,this was
the axis attempt of building a super-heavy tank which should be
"completely invulnerable" and "invincible" on the battlefield.
Like the T-95,it was built only in two protoypes (at least one survives
even today,captured by the Soviets) and probably never saw combat,save
for a last-ditch defense of the factory it was produced (unconfirmed).
For moving around,it used an indirect drive system: a 1500HP diesel
engine powered an electrical generator which powered two electric motors
which drove the tracks (boy...what a mess!).
It was however SO heavy that it sank in practically any terrain and could
travel with 18-20km/h at most,damaging roads,shattering windows and cracking
house foundations wherever it passed,due to its weight and vibrations.
It had a frontal armor of 250mm and a minimum armor thickness of 80mm in the
rear and sides and 40mm on the top.The gun was supposed the be a naval 120 or
180 mm cannon,although only one turret was completed.
Strangely,it wasn't considered as a "Secret Weapon" to include in the SW
expansion pack,although it's more famous than most of the other "secret"
weapons presented. Maybe some skillful modder or DICE herself could add it
in a future expansion???
P1000 "Ratte" and P1500 "Dora":
-------------------------------
EVEN heavier than the previous,this one only remained a project: the "Ratte"
was supposed to be a 1000 ton (!) tank with a triple row of tracks on each
side,30 meters long,14 wide and 11 high,using 4 submarine engines and
having a top designed speed of 40 Km/h!
The armament was to be a double-barelled 280mm naval cannon turret (which was
completed and used as...a coastal defence gun),along with some smaller guns
and AA guns.
The "Dora" was a design for a self-propelled 800mm cannon for city bombing,
probably inspired from another,EXISTANT heavy self-propelled mortar: the 54
or 60cm "Karl" mortar,which was a track-propelled vehicle carrying a
big-big mortar which shot 1000-1500 Kg projectyles,used in the early days
of WW II by the axis. The "Dora" cannon itself really existed,only it was
transported by railway,like most of those ultra-heavy weapons.Its self
propelled version was to be a gigantic triple-tracked and double-bodied
vehicle,closely resembling the NASA "crawler",used to transport space
missiles to launch location,decades later!
By making a comparison,the "Sturmtiger" was just a "compact" version
of those incredible battle beasts!
Again,it would be cool to see ANY of these vehicles in a future BF1942
official expansion or fan-made mod! Maybe called "Heavy Weapons Of WWII"...
"Wasserfall" guided missile:
----------------------------
Even though it's less famous (until now...) than the V1 and V2 guided
missiles,it really existed and was basically a guided ground-to-air
missile.With the term "guided" you shouldn't imagine a first-person
direct guidance as you can do in the game and neither a fancy
Stinger-like automatic guidance system (as seen in the intro),but
rather with remote radio telemetry and radar guidance: the operator had
to track it down in a radar screen,comparing target and rocket traces
and could also blow it up and steer it manually if necessary,by direct
eye or radar observation!
For night usage,proximity fuses were used,like those in "advanced"
electronic flak shells (yep,they existed!).It could travel at a top speed
of 3000 Km/h,not really easy to avoid!
It was never used in combat however,despite more than 40 tests were done,
their general outcome was considered successful and the project was
almost completed. After the war,all axis missile technology was "continued"
by allied countries,which almost completely lacked any decent missilistic
research program beyond jet engines!
As a reader of the guide correctly pointed out,however,this weapon was
never called "V3" by the axis: V3 was an -never used in combat- underground
system of rocket-assisted howitzers (5 batteries of 5 howitzers) with extra
long barrels (120 meters each),rockets were used as explosive charges
placed in fixed places ALONG the barrels and exploded when the projectyle
passed by,giving more boost. This resulted in 1100m/s muzzle speed and
a range of over 100km,with almost 300 shots per hour.
The complex was built in Mimoyecques and is referred too as "V3-complex" in
the homonymous game map,where by chance a "wasserfall" missile is provided.
Flying Wings/Jet planes:
------------------------
Both were developed by the end of the war,but not exactly like presented
in the game: The U.S. had indeed developed a flying wing prototype,only it
used propellers,not jet engines!
The Germans,on the other hand,had built in very limited numbers a
really functional twin-motor jet fighter,the Messerschmitt 262 (NOT
in the SWII pack,sorry!).
This looked a lot like a "normal" fighter plane of the times (NOT like a
flying wing) only it had no propeller,using two Jumo jet engines instead.
Its top speed was roughly 50% higher compared to all allied aircraft,that
tops it to nearly 1000 Km/h!
It was equipped with 4 machine guns and air-to-air missiles (unguided).
It actually saw combat,but it came too late to change the outcome of the
war,and more than half of all produced ME262's were destroyed during the
Allied bombings,along with the factories that produced them...
The "Goblin" and "HO229" (which appear in the game) are either post- or
end-of- the war designs,which probably never saw combat. The "Goblin"
has existed as a single prototype,code named McDonnelDouglas XF-85,and
was to be a "parassitic" plane,carried INSIDE larger bomber planes and
released for intercepting enemy fighters,afterwards it would somehow
"return" INSIDE the host plane !!! War REALLY pushed the designer's
ideas to the limits!
Jetpacks/individual flight systems:
-----------------------------------
Man's dream has always been flight,and even after flying contraptions
were built,INDIVIDUAL flight has remained a dream for most armies,going
a step beyond parachuting troops.
At the very end of WWII and right after,during the "cold war"
years,presumably both sides developed either jet-powered or propeller
based individual flight systems,neither of which actually saw combat.
Nowadays functional jetpacks really exist,but they provide 1 or maybe 2
minutes of flight,due to size and weight limitation and high fuel
consumption. Propeller based designs on the other hand are easier and
more economic to use,but are even more cumbersome and heavy.
A 90's remake of the "Rocketeer" movie has a scene where the hero is
shown an (actual?) nazi propaganda movie illustrating a (failed) jetpack
experiment and an obscure axis plan to invade the U.S. with an army of
flying jetpack troops! Yeah,right...
Flakpanzer:
-----------
Really existed,practically it was a limited edition of the more common
PanzerIV,exactly as it appears in the game.
For more information about the axis tanks visit www.achtungpanzer.com,
a great site with info,photos and technical data for most axis tanks,
including rare models and prototypes.
KettenKrad:
-----------
Showing up in some preview screenshots of the v1.6 patch to our favourite
game,the "Kettenkrad" is nothing more than the famous axis'
"tracked motorcycle",a light tractor (1 ton) about the size of a tricycle
with two small tracks instead of rear wheels,used as a personell carrier
and light artillery tractor,which was driven like any tricycle and
motorcycle with sidecar.It really existed,and about 8000 to 10000 units
were built. Some exist up to our days,and can even be driven on normal
roads like any other vehicle!
============================ END OF THE GUIDE ============================