Soviet Apartments Guide for Dummies

[Nikita]

...because honestly, this map is not that complicated.

Mostly intended for new players, which is unfortunate because 90% of them don't read the forums, but I thought I'd make one anyway.

OPENING MOVES:

Don't bunch up at the beginning. Watch out for grenades. It may be wise to wait until the smoke pops, and you can often scrounge a few kills off of Germans who expose themselves trying to toss grenades around the fences.

A machine gunner should use the following spot, supported by a Maxim gunner in the next room:
--From here, it is quite a simple matter to keep German heads down in that entire building, with your teammate on the HMG spraying down Germans in the windows you can't reach.




As a rifleman/assault/SL/Commander, you should get behind the left and central fences and start underhand-tossing grenades (right click, or middle mouse) just over the fence. Very frequently, there is some pesky German with an MKB lying prone just on the other side waiting for Russians to run into view.

Capturing the first two capzones should be a simple matter.

ADVANCING ON THE PROPAGANDA HOUSE:
--DON'T USE THE LEFT ALLEY. EVER. The fixed machine gun there is essentially invincible--it's just a waste of lives. It's worth it to have a couple riflemen guard the rooms on the left to prevent Germans from moving in, but otherwise, stay away. If you really, really want to take out that machine gunner, capture the Propaganda House first, then use the upper left balcony or the gaps between the left steps to kill that b*stard.
--Clear the buildings on either side of the bridgehead. Easy way to do it:

^^A grenade aimed like this will travel down to the stairs where all those annoying Germans camp. By tossing the grenade further from the right, aiming at the window frame, you can eliminate the fixed MG gunner as well. DON'T COOK THE GRENADE OR YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RUN IF IT BOUNCES BACK AT YOU.


^^As before, but on the left side of the map. A grenade aimed just so will kill any Germans on the stairs. Again, don't cook the grenade.

Also, be aware of any fellow Soviets who might try the same thing and miss. Avoid teamkills as best as you can. It's best to practice these throws in an empty server.

It's also important to CLEAR the buildings in the center behind the first two capzones. Germans often stay in the windows as long as possible trying to shoot Soviets leaving spawn. Clear them out, and if you notice that nobody else is guarding them, then dedicate yourself to KEEPING them clear.

During the push on the propaganda house, put smoke into the courtyard and attempt to move into the building through there. Post a machine gunner to cover the building in grid D5, because the Germans will ALWAYS have a sniper and/or MG there:



And now for some hints regarding Potapova Park.

The Soviet sniper, or a rifleman if the sniper is failing at life, should do the following to remove the fixed HMG from play. Use this window and fire from a crouched, unsupported position. You are almost invisible to the HMG, but it can rip through the boards and the wall if it suspects you are there. YOU MUST HIT THE MG ON YOUR FIRST SHOT. If suppressed and tired, wait until rested and calm before attempting. If another player is attempting the shot, don't crowd him and avoid drawing attention to him as much as possible:

There are several other ways to take out this machine gun. Just remember to aim for the bottom left corner of the embrasure, not directly at the muzzle flash. Firing at the muzzle flash results in a miss.


When rushing Potapova Park itself, throw smoke AS DEEP INTO THE PARK AS POSSIBLE. Try to get it all the way to the end of the park. Then chuck grenades to the left and the right at the ruins and at the low stone fences. Chuck two, find a dead enemy/teammate, pick up more, and chuck those too. Do not die with your grenades unused or you have failed in your duty. Then, ADVANCE. Do not stay in the ruins on the right--it's a grenade magnet as well. Move up.

The Park can also be pushed from the D5 building and the street behind it. THIS IS VERY EFFECTIVE.

This is a great spot for an MG. You're not invincible, but you can cut off any Germans coming from the right:


General tips for the map:
--DON'T BUNCH UP. Always be prepared for the worst, expecting a thrown grenade or enemy at any time. Take the map slowly (except for the Park, which requires daring, fast play). Listen. Check your corners.
--Think twice before using a grenade. Could there be friendlies there?
--Go where your team is not going. Unless it's the left alley.
--Commanders: USE FORCED RESPAWNS. Unless your team is rushing lemming-like into the HMGs, in which case sometimes the best course of action is to do nothing, since the drain on reinfocements is slower that way. /facepalm.

All in all, the map is not incredibly enjoyable, but if you follow these tips, it can be a helluva lot less frustrating than it is.

[LeerDemersus]

I'm a new player and I found this helpful. Thanks, I'll try these tactics next time I play apartments.

[Sensemann]

clap clap clap, great one Nikita. Couldn't have said it better.

Just one addition for the first 2 objectives, the bridgeholds: EVERYONe, except snipers and MGs GO INTO THE CAPZONE

[PvtBloody]

Excellent guide, thumbs up . I would like to add that for the first objectives you shouldn't split forces trying to capture both bridge heads at the same time. Concentrate on one of them and move en masse to the other one. Unfortunately, for these tactics to work you need a couple of decent players using voice chat, and a team mostly made of players with common sense that listen and act as a whole.

[Coopsta]

I really liked the grenade throw advice.

It is important to note that the fixed MGs are not always in the same positions, but rather a fixed number of machine guns spawn randomly in predetermined locations.

[Johnny Utah]

Great guide! One other fun suggestion for new rifleman in lieu of hanging back uselessly in the rear buildings: attach bayonets, have your SLs smoke up the center courtyard heavy and charge into the opposition center building behind A/B…once inside run upstairs with bayo loaded - all the germans will be pre-occupied looking out the windows and you can easily filet 3-6 of them before being noticed. BONUS: allies can cap A by standing near this top story window.

also, for very competent teams or as another tactic of having trouble with A/B, have SL1 sneak into C and spawn his entire squad on the 2nd floor - its great to prevent reinforcments from reaching a/b and should help out your fledgling team immensely…plus if they cap ab the youre pre-capped on c

[MeFirst]

Nice guide but it is kinda missing one thing at the start.

You should head out for the right bridge but do not cross it. To your left side you can move trough a house and most times you can get to the first cap zones without getting shot at all.

[Trotskygrad]

Originally Posted by MeFirst

Nice guide but it is kinda missing one thing at the start.

You should head out for the right bridge but do not cross it. To your left side you can move trough a house and most times you can get to the first cap zones without getting shot at all.

this, you almost NEVER want to cross the bridges themselves, as they are almost constantly naded and watched by anyone who wants free kills.

always mantle over the fences and go through the ditches.

[Tummel]

If you're new to the map, the first two caps (East bridge and West bridge) must both be capped by allies to make then non-recappable for Axis.

If you don't know where to be on these initial two caps, do not run up the stairs to snipe from initial spawn. Instead, as Nikita pointed out, go to the cap zone.

The East and West bridge cap zones extend to allies side of the brick wall. If you go through the initial cap building (right side collapsed wall), switch to nades, toss a nade over the brick wall while running and climb to be close to the wall on the middle. Take extra care not to nade your fellow team mates already in the cap zone. When re-spawning after initial spawn, don't use a nade, just get into cap zone.

Being behind the brick wall, you can quickly change between West and East bridge cap zones by moving just a few meters and not being overly exposed to enemy fire.

Squad leaders have extra capping power, so all SL's should be inside cap.

[Coopsta]

Originally Posted by Tummel

If you're new to the map, the first two caps (East bridge and West bridge) must both be capped by allies to make then non-recappable for Axis.

If you don't know where to be on these initial two caps, do not run up the stairs to snipe from initial spawn. Instead, as Nikita pointed out, go to the cap zone.

The East and West bridge cap zones extend to allies side of the brick wall. If you go through the initial cap building (right side collapsed wall), switch to nades, toss a nade over the brick wall while running and climb to be close to the wall on the middle. Take extra care not to nade your fellow team mates already in the cap zone. When re-spawning after initial spawn, don't use a nade, just get into cap zone.

Being behind the brick wall, you can quickly change between West and East bridge cap zones by moving just a few meters and not being overly exposed to enemy fire.

Squad leaders have extra capping power, so all SL's should be inside cap.

By "extra capping power", he just means they increase capping speed. They don't count as extra bodies.

[Johnny Utah]

I was under the impression that SLs and TLs actually do count as some multiplier of cap presence - hard to recall and there's no manual…but I thinks SLs count as 2 regular bodies and TL counts as 3 people (this ends up being equivalent to "capping faster", btw).

Anyone got those exact multipliers??? I know if Im a TL alone in a cap zone it takes at least 3 enemy infantry in the zone with me to balance the force ratio.

[Cwivey]

I'm pretty certain they count for 1.5 of a soldier, not anything as large as 2 or 3.

[jamryan16th]

Thanks for the tips! Played map for first time tonight and got murdered! These tips should help next time!

[Cwivey]

Seems a few people tonight read this thread. ^^

Spoiler!

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/59...B8207BBB7479E/

[schepp himself]

Nice thread and tips here. I had some frustrating matches on this map because the Allies mostly ran into their deaths, smoke wasn't popped, left ally was rushed etc.

I will try to spread the word!

Greets
Schepp himself

P.S.: I kind of like that map, some intense firefights in buildings!