Mobile Machinegun Tactics

[Ritterkreuz]

I've been experimenting with the belt-fed MG. While I'm doing 'ok',- middle of the pack in terms of points, and I suppress enemy positions aggressively, I'd like to understand how this used by somebody who is actually good at attacking with it.

How you use the MG?

I do the basics- scout for good positions, fire w/flank protection, try to be as invisible as possible. I suppress aggressively, but not as aggressively as I'd like to.

I try to move into the capzone, and set up a base of fire.

I consider suppression to be a key role that I should play with my MG belts, and I found that it can be effective for area denial. It's satisfying to pop a head, and see an enemy firing position crawl back from where it came from.

But most of the time, I'm too defensive in open country. I find that I die infrequently, and don't garner a sufficient amount of kills that would be devastating to the opposing team. I'll camp the edges of the capzone and try to kill anything I see but I'm wary of going 'over the top' w/my head poking out because my reaction speed is worse than everybody else. I'm slower than a squad leader.

Unlike a rifleman, I can't lean across corners very well or snap shoot up and down. These are essential functions for me as a player as they not only protect me, but garner me the lion share of my kills and help me peek to see what's going around me.

On open country, I move around crouched and back and forth behind visible (to the enemy) ground. I find this method to be reasonably safe and effective.

Nevertheless, while I can immediately open fire with my SVT, I can't fire back with a MG slung over my hip and thus opportunities are missed & the position that I'm in becomes an automatic target.

So, all in all, my situational awareness as a LMG gunner is not as keen as when I'm squad leader. This is the biggest weakness of the MG class.

It causes me to advance considerably slower than when I'm playing squad leader.

 

[oldsoldier173]

The purpose of the LMG on 'offense' is two fold. Suppression of the target area, as well as using fields of fire and FPL's cut off reinforcement to the objestive area, and or cut of an enemy's undesireable avenue of escape from the target area. It is not a 'big' rifle as many use it for here.

You sit at a mid distance and suppress with 6-9rd bursts at varied targets, fire a burst and you move slightly right or left. (at range I aim for the muzzle flashes of LMG's). Do not go for 'accuracy' so much as keeping thier heads down. The AI is easy to 'move' and or change direction use that. Repeat until you need to move to a flank and then find a good 'firelane' that the bad guys will need to cross and fire down that line, cutting off reinforcement or egress from the target area.

Toted a M-60 back in 'the day' same principles applied in WW2 carried foward.

 

[Ritterkreuz]

The purpose of the LMG on 'offense' is two fold. Suppression of the target area, as well as using fields of fire and FPL's cut off reinforcement to the objestive area, and or cut of an enemy's undesireable avenue of escape from the target area. It is not a 'big' rifle as many use it for here.

You sit at a mid distance and suppress with 6-9rd bursts at varied targets, fire a burst and you move slightly right or left. (at range I aim for the muzzle flashes of LMG's). Do not go for 'accuracy' so much as keeping thier heads down. The AI is easy to 'move' and or change direction use that. Repeat until you need to move to a flank and then find a good 'firelane' that the bad guys will need to cross and fire down that line, cutting off reinforcement or egress from the target area.

Toted a M-60 back in 'the day' same principles applied in WW2 carried foward.

Interesting post, as usual, full of real world stuff.

I avoid joining games with bots w/ aimbot if I'm playing a real game. I am in big games, usually 50+ human players.

In these games, I find engagement ranges to be very short- I play the Bridges/WW maps the most, and even there I think that most action occurs at 0-140 meters.

I do try to take the enemy's flank, but it's not always easy to determine where this as my situational awareness as a MG gunner is more impaired and human players don't always move in organized groups. The positions on the map resemble a scatterplot in or around the capzone, and while there is pressure in and around the whole thing, there usually isn't a point of main effort. Most prefer to move carefully, from cover to cover.

It's not always easy, in maps like WW, to find a good place to safely infiltrate and to set up a flanking position while attacking.

Very often, I am the only one left alive once I reach the capzone. Entire squads get themselves killed off while they're attacking, but I'm still alive. I have the firepower to keep the enemy from approaching head-on, but I am still only a single man, and I can be popped while I'll suppressing or firing on somebody else.

The biggest problem with being the only one (or one of two or three) people alive in the capzone is the fact that all enemy attention is now directed on you once you open up with the MG-34. They aren't distracted anymore by people leapfrogging and closing in on them.

My ability to suppress is much reduced when I'm alone. I pop up, fire 20 rounds at the enemy position and take cover. I pop up, and fire 7 rounds into each and all probable enemy firing ports. I take cover, etc,etc,etc. After a bit of this and two belts gone, I start worrying about my ammo supply.

I keep repeating this procedure until friendly troops arrive to reinforce our position, resupply my MG, and to attack.

I do this because I want to remind the opposing team that I'm there in their capzone with them and they, can't, for instance, fire from the windows from the houses and sheds in front of Objective C-WW. And I like to remind them that if they try to counterattack, that there are people (even if it's just me) in C holding position and that will cut them down.

I can't see much, and I can't move much, either. I'm holding the area, but my line of sight is often blocked. I try to make the opposing team believe that there are more than 1 or 2 enemies in front of them.

I hope that they'll hear the constant rattle of the MG-34 and take note that there are MGs on their front, and become less aggressive and eager for counterattacking.

So I find that most capzones are taken in a creeping, attrition-based manner. People like to stick in groups of 2 or 3 or 4, but generally no more.

Much of the time, I encounter three guys peeking up and down from cover and snap shooting with rifles. I set up my gun and shift my fire towards them. Very often, I'll hit one of them but the others will pull back and, apparently, relocate or reappear 5-20 seconds later from the same position as they are trying to shoot me.

In WW, I like setting my gun in a bush or next to a tree or a mound of terrain that gives me the opportunity to hide behind it when I get spotted.

Eventually, I will have 400 rounds of belt ammunition to burn (once I get Hero status, right now, I'm at veteran and I only have 340 ish rounds), and one of my goals as playing MG gunner is to expend almost all of this ammunition before I die. I want to maximize damage and suppression to the opposing team, and figure out how to do so.

I know that I'm doing my job when I fire off 150 rounds directly at the enemy, score a few kills, and see that the barrel is smoking as I crouch behind cover and reload the next belt. I know that I'm not if I'm killed before I get into a good firing position, or if I'm pinned down myself by accurate rifle fire.

As of now, I sometimes try to pick up rifles from the dead, semi-automatic if possible as to provide some flexibility when I move around. But the added weight dramatically lowers my movement speed, so it's not always a good bet.


That being said, there's little in the game that's as satisfying as destroying a full attack from the flank, and scoring a nice killstreak at the meanwhile. Or suppressing the enemy front line, buildings, holding positions, and casemates so much that friendly troops can go over the top to move up/clear them out, and the enemy can't counterattack effectively without being mowed down.

 

[Attilaken]

There are 3 ways I use MG. First one is to directly kill enemy and prevent them to move forward. Second one is to be in an ambush position and do actually about the same thing. Third one is in close combat. I'm rarely using the MG to suppress, but I do so in case my teammates need to cross a field and the presence of enemy in windows or bushes behind that field is likely. Only in that case I shoot my MG red hot smoking. In the other cases (direct kills or ambush) I rarely get my MG to smoke.

I'm playing that way because shooting too much in too long bursts is giving away your position too easy because of MG sounds and muzzle flashes. That is the reason why, when shooting visible enemy, I only shoot small bursts of bullets. What more is: I try to prevent shooting with bursts: since I always play with the german MG42 I prefer shooting single shots, sniping out enemy with a few rapid single shots in front of their running path.

So my way of playing the MG might be the opposite of what you see in the movies (MG's firing their whole belts away in one long burst), but it is bringing me lots of kills and not so much being killed.

Another thing: be aware of the bullet penetration ability's of an MG. It can easyly shoot through wooden fences and most wooden structures, also through thin interior walls of some buildings. In close combat, I find the MG very usefull that way. In maps like Barracks and Apartments you can shoot through walls and ceilings. Be on 2nd floor in Barracks infirmery, see through the floor the enemy sneaking in 1st floor, and give em sudden death from above

 

[Ritterkreuz]

^

In the urban maps, I don't suppress that much.

But in the open country maps, I do. There is tall vegetation everywhere and people crawling towards you in the grass, or hiding behind trees. Most of my real games have been in Winterwald/Bridges.

-----------
I got the 'Hero' MG:

2 x 150 and ~ 1X 100 = ~400 rounds.

Definitely an improvement over that annoying mini belt.

 

[oldsoldier173]

Firing the LMG in 6-9 rd bursts and displacing a little is the key to suppression. On bridges as Soviet I keep the German AT types away from the bridge or climbing the banks as the T-34 moves up. After bridge taken I fire suppression up along the ridge where the Germans appear to come down between the buidings. Short controled bursts. Once we get in town I provide FPL's to keep german reinforcements from crossing roads of alleys, and fire at upper windows at distance.

Now in defending against LMG's I target muzzle flashes of the prone or in foxholes LMG, pretty big flash so easy to center at range even with iron sights.. Seldom do human players use the LMG as it should, but rather as a large auto rifle, OK when playing BOTS but human players will eat you alive. The PPsH or MP40 is the advance and suppress weapon, with LMG's in support at a distance. Providing a 'beaten zone' where rounds are dropping in a elongated cone keep the bad guys heads down, and prevents movement, also you can redirection BOTS.

 

[GARY OAK]

I use mine like this

if you have played on the 40-1 servers. you probably have been mown down by my hip firing :3

 

[LugNut]

OldSoldier knows of which he speaks.

I search for hidden, protected positions behind my attacking teammates and either aggressively suppress the enemy to protect their movements forward, or I'll cover a fire lane necessary for the enemy to cross and sit in ambush, firing only when I have targets. If you're 100-200m off the front, you will survive longer and still be very effective and annoying to the enemy. You are a big fat, juicy target, you need to make yourself hard to hit and distance will help.

I don't do the RnG Rambo thing unless I'm caught in the middle of the action. I hate that biz.

 

[Trotskygrad]

hipfiring around corners can work if you're good at it. just watch for the bullet impacts and adjust.

 

[Rabid Penguin]

Don't set up in the obvious spots, and move as soon as you start taking fire.

 

[Trotskygrad]

Don't set up in the obvious spots, and move as soon as you start taking fire.

this, try to switch spots when you're barrel changing or reloading.

ducking when you take SMG fire and then popping back up can also improve survivability, if you're taking rifle or counter MG I recommend moving.

 

[Cpt-Praxius]

I've been experimenting with the belt-fed MG. While I'm doing 'ok',- middle of the pack in terms of points, and I suppress enemy positions aggressively, I'd like to understand how this used by somebody who is actually good at attacking with it.

How you use the MG?

I do the basics- scout for good positions, fire w/flank protection, try to be as invisible as possible. I suppress aggressively, but not as aggressively as I'd like to.

I try to move into the capzone, and set up a base of fire.......

I don't have the Belt yet, but the dual saddle drum.

In regards to the MG34 operation, I almost always use the single-fire instead of the full auto, mostly because I want to keep accuracy on my targets.

I have my alt-fire / melee / single-fire button off of my mouse and onto my Enter key as it allows me to fire off my single-shot faster than on the mouse, almost to the same level of full auto, but even at that speed of firing the single-shot, my accuracy is still better than using the full auto.

I also find that using the single-shot helps reduce how noticeable I am to the enemy, thus I don't have to relocate as often.

In regards to general MG tactics, I will stay close to my attacking team, but remain behind them to provide support. I usually pick an area where I am above my team for a better vantage point over my team mates to take out anybody coming at them or pinning them. I don't pick the common places I see other MG players pick...... in that while I want a good vantage point to help my team, I don't want one that is too good of a vantage point, because that's where the "experienced" enemy will be looking most times.

I will stay in a specific area for an average of 1-2 minutes Max and then relocate... or until I sense I am being fired at.

Certain maps call for certain tactics. If I am in a trench area or inside a building, then I will be with my team and perhaps even leading them into a heavy combat area in crouch position and weapon ready. I will sweep an area as I come in.... if I think enemies are on the other side of a wall, I will shoot through in a zig zag pattern to ensure I either kill as many as possible, or force them to keep their heads down for the rest of my team to push in.

If I am the Russian MG on something like Apartments, I don't pick the windows directly looking towards where the enemy is located, instead I'll pick a window that is facing 90 degrees away from them so that #1 - I don't stick out like a sore thumb, #2 - those windows are not typically covered, thus I can stay there longer before I am spotted and #3 - while my aiming angle is reduced, my exposure is less and I can swing out of view quicker.

Pick windows that are not completely open, but have the cross-frames intact.... these windows are the ones players use the least I find, and you don't stick out like a sore thumb as badly.

 

[brixia91]

unlock the automatic c96 and you can assault

 

[GARY OAK]

unlock the automatic c96 and you can assault

I can confirm this being a user of the lvl50c96
although i have more luck using my MG34 from the hip. just all dem bullets, all dem bullets

 

[Trotskygrad]

I can confirm this being a user of the lvl50c96
although i have more luck using my MG34 from the hip. just all dem bullets, all dem bullets

and better penetration and suppression

 

[Shadrach]

Trying to play the MG role as it "should be" played in RO2 is a truly a thankless task unfortunately...

But looks like you guys here have the correct approach, although there are people who never read these forums and continue using the MG not as suppression and helping your team but instead use it as your personal Rambo weapon...

It would be awesome if there was like points for suppressing an enemy. I think however you do get some points if a teammate kill a suppressed enemy but not sure.

 

[Twrecks]

A good flanking position to mow down moving targets is what I like with the MG34.

I can usually place myself where the enemy passes, hiden from snipers. Then cap enemies as they advance, shooting them in the back when they are about to move out of my FOV or exposing themselves to more ovbious lines of fire.

Supression reserved for full out attacks when my side is actively moving on an objective, hard hitting observed emplacements. Randomly spraying windows and trench rims just gets me killed.

 

[Attilaken]

Some maps are more suitable to use the MG from the hip, others have really good positions to use the MG as suppression and long range slaughters.

I'm using MG from the hip in:
- Barracks
- Appartments
(both maps have some good bullet penetration positions too)

Maps for suppression and long range slaughters:
- Commissars House
- Pavlovs
- Grain Elevator
- Spartanovka

Maybe we could share our good MG positions in this thread using screenshots ?

 

[Marorin]

Thanks guys. Good tips.

I'm new in RO2, but i'm comming from FH2 mod for BF2 - 1 of the best and most realistic WW2 mods i've seen, so i'm used to realism and team play in FPS games
RO2 is great, but surely lacks enough team play, or at least on the servers i've tried so far, as i'm used to the huge organisation and only team play in FH2 tournaments(FH and WaW).
However support role is the most fun for me - MG, tank or artillery support - all my favourite positions, although i enjoy some ramboing with assault troops here and then .

Want to ask - what do you think about the effectiveness in game of the German's MG tactics - deploying MG's in basements and as a rule of thumb - in low positions - it was mostly used to cut soldiers low, so to inflict dmg, but not kill most of the times, as wounded men are bigger burden than dead men for the enemies, but also because that this way they were not that exposed and more difficult to spot as well?

 

[nymets1104]

I'm new in RO2, but i'm comming from FH2 mod for BF2 - 1 of the best and most realistic WW2 mods i've seen, so i'm used to realism and team play in FPS games

Forgotten Hope 2 Mod was my favorite...before R02 of course