Red Orchestra 2 - Random Tactical Observations on the Lone Warriors

More Red Orchestra 2, fellows ... I've got the bug in me now ...

These entries are written with a tongue in cheek spirit. I am no expert in online first person shooters and I get killed a lot. I am not criticizing, just trying to entice a healthy discussion. All screenshots in this entry from a multiplayer server I joined, got killed enough to be sent into the bleachers of shame and spectating. All online nicknames have been covered to protect the innocent.



I added "Lone Warrior" to the title of this entry with a bit of bitterness. The very little online I played before  was Call of Duty with the Wargamer.com guys (back when Jim Zabeck was at the helm) and ArmA with the guys at SimHQ. In the majority of the games I joined there, we never went out alone, the least would be a buddy team. But I digress, in RO2 everybody is running and shooting by themselves. I can relate, the developers of RO2 had given us a big excuse to run like headless chickens with those objectives that need to be taken within four minutes ...

# 1 - Master of Disguise

There is a guy under that bush, and he dispatched 3 unsuspecting human players. Note the bot (Fritz09, computer controlled) German soldier roaming down the street, totally oblivious to the tactical bush.

# 2 - Is OK to be prone

In the virtual multiplayer world of gun and run, the prone position is pretty much disliked like high pings or aiming lags. The closer to mother earth, the least your ability to aim to your flanks or rear. This human Soviet submachine gunner below used the prone position but placed himself where it was impossible to be silhouetted against the background. Shadows and clutter are your friend.

This poor German soldier didn't notice the Soviet submachine gunner lying prone in the shadows of that house.

Seconds later, the inevitable death.

# 3 - You hear the shots, but are you listening?

Like any other form of human exchange, firefights have a language. I'm not sure about it's grammar, but its words are easy to understand. The most basic "march to the sound of the guns" is perhaps the better understood use of information based on just the bangs in the distance. The frequency of shooting, the type of guns, the use (or not) of grenades are always telling you something.

However, there are more subtle words that cross the battlefield at subsonic speeds: the movement and subsequent success/demise of your fellow soldiers.

Two human players enter a destroyed house and take cover in the (only thing left standing) chimney stack. The one in the left falls to Soviet rifle fire from the background. The one in the right notices this and takes cover immediately.

Unfortunately, the surviving human player decides to peek through the same spot as his fellow fallen soldier. Chances are that whoever killed your friend will have a great field of fire on his position, so avoid it.

# 4 - Great use of cover will not make your gun or aim any better

This human player made perfect use of cover. He peeked at corners taking very small new bites of field of fire at a time.

A great use of cover. This human player scans the terrain ahead before moving out.

The same human player taking out Soviet players attempting to cross the street. Notice how he can manage his field of fire by moving in and out the house's wall.

This was a great shootout. The same human player mastered the use of cover and positioned himself so he would see only the rightmost window of the green-roofed building (arrow). Unfortunately his submachine pistol was no match for the Soviet rifle.

Cheers,