Posted: 22 Aug 2006 01:43

This post does not promote underage smoking. In fact, it has nothing to do with tobacco. Thanks.

One thing really frustrates me. I'm spectating because I died being reckless, and I noticed my teammates using smokes in stupid, useless, or cowardly ways. I thought I might try to educate the community about how to properly smoke. After all, more than one types of smoking require a certain skill for the best results.

Smoke is used for a variety of purposes. The most commonly used, IRL, is to screen an advance. When attacking an enemy, there is no better way to prevent from being shot than simply being invisible. If they can't see you, they can't shoot you, and you can gain ground. Once you've gained ground, you can take them out in close quarters, where there cover is no longer going to hinder you. This is, pretty much, the only good way to use smoke in AA. I'll explain.

Say you're taking an objective. You don't want to be shot while in this vulnerable position, so you throw a smoke grenade between yourself and the direction of the enemy. This is ineffective. Why? Because you just let the enemy sneak up on you. Now you won't be able to see the enemy as they move closer to you, knowing now that you're at the objective, throw a grenade, and laugh.

The same goes for defending. Nothing aggravates me more than throwing a grenade while you're on defense so that the assaulting team can't see you. What purpose does this serve? You, as a defender, want to stop the enemy from taking the objective. To do so, you must either kill them, or suppress them so that the time runs out. You can't do either if there's smoke in your way. That's right: Do not use smoke on the middle of the Bridge if you're on Defense Doing so will only allow the assaulting team to get up and rush you with grenades and accurately placed whoop [TOS Violation].

Don't be a coward. If you're being shot at while prone on a ledge or hill, don't throw a smoke in front of you to try to conceal yourself. Your enemy already knows you're there; there's no point in trying to hide. They'll keep shooting, knowing you haven't moved, and you'll die. Now, if you're going to use the smoke to retreat, go ahead.

In the end, it comes down to one principle: concealment is not cover, cover is not concealment. Creating a smoke grenade in front of yourself while you're sitting on the defense side of Bridge, or on a hill on Border, is only going to attract trouble.

Correct Uses for Smoke
- Screening Movement (attacks and withdrawals)
- Distraction/Sound suppression
- "Smoke and Flank" tactic: throw a smoke at the enemy, and flank them. Similar to the "Suppress and Flank" tactic, but can be done with one person.

Any comments and arguments are welcome. Please do not violate TOS. Thanks for reading,
Rivers '09

Posted: 22 Aug 2006 01:58

Good tip, ty!

Posted: 22 Aug 2006 02:16

Rivers09 wrote:

Say you're taking an objective. You don't want to be shot while in this vulnerable position, so you throw a smoke grenade between yourself and the direction of the enemy. This is ineffective. Why? Because you just let the enemy sneak up on you.

Using smoke at the objective on long range maps is of benefit. On Mountain Pass SE, or SF Recon, the enemy is likely too far away to "sneak up on you" in the time it takes to get the objective. Denying them the ability to directly target you with ranged rifle fire is invaluable.

Posted: 22 Aug 2006 07:11

Rivers, how long have you been playing AA and where do you get all your "info" about how to play this game?

Posted: 22 Aug 2006 07:16

I agree with most of those points but not all of them. Different people react differently to different situations. Sometimes, if you are on defense and you throw a smoke to the middle of the bridge, it hinders assault movement. They are afraid to move up because they do not know what is on the other side of the smoke. Also if you have a good AR, he will spam any areas that enemies have smoked and might be moving up into.

Posted: 22 Aug 2006 08:27

Slow Dog wrote:

Rivers09 wrote: Say you're taking an objective. You don't want to be shot while in this vulnerable position, so you throw a smoke grenade between yourself and the direction of the enemy. This is ineffective. Why? Because you just let the enemy sneak up on you. Using smoke at the objective on long range maps is of benefit. On Mountain Pass SE, or SF Recon, the enemy is likely too far away to "sneak up on you" in the time it takes to get the objective. Denying them the ability to directly target you with ranged rifle fire is invaluable.

There's always 203's.

Posted: 22 Aug 2006 09:02

Good pointers, I agree with most of what you've written. Most people don't seem to know how to use smoke, and think that dropping smoke at their own location and not moving suddenly makes them invisible.

So just a couple of things I'd add:

- You can use smoke to mask the sound of your footsteps, so whenever you're up against people who have very good hearing (i.e. good headphones), throwing a smoke grenade or two can help mask your approach or your exact location.

- You can use smoke on defense, but it is very tricky. In fact I often use smoke when on Defence on Bridge - I rush up to arch early and start smoking the Assault side of the Bridge. I then pause a moment and using the smoke as cover I either rush the center, or sides (up and over onto the catwalks) of assault-side of Bridge and nade or shoot the assaulters If you only use this tactic once in a while it works well because assaulters often don't expect an early assault in this manner and don't nade the smoke for fear of getting their own teamates who are in the smoke.

- Use of smoke to distract or attract attention can't be overstated. Too many times I've seen people who are the last one or two left on their team throwing smoke near their location, which completely destroys their element of surprise. So don't use smoke if you're trying to sneak somewhere, unless you can hurl it somewhere which won't give away your general location.

Alternatively, use smoke to trick the enemy into believing a teammate of theirs threw it. For example smoke the front of Hospital early when on Ambush as this can lure out the VIP who thinks he's being covered for a rush. Then just 203 or shoot the smoke. Or smoke the objective and sit right near the obj with line of sight and wait for enemy to come get it.

Bottom line is that smoke is an underused/abused resource that people need to consider when planning their strategy.

Posted: 22 Aug 2006 10:07

in my opinion, it all depends. If you are the last one left on your team and you are in a 1 v 1, throwing a smoke will probably give away your position. However, if you know your enemy has a sniper, he will not be able to spam/203 the smoke and you still have a good chance of crawling through it without dying.

Posted: 22 Aug 2006 10:20

Meh. Everything in the original post is either stating the obvious or pretty damn subjective at best.

Posted: 22 Aug 2006 14:56

Thank you for your opinions.

SoxSexSax, I disagree. Although it may be damned obvious to you, a lot of players I have seen clearly do not see it as obvious. Even I use smoke badly on occassions, and usually suffer for it.

Ol_Sniper, I no longer have access to my first account, since my e-mail address has changed and I no longer remember my username, but I'd say since at least 2003.

Slow Dog, you definately have a point there, but as Chaos pointed out there are M203s on most long range maps and the SAW can do the trick as well. Mountain Pass might be big, but you can still rush badly placed smoke screens all the same.

PersianImmortal,

Quote:

- You can use smoke to mask the sound of your footsteps, so whenever you're up against people who have very good hearing (i.e. good headphones), throwing a smoke grenade or two can help mask your approach or your exact location.

That's a very good point. Just another way to distract the enemy.

Quote:

- You can use smoke on defense, but it is very tricky. In fact I often use smoke when on Defence on Bridge - I rush up to arch early and start smoking the Assault side of the Bridge. I then pause a moment and using the smoke as cover I either rush the center, or sides (up and over onto the catwalks) of assault-side of Bridge and nade or shoot the assaulters If you only use this tactic once in a while it works well because assaulters often don't expect an early assault in this manner and don't nade the smoke for fear of getting their own teamates who are in the smoke.

You are basically attacking Assault when you do that, so that doesn't quite count as using smoke on the defense. There are always exceptions, but as a general rule on Bridge: don't smoke your own side. That causes havoc.

~~~Wiseman~~~, you've got the right idea.

Posted: 22 Aug 2006 16:57

Reason to smoke on defense - To cover your movement to another position, or to make an exit when the enemy has pinpointed you and could cut off any escape routes.

Posted: 23 Aug 2006 00:12

You can also use smoke as a distraction, ie. on assault on Bridge Crossing, you can smoke one side, and then move up on the other.

Posted: 23 Aug 2006 00:58

another tactic i use is to distract the enemy with smoke.
For instance : In Pipeline, when I am near the primary valve, I often throw a smoke at the bathroom door or at the west entrance.
Not only does this distract the enemy, it also masks the sound of your footsteps as you rush across the basement and up the ladder

Posted: 23 Aug 2006 05:53

Rivers09 wrote:

This post does not promote underage smoking. In fact, it has nothing to do with tobacco. Thanks. The same goes for defending. Nothing aggravates me more than throwing a grenade while you're on defense so that the assaulting team can't see you. What purpose does this serve? [TOS Violation].

That's soooo true!! It's better to swallow a Flashbang than misuse a smoke nade.

Posted: 23 Aug 2006 06:03

The smoke grenade is a very effective tool in-game if used properly.