The Ultimate Trenchwar Guide
Once more, I will show you the basics behind successful strategy playing as you see it in use in Trenchwar games but also in Realistic mode games. This will hopefully show you some of the basics behind the strategies and I hope it'll be a pleasure to read. =)
If you don't know what the hell I am talking about,
here's your help.
Let's get it on.
The Main thoughtTrenchwar is pretty often claimed the most realistic sub-gamemode and this has some truth to it. In TW, you'll find yourself fighting for every centimeter of ground because it's important to have. Every bunker, every trench, every bit of positional possesion is worth fighting for it. Once you gain the strategical main point of the map, your opponent will have to provide some hard work getting you away there.
For winning a TW game, players need to have a different view than in normal CTF. Most of the TW matches end in a 0:0 tie.
It is just the most important thing to fight for every bit of ground you have, to push the enemy deeper within. That is the main point at Trenchwar and you'll see, it's much more complicated than it seems to be.
The choice in weaponsWe all know that you start off choosing your weapon. Now you have the first tricky part. If you played TW for a while already, you're most likely to have a favourite weapon you like to use. This is of course good, but not
it. You'll need to check out what weapons your teammates use, so you don't have 4 Barretts and one AK or something like that. A good five-men team should have at least one sniper, two or three frontline soldiers, one or two support gunners and maybe one flying soldier who changes his weaponry depending on the situation.
The sniper will of course take the Barrett, but in some cases it may be a better choice to pick the Ruger-77. If your team is proceeding forward, trying to press the enemy deep in, the sniper should pick a Ruger because it makes him more mobile when his team is on the offense. When his team is trying to defend something, it should be sure to take the Barrett.
The frontline squad's weaponry should also be depending on the situation, but much more than the sniper's. They can either decide to go on the offense and trying to take enemy positions, wich would mean that it's time to choose a weapon like the MP5 or maybe the Spas-12. Especially the Spas is a good choice to rush main positions and enemy bunkers. Otherwise, it's usually not a bad idea for them to take the Steyr-AUG or the FN Minimi, since they are good at long range but also useful in close-quarters. Still their choice should be fitting to the situation.
The support gunners are most likely too choose the AK-74 or the FN Minimi for spraying the enemies. The supporters are usually used pretty defensive to press enemys back and keep them away by spraying them. Spraying makes enemies unable to move out of coverage, wich can be a great tactical advantage if it's used correctely. Also they can bink enemy sniper's effectively to give their team cover. As I said, most likely to be used defensively.
The most used
secondary weapon in Trenchwars would be the LAW. It's just handy to have because you can bomb your enemies out of bunkers and holes. Also there are no jets in trenchwar normally, so if an enemy is boosted into the sky, he'll propabely fall to his death. It is often used to take out spraying supporters out by tracing down the source of the spray, jumping out, proning and then pinning the sprayer down with a well-placed LAW.
Still, the other secondaries should not be forgotten. In Trenchwar maos, you'll find a lot of hiding places and scenery wich goes in front of you to sneak behind it (sneaking will be explained to you better in this guide). For sneaking players, the LAW isn't a good choice because it pokes out behind high grass and such, it's also pretty useless when you're behind your enemies. This is why sneaking players mostly use the knife: It doesn't poke out anywhere, it's an instant, silent kill and it gives you this Splinter Cell feeling
. The USSOCOM isn't used much in Trenchwars, i don't use it either. Some snipers use it to keep enemies away, but most of them just pick up a better gun on the battlefield as soon as they see one, wich is of course the better way.
Chainsaws are actually pretty interesting on tw_gloryhill and tw_nomans to clear the middle bunkers on the rush. Not used in other maps mostly, they also became an underdog.
SprayingIn Trenchwars, spraying is really not a lame thing to do. I remember one chat on tw_paperwar:
[Guy 1] "Damn lame sprayer noobs"
[Guy 2]"If you whine about spraying, what do you think all those bunkers and holes are there for?"
[Guy 2]"They're for taking cover, although you would propabely lkike to have a tea party in them"
And that's the point. Spraying is a tactical thing in TWs, it can be used in multiple purposes:
Pushing back: If you spray your opponent while moving forward, it will destroy his coverage, because nobody can get out to shoot. This may be a bit different on really good maps, because they
should be constructed in a way, that you can take cover and still shoot (tw_battlefield is a good example).
Keeping away: The exact opposite of the "pushing back" technique. You spray the opponent to make him stay in coverage and to make it impossible for him to move forward. While this may be a good way to save positions, good enemies will have their ways to shoot you down with LAWs and Barretts (although Barretting sprayers isn't that easy). Having a highground position is an important point here, because from there, gravity works for you and against your enemy.
Binking: Exactely why sniping sprayers is hard, the bink. It's also a pretty common tactic in other gamemodes. Spraying snipers to ruin their shoot conditions. No good sniper would shoot on longer range while being binked, it's a waste. It's simply better to step back and take cover, wait for the sprayer to reload, and if the reloading player isn't carefull, he'll take a facefull of bullet.
Coverage Fire: Common in real wars too. You spray forward to give yourself, or your teammates some time to run behind (or into) the next coverage. Works pretty good, especially against snipers as stated above.
How to avoid Sprays:Step back, take cover and relax. As long as you put your face in the mud behind a collider or inside a trench or a bunker, nothing can happen, really. Some shots may hit your legs, but that's about it. To totally take a sprayer out, the best way is to determine where the shots come from and then drop a LAW Rocket on that place. The chance that you kill, or at least seriousely hurt the sprayer is pretty high then.
SneakingFun, thrill, cool and totally useful, that's sneaking. Sneaking is just as it appears to be: Hiding behind objects, so enemies can't see you. I will chop this part of the guide up into some parts:
-The Weapon ChoiceYour weapons when sneaking should be weapons that kill fast. Before your enemie can realize what's hitting him, he's already dead. When I sneak, I personally like to use the MP5 and the knife as a secondary.
-Not being noticedOf course, that's the main part, and it's actually pretty difficult. It's best to have the knife in use when hiding and having the main weapon on your back, but that's where it gets hot. The primary likes to poke out behind the scenery. I have developed my own technique: I drop the MP5 in front of me when I hide and pull my knife. When I now decide to go forward, I pick the Mp5 back up. Clever, eh?
But there's more to not being noticed. You shouldn't move at all when laying in the trenches. I can't tell how often I got discovered because of the sound of my movements. Only move when it's totally neccesary.
-TimingA tricky part is the timing. When you are already behind your enemies, just jump up and run to the next hiding place AS FAST AS POSSIBLE! You should always watch the death console, if there hasn't been an enemy dieing lately, it's a good moment to run forward, because then, no spawning enemy may come across your way.
Sneaking is useful in many ways. In first manner, it's truely helpful to have a man capping the enemy flag and bring it homw. Also, the sneaker can just turn around and kill all the enemies on his way from their back to hit huge holes into the enemy lanes.
Trenchwar Maps...- ...are flat and long, wich makes spraying and sniping easy.
- ...are having strategical mainspots wich are easy to defend (bridges, bunkers....).
- ...are having many places to hide.
- ...don't have alternate ruoutes to avoid enemies.
- ...usually have ways to protect the spawns.
- ...have hurting ground wich is placed in reasonable places, for example barbed-wire or in cold water.
TeamworkTrenchwar games usually require a lot of teamwork. A single player who breakes loose of his team and rushes into the enemies will....be crushed. Only when a team sticks together and everybody knows what the teammates know, they'll have a good chance of winning. Snipers should tell their team what they know, since they see more. If they noticed a player hiding in a place where they can only look with their scope, the teammates need to know such stuff. If a frontline player got crushed by an overwhelming spray, it's useful for other players to know it. Also other things like "LAW Strikes, watch out!" or "Sniper ahead, stay low!" are always good to have as taunts for the teamchat. Snipers shuold also be protected when they're trying to get a nice position to snipe from. When they're sprayed at they can't snipe, so the team together should try to get the sprayers down.
Unsportsmanlike behaviourThere are some things in Trenchwars, that you just shouldn't do. It's mostly the use of common sense.
The most popular TW server will be EnEsCes server, wich has friendly fire disabled, but still there are some friendly fire things that suck ass. If you have enemies in front of you, don't spray into their backs. It's binking, and annoying. Even worse would be then, to shoot an artillery LAW into the sky. Maybe this LAW will come down right onto your teammate to crush him into the ground.
When your teammates are moving forward, it's really nasty just to stay in your position and to do nothing. A team needs every man they can get to the line of fight, also
you.
One last thing I now get to my mind would be capping with uneven teams. When the teams are in a 2:1 proportion (e.g. 5 vs 4 players in the game), it's unsportsmanlike to cap, just because the other team will have bad chances to get the score tied again. You may as well just ask them if they'd allow you to cap, if they don't just toss the flag back to them, but if you ask nicely, they will
.
The Trenchwar Map Guide
I will now try to tell you every interesting point about every interesting TW map I can get into my mind. The maps are not in any kind of an order, just as they pop into my mind.
TW_BattlefieldStrategical hotspot: Bridge in the middle.
Both sides have equal chances to defend it. On the left side of the map are more spots to hide, right side has more hurting ground. At all, the left side is longer. The stationary on the middle bunker is balanced very good since it's easy to take out. Once a team got that small bunker, it's pretty hard to get out of there, spraying doesn't have much effect either. LAWs are pretty much the best way.
TW_GloryHilStrategical hotspot: Big building in the middle.
The big map is pretty symmetrical wich makes it fair, but not very optical appealing. It's placed on a desert-like ground. Both sides have a small building to defend the flag. The main building is placed on a hill as the name says, that makes it very easy to defend. The attackers do best by rushing in. Many holes give places to hide away from snipers in the windows of the bunker, wich have a dream position there. Spraying pays off to the offense, too, but mostly to those who try to hold the bunker. This map appears to have a lot of capping usually.
TW_NomansStrategical hotspot: Also a main building in the middle.
The main spot here is harder to defend than on tw_gloryhill because it's not on a higher position. Spraying is a good tactic to take the building. Both sides have holes in the ground to proceed slowly, again the windows of the main building are a snipers paradise. LAW strikes into the windows work out pretty good. Both Bravo and Alpha have points to defend their base at either position of the map, left side has a small bunker with a healspot, right side just some wooden posts witch do the same job, though, with also having a healspot inside. Significant is, that once a sniper took position, it seems almost impossible to get him down again, no matter where he is. Sneaking isn't a big part of this map. Only some scenery in the holes, at the defending spots of both sides and the stairs in the main building give good hideaways. You shuold always make sure that there is nobody behind the stairs in the building, he could make a huge mess inside your men.
TW_DoppelgängerStrategical hotspot: Hard to tell, but mostly that'll be the building in the middle.
The building isn't that easy to defend. The windows are big and open for sprays. Snipers aren't having a big time here.
It is famous for it's great hiding possibilities. Almost every 20 meters in the game you find some spot to hide, but I am still amused that only a handfull of players check all the trenches out. It just requires some speed and som patience, BANG you are at the enemy's flag.
There are of course other ways to play this map, the high wooden towers are good for snipers and the main bunker is easy to take with some good sprays down.
TW_HauntedStrategical hotspot: The "bottomless pit" at the middle.
Never trus prefixes! This map doesn't really fit the parameters to be a TW map. The lack of hiding spots and the bad opportunity to snipe and to spray make it a bit different. The best tactic is to use the colliders as they are: Prone behind them, then your soldier will hold his weapon over them, this is a good way to stay safe but still shoot. With two nades you can boost yourself over the tower in the middle, wich results in some great fun mixing your enemies up from behind.
TW_ColdMorningStrategical hotspot: Uhm....the bigger building in the middle?
There are many spots for snipers to set up, wich makes spraying effective to take out positions. Use the holes that are given to you and stay on the ground to avoid Minimi sprays, those are golden rules. Be aware of hurting ground in the water. Only kickjumps will get you over the long water pits, use them
. There are again many places to hide, but not as many as in TW_BattleField. LAW strikes don't do so good because the buildings are protected very good.
A subtle not: The map is actually very beautiful.
TW_MoatsStrategical hotspot: The open Range from the bridge to the big building.
Also a very good hiding map, it's also pretty big. The bridge doesn't divide the map, the left side would be way longer than the right one. The tower on the bridge is a good spot for snipers, it has a healspot in it. The dead car gives a good hiding place. The closer you get to the flags, the less hiding places are there to protect you, a pretty good layout overall. Don't forget the stationary gun on top of the bunker, it's usefull! To get enemies away from the bridge, LAW sprays do best in my humble oppinion.
TW_PaperWarStrategical hotspot: The Bridge.
One of those Trenchwar maps that don't have many hiding places, it's more representing a really hard war for every inch of ground. Snipers on the big towers are best thrown off by sprays and by good use of the bunkers. The stationary on Alpha's side is sometimes called mean because it shoots to the bridge, allowing the gunner to spray down incoming enemies very early. A good way are LAW strikes, mostly artillery. Blind sniping is popular on this map too, especially to get the stationary out.
Yeah, I can't recall more at the moment, feel free to suggest.
Check out my
Sniper guide to get more information about Snipers.
I'd love to hear comments about this guide and wether somebody actually read it
