Guide By: I.M. Weasel
Copyright: 2012-2016
Version: 0.2 (GAMEFAQS line version)
Systems: PC
Last Update: 04/05/2016
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||| Table of Contents |||
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[1] About this guide & Terms
[2] Classes
[3] Character Look
[4] Weapons
[5] Traversing the terrain undetected
[5a] Distractions
[5b] Taking Flags
[5c] Using Vehicles
[5d] Disengaging/Retreating
[6] Other Tips & Tricks
[7] Q & A
[8] Contact
[9] Update History
[10] Legal
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||| [1] About this guide & Terms |||
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This is a guide to general evasive tactics, going stealth, and staying alive in
Battlefield Vietnam. The tactics can be applied to BF1942 in general (and its
expansions); but weapon usage and class information may not.
BFV - Battlefield Vietnam BF1942 - Battlefield 1942 (& Expansions) Grid space -
1 square on the map. The actual size of the space represented can differ from
map to map.
Mainly, different classes have different speed ratings and use different
weapons. This guide doesn't really subscribe to one weapon set or class.
Although, due to the nature of the guide we won't be focusing much on the Anti-
Tank class, due to their low movement speed.
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||| [3] Character Look |||
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Not many of the kits contain notable visual variations. The main item that can
draw A LOT of attention is the NVA 'Rice Hat'. It is very discernible at medium
& long distances because of its shape and color. Avoid wearing this if you're
trying to evade enemies.
I won't be discussing all the possible weapons, or many of them in detail. When
placing these weapons (except binoculars), moving forward at the same time as
tossing them will cause you to throw them farther. This is great for places
these weapons in areas you cannot directly walk up into (i.e. under vehicles).
In addition, placing them on any type of hill or slope will cause gravity to
pull them downhill until they lose momentum or hit a solid object.
*Binoculars - Both Teams - Used for calling in artillery. They can be used to A)
*draw (positive) attention to your team to a flag/enemy you're dealing with B)
*Give your team an artillery sight.
*Booby Trap - NVA team only, can be re-picked up. Standing next to a vehicle and
*using this weapon attaches a bomb to the vehicle. Getting in sets off the bomb.
*These are hard to use effectively due to team killing (even with Friendly Fire
*off). These will kill you as well if step into the vehicle they are attached
*to. Their best use is when taking an enemy flag alone. Attach it to any
*surrounding tanks (or jeeps) or helis, and take the point on foot. Spawning
*enemies will usually try to run to an open tank or heli at said flag and die.
*If you do use them in this way and are able to take the targeted flag, make
*sure to go back and remove any of these you have setup to avoid killing
*friendlies.
*Bouncing Betty - NVA team only, can't be re-picked up. An anti-infantry mine.
*These will instantly kill any enemy in close proximity when they detonate, and
*will damage enemies according to their proximity to the explosion they create.
*Vehicles will not trigger betties, but can be used near vehicles to act as a
*sort of 'Booby Trap'. (If the enemy detonates the Betty next to a vehicle, it
*will cause the vehicle damage). Great to protect entrances and/or guard flags.
*Like many other 'trap' type weapons, placing these on or next to Ammo/Health
*boxes can be very effective.
*Caltrops - NVA team only, can be re-picked up. An anti-infantry weapon used by
*the sniper class. Use them at entrances to buildings, hiding spots near flags,
*or near ammo/health crates. Their main use is to pre-damage an enemy when
*hiding and sniping. They are especially effective on stairs. Each 'hit' with
*caltrops does about 15-20% damage. If an enemy prones on caltrops, they will
*take about 60% damage instantly, and maybe an extra 20% while getting up and
*getting away after laying down on them.
*Claymores - US team(s) only, can be re-picked up. Very similar to Bouncing
*Betties; these will detonate when stepped on, but can also be set off like
*C4/TNT. Unlike c4/TNT though, these will NOT damage vehicles.
*C4/TNT - Can be re-picked up. The primary fire button will place the
*explosives, and the secondary fire button will select the detonator. Unlike
*TNT, C4 will attach to whatever object(s) you throw it against, including
*vehicles. This can be useful when placing it in hard-to-see spots: Next
*to/behind an object, or even stuck to a place like a ceiling inside a building.
*They can also be used to make vehicle bombs, C4 can be attached anywhere to a
*vehicle, but TNT has to be placed 'inside' a vehicle and not get bumped out
*when traveling. TNT is a great weapon to throw from the top of a hill and let
*slide into the path of enemies.
*Mines - Both Teams, Can be re-picked up. If a vehicle 'runs over' the mine, it
*will destroy the vehicle no matter the type. These can also be placed under
*vehicles, and will kill the enemy when the get in. A great trap weapon. Place
*them under vehicles, or in high vehicle-traffic areas. US-based land mines are
*a lot more visible than NVA mines, so take this into account when using them.
*Mortar - Both Teams, Can be re-picked up. Sets down the mortar tube, which you
*can 'get in' and fire mortar rounds. Not necessarily a stealth weapon, but you
*can effectively be a one man army with one. The mortar rounds are incredibly
*effective against vehicles, including helicopters. Also, a mortars' splash area
*of the impact can quite deadly to enemy infantry troops. To take out tanks/land
*vehicles find a spot on a nearby incline to have the mortar point downwards
*towards the ground and the target. Against helis', find a secluded spot and
*wait; if the heli circles, you can risk firing, but if it tries to land, line
*up and fire two shots as quick as possible. The first hit will usually be
*enough to take that heli down. As a side-note, when players are taking mortar
*fire into the flag they are at, they are usually incited to attempt to attack
*the nearest enemy flag the shells may be coming from.
*Pungee Spikes - NVA only, can be re-picked up. Like caltrops but do about
*40-60% damage to a enemy per 'hit'. They take longer to setup than caltrops,
*but are also far deadlier. See the notes on Caltrops for best practices.
*Smoke Bombs - US team(s) only. The smoke bomb will pour out colored smoke for
*about 30 seconds once it is thrown. The bad thing is, the smoke will start
*coming out the second you thrown it, giving a brief smoke trail to your
*position if you're lobbing it. Smoke Bombs can have so many different
*applications, - stealth attacks, escaping, cover, bottle-necking enemies,
*harassing enemy vehicles - but they can also become a hindrance if not used
*correctly. It is hard to say exactly when they will benefit and when they will
*hurt your cause; you must learn to understand situations as they happen and act
*accordingly for the best effects. With that said, throwing them at an enemy
*tank that is stuck in tight quarters is almost universally good; your allies
*will be easily be able to take advantage of that situation.
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||| [5] Traversing the terrain undetected |||
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I'll start off with a few major points:
*Run behind/around cover at all times. That's right... at ALL times. On the
*front lines or out in a 'field' alone. In my opinion, if improves survivability
*by about 60-80%.
*Characters appear brighter than pretty much any surrounding landscape, object,
*or vehicle. This excludes sand and a few types of trees. This makes them/you
*readily visible and easy to spot from a distance.
*Air Vehicles can visually 'cheat' due to how the tree leaf textures appear. It
*is easy for them to see you from over-head at any angle. Your best defense is
*solid cover, such as a building or structure.
Here's a small drawing of viewing angles. This represents a hill with random
sparse trees, the norm with most hills on the maps. 'You' are represented by the
'Y'.
B
____
/
Y/
/
W ______/
W - Worst viewing point. From this angle the enemy has a hard time seeing you
through leaves and foliage.
B - Best viewing point. Enemies on a opposing hill,
or in an air vehicle will be able to look through the leaves as if they aren't
there.
Using distracting events to your advantage is a great way to stay undetected in
open terrain or moving between heavily guarded areas. Many times, you can use an
event like moving vehicles(allied or enemy), flag control, or visual effects as
a distraction. Helicopters are especially distracting due to their
offensive/defensive capabilities.
Ideally, you want to take a flag when you have the least amount of resistance.
Be careful when killing enemies close to a flag. If you can wait, it's best to
remove any threats just as the flag is changing over to your teams control
(going gray) so they will not be able to re-spawn and easily kill you.
When moving in to take the flag, minimize the amount of time you spend without
cover. Find a spot that has cover, but has more than 1 escape path, if possible.
It's also handy to have a good view on the most possible 'entrances' to the flag
or to your hiding spot. Alternating between two spots like this (or more) is
also effective.
When sneaking up a to flag, it's best to watch and wait for a short time to see
what the enemies are doing around it (if there are any). You can watch them
drive off in tanks, jeeps or any vehicle and estimate the time it takes for them
to get out of range of said flag. Also, you can observe the paths that they use
most often traveling to and from the flag. This is one of the best times to
approach the flags; enemies looking for a spawn point are less likely to choose
a flag if the vehicles have been taken recently.
Weapon traps can be setup anytime during this assault; refer to the weapons
listings for techniques.
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[5c] Using Vehicles
Vehicles can be employed in stealth tactics, but a big issue is the fact that
when you leave a vehicle, its icon will show up on the map. If an enemy sees a
empty vehicle icon appear on their map, they might know something is up or an
enemy is in that area. Vehicles will also draw enemies towards them that are
looking for transportation. There are a few ways to lessen this view-ability.
One way is to abandon the vehicle next to other empty vehicles. This can
partially conceal your vehicles icon, and enemies might gloss over it on the
map. Another way is to leave your vehicle in such a way that it explodes very
shortly after leaving it, leaving no icon. This is somewhat risky due to A)
damaging yourself in the explosion or miscalculating and completely blowing
yourself up, B) The explosions visual effect drawing attention, C) some enemies
if seeing a abandon vehicle blip appear then disappear, might get suspicious.
Vehicles can also be abandoned near the spawn point of other vehicles, and
enemies looking at their maps may assume that they are just part of the usual
vehicles that spawn at that location.
Lastly, the final way is to abandon the vehicle directly under the flag, so that
the flags icon covers the vehicles icon on the map. Somewhat risky due to the
fact that you are putting yourself right in the focal point of the flag itself.
In many cases its almost preferable to catch a ride with an ally, and jump out
at a good insertion point. Assess the situation when you catch a ride - an ally
might assume you are going to directly attack a point with him, and might adjust
his tactics thinking he has backup. If you bail and he dies, you will lose a
vehicle, a ticket and they may slightly distrust you. Even if you're forging on
alone, you're still part of a team!
If you're parachuting out of a plane/jet or helicopter, open the parachute as
close to the ground as possible. This not only keeps you becoming a floating
target, but will also lessen your visual footprint.
If you're attempting to take flags on your own, there's going to be a few times
when you are overwhelmed by the enemy. Don't die needlessly; You will lose
playtime and you might have to spawn quite a distance from your 'objective'. A
gray flag will attract a large number of forces within the surrounding area,
both allied and enemy. Of course, there are some clinch times when you're
arriving alone ahead of an allied force and you might just want to be heroic.
When a situation happens and you must retreat, take these steps:
1. Distance yourself from the flags radius, and don't fire your gun unless you
are killing a DIRECT pursuer.
2. Use optimal cover to move yourself to a safe area about half a grid space
away (give or take). DO NOT go towards ammo boxes or health lockers/boxes. They
will be crawling with enemies at this time.
3. Escape in a vehicle. Very risky. Only attempt if the vehicle has cover
between it and the majority of enemies. Do not attempt to escape in a vehicle if
the flag/area has a enemy helicopter in the vicinity. They LOVE to chase down
and attack fleeing enemies within range.
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||| [6] Other Tips & Tricks |||
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This section is an addition to the guide, these are not stealth tactics per say,
but I'd thought I'd include these weird items.
Mortar You can use a special trick (FF off required) to blast yourself up much
higher than you can jump without taking any damage.
Operation Flaming Dart The US team in this map is at a serious disadvantage. The
NVA bomber can take out a US tower in about 3-4 passovers' if all their bombs
hit. To prevent this from happening, the F4's must keep them out of sky asap
with their heat-seekers. For the US to destroy the NVA's Towers, the Mortar is
the best weapon. After some testing, it takes about 80 C4s to destroy a Tower,
but only 20 Mortar rounds (aim for the legs). The Mortar will be much louder,
and will create constant explosions on impact, which of course is a big issue.
Setup the mortar in the most secluded spot possible, but a spot where you can
easily view all the enemy spawn points in the area. It may take a while to
perfectly set it up, but its better to get it right before you start firing
because the enemy will come after you in short order. Also, after lining up the
target, make sure to cycle through the camera angles every few seconds to spot
any enemies that may be trying to ambush you. If you team up with a Sniper class
(engineer has the mortar), you will be golden! Have the Sniper set up the
artillery on the Tower, then setup your mortar farrrrr away. The Sniper will
also be able to cover you with their rifle and even use Smoke Bombs if things
get super hairy. 2 Engineers and 1 Sniper teaming up together can devastate the
NVA Towers.
Strange Land Phenomenons
Hue, Reclaiming Hue The piles of rubble will kill you if you get too close to
them. Especially the ones in the north east corner of the map.
Cambodian Incursion There is a way to get underneath the 'castle'. This is
considered a glitch due to being able to fire on enemies without the possibility
of them killing you.
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||| [7] Q & A |||
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Include the name of the guide in the subject line. If it looks like spam, I will
not open it. If you have an opinion on something-such as X move is good or not
good-state why you think so and include details/alternatives. It's a waste of my
time and your time to write 'Your guide sucks' without any suggestions to as
why.
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||| [9] Update History |||
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All rights reserved I.M. Weasel Copyright 2012-2016
This document is provided as-is, and makes no guarantees to the content. I have
no affiliation with either EA or other producers of this game. This document may
not hosted or made available on any website(s) or other forums without my
express written consent. Third-Parties may post links to the document, but not
re-host the document itself. This is a whole work and may not be copied or split
apart in any fashion without the express written consent of me, the author.
If you have questions or comments, or would like to host the document elsewhere,
please contact me at tofuheavyindustries
at
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This document may only be hosted on these sites (List current as of 04/06/2016):
gbadcdev.dcemulation.org (01/17/2015)
gamefaqs.com (04/06/2016)
