Base Analysis

Contributor - Azragaul

This article was written by a player who at the time was level 47.  It was written with the idea to make it generic enough that it can be applied to various levels.  These suggestions are certainly not to be considered the only way of attacking a base but more of a starting point for developing your own strategies based on your own play style.

There are two types of pvp in Rogue Assault, random and war zone.  I mention this because it does factor into the kind of battles you do.  Random pvp allows you to skip bases that look too difficult or don't match up well for the platoons you have.  For war zone pvp you are dealing with bases that you sometimes would skip over because they have low metal, defenses that are harder to crack or fob support.  All of those factors add up to make war zone pvp more difficult.  If you are new to pvp don't feel like you have to go out into the warzone.  War zone battles double your infamy and there are times when you might be called on be your alliance to defend a safe zone but if you are using more oil to win battles or not 3 staring your opponents in war zones you are better off using the random pvp to hone your skills.  I will be tailoring this to random pvp.  Once you are consistently 3 staring opponents in random pvp you should have enough of a knowledge base to hit the war zones and deal with the extra layers of difficulty.

Overall when looking at a base before attacking it I am looking at turret placement and defender building placement.  Each base is a puzzle and your job is to determine the most oil efficient way to crack it based on the platoons you have available.

A quick word on platoons.  You can have up to three different platoon configurations available to you in the form of Alpha, Bravo and Charlie.   The author has his Alpha platoon set up as a ground attack force with tanks, aoe damage units, and infantry/anti-helo/anti-tank units.  Bravo is set up as a more mobile air attack force with tank and dps helicopters along with air support suitable for each platoon.  Charlie is used for a variety of outposts and strongholds so varies based on need.  Having platoons with varied set ups and the ability to use them all well will allow you the ability to crack a wider variety of bases.

Now that we have decided which platoon we are going to use for attacking a base. It is now time to look at defender buildings (war factory, helicopter pad and barracks). Defender buildings do not shoot back right away so the more of them that you can remove from the base before they release defenders the better off you will be.  Which defender building you choose to take out will depend on a number of factors including the platoon type you bring and ease with which you can reach the buildings.  If your platoon for example includes snipers it would be advantageous to remove the helicopter pad last because your snipers can handle anything that comes off the pad.  It is also important to take note of the types of units actually in the defender buildings.  You can see what types of units will come out of the buildings when scouting.   Take note if the building even has defenders in it.  Sometimes they don't. It's a waste of time and resources to rush a building that does not have any defenders in it.

Phase one of any attack after analyzing base makeup is to eliminate any defender buildings that can be gotten rid of quickly.  I will also take out the power plant if that is easily destroyed.  In addition any outlying turrets that can be singled out will be removed.  This phase should also take into consideration the types of turrets you are going to have to deal with.  Different turrets are more or less effective vs different units.  Try to find way to remove certain types of turrets in a base early so that units in your platoon are made more effective and take less damage.  An obvious example of this would be to use your ground forces to remove the flak guns from a base.  This would then allow your air support to take out other sections of a base and take less damage in the process.

While phase one is going on I will also be watching for any remaining defenders to come out of buildings I was not able to eliminate quickly.  You do not want to be fighting defenders and turrets in a base at the same time.  More often than not battles are lost because a player was too aggressive and tried to fight the turrets and defenders at the same time.  Don't be afraid to pull back and take out defenders.  AoE vehicles like buggies, s13 and m270 are great for taking out infantry defenders, tanks good for taking out light vehicles and can hold their own against other tanks, cobras and guardians are awesome against tanks and, machine gunners, snipers and other infantry drop helicopters quickly.  Keep this in mind when picking a platoon to use.  A base that has a full helo pad that you cannot eliminate right away might require some machine gunners to be brought along.  Know and understand the strengths and weaknesses of your platoon so you counter defender units with the right counter-unit

Once all defender buildings are destroyed or empty its time for the big push.  Most bases have a grouping of up to 5 turrets.  Sometimes depending on base layout you can fight only 2 or 3 turrets before moving to the others because the base layout has isolated pockets of turrets.  Your worse case scenario is a base with 6 or more turrets all supporting each other well. This requires some set up and timing but is more than doable with 3 or 4 tanks and some dps units.  The tank and dps combination can vary widely and can consist of Hinds and Cobras, Abrams and Buggies, Rhinos and S13s, Merkava and M270 etc.  First step is prep.  Remove barriers that will cause pathing problems for your tanks, if using ground forces.  Use the longer range or quicker units to snipe a pathway around minefields that leads to the heart of the bases defensive center.  Once a path and route has been cleared lead with your tanks.  You want them to attract the fire of all the remaining turret platforms if possible.  As your Tanks go into the base you want to prioritize the turrets that can cause the most damage to your units.  Use your dps units to do this. Tanks can target turrets as well but if there is a weakened transformer or two around that is a good target as well.  Have the tanks take those out first.  Once your tanks have the attention of all of the machine gun and salvo turrets and the flak turrets are eliminated your air support can join in on the attack taking out turrets as well.  Have the air support target turrets in hard to reach places or near minefields.  Killing one or two guns quickly plus a transformer or two will significantly cut down on the fire your tanks are taking.  Railguns are a priority.  You absolutly must take those out first if using a ground based tank.  Two or three shots from one or two railguns will decimate your ground based tanks.  Once the first few turrets are down make sure the tanks are rolling forward toward the turrets on the back side so that the turrets target the tanks and not your dps units. Dps units especially light vehicles like to get in front of tanks if you leave the AI on and once a tank goes down the turrets will retarget the closest squad even if there was more than one tank in your tank squad.  This push will require some practice.

Once all the turrets are down clean up the remaining buildings. Try to avoid any unnecessary damage from mines by taking the time to move around them or use some helicopters for clean up.

My last suggestion would be to watch war zone fights.  Take the time to find those little flashes around the war zone you are currently in.  Watch the fights, watch what units people are using, if the fight was successful or not.  If not why not?  Did the attacker rush? Fail to take out defender units?  If successful what did the attacker do right?  What could the attacker have done better?  Did the attacker waste oil needlessly?