Modern Warfare
CoD4 Basic Infantry Handbook
Guide by Jester - This guide is meant to give you the tactical knowledge to handle any common situation on the battlefield in Call Of Duty 4. This guide will be most helpful to inexperienced players, but there are still a few tricks in here for the leathernecks.
There will be several sections to this guide:
Section 1: Basic rules of combat.
Section 2: How to handle different situations
Section 3: How to go from n00b, to leatherneck, Fast.
Section 1: Basic rules of combat.
This section will go over things that are generally a good idea to use on the field, no matter what.
Rule #1: Swap the secondary. If you kill an opponent, it is almost always a good idea to take his gun. After all, wouldn't you rather have a G36c at your disposal rather than a USP .45? I know i would. Try to swap your secondary as soon as you can. If you are a ghost who killed a sniper, try taking his sniper and wreaking some havoc on your own. Doing this means that you pretty much have the overkill perk, you just need to find the second primary, and you don;t always get full choice over what the secondary is.
Rule#2: When entering an engagement, belly flop. (If you don;t know what a belly flop is it is in part one of my advanced tactics and techniques guide). This is almost always a good idea, especially at mid range. Try to land just to the side of some cover, or at the top of a hill. This makes you a very small target, and you have protection from the cover. An added bonus to this is that it is next to impossible to get killed mid belly flop, the movement is so erratic that only people experienced with dealing with it will be able to hit you. DO NOT belly flop if the enemy has the high ground. It makes you a BIGGER TARGET unless you have very good cover between you and the elevated enemy. If you have good cover though, then belly flop behind it for safety, then pre aim and pop above the cover to shoot at the opponent.
Rule#3: Watch that UAV. Watching the UAV will tell you where the action is. It will tell you where allies are. It can even tell you where ghosts are, if you pay extra close attention. If you see an ally firing, follow his arrow, if you hear a silenced weapon returning fire then the ghost was within that arrows field of vision, usually not very far away. However, do not stare at your UAV. When not in combat, i periodically glance up at it, about one glance every five seconds. During combat i only look at it when i get the chance (behind cover, reloading) or once every twenty seconds. I do this to avoid getting too surprised.
Rule#4: Go for the high ground. It has always been known in warfare, since before Sun Tzu, that the combatant with the high ground has the advantage. Why? It makes your opponent a bigger target, gives you a wider range of vision over the battlefield, makes you a smaller target for the opponents below you, etc. It is also generally easier to defend an area when you have an elevation advantage over your opponent.
Rule#5: Communicate. When I say communicate, I don't mean go tell everybody you just pistol whipped some nub. I mean, provide your team with info on the enemy. If you get killed by a sniper, tell your team, and tell them where the sniper is. If possible, name the rifle (a .50 cal has much deeper penetration than other snipers, so knowing it is a .50 cal would help your team with their cover selection). If you get killed by ghost that flanked you, warn your team that there is a ghost out there, so they need to pay attention to the screen and the sniper really needs to listen for footsteps. This also makes sure the team doesn;t attempt to hunt by UAV. Anything and everything helps. As a tactical leader, I like to have my team AT LEAST tell me where the enemy is. If they can, i want a tab on the number of ghosts and snipers. If there is a guy with a shotty, i want to know, same with last stand or martyrdom. Trust me, anything will help a tactical leader decide what to do, and lack of information can make a tactic crumble.
Rule#6: Use low traffic routes. It is generally a good idea to avoid high traffic routes, simply because those are what snipers tend to overwatch. Try using back routes to get to the combat areas, trust me it will increase your survival rate.
Rule#7: Use cover! This the most common mistake i see on live. People that try and run and gun in call of duty, usually won't last long. (The main exception is CQB maps like vacant or wetworks) Use my stick and move technique described in part one of my advanced tactics and techniques guide. Remember though, bullets penetrate cover, so be carefull what you hide behind. Dumpsters, large cement blocks, and wrecked cars are generally safe.
Rule#8: Aim down the sights. I know this sounds obvious, yet i see people trying to hip fire almost all the time. At close quarters, hip fire works great. At anything but close quarters, it is generally a good idea to aim down the sights. This makes you worlds more accurate, saving you lots of ammo. Saving ammo is a big deal if you are like me, and tend to survive for quite a while.
Rule#9: When you aren't moving, crouch. This makes you more accurate, and a smaller target for your enemy. This also increases the percent of body area that cover will protect.
Rule#10: Avoid open spaces. Always avoid open spaces, because most of the time there will be a sniper watching it, just waiting for you to pass into his crosshair. If you have to cross an open area, Sprint and belly flop to cover at the other end of the open area. Remember, open spaces mean death unless crossed VERY quickly.
Rule#11: When in doubt, run. You heard me. If you are running down a street, and three guys come around the corner ready to blow your head off, then get cover and retreat. Return fire, but be constantly moving away from them. Try to get near some allies for backup, but make sure you warn them there are nemies following you.
Rule#12: If the attack is going great, you are walking into an ambush. This is actually in the U.S. infantry handbook, and it's true. If in search and destroy, the enemy is nowhere in sight, they havent fired a single shot, and both bomb sites seem unguarded, there is something wrong. Check for snipers, check all your corners and nooks and crannies. You ARE walking into an ambush.
Rule#13: The defenders have the advantage. Period. Throughout military history, even if an attack is wildly successful, the attackers have always faced more casualties than the defenders. Remember this, because if your team is losing in team death match, it may be best to fall back and make them come to you. They could just sit there with the higher score and win the game, they won't. They will keep attacking your newly fortified position until you catch up to them. Then they are screwed.
Rule#14: When in doubt, nade. If you think a room has enemy presence, but you are not sure, throw in a nade, or a special nade if it isn't smoke. Then storm the room, and clear it. Better safe then sorry.
Rule#15: Cook your frags. Always cook your frags, three seconds for short range, two for mid, one for long. The only exception to this is when you are using my frag retreat technique. You can find this in the reatreating section of my advanced tactics and teamwork guide.
Section two: How to handle different situations. This section will give you basic guidelines for the most common problem situations in Call Of Duty 4.
Surviving a sniper attack: If you get shot by a sniper, and survive, sprint and belly flop behind the nearest cover between you and the sniper. Inform your team he is there. Once your health recovers, depending on your weapon, either move out of the snipers field of vision, or attempt to engage him with your sniper/ ACOG'd AR. I personally recommend just staying out of his field of vision. He knows where you are, and is probably pre aimed waiting for you to pop out and try and kill him.
Assaulting the enemy: Assaulting the enemy simply means bringing the fight to them. When part of an assaulting team, you should follow these guidelines. Keep in mind i am not talking about searcgh and destray, i'm talking about team death match or headquarters or domination. Search and destroy is a world of it's own. First of all, to effectively assault the enemy, you need at least two people. They don't need certain roles, there just needs to be two of them. They should use frags/n00b tubes to cause havoc as they push their way towards the enemy. Leapfrogging movement is highly recommended. Cover selection is vital. Automatic weapons are your best friend when assaulting, I recomend an M4/AK47. Also, try to have a possible escape route planned in case the enemies defenses are too tight.
Defending against an attack: When expecting an enemy attack, have the entire team hole up in one large building, or two small ones close enough to support each other. However have two people in each building(s) to begin with, and have the others set up base lines of defense at firing positions in front of the buildings. Have at least two phase lines before the buildings. The buildings will be like the Alamo. If playing HQ, try to have firing positions set up that guard the main routes to the HQ. Once a phase line is compromised (the enemy get's too close) fall back to the next one.
How to handle an opponent with a shotgun: When facing an enemy with a shotgun, simply hang back, stay out of cramped spaces, try to get some high ground. Figure out his favorite routes (most shotgun users use the same routes over and over) and get set to open fire the next time he uses one.
How to handle a n00b tuber: n00b tubers are never fun to deal with. Try switching to a ghost class and flanking him. Because he is obviously an inexperienced player if he is truly n00b tubing (different than grenade launching, read part one of my advanced tactics and techniques guide) he most likely will hunt by UAV, and your ghost class will pwn him, every time. If he is long range grenade launching (not very common, but can be done) simply find cover in a building, or with a little something overhead, taking cover with a tall wall behind you and the cover in front tends to work well also.
How to clear a room of multiple enemies: When presence of multiple enemies is confirmed, toss a special grenade(assuming it isn't smoke, if it is throw a cooked frag) and once it detonates storm the room, check the corners farthest from the entrance first, then the ones closest to the doorway. This is simply because most people will be camping those spots when expecting you to storm a room. Also, check for prone opponents, some people when stunned or flashed will go prone (i do, it increases chances of survival by a good fifty percent) and be careful of spray and pray flashed opponents.
Now for how to counter the not so common problem situations.
How to counter a team of snipers: I've seen this before, an entire team of snipers, usually from a sniping clan. It's rare, but very often deadly IF they manage to pull it off right. First, make sure you watch the killcam when you die and keep a tab on numbers of overkilled snipers, number of power snipers, and number of ghost snipers. If they have no overkill snipers, simply switch to a ghost class, stick to the shadows, and flank the jerkoffs. If they do have overkilled ones, be more careful about avoiding (not sprinting across) claymores. You really don't want to give them time to switch to thier MP5's before you get into the room. Ghosts are usually the best counter to a team of snipers, but your entire team may need to become ghosts for the tactic to work right. (one guy flanking snipers can't make up for a team that keeps getting killed)
How to counter a team of ghosts: This is tricky. Very tricky. Luckily however, ghost teams are very rare. IF you ever run into one, here is the best counter to it. Everybody hole up in one building, and everybody use a juggernaut class. Now all those sneaky little ghosts only have one building to attack, they can't flank very easily because most buildings only have two to three entrances, which should be easily guarded by a six man team. Stay spaced out, and on multiple leves to ensure that one nade doesn't take you all out. Watch those entrances and DO NOT PANIC. If you panic against a team of ghosts, you might as well forfiet. Keep in mind though, countering a team of ghosts requires cooperation from the entire team. It is IMPOSSIBLE to do on your own.
How to counter a team of Juggernauts: Make sure everybody is using stopping power, and try using LMG's with grips. The power and accuracy of a gripped stopping powered RPD will drop any juggernaut before he can say: "Oh, f-". Not quite as difficult to counter as a ghost team, but still difficult. Grenades and grenade launchers will become your friend here, especially if they are holing up in buildings.
Section Three: How to go from Inexperienced, to leatherneck. Fast.
This section is for all the new/ inexperienced/ crappy players out there. This section will give you some guidelines for improving your game. I will list what you need to do by priority.
Priority #1: Find an automatic assault rifle you like. The m16 is a viable exception, but don't even try an m14 or g3 if you are inexperienced, please. I recommend the AK47 to new players. It is a spray and pray friendly gun, with high power and enough accuracy that if fired in two shot bursts can counter snipe. Once mastered it will be deadly.
Priority #2: Build a basic slayer class. Nothing fancy. Stopping power, steady aim, and three frags usually works wonders. Perk1 won't be that important though. RPG's are welcome so you can shoot down choppers, and you can use them no matter whayt rank you are.
Priority #3: Learn to aim quickly. Go to a private match with a dummy (signed in controler that you don't touch) and practice shooting it from different ranges. Remember, at anything but point blank you need to aim down your iron sights.
Priority #4: Learn to throw grenades accurately at least at medium range. Practice this like you did with priority three until you feel competent at nading.
Priority #5: Learn the maps hot routes. For this, go to team death match. At break, just stick with one of the higher ranked players (not a sniper) and follow him, watch his back, but don't steal all his kills. Do this until you feel you know at least one or two hotspots on each map.
Priority #6: Learn to fight. Go to the hot routes you know, and attempt to kill the enemy. I can't teach you how to kill someone, combat is the best tutor. Take not on killcam what you opponents did better than you did, and what your allies with high scores are doing. You can learn a lot from observation.
Priority #7: Now that you have gotten good with your basic slayer class, begin experimenting with other classes. Ghosts, snipers, CQB, LMGs, anything. Find what your favorite thing to do is and learn to do it well by observing others who do it.
If you have done those seven priorities you now know how to use a very balanced slayer class, and a specialist class. Once you have completed these, just experiment around a little. If you were an LMG specialist try sniping for a change of pace. The world is now your playbox.
Well that's my basic infantry handbook, I hope you all found something useful in here you didn't know yet!
-Jester