Post by SWATORNOT on Jan 16, 2006 13:46:29 GMT -5
How-To: Team Sniping
It takes a special “breed” of person to be a successful sniper in today’s paintball games, tactics and skills become more advanced, so you better be prepared. Team Sniping has a wide variety of uses whether it be for recon, ambush, or assassination type missions; it just needs to work and is a team effort. Though this tactical strategy is rarely employed, it proves to be one of the most powerful in the “bag-o-tricks” for snipers. To make this tactic work to its full capability takes a lot of discipline and training, you cannot expect quick results from a somewhat complicated tactic such as this. Any sniper that will be involved with this tactic once it has been employed on the field must be the best your team has to offer in three key areas
(CMP)
Communications
All the snipers participating in the tactic must know the team’s communication like the back of their hand. There will come a time when shots must be made simultaneously between two or more snipers. These need to be precisely planned and communicated shots to be successful. Without more than adequate communication your snipers may not be coordinated in making these types of shots.
Marksmanship
We already know that any sniper needs to be a great paintball marksman, but to be a team sniper you need to be the best. If you have two or more team snipers each one needs to have the highest skill when it comes to their shooting. If you are using two snipers to eliminate a high profile target, such as a general or commander, it only takes one missed shot to drop your chances of eliminating that target. With two snipers on the same target, the chances of eliminating that target are doubled (duh), if you have two highly skilled snipers you could practically be guaranteed an elimination of the specific target.
Patience
Snipers are often called “professional campers” because we often lay in wait for long periods just for one target. There is nothing wrong with being a “professional camper” as long as you complete the objective you set out on. A sniper is a valuable tool for any team, and they can offset the balance for winning or losing upon making a single elimination. The key to making these eliminations lies within patience. Certain targets may be an easy elimination, but as a team sniper you need to pick and choose targets of strategic importance (IE; Generals, Commanders, Other high ranking players). Patience is something that you will need when waiting to eliminate a general inside a well defended base. Team Snipers must coordinate the attack to drastically reduce the risk of being compromised after the shot/s.
Now to put this tactic into action will take practice, practice, and more practice. I am going to cover the three most common uses for Team Sniping; Assassination, Ambush, and Reconnaissance.
Assassination
The Assassination method of Team Sniping requires communication down to the “T.” A delay of a single second could make the difference between eliminating a target, or missing the elimination and exposing one or more of your fellow team snipers. Setup a target approximately 25 yards out and practice communicating via radio on taking simultaneous shots between two or more snipers. You need the shots to be fired at the same time; this will confuse the enemy as to where the shot/s came from simply because the noise “surrounds” them rather than emits from one location as it would with a single sniper. You may need a third party involved to stand near the target you are attempting to shoot so that they can judge how close together the shots are being made, they will prove to be a good tool for you while you practice this method. However many snipers are on the team, each one needs to practice this with the others until everybody is in sync with their paired shots. The key reason for using this method is to double your chances of getting that high profile elimination. One sniper may be able to do it, but with two or more, your chances double, triple, and so on depending on the number of snipers taking the shot. Having a well trained and “tuned” team of snipers could guarantee you that elimination.
Ambush
The Ambush method is one that requires some skill in concealment among all team snipers. Your snipers need to be able to pick out key ambush points on a field and “close the door” once the ambush has been set. This is where communication also becomes a major factor in the success of this method; you all need to communicate your locations in reference to ground zero (where the ambush will happen). You should have two snipers minimum to close off any escape route on an ambush. I refer to these snipers as “FD” and BD”; or Front door, and Back Door. You also need one sniper minimum to take the shots on ground zero. I refer to this sniper/s as “GZ”, or Ground Zero. This can be done differently in a number of ways, but to give you the practical guarantee of a successful ambush this is how I have laid them out. All team snipers must be able to communicate a visual on the ground zero location, once the target/s have entered ground zero it is up to the “FD” and “BD” snipers to close off any escape and keep them pinned on ground zero. This takes precise communication as to when the front and back door are to be closed on the opposition. Once they have been cut off from escapes the third sniper or GZ sniper needs to start eliminating the opponent/s. You can add any number of snipers to the three key positions in the ambush method, but the minimum is highly suggested to make it successful.
Reconnaissance
The Recon method is very good to use if your team lacks important enemy intelligence. You can deploy any number of snipers on any number of key locations to observe and gain some big advantages in a game by doing this. Though you may not find this method useful in small games it is a huge benefit in a large scenario type game. Your team needs to be the best with concealment because you will spend much of your time behind enemy lines observing their movements and numbers. You also need to communicate if you have multiple snipers observing one location such as a fortress from all sides. Communicate with the others on your sniper team as to sentry movements, troop numbers and placement of heavy gunners. You also need to keep a watchful eye for patrols in the area that may locate you. The key to the Recon method is to bring, or radio back vital information that your team can use to gain the upper hand in a game. If you do not successfully radio back or are unable to draw out a map of the observed area you will not provide the needed advantage to your team. Keep a safe distance from the observed areas; you are there solely to gain information, not to eliminate opponents. Once you have gathered your Intel from your observation point it is time to get together with the other team snipers and compare notes, put together as much detailed information that you can and get it back to your base, if needed, return and observe more.
Hopefully this information can provided a useful start or chunk of knowledge to some of you. I did not go into a whole lot of detail but felt a basic look and breakdown would be helpful to you.
It takes a special “breed” of person to be a successful sniper in today’s paintball games, tactics and skills become more advanced, so you better be prepared. Team Sniping has a wide variety of uses whether it be for recon, ambush, or assassination type missions; it just needs to work and is a team effort. Though this tactical strategy is rarely employed, it proves to be one of the most powerful in the “bag-o-tricks” for snipers. To make this tactic work to its full capability takes a lot of discipline and training, you cannot expect quick results from a somewhat complicated tactic such as this. Any sniper that will be involved with this tactic once it has been employed on the field must be the best your team has to offer in three key areas
(CMP)
Communications
All the snipers participating in the tactic must know the team’s communication like the back of their hand. There will come a time when shots must be made simultaneously between two or more snipers. These need to be precisely planned and communicated shots to be successful. Without more than adequate communication your snipers may not be coordinated in making these types of shots.
Marksmanship
We already know that any sniper needs to be a great paintball marksman, but to be a team sniper you need to be the best. If you have two or more team snipers each one needs to have the highest skill when it comes to their shooting. If you are using two snipers to eliminate a high profile target, such as a general or commander, it only takes one missed shot to drop your chances of eliminating that target. With two snipers on the same target, the chances of eliminating that target are doubled (duh), if you have two highly skilled snipers you could practically be guaranteed an elimination of the specific target.
Patience
Snipers are often called “professional campers” because we often lay in wait for long periods just for one target. There is nothing wrong with being a “professional camper” as long as you complete the objective you set out on. A sniper is a valuable tool for any team, and they can offset the balance for winning or losing upon making a single elimination. The key to making these eliminations lies within patience. Certain targets may be an easy elimination, but as a team sniper you need to pick and choose targets of strategic importance (IE; Generals, Commanders, Other high ranking players). Patience is something that you will need when waiting to eliminate a general inside a well defended base. Team Snipers must coordinate the attack to drastically reduce the risk of being compromised after the shot/s.
Now to put this tactic into action will take practice, practice, and more practice. I am going to cover the three most common uses for Team Sniping; Assassination, Ambush, and Reconnaissance.
Assassination
The Assassination method of Team Sniping requires communication down to the “T.” A delay of a single second could make the difference between eliminating a target, or missing the elimination and exposing one or more of your fellow team snipers. Setup a target approximately 25 yards out and practice communicating via radio on taking simultaneous shots between two or more snipers. You need the shots to be fired at the same time; this will confuse the enemy as to where the shot/s came from simply because the noise “surrounds” them rather than emits from one location as it would with a single sniper. You may need a third party involved to stand near the target you are attempting to shoot so that they can judge how close together the shots are being made, they will prove to be a good tool for you while you practice this method. However many snipers are on the team, each one needs to practice this with the others until everybody is in sync with their paired shots. The key reason for using this method is to double your chances of getting that high profile elimination. One sniper may be able to do it, but with two or more, your chances double, triple, and so on depending on the number of snipers taking the shot. Having a well trained and “tuned” team of snipers could guarantee you that elimination.
Ambush
The Ambush method is one that requires some skill in concealment among all team snipers. Your snipers need to be able to pick out key ambush points on a field and “close the door” once the ambush has been set. This is where communication also becomes a major factor in the success of this method; you all need to communicate your locations in reference to ground zero (where the ambush will happen). You should have two snipers minimum to close off any escape route on an ambush. I refer to these snipers as “FD” and BD”; or Front door, and Back Door. You also need one sniper minimum to take the shots on ground zero. I refer to this sniper/s as “GZ”, or Ground Zero. This can be done differently in a number of ways, but to give you the practical guarantee of a successful ambush this is how I have laid them out. All team snipers must be able to communicate a visual on the ground zero location, once the target/s have entered ground zero it is up to the “FD” and “BD” snipers to close off any escape and keep them pinned on ground zero. This takes precise communication as to when the front and back door are to be closed on the opposition. Once they have been cut off from escapes the third sniper or GZ sniper needs to start eliminating the opponent/s. You can add any number of snipers to the three key positions in the ambush method, but the minimum is highly suggested to make it successful.
Reconnaissance
The Recon method is very good to use if your team lacks important enemy intelligence. You can deploy any number of snipers on any number of key locations to observe and gain some big advantages in a game by doing this. Though you may not find this method useful in small games it is a huge benefit in a large scenario type game. Your team needs to be the best with concealment because you will spend much of your time behind enemy lines observing their movements and numbers. You also need to communicate if you have multiple snipers observing one location such as a fortress from all sides. Communicate with the others on your sniper team as to sentry movements, troop numbers and placement of heavy gunners. You also need to keep a watchful eye for patrols in the area that may locate you. The key to the Recon method is to bring, or radio back vital information that your team can use to gain the upper hand in a game. If you do not successfully radio back or are unable to draw out a map of the observed area you will not provide the needed advantage to your team. Keep a safe distance from the observed areas; you are there solely to gain information, not to eliminate opponents. Once you have gathered your Intel from your observation point it is time to get together with the other team snipers and compare notes, put together as much detailed information that you can and get it back to your base, if needed, return and observe more.
Hopefully this information can provided a useful start or chunk of knowledge to some of you. I did not go into a whole lot of detail but felt a basic look and breakdown would be helpful to you.
