* Teams - Hill Assaults
By: Field Marshall Turumbar
When assaulting a single person with a height advantage on a moderately steep hill, it is imperative to use the proper weapon. Although many condone using medium to heavy weaponry (Nothing weaker than the CPS 1000 or its rough equivalent), I recommend use of the Max-D system. Assuming that the hill is wooded, one can take advantage of the slow speed at which water travels. By darting quickly, often stopping and changing directions (Forwards and backwards. Moving up and down the hill defeats the purpose, really), you can make the opponent (most likely armed with CPS class weapon) use up his blast. Using a continued process like this, you can make an inexperienced person use up his water quickly. If you have the aid of a small shield, you can even get many experienced players to use up their water and, even if they don’t, you’ll have ample opportunity to slowly move up.
The use of a shield: A shield is useful when attacking up hill. Due to the involved angles, your feet and legs are the most difficult target on your body. Use this to your advantage. Crouch and cover the upper portion of your body with the shield. Shields are also very useful when storming groups of people. If one charges up a hill with medium to heavy growth without a shield against multiple opponents, you’re guaranteed defeat. However, if two groups go at it and the group from the bottom has shields, the defenders lose most of their advantage.
Use of plants: Trees and shrubs provide excellent cover. Not just hiding behind bases as many suggest, but also to break up aerial shots. When firing at a 45 degree angle from the top of a hill one can have triple the range of most guns. Many would find this impossible to beat, however, the shots are slow, it uses up lots of water, and it’s likely to be broken up. In medium vegetation a shot fired at any serious angle becomes useless and, in heavy stuff, the people at the top of a hill actually get the disadvantage.
Hill defense: If a hill is steeper towards the top than the bottom, position yourselves on the steepest point that you can while still guaranteeing a path for retreat. If it is steeper towards the bottom, position yourselves at the point where the angle changes and fire from there. Many new warriors make the mistake of positioning themselves at the top of a hill. A historical example could be seen in the American Civil War battle: "The Battle Above the Clouds". Confederate men positioned themselves at the top of a mountain that the slope gradually became gentler as one climbed. Instead of positioning themselves on a steep section they (wrongfully) assumed that putting themselves at the top gave them the best advantage. It was a crushing Union victory, so you can see my point.
Hill Assault Weapons: Any of the high class CPS weapons are virtually useless in hill assault (with the exception of the CPS2000 based solely on the merits of its range) and should not be used. A Monster class gun or any CPS larger than the CPS2100 is so heavy it decreases your mobility (a key factor in hill assault) to the point where you become a sitting duck. Furthermore, you need long shot time which most of the larger weapons lack. A CPS1000 (or something similar) or in a pinch the Max-D 6000 are your best bets for hill assault. Shorter pumping time and extended range give a decisive advantage. The CPS2100 also works due to the nature of its burst fire (After pumping a 2100 fully, if one fires in bursts, all one needs is two pumps to keep it at optimum power) and because of its wide blast radius. In light or nonexistent woods, a waterballoon launcher will always reign supreme. Using its superior range and firepower allows you to force enemies back.
Combined arms hill assault tactics: With a waterballoon launcher and some light to medium weaponry, a hill assault can be carried out very effectively. Have the men with the launcher keep a continuous fire at the approximate middle of the formation without letting up. Then, send your remaining forces to attack one of the fractured enemy groups. With speed, you can reach the enemy before they have a chance to reform and you can use superior numbers that way. Then, once the first group is destroyed, have your launcher fire behind the second group, cutting off their retreat and attack that way with waterballoon support. The use of a launcher allows offensive superiority, but only if there aren’t enough trees to get in the way of the balloon. Also, since to maintain accuracy three men are needed to aim a launcher, this is not recommended for small groups.
Posted: 20020424
