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Lucky Snare
Quick Facts
Location: Bolivia
Average Completion Time: 3 minutes
Number of Terrorists: 20+
Recommended Arsenal: M4 Carbine - SD Pistol - Frags - HBS
Minimum number of operatives/type: 6
Objective: Rescue Hostages
Planning
Lucky Snare is one of the more challenging missions I've ever had to design a
plan for, with some of the EW missions being the rare exception. Because I like
to design the AI to do most of the work in these plans, getting the timing and
execution down proved to be very tedious. As you should notice from the
blueprints, this level is HUGE and is essentially divided up into a few
sections:
starting points, first forest, gorge opening, sniper forest, and the crashed
plane. Those few sections are how to break down your plan for working the
mission. Step-by-step go-codes are probably the best used for this mission, as
there are a number of steps in which the team must support each other. Before
you get too far ahead of yourself, look at the number of approaches to the
hostages: note that it's just a matter of scooping up the hostages and making a
break for the extraction zone just behind the plane. I elected to use the M4
Carbine for the simple reason that my team needed the added control and "loud
shooting" to get the snipers and other bad guys out of their all too good
insertion points. This will become especially handy when you reach the gorge.
I
sent my team around the back end of the waterfalls, providing the support for
most of the operations, including a couple of very crucial kills and clearing
the
extraction zone.
Execution
Changing from the blueprints to the real thing will be a huge shock. I was
totally shocked when I first ventured into the level because of the maze-like
appearance that the jungle trees and undergrowth that can very quickly confuse
the eye. Be sure to run around with an eye on your map so as not to get lost.
Rushing the first forest, up to the gorge should be no problem. By far the most
challenging portion of the mission came when the team came to the waterfalls. I
had set up two teams on either approach: the old bridge and behind the
waterfalls. Both require a lot of careful sniping. In this case, I was facing
the waterfalls. Your attention should go to the collection of guards walking
around behind the waterfall, under the rock out cropping. In particular, there
is one really nasty sniper wedged in next to a rock. But because there are
snipers across the way (including one behind a rock you'll need to pick off),
you
must wait till you knock off the snipers to engage the sniper. Fortunately for
you, you can lob a frag grenade from behind shelter and have it land right at
the
foot of a sneaky snipers. You'll also want to take out the guard located at
your
2 o'clock from the walkway behind the waterfalls. He's a sniper, so walk out
with your pants down. The second sniper is nearly impossible to nail
successfully. I found the best way to do this was to first clear the closer
holdings around the bridge, and then send in the AI team around to the back of
the sniper. Once the sniper has been knocked off, you'll be able to send both
remaining teams up along the walkway, and onto the final area. That final area
is where labor begins. Because I simply don't trust myself around hostages, I
let the computer AI handle that engagement, while I cleared the camp and the
back
of the insertion point. If you kill all the terrorists, you won't have to bring
the hostages to the extraction zone.
Arctic Zebra
Quick Facts
Location: Arctic Circle
Average Completion Time: 2 minutes
Number of Terrorists: 10+
Recommended Arsenal: M4 Carbine - SD Pistol - Frags - HBS
Minimum number of operatives/type: 4
Objective: Rescue Hostages/Plant Bug
Planning
When setting up the plan, make to use both of the base entrances. Give your
teams a waypoint check-in, with them covering as much of the base as they can
from those two entrances. As you'll see in the execution phase, I took the
point
for the left base entrance, taking out the initial snipers. Your AI teammates
can't seem to make do with that entrance, unfortunately. Once the initial
terrorists are eliminated, have both teams turn into towards the central
building. From there, have the teams head towards the central building. Route
both teams into each door, and start them on go-codes. Finally, be sure to
include waypoints and the commands to replace the satellite data and extract the
hostage.
Execution
According to reports, the two major items (satellite data and hostages) are
closely spaced, hence finding your objectives should not at all be hard. In
fact, I found this to be a simple map, the only thing that really offered any
sort of challenge was picking off the snipers before your own entire team was
skanked by the AI terrorists. That said, there appears to be some difficulty
with the AI's ability to see past a particular sign located at one of the
entrances. For some reason, they can not see around the sign, and in my plan
for
the mission, I was forced to take the lead in sniping. From the approach,
engage
the terrorists in the following order: as soon as you crest the hill, and have a
shot into the open area, there should be a terrorist in sight. After him,
slowly
strafe towards the center, and just over the sign will be another terrorist.
Third, continue to strafe to the right and just past another hangar will be a
terrorist just barely visible. A well placed head shot will do the trick. If
you scan with your HBS, you'll notice a terrorist heading at the very left edge
of the entrance. A frag can be lobbed into his lap easily. The rest of the
terrorists are located in the center of the base, so you'll probably want to
strafe them or have your teammates head in. These should be the last remaining
terrorists, and you'll now be able to meet up with your team to assault the
central building, where the hostage and satellite data are located.
I recommend using both doors to assault the base, with go-codes in place to time
the assault. If you're not confident with your team's ability to move into this
small building successfully, scan the building with an HBS and lob a frag in.
Once the final terrorists are eliminated, the mission often ends. If you still
have to replace the data and rescue the hostage, there's likely another
terrorist
on the premise, so watch out.
Brazen Heart
Quick Facts
Location: North Dakota
Average Completion Time: 3 minutes
Number of Terrorists: 8+
Recommended Arsenal: M4 Carbine - SD Pistol - Frags - HBS
Minimum number of operatives/type: 4
Objective: Kill all terrorists
Planning
Examining the blueprints can be a bit misleading at first, so be sure to use the
3D view to get the complete overall picture of the mission. There are several
unique and tricky locations to figure out, including the different entrances,
the
underground command center, and the silo bay. While it's not necessary to have
a
perfect understanding of the level before going in, it will help your planning.
When you start out, have all your teams (I used 3) come out the building and
wait
behind some cover, allowing for the exterior guards to be sniped and for you to
get your bearings. Next, have the three teams break into three different routes
to breach the base. Have one go into the entrance detached from the main
building (which heads directly downstairs), have another go around into the back
side entrance (preferably you), and have the third team go into the front
entrance of the command bunker. Have the teams proceed downstairs through
whatever route is most efficient. Your team is best used if they are sent
through the main level of the command bunker, cleaning out the random
terrorists. You'll want to have the teams stop on go-codes before they reach
the
long hallway to the silo bay and before they enter the underground command
control room where the main bad guy is located. Once a go-code is given,
they'll
be able to clean up the remaining rooms. In the plan, I used assault rifles for
not only the stopping power (terrorists do have heavy armor), but also because
you will need the scopes in two locations.
Execution
Execution isn't too difficult, it just requires a lot of running at first.
Fortunately, the top level is almost totally unguarded (at least in recruit
missions), allowing easy shots of baddies wandering around. What's particularly
useful to note is that you can look down into the missile silo from ground level
(located to the right of the insertion points). From that vantage point, you
can
drop frags on the baddies hiding down there, all the while you'll be practically
impervious. It's nice for taking out at least one baddie who can be a real pain
to take out in any other way. Once you've fragged out the bad guys, give a go-
code and make a break for the large bunkers. Meanwhile, your team should be
proceeding underground through their own entrances. Your job should be to go
around back into the bunkers entrance. There are two terrorists (on recruit) on
this level, use your HBS to locate them. Unfortunately, your AI can't quite
seem
to take down those bad guys very effectively, so it's in your hands. Use frags
if you're not comfortable strafing. After those enemies are eliminated, proceed
underground. Depending on what locations you've assigned your teammates, here's
how to eliminate the two hot spots underground.
The first location is the command headquarters, where the leader of this
supposed
militia is located. He's well hidden in a corner room, and guarded by a soldier
(be sure to HBS the room). By far the best way to get these guys is with a
well-
placed frag, and then nail the baddies who survive and come running out.
For the long hallway, do it in two stages. Peek around corners and nail any of
the soldiers running about that are in view. Usually one of the terrorists will
hide behind a wall, about halfway down the tunnel. Use your HBS to detect him,
and lob a frag for added security.
Quick Facts
Location: Bolivia
Average Completion Time: 3 minutes
Number of Terrorists: 20+
Recommended Arsenal: M4 Carbine - SD Pistol - Frags - HBS
Minimum number of operatives/type: 6
Objective: Rescue Hostages
Planning
Lucky Snare is one of the more challenging missions I've ever had to design a
plan for, with some of the EW missions being the rare exception. Because I like
to design the AI to do most of the work in these plans, getting the timing and
execution down proved to be very tedious. As you should notice from the
blueprints, this level is HUGE and is essentially divided up into a few
sections:
starting points, first forest, gorge opening, sniper forest, and the crashed
plane. Those few sections are how to break down your plan for working the
mission. Step-by-step go-codes are probably the best used for this mission, as
there are a number of steps in which the team must support each other. Before
you get too far ahead of yourself, look at the number of approaches to the
hostages: note that it's just a matter of scooping up the hostages and making a
break for the extraction zone just behind the plane. I elected to use the M4
Carbine for the simple reason that my team needed the added control and "loud
shooting" to get the snipers and other bad guys out of their all too good
insertion points. This will become especially handy when you reach the gorge.
I
sent my team around the back end of the waterfalls, providing the support for
most of the operations, including a couple of very crucial kills and clearing
the
extraction zone.
Execution
Changing from the blueprints to the real thing will be a huge shock. I was
totally shocked when I first ventured into the level because of the maze-like
appearance that the jungle trees and undergrowth that can very quickly confuse
the eye. Be sure to run around with an eye on your map so as not to get lost.
Rushing the first forest, up to the gorge should be no problem. By far the most
challenging portion of the mission came when the team came to the waterfalls. I
had set up two teams on either approach: the old bridge and behind the
waterfalls. Both require a lot of careful sniping. In this case, I was facing
the waterfalls. Your attention should go to the collection of guards walking
around behind the waterfall, under the rock out cropping. In particular, there
is one really nasty sniper wedged in next to a rock. But because there are
snipers across the way (including one behind a rock you'll need to pick off),
you
must wait till you knock off the snipers to engage the sniper. Fortunately for
you, you can lob a frag grenade from behind shelter and have it land right at
the
foot of a sneaky snipers. You'll also want to take out the guard located at
your
2 o'clock from the walkway behind the waterfalls. He's a sniper, so walk out
with your pants down. The second sniper is nearly impossible to nail
successfully. I found the best way to do this was to first clear the closer
holdings around the bridge, and then send in the AI team around to the back of
the sniper. Once the sniper has been knocked off, you'll be able to send both
remaining teams up along the walkway, and onto the final area. That final area
is where labor begins. Because I simply don't trust myself around hostages, I
let the computer AI handle that engagement, while I cleared the camp and the
back
of the insertion point. If you kill all the terrorists, you won't have to bring
the hostages to the extraction zone.
Arctic Zebra
Quick Facts
Location: Arctic Circle
Average Completion Time: 2 minutes
Number of Terrorists: 10+
Recommended Arsenal: M4 Carbine - SD Pistol - Frags - HBS
Minimum number of operatives/type: 4
Objective: Rescue Hostages/Plant Bug
Planning
When setting up the plan, make to use both of the base entrances. Give your
teams a waypoint check-in, with them covering as much of the base as they can
from those two entrances. As you'll see in the execution phase, I took the
point
for the left base entrance, taking out the initial snipers. Your AI teammates
can't seem to make do with that entrance, unfortunately. Once the initial
terrorists are eliminated, have both teams turn into towards the central
building. From there, have the teams head towards the central building. Route
both teams into each door, and start them on go-codes. Finally, be sure to
include waypoints and the commands to replace the satellite data and extract the
hostage.
Execution
According to reports, the two major items (satellite data and hostages) are
closely spaced, hence finding your objectives should not at all be hard. In
fact, I found this to be a simple map, the only thing that really offered any
sort of challenge was picking off the snipers before your own entire team was
skanked by the AI terrorists. That said, there appears to be some difficulty
with the AI's ability to see past a particular sign located at one of the
entrances. For some reason, they can not see around the sign, and in my plan
for
the mission, I was forced to take the lead in sniping. From the approach,
engage
the terrorists in the following order: as soon as you crest the hill, and have a
shot into the open area, there should be a terrorist in sight. After him,
slowly
strafe towards the center, and just over the sign will be another terrorist.
Third, continue to strafe to the right and just past another hangar will be a
terrorist just barely visible. A well placed head shot will do the trick. If
you scan with your HBS, you'll notice a terrorist heading at the very left edge
of the entrance. A frag can be lobbed into his lap easily. The rest of the
terrorists are located in the center of the base, so you'll probably want to
strafe them or have your teammates head in. These should be the last remaining
terrorists, and you'll now be able to meet up with your team to assault the
central building, where the hostage and satellite data are located.
I recommend using both doors to assault the base, with go-codes in place to time
the assault. If you're not confident with your team's ability to move into this
small building successfully, scan the building with an HBS and lob a frag in.
Once the final terrorists are eliminated, the mission often ends. If you still
have to replace the data and rescue the hostage, there's likely another
terrorist
on the premise, so watch out.
Brazen Heart
Quick Facts
Location: North Dakota
Average Completion Time: 3 minutes
Number of Terrorists: 8+
Recommended Arsenal: M4 Carbine - SD Pistol - Frags - HBS
Minimum number of operatives/type: 4
Objective: Kill all terrorists
Planning
Examining the blueprints can be a bit misleading at first, so be sure to use the
3D view to get the complete overall picture of the mission. There are several
unique and tricky locations to figure out, including the different entrances,
the
underground command center, and the silo bay. While it's not necessary to have
a
perfect understanding of the level before going in, it will help your planning.
When you start out, have all your teams (I used 3) come out the building and
wait
behind some cover, allowing for the exterior guards to be sniped and for you to
get your bearings. Next, have the three teams break into three different routes
to breach the base. Have one go into the entrance detached from the main
building (which heads directly downstairs), have another go around into the back
side entrance (preferably you), and have the third team go into the front
entrance of the command bunker. Have the teams proceed downstairs through
whatever route is most efficient. Your team is best used if they are sent
through the main level of the command bunker, cleaning out the random
terrorists. You'll want to have the teams stop on go-codes before they reach
the
long hallway to the silo bay and before they enter the underground command
control room where the main bad guy is located. Once a go-code is given,
they'll
be able to clean up the remaining rooms. In the plan, I used assault rifles for
not only the stopping power (terrorists do have heavy armor), but also because
you will need the scopes in two locations.
Execution
Execution isn't too difficult, it just requires a lot of running at first.
Fortunately, the top level is almost totally unguarded (at least in recruit
missions), allowing easy shots of baddies wandering around. What's particularly
useful to note is that you can look down into the missile silo from ground level
(located to the right of the insertion points). From that vantage point, you
can
drop frags on the baddies hiding down there, all the while you'll be practically
impervious. It's nice for taking out at least one baddie who can be a real pain
to take out in any other way. Once you've fragged out the bad guys, give a go-
code and make a break for the large bunkers. Meanwhile, your team should be
proceeding underground through their own entrances. Your job should be to go
around back into the bunkers entrance. There are two terrorists (on recruit) on
this level, use your HBS to locate them. Unfortunately, your AI can't quite
seem
to take down those bad guys very effectively, so it's in your hands. Use frags
if you're not comfortable strafing. After those enemies are eliminated, proceed
underground. Depending on what locations you've assigned your teammates, here's
how to eliminate the two hot spots underground.
The first location is the command headquarters, where the leader of this
supposed
militia is located. He's well hidden in a corner room, and guarded by a soldier
(be sure to HBS the room). By far the best way to get these guys is with a
well-
placed frag, and then nail the baddies who survive and come running out.
For the long hallway, do it in two stages. Peek around corners and nail any of
the soldiers running about that are in view. Usually one of the terrorists will
hide behind a wall, about halfway down the tunnel. Use your HBS to detect him,
and lob a frag for added security.