Call Of Duty 4 Tactics and Strategy: Part 1

As I did with Halo 3, this write-up is to help online console players with tactics and ideas in CoD4. Fortunately different than my earlier Halo 3 write-up, I like CoD4 much, much more, so this may turn into a series as opposed to a single item. Also, I’ll be taking things into much more depth; with the previous write-ups I was content to leave all mention of specific tactics to the player to figure out, and focused solely on the meta-game. Here I am not so content. This game is much deeper and it deserves more than just tactical mention.

It is noted that the already strong players of this game have either played CoD2 or Counter-strike in the past, so some (or many) of these ideas might seem standard to them. But none you’ll read here are trivial: all advice that I give are words not to do without – what is discussed will improve how you play.

If one is to survive firefights in CoD4 consistently, they must actively outsmart their opponents, often within a few moments. Tactics must become dynamic – there is no hard rule to unconsciously rely on about grenades, or from which position to fire from. Thus what to do in immediate combat, and namely the options and analysis of each’s effectiveness needs a fair amount of attention. For this first write-up, we’ll concern ourselves with two chapters in the first volume:

Volume 1: Tactics And Smarts

Chapter 1: An Evaluation of Firefight Tactics

The Belly Flop: An elusive move where the player jumps while moving, then on the apex of jumping, holds the crouch button down to go fully prone. To an observing enemy your character is at first moving through the air, then very erratically dives into the ground. To the performing player it is almost impossible to shoot anything, or even properly aim, until the prone position is reached – to maximize its effectiveness one needs to focus their basic reticule above the enemy mid-air, so that upon landing and bringing the sights up, the shot is dead on.

The Pros: A wonderful way to take corners against long-range enemies that are pre-aiming your cover when you absolutely have to take a shot.

The Cons: Absolute suicide at tactically positioned targets; takes practice to perfect, most likely requires the Tactical button setup. If the enemy dodges behind cover it is best to get up and ‘try something else’ – so make sure they don’t have immediate cover nearby.

When To Use: One unique application would be to arrive at a prone position on the edge of a corner: perform the movement a good distance from a corner, so that you fall prone just at the edge for a shot; doing this assures a fast and tactical prone position to suddenly engage with, which has a good chance of disrupting pre-aim and limits exposure. The Belly Flop can also be used to jump further out than normal, an easier variation that might thoroughly surprise the enemy. Of course, a much more common alternate is to simply jump out. While this avoids some pre-aim (evening the playing field with who might shoot first), it does not provide as much set-up for one’s own pre-aim should one master the belly flop. A good rule is to use the belly flop in farther away, even-height fights, and to use a simply jump out against enemies at better tactical positions. Keep in mind that if you have an accurate weapon or steady aim, that once you go prone, you may not even have to bring the sights up if the enemy is close or mid-range.

Peeking: Quickly moving into and out of cover to assess possible enemy position.

The Pros: Done well enough, the chances of being shot are very low. While it is comparatively hard to quickly spot someone in CoD4 with a peek, unlike other games, this technique is notorious enough so that any enemy who is not completely confident in their hiding spot will almost certainly think that he has been spotted. You can use this psychological effect to anticipate enemy relocation.

The Cons: As the graphics are so amazing, you may need longer than a peek to distinguish an enemy from everything else, therefore memorization of details in maps will go a long way. But conversely, whenever one peeks, even if they do not see anything, it’s advised to always assume that your own position is compromised.

When To Use: Unless playing stealthily or tactically, one should peek and search everywhere as if it is an addiction. Whenever camping, holding down an area, or watching through a window, ALWAYS PEEK, never stand still. Going away from a window and corner and looking back is always safer than constantly watching. Report to the team any enemies seen.

Peek-shot: Quickly moving out of cover to fire a burst or two in order to take down an enemy. You need to first pre-aim.

Pros: Outside of grenade tactics, and sometimes in the face of them, it is the best way to kill someone approaching your cover. Because you are emerging from cover, you will see them first (more about this in Chapter 2).

Cons: Becomes predictable between skilled players.

When To Use: If you peek and see an enemy, or hear one approaching, first pre-aim the shot (bring the sights up or center the crosshairs in a way to compensate for the distance you need to strafe and the angle the enemy is, then emerge from the corner without the sights up, quickly bring them up as your step ends, take the two bursts and return to the corner with you kill. Works best at mid-to-long range. Beware CQBers; if you suspect your enemy is, it might be best to flash/stun first, or use the pie cut.

Pie Cutting: While revealing only enough to draw one’s sights only slightly straight past the corner of one’s cover, the player waits for the shot. Works standing, ducking, and going prone.

Pros: Reveals the smallest amount of yourself while waiting for an enemy to pass into the line of sight at mid to short range.

Cons: Doesn’t take initiative; you may be spotted first if not at a reasonable enough range.

When To Use: Can also be used in CQB to clear corners. More passive than the peek-shot, preferrable when confident that the enemy is obvlivious to your position.

Corner-walling: Done after a peek, you fire your weapon through your own corner into where you expect your enemy is, as if you are drawing a line through the corner to your enemy.

The Pros: Excellent tactic to panic and confuse the enemy. Upsets pre-aim and almost definitely causes relocation, even if slightly.

The Cons: May need Stopping Power and Deep Impact to be effective in most situations. You’re probably going to have to relocate after a few shots.

When To Use: Whenever both peeking from a weak cover and playing aggressively. This tactic should be followed up with a proper sights-on burst. It can also be used in reverse order, as when retreating back into a corner, and can be used repeatedly while backing far away from the corner to keep the enemy at bay.

Stun Grenade: Causes slight initial flash on enemy screen. Deteriorates aiming, mobility, and hearing (though not entirely) of the enemy.

Pros: Excellent for rounding corners with lots of room to move, as enemy will have a hard time drawing their sights up. Also great when used defensively.

Cons: Does not blind, does not in any way guarantee a kill when turning a corner – you don’t know how long they’re stunned, or how trained their sights already are.

When To Use: When used offensively, stun an opponent, then cook and toss a grenade. It’s much safer than turning the corner yourself, and in the process you are able to relocate with ease. Otherwise, this grenade should be used exclusively for defense: use the stun when attempting to retreat away from a corner, or counter-stun the enemy. If you are flashed or stunned, use this to drop one towards where the enemy is coming from. One important difference that might sway your decision between flashes and stuns is that stun grenades can wound (or kill an already wounded) enemy if they explode close enough to them, which serves as a garuntee of an effective stun as well as confirmation of enemy presence.

Flashbang: Causes blindness and deafness. Enemy is still able to aim down their sights and their movement speed is not hindered.

Pros: Excellent for defensive relocation – can be dumped before a tactical team assault to disorient enemy response time.

Cons: Horrible at close quarters: the enemy will simply spray the direction the flash came from. When used offensively, watch for counter-flashing/stunning.

When To Use: As it serves similar purposes to the Stun Grenade, whichever one is used is a preferential choice. I prefer the flashbang: I think it provides better security while one relocates, and blind enemies may fire to give their position away, or loudly retreat behind previous cover, while you are able to quietly change position and await their eventual arrival or anticipate their relocation. Stunned enemies, while they do not retreat back behind cover, tend to remain much more calm about the situation, as they can still see and hear anything that happens.

Smoke Grenade: Causes a thick cloud of smoke in a 2.5 yard diameter.

Pros: Makes sniping nearly impossible.

Cons: Every competent player in the universe will frag/flash/stun the smoked area and/or predict a diversion.

When To Use: You can still use the smoke as a psychological trick if you can throw it very far, over buildings and into bombsites/choke points across the map. Otherwise the enemy will know you are nearby and expect a diversion. It is almost essential in flanking and avoiding snipers. When playing with a team, it’s a good item for at least one person to have. But keep in mind that if you’re playing smart, and have skill with the stun/flashbang, that you can still get around a pesky sniper.

Frag Grenade: Six second timer, can be cooked – blows up cars, oil drums, claymores, C4.

Pros: Big explosion, gets rid of/triggers other explosions in the area.

Cons: Often need to be cooked, which requires cover.

When To Use: It seems the duty of every CoD player to launch their grenades as soon as possible, usually towards cars across the map. Keep in mind that unless you use Perk 1’s slot for triple frags, you only have one, a very valuable one. A frag grenade has tons of uses: it can kill long distance, reach into windows, take out cars, force enemies out of cover (or die), and cover a retreat in much the same way that a flashbang and stun grenade can. You can also toss non-cooked grenades to potentially provide a 6-second barrier on a narrow location — smart enemies will assume they are cooked and won’t bother to throw them. Consider this technique to aid you defusing bombs, keeping snipers from scoping into an area, prevent flanks and crossfire as you approach enemies, upset pre-aim… the list goes on. As said, right now it seems like a duty, a good idea sometimes, to launch your grenade right away, hoping for a lucky kill. I leave it to the player to decide whether he wants a tactical advantage with him throughout the round, or to sacrifice it in gamble early on.

Stop-and-pop: Shuffling left and right while in a firefight, firing bursts between steps.

Pros: Makes you a hard target, allows better management of recoil than full-auto.

Cons: With a low-mobility weapon, and in close quarters, it is almost useless.

When To Use: This tactic almost equalizes medium-range firefights when you have a sub-machine gun. An MP5 with a reflex attachment would be the most obvious ideal for this; with this gun you can feel competent running short distances in long-distance areas, as a medium-range engagement can be handled well enough with some cover and the stop-n-pop. It’s important to stress though, that this tactic is hardly as effective with assault rifles, unless at mid-short range, or with the Steady Aim perk. Otherwise, shuffling left and right still helps with aim and slightly disrupts the enemy’s, but it’s much wiser to instead peek corners and rely on slower movement.

Chapter 2: Playing To Win: Empty Your Cup

A western philosopher once traveled to China to speak to a great Zen master. When he arrived and met the man, who appeared to be very simple in nature, the Zen master invited him to tea. As the Zen master set stumpy plain pottery out and prepared his brew, the western philosopher asked him, “I want you to teach me about Zen and nirvana.” The Zen master did not say anything. Once the tea was brewed he sat across from the philosopher and poured the tea into his cup, yet when it was filled he continued pouring, the tea spilling out everywhere, almost upon the philosopher’s lap. The philosopher stood up and demanded an explanation. The Zen master stopped his pouring and looked up at him, and said: “teaching you Zen as you are now is like pouring into a full cup. You must first empty yourself.”

Whenever you next turn on the game, find a game type to play and load into another player’s server, pick your class — move cautiously into a seedy, well-defended area and wait a moment. You should have in-ear headphones on (or very high quality surround sound, whichever it tends to be is just as equal in different ways), so what you should now do is look out towards where experience tells you the enemy will most likely intrude from, and wait, and listen. As you’re listening to the sounds you’ll hear a variety of background noises— thunder, distant ambient gunfire, the sound of wind, something burning, rusting grass and the occasional creak of wood. A look at your HUD map shows you teammate location (if their arrows are glowing, they are firing their weapons) and if a UAV is on or enemy fire is audible, some enemy locations as well. Now, realize that you are imagining everything that is happening in the game. There are no teammates on the map, there are no ambient sounds in the game, there is no enemy on the map, there is no map.

If you want to truly play at your best, you must stop playing Call Of Duty 4: A Modern Warfare Simulation, and start playing Call Of Duty 4: Programmed Video Game With Flaws. You should not assume a proper way to play, some way that the game is real or fair. All things go: this is a networked program, and that means you can not expect an actual firefight; you have to assume, and play directly mindful of, a programmed game.

Information about enemy location and teammate location — the representation of other players on their computers — is sent through the host and relevant information arrives for you, and it always arrives late. When a firefight occurs, two players are usually shooting at each other in locations different than they think they are — your sidestep to the left is delayed, and you may already have been shot in the head before then, but the information has not arrived for you. Similarly in CQB, the person entering an area always sees his enemy before the enemy sees him (this is because information of your arrival to where your enemy can see you will take time to arrive to the rival player, whereas the information of his position in the room that you will enter is already available for you). When you enter into a flanking area, it appears to you that your enemy is facing to the side, but on his computer he might have his sights set upon you. If you think this is not fair, then you are still playing the wrong game.

Because there are no dedicated servers, objects are even more misrepresented than on dedicated servers. You must compensate: if you are engaging an enemy in yellow bars, you can never know which direction he is facing or what he is currently doing; if in green bars, you can guess, but you are relying on sometimes second-behind information. Think of all your enemies as blurred-out figures with a probable location of a meter in diameter in all directions; you can never know what your enemy or ally is currently doing by just looking at them — you will never know when they bring their sights up to aim, or if they have a direct headshot ready on someone.

What you must do, then, is think psychologically and probabilistically about even the most minute details of enemy dynamics — if you want to prepare yourself for an enemy who is running towards you, evaluate if he could possibly know you are present. If he probably does not, be sure to quietly seek a hiding spot, somewhere that you can jump out from (so you’re definitely firing first) or somewhere that you are positive he will not see and aim upon before you first. Also consider jumping out before he enters, intercepting enemies at corners and doorways — but keep in mind that CQB weapons are equalizers in these situations.

If your enemy is moving into an area and he knows you are there, you are in trouble. Because of the lag problem, always over-compensate with tactical wit — retreat when an enemy approaches instead of “fairly engaging” (it is never fair head on, as one person has a connection advantage over the other), use flashbangs and grenades early before an enemy enters (as you do not know when he will pass the threshold into firing range and sight), and try your best to avoid knife fights: they can often randomly miss, whereas a silenced pistol or primary weapon would have been safest.

If you enter a new area and see an enemy, at any range other than close, it is best to duck back into cover, find some way to disrupt pre-aim (either relocate to fire your weapon, use a grenade tactic, corner wall, belly-flop, simply jump out, or wait a moment — keep in mind that you could be fragged) and emerge with a well-aimed shot of your own. If your aiming takes more than a second, keep in mind it might mean that your enemy may have had up to two seconds to take you down, so return to cover. If you can not immediately kill a threat, remember that a split second more will probably be in their advantage. Play it smart, you are not Rambo, empty your cup.

Chances are CoD4 transfers information with a distance priority: the farther away you are from an object, the more likely you are a second or two behind. This makes snipers especially dangerous — they could have been aiming at you a good two seconds ago!

That’s all for now. Next time we’ll wrap up tactical firefighting with a short look at some additions to what was previously mentioned, as well as a segue into how tactics meets strategy (”Chapter 3: Sword and Shield” and “Chapter 4: Thinking On The Move”). I hope you enjoyed this entry’s serving. Feel free to leave comments and feedback if you have anything to say.