Anti-Tank Trooper (LAT&HAT) Guide (V12 WIP)

Here's a guide about target selection, engagement and some weapon knowledge for Light Anti-Tank (LAT) & Heavy Anti-Tank (HAT). It requires more skills to kill vehicles effectively after A11, and also A12.

Know Your Enemy - Wheeled and Tracked

In this chapter, we will go through brief introductions to vehicles, from Anti-Tank Infantry's perspective.

Alright, I know that feeling when grabbing Anti-Tank role, it's the moment one realized that he/she can turn hostile vehicle into a big glowing fire ball. However, you only have little ammo, you may not be able to blow everything up your own. What's worse, if you do mess with wrong vehicle, it will be your turn to be hunted.


1.Motorbike
The notorious "IED Bike", it's fast and highly maneuverable. However, the biker and passenger are exposed, just spray your bullets on them or leave it for automatic riflemen to deal with. Save precious rockets on more valuable targets, because it only costs your opponent 1 ticket.


2.Technical and MATV
There are many variants of technical in Squad, including machine gun, SPG-9 recoilless rifle, rocket launcher mounted or unarmed ones. They only cost 5~10 tickets, if the condition is not urgent (example: a SPG-9 techie is right behind friendly APC), it's okay to only kill people on board and leave the vehicle alone. However, if it's a LOGISTICS techie, ask your squad lead about whether he wants it destroyed or held as hostage.


When it comes to MATV, that's a different story. MATV has open top and CROWS variant, they both provide passenger good protection from light firearms. The later one, equipped with zoomed remote controlled HMG turret, is a great threat on battlefield. They will be your primary target.


3.Transport and Logistics Truck
Trucks, especially LOGIs, are valuable assets of your opponent. Although they only cost 5 tickets, having no trucks to transport people and supplies will be a great disadvantage for enemy team. They need to walk for a long distance, and also lost the change of putting down a FOB.

Here's a simple way to Identify a logistics truck, if you see barrels and some boxed stuff in the back, it's definitely a logi truck. A LOADED LOGI TRUCK IS YOUR HIGH VALUE TARGET, it indicates that your enemy is trying to build or supply a FOB.

Notification : You can one shot kill all of the vehicles listed above with LAT/HAT, no matter where you hit them

4.Wheeled APC
This includes Stryker, BTR80 and BRDM (scout car). With much thicker armor and good firepower, they are primary threats to friendly infantries and vehicles. Also more ticket cost (15 ~ 20 tickets), so, they will be your primary target. However, those vehicles are equipped with magnified gun sights, do not mess with them in open.


5.Tracked APC
MT-LBs, aka "♥♥♥♥♥♥♥". They are slow when compared with wheeled ones. And they are so noisy, you may hear it from hundred meters away. Costs 10~15 tickets when destroyed. Since tracked ones are less maneuverable, it's pretty possible to sneak behind it. However, remember that MT-LB with 30mm cannon could tear you apart easily with high explosive rounds.


6.Wheeled IFV
BTR82A, aka "30mm". Equipped with 30mm auto-cannon, which fires AP and HE rounds at insane rate, it was everyone's nightmare back in Alpha 10. Being highly maneuverable and carries heavy firepower, it's your PRIORITY to take it down.


As Light Anti-Tank, vehicles listed above could be killed with only 1 shot, if hit from correct direction. As Heavy Anti-Tank, please refer to the next chapter


7.Tracked IFV
Warrior and Bradley, feature the heaviest armor and greatest firepower, they are the most lethal battle machines. They are slow, extremely loud, but almost invincible. As Light Anti-Tank, you better NOT engage it alone. BE PAIRED with another LAT in your squad, or seek vehicle support, because it still need 2 shots on the most vulnerable place to kill it. As Heavy Anti-Tank, it's a bit easier to do so, but still difficult.

Know Your Enemy - New Armor and Vehicle Damage System in V12

In Alpha 11 update, we introduced armor system into Squad. This is based on real world vehicle design. Motorbike, Techie, Trucks have little or no armor. APCs are moderately armored while IFV are heavily armored. What's more, each section on vehicles could have different armor thickness.


Let's take a close look at these models in Jensen's Range. Armors with different thickness are colorized on every vehicle. As you could see, frontal and turret armor are always the thickest, side armor will be thinner, and rear armor will be the thinnest one. To maximize the efficiency of Anti-Tank rockets, it's always the best to aim for the weakest part. A well placed LAT can one shot almost every vehicles, except Warrior and Bradley, they need two shots.

Alright, simple summary here. AIM FOR REAR! SHOOT ITS A*S!!

Here's Bubba's Guide, which shows how many LAT shots to kill armored vehicles. It's a pretty complete one, go check it out for better understanding.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1389758646

In Alpha V12, OWI introduced component damage into gameplay. There are two new hit boxes : engine and ammunition. To be simple, those are just two more health values derived from just vehicle health. On driver seat, you can see vehicle and engine health. Ammunition health is invisible to the player.

And here’s the consequences. Vehicle will blow up when vehicle or ammunition health reaches zero, the latter one is caused by ammunition cooking off. When engine health goes down, it will affect driving performance of the vehicle, and it will not be able to move if it reaches zero. (Engine could be repaired to 50% health with repair tools carried by crewman, but needs repair station for further maintenance)


In the new Jensen’s Range, armor thickness, engine and ammunition compartment are depicted with transparent models. General speaking, forward hull and turret have the thickest armor. While side, rear and top armor are thinner. Ammunition compartment are usually located deep inside hull, so it’s not easy to trigger ammo cook off effect with low penetration capability weapons. For engines, some vehicles have them on the front side(ex:M2 Bradley), some hide them in rear side of the hull(ex:T-72).

Let's talk about the “penetration and damage” mechanism. According to the developers on Reddit, this is the current version of damage calculation: Each shot has it own penetration capability, and it’s based on ammunition type, range, impact angle and armor thickness of the impact point. Incoming round will do full damage to respective component if it penetrates armor, or it will not do any damage. It’s all or nothing, based on the result of penetration calculation formula.

Know Your Weapon - Light and Heavy Launchers

Currently, there are two types of Anti-Tank infantries, Light Anti-Tank(LAT) and Heavy Anti-Tank(HAT). The biggest difference between them is the damage of their projectile. When engaging Bradley's front armor, as a LAT, you may need up to 4 HEAT rockets to kill it, while HAT only needs 1. Here we have some brief introductions to hand-carried launchers.

LAT : RPG-7, RPG-26, M72A7 LAW
HAT : RPG-7 w/ Tandem Warhead, AT-4 CS

Damage to Armor: RPG-7 Tandem > AT-4 > RPG-7 = RPG-26 = M72A7

Remember that all launchers have range-adjustable sight.
All Warheads Have MINIMUM ARMING DISTANCE!!

1.RPG-7
As one of the most famous hand carried grenade launcher, RPG-7 is widely applied by Russian Ground Forces, Gopniks Irregular Militia and Insurgents. The picture shown above is PG-7M High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) rocket, this is standard anti-vehicle round you have. It has an shaped charged warhead.

Please refer to this awesome guide for the PGO-7 scope =D

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1617623261

As a RPG-7 carrier, you also have some OG-7V Anti-Personnel Frag rounds. It's basically a rocket propelled grenade for soft targets, including hostile infantry and lightly armored vehicles. Thanks for its accuracy at range, you can put one into windows or bunkers easily. You can also engage truck, since fragments still do damage to its passengers.

Heavy Anti-Tank Only. PG-7VR, Tandem HEAT warhead. This beast can one shot anything that moves. However, due to its increased weight, expect severe drop at long range engagements. What's more, it's so lengthy that you nee to be careful not to show your enemy the warhead, when setting up ambush behind corners.

2.RPG-26
RPG-26 is Russian made disposable anti-tank launcher. In Russian Ground Forces, this is the first LAT to be unlocked, followed by RPG-7 LAT. Taking this kit will grant player another hand grenade.

3.M72A7 LAW
M72 has been widely used around the globe since Vietnam War, and it's used by LATs in United States Army and British Ground Forces. It's almost identical to RPG-26 (To be historically accurate, RPG-26 is almost identical to M72A7.) You also have 1 hand grenade with this kit.

4.AT-4 CS
Heavy Anti-Tank Only. This Swedish made anti-tank launcher is capable of dealing greater damage than M72A7. Its ballistic is flat, which makes it easy for you to engage hostile vehicles at long range. However, it has lower damage when compared to Tandem RPG-7. It CAN NOT one shot a BTR or MT-LB if you hit their frontal armor.

Know You Weapon - Warhead Arming Distance

According to Squad's official wiki, warheads have their own arming distance. Which means the rocket needs to fly for a short time to make itself "ready to fight".

CAUTION: The warhead WILL NOT DETONATE WITHIN THIS RANGE

M72A7 : 10m
RPG-7 : 15m

(AT-4 and RPG26 not tested, will update them as soon as I tried them out)

Picking Firing Location - Making yourself hidden but deadly

Remember This : YOU ARE NOT A TANK
It's obvious that you can kill a vehicle with your RPG, but your enemy has armor and you don't.

On open fields, it's not a good idea to stand up, take aim carefully and squeeze the trigger slowly. Everyone who's capable of returning fire will begin firing at you, and suppression effect makes your vision blurry, being difficult to aim, then you died.

Compared to attack actively, it's always better to set ambush. Act like a snake, stay hidden in such low grounds as corn field, behind a bush or next to a big rock and wait. When your prey shows up, attack its weakest part. Take this picture for example, I stayed hidden in the weeds until the Stryker drove by, and I hit his side armor with Tandem RPG-7, which resulted in instant kill.

What's more, since firing a rocket creates flash, smoke and loud noise, it's always good to shift location once you fired the rocket. Plan escape route in advance and move ASAP, or stay there and be F'ed up by rifle grenades, machine gun and auto-cannon. The picture above show BTR82 Gunner's view when someone fired his M72 at me, it's flame and smoke are clearly visible, then he got strafed by 30mm high explosives later.

Also, do not fire at super long distance. You may be lucky enough to score a hit, but it's more easily to end up scaring the driver away with a missed shot. What's worse, blowing up your own cover. Remember that high-caliber round can penetrate wall and get you.

(But it's a different story if you're a TOW missile operator, ha)

Things get a bit easier in Urban Battle. Vehicle crew has limited field of view in their cabin, and things only get worse in urban area. Aside from SPG and TOW missile. Hostile infantries with RPGs, IEDs and Mines are everywhere. And you, LAT and HAT, will be the ultimate nightmare to vechile crew.

Aside from rear armor, top armor is also thin. If you get into tall buildings, that's your turn to play death form above. Stay quiet and keep eyes open, ears sharp. Wait until your opponent drove by, then finish him off with your anti-tank rocket.

Also, windows and doors could also be used as murder-holes against armor. The driver and gunner may not see you, since their sight is obscured. In this example, the Stryker exposed his side armor and I was able to give them a big surprise.

Coordination Between Friendly Anti-Tank Units

Alright, here's the last chapter. Normally, a mechanized infantry squad will be advancing with armored vehicles. As an anti-tank trooper, how could we help our squad with engaging hostile vehicles? What's more, if you're a ordinary rifleman, how could you help the RPG gunner and BTR ?

The critical concept is : Situational Awareness

If you see, hear an enemy vehicle, radio in and speak up. Do not hesitate, the earlier you spoke up, the more time saved for your squad to deal with incoming threat. To do it even better, contain enemy vehicle type, bearing, moving direction in your message.

Here we have some examples.

It was in Gorodok, enemy BTR was in the compound while our squad was trying to flank him. "BTR straight 12'o clock! He's on fire!" Yelled the squad lead. And I took the killing shot with RPG while machine gunner provided me with suppressing fire, and a whole friendly squad backing me up.

Another example, I was a regular rifleman. And our squad with a BTR was pushing north along the main highway in Narva. And I heard a Stryker coming in, I informed my squad with " Enemy Stryker inbound! Straight northwest from the crossroad." Then squad leader prepared us up by informing LATs to move forward to engage it, and telling the BTR to stand by. Then the Stryker got wrecked in just few seconds.

Last one, in Al Basrah, me and another LAT set up ambush in the apartments. When the Warrior drove by, its driver stopped the vehicle and switch to gunner seat. He was facing us with his rear armor at that moment, than we took a synchronized RPG shot on his arse. He caught on fire and exploded soon after that successful ambush.

Conclusion

Stay Calm, Share Intel together, Stay with your Squad.
If you don't have a mic, go buy yourself a headset.
It's essential to scream "Back blast!" before pulling the trigger =D


Special Thanks to [BB] Bella's Battleground

>>Links to other guides<<

Target Acquisition and Survival Guide for Newbies
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1407023284
Visual Identification Guide for Newbies
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1411194681
SPG-9 Recoilless Rifle Guide
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1410321497
TOW Missile Guide
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1410257666
Combat Vehicle Guide (APC/IFV)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1433836918
TANKS Guide
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1569492192
Preparing your first game as squad leader
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1641400156
Helicopter Pilot's Operation Manual
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1791725151

[pinguino]

Instructions unclear, killed my squadmates with the back blast of my rocket launcher

[Signia]

theories here don't work as well as they used to, vehicles are a lot tougher so encouraging RTB is sometimes better than an outright kill. To that end, hitting the turret in crows platforms or 30 mikes is a good way to scare them off though it will do little to no damage.

[N i K O † i N IΞ]

thx XD so many info and usefull screen

[Chris]

OMG, here comes V12
And I’m not sure if those theories above work

[N i K O † i N IΞ]

thx for this guide +1 :) (u did so much good job, hope u ll find some time for update them to v12 :)

[Chris]

Updated Arming Distance chapter, thx for that Tiromir

[Tiro]

Hey could you add the minimum activation distance mechanic in this guide? This game I've wasted 3 HAT kits on a single vehicle wondering why my rockets dealt no damage. This is a very simple mechanic, yet it is quite hard to realise its existence

[Chris]

LMFAO

[Agham101]

IMF is a fake Gopnik Group they only have 2 stripes i tell you.