Good FOB and Radio Placement for RAAS/AAS

A brief rundown on where best to place FOBs and radios when attacking or defending as a squad leader in RAAS/AAS.
In my 400 some hours in this game I spend the majority playing squad leader, and 50% of that time as commander as well.
This guide should help new squad leaders place FOBs and radios that are strategically relevant, and difficult to remove.

Basic FOB Placement Relative to Objectives

HAB Positioning:

Back HABs should never be located directly on top of the back objectives - objectives that are not on the front-line/actively at risk of being contested.

Placing a HAB directly on top of an early objective is the easiest way to get stream rolled out of the game. If you are losing the front line objective, there is a strong possibility the other team is already starting to establish an offensive on the next capture point behind you. Placing your defense FOB on top of that point allows the enemy to kill two-birds with one stone by simultaneously pushing the next objective while denying the ability for your team to defend it by blocking the spawn either by way of overrunning it due to its position on the capture point, and/or easily dismantling it before your team can react due to its ease of access on the relatively undefended capture point.

Defensive back HABs should in most scenarios be placed in positions adjacent to the objective; far enough away for the enemy to not be able to attack both the objective and HAB with the same forces at the same time, but close enough to allow ease in defending the objective. Ideally the HAB position should be off-route from the previous front-line objective so the enemy does not encounter the HAB on the way to the next objective past the previous front-line. In most cases, with a well placed defensive HAB, the enemy should not find/encounter it until some time after your team begins spawning on it to defend the back cap. A good rule is to have the back HAB either on the far edge of the objective boundary it is intended to defend, or up to 150 meters beyond it.

Frontline Defensive FOB Placement
This HAB purpose is one of the few times where it isn't bad to place directly on the objective. However, if this is done, it is imperative for the HAB to not be in a position where it can take direct fire and the radio be either easily defensible or well behind the contested objective. This is typically a good candidate to "super FOB" - that is, placing a lot of defensive encampments. This can be extremely effective if done well in maintaining a strong defense on the front-line and winning a battle of attrition. With this HAB placement you also generally want the line of combat to be established at the far edge of the objective (the boundary of the point that the enemy would first make contact with). Therefore the HAB should be positioned near the back half of the objective so that first contact with the enemy can be met away from the HAB towards the front edge of the objective.

Otherwise, a front line HAB should follow a similar rule as a back HAB. Placed adjacent to a point but still close proximity so it cannot be overrun with the same forces the enemy is using to capture the objective.
Example of defensive front line HAB Placement (from live game):
Image Analysis/Explanation: The HAB at the south west edge of the objective is the primary defensive placement. The radio is separated from the point and therefore in a position of relative safety behind the front line. The HAB placement being away from the N/NE edge of the objective (the enemy first point of contact) allows for a safe spawn and enables infantry to spread out and hold the edges of the objective without taking direct fire on the HAB and reduces risk of the HAB being quickly overrun. The secondary defensive HAB to the east allows for friendly forces to partially flank the enemy position moving towards the NE edge of the objective. It also acts as a contingency if the primary defensive HAB on the objective falls.

Frontline Offensive HAB Placement
The position of HABs used to push an objective should be in somewhat close proximity to the point and ideally on somewhat of a flank towards it. A HAB position on the flank of an objective can force the enemy team to hold less defensible positions relative to it as it can split their line of fire multiple directions. These HABs primarily rely on natural environmental concealment and not structural cover as it is not a position that is intended to be defended in close proximity to the HAB. The goal of this HAB placement is to be somewhat concealed and close enough to the objective to force the enemy to hold positions on the point to defend the attack rather than push back against the attack HAB.
Example of good offensive HAB placement (from live game):
Image Analysis/Explanation: In this image the original front line was Observation Post, the HAB used to capture the point was on the western flank of the objective in some woodland concealment with very close proximity to the objective. The FOB attacking Telecom Facility is concealed in a mountainous area, although farther from the objective, its position of relative safety allows for the easy establishment of an offensive and the opportunity to use rally spawns to cut the distance and/or establish a flank on the objective, enabling multiple angles of attack if necessary. It is a less aggressive HAB than the position attacking Observation Post, but therefore also a far less risky offensive HAB.

All the images for HAB placements were from a live game I played with all but one FOB (east defensive HAB) being established by my squad (myself as SL), so I hope that gives credit to my advice being practiced and effective.

Basic Radio Placement Tips Relative to FOBs

When placing a radio, there are a couple different strategies that you can go with, the best of which will depend on the context of the situation in regard to the FOBs intended position relative to the objective.

As for radios, there's 2 main things to consider.
1. Defensibility of the radio
2. Elusivity of the radio

Defensibiity pertains to how easy the radio is to defend from the FOB position. In this manner there are two factors to consider: proximity to the FOB, and inconvenience in reaching the radio.

Here is an example of a FOB + radio placement that has a high defensibility due to the proximity of the FOB and the difficulty in reaching the radio. As shown in the video, achieving both proximity and inconvenience often requires the placement of a HASCO wall or other defensive structures, sometimes this can be achieved by using the FOB itself to block the radio. The goal of this placement is not to hide the radio from the enemy, but to make it near impossible to reach without great risk. This placement is great for FOBs that are actively being used for offensive or defensive purposes on the front line . The weakness of this placement is that if the FOB is no longer strategically imperative and therefore not being defended, given some time it can be easily destroyed. It relies on a steady stream of infantry to maintain the position as to avoid the spawn becoming overrun. However, even in this case the FOB can still be potentially recovered from a nearby rally due to the extra time granted from the inconvenience in reaching the radio.

video - close proximity + inconvenience

video - blocking radio using FOB

The second option in defensibility is placing the FOB and radio within close proximity to each other but with no inconvenience in reaching the radio. This placement is best used with highly aggressive FOB placement near to an enemy controlled objective. This can be a highly effective option but also carries high risk in that if the offensive fails then the FOB will easily fall. The best placement for this sort of FOB is within heavy concealment from the surrounding environment to delay the enemy response in pushing back on FOB. The objective in this placement is to confine the enemy to the objective so that they cannot push back on the offensive FOB placement.
One strategy that can be employed is instead placing the radio a distance away from the offensive FOB and dropping a rally beside the radio. This allows a slightly more inconvenient radio placement that isn't too difficult to defend. The risk to this placement is a sneaky enemy getting the radio from behind, this is the purpose of the rally. The rally will burn when an enemy is within 50m of its drop point; with a little map awareness, this will be an indicator of someone on the enemy team possibly having found the radio behind the FOB. Alternatively, the rally can be placed away from both FOB and radio and be used as a spawn point to recover the position if either goes down.

Example video of aggressive radio+FOB placement:

Image example of radio separated from FOB but with rally adjacent:

-

The alternative method: hiding the radio.
I generally would not recommend relying on simply hiding the radio, but hiding the radio away from the FOB can sometimes be effective but also extremely risky. Typically hiding the radio also equates to it being as far as possible from the FOB, making it difficult to defend. This strategy hinges on the enemy not locating the radio. Once the radio is located, the FOB becomes nearly indefensible in many cases.
The best way to go about this method is placing the radio in the direction away from the FOB that will force the enemy to meet the most resistance in trying to locate it. The same strategy utilizing a rally can be used in this method as well. Placing a rally near the radio will act as a notification for when the enemy has possibly found it, allowing time to react in defending it.


Thanks for reading my guide on HAB and radio placement basics. I hope it will help you in your games as squad leader. If you have any more tips, corrections, or disagreements, please feel free to state them in the comments and I will consider adjusting the guide to include new information/suggestions.

[OverWatch]

good tips