Tip screens

From Battleground Europe Wiki

When you begin to enter the game world from your Mission screen, the loading screen shows an image with tips or historical information. Some players load the game too quickly to read them, so here they are:

• The right mouse button allows you to aim your selected infantry weapon. The (r) key reloads your selected weapon.
• Using your map key (m), you can right-click any waypoint or attack objective (blue or red triangle), or enemy contact report (orange icon), to activate the green arrow on your compass leading you to that point.
• While friendly units have I.D. tags, enemy units don't! Aircraft are the exception to this rule, both friendly and enemy planes have I.D. tags. Press the Left Control + i key to change I.D. tag display
• As infantry, use the mouse wheel to select other weapons in your inventory. There is a slight delay before a weapon is actually selected. Some tanks and atguns allow you to press (backspace) key to change ammo or press (r) key to determine range to target.
• Use the (y) key to toggle various HUD elements on and off. The (enter) key will still bring up the chat window even if your HUD is off. Both the grave key (`) and (numlock) keys toggle the display to show other useful in-game information in the upper left or right of your screen.
• Infantry can capture facilities that are flying enemy flags by standing at the radio capture table inside the flag building until the capture timer completes. Any movement, such as firing your weapon or re-positioning yourself, will re-start the timer! Be sure to get other players to cover you during capture whenever possible.
• Infantry can ride tanks, trucks, airforce troop transports, and even naval ships of all kinds! Stand next to the vehicle and press (j) key to jump onto the vehicle - large ships must lower the lifeboats. Vehicles, aa or atguns can ride freighters by pressing (j) key while under the hoist.
• Bridges can be destroyed by bombs or satchel charges, but only when your High Command has placed an "Attack Objective" on them. Bridges can be repaired by sapper's repair kits after High Command has placed a "Defense Objective" on them. Fairmile patrol boats can be good anti-bomber defense for all bridge crossings.
• Enemy Officers and Mission Leaders can be identified by their dissimilar uniforms, take them out to disrupt the enemy's command and control.
• Looking into the sun will hamper your vision; avoid letting the enemy use this to their advantage and be sure to make use of it yourself.
• When you are injured your screen will flash red to indicate that you have been wounded; if you are killed your screen will go black. Your energy and health status are indicated by the red (health) and green (energy) bars. With low health or energy, you may lose the ability to run or use the joystick. The Stance Indicator in the lower left corner lets you know if you are crewing a vehicle, standing, crouching, or laying prone.
• If you Return To Base and your vehicle/weapon is still functioning it will be reserved for you there. Note that you may indeed have "RTB'd" to a different facility than you originated from.
• You can zoom in and out on the map using the mouse wheel. You can use the mouse to move the map or click on any city or facility to highlight it for more info, or set the map tools to center on your location, or go full screen. Check the various map buttons to see what else you can do!
• Communication with teammates is extremely important! Learn to use the chat window. Press (enter) key to open chat. Type the command or message you wish and hit (enter) key again.
  

Most massive multiplayer online games have dot-commands or slash-commands. Many commands can be found by typing .help or /help and pressing (enter) key.

Ask other players to show you how to use external free voice chat programs as well!

• Once you choose to play as Allies or Axis, you will be locked on that side for a period of time. Next, choose Army, Navy, or Air Force Persona, and then you can use the Brigade HQ selection screen to see other players from your side and which brigades they are in. Allies can switch between French or British anytime.
• If a Choke Point on the map has a red or green glowing nametag, it has been selected by your high command as either an attack (red) or defense (green) objective. Type the command .hc to see a list of all high command players and which nationality they are playing for.
• Some cities can support special types of military operations.. Check the map "legend" for a complete list of icon types.

Destroyers and Freighters are located at "deepwater ports" with the special navy icon.

Paratroopers and Heavy Bombers are located at certain cities with the paratroop or bomber icons.

Factory icons will be seen near the rear areas of each side, and factories can be damaged to slow down the enemies production of equipment.

• Rifles are far more effective in longer range battles, Submachine guns are better for close quarters fighting - less than 100 meters. Machinegunners are highly effective for suppressive firepower over a wide area and range, and can be deployed on the ground with the (b) key.
  

Once you gain rank, you will have access to more types of equipment. Captains gain binoculars, Snipers have scopes for longer ranges and are less common, so should be used wisely. Paratroopers have higher mobility and endurance. Anti-tank Rifles and Grenadiers are also available. Press (pageup or pagedown) keys to adjust gunsights for some weapons.

• When using ambush tactics it is a good idea to practice a "fire and move" system. Once you have scored a kill, it is probable that other enemies have seen or heard where you are, and will be coming for you. Keep your engines off when not moving! Press (e) for engines, press right or left square brackets [ ] to shift up or down gears, press (r) to go into reverse - use right square bracket key after going into reverse to engage transmission.
• Hitting (enter) key will bring up the chat tool in "area" mode. This allows you to chat with players nearby (within 40 meters). To type a private message to johndoe, use the .m command like this: ".m johndoe hi johndoe! can you show me how to..." Private messages go any distance, anywhere in the entire theater of battle.

Be careful, if there are enemies nearby they may detect your open chat conversations. You may see enemy conversations as "garbled chat" when they are near you.

• World War II era planes have strong torque effects from their propellers. Your tailwheel will be locked when you spawn your plane to help keep your take off roll straight. If you need to maneuver on the ground, you can unlock your tail wheel to make turning easier by using the forward slash key (/) along with left-right wheel brakes keys (z or x) to taxi the plane.
• When you view your map (m) as infantry you lose the ability to move. Be sure to find some cover before using the map in a combat zone! You can open the map to access the keymapper, check your squad status, mission leader's name, and other general info at anytime.
• You can select different ammo types in many vehicles, and even some aircraft, by using the backspace key. Both joystick triggers 1 & 2 are keymapped by default for many vehicles.
• If engaged in a rifle shootout at close range, move while reloading. This makes you more difficult to hit and may save your life if you have missed your target. Toss grenades into a window or door before entering a room with enemies.
• Bushes and grass provide good concealment, but do not rely on them for cover under fire. Toss smoke to blind the enemy and allow friendly units to move to new locations.
• Both sight & sound are extremely important day or night. Everything has a different sound. In time you'll be able to recognize each enemy unit by audio long before seeing them. Adjust your sound options in your game Settings tab.
• FIRE! The first shot of World War II was fired from the German Battleship Schleswig Holstein berthed in Danzig harbour. At 4:30am on September 1st, 1939, the ship moved down the Port Canal and took up position opposite the Westerplatte (Polish barracks and workshops). At 4:47am thunder rang out from across the bay.
• First RAF Raid! The day after the declaration of war was announced, the RAF, using Wellington and Blenheim bombers, attacked the German naval ports of Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbuttel. This almost ended in near disaster! Ten bombers returned to base after failing to locate their target. Seven were lost to German anti-air batteries. Three of the planes began attack runs on three British warships until they recognized their error and returned to base. Eight of the original flight found their target and dropped their payload on the Scheer and Hipper and the cruiser Emden.
• In July, 1939, petrol was rationed to 200 miles per month.
  • Brand names disappeared, only 'Pool' petrol was available at four shillings and two pence a gallon.
  • In 1940, the manufacture of new cars was stopped.
  • In 1942, petrol for private use was disallowed.
  • The average wage in 1939 for men was £3 and nine shillings.
  • The average wage in 1939 for women was £1 and twelve shillings.
  • For newly-enlisted servicemen, the pay was two shillings a day.
  • A bottle of whisky cost 13 shillings and sixpence.
  • The price of gold was £8 an ounce.
  • To conserve wood, the Government requested all women to wear flat-heeled shoes and light clothes in order to save dye for forces uniforms. Many non-essential factories were closed
• The first bomb of the war to land on German soil was dropped on December 3, 1939. A Wellington bomber of the 115th Squadron, attacking German shipping in the North Sea, suffered a 'hang up' when one of its bombs failed to drop. It fell off on the return trip over the island of Heligoland
• Stalin's original name was Josif Djugashvili. In 1913, he began using the pseudonym Stalin meaning "Man of Steel".
• Although many people refer to the Allied D-Day landings in Normandy as "Operation Overlord", the operation was actually called "Operation Neptune". The landings were originally known as Overlord, but in September 1943 the codename was changed to Neptune, and Overlord from then on was used to refer to the general Allied strategy in northwestern Europe.
• Virtually everybody knows the name of the B-29 bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the Enola Gay, but how about the one that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki 3 days later? This B-29 was known as "Bock's Car", and Nagasaki was not its original target - the intended target city was Kokura, which escaped as the bomber was under orders to attack only a clear target and the city was shrouded in smog at the time. Nagasaki was the first alternative target city
• After suffering heavy losses during the airborne assault and capture of Crete, Hitler never again committed his airborne troops to large-scale operations and they were instead used as ground infantry.
• Amongst the methods of transport used by the 2nd Polish Corps fighting the battle of Monte Cassino was a brown bear called Wojtek who helped to move boxes of ammunition.
• 80% of Soviet males born in 1923 didn't survive World War 2.
• The youngest US serviceman was 12 year old Calvin Graham, USN. He was wounded in combat and given a Dishonorable Discharge for lying about his age. (His benefits were later restored by act of Congress).
• It was a common practice on fighter planes to load every 5th round with a tracer round to aid in aiming. That was a mistake. The tracers had different ballistics so (at long range) if your tracers were hitting the target, 80% of your rounds were missing. Worse yet, the tracers instantly told your enemy he was under fire and from which direction. Worst of all was the practice of loading a string of tracers at the end of the belt to tell you that you were out of ammo. That was definitely not something you wanted to tell the enemy. Units that stopped using tracers saw their success rate nearly double and their loss rate go down.
• The Russians destroyed over 500 German aircraft by ramming them in midair (they also sometimes cleared minefields by marching over them). "It takes a brave man not to be a hero in the Red Army". - Joseph Stalin.
• When the US Army landed in North Africa, among the equipment brought ashore were 3 complete Coca Cola bottling plants.
• The "MISS ME" was an unarmed Piper Cub. While spotting for US artillery, her pilot saw a similar German plane doing the same thing. He dove on the German plane and he and his co-pilot fired their pistols damaging the German plane enough that it had to make a forced landing. Whereupon they landed and took the Germans prisoner. It is unknown where they put them since the "MISS ME" only had two seats.
• Nuclear physicist Niels Bohr was rescued in the nick of time from German occupied Denmark. While Danish resistance fighters provided covering fire, he ran out the back door of his home stopping momentarily to grab a beer bottle full of precious heavy water. He finally reached England still clutching the bottle, which contained beer. Perhaps some German drank the heavy water.
• "We no longer demand anything, we want war." - Germany's foreign minister, August 1939.
• "History knows no greater display of courage than that shown by the people of the Soviet Union." - Henry Stimson.
• "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." - Albert Einstein.
• "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." - Winston Churchill, about R.A.F fighter pilots.
• "The hand that held the dagger has struck it into the back of its neighbor." - President Franklin D. Roosevelt (After Italy invaded France).
• "No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." - General George S. Patton, Jr.
• "There is one great thing that you men will all be able to say after this war is over and you are home once again. You may be thankful that twenty years from now when you are sitting by the fireplace with your grandson on your knee and he asks you what you did in the great World War II, you WON'T have to cough, shift him to the other knee and say, Well, your Granddaddy shoveled poop in Louisiana. No, Sir, you can look him straight in the eye and say, Son, your Granddaddy rode with the Great Third Army and a haystacks and hellfire of a man named Georgie Patton!" - General George S. Patton, Jr (addressing to his troops before Operation Overlord, June 5, 1944 -- EDITED).