Breakdown + tips on R6 and the Nato mod (Article by Brian Yeoh)

                      I've been playing multiplayer on the Zone for about a month now, and I have to say
                      that the NATO mod really improves the game a lot. To help anyone who might be
                      a newbie, I have these few rules which may save them from having to wait all that
                      while lying on the ground...

                      1) This is not Quake !
                      You are not invincible. In Quake or any other 3D shooter you know when you're
                      about to die, and can run away. No one weapon, except for the rocket launcher, can
                      kill you with one instant blow. In Rainbow Six, one shot can ruin your entire day.
                      Anyone who runs through a door firing full auto can very well expect to be popped
                      the second he steps through. Your rounds do not always go where you want them,
                      unlike most other 3D shooters.

                      2) Keep moving.
                      Camping is not a bad thing in itself. Especially in Rainbow, it adds an element of
                      realism. If you walk down the middle of the street in an urban combat situation in
                      real life, you had better expect to die. The same should hold for Rainbow. That
                      being said, if you do decide to be a sniper, do *not* stay in one place looking for
                      the perfect shot. Chances are someone else has played this map, and is heading for
                      your position. Move to position A, settle in for a few seconds, then displace to
                      position B.

                      2a) Run when you move.
                      As in real life, run everywhere you go. Don't shoot on the move, and don't stop in
                      the middle of the road to return fire. Concentrate on getting to cover as fast as you
                      can. Once you're under cover, then you can worry about returning fire.

                      3) Penetration is king.
                      There is a massive difference between 9mm, .40, .45, 5.56 and 7.62. Try this little
                      thought experiment; play two-rooms training with a computer demolitions mob and
                      pick an MP5 as your primary weapon. At point blank range, aim directly at his chest,
                      and fire three round bursts. See how many bullets he can take. In my experience,
                      they can take up to 3 magazines, if not more. do the same thing with a CAR-15 and
                      watch him crumple at the first burst.

                      7.62 is without doubt the king of ammo. The main reason armies moved away from
                      7.62 is that it is heavy and you can carry more 5.56 further. In Rainbow, however,
                      running out of ammo is often the least of your worries. Pick 7.62, and you'll turn
                      body armour into tissue paper. I'd recommend the G36 as your primary weapon, and
                      a .44 of some sort as your secondary.

                      5.56 is decent, but if you can get 7.62, why go with 5.56? The only really good 5.56
                      arm is the M4-SD, which has the incredible benefits of being silenced, automatic
                      and decently penetrative. With this, you won't need to worry about being surprised
                      and unable to hose down your target.

                      3a) Armour is useless
                      If you've taken the above advice, you'll realise that armour is pretty damn useless
                      against high-penetration weapons. For this reason, I'd suggest you take a recon as
                      your character; he runs faster and is more stealthy. If you face someone down, either
                      you or he is gonna die, and if you can bring your weapon up faster, he's more likely
                      to bite it.

                      4) Choose fire modes based on your latency
                      Latency sucks, but it's a fact of gaming. I've played on T1s, Ethernet connections
                      and 28.8 connections. For each level of latency, there is a different mode to use.

                      On a slow connection, use auto *exclusively*. Why? Because on a slow connection,
                      you don't know whether your target is "truly" where you think he is. If you try to place
                      shots with care, you may or may not be firing at the correct position. If you fire auto,
                      while keeping your cross hairs on the same position, you create a cone of fire similar
                      to an MG. If your opponent is within that cone, you are more likely to hit him.

                      On a medium connection, use auto or three-round bursts. Why? Because although
                      you have more likelihood of having your target in the right position, you still want to
                      create a cone so that you have a higher chance of hitting him. You also don't want
                      to attract his attention; if you don't have too many ricochets he may still stay in the
                      same position. Long bursts tend to mark your position.

                      On a fast connection, try to use semi as much as possible. You are more likely to hit
                      him, and you can also reduce the chance of being heard. You also conserve ammo,
                      though that's not too much of an issue in Rainbow.

                      Whenever you go into a room, always use full auto. No questions there. You want to
                      spray the area down and hit him while keeping moving. Remember, he has the
                      advantage of being still and having a better crosshair than you. If you keep moving,
 &nb sp;                    you break that advantage.

                      4a) Recognise weapons by their sound.
                      Always, always, go to the shooting range and practice shooting with the different
                      weapons. It'll let you recognise what weapon your opponent is using and where he
                      is, and allows you to use tactics accordingly. Approaching someone with an MP5 is
                      *very* different from someone with an M60. It also lets you learn who the cheater is
                      in a pistols only game; if you hear auto and it's not a Beretta 93 or a Steyr, some
                      asshole is cheating.

                      If I ever get around to posting my opinions on teams, I'll also include this; if you
                      have team members with weapons you *know*, it's very useful to be able to tell
                      where your team mates are, and whether they're still alive after a burst of gunfire. I'd
                      suggest firing a short burst into a dead target after surviving an encounter just to let
                      your other team members know that you made it out alive. It's faster than typing into
                      a chat box.

                      5) Use the heartbeat sensor.
                      It is the most important tool possible in room clearing. You can set up perfect
                      ambushes with it. Enough is said there.

                      6) Weapon choices
                      When chosing weapons stay awat from 9mm subguns and the like. They're good if
                      all you're up against is tangos with no body armour. Against human players, their
                      body armour pretty much negates your fire, unless you can aim with precision, which
                      most modem players can't do. If you have something which makes your life that
                      much easier, why fight it? Go with 7.62 or 5.56.

                      That said, which type of primary weapon should you choose? Broadly, you have
                      three career choices; rifleman, MG gunner and sniper. Those categories should be
                      self-explanatory.

                      As a rifleman, I strongly suggest a G36. Not only does it have good groupings, it's
                      got the all-powerful 7.62mm round. 7.62 seems to turn body armour into tissue
                      paper. Not only that, you have a decent amount of ammo, and fairly stable fire. If
                      you have an unreasoning attachment to 5.56mm, though, be advised that almost
                      all the 5.56 weapons are pretty much perfect substitutes. Except for the M-4SD, the
                      other 5.56 arms have almost the same ROF and the same effects. The M4-SD has
                      the marvellous advantage of being silenced. Which means that you can use it like a
                      sniper rifle and like an assault rifle without the enemy knowing that you're there until
                      he hears the ricochets.

                      An interesting choice is the G11. Normally, I wouldn't suggest this, but it can have
                      some really useful sideeffects when you're playing as part of a team. If all your
                      teammates are using G11s, it's really easy to tell who's fighting who and how they're
                      doing. G11s have this characteristic whine which no other weapon has. The G36
                      can be mistaken for an M60 on burst (or vice versa) and most of the 5.56 weapons
                      have the same sound (though I do find a slight difference between the FA-MAS and
                      the M16s -- maybe I'm mishearing it).

                      As an MG gunner, again, I suggest the M60. 7.62 is king. Note: MGs make a lot of
                      lag. If you're going to play one, make sure that everyone and I mean everyone has
                      a really fast connection. If not, you're just going to piss everyone off when you make
                      lag. The 5.56 arms are good too, but there's no real weight effect. If you're an MG
                      gunner, load up on full primary mags and just hose everything in sight. Keep up a
                      serious weight of suppressive fire. I don't recommend that you be an MG gunner
                      without a teammate, though. You should follow the team-mate's tracer (well, impact
                      point), then just hammer that area down with short, irregular bursts.

                      The idea of an MG gunner shouldn't be to kill people. It should be to force their
                      heads down while your assault team slams into them. I would love to see a grenade
                      launcher in NATO because then while the MG suppresses the target, another group
                      lobs in 40mm HEDP rounds into that room.

                      A sniper has pretty few choices when it comes to weapons. The HK and Stoner are
                      good substitutes, as is the TCI. The TCI is silenced, though, which can be essential
                      if you're trying for a silent kill. The Robar is great; if you have both complete
                      confidence in your aim and a really good connection. Otherwise, you're not likely to
                      get one shot one kill. Remember, as soon as you've finished firing at your target,
                      whether you hit him or not, displace. Your cover has been totally blown; people will
                      almost definitely search for you and find you. Don't stay in the same place; move to
                      a totally different part of the map. You should be the unseen killer; no one should
                      have the slightest idea where you are. Don't be predictable too; after one or two
                      games, your opponents will realise where you normally head for.
 

                      This article is written by By Brian Yeoh (Triumvir).