Vehicles
Vehicles are one of the main tools of combat in Renegade X, for both factions.
Function
Vehicles are purchased at any Purchase Control Terminal, and are delivered for collection at the faction's vehicle production structure, either the Airstrip as Nod, or Weapons Factory as GDI. As each faction has their own vehicle production structure, so too do they have their own unique vehicles.
The vehicle is locked to the owner for 30 seconds immediately after delivery, so no enemies or allies can take it. Once it has been collected or 30 seconds has passed, enemies and allies alike can take it once left vacant. A lock feature applies to the last purchased vehicle entered by a player, and only works on allies who steal your tank by forcing them out of the driver seat so you may reclaim your vehicle.
The Global Defense Initiative have a focus on vehicles, and their vehicles are considered to be more optimal and aggressive:
The Brotherhood of Nod have a focus on infantry, but use vehicles that focus on specific roles and uses:
Strategy
The main role of vehicles in combat, is sustained occupation. They maintain sustained base presence to defend against enemies. They force their way out of their base when enemies hold the field and base entrance. When they have control of the enemy base entrance, they lay siege. When an enemy base has defense structures or defending enemy presence, tanks can soak the damage necessary to survive the defenses.
Attacking
Tanks can shell structures safely from the field, doing acceptable damage to a building externally. APCs can suppress infantry attacks for the Tanks. When enemy repairs start to exceed the damage being done, tanks can choose to fire on another building, hoping to stretch repairs thin or get in some permanent damage to building health before repairmen can make the run back and forth between structures.
When the team accomplishes fielding every vehicle at their disposal right up at the enemy base entrance, a powerful way to take down a building is to have every vehicle commit to entering the enemy base. This way, a structure can be barricaded as it is attacked, limiting enemies from entering it for repairs. If the tanks are destroyed, they can easily be replaced with the credits earned from shelling it prior, and field control can usually be established easily again.
Repair Infantry (Engineer, Hotwire, Technician) are vital to tank assaults. To sustain presence in the field, they require repairs. To commit to an rush into the enemy base, they require repairs to at least last long enough to make it to the enemy structures. When buying a vehicle, choosing a class of infantry that can repair tanks, is a good way to keep your own tanks repaired, as well as the tanks of allies once yours has been destroyed.
Alternatively, if you know you are going to be sacrificing your tank to raid the enemy base with, buying a powerful offensive infantry can be useful as a driver. When your tank is destroyed, you can continue to contribute to the assault by destroying enemy infantry, vehicles, structures, repairmen, or the Master Control Terminal from a doorway or from within a structure. An Officer or other class carrying a Smoke Grenade can be effective at reducing damage on your tank from the enemy base defenses, by throwing it before you drive in.
If you are able to drive up to an enemy structure, and fire through it's doorway, you can harass the repair infantry inside, as well as possibly hit the Master Control Terminal for bonus damage.
Don't be shy about having a random teammate borrow your vehicle while you repair it, if they are a non-repair class and weren't doing anything else anyway. Offer them the vehicle while you instead repair. Buy vehicles for teammates if you are planning a mass attack. However, make sure not to buy vehicles that won't be taken, as enemies can take them if left empty.
GDI-Specific: Leaving vehicles empty is a great risk to having it stolen by cloaked Stealth Black Hand. Allow teammates to repair you, and if you must leave them, leave them further in your own base and preferably out in open sight of a base defense structure if available. This can also apply to Nod when not careful, but can be negated by not leaving a vehicle when an enemy can jump onto it from an overhead cliff, or approach from behind. Sniper fire can also pose risks when leaving a vehicle to repair. Please be aware of your surroundings before leaving a vehicle vacant, it is better off destroyed and replaced, than in the hands of the enemy.
Defending
Just as tanks can sustain fire on structures from the safety of the field, so too can tanks fire onto the field from the safety of their base.
However, once enough vehicles are gathered, an attempt to drive them all out onto the field at once should be made. This puts a lot more risk onto the enemy repair infantry, as they become point blank targets. Always shoot for enemy repair infantry, so enemy tanks become softer targets.
Some infantry serve as cheaper alternatives to damage enemy tanks. Rocket Soldier, Gunner, Laser Chaingunner, and to a lesser degree, even Patch and Stealth Black Hand can be options to do real damage to tanks. Classes that are designed to counter tanks, also usually have Flak armor to survive tank shells and explosions easier, at the cost of weakness to gunfire.
Other infantry serve practical anti-tank purposes, by instead killing the enemy repair infantry. Snipers can take shots from afar to kill repair infantry. Automatic Fire classes can flank tanks from behind and quickly sacrifice themselves to kill some repair infantry, as well as divide up the attention of enemy tanks. Stealth Black Hand can sneak up to repair infantry and gun them down, or to tanks to plant Timed C4.
If all else fails to remove an aggressive enemy vehicle presence from the field or your base, then it can be assumed that their field presence inversely affects their presence in their own base. A mass of infantry may be exactly what your team needs, to take down a building in absence of the majority of the enemy who left their base to focus on field offense. A Smoke Grenade can assist the group of infantry by preventing any existing base defenses from firing on them while they get to an enemy structure.
Trivia
- It is possible to drive a ground vehicle on top of other vehicles and places they don't belong. It is not advised as most servers will ban you for doing this and this will usually end up getting your vehicle stuck.
- It is also possible to stand on vehicles as infantry, as well as be intentionally pushed in front of them for a ride. This is less often frowned upon by servers, as long as it isn't used to climb terrain that is not intended to be climbed.