Command and Conquer: Renegade Official Forums: Tactics and Strategies

Home » Renegade Discussions » Tactics and Strategies » Mammoth Tanks and How To Use Them.

Show: Today's Messages :: Polls :: Message Navigator

Mammoth Tanks and How To Use Them. [message #169702]

Tue, 06 September 2005 19:57

m1a1_abrams
Messages: 375
Registered: August 2003

Karma: 0

Commander

My favourite vehicle in Renegade has to be the Mammoth Tank, because, let's admit it, it's pretty cool to drive the biggest tank around. I find it very frustrating when I get the same old "omg don't use mammoth n00b, it gives too many points"... because in the right hands, a Mammoth is by far the best tank in the game. Anyway, I thought I would write something of a guide to using Mammoth Tanks in Renegade, with the hope that more people will come to realise the potential of this awesome weapon.

Firstly, however, I would like to dispel some misconceptions about the Mammoth Tank. The most obvious misconception is the widespread idea that Mammoths do more harm than good because of the amount of points they give to the enemy. While it's true that they do give lots of points when shot at, they are more than capable of generating a net points gain for their own team via damaging/killing enemy units and attacking enemy structures. Mammoths are good at killing anything, but they excel at destroying buildings. Concerns over points become moot if you can win by base destruction... get three or more Mammoth Tanks inside the enemy base and you're likely to be heading in that direction pretty quickly.

Another popular misconception is that buying a Mammoth Tank is an invitation for the enemy to quickly destroy it with a Flame Tank. The only circumstance in which a full health Mammoth should lose to a full health Flame Tank is if the latter can somehow get to point blank range before it's detected. In any other circumstance the Mammoth's vastly superior range should allow it to deal enough damage to the Flame Tank before it can close the distance. A Flame Tank at point blank range can make it difficult to fire the twin cannons, since they tend to get stuck inside the enemy tank, however the Tusk Missile launchers are positioned further back so they will always be able to hit the target. You must swing the turret hard in the opposite direction to the missile launcher that is about to fire, otherwise you may overshoot the enemy tank, but once you get the hang of it you shouldn't have any trouble with Flame Tanks.

The Tusk Missiles do more damage to everything than the twin cannons, although they have a shorter range, so you should always switch to missiles whenever you have the opportunity. The missiles are also homing to a great degree, which makes hitting moving targets easier. Against very fast targets, like Nod Buggies, you may want to use the twin cannons even at close range, since the shells travel faster... but if you think you can hit with the missiles then you should use them to the full extent of their range. Also, when facing infantry, don't wait until you're in range of the missiles to start firing. The twin cannons do almost as much damage to infantry providing you hit the target, so are very good for softening up the enemy, if not killing them outright. I find it comes as a shock to Raveshaws when they find themselves smoking on the ground after a few accurate volleys at maximum range. Infantry tend to feel safe from the Mammoth at long range, but this is not the case with a good driver.

Engineers and Hotwires are great for keeping any vehicle alive in the field, but they take on special significance with the Mammoth Tank. Mammoths already have a lot of health, so with Hotwire support they can be nigh on invincible... particularly considering they have the firepower to methodically dispatch enemy units one by one, thus robbing them of their combined firepower. Also, Mammoth Tanks slowly regenerate when under half strength, which combines with any external repairs, making them even harder to destroy the closer they are to destruction!

Mammoths are great at rushing enemy structures in groups, due to the combination of firepower and armour. For example, three Mammoths attacking a structure is comparable to three Flame Tanks, but the more heavily armoured Mammoths will last longer, giving them more time in which all three vehicles are firing. Also, providing they are using their Mammoth Tusk Missiles (which they should be), they also do a great deal of splash damage which will hurt any infantry inside the building. This makes it very difficult to repair internally. Two or more Mammoths firing at the area of a building closest to the MCT will make it practically impossible to prevent the building's destruction. In fact, I find that quite often a single Mammoth is enough.

I've taken a couple of screenshots which show where to fire the missiles at the Airstrip and the Hand of Nod. If you can get into one of these two positions you have a good chance of taking out the structure single handed, although teamplay is preferable. In the case of the Hand of Nod, the missiles are fired through the middle window directly at the large computer screen. This will cause damage to everyone in repair range of the MCT. You can also fire down the aisles at the far spawn points if necessary.

http://www.renegadewiki.com/images/7/79/Wheretoshootstrip.jpg

http://www.renegadewiki.com/images/7/7e/Wheretoshoothand.jpg

Well there you go. Most of this is going to be common knowledge to a lot of you guys, but there are still more people who don't understand how effective Mammoth Tanks can be. The only instance in which they probably are more of a hindrance than anything else is in very large servers, where the number of anti-vehicle infantry will tend to be far in excess of the vehicle limit. Of course, in that situation all vehicles are going to be facing the same problem.

http://apb.mp-gaming.com/rank/rank-270.gif

[Updated on: Fri, 02 May 2014 09:21]