Battle Grounds: Shrubs

A type of battle ground one may find oneself is an area filled with small shrubs or bushes. Shrubs allow one to hide, act as a barrier when being fired at, and allow for more covert operations since visibility through shrubs is reduced. However, all this vegetation also limits the directions one may travel as well as potentially giving away one's position due to noise cues. Tactics should be altered when dealing this this type of terrain as opposed to the open field or asphalt/cement.

IN THE THICK OF THINGS: One thing to definitely take advantage of in shrubs is the shrubs themselves. Shrubs offer a great hiding place and can allow one to sneak up on enemy positions or set up ambush spots. Be forewarned, the enemy can do the same. When travelling near shrubs, one should be extra-cautious and keep an eye out for unusual motion. More importantly, one should keep an ear out since sound can give away a hostile's position even when the shrubs prevent one from seeing clearly.

When hiding or ambushing, firing a stream of water from within a shrub is a fairly simple task. However, one should take care not to hit any nearby leaves or twigs to ensure the stream flows smoothly and one does not spray oneself with deflected water. When engaging someone within a shrub, one can use this deflecting water to one's advantage by moving and spraying wildly into the shrub. It will turn the inside of the shrub into a small shower stall.

SHOW ME THE WAY: Due to the nature of shrubs, one's available routes of travel are often more limited. A mental map of the area should be kept, especially if the shrubs are taller than eye-level. Also, one should always try to keep two escape routes available. Two is recommended in case one ends up unexpectedly cut off. Of course, this is not always possible but a good thing to try and attain.

Conversely, when hunting hostiles who have entrenched themselves in a patch of shrubs, the first thing to do is limit or eliminate any escape routes. Targets which cannot move/escape are much easier to soak than moving ones.

MIND THE VEGETATION: Shrubs are living things, believe it or not. As such, try to be nice to them. Thankfully, the ammo used in water fights will do a great job in feeding these living creatures. However, avoid trying to force oneself through a shrub, breaking branches, etc. Not only will this make a lot of noise but one is more likely to scrape/injure oneself in the process.

ASHPHALT/CEMENT | TREES



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