Are we going to die if we go to the International Airfield?

[Sacredify 2]

My friends and I (4 of us) are pretty well-off, survival wise. Day 3, we each have an offhand and a main weapon, we have 6 canteens between the 4 of us, all of us have hunting knives, maps, etc. We're set on food and water, and we have full ammo and bandages, not to mention blood bags and morphine if we ever need it.

We want to upgrade our weapons by hitting the barracks, but heres my question:

Is it really going to be worth it? I honestly don't want to go just to get shot by people camping with nightvision snipers.

If so, are there any tactics people can suggest?

[Testificate 7]

It's always worth it, just be careful and shoot on sight. If you have one sniper, let him overview the situation from afar. People are not friendly and well-armed there.

[Wo3dy 111]

always be prepared to day when you get close to the airfield.

[U.B.C.S. Ravin 326]

Up north its basically shoot first ask questions later.

I recommend going up the South side first barracks, Snipers can't hit you so well in those trees, mostly close quarters combat.

If you are hitting up the hangers, run in to the side out of the way of the North West Treeline, shoot and kill the zombies, then run from hanger to hanger, If you stay still for too long, snipers are very likely to shoot you in the face.

[dcskill 117]

Go to the Southern barracks first. You should only stay for an hour max. Lots of people like to snipe and ghost up there. I've had so many good guns from there but stayed too long and died. :(

[LukeSkywalkers 31]

You will die. Maybe you can get in a hangar and get some cool stuff, but when you get our you gonna get sniped...

[khknight 3]

just be prepared to fight, you WILL find other players no matter what server you're on. Make sure to circle the perimeter, use sniper rifles and binoculars to scout out enemies

[ActionManZlt 160]

It's a high-traffic area, despite being so far from the coast. I've been there on 4 different low-population servers (e.g. ~6/50 players), and saw another survivor each time!!

[AnonDayZ (DayZ) 26]

Please ignore the people who say you'll die instantly. Yes the place is a sniper haven like Sobor but it simply means the odds of pvp is higher. Sometimes it's empty, sometimes it's not. Just the chances of it beingopulated are higher :)

[takfar@gmail.com 24]

Went there once on a server with about 15 players on. It was night time. Not a single player around, looted everything and went my merry way. Didn't find anything especially good, tho, unfortunately. Came home with an AK and G17, was all. I'm still trying hard to find a GPS, NVG, and another tent so I can relocate.

[Zexis 127]

Playing at night on a low pop server might help. But yes, you must assume that a sniper is always scanning the area. The foolish ones will camp in the fire station or comm tower, but others will be on the outlying hills. Move quietly, quickly, don't attract attention, and stick to the perimeter. Stay off the bloody runway.

[W1Z22 33]

just be prepared to fight, you WILL find other players no matter what server you're on. Make sure to circle the perimeter, use sniper rifles and binoculars to scout out enemies

not true at all.. i've been there a few times and only seen players 3 times

[-Cdn-Chard 96]

NWAF is the best source for high-end military weapons and equipment. It's no wonder that everyone is attracted there. Everytime I've gone there, I've seen people. It's THE Shoot-on-Sight capital of Chernarus. Expect no one to be friendly. It's understood that if you brave the NWAF, no quarter will be given.

A couple of tips...

1. Go slow at first and carefully scout/watch the area. Plan your route in carefully using available cover and have at least 2-3 alternate exit routes. Agree on a rendevous point if the group gets separated.

2. Think like a sniper and where they'd like to hang out.. 700-1000+ metres out would be about right. Likely after a boring half hour of watching, you have located a few of the hidden snipers as they fire at other players. Check building tops, towers, everywhere a sniper might be hiding. Try to avoid staying in areas where there's a long open view across a field to a highpoint. Assume there's a sniper there looking for you.

3. If you have a scoped weapon, put that player on overwatch... This guy shouldn't fire and give away his position unless teammates lives are at stake. Position overwatch with an exit route because once they engage, all eyes will be on them. Try to have the overwatch have lines of sight on your entry/escape routes.

4. That leaves 3 for the raid.. Two on guard while the third loots.. Alternate until everyone's had a chance to loot. Don't bunch up and don't all go into one building together, especially in towers. Smoke is helpful if you've come under fire and need to move from the control tower to the firestation or need to get out through a choke point.

5. Don't aggro zombies!!!!! As soon as you do, unless you can dispatch them with silenced weapons/axes, the jig is up and you no longer have the initiative. Everyone will start looking for you. Move fast and try to avoid long runs in the open, like between buildings. Retreat and coming back another time might make sense. Overwatch

6. Personal preference, try to go on a well lit night. Going during the day is good because you can see everything, but that works both ways. If you have NVG, go on a dark night.

7. Finally, if you have a tent, place it and drop all of your non-combat gear (except basic meds and a food/drink). This will give you the slots you'll need to pick stuff up without wasting time shifting things around. Prepare your packs so you have as many slots on your primary inventory for the same reason. Try to reserve one pack with 14 free slots to grab a secondary gun if one comes along.

8. Stick to inside the treelines, keep concealed. Designate a zombie guard to avoid everyone firing at the same guy.

Good luck.....

Edited July 15, 2012 by -Cdn-Chard

[wok 25]

I think you will be safer trying to spot a down heli if you want the rare weapons, I got a L85A2 SUSAT from a chopper one of the first time I played. I never went into the airfield yet, but got killed even inside a barn with a hatchet lol so i can image the airfield could be a dangerous place to be.

[Coverfire 0]

I was planning on heading there later with a friend, we were going to go on a server with as little people as possible to try and avoid conflict for now since we're relatively new, but it seems like it might be a little too dangerous now.

Edited July 15, 2012 by Coverfire

[ALiborio 13]

I went there for the first time today. I didn't see any other players. I ended up just raiding the Barracks in the SE corner of the airfield. There was just some ammo and a water bottle and some food. There was a dead survivor outside with most of his loot still there. Wasn't much I was interested in on him.

I didn't bother going into the actual airfield towards the hangers and tower although I tried scoping the area out with my binoculars to see if there were any other players around but I saw nothing.

[randir14 7]

If you go in the barracks watch out for people hiding in rooms. You can try checking the windows from outside first.

I was planning on heading there later with a friend, we were going to go on a server with as little people as possible to try and avoid conflict for now since we're relatively new, but it seems like it might be a little too dangerous now.

I've been killed on a server with only 5 other people. Just remember if you're joining a low pop server with the intent of easy looting, some of those other players might have joined for the same reason.

Edited July 16, 2012 by randir14

[amentes 0]

My friends and I (4 of us) are pretty well-off, survival wise. Day 3, we each have an offhand and a main weapon, we have 6 canteens between the 4 of us, all of us have hunting knives, maps, etc. We're set on food and water, and we have full ammo and bandages, not to mention blood bags and morphine if we ever need it.

We want to upgrade our weapons by hitting the barracks, but heres my question:

Is it really going to be worth it? I honestly don't want to go just to get shot by people camping with nightvision snipers.

If so, are there any tactics people can suggest?

I've never actually been sniped up there, but I have died to server hoppers.

Either way though, I think you're better off locating a server with frequent restarts, and just looting Helicopter crashes.

Oftentimes, you end up going away with nothing worthwhile at the Barracks. Crashes on the other hand are, in my experience, safer and yield better loot.

[CerebralZombie (DayZ) 151]

I've been running back n' forth in the air field/strip on the left top corner of the map... I can't find the/a barracks? Is there a barracks in the up left corner airfield on the map?

[Justin619 11]

meh.. me and my friend popped by and looted the place pretty easily.. we just stopped on a hill and looked around the place for a bit with some binos. i think before hitting an airfield its good to find a downed heli and get a good gun.

Edited July 16, 2012 by Justin619

[creepy6ninja 1]

Well it is a hotspot for snipers and big clans. Not to mention newb campers-_-

so just sneak and dont take to long you most likely will die.

[CerebralZombie (DayZ) 151]

meh.. me and my friend popped by and looted the place pretty easily.. we just stopped on a hill and looked around the place for a bit with some binos. i think before hitting an airfield its good to find a downed heli and get a good gun.

I also found a downed heli, and nothing! I literally thought from the look of it that there wasn't ever going to be anything... Although a bunch of zombies spawned out of it.

[ALiborio 13]

I've tried looking for a downed heli. Looked at the maps and checked out at least a half dozen locations where they said they could be and I didn't see anything. Would be nice to get some military grade gear.

[govnogaming 52]

I've tried looking for a downed heli. Looked at the maps and checked out at least a half dozen locations where they said they could be and I didn't see anything. Would be nice to get some military grade gear.

The easiest way to find crash sites (believe it or not) is to set waypoints directly across the map from you, while staying on the north end. I basically just run between NWAF, Starry Sobor, and NEAF. If you follow this triangle pattern, you're more than likely to find at least 1 crash site after an hour or two. Also, remember that maps and stuff posted on the internet aren't always accurate, and that helicopter crash sites only seem to spawn in sets of 2 or 3 at a time on the server you are on.

I also found a downed heli, and nothing! I literally thought from the look of it that there wasn't ever going to be anything... Although a bunch of zombies spawned out of it.

You have to look extremely carefully for loot there. Often, loot will spawn under one pile, or will be close and hard to find. I once picked up about 3 PP19s from pretty much the same loot pile, because they were kind of stacked so I could only access 1 at a time. You should search back and forth, entirely around the site, in about a 10 meter radius of the helicopter. If you do this, you should find loot eventually. I usually just camp at the crash site with a few friends for about 30 minutes. We alternate looking for loot, in case it's desynced or bugged. I nearly missed a L85A2 AWS and an AS50 because I was about to run away, but my friend spotted them for me through his binos about 600 meters away.

On topic: Honestly, I've raided NWAF around 6 or 7 times in the past 3 days on servers that are always 20+ people. The loot doesn't seem to be worth it (unless you need magazines), however, we've only ever met 4 people at the runways. There was a clan of about 4 trying to loot harvest when we rolled up, and we effectively wiped them out using FN Fals and a single sniper. Your best chance is to take the high powered weapons, loud weapons if you see other survivors, and go for that one shot kill. We honestly waste no time, rush in, rush out and enjoy the benefits.

Edited July 16, 2012 by theSovietMaster

[wok 25]

I also found a downed heli, and nothing! I literally thought from the look of it that there wasn't ever going to be anything... Although a bunch of zombies spawned out of it.

I think sometimes the loot is not inside the heli, it may be a few meters away, or even below it, you need to check the entire surrounding area.