Sapper

The sapper is a line infantry rank. Sappers are armed with a hammer for building, an axe with a two-hit kill, and a shovel for digging up dirt.

french sapper

Constructs

Hammer

Sandbags - lots of bags stacked on top of each other to provide cover. These come in small and large size and is often combined with dirt. 8 hits to build for the large variant, and 5 for small, on par with the barricade's build time.

Chevaux de Frise. These obstacles were originally meant as an anti-cavalry measure. The Chevaux de Frise is a simple and effective barricade that can quickly block a hole in a defense, which appears as an X- shaped fence, and comes in both small and large size. Deploying these in front of a charging cavalry even without hammering it will stop the horse giving you the opportunity to kill it. 10 hits the build, making it the longest to deploy for large and 6 for small.

Stakes, sharpened wooden stakes put into the ground. Easily usable to block small holes while allowing passage from 1 side, also instantly kills any horses who comes into contact with it. Can be used as a ramp to cross fences or other obstacles. 6 hits to build

Gabion, put four sticks in the ground, wrap clothing around then fill it with sand and you got yourself a Gabion. Perfect for blocking up small areas where other barricades would be too large. This thing could easily block a ladder. 7 hits to build

Crate, a small obstacle, usually to block small gaps. Commonly used as counters for soup promoters. 6 hits to build 2nd fastest to deploy

Fence, a low barricade that bends a little, can be used if you want a small space to go out for shooting, yet still keep it blocked off. 8 hits to build

Barricades, wooden logs stacked on top of each other in the middle of a frame, which is just enough to cover a person crouching or not. This is very useful in buildings to block off doors. Some players like to place down a dirt, dig it halfway, place a barricade, then dig the dirt fully to create a "trench". The height of the large dirt allows for players to peek out over the top of the barricade for easy firing, as the barricade covers 90 percent of the body alone. 5 hits to build, making it the fastest to deploy

Shovel

Small Dirt, a small area of dirt that doesn't cover a wide enough area, but it's good for small buildings like small sandbags or small cheavaux. Takes 4 dig-ups to finish it.

Large Dirt, a long and narrow (Still wider than small dirt) area of dirt that covers up a pretty good area. It is usually used in conjunction with sandbags, large chevaux, etc.

The shovel barricades are indestructible by melee weaponry, but can be damaged by rifles, muskets, artillery, and of course shovels. As such, they can easily block off passages although the dirt requires some room.

Weaponry

The sapper uses an axe as a weapon. It doesn't strike as fast as the knife or the sword, nor does it have the range of a pike, but it does pack a massive punch, killing a fully healed player in just 2 hits. The axe also deals much more damage to barricades than other melee weapons in the game. The axe is best used for defensive combat although it is still effective for offensive purposes. Sapper Axes are very effective in groups as the victim would be left with so little health even a normal sword would be able to finish them after just one axe hit. A sapper can also charge recklessly towards a foe who is inferior in melee combat, as their weapon can finish them in 1 less hit than a sword needs.

The sapper fails against ranged combat from muskets or rifles. They have slower speed when wielding the axe, encouraging users to switch to the hammer/shovel to walk faster; the sapper, therefore, is at a disadvantage if the opponent quickly attacks before running away again because the sapper might not switch back into the axe in time to strike the fast opponent.

Usage

The following are the various uses of the 'Sapper'.

Forts and Barricades - A sapper's purpose of course, is for defense. Thus people using the Sapper will make fortifications either at one point in the map, such as the spawn, or at a choke-point, such as the streets of Falenty. These can obviously be useful, as a way to protect fellow teammates from enemy fire, cavalry charges and etc. However, these can take time to make and front-line fortifications [one of the more useful types] tend to be a dangerous thing to build as the enemy is easily able to shoot you.

Another thing players would like to utilize fortifications is in houses, by blocking the entrance using whatever really. This can turn a house into a indestructible and mostly impassable fortress [Besides the door and windows of course] which can be useful if your team is starting to lose the tide of battle. However, due to the close quarters, the enemy, if outnumbering, can easily overwhelm you if you and your teammates are not careful. A clear warning for this is when 2 or more enemies are bashing at your door barricade.

Camping - This may have been already described in the Forts and Barricades section, but goes further detail into the aspect of camping. Fort Camping only tends to ever be used when you're clearly losing, or that your team just dosen't feel competent for some reason. These forts tend to be the most effort put into than any other fort in any other circumstance, due to the amount of time that is given to the sapper[s]. These forts will provide cover to your team, thus evening the odds if your team is losing in theory. However, these forts tend to have mixed results. Like we have already said, most of these tend to be built when the enemy is winning or that your team feels incompetent. Most likely, the opposing team has more experienced players or are outnumbering you. Another negative factor is space, the enemy has the freedom to move around while your team doesn't, or risk getting shot. Thus, your team is kinda stuck there. Thus you only have two options once you're in that situation, one is to charge out and the other is to stay inside, both being equally dangerous options, in different ways.

Soup Shops - There would probably be one of those times when you saw one of your team's sappers making a 'Soup Shop', which most appear often in maps with open spaces. [I don't know why] These sappers will make a- you guessed it - a 'Soup Shop'. The Sapper would then 'sell soup' to passing soldiers, mostly teammates. These shops serve little tactical or strategic value beyond plain fun. However, anybody facing against one must be warned. The Sapper 'selling soup' will go into a 'state of rage' in which they would strike aggressively at any foe nearby. This happens when you damage his/her shop, even the slightest. This is one of the few important rules of B&I.

Climbing - Placing down a Chevaux or stakes, then climbing up them. This can be used to give riflemen better sniping spots, or used to make an invincible base out of reach of everything. Alternatively, on Smohain, can be used to hide in the bushes.

Basic Offense/Defense - With its strong axe, when enemies are invading a team's base, the sapper can destroy the invading team, since with the help of other infantry, easily take down invaders and can devestate a charge. For offense, it can also invade a team's base, as it can break down sapper's constructs and deal blows to the enemy once it reaches their base.

Grave Digger - the sapper walks about finding bodies, and when found will "bury" them using their shovel and or Hammer. Some grave diggers give people headstones.

Tent Camping - this only works on maps with tents, such as Hilltop and Riverside. The sapper creates a large mound of dirt at the entrance of the tent to prevent people from entering. Then, they build a barricade inside to prevent themselves from being shot. This can strategy, when done right, can effectively stall the entire round and render it inconclusive. It is the best sapper strategy.

Tips

• If skilled in building, focus on build large fortifications in order to provide cover for your team
• Always have at least 2 sappers in your army
• Sappers are purely for defense, even in combat, don't run in the middle of the battlefield thinking you are going to get kills with your axe, chances are that you will get killed by a rifleman or a cavalry.
• Stay with the bulk of your team (for obvious reasons)
• Be accurate with your axe when delivering blows, the axe make to slower than a ranker with a sword, one wrong move could mean game over.
• DO NOT be that one sapper who goes by himself and builds a base for himself, you'll generally be seen as useless to your comrades, or mistaken as a Soup Man
• Keep a lookout, as you build there is a chance that an enemy squad may try to pick you off, so stay cautious

[1]

sappers using physics

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