CS-Nation

Covering the future of Counter-Strike
cs_backalley
General Tactics - Backalley is a great map for moving slowly! Got that? Strategy! Lot's of sharp corners and no smooth edges leave plenty of hiding grounds as you move from position to position. The most dangerous of all places being the main street. Distinctive sounds in this map are the windows obviously (breaking glass will definately draw someone's attention), the gravel roof leading to the vent, ladders, and the "Get me out of here!" of the hostages. Unless I had a reliable way out of there with the hostages I would probably bring them through the basement to the other side of the street, sometimes this will throw of Terrorists who are expecting you to be on the side you began on. I also strongly suggest carrying your 2 flashbangs with you, no matter what team you are on. Some battles take place in the smaller hallways and hostage rooms and flashbangs come in handy there.

Whether you're a Counter-terrorist (CT) guarding the 'hostage rescue point' or a Terrorist (T) awaiting a CT with hostages, this spot is a terrific position to spring from. Not only is the ledge area dark and hidden away, it gives you a perfect shot either into the street below, or the vent/gravel roof above. The only problem with the ledge is that your head is exposed to enemies on the roof, and when you try to jump down to either chase or getaway, you take damage and end up with a second injury delay when you collide with the ground. I personally have been able to jump from the ledge back to the roof (valuable when you need a shortcut to the main street), practice makes perfect. Nonetheless a powerful machine gun in this position can do a lot of damage.

For those people approaching this position, always keep your weapon aimed in this direction, or fire a few shots as it comes into view, or simply lob a grenade up on the roof and your bound to hit someone over there.

This position is more for a Terrorist to camp in. It gives you a reliable shot at a CT attempting to rescue the orange jumpsuit hostage, but at the same time leaves you in a sticky situation when a CT knows where you are. I'd say a 50/50 chance of you surviving here but if your quick enough there's a vent in the rear that drops into the basement.


Another reliable position for the Terrorists. If FF isn't on at the time, the left square is a good place to focus your attention. Any movement or gun sticking through the door means fire your AK! The other side gives you a good horizontal spray towards any CT's who are coming up from the basement, although they usually don't. If CTs come charging through the door and you don't feel comfortable, high tail your ass over the rail and book into the basement, pop up on the other side and gun them sons' of bitches down.


The crates obviously are a good place to camp, during one firefight I saw a T who was on there being hunted by a CT with an AWP. This CT got the smallest angle he could without opening the door and was still unable to hit the T in that corner. So I suppose it's reliable but your still open to rushing attacks because you have nowhere to run to. The 'EXIT' sign is highlighted for the sole reason that somehow people are getting up on it, and kicking ass! Apparently most CTs don't glance up and get gunned down when they enter...


This is one of the vital chokepoints for the CTs to enter, and the Ts to guard. On the left side it's pretty easy for a Terrorist to guard with a machine gun, but at the same time both of these locations are easy to either flashbang or grenade. It's not often that I see a T camp on the right side highlighted area, but you can almost guarentee that there are Ts waiting around that area. Going through the left side gives you quick access to a ladder into one of the buildings, a good idea considering that 2nd floor is usually guarded by 0-1 Terrorists. The right side highlight obviously takes you into the main street and makes you a target for any snipers relaxing in their chairs at the other end of the block.


This back alley so to speak is one of the 3 Counter-Terrorist entrances into the Terrorist stronghold. I suggest having a CT position inside the building so he can cover any teammates going down to ground level. If your skilled enough to use an AWP, point it on the right side of the the window (of the T's building), not the window, but at the wall. As T's run through the hallway you have about 1/2 a second to get a shot off. I've taken down at least 3 Terrorists in one round using this method. Being in this position also gives you a shot at the ladder. Sometimes during the middle of the match you may find yourself here and hear footsteps outside... then rung rung rung up the ladder pops an enemy. As he floats in the air for a second he's unaware that your barrel is pointed at his head. BOOM! If they somehow manage to make it back down the ladder, it is possible to throw a grenade out the window and have it fall directly below you... practice makes perfect!


Very similar to Figure F., this is what the Terrorists see... pretty distorted huh? exactly, don't stand here and snipe unless you plan on not getting hit.


I'll get the window highlight out of the way first. Don't jump from the rail to the window sill, jump from the metal floor OVER the rail to the window. Once your in this position you appear to be a flat black player model thanks to Half-Life's lighting entities. This position allows you a direct shot at both red doors leading to the hostages, plus you've got CTs running through the street. BUT, your open to attacks from people who know someone may be there, and again trying to jump down and run away will only leave you bloodied and dead. The other highlighted area here does not mean camp on this metal floor. It means stand on the rail and jump across to the other ledge, bust through the window and enter the 2nd building. This tactic is basically for the CTs who were lucky enough to make it through the vent and into that position.


Speaking of the vent, sitting on top of these crates (stand don't crouch or you risk someone seeing your gun barrel) gives you a great shot at the slow crawling multi-national Counter-Terrorists. As you gun down the first the others following begin to hyperventilate and basically wig out. Hop down and do some *ahem* spurts of AK fire into the vent and Ughhh... dead CTs.


This position is meant mainly for a Terrorists. More often than not CTs come barging in instead of checking through the door to see if anyone is here. And even if they do, just shoot them, lol. Your also in a position to nail anyone rescueing hostages who came in through the main st., people coming from the basement, and from people coming from upstairs. But again, beware, a lot of people actually know how to play and will be ready for yo

In closing, this is a team based mod. If you go running into areas of cs_backalley without someone watching your ass, don't bet on surviving too long. There's plenty more strategies to this map too, just explore and hope you have a cooperative team! -Strategy By Hektic