The Bog

"Bravo Six we have an Abrams dead in the water. Callsign "War Pig". Lt. Vasquez, your unit is shotgun, over."

- Command

The Bog is the sixth level in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

Plot
The Bog follows Sgt. Paul Jackson's squad (under Lt. Vasquez) as they fight through enemy lines to reach and defend a disabled M1A2 Abrams tank with the call sign of War Pig. It starts out with Jackson's squad moving to the bog the tank is stranded in while encountering resistance. Jackson's squad is immediately ambushed by two heavily protected MGs. The squad splits in half: one squad advances on the enemies while the other provides support fire. Jackson saves Pvt. Roycewicz while killing all of the OpFor and uses their own MG against them. After the ambush, the Marine squad once again faces a large force of OpFor with tank support on the highway overpass, but using the FGM-148 Javelin, Jackson dispatches each of the enemy tanks in turn. With this threat neutralized, the squad then hurries over to War Pig, where they, as well as the surviving Marines of Alpha Company in the Bog, hold off attacks from the OpFor. Though the OpFor charge the M1 Abrams mercilessly with detpacks, the Marines succeed in holding them off and driving them back further. After rescuing War Pig, Jackson is called upon to destroy a nearby ZPU-4 and plant a beacon to receive air support from AH-1W Super Cobras, which clear a building the squad cannot attack. The arrival of air support finishes off the remaining OpFor resistance and sends the few survivors fleeing. With this done, the squad regroups and sets up a defensive perimeter, allowing the engineers to come in and repair the damaged tank.

Getting Started
You will spawn at the end of a street sometime near dusk, so it's a bit darker than normal. There's not much time to look around, so follow Vasquez and move up.

As you are moving up, the two machine guns in the building should rip apart a few members of your squad. On some of the higher difficulties, it may be advisable to take cover near a destroyed car to avoid the MG fire. Although many marines will take cover behind a non-destroyed car, they are scripted to run away as soon as it catches fire. It's easy for one of the cars to blow up in a matter of seconds, so watch your step. Feel free to pick up one of your fallen comrades' weapons. One of them is the W1200, which could come in handy in a few minutes. Get a few shots on the OpFor on the balcony and the MGs and move up to Vasquez. Head down the stairs and switch to Night Vision.

After putting on your goggles, go through the opening to the destroyed part of the building. There will be one hostile taking cover behind a wall piece straight ahead and two others to the right side. One of the OpFor to the side will drop a G3, so it's always an option to pick that up if you want a full-auto secondary weapon. Be sure to take care of the tango high up behind a box before proceeding. Throw a flash up on the balcony where there's an machine gun and some RPGs before you regroup with your squad in the apartment.

The Apartment
Lt. Vasquez will tell you and Pvt. Roycewicz to sweep the second floor. As the two of you are heading up the stairs, a hostile will come out of hiding and start to attack Roycewicz. Now, it's your choice to save him or not, but it is in your best interest to have that extra guy. Either way, you'll have to kill the tango, so you should probably load some lead into him before he kills your comrade. Head up the stairs and wait for Vasquez to come up the stairway. Now I say wait because if you rush the hallway (especially on some of the higher difficulties) you will be torn apart. Take out a flash and throw it in the hallway. Aim down your sights and fire away. In a few shots, they should be all dead, but there's more to deal with. Before reaching the end of the hallway, throw another flash, this time through the last door so that it will hit the balcony where the rest of the OpFor is. Quickly run to the end of the hallway and spin to the left to gun down the stunned hostiles.

It's not quite over yet, one tango was able to hide in the open room near the balcony. He'll take cover behind a table and attempt to shoot you. At this point, Vasquez and some other marines should be behind you, so if you've taken some serious damage, you can let them take care of him. If not, just shoot him and move on. You'll be ordered by Vasquez to get on the OpFor machine gun left on the balcony. It can be hard to spot, but it's on the edge of the balcony. You don't need to worry about ammo here, as the MG has an unlimited amount. Gun down any hostiles left in the other building. Some will try to take cover behind wall edges, so just shoot the walls as the bullets will penetrate through. After awhile command will buzz in informing Vasquez that more enemy troops are converging on the tank.

As you are heading back to the ground floor, you'll notice two marines breaching a locked room. You can choose to assist them and find an intel laptop and one tango hiding. Kill him and follow your squad back downstairs. At this stage, you can disable your nightvision goggles, as the rest of the mission provides more light. If you want a headstart on the next part of the mission, go into the last room on the left before the stairway. From there, you can shoot the hostiles from a window with relative ease.

The Parking Lot And The Tanks
On the ground floor, head in to the now opened room. You'll find that the marines are trying to suppress the targets in the parking lot. Chuck a few grenades out there and watch the exploding cars. Keep an eye on the snipers and RPGs on the rooftop to the left, and the tango on the balcony to the right. It is possible that one member of your squad will drop a M249 SAW, which you can pick up if you really want to demolish the enemy's ground. If you find yourself being pummeled with grenades near the windows, head over to the two other rooms to the left, where you will get a better angle of attack. You can also flank the enemy by heading into the sniper building via the room to the far left. If you manage to get inside there, you can take out the hostiles from the balcony above. After awhile, a squad member should scream "Contact on the overpass!". An OpFor force will then appear on the highway overpass ahead.

Vasquez will order Pvt. West to destroy the four tanks that have rolled in with the FGM-148 Javelin. The marine unfortunately get's shot down by enemy fire. While Vasquez tells you to pick up the javelin "now", you'll get a lot of lead loaded into you if you pick it up "now". Instead, head up to the balcony on the building to the left (if not already there), and take out some tangos on the overpass. You might even want to pick up the Dragunov if you really want to snipe the enemy. The wooden box provides adequate cover if under heavy fire. You won't be able to hold off the hostile force for very long, but shoot at least shoot enough so that you can walk freely in the parking lot without severe fire. After doing so, go ahead and swap your secondary weapon out for the Javelin. Head back up to the second floor and position yourself so that you're almost outside the doorway to the balcony. You should be able to destroy the tanks without being under much fire. Line up the middle of the screen with the green box and pull the trigger. You'll automatically reload so don't worry about that. Be wary of grenades that might be thrown near the door. You only need to destroy two of the tanks, as the other two will drive off, but you can choose to destroy all of them if you wish. After all of the tanks are gone, head back down to the parking lot.

The Marines, The Tank, And The Bog
The squad will break through the fence by making a hole in it. Head through and follow your squad to your next destination. A marine defending War Pig recently radioed in informing Vasquez that they were under some heavy fire, which you can see from the flying RPGs whizzing by. At the end of the route, you'll reach a wall which you can follow in to the bog. The tank is understandably surrounded by enemies, so watch your step. You should be mainly concerned about the hostiles to the south, they will advance if not under fire. Use the dumpster where Vasquez is for cover, but keep an eye out for grenades your way. If you yourself have any grenades left, now is the time to use them. Stick to the south for awhile and then work your way around the flank to the southwest and then the flank to the west. It looks difficult, but if you take it one step at a time, it's simple.

Vasquez will request air support from command, but a ZPU-4 to the west is preventing any choppers from flying in. Time to take it out.

Clearing The Way
Head to that area to the south that was formerly full of hostiles (and may still be) and head towards the open building. On the way, take out any remaining tangos on the rooftops to the left. Enter the building and crouch down. Slowly make you way towards the doorway and open fire on the hostiles up on the roof. Next, head over to the wooden market stand to the right and use it as cover while gunning down any tangos inside the opposite building. If you can get a clear shot while heading over there, take out the ZPU gunner before he get's off to try and kill you. There's two hostiles hiding near the ZPU, and you can flank them pretty good by shooting them in the window overlooking the ZPU. Once they're down, plant the C4 on the ZPU by pressing the action button (usually F) and head back towards the other two marines. Click the trigger and watch the fireworks.

Vasquez and the rest of the squad will catch up to you by now, and start to fire upon the last building in the area. It's heavily armed with two MGs and a couple of balconies with hostiles. Since the ZPU is down, Vasquez called in air support but they need to know the squad's exact location. He will order you to plant an IR beacon to signal the helicopters. Make your way to the location by moving behind the storage containers. This way, you'll avoid the machine gun fire. Like with the C4, plant the IR beacon with the action button. Find some cover and wait for the choppers to fly in. You can get involved by shooting some tangos on the balconies, but the two helicopters will take care of them. Once the building is demolished, regroup with the squad at the tank. You'll exit the mission after Vasquez explains the plan.

Tips

 * At the very beginning of the mission, switch to your M203 and look to the building at which the two MGs are. You should see two figures standing on the balcony left of the two MGs. shoot a grenade at them to soften up the resistance. This is useful when you are playing on Hardened or Veteran difficulty.


 * When in night vision, be careful, don't shoot your teammates and check the rooms for more OpFor, they will be hiding in many places to start attacking (some players perform better even with night vision off).


 * If you don't like wearing the night vision goggles, you can always go to your Graphics settings and adjust "brightness" to a little bit higher thus enabling you to see in the dark without using the night vision goggles.


 * After saving Roycewicz, just shoot all of the OpFor at once when you have them lined up one behind another.


 * When at the Bog try and push forwards, going from cover to cover, as your teammates should follow and they will be more deadly when up close, and since multiple frags will be thrown at you at harder difficulties, it is not recommended to constantly stay behind a barrel or such little cover.

Enemy Intelligence

 * Laptop 8 is in the second level of the apartment that you enter after being ambushed. The laptop is in a room that some friendly soldiers will break into. Look for the OpFor logo to the left of the door.


 * Laptop 9 is in the marketplace just before you go back to the bog (after you used the Javelin). Find a refrigerator, and look at it like you would open it. Then turn around 180 degrees and walk straight to a wall. The laptops are behind a stack of boxes.

Xbox 360 Achievements

 * Save the Bacon (20 points) is obtained if you successfully protect War Pig.


 * Rescue Roycewicz (20 points) is obtained when you are walking up the stairs to the top floor of the apartment. Pvt. Roycewicz will be attacked. If you are fast and kill the attacking enemy soldier, then you will get the Achievement. If not, then Pvt. Roycewicz will be killed.



Trivia

 * This mission was featured in the single player demo of the game, prior to its release.
 * The mission title and callsign of the tank is probably a reference to the song "War Pigs" by Black Sabbath.


 * Once you get to the Abrams Tank, look on the side facing the enemies. You can see the plan that Lt.Vasquez makes.


 * This mission is set in the small southern portion of the Mecca province of Saudi Arabia in a fictional city, although this may not be true as the province is strictly a muslim only area in real life.
 * When Roycewicz is attacked, if you take off your NVGs it will be pitch black and you will be unable to see anything. However, The OpFor who attacks Roycewicz has no NVGs on, so even if he knew Roycewicz was there it is unlikely he would be able to overpower him.


 * Roycewicz is already at the staircase before the rest of the squad gets there.


 * No matter what you do, you cannot destroy the last two MGs at the end of the mission with your weapons, you will need to call in air support.


 * You are able to shoot a grenade from your grenade launcher at the beginning two MGs and kill them, yet, you cannot do this for the last two MGs at the end of the mission since they are barricaded with wooden planks.


 * The two MGs have no gunner if you use the "noclip" cheat. In addition, you can control the MGs yourself if you get to them via the "noclip" cheat. You'll also notice that the display icon which informs you to press the "f" button to mount or dismount the MG, doesn't show the American M249 SAW icon, but the German World War II MG42 from Call of Duty 1, 2, & World at War, but this can easily be a MG3 (post WWII, NATO version).


 * Interestingly there is a Private Allen who can bee seen . And for some reason his rank is not.
 * Captain Price is able to be seen for 30 seconds in this level. He has on American BDUs but still has his hat.


 * When you use the Javelin to destroy the tanks, you get it off Pvt. West's corpse, which is voiced by Jason West, the game director.


 * There is gore in this level even though Call of Duty 4 doesn't sport much gore. When you save Roycewicz, make sure to have a shotgun. When his attacker comes, shoot the attacker in the stomach, and he will fall down in a dramatic way. Roycewicz will then shoot him. If you have night vision on, you will see a large quantity of blood pooling around the attacker. This effect is the same as that of a knife kill.


 * If you look at the middle of the barrel of the tank's cannon, you can see it is says "War Pig" with a picture of a pig on it.


 * It is possible, if you run in front of Roycewicz, for him to kill his attacker before he even touches him. Note that this has been confirmed for the PS3 and the Xbox 360.


 * It is also possible to let War Pig be destroyed if you just take cover and don't support it.


 * If you stand in front of Pvt. West, the bullet will hit you instead of him, when you move the bullet will kill him. As he is scripted to die, he just sits there instead of using the Javelin.


 * You can't destroy the helicopters at the end of the level, no matter what you do. Even 30 or so shots from the M203 won't even damage them. Also interesting is that you don't receive the friendly fire message.


 * This is the only level where you are able to use the M4A1 and M4A1 Grenadier with night vision, and the M4A1 without a grenade launcher is the only weapon where the IR laser will come out of the laser pointer, rather than the barrel of the gun.


 * When you leave the area where you shoot at the tanks, the FGM-148 Javelin will turn into an M4A1 Grenadier.
 * Sometimes Pvt. West will spawn and fight in the bog even though he was killed when he was operating the Javelin.
 * The Marines who run ahead of the squad at the beginning of the mission run faster than regular NPCs.
 * When the MGs at the end of the level are firing, the bullets seem to easily cut through the corrugated iron barriers. However if you take cover behind one of these barriers, you won't receive any damage.
 * In the beginning of the level, if you turn around immediately, you can see two AH-1W Super Cobras spawning out of nowhere.
 * The inside of the two Cobras at the end of the mission are very detailed, you can actually see the pilots inside tapping eachother on the shoulder and talking to each other.

Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIoEuNmm18A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYJf8EocMGY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCql_KjCfVA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3--nd2Y8Y0

Briefing
Newscaster: After heavy fighting today, U.S. Marines began their push into the city where Al-Asad is making his last stand. Fighting has intensified in the Capital City. Anti-aircraft fire and burning buildings light the night.

Command: Roger on location. Repeating: Map Grid 52761-niner, over.

Vasquez: Bravo Six copies, over.

Command: Bravo Six, we have an Abrams dead in the water. Callsign "War Pig". Lt. Vasquez, your unit is shotgun, over.

Vasquez: Copy. Bravo is inbound. Tell "War Pig" to stand by. We're on our way. Out.

In-Game
Vasquez: Alpha Company's tank is stuck half a click north of here. We gotta hustle! Let's go!

Marine: Move it! Move it!

Marine: Clear! Keep moving up!

Marine: Ambush!

[The squad takes heavy fire from a darkened apartment building beside the highway]

Marine: Contact right! Contact right!

Vasquez: Get suppressing fire on that building! We have to move forward!

[The squad continues to advance under heavy fire]

Vasquez: Keep moving forward!

[Upon nearing the side entrance to the apartment building]

Vasquez: Switch to night vision now!

[The squad begin to clear out the building]

Vasquez: Jackson, you and Roycewicz head upstairs. We'll cover this entrance. Go!

[As Jackson and Roycewicz proceed upstairs]

Marine: Watch your fire! We're on the second floor!

Marine: Roger that, shifting fire.

[The squad clear out a machine gun nest on the second floor]

Vasquez: Hit their flank with their machine gun! Cut 'em down! Shoot 'em through the wall!

[Once the building is cleared]

Command: Be advised, more enemy troops are converging on the tank. Get there A.S.A.P!

Vasquez: Roger that! We're working on it - out!

[The squad attempt to fight their way out through the rear of the building]

Griggs: Sir there's a ton of 'em out there!

Vasquez: Shut up and keep 'em pinned down!

Griggs: Roger that. SUPPRESSING FIRE!

[The Marines fight their way through the courtyard]

Marine: Contact! On the overpass!

Vasquez: U.A.V. recon has spotted enemy tanks headed this way! Private West, get on the roof and hit 'em with the Javelin!

Marine: Private West is down! West is down! Jackson get the Javelin!

Vasquez: Jackson! Pick up the Javelin so you can take out those tanks!

[Jackson picks up the Javelin]

Marine: Hit those vehicles at the far end of the bridge! Hurry!

[The first tank is destroyed]

Marine: Nice one!

Marine: Good shot man!

[Once all tanks are destroyed]

Marine: OK, that's the last of 'em.

[The squad make their way through the slums underneath the overpass to reach the stranded Abrams]

War Pig: Bravo Six, we're taking heavy fire on our position north of the overpass! Where the hell are you?!

Vasquez: We're almost there! Hang on!

Marine: The tank's on the other side of that overpass! Come on - let's get back to the squad!

[Bravo squad arrive at the site of the stranded tank]

Vasquez: Alpha Six, what's your status, over?

Marine: We're still surrounded Sir! There's just the four of us left but the tank's still OK, over.

[The squad take up fire positions around the tank]

Vasquez: Contacts to the east and more flanking to the south! Hold the perimeter!

War Pig: Bravo Six, this is War Pig! The main gun's offline but we still have our machine gun!

Vasquez: They're movin' in with det-packs! Don't let 'em get close to the tank!

Command: Bravo Six, be advised. More hostiles have assembled to the west of your position, over.

Vasquez [on radio]: Two Charlie, Bravo Six! Requesting air support for fire mission, over!

Command: Uh, negative, Bravo Six, there's an enemy ZPU to the south of your position. Until you take it out, we can NOT risk sending in any more choppers, over.

Vasquez: Jackson! Find that ZPU and take it out so we can get some air support! Lopez! Gaines! Cover him!

[The squad begins to push out and extend from the perimeter further into the bog]

Vasquez: All right, let's move out! Secure the western approach, move!

[Jackson's team fight their way to the ZPU]

Marine: Jackson, plant the C4 on the gun, move!

[Jackson plants the C4]

Marine: Good job, let's get to a safe distance.

[As the squad retreats back towards the bog, Jackson fires the explosive charge, destroying the gun]

Vasquez: Jackson, I've got air support on the way but they need our exact location. Plant the IR beacon and get their attention. Out.

[Jackson places the beacon]

Cobra Pilot 1: OK, positive ID on your sparkle. We're comin' in hot from the northeast. Standby.

[Two Cobra attack helicopters arrive and begin firing rockets and mini guns on the fortified building housing the remnants of the OpFor]

Cobra Pilot 1: Uh, two, you see anyone left down there?

Cobra Pilot 2: Negative, we got 'em.

Cobra Pilot 1: Roger that. All targets destroyed and we're outta here. Good luck boys. Out.

Vasquez: Command, LZ is secure. Bring in the engineers and let's get this tank moving.

Command: Roger that. They're on the way. Good work. Out.

Griggs: Squad, regroup at the tank. Let's go!

[The surviving squad members make their way to the Abrams, where Lt. Vasquez has sketched a crude plan of the surrounding area on the side of the tank]

Vasquez: Listen up. We don't have much time to get this tank out of here. We'll take up defensive positions around the bog here, here, and here, and buy the engineers some time to get the tank moving. Oorah?