Squad tactics

[salti]

Rs i think we can all see is going to stretch teamwork to a level that generally is'nt common on most public server's.
Having said that we all know that if you dont try it wont happen....and the last period of time i've seen some pretty astounding teamwork .
In RO HOS i've tried my hand at commander....and now and then done a fair job.
Just building up the courage to try my hand in RS.....well having only played since yersterday....i'll take a while to really understand the maps

But this is what i'll be trying

Squad 1...spawn 1
Squad 2 ...spawn 2
Squad 3 ...floater...springer...as the germans say

a simple enough idea , but one that will be difficult enough to put into practice....with the springer squad , you'll alway's try to back up where the advantage is , because often the caps are in pairs the gained ground will hold while the second cap then come's under fire from front and side.
So a zip or zigzag move up the map can gain momentum.

Now i know this is'nt 19th century military genius....just starting the ball rolling.

Cos this game is going to need it.

 

[Floyd]

I know you're an old hat at RO, but have you read dahn's great post on squads? [url]http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showpost.php?p=1191791&postcount=1[/URL]


Its really informative about how they are set up. I haven't seen how they apply to RS as its still in beta and ranks are not set yet.

 

[salti]

thx will do.....thx Floyd

 

[Bennyworld]

Yes - when I am good enough and know the maps well - I'm going to try my hand at commander. I like your ideas.

 

[potehto]

I like this idea and teamplay in general, however, the current way at least in RS is that squad 1 has way more people than the other SLs

 

[MOK]

I don't have experience with non-public games, but I assume we don't need to discuss those. Reason being that people who join an organized team implicitly seek to work together. At that point, figuring out the best means of working together is too subtle and circumstantial to warrant discussion at this early stage, in this context.

No, what we're talking about here is public game teamwork, I figure. And spreading ideas for public game joiners is a major point of such a discussion. Therefore, I posit this axiom:

No strategy or tactic is worth hammering at, unless it is simple. Simple to follow, simple to understand, and does not require much sacrifice from random guy joining, who just wants to blow off some steam. I figure this results in the best performance, because the best plans are the ones that get implemented at all.

Another observation... As Potehto points out, the importance of SL1 is overwhelming. Any plan pretty much orbits around that one individual.

To a lesser extent, it relies on the TL, whose only real demand is to call artillery and recon frequently, and hopefully to communicate those. But it's not even really down to the TL to organize...

In fact, SL1 would be better suited to organizing, since the most people will be popping up where he is. Or, better, a cooperative interaction between TL and SL1, specifically.

So I figure the takeaway is to listen mostly to SL1, especially if SL1 and the TL are both communicating.

 

[MOK]

Oh. Your topic was SQUAD tactics, so the above is barely relevant, hehe. Sorry.

More observations. SL1 should virtually never bonzai. I'm finding that SL1's spawning function to be FAR more important in RS than it was in Stalingrad. I'm frankly shocked how big the difference is. In Stalingrad, the benefit of a rarely-dying SL1 was... pleasant. But now, it becomes make-or-break. Therefore, SL1 ought rarely participate in a bonzai charge.

Another observation. In RO2 and RS, you can do things right, and carefully, and smart... And you'll still die. Therefore, any plan that is not highly redundant or resilient is not worth banking on. This makes planning, working, and moving at the squad level pretty limited. A non-large squad can't be relied upon to hold position X, protect avenue Y, deny opportunity Z. This makes the act of 'assigning' squads to different objectives pretty tenuous. You can do it with Squad 1.... Maaaybe with squad 2... But unlikely, with squad 3 and squad 4.

To that end, I figure this boils down to having basically two task groups. You've got Squad 1.... And then everyone else. Trying to split things up beyond two goals/locations/tactics is unreliable.

Another observation. Although SL1 should not participate in a bonzai, he should be the one to call it. He knows how much of his squad is present, and whether or not they're in position. And due to proximity to the objective, he know better than the TL whether the timing is right. When SL1 calls the bonzai, SL3 and SL 4 should lead it. They do not need to stay alive, not like SL1 does.

 

[ssatama]

Mostly agree. The game is sweet when there is good SL1 and TL working well together and communicating to grunts. What I don't agree about is other SL's leading a banzai or rush to fire except when running out of time and some other special situations. RS maps, as you say and is obvious to everybody, are all about good spawn points to feed the carnage at the cap zones, the side who can feed more fresh blood faster than the other side wins the cap, and that side is the one with more squad leaders closer to the carnage. So taking in count the capping bonus of squad leaders, their ideal position is just inside the cap zone, his team spawning behind him to get fast back in the fight and to cap, but as safely as possible (given that the constant barrage of nades etc from all sides makes no place absolutely safe for long...).

Best troops for (deep) flanking to cut of opponent routes to cap zone are MG's including BAR. So SL3 and/or SL4 with good flanking weapons but not much fodder grunts in his team might be in some situation well suited for attempting to flank deep behind the target instead of feeding and keeping on the main assault and battle to cap.

 

[Gftr. Getsome]

On the one hand, SL1 is normally in the thick of it and getting a first hand impression of how the fight is really going - something a sit-by-the-radio TL isn't getting. On the other, his feelings of suppression/battle frenzy depending upon how his subjective experience of the combat is going can skew his vision of the wider battle. Whereas a more detached style of play from a Team Leader can take in the whole situation. Therefore, in my opinion, it's up to the SLs to interpret the more general instructions of the TL, and in a squad member's interest to listen to / stick to his SL.

As mentioned, you can generally rely on a few things when considering section level tactics:

1. Squad 1 will be a full squad.
2. Squad 2 will have few, if anybody, in it.
3. Squad 3 will be the second largest squad.

Generally, you have to try and work with only two effective squads. One to pin and the other to move. Works really well on Peleliu, once you take either A or B, one one section fires on the flank from that cap zone while the other section moves up from the opposite direction - throw in some arty if it gets messy. Rinse and repeat.

More often than not though, most people will listen to the loudest/most forceful person on VOIP on a team, unfortunately this doesn't always translate to amazing tactical cooperation. The best policy for squad level tactics is to form ad-hoc sections within your squads, or encompassing all of them to micro-manage the situations based around one thing - comms.