Squad Leading 101

[Supreem]

A good squad leader makes the squad. I have followed many different squad leaders, and so far noone has come close to this guy named RubyDragon on NC Beryl. I'd have to say that his squad is about 10x more effective than the average squad in PS. One night our squad helped lock 3 continents. Here is how he leads: (kinda reminds me of gundorf in the DAOC days)


First, when he forms the squad or someone joins he lists his rules:

1. Stick to me (follow me) at all times. If you are found wandering off you will get one warning and then you will be kicked from the squad.
(A tight squad is more effective than a squad thats all over the continent. Safety in numbers)

2. DO NOT RESPAWN. I am an advanced med and can revive you. If you think you should respawn, ask me first and I will let you know if you can.
(This keeps everyone together....when people respawn it splits up the squad)

3. Do not get a vehicle without asking me first.
(I'm not sure the reasoning behind this rule but I believe he just likes to know whats going on at all times with his members)


Secondly, he will not leave the sanctuary without an engineer. These guys are necesary to keep vehicles and MAXs alive. In fact he only invites people that are BR10 and higher (keeps the noob factor down)

Third, he has both Galaxy and Sunderer certs so he is in complete control of where the squad is going at all times.

Fourth, he repeates himself over and over and TALKS IN ALL CAPS. Kinda reminds me of Gundorf but it is a good practice. You need to make sure that everyone in your squad hears your commands.

Finally, he is a hard ass. He does not tolerate people disobeying commands or going off on their own. A good squad leader needs to be a dick.


In summary, this guy is the best squad leader I have ever followed and there is a lot to be learn from the way he runs things. Now, the moment I log on I send him a tell and join his squad because I know hes the best and we are going to kick ass. I can't stress enough how important it is to have an Adv Med. People respawning REALLY breaks up the unity of a squad. You will never notice this until you've been in a squad that only respawns when they have to. Ok thats all I got to say, I'd like to hear some feedback from the rest of you on this.

BTW im with you guys now on Dalton/VS, my name is Sprite.

[1ne]

Vex and I run some fairly tight squads but one thing we encourage is reasonable independant thinking. If I recruit someone with a cert in a reaver, I don't want to spell it out for the pilot to play recon. When they do it on their own, i thank them and acknowledge their skill in front of the squad. Vex does the same.

Same thing in a base. If the counter on a cap is down to 3 minutes, I don't want to explain to my eng to go to the gens and fix them, I want him already moving there. A good squad knows their certs and does their action during game time. I hate having to reply to anyone while i'm shooting.

As squad leaders, focus on giving the bulk of your orders in the gal ride towards the drop zone. Brief your squad on what you want them to do and where you want them to go. The rules of war are perfect until the first bullet is fired. Independant thinking assures the accomplishment of predetermined goals.

Also, as a team, support your squad leader even if he is an ass--for a reasonable amount of time. If this were real war, we would have to support him/her to the end, but in a game that's meant to have fun an ass of a squad leader may not be the greatest. Keep it tight, keep it fun, encourage thinking.

---post edited after bulor's post...link added below---

this refers to bulor's post. it's the tactics using tr although we all know we're on vs, so just translate
http://board.barbos.net/viewtopic.php?t=1242

[Bulor]

aye , well said 1ne.

we shouldn't have to hold your hand =) but always report in to the squad.. say where you are.. where ya going... ETA on hacks... which terminals are hacked. locations of enemy spawn. etc etc etc.

back in my tribes2 days.. we would run a Havoc attack called HOV) basiclly the leader of the army will spam HOV.. which would basiclly mean.. get in heavy armor... and jump in the dropship rush over to base... rape..and repeat.. things worked like clock work... each player in the team based on where he landed would do a desired task.

so the same should work for a group.

you know the role you play based on your cert/skill

so automaticlly the Inf/a.hack once he drops in will enter the base and get to CC.. the remote Back end inf will be hacking a near remote tower with his mosq.. te maXes will ether drop out of ship and take control of the battle below or await a hacked terminal to gear up. after flag is hacked maxes head to flag and lay cover.. as the inf begins to hack more terminals and seting up a AMS...

Galaxy pilot finds parking =(

basiclly, i would direct you all to my Tr strat post =P but to lazy to get the url again.

[Candide]

I think my biggest shortcoming right now is finding everything in a base that is key (CC's, gens, etc). I dont have eng or hack so it isn't critical yet but I need to learn them better.

Right now I'm enjoying the various roles in combat still. Ild prefer to do cover fire, altho eventually I'm sure Ill get sucked into a more critical role. I love the maxes, I love the tank (which I am still learning, sitting still more often, staying along the outer edge of a base so the gunner has a good shot into the doors as the enemy come out). I'm soso about infantry, altho the chain gun from TR is nice. Flying was ok but I hated Anti Air fire with missle lock. So instead I went AA max and cackle as I shoot down reavers.

[Bulor]

basiclly play whatever your comfortable with. classes can easily be molded into the squad.

we just need a few mandatory certs(2 or 3 certs which you NEED ) like Harriasser or Mosq.. just to be able to pick up a ANT and transportation.

everything else is just about fun and your game playstyle.. like i'm all about hacking/stealthing/sniping.. so then i picked up 2 mandorty certs... AMS..and Galaxy(which might be droped for mosq) i don't even see AMS as a mandatory becuase, it allows me to respawn faster when i die.. so it's like my own personal speed tower.