9/30 Games, Ukraine side

[Lucky Shot]

I never get to play on the Ukraine side, so tonight was an opportunity to play maps from the other side.

Great games tonight! First of all, I want to commend E-Male for round after round hopping into the CO role and truly making a difference. Excellent communication, support when needed and very responsive.

The first round was Fallen and after a restart, it was a back and forth battle that led to the Ukraine eeking out a 28-0 victory. We defended the Trenches for most of the round and felt quite a bit of heat at times. MoreGooder performed excellently as Squad Leader. Well done to RocketPunch (Medic), Barracuda Magoo (Spec Ops), Marstein (Assault) and I Catch Paint (Support). The most effective attacks against us typically kept us guessing as to what direction the enemy was coming from and for the most part we spotted the approach early and were able to keep away most from our flag.

On Highway to Hell, I took over the Squad Leader reigns. This map is always challenging as we spent a little amount of time at the Lumbermill, Outpost, Fishing Village, but spent the majority of our time at the Farm flag. Now I see why Santa enjoys taking that flag so much. Constant action and it's a consistent thorn in the side of the Germans. Our most successful run had us leading a northern attack into that flag and securing the barn north of the flag. Once we occupied the Barn we were able to clear the flag, snag the tank and flip the flag. We had a lot of luck on our side, I think I even killed Robocop once or twice! Outstanding job to Marstein, Barracuda Magoo, Rockford, MoreGooder and Rocketpunch. We did lose that flag a couple times to E-Goatboy, but it was fun taking it back.

On Carpathian Mountain, Emale hopped back into the CO Role and led the Ukrainians to a strong victory. Our squad of Leonidas, Barracuda Magoo, Rockford, TARDS Zombietime, RocketPunch and Tau Neutrino made a quick break to the East Farm flag. When we arrived we snagged the two armor pieces and held that flag for the round. We did see heavy action early from Asch, Beatnik, Ransack, etc... After repelling the early attacks, we saw limited action until after the Germans snagged the East Cabin. Strong defense at this flag allowed other squads to launch out to snag the North Cabin. Excellent work from our Armor as we were able to move armor to support at the North Cabin and East Cabin, but still were able to fall back to defend the East Farm.

That should have been the last map, but Orel popped up in the rotation. We snagged a jeep early and after delaying spawn capped the Church flag. With the Church in hand, the Farmhouse and Lumbermill went to the Ukrainians. After spotting sneaking enemy forces moving through the hills to the west, we fell back to the Farmhouse to defend against those forces. The Lumbermill was then our next objective which we capped, then held along with Squad 6 for the remainder of the game. We saw very intense fighting and well executed flanks from the enemy. Excellent games and well done to my squad mates.

Again, Emale did an amazing job as CO throughout the night and I truly do appreciate the support we received from him. I have NO doubt in my mind that having a strong CO was the reason we did so well.

Lucky Shot

[FBmantis]

Originally Posted by Lucky Shot

Again, Emale did an amazing job as CO throughout the night and I truly do appreciate the support we received from him. I have NO doubt in my mind that having a strong CO was the reason we did so well.

Lucky Shot

Yep. Emale did a great job. I'm sure he would agree that he had some quality SLers to work with that made it easy.

Some AAR from me:

- Highway to Hell: Round already underway when I got in. I jumped in the Shilka and went to work on the German air. I tore up a ton of Eurocopters around the Town. Also nailed Icky in the Eurofighter when he went slow.:b I had a few moments where I was close enough to go after infantry. For example I had the flag closest to the UKR UCB go white...I was up by the windmills. So I quickly did a 180 and lit up the flag. Bam 4 kills...those guns are just so silly. I guess that was egoatboys squad I tore up...need to keep that SL off the flag!

- Carpathian Mountains: My favorite map...even more so for SLing. I started out by hitching a ride to a destination unknown...turns out it was the West Cabin. After my ride bailed I switched to the driver seat and booked to the North Cabin. We assaulted from the ridge above the flag. Unfortunately we were not successful in taking the flag....came close! Eventually I figured out what the problem was though after about 3 assaults...our team had taken every other flag! So I had my men take up shop on the high ground. We had no reason to attack so we just tried to keep the defenders busy for as long as possible. This worked quite well for a while. We dealt heavy damage to the squad that continuously tried to counterattack us up the narrow deathtrap of a path. Eventually they smartened up and came up the south hill by the rocks and brought a dingo with them. We still held them off for a bit but they eventually got me and we had to respawn.

After that lengthy sequence I finally asked Emale for my first assignment...we were ordered to reattack that flag with squad 4. Our first attempt did not go so well...we tried to come in from the East but the Dingo there was doing a nice job of keeping us pinned down so any infantry we took down could respawn in. After some back and forth they pushed hard back and wiped us out.

Take 2. This time I drove a fast mover to assault from the high ridge again. I had my squad not engage anyone and we went for the stealth cap together. We snuck in right next to the flag and then did a quick assault with everyone but me on the flag. Despite a successful C4 trap we did get the flag neutral and wiped out the defenders on our second wave.

Time to set up defense. We did this for the rest of the round. My ATs did a great job of setting armor traps while the rest focused on infantry buildups. We saw slow but steady action the rest of the round and never came close to losing the flag. So great work by everyone in my squad.

- Orel: Started my spec ops squad and after explaining my objective to emale was given free reign to move where needed. It didn't take long though to figure out that with a solid CO plan that flags were not going to change hands often so my intended job(C4 defense) wasn't needed as much. So emale started giving orders and I was happy to follow them. For the most part my squad was used as a 3 man assist squad at flags or chokepoints. It worked well. Looking at the map and seeing the squad separation based on the CO's plan it was obvious the Germans never had a chance.

[icky]

Ya, I played those same 3 maps from the German side.

I jumped in the jet on Highway to Hell because nobody was flying it and I hadn't tried before. I managed to survive in the air for a long time, but I couldn't figure out how to drop bombs, so I really didn't help my team much as they got pounded off the map in a total domination.

On Carpathian, I hoped that there would be better balance, but I guess some people got teamswitched, so the Ukraine team was even stronger. They locked down 4 of the flags and I think the German team only took one flag in the entire game. Another domination.

Orel was more enjoyable for our squad, but again the Ukraine team was a dominant power. We managed to hold the back 2 flags for most of the map, but that is all our team had for most of the game.

[E-Male]

Had a great time COing on the Ukraine side last night from 10pm to around 1:30am. I did not make notes about the various maps and SLs, but I do remember getting great intell and cooperation from all SLs, with a few minor exceptions -- some small squads of non-TGers and one instance on Fallen of a pubbie who refused to follow any orders at all. I called in to the Admin and someone else piped up ‘and he is constantly bunnyhopping’ – I believe he was kicked or banned, as the SL for squad five changed and the squad started following orders.

Will try to make some notes from now on when COing so I can give feedback to SLs.

Admins have been very responsive to complaints – a tough job but one that is essential to keeping the unwashed masses in line.

The relative lack of arty on PoE frees up the COs attention and allows for more stable game play – none of the repeated mass kills seen on vanilla BF2 that make kibble out of battle plans.

The Defensive Triangle Strategy

I was trying out a strategy last night (one certainly obvious to the more experienced TGers) that proved pretty well unbeatable (keep in mind I did not have a chance to try it on ALL of the maps). Also keep in mind it may have been ‘unbeatable’ because the enemy had no CO!

1. Hold the two flags closest to our UCB, and take a third in close proximity to the first two (try to get all three simultaneously). Allocate one squad for each of the rear flags, and ALL other squads to the forward flag.

The first two flags are almost certainly to be gained in the opening moments. This strategy does not outline how to get the third if it is already in the hands of the enemy. Nonetheless, aside from the two defending squads that are holding the rear flags, throw everyone else at the third target and chances are that you will have an overwhelming force ratio in your favour. The same attacking group is then immediately ordered to hold and defend the third flag.

Take a moment to assess your SLs and squad strengths. Everything depends on SLs how will obey orders, and any non-TG squads, particularly those with a small number of warriors, may prove unreliable – use these squads to support a forward position, do not count on them to defend a rear flag at the opening of a battle.

2. With a reasonably populated server, you can usually count on four full squads and a fifth smaller squad. Order two squads to hold and defend the forward flag.

3. Your fifth squad is your reserves (as the Americans are learning, it is hard to keep newly acquired oil-rich territory without ample reserves). Explain the following to the fifth SL – ‘You will be a reserve unit. You will be stationed at a mid-point between our three flags. You will be a rapid response squad, called upon to assist a fallen flag or repel an overwhelming force, or repositioned as a forward defence to eliminate enemy before they reach a flag.’ Give the fifth (or forth, or sixth, as the case may be) a marker to hold on and return to after each subsequent mission. There are obvious variations on the role of a reserve unit. The point is to quickly appoint and position your reserve unit AND inform all SLs that they are standing by.

It takes a highly disciplined SL to patiently follow these orders (it is not long before they will be called into action), understand the need to remain equidistant between our three flags – for efficient response time – and return to the station marker after each engagement. The use of vehicles by the reserve unit will be determined by the map and the circumstances. Being able to commit a force unit to attack or defence means that we are able to keep the enemy in a constant state of bleed and respond to shifting attacks without compromising defence.

I am not saying this is the only way, nor the best way. It is simply the way I will be COing for a while as I test the ‘Defensive Triangle Strategy’. This strategy is defensive in that once we establish our hold on three flags, no further attacks are initiated on the enemy. They attack, we defend.

Issues:

I am not sure how this will ‘play’ with SLs and TGers who like to be on the constant attack. The more aggressive units can be moved to the forward flag, which tend to see more action. There is no reason for defence fatigue to be a problem if SLs communicate with the CO. Assignments can be adjusted, and as in war, troops can be moved back and forth to the frontlines.

I can see the two squads holding at the rear getting a bit bored. This is solved by rotating squads in and out of the back flags ONCE we have established a fairly good lead on the enemy. I will make a point of letting the back flag SLs know that this is an option. Also, the CO can instruct the two rear-flag SLs to send a few men forward to assist at hotspots.

The advantage of the ‘Defensive Triangle Strategy’ is that it creates a stable situation. A stable environment frees the CO up for more strategic spotting, and allows defending units to gain familiarity with good defensive postures and the habits of the attacking enemy.

There are many disadvantages to any one strategy, and other COs will learn ways to respond to this, leading to further tactical changes.

Much comes down to the conflict between the desire of a squad to win tickets, versus the overall desire of the team to win the war. A good battle plan should allow for both.

The initial response from Mantis and Lucky Shot (above), suggests that there is merit to the ‘Defensive Triangle Strategy’.

Obviously, such speaking out loud of ones strategy is not the best thing, but it is best for our collective intelligence. As Spock once said, ‘Military secrets are the most fleeting of all’ (The Enterprise Incident, stardate 5027.4). Success will depend less on ‘secrets’ than on team discipline.

Feedback is welcome.

E-Male

[Lekdevil.NL]

Icky: select bombs with your "F" key (or whatever you've mapped the "select weapon" function to), then drop one with your LEFT mouse button (not the RIGHT one, as in vanilla).

That Highway to Hell round was weird: I was in the Ukranian Frogfoot and got shot down by Dark Viper two or three times, so I already braced for unrelenting death... but then it stopped. Looks like the sauerkraut was ready in the German UCB and that kept Viper on the ground. In any case, we went close to air supremacy on all but the extreme western side of the map, with only trees and broad sides of barns posing any real threat.

[icky]

Heh... well part of the problem is that I almost never flew in vanilla either. I use the keyboard and not the mouse, and I thought the bombs were dropped with <Ins>. I kept flying circles and trying every key I could think of, but nothing worked. Didn't make much difference either way.

When I entered late in the game, there was nobody in the fighter (?). I think DV was teaching another guy how to use the bomber.

[ABRA]

I spend the night in a 2 man squad(egads!) mentoring someone completely new to the game(new to the mouse and keyboard control scheme even). Eventually we integrated into a larger squad lead by Irr-Backlash and he facilitated the continuance of the mentorship really well. Once he left though I SLed a great match in Fallen. Props to Tybalt for making my job easy, Leonidas for being a great engineer cotanker on Rolling Thunder, and General Devon for being an exceptional teamplayer despite the lack of mic. And anyone else I am forgetting.

[Beatnik]

Yeah it was a somewhat painful night for GER. There were a ton of good players on UKR, with less on GER. I COd on Highway to Hell, but despite several coordinated assaults using multiple squads and armor/infantry, we couldn't get anything done. There wasn't even a CO that map and we lost by >150 pts.

My squads had a tough time on maps after that, but we were relatively succesful, although we had to take up the "only defensive squad" position most of the games. Still, we had fun on Carpathian and Orel.

It was great to see LOTS of people in TS. This made our jobs as admins MUCH easier last night. Also, it was great to see about half the people on the server were TG regulars, and the quality of gameplay was significantly increased. My patience with the "all-charge" mindset on the server most nights (which has thankfully been on the wane recently) has been short lately, but between password nights, Tac Mod nights, and the occassional normal night with elevated gameplay, I'm still getting my fix of great gameplay.

[RocketPunch]

I was in Lucky's squad for those games I've played, with MoreGooder as SL on Fallen. Nice work CO'ing E-male and not to mention that all my squadmates did a find job. The Defensive Strategy works very well with enough TG'ers on either side and I think most regulars (TG or non TG) will not have a problem defending.

[Acid]

Great job to E-Male COing on Fallen. My LearnTG squad was the middle squad in the triangle that would run back and forth to flags that needed help. I was only able to play for that one map (through the server crapout).

[BigGaayAl]

Originally Posted by E-Male

There is no reason for defence fatigue to be a problem if SLs communicate with the CO. Assignments can be adjusted, and as in war, troops can be moved back and forth to the frontlines.

I didn't play In the game that night, but reading this comment A question popped in my head.

The thing is I usually get the impression, that the longer my squad defends a flag, even if not attacked, the better we are able to defend it. This maybe also because I like to defend, but I think it has to do with spending more time on a specific area, with that specific squad. I think during the minutes that your squad defends a pole, you get more ingrained in it, your positioning gradually improves, your organisation, your knowledge of the specific small area you as an individual are assigned to. Best is when you get small attacks to help you find good positions gradually.

I have often observed a squad defending a cp easily, but then the second another squad takes over, they get wiped out.

My question is, do you guys also have this impression of gaining effecctiveness in a cp as time runs by.

[E-Male]

Originally Posted by BigGaayAl

the longer my squad defends a flag, even if not attacked, the better we are able to defend it.

I could not agree more.

E-Male

[ThePenguineer]

Howie!

I played the afternoon an early evening up until password night started up and had an interesting time. Even though I went through 4 or 5 squads, somehow we ended up being the same couple of people, with myself, Jepzilla, Gahlas, and Robocop. Those with mics traded of SL a bunch of times.

I have two important comments about those few rounds. 1) Through our experimentation, Robocop and I have found that you must be ridiculously close to successfullly knife someone and that you shouldn't be focused on knife research when you're about to come under attack. 2) After Gahlas joined the research team, we found that when a friend medic and a friendly engineer are having a smoke grenade fight, a friendly special ops should not join in unless they are sure they have smoke grenades.... which they don't.

Oh, and a third comment too: I have a sneaking suspicion Gahlas is Evil_Lemon in disguise.... You're an awesome medic, dude!

[DirtyLude]

North Cabin was great fun. Thanks LuckyShot for great SL'ing.