Obi

Yesterday was my first time leading a squad on the TacticalGamre servers.
I became squad leader because the previous leader I was serving under left the squad.

At first I was pretty nervous, we had no commander so I had to pay more attention to 'The Whole Picture' to try and figure out where my squad should go. My squad started out with 3 guys and that number steadily grew to six. I did my best to communicate what I wanted and tried to get the squad to communicate with each other as well.

At first we were quite unorganised but as my confidence grew I managed to hold the squad together. I would just like to point out some things that helped me feel more confident about being squad leader:



Communicate With Each Other

I found that when my squad members were talking to each other (enemy locations, notification of empty vehicles etc) it felt like my squad was more self sufficiant. This was important for me because it allowed me to gauge the capability of my squad. It made me feel more comfortable and feel like my squad was working as a team.



Ask SL Questions

When squad members asked for persmission to do certain tasks it helped me to feel more in control of the squad. Examples of this are: asking to quickly go to an near by base to take an unoccupied vehicle, asking SL if they want someone to occupy a nearby AA weapon, asking what kit the SL would like squad members to use etc. This was important for me because it made me more confident and helped me to feel in control of my squad. It also helped me feel that my squad was working as a team.



Explain What You Are Doing

There is nothing more disheartening for a new SL than seeing his squad members split up and in different corners of the map. If you are quickly capturing an unoccupied flag it helps to tell the SL what you are doing and explain you will be with them shortly. Having your squad members explain what they are doing helps you to be aware and feel in control. This also shows the new SL that you are willing to work as a team.



Ask For Artillary/UAV/Supplies

When squad members asked for these assets it made me feel that I was helping them. New SLs don't want to feel like a mobile spawn point and nothing else. It is good for the SLs confidence if he feels that he is helping his squad. Having squad members ask for assest made me feel that my squad was willing to employ some kind of tactics and also work as a team.



Have Fun

Crack jokes, laugh and have a good time. It was important to me that my squad was enjoying themselves. I don't want to bore them.



A Squad Leaders job is difficult, especially if you are new to the experience. Squad members can make new SLs feel more confident by working as a team,making SL feel he is in control, allow the SL to help his squad and by having fun

Anyone else have any helpful hints that will allow SLs to feel more confident and comfortable?

Cantina_Fly

I've been SL more and more because no one else wants to do it. And some things squad members have done to make my life easier.

Volunteer to be point man.

If you know your way around a map real well. Then ask to be a front man for the squad. All too often I come around a corner only to be face-to-face with an enemy tank. Now I'm dead, and my squad soon follows. When I had a point man and he died, I knew to take cover and regroup. Plus there are players who are much better at being sneaky than I am. This works out real well if the squad is in an APC. The point man grabs a buggy and sails on ahead, stopping regularly to scan the area.

Be chatty. Communicate.

There were a couple times where I'd look around and be like "How long have you 2 been in the squad?" You don't have to talk my ear off, but it's real easy to miss the "X player joined your squad" message in all the spam.

If you have an idea, lets hear it.

The SL should not bear the full responsibility for planning the squads every move (he just has the final say.) There have been a couple times where squad members have said, "Hey, I think we should defend this flag a little longer, we just lost a nearby flag." Or suggested something else that I hadn't considered. If you shoot them down, then explain why, don't just say "Negative." Even if it's a bad idea, at least it lets me know I have people in my squad who are thinking. If you've offered me an idea before, I'm more likely to ask for your opinion later on too.

Ask your SL to request supplies, UAV, etc...

This is my single weakest spot as SL so far. I forget these things are available and don't talk with the CO nearly as often as I should. If you gently remind your SL he can ask for these thing, it helps.

kin3

I reluctantly accepted the slot of SL the other day and asked if anybody wanted to lead as I am not experienced at being SL. I got a lot of “you have to learn sometimes” and other encouraging remarks from the squad. I continued to lead and felt better as time went on. This was one of those days when we didn’t have a commander. The squad members did make a lot of good suggestion as to what to attack and what to defend. Anyway when all was done we got best squad at the end of the round. So the moral of the story is “support your local SL”.

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The Old Guy
kin3

Sabre Six

Yep, there is alot of reluctance to be a SL because of preconceived expectations or pressure...bottom line is just go to it. Even if you goof up tactically as a SL, it won't matter if you are working as a team.

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orbitz

A big one, Don't Give Orders yourself!

May sound simple but I was doing the SL thing on a map and one of the members who seemed to have a fair bit of experience was leading the orders a few times till I made note that I was the SL, and he apologized for the mistake. There's a subtle but noteworthy difference between saying 'we should go for this flag' and 'go for the flag!', which is what happened in my example, since I was trying to support another squad going for the point but someone in my squad spoke up and everyone followed, kinda ruining the strategy.

Guess the other part would be to make sure you're listening to the SL to begin with. If you don't play with people often or never before you may not even know their voice by the time the round ends. With BF2 not showing who's speaking all the time it's important to know if you heard a suggestion or an order.