StormTAG

So, lately, I've been commanding a lot. It gets to about 30 seconds to show time and no one's taken the big chair, so I click it just in case someone else won't. Almost all day today, I was COing (the one game I didn't, I ended up SLing after my Squad Leader got kicked. >>;; .)

So, I'm going to share what I seemed to have learned and you guys (either as the unfortunate victoms of my commanding and/or much more awesome and experienced COs) tell me if I'm developing bad habits or am actually doing good.

First thing I figured was that best thing I can do is tell squads who have just attacked/defended flags whether or not there's any one else around. As a SM I remember wondering whether or not the flag I just thought I cleared actually was cleared and as a CO was routinely telling my squad leaders "Playgrounds is clear, Comm Tower is hot, Statue has a few on the north side" or "All hostiles are south of south town and church, mostly headed up the west side." I didn't get any SLs complaining about my jabberin' so I hope that it was helpful. SAT Track is your friend.

Second thing was drop supply crates near vehicles. And you should probably zoom in to do it. I remember accidentally dropping a supply crate on top of a building where no one could get to instead of next to the walker on Camp G. Supply crates mean that your vehicles don't need to have dedicated engineers floating around to repair.

Third thing is that EMPing/Bombarding vehicles is hard. Tricksy little devils keep scooting around and I miss with the EMP a lot. I guess this is more of a factor on this server with the higher level of pilots but I only seem to be able to get it reliably when a vehicle gets stuck or on big armor maps when vehicles aren't expecting to be singled out.

Fourth, bombarding infantry is surprisingly easy and don't be afraid to do it when you have friendlies nearby. A good example I had was a squad holding ruins with several near the rorch and a big push coming up the breach. I dropped an orbital on the breach and got an instant combat efficiency and got a thank you out of the squad lead (which I thought was sarcastic to start with. ) Now nearby and mixed in are different. Dropping an arty on top of a furball isn't a good idea.


I'm still learning the ropes, like telling specific squads where to go but just feeding good intel and dropping orbitals seemed to help my team out. We won almost every round while I was COing and I hope part of that was the SL's assurance that they could be more agile without having to worry about hostiles they missed.

Any feedback, suggestions, criticisms, flames, pies and fiery poo bags are welcome and encouraged.

Reaperassault

the only thing I can say is, spot more!

Its nice to hear that an area is clear but if there are contacts I want to see red dots on my minimap, as a SL seeing things on my minimap helps plan my squad's movement in order to deal with any hostiles.

MORE SPOTTING! (and this goes out to all CO's (even my most favorite ones ), even when I do it)

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Fruvous

Learn to read the blips on sattrack.
Things like, how fast something is going, blip clumps, or whether or not it's over weird terrain.

This becomes important, especially on maps like Sidi or Shuhia, where you have to be able to read them all instantly.

Orbitals are great for improving an assault squad's attack on a flag. It provides a smoke screen, scatters the enemy, destroys important fortified positions..
on infantry heavy maps, use EMPs on infantry to cause confusion.

Learn how long spots last, how long the UAV lasts, how long it takes to recharge Sattrack and UAV, and how to use UAV/Sattrack at different times.

Learn how long 30 seconds is intuitively. Sattrack takes 30 seconds to recharge, so CO intelligence takes place in 30 second intervals (a lot less if you alternate between UAV and sattrack). Learning how long 30 seconds lasts helps in deciding whether or not you need to reserve an orbital/EMP.

Supply drops drift north. Monitors vary, but on mine, it drifts about one inch north (I have a piece of paper taped to the side to measure with).

UAV diameter = PDS diameter
UAV diameter = 2 x IDS diameter.
Sometimes, you can place a UAV so it helps two fronts instead of one (important for maps like Gibi).

EMP then immediately orbital vehicles. Since there are no hotkeys, keep vehicles on the bottom right hand side of commander's screen: so you can quickly press the buttons.


Spot on squad leaders and on flags. Verbal spot for squad leaders (second floor).
Spot important blips.
Spot blips near armor

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Greyed

Also try to predict what the vehicle will do and adjust accordingly. For example, If it's an APC that is lobbing EMPs at armor in front of it, orbital behind the APC. Most APCs faced with armor in front and getting rained on will back up... into your orbital. If they move out of it they are just making it easier for the armor to hit them, either way, they're screwed.

SGT.Link

I've been COing a good bit too, particularly on the Armor Maps(I don't drive or fly well).

My style I don't often directly order around my squads, especially if it's a squad of TGers. I'll occasionally impose my will on squads of pubbies, but usually I let the TGer squads work WITH me instead of for me.

Unless of course I see a squad heading towards and undefended node.

What I would like to say is using Orbital strike to help corral and corner infantry. I've used it a lot to keep infantry from scrambling away from an armor assault or squad assault. Cutting off their route of escape with an orbital strike is helpful.

Also I've found that holding that orbital till after we cap a flag than dropping it on one of their remaining flags as the SL your men just wiped out respawns can take him out again and keep that squad disorganized and possibly holding spawns for over a minute or two.

Oh and on Gibi I dropped a supply crate in the middle of grouped up infantry near ruins during a rocket fest, killing several of them. Then when they all grouped around the supply crate thinking it was theirs I orbital struck it and broke the defense, allowing a rush to EU push through. Sometimes think outside the box ^_^

pred011586

An easier way to do this is to use the button on the bottom for EMP, then as soon as you click to drop the EMP, immediately right click and select Oribital. to drop one on the same spot.

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Damonte

Some tips.

SatTrack is for CO only. The CO will see the entire map of contacts, but that doesn't show up on the SL's mini-map. The only way those contacts show up on the SL's mini-map are by using a UAV, and by spotting.

Do you want to know if there are contacts at a flag? Blind spot in triangles or circles around a flag. If there are contacts, you'll pick them up and the SL's will see. If there are none, you'll get a few red question marks.

Many TG SL's know what red question marks mean! Blind spotting is 100% as helpful to a capable SL as a UAV. Very important!

If you don't have anything to do for any period of time, spot... spot... spot...

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SGT.Link

Like Damonte said, I like the four corners approach. If I'm COing and you see 4 question marks around the flag you'll know I've been busy clicking.

Damonte

You will make experienced SL's such as Zhohar, Silver and ReaperAssault very happy.

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SGT.Link

Happy SL's lead to a win, and everyone likes a win ^_^

pred011586

Knowing how to blind spot is pretty key. I've often asked my CO to spot the flag we're approaching and I'll get a "Sorry, SAT Track isn't ready yet" response. I could explain what I mean to the CO, but the time it takes to explain blind spotting takes far too long, especially if the CO has no idea what I'm talking about.

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