Poncherello

Hello everyone!

I've been playing with you guys for about a month now and decided to try my hand at squad leading the last few nights. Some have gone well, some have gone, well, not so well.

I've played with some great squad leaders here and would love to hear some tips and tricks you use to keep your squad together and effective.

-Ponch

Lyramion

I want some Squadleader advice, too!


I served under some of the greatest Squadleaders alive... yet I still suck as one myself

__________________

Arithea

Just a couple tips--search the tactics & mission discussion forum for more info:

1. Be assertive when communicating to your squad.
2. Communicate with your squad often, but not too often that they don't have the chance to share intelligence.
3. The caps lock map is your friend. Visit it often to keep informed on what the rest of your team is doing.
4. Try to keep squad objectives up, especially if you have non-VoIP players in your squad. It also helps your commander to know where you're headed.
5. Don't be afraid to say and defend a point, but know when to move out. This decision-making process is usually based on experience and comes with time.

It's good to see more people taking the initiative here! Most of all, be patient with yourself. The more comfortable you get with the game and with squad leading, the better you'll be.

__________________


WeeWar: Arithea
Ikariam: Arithea, Chehios [88:57] Ankh-Morpork, Crystal Glass .....Find me! Send me stuff!
....................... Rhiatheos [88:56] Sto Lat, Wine ...................Find me! Send me stuff!
....................... Echeeos [87:57] Lancre, Marble ...................Find me! Send me stuff!

Damonte

(The following message is from Damonte-the-player, not from Damonte-the-admin)

Damonte has had some experience with squad leading. Here are a few of the tidbits that Damonte has found to make his squad more effective under his command. Please note that these are fairly general and apply to all situations. Damonte will not go into specific tactics that apply to specific maps or situations.

• Use VOIP. Squad leaders must use VOIP. Seriously! And do everyone a favor and buy a headset. Your squad does not want to hear your kid crying in the background (You know who you are), or your air conditioner roaring in the window (You know who you are too), or double-feedback coming from your game in very poorly accented Russian. If you're going to squad lead, you're going to be doing a lot of talking. C'mon, you paid anywhere from $30 to $55 (including Northern Strike), what's $20 for a decent headset? $30 or so will get you a sweet Plantronics model. Enough said on this.
• Communicate what you want the squad to do before you go do it. Too many times a squad will be milling around and not realize the squad leader is off going to their next objective without as much as a simple "Hey, let's go over here!". Damonte likes to give out his plans of movement several steps ahead of what is currently happening. For example: "While everyone else moves on to <a flag name> we are going to stay here for a minute and make sure that we got everyone. Someones people like to hide. Then we'll move over to this position <Damonte places a waypoint>. Not yet though... let's just make a couple sweeps." Once the sweeps are over: "All right, let's move to the waypoint. If everything looks clear, we're going to flank to the north and put some rockets on the enemy position, but we are not going to advance." See... the squad knows what will be coming next. They know to heal up, rest up their sprint if they have to, reload their rocket ammo from the support member, and mentally prepare for the next step. A squad that is mentally prepared for the immediate task is focused. A focused squad is always a much more effective squad. Damonte cannot emphasize this point enough. Communication is the most difficult and important role of the squad leader. This times time and practice. Don't expect to be able to do this overnight. Damonte thinks it is safe to say that the best squad leaders he's ever served under exhibited this skill.
• Use waypoints. Attack and defend orders on flags are great for getting bonus points. But we're not in it for the points, are we? Use waypoints to indicate general paths of movement. Squads react much better to visual queues than verbal ones. Get familiar with the squad leader rose. Someone will undoubtedly post a screenshot of that. Use the SL rose to lay down intermediate waypoints if you're running a back-flag operation, or flanking the enemy via a specific route. The more information you share with your squad, the more effective they will be at successfully executing your desired goals.
• Don't be afraid to lead from the rear. Squad leaders are not always point men. Now... there will be people who will respond saying "I always lead from the front. I'm just that darn good!" That's great. Damonte is glad it works for them. It doesn't work that way for everyone. In deciding which method works for you... consider that an SL is a mobile spawn point. If your squad is behind enemy lines with no flag nearby... keeping alive at the cost of the rest of the squad might be necessary. Hopefully it is not. There are a few key individuals who are amazing at surviving encounters. It takes a blend of strategic movements and tactical decisions. The differences between a tactical retreat and running like a little girl are only defined by your ultimate intent. Tactical retreats are only long enough to regroup and return with overwhelming, focused firepower. Don't be afraid to make that choice.

These are some of the most critical to success points that Damonte can think of for effective squad leaders. Doubtlessly there are more. But if a squad leader can incorporate these four points into their game... Damonte thinks that individual will be most effective in any situation, on any map, in any game type.

__________________

....

Zhohar

I’ve led squads before and the best tip I can offer is to lead a lot of squads.
These “great squad leaders” – where do you figure they learned what they know?

How do you figure Damnote learned to use VOIP? If I had to bet my money, I’d say he realized his squads sucked. So he tried VOIP, noticed the difference, and stuck with it.

How do you figure Arithea figured to be assertive? If I had to guess, I’d say she figured that she wasn’t getting anything done by asking people to do things. Then she tried telling people to do things, noticed that things went better and stuck with being assertive.

The only way to become a better SL is by experience. Experience, at its heart, is as simple as learning from your mistakes. When you've tried something several times, and failed -- figure out what you've done wrong, learn from it, and try a different strategy.

__________________

Poncherello

So far it's what I expected, use VOIP, let everyone know where to go and what I expect from them when we get there. I will work on being more assertive. I've found the more experienced guys will stick with the SL, the less experienced begin to roam more than I would like. I need to get them back together and stay together. I have found it's much easier to lead when you're winning than when you're losing

A question about the actual game mechanics, what gives you squad upgrades, and what are squad leader points? I earned some SL points yesterday, but I don't know how I did it.

Thanks so far, keep them coming.

-Ponch

sc1ence

As a heads up: TGU is currently putting the final touches on a 2142 squad leading course to be offered in the very near future. Watch for an announcement over the weekend.

__________________

Damonte

'Winners' also often grow lazy and slack off.
http://www.tacticalgamer.com/battlef...n-40-10-a.html

__________________

....

MDFubar

All Great points! Join squads led by experienced Sl's and take notes as to what they do. Know what is going on around you AND the battlefield. Direct you Sm's, give them specific goals, PRAISE them when they do good!
Leading from the front takes alot, and doesn't always work. No when to pull back, when to circle around. Make it Fun!

I usually only lead from the front when trying to break thru, revives are a must!!

Most importantly...Keep trying!!

__________________


"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country."
- General George Patton Jr

austforbeer

It really is all about communication. I'm far more effective as a squad leader after 3 or 4 beers. Then, it goes downhill. =(

Seriously though, good leadership comes with experience and planning. What do you want to do on this map? Go for toll first? I feel confident in squads when before the map starts the squad leader is telling people what kits to play and what the strat is. When you know they have a plan and what it is, it's easier to follow directions.

Foxtrot6

Pocherello,

What makes a good leader...the leader doesn't know...but the soldiers sure do. My experience comes from choosing good SLs not from being one; I'm too new.
-Select a squad name like TG or TG Fun [but never PeacanPie],
-Let everyone know you are new to the role of SL but be confident,
-During down time - laugh, poke fun, laugh,
-Use the directional arrows a lot even if it is to move one SM,
-Ask for intell from SMs [what do you see],
-Also, ask for recommendations when you're not sure what to do next but if you don't get any, just bark out the order,
-When choosing a flag/plan, know when to try a different tactic but also keep in mind that you may have caused the other side to focus on your squad and other squads have broken through [situational awareness],
-Don't be afraid to defend a flag but give everyone something to do,
-Look to see who is lost and call them back - remember some maybe new to the game and not understand the terms you are using but don't be afraid to kick someone but the time is right,
-Give orders, acknowledge orders, acknowledge SMs, acknowledge SM intell [say Roger than Foxtrot]; SLs always say "SL down, get me up" but rarely do they say "I'm up" the result is SMs are wasting time looking to revive a SL that has been revived.
-If you aren't running somewhere, tell your squad to "spread out."
-If you are really good, you can talk to individual members: AustBeer and Foxtrot do this, RogueSniper do that,
-I just recently realized the value of having TeamSpeak on while in game [Thanks MeatWad],

Drop me an invite.

Damonte

Damonte believes Foxtrot was in his squad on Verdun one evening when Damonte and Eroak defended Hillside Farm while sending the other three men in his five man squad to Church to assist with the defense there.

There are times when keeping the squad together is not efficient. In this case, it only required Damonte (in a walker) and Eroak (in a PAC tank) to defend Hillside Farm (the eastern-most capturable flag) from light incursions. The heavier battle took place at Church and Valley Farm, so the rest of the squad was sent as a fireteam to assist at Church. It worked very well. However... that was a situational decision.

__________________

....

Augustus Gloop

One of my goals as SL is to trust my squad to get stuff done, not try to do it all myself.

Also, I like to give my squad a constant update on what we're doing right now, and what we'll be doing shortly.

Good squad leaders are able to plan their own maneuvers, but they also constantly check on the progress of the rest of the team and do their best to compensate for weaknesses. Sometimes you have to be the one who covers a back flag, instead of rushing to glory like everyone else.

__________________

Fehmart

Prepare for ramble and likely overlap with points given above!

I agree with points made by previous posters about successful SLs' actions. Doing things like frequently reassigning the waypoint marker helps newbies and veterans navigate a map the way that you need them to, or draw their attention to something important, such as a place to lay motion mines, a good fighting position, or that squad about to sprint onto your flag.

I don't agree with trying to enforce a "successful SL's attitude", though. People will want to play with successful SLs regardless of how they act or talk (case in point: Bommando's old squads), because they get the job done.

Anyways, off we go:
-Generally, be a medic. Not only will you be revivable by anyone via kit swap, you'll be less of a burden on the squad's medics, as you'll be able to heal yourself instead of pulling one of your soldiers away from combat to heal you. Sure, they could throw down a hub for you, but that's a hub they could have been sitting on instead, to increase their survivability. As for light/heavy armor debate, I'll leave that to this thread.
-Actually, now that I've used the search tool, here is an index of TG's guides.
Yay Squad Leader Tactics.
And finally, the Bommo Rose, for those times when SLing is just too frustrating.

Yeah, I got lazy halfway through.