Vortex421

You know, I got to thinking this morning in the shower that we see many of the same people SLing day in and day out (this is not a bad thing, don't get me wrong), but how much do people know about those SLs and their style and preferences when it comes down to the game? A minute is not much time to organize and prepare a squad, and if you have never squadded with me before you might not have a good idea what my mindset is towards the role and towards the game.

So I figured I'd put this thread together and see what comes of it.

Name: Vortex421
Age: 24

2142 Experience: ~2 years
SL Experience: ~1 year

Description of SLing Style: As a SL I have a Jeckyl/Hyde personality. Sometimes I will SL in a very laid-back style, while other times I SL in a more formal style. Most of the time it's the laid-back style unless I have a bone to pick with the other team or a perceived score to settle. Almost always prefer infantry to armor.

Offensive-minded or defensive-minded: It depends in part on the map, though I have traditionally done better at defensive-minded tactics than offensive-minded.

What is your philosophy for SLing: I am primarily a tactician. If given a free hand, I try to locate my squad in a position where it can do a good amount of tactical good, be it taking a back flag out from under the enemy's nose, holding a crucial flag that has historically been taken, or attempting to flank and distract the enemy. Secondarily I'm a teacher - goes hand in hand with the first. I don't simply like to give orders, but I like to explain why I give those orders so as to better prepare my squad and help them better understand what's going on.

Name your greatest weakness: I have a bad habit of getting in front. I've always been the lead-by-example kind of guy, so staying back while the rest of my squad rushes to do something has always made me feel a bit strange. I do have a tendency at times of getting caught up in the action and letting that show in the volume of my voice. I'm sure some of my previous squad-mates have had to go for hearing tests afterward.

Advice for new SLs: Don't be afraid to ask questions of the veterans in your squad. If unsure, ask them for advice and you'll get it. But typically, follow your COs orders - if no CO present, then move towards the sound of the gunfire. You can't go wrong.

Advice for COs: Put me where you need me, but please keep me in the loop as to what we're facing.

Any other comments: We have a lot of great SLs here - I just go out and do my best. TG is an awesome place to play because of the wide diversity of people we have here and the broad spectrum of abilities and mindsets.

(IF someone else has more or different questions, feel free to put them in and I'll edit my post to answer them.

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"Remember to pillage BEFORE you burn!"

Specterr

Nice post Vortex.

Name: Specterr
Age: 27

2142 Experience: ~1.5 years
SL Experience: ~ 6 months

Description of SLing Style: Semi-Laid Back (I play to win, but losing is part of playing). I generally don't assign kits, other than maybe one support. All I ask from my squad is that they stay together and follow orders.

Offensive-minded or defensive-minded: Prefer offensive-minded, but I've been known to be defensive if I feel no other squads are (or a CO order).

What is your philosophy for SLing: Lead the Way...I generally find myself at point in my squad, I am a decent shot and I find it's where I am most effective. Note: Being in front and being careless are not the same, as a SL my number one priority is to stay alive, but I find it's easier for me to do that at the front than at the back.

Name your greatest weakness: Lack of a strong presence...The squad leaders I look up to, like Zohar and Crux have a very strong personality which gives them a presence in the squad and their squads will always follow their orders.

Advice for new SLs: Don't micromanage, it lessens your personal effectiveness, and your squads as well.

Advice for COs: Tell me what you want from me and I'll do it to the best of my abilities.

Any other comments: Squad leading is a great way to keep 2142 fresh, sometimes I get sick of being a SL, so I'll just tag along as a SM, sometimes I get tired of being a SM so I'll start my own squad, it's nice to have the flexibility to play how I feel that day.

Damonte

Name: Damonte
Age: 29

2142 Experience: ~2 years
SL Experience: ~1.5 years

Description of SLing Style: Much depends on the make-up of his squad. If Damonte has members in his squad that he knows are experienced and skilled, he'll send them on ahead and bring up the rear. If he has a squad of players who haven't played together much or lack confidence, he'll take the point and force them to come after him.

Offensive-minded or defensive-minded: Generally defensive. Damonte is not afraid to sit back and defend the crucial back flag which generally consists of much thumb-twiddling punctuated by flurries of combat (Inner Bridge Lock on Suez Canal, Eastern Docks as PAC on Tunis Harbor). If the team as a whole is not pulling it's weight and taking the bleed, he'll push forward and make it happen.

Name your greatest weakness: Some call Damonte the next Bommando. He gets a little upset when basic infantry concepts aren't carried out. You have never seen Damonte very upset.

Advice for new SLs: Don't be intimidated by having known squad leaders in your squad. Don't take advice from these individuals as criticism. It's your squad. Listen to them when you want to, tell them to be quiet and charge the walker with pistols when you want to.

Advice for COs: Give Damonte a general plan and tell Damonte what the other squads are doing!!! Trust the fact that Damonte has logged many hours in the commander slot and understands the ebb and flow of a battle.

Any other comments: All squad members are meatshields in the eyes of Morbo.... err.... Damonte.

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Anospa

Name: Anospa
Age: 21
Rating: Awesome

2142 Experience: Since release so 2+ years
SL Experience: dunno, 1.5ish?

My style: Depends on who I'm playing with and what type of map is being played. If I'm with the 3rd or other people I have played with and know what to expect, I can play very aggressively or defensively. I prefer SLing on attacking teams, as the Recon Run is one of my favorite tactics. If I'm with newer players or people I don't know too well, I will take a more laid back approach and try to teach whatever I can and explain our battle plans.

Overall philosophy: Depending on your squad's makeup, you either have to offer a strong guiding hand towards a newer squad, or provide a strong foundation and spawn point to a stronger squad.

Weakness: Just don't play as much as I want to.

Advice for new SLs: Don't be afraid or intimidated by "veteran," SLs, most of them are very nice people and will go pretty far out of their way to help you and critique your performance.

Advice for COs: Talk, but don't chat my ear off, it can get very very hard to listen and tell your squad to be quiet at the same time.

Comments: Do something crazy! Always try new stuff. I love randomly deciding to run armor squads, or buggy doom, or anything in between.

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Spulat

I guess I'll bite, I've been frequently SLing for a few weeks now. This will be more of a "green" posting.

Name: Spulat
Age: 27

2142 Experience: ~9 months
SL Experience: ~3 months

Description of SLing Style:
I give more general orders, and generally keep a looser-knit squad. I have confidence that most people will get to the objective one way or the other, provided they aren't too far away from me unless under orders to do so. I typically let others use whatever kit they're most comfortable with, but I do make kit requests and preferences known. I tend to charge ahead and participate in the battles as much as direct them.

Offensive-minded or defensive-minded:
For 2142, I'm Offensive. I've found in 2142 that defensiveness just means people fall upon you and slaughter your squad. I otherwise use convergence tactics when able and tend to use canvassing and "scatter" methods.

Name your greatest weakness:
I don't keep a very tight squad, and people tend to wander off. Which considering I tend to wander off myself. "I'm going where they're nice!" haha.

Advice for new SLs:
Give the orders and have a firmer hand. Don't be afraid to boot someone from the squad. Don't give up when the odds seem hopeless; just do a "new plan!" and execute it. Don't openly gripe when the odds are not favorable; try to keep a positive attitude and inspire your SMs.

Advice for COs:
Don't give me ridiculous orders requesting me to run back and forth over the entire map.

Any other comments:
I'm focused, but I'm laid back. Also, as one of the Captains of the 55th, the SL role especially will need to be improved upon. For me, leadership doesn't come naturally. What I know is what I've learned.

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"It's a sad and a strange thing / but it's time and I am changing / into something good or bad, well that's your guess..." -Dar Williams

FeralShadow

Hah. Jeckyl and Hyde? I'd call it something else

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pred011586

Name: Pred011586 (shush, lol)
Age: 22

2142 Experience: 15 months
SL Experience: 6 months on TG, 9 months total.

Description of SLing Style: I usually end up being the squad leader that volunteers for the potentially boring yet necessary jobs. Thing like back flag defense on maps where the enemy can easily sneak past the front lines are generally my forté. I try to keep in mind what the rest of the SLs on my team are known to do so that I can have my squads do something to suppliment that, even if it's less fun. Things like going to and defending the closest flag on Tunis Harbor when another SL is known to buggy rush to further ones, etc. When that can't be done, I try to place my squads in forward defensive positions in awkward places for the enemy to disrupt the enemy lines and hold off as many as I can while the team catches up.

Offensive-minded or defensive-minded: Defense, defense, defense. Offense will always be there, but without defense you'll never win. I get bored easily when my squad ends up running laps around a map capping a flag and moving on. I'd much prefer to take a central location and entrench ourselves in and hold off attacks.

Name your greatest weakness: I tend to change things alot. I have trouble staying on track, and when a situation is changing like crazy, I plan on the fly as we're going through and constantly reassess the situation. This leads to alot of "We're going here, nvm there, nvm over here, nvm somewhere else, etc" which has caused alot of confusion in the squad. It's something I have been working on, but due to the fact that I try to put my squads in a position to supplement the rest of the team, I tend to change orders too often, too quickly, without realizing it.

Advice for new SLs: Be yourselves, don't be timid. Don't be scared to make mistakes. Don't be scared to give bad orders. Don't be scared to question orders that make no sense.
Do listen to your squad when they criticize your leading style, it's almost always constructive, not destructive. Don't take said criticism personally, they're only trying to help. Take control of your squad, you are the squad LEADER, your squad members will follow your orders so use that to utilize strategies that YOU see as integral to the success of your team. Don't rely on the your CO to give you every single order because no CO is capable of fully controlling every single squad.

Advice for COs: Give your squads some freedom, give them a general plan, and use those assets to help them. If I'm leading a squad, I'm more than happy to fall back to backflags to prevent a breakthrough, so do not be afraid to ask me to back off the front lines if needed.

Advice for SMs: Do not, I repeat, do not be afraid to question my overall plan of action. If you think what I'm doing is not working, feel free to speak up, but keep it brief, especially if we're in the heat of battle. I'll usually take the time to explain my thought process as much as I can, but please also keep in mind that just because you're questioning it doesn't mean I'm going to change my plan right then and there. Usually by that point it's too late to mix things up, but I will keep your concerns in mind for the next time.

Any other comments: Have fun, kick ass, chew bubblegum... unless you're all out of bubblegum.

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Vortex421

I'm sorry, but am I seeing two Damontes here? o.O

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"Remember to pillage BEFORE you burn!"

Anospa

Do you guys need anymore proof that there's more than one of them?

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Eroak

Name: Eroak
Age: 28

2142 Experience: ~2.5 years
SL Experience: ~2 years

Description of SLing Style: Specialty squads with non-dynamic objectives.

Offensive-minded or defensive-minded: Defensive. I usally run armor or spec ops. In 2142 I see armor more as artillery style and keep it away from the front lines and use it more as a team supporting role, or rapid reaction unit. In spec ops I lead with disruption in mind, usally of enemy armor movements. My focus is without flags in mind, this way I can focus on flanks and other points of interest.

Name your greatest weakness: I'm not dynamic in style. I'm not able to convert effectively into a another objective role such as infantry front line or infantry flank roles.

Advice for new SLs: Learn every aspect of SLing. The more you know, the more you can identify on the battlefield.

Advice for COs: Keep speciality squads small. This takes away from your main infantry force. Speciality squads focus better on objectives when they can COMM with the CO directly rather then another infantry SL.

Any other comments:

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From the TG Primer: 2) Create an environment where there is
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pred011586

LMAO whoops, I copied damonte's format and forgot to change the name and age

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Lorax74

Name: Lorax74
Age: 34

2142 Experience: ~2 years (since release)
SL Experience: ~2 year (started arround the time the 9th was formed)

Description of SLing Style:
I generally like to be were the action is. I tend to be up in the front on point and often change course depending on what I see going on in the map or in my immediate vicinity.

Offensive-minded or defensive-minded:
That depends on the squad composition and how well they work together, it also depends on how much the team is working as a team. If we have the bleed, I will generally sit back and defend. If we are under bleed and our team is working well together, I'll look for openings and attempt to either distract the defenders of a flag or eradicate them.

What is your philosophy for SLing:
If I am attacking a flag, flipping the flag is my primary focus, killing defenders is secondary. The reason is simple, remove that flag as a spawn point for the enemy and add it as a spawn point for friendlies.

If I am defending, my primary focus is to ensure we either maintain the bleed or ensure that our team doesn't loose the flag we have. Again, it depends on the team.

Name your greatest weakness:
Getting frustrated by poor teamwork. That is the one thing that derails me the most, when the team just doesn't work together. I don't mind loosing or running into a solid defense, but loosing flags and/or rounds due to poor teamwork just kills me.

Advice for new SLs:
Just do it. Be you're own SL and don't be afraid to exert your will on your squad members. Don't go rambo, you have other members in your squad that you are responsible for. Persevere. Don't get intimated by the members of your squad.

Advice for COs:
Communicate but don't over do it.

Any other comments:
Don't be afraid to try new things or old things. Don't rely on your unlocks more than you rely on your head. Communicate well and often, but don't over do it.

And most importantly: Have fun

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BigMcLarge

I'm one who will actually avoid stepping up if possible. But as I see more posts from established SLs asking others to step up, I do it a little more here and there when needed. I'm working on getting over the hump between always being an SM and being a SL more and more.

Name: BigMcLarge
Age: 38

2142 Experience: 2 years
SL Experience: A little bit over the last 2 months

Description of SLing Style:
Hm, do I even really have one yet? lol I guess I'm still mostly a fly by the seat of my pants style leader. I mostly use tried and true tactics that I've experienced under other's leadership. I tend to try to keep my squad as together as possible, not really being too comfortable with breaking them up into "fire teams" yet. I will assign kits if I feel it's necessary depending on what my initial plan of attack or defense it, but mostly tend to let people take their best kits.

Offensive-minded or defensive-minded:
I don't know that I'm solidly one over the other yet. I tend to just go where needed, so if it's defending, then so be it. If it's going on offense, then we'll move out. I think I tend to be better at defending though.

Name your greatest weakness:
I tend to get tunnel vision as far as my squad objectives go. I can become so intent on getting my squad to and then capping a flag/silo, that I sometimes won't even notice it's already been capped, or that we're losing one that's immediately in our present vicinity. I have remember to really make myself stop, pull up the map frequently and assess the whole battlefield. I need to be more assertive with my decisions as well.

Advice for new SLs:
This is as much advice for myself as any other new SL. Step up and don't always wait for someone else to do it. It really is pretty fun once the round gets going and you get over the initial nerves that go along with taking the reigns. Be confident and in control. No matter how bad you may think you are at squad leading, you often will be pleasantly surprised by the end result. There's been several occasions where I've just felt overwhelmed and befuddled, and the next thing I know, we've won the round, and my squad has scored VERY well!

Advice for COs:
Please let me know what's going on elsewhere on the battlefield when you can. I will do the best I can to follow the action on the map, and over the TS team channels when used, but a quick direction to attack and small assessment of the forces we'll face goes a long way. Don't give me ridiculous orders requesting me to run back and forth over the entire map. <ditto> from Spulat's post. This is severly annoying, and there's no way possible for me to keep up with these commands. I eventually just start ignoring CO orders, which I realize is against TG rules, but I'm not left with many other options.

Any other comments:
I'm not a great 2142 tactician. Before I came to TG, I was a run and gun player who was out for kills and caps to up my point total. I've spent the relatively short time I've been here trying to actually learn the maps, and the tactics, skills, and coordination needed on each map, to win the game. I don't have all the answers, so I'm going to do really stupid things, and miss opportunities to advance our cause. Point them out to me! Feel free to call me out on anything you see I am or am not doing. I don't tend to get hurt feelings, unless I'm just blatantly being attacked or something, and am willing to switch gears if one of my SMs has a better idea than me. I also tend to be light-hearted most of the time. I do still take winning the round seriously, but I want to have fun doing it.

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Catman1975

Name: Catman75
Age: 32

2142 Experience: 2 years
SL Experience: < 3 months?

Description of SLing Style: I'm like superman, I know when I'm needed. (Red v. Blue reference), what are tactics.

Offensive-minded or defensive-minded: Defense, I'm offensive when I'm wanting to get a flag and defensive once we get it.

What is your philosophy for SLing: Have fun.

Name your greatest weakness: Hard headedness and tunnel vision, once I focus on a flag (aka scratching post) it's hard for me to give it up and go for a different flag (if we're not getting orders from a commander).

Advice for new SLs: Set keybinds to mute TS, tell your squad to cut the chatter if your commander is actually talking. Have fun

Advice for COs: If I'm defending a back base from constant attacks and has been there the entire round, don't send us treking across the entire map. ie sending me from Military to Offices on Sidi. Also don't give me the same order if we have absolutely NO vehicles because we've held our flag and everyone spawned here and took the vehicles.

Use a mic, I don't have time to read chat in the middle of a fight, I'm looking for enemies, not watching chat.

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black_Mirror

Name: |TG-Irr|black_Mirror / Master PewPew
Age: 21

2142 Experience: i really started playing BF2142 after i hit TG so about 4-5 month
SL Experience: about 3 month

Description of SLing Style:
Hard to point.. cause i never been a SM in my own Squad but i guess i´m more the " whats best for the team " SL. If there is a break-through or whatever needs to be done, i volunteer to go after that so the other squads can do whatever they did before.
Oh and i often support other squad who are about taking a flag with cover fire and order my SMs to revive them if possible but not go after the flag itself

Offensive-minded or defensive-minded:
Oh thats easy.. I am a very defensive SL. I love to hold flags like Statue, Toll-Station or South-town for example. I often use fire-teams while defending cause in my opinion it´s pretty worth trying it. I focus on holding important flags cause i think thats what i am good at.
I can´t handle my ping that good so i am a bit afraid of being to offensive cause i can´t out shoot the most people here. Sure i do offensive moves if ordered or needed and i still join other good SL´s squads to copy a few tactics and overwork them a bit so they will work well for me, but most of the time i am defensive.

What is your philosophy for SLing:
Moral. I can´t say it enough but moral is such an important factor in a squad. If your squad is having fun, then it does not matter if we are winning or losing. And if my squad is having fun, then i will have a great time, too. I also try to explain most of my moves cause its always great for new player to knows why he is doing what was ordered. I often try new things out and give big responsibility to single SM. Its a great feeling for a SM to have an important job and it pushes the self confidence.

Name your greatest weakness:
I guess i talk to much. I try to share every information i just got from the CO and the minimap so they are advised of what is coming over them... and my accent. If things are hectic i start talking fast and that makes it just worse.
oh yeah almost forget.. i start to quote "300" while defending sometimes.. don´t think thats to good but i just can´t stop it. and looking for loot and gold in the middle of the fire fight


Advice for new SLs:
Just step up and do it! This awesome community will came up with any help you need. Don´t be shy.

Advice for COs:
Keep me up with information but to much talk is not that good i guess.
Being CO is a hard job i know

Any other comments:
Pew Pew!

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