Mercenary90

Probably one of the most important roles in TG is the squad leader. The squad leader is a mobile spawn point for his/her squad, leads it to advantageous positions, and provides information that aids situational awareness through the usage of drones.

As such, killing enemy squad leaders is an extremely high priority, as the death of squad leaders can stall offensives, waste manpower on revives, or provide ample opportunities for ticket stealing or teabagging.

This guide will attempt to aid you in identifying, isolating, and eliminating enemy squad leaders.

Identifying:

Indicators of whether there is an enemy squad leader nearby.

-An unusually tight pack of 6 people appears on your NetBat or minimap.
-Mechanical sounds indicative of an Otus or Accipiter when no friendly squad leaders are around.
-Constant stream of people coming from a location other than an enemy flag/regular spawn point.
-Pods from a beacon.

Isolating:

Actions/traits that distinguish squad leaders from squad members.

-Otuses/Accipiters following someone around.
-A person laying a beacon.
-A Recon with a Lambert or a cloak. Often, squad leaders that carry out cloaked Recon runs equip the Lambert in anticipation of close quarter engagements. Recons with sniper rifles are usually either rare pros (Chris Hooper, Loaky, etc.) or lone wolfers, meaning you're safer off assuming that the squad leader is not carrying a sniper rifle.
-A support with a shotgun. The shotgun is arguably one of the best one-on-one weapons in the game, allowing squad leaders to quickly dispatch of singular threats to the squad leader, and Zhohar's ex-favourite weapon.
-In an aggressive/offensive squad, the soldier that the squad follows. Usually, the squad must follow the leader in a column during offensive actions or manoeuvres in order to maintain unit cohesiveness and a high movement speed. Some wily squad leaders will not show this trait, as they will probably use move markers or better communications to command from the rear or middle.
-In a defensive/holding squad, the soldier that stays back, alone, or away from the rest of the squad or an enemy presence. Almost all squad leaders will display this trait, as they attempt to remain a viable spawn point for their squads as long as possible.
-People spawning around a singular soldier.

Eliminating:

The targeting of squad leaders, though extremely important and of a high priority to the team/squad, leaves a friendly squad vulnerable to the squad mates of an enemy squad leader.

-Find and identify the enemy squad leaders as soon as possible. The first time you encounter a notable enemy squad, note the names of the members in the squad. Who in the squad would be more likely to be squad leader? Who is usually squad leader more? Are there IHS-tagged people in the squad? Make an educated guess.
-After identifying the squad leaders, remember their names, and aim a little towards them the next time you meet them.
-Do not focus entirely on the enemy squad leader. If you are a squad leader, assign one or two of your squad mates to focus on killing and keeping down the enemy squad leader, if possible. Tunnel vision will lead to the enemy squad killing you easily.
-Cover the squad leader's body. The enemy squad mates will probably rush for a revive to undo your hard work, so make sure they taste the sweet glittery frosting-shrapnel from PK-74 PixyStix or frag-grenade-cakes.
-Camp beacons mercilessly. With knives.
-DO NOT SHOOT AT SL DRONES BEFORE PEOPLE. Drones are small targets that don't usually deal a great amount of damage, and can be instantly respawned by a live squad leader. Destroying them before killing all immediate threats is an exercise in futility.
-Often, you will have to react to a breakthrough. This usually leads to a chase. However, reaction is always slower than action, so the odds of success on your end are extremely low in chases unless your squad uses the terrain effectively to take shortcuts. Vehicles help a lot with strategy, as their high mobility allows them to chase down squads that break through. The APC in Fall of Berlin is a great example; its mortars can eliminate entire squads that make it past Crossroads or Roadblock. Chasing is usually a more viable option when there is either too much manpower covering all the choke points of a map, or when there is too little. Chase squads should tend to stay backwards from the main action and be closely coordinated with a CO to reduce reaction time as much as possible.
-The more effective way to stop squad leaders is to let them come to you. This way, they are forced to fight you, and you have the advantage of a prepared position. The problem is that if there is a breakthrough, chasing them will often lead to a huge gap in the front lines.

All in all, I hope this guide will provide some kind of help when you run into a squad of 3rd or Lyra-clones. Best of luck on the battlefield.

Oh, and correct me if you find anything wrong.

EDIT: Bullet point on SL interception. Thanks, Fruvous. (7/4/09)

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He was told that he should not kill, and he did not kill, until he got into the Army. Then he was told to kill, and he killed.

Greyed

Memorize this list. Only 4 pages, c'mon, not so hard!

Fruvous

Pretty nice guide. I think you've touched on all the key points.
One bit I'd like to add is SL interception - which is (in my opinion) the best way to foil a squad's plan.
There are two ways to intercept:
1) Chasing. There's chasing directly behind, which isn't very effective. A SM will spawn in, you're forced to engage, and there's greater distance between you and him. Perhaps a few lucky nades will stop him.
2) Let them come to you. This is especially easy in defense. In Fall of Berlin, where do SLs go? Through the north or south. Create a spawn point that forces the SLs to cross you. Or how in Carebear, some squads decide to hang back in the middle of the Church/South/roadblock triangle.

I think assigning squadmates to shoot down a SL is pretty arduous, unless if there is plenty of time.

Every once in a while, I'm willing to let a SL live. For example, I notice on IDS that a SL is swimming from Reactor to Office. I call the squad to get ready, but don't spook.
The SL swims on the beach, the squad spawns in, and there's a slaughter fest. If it happens several times in a round, then you earned your team an extra 12-18 ticket leeway, as opposed to a 2-3 ticket leeway.

There are only a few maps I would be willing to do this on though, because terrain advantage must be pretty enormous. If something goes horribly wrong, then there will be permanent damage.

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SIDIOUS

or just kill all of em and assure the death of said leader

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Deterhek

^-- What he said, just take em all down. Sounds like a job for Azura. Just waltz into the area and waste them all, or if you aren't as efficient a killing machine than him, then call for your squad, Q-Spot em and THEN open fire. Lol.

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The Picric Hamster

Shoot the squad leader first.

I've been in many situations where I was defending against an SL and one of his SMs, and I managed to kill the SM and backed off long enough for the other four SMs to spawn in on the SL.

I should have charged in and taken the chance.

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|TG|picric_hamster

I am the picRic hamster, not picNic. Say my name with an R.

Fruvous

If you have excellent terrain/asset advantage, there is little need to take out the SL first. Killing the SL last will sometimes yield 5 extra tickets.. but this requires the time to identify which is the SL.

If the enemy is hitting a weak spot or is getting around defenses, kill the SL.

If the SL stole your Klondike bar, shoot him in the kneecaps, find a nearby spear-shaped object, pierce his kneecaps, TBag him, and THEN kill him.

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Mercenary90

You never know. That presumably pubbie squad leader might have an entire squad of 3rds spawn in on him and commence with rapeage.

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He was told that he should not kill, and he did not kill, until he got into the Army. Then he was told to kill, and he killed.

FL1Pmode

Except that squad leader would probably NOT be a pubbie

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Mercenary90

You never know if that "loveandponies" guy is a pubbie or not.

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He was told that he should not kill, and he did not kill, until he got into the Army. Then he was told to kill, and he killed.

Fruvous

What does pubbie have to do with anything?
If you have a terrain advantage, you can exploit it to its fullness. It's silly to waste a great trap for just 1 ticket when it's almost certain you will take 6.

However, if they are hitting a weak spot, hit the squad leader.

Prioritizing can make a big difference in the battlefiled.
Priority 1: Protecting your team (if you would lose a flag, don't take a chance... hey, that sorta rhymes.. the tickets you save for this isn't measured. Consider it 'ticket loss accelleration'.. very harmful if accelleration is high early on)
Priority 2: Getting the ticket lead (the 'micro' management between the two. You can get a higher chance to win a ticket lead by getting in better ground, and making them lose 6 tickets instead of 1. Sortof like how you should hold spawn when your SL is doing a buggy rush.. you will lose 3 instead of 1. These things add up)

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Avnir

Nice guide thanks
SL drones are prety much a death trap for the SL

Fruvous

Otus is a good thing to have when:
defending
you're adequately hidden
playing hide and seek (you're the one seeking)

It shines for the SL who stays behind and lets the squad do all the work. Like when assault Dunes Station, the squad moves first and you know where everyone is..


All of these things can be replaced when you have a support who loves IDS as much as I.

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Gorhaut

Lets not forget familiarity aswell. Knowing who is playing as the oppostion can sometimes mean that you can deduce who some of the SL:s will be...and to a certain level what strategy they might apply.

Or is this considered as cheating?

Mercenary90

If you see Zhohar or Crux running around a bit too much, I would shoot a bit more at them than normal unless there is anything that suggests someone else is SL.

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He was told that he should not kill, and he did not kill, until he got into the Army. Then he was told to kill, and he killed.