Ok, at the risk of being ridiculed, I want to ask why some SLs demand 5 medics all the time? This is by no means meant to insult anyone - SLs who are better than me use this all the time.

Yes, revives are important, but 4 medics get the job done just as well. It only takes 1 medic to revive a person, yet how often do you see 3 medics rushing to revive the same person? Compare this to how often you wished you knew what was behind you.. +their exact positions.

Really, if you need 5 medics in order to keep revives up, wouldn't the situation be too hot for revives anyways?
A situation that could have been prevented with the better intel/armordisabling that an extra support can provide?


In my opinion, a better layout will be
2 support, 4 medics.
or better yet, 2 support, 3 medics, 1 free.. but that's an argument for later
Especially on defense (1 support 5 medic acceptable on offense, as 1 IDS can reveal the entire flag and important spawns.. but when the flag is yours, you will usually need 2 ids for forward warning from multiple directions).
The only exception to this, I would say would be maps where armor tends to be aggressive.

The IDS is useful, but it only covers a small area. Sometimes larger areas are needed. With an extra support, visibility will be doubled. It might sound paranoid, but sometimes COs aren't great with spotting. If they are, sometimes they might miss the "Hey, there's a buggy going to junk. Junk better retreat from Barge" because of 30 sceond sattrack delay or attention division or wtv.

Minsk north:
IDS forward.
IDS a little more in the middle (or behind, or above).

Berlin north:
IDS on hill.
IDS behind building (people get past the IDS range, and chasing becomes a pain if APC is distracted/destroyed/wtv. Not uncommon). or IDS on flag.

Gibraltar harbor:
IDS west, IDS east (I find it odd how my squad is usually responsible for putting IDS on both sides).

Belgrade Playground:
IDS on either northern building if we control Monorail.
IDS on north and south if we don't.


How +1 support -1 medic helps (2 support 4 medic):
-Double the visibility means less blind spots. Less blind spots prevents flanking and recon bypass.
-1 EMPer sometimes isn't enough to kill a walker (time it takes to react).. 2 EMPers can keep a walker EMPed indefinitely.

How default layout helps (1 support 5 medic):
-Very slight revivability difference. As long as 1 medic is careful (doesn't approach RDX etc, even 2 can revive entire squad).
-Higher rocket density (5 medics fire at the same place, 3 of those medics won't be making a difference. It only takes 2 rockets to kill an infantryman. However, I have to admit it's beautiful to see 15 rockets arch like a rainbow of death)
-Slight healing advantage. (4 medics vs 5 doesn't change much)


So, now that I've made my argument.. however haphazardly and disorganized.. what do you guys think?



But first, my preferred fireteam:

Template: The minimum requirements for a standard squad in my opinion.
SL: support EMP IDS Shotty
1: support EMP IDS x
2: Medic defib rocket x.
2: Wild x x x
[
3 engi if vehicle heavy (take out 1 support)
2 engi if vehicle medium.
1 engi 1 medic if vehicle light assault (easy for infantry to overwhelm a careless vehicle):
1 engi 1 recon if vehicle light defense (take advantage of Otus, +RDX flag)
]

and now for something completely different
http://de.video.yahoo.com/watch/1234996