Tactics - Page 2

Peacemaker · 2003-06-25, 11:43 AM

Nice! I really enjoyed reading that. I know some tactics but i really cant sum them up as well as you did.

SmilingBandit · 2003-06-25, 11:45 AM

Good primer course there.

I have been wanting to put a skilled Vanguard platoon (4 tanks is a platoon in army speak) together and go cause mayhem.

IDgaf · 2003-06-25, 12:06 PM

Nice work, Agathon.

This game will live or die on the quality of people playing. At their best the average FPS fan has a mediocre grasp of tactics and isn't used to thinking strategically - eager but uninformed. At worst that fan is selfish and stupid.

I've been playing in an online, totally organised, FPS tournament since October last year. I went from playing for a team, to leading a squad of 15, to having to manage 70-100 regular players, maximum 30 in my team on a server at any given time.

Even with excellent guys to back me up, teaching newer less experienced players, I can tell you that it takes 2 games a week, 12 hours each, for about 6 weeks before you can sort the wheat from the chaff and bring the uninformed into a state where they can lead others - and get rid of the people who simply don't have the wit or wisdom for team games.

I'm trying to bring people from that tournament into PS. Those guys will make formidable players and even better commanders. I'm pretty good at stuff like that - and those people kick my arse.

There needs to be structure and regular outfit challenges set up outside PS, filtering into PS, to truly rock servers. If that can be sorted we'll get a sharp increase in battle-savvy players, good command and fun.

Until then it's going to be a long, slow, road out of hell.

Tryndamere · 2003-06-25, 01:51 PM

There are a great many tactical options available in PS, which is one of the reasons I love it.

Doing the "little things" as an infantryman will keep you alive and lethal far more than if you just rush ahead.

The most important of which is: don't advance solo. If you're way out in front of your squad, wait for them. Get behind some cover and stay alive. Moving together in force is the most important thing to do in PS.

Agathon · 2003-06-25, 01:53 PM

Hello,

There's the one line answer to my novel, hee hee:

Stick together as a squad, and you'll live longer and be far more effective.

;-)

NapalmEnima · 2003-06-25, 04:02 PM

1) Work together.

2) Attack from different angles.

That's what it really boils down to as far as strategy is concerned.

There are lots of little details to keep track of specific to PS, but if you just keep those two things in mind, you'll be head and shoulders above most squads running around out there.

Other important things that haven't really been touched on:
Intel! Knowing where the enemy is, how many, and where they're headed can make a huge difference. Infilitrators, wraiths, and mosquitos are great for this sort of thing.

Knowing that there's a galaxy on the way in and being able to intercept it with a few reavers can make a big difference. Force those people to bail early or die. Ditto on sunderers, convoys, ANTs and zergling infantry hordes.

A scout with a CR2+ commander should make a "AMS at my position" macro. That way the commander can waypoint it for the whole squad. At CR3, you can even label it as an AMS. Just don't let your battle plans get stale. Remove that label when the AMS is gone.

Communication:
Know who the other commanders in the area are and coordinating with them. That's what command chat is for. Defending commanders can /b, but on the attack all you've got is command chat.

Once you're coordinating with other squads, your squad can specialize. Scouting, defending objective X, whatever. You can do this knowing that other objectives will be taken care of.

PS specific stuff:
Spawn control. Keep yours, take theirs away.

If you've got a tower near the base you're taking, and you set up an AMS in the courtyard, most zerglings (everyone except the maxes) will spawn in the courtyard. That leaves the tower exposed. It's a trade-off to be aware of. Of course if you're organized and you've got dedicated tower D, no worries.

Locating and destroying enemy AMSes is absolutely critical. Tanks (lightenings count) and reavers are good for taking them down. Air (cept maybe the galaxy) are good for finding it.

Actually, pretty much anything fast or stealthy is good for finding AMSes.

Anything with a 75mm or better is good for killing them.

Lightenings and reavers can do both pretty well.

Spawn tubes:
Blasting the enemy spawn tubes is a nail in a base's coffin. Do it if you can. But if you can't...

Generators:
Don't be afraid to blow the enemy gens. This is a contraversial topic, but blasting the gens all but ends the battle AT THAT BASE. It puts you on an even footing with that bases defenders. Nobody is getting new vehicles or gear. If you own the courtyard (and have an AMS deployed), you've won. You can still loose your AMSes and towers, leading to a defeat. It's not like blasting the gens is a magic wand to victory.

And it pisses off the zerg. They don't care about strategy. They just want someone to hack that console so they can get their reaver/MAX/whatever.

If you've already got the base, don't. If not, do. Pretty simple. Bio-labs in particlar are succeptible to generator attacks.

Cirkusphreak · 2003-06-26, 04:45 AM

�Strategy� and �Tactics� will probably never work in PS. First off, there are too many variables. Random enemy forces trying to take the same base or tower, rogue hackers/snipers, lag or conn problems, trying to plan an attack on a base when 5 minutes later the entire continent is taken over by your or even another empire etc etc. Finding pickup squadmates who actually are somewhat disciplined enough to follow basic orders is rare. Too many people want the BP�s, but want to either do their own thing or call the shots as well. Most of the time, you�ll get about 3 maybe 4 people who MIGHT stick to certain mission protocol, but the other folks are so amped about killing something or doing their own thing regardless of anyone or anything, and not informing the SL about it. I�ve seen this every time I play, so it�s not just thought up. Last night, in a short amount of time, there were more friendly kills due to people�s boredom and wanting to shoot something, so they turned their guns on friendlies. If you�re that blood thirsty, then stay in friggin VR. You can kill as much as you want and they keep coming back. I fully realize that even in a real life situation there could very well be variables, but the one thing that should never be a variable, is the squads dedication to the mission. Not wandering off in the bushes or leaving because there�s not enough action. The main problem is not solely with commanders, but their squadmates. A commander can only propose the mission or goals, but its up to the squad to carry them out. I know this is supposed to be fun and not the military, but this game is built around war and three military factions, so its kind of the nature of the beast. If you�re looking for better tactics, choose your team wiser, that�s the best strategy so far. The rest should fall into place.

1024 · 2003-06-26, 11:52 AM

There was one thing in that essay you wrote agathon that really pissed me off :pissedoff:

The fact that you say thigns like,

The TR use the back door well. Why don't the NC?

It's not the whole NC, man. Its just your stupid outfit or whatever. I barely ever see the main door used. You're playing with the wrong people.

:mad:

Protst Patrotsm · 2003-06-26, 01:15 PM

I think as more and more people realize the insane benefits of going solo, squads will only work for people who just need the interaction of others. Getting XP solo is just sooo great. I've figured out a great way to get massive free xp without even having to kill anything, and I've gotten 60% of BR12 doing so in about 2 hrs of playing.

12tontuna · 2003-06-26, 01:29 PM

Flank in a tower. I dare you.

What I can't stand is that most aren't happy to pin a force INSIDE a tower, they want to cap it.

In some large scale battles, pinning the enemy inside of or close to a tower is often EVERY bit as effective. It takes less men and only a few vehicles to cover 2 doors. Snipers are also invaluble here.

I don't see enough persons actually AWARE of the weapons the people near them are using. In a tower cap against TR, aren't you frustrated by Pounders? The other 2 empires have them too. They are called Thumpers. Why aren't they used? The NC is too busy trying to rush at something to Jackhammer it to death, and the VS are too worried about the grief involved in using them.

Befriend a spec assault user. Cover him. Watch him scare the shit out of stuff.

Another thing I've noticed is that too few persons watch the skies. There are no Skygaurd lines out on the edges of the SOI on base hacks to defend against the inevitable Reaver incursions. Persons with AV capabilities are too worried about ground troops and maxes to watch the skies. Air superiority is just that. With it, you can advance/defend or do just about anything you want.

Engineers. I know the boomers/spitfires/mines are pretty. But USE THE DAMN MOTION DETECTORS. I absolutely LOVE seeing where all the enemy are in the vicinity. Overlap the coverage, hide them, do whatever you have to. Remember, information is power. If you know where they are, you can kill them.

One last thing. If your squad can't fill the Sunderer/Gal/Deliverer/whatever than PLEASE GOD give people a ride. Try not to think of the piddling xp they could get killing something with the vehicles weapons. You are all on the same team.

/rant off.

Agathon · 2003-06-26, 01:31 PM

Hello,

The fact that you only disagreed with one thing from that huge novel of a post is a compliment, right? <wink> <smile>

Yes, I know it isn't ALLLL New Conglomerate, but I was just mentioning it in the post because I see a lot of frontal attacks by NC zergs. It isn't a squad or outfit thing, and I think it is just a mentality of people to follow the masses--after all it is called a zerg!

No, my friends don't suck tactics wise, and I'm not in an outfit. The people I know IRL will make a small outfit and take on tasks needed for our small size. I don't want to be a number in a larger outfit. Besides, I've learned many hard lessons from EQ about guilds (outfits), and I don't plan to repeat them in PS. The best outfits will be populated by a majority of friends and family from IRL. This keeps them focused on the same goals, keeps the leadership well respected, and keeps the organization strong. Those are just my opinions though, and I have seen a LOT of good things out of many very large outfits on Emerald. I just don't want to be in them for a variety of reasons.

...

I thought of another topic which hasn't been addressed yet in this thread that the video posted on here reminded me of: Everyone should know the value of a jammer grenade. I rarely see them used by folks when they could be, and most people I know don't even equip them. People who don't know how to use them should spend some time testing them out! Tossing one at a phalanx turret for example, as in the video, is a perfectly good use for them. Tossing them at an enemy AMS surrounded by mines is another wonderful use for them. Cleaning mines from a bridge quickly while your vehicles are under fire is yet another. I think you get the idea!

8-)

Protst Patrotsm · 2003-06-26, 01:37 PM

Jammers grens are awesome. I see infils lob them to shut down people's DL and then wipe the floor with them.

1024 · 2003-06-30, 09:00 PM

Originally posted by Agathon
The fact that you only disagreed with one thing from that huge novel of a post is a compliment, right? <wink> <smile>

Actually ,theres about a million other things i watned to rant on about, but peopel would jsut scream "NERF THE JACKHAMMER!!!

lol i just htough of somehitng

jackhammer/jackhamma

ajohn505 · 2003-06-30, 09:46 PM

Originally posted by {BOHICA}Navaron
So join an outfit. I'm sure the leader has many a strategy.

IF you can get to the roof, you'll pwn them all day. Too many schmucks just run out the front door of the base.

And this, my friends, is where the cycler and chaingun come into their own.

ajohn505 · 2003-06-30, 09:48 PM

Originally posted by 12tontuna

Another thing I've noticed is that too few persons watch the skies. There are no Skygaurd lines out on the edges of the SOI on base hacks to defend against the inevitable Reaver incursions. Persons with AV capabilities are too worried about ground troops and maxes to watch the skies. Air superiority is just that. With it, you can advance/defend or do just about anything you want.
/rant off.

I don't know about that, I think many AV users are checking the skies first. if there are even 2 AV troops in the vicinity, reavers are going to go down in short order. Perhaps I'm just projecting my own tactics on others.