learning (practicing) clearing a titan

[drunken sailor]

first off background knowledge the killhouse is a building the SAS use to

practice going in and clearing and rescueing hosteges with live ammo. Ok

now the real question who here uses something like a killhouse to practice

clearing a titan. cause i can see it being very effective. just get your guild

online on a private match and half of them are defense and half are assault.

[Zarious]

We actually did this a good bit when we were still in competition. Helped both sides of the equation immensely. Our offense learned how to deal with even very well coordinated defenses, and our defense learned what parts of the process left the attackers the most vulnerable to attack, and what would disrupt the process the most.

One of the things that we learned was that, no matter how good the defense was, it was always breakable. The only factor was time. It is very difficult to get truly organized offense or defense in pubs, but I can tell you from experience, that is all but impossible to stop determined attackers from getting your consoles. I've found the tipping point to be 3 organized players. One to work the hall way attempting the "magic nade", one dedicated to resing and healing the hallway breaker, and one guy off some distance watching both of their backs.

For breaking the lower hallways, put all 3 of your guys in Medic with PK rockets and Defibs. This will give everyone the ability to res, and 3 ppl with PKs can bring down a lower console in about 10-15 seconds, without ever having to enter with the console.

For the upper hallways, depending on the defense, a 2 medic one support combination is often the best. Have the support guy drop a box, and have the medic help him nade spam the console, with the second medic watching back. The support guy spams nades no matter what happens, with the first medic stopping to shoot when needed.

Once the core is open, a medic, recon, support combo is the best IMHO. Give the medic PK rockets, and the recon a zeller. Have the support guy pull guard duty, as the recon and the medic work the core. The recon should shoot out the mines and rdx with the zeller "since this patch, you could also have the support clear the door way with the rdx shot gun" and the medic should spam with the PK rockets. Once you think the doorway is clear of mines/rdx, charge the core, with the medic coming in last. That way, even if there are 2 mines watching the door that the recon couldn't get, the recon and support stand a chance of getting raised.

Most importantly tho, know when to quit. While I really believe ANY defense can be broken in this game with the right kind of offense, that's not always the smartest course of action. If their stacking their defense with half their team, go to ground. Give them some time to get bored and leave. Then go up once the odds are better.

[Fingulfin]

^^ Good Posting!

Now lets take the roll of the defenders... A good, four man defense is (in my opinion) almost impossible to stop. 3 Medics, One Support. Support Drops supply crate, medics line up and begin PK Spam. If you have them synchronized well, there will NEVER be a time when the entrance to the hall is not being spamed by rockets! Give the support a Sentry Drone, and set up a shield near the entrance of the hall (as a bit of a deterrent to someone rushing in), viola. Simple (although it requires coordination), yet EXTREMELY effective defense. If you have one more man to spare, then get another support in there. Nade Spam + synchronized Rocket Fest = Slaughter in Sector 1!

[DesmondLocke]

Most importantly tho, know when to quit. While I really believe ANY defense can be broken in this game with the right kind of offense, that's not always the smartest course of action. If their stacking their defense with half their team, go to ground. Give them some time to get bored and leave. Then go up once the odds are better.

That is a very smart strategy. I've been in a number of rounds where we dropped their shield, but their defense was very tight and coordinated, and we weren't. So after awhile everyone gave up attacking and instead just kept capping silos. As long as you have most, if not all, of the silos you'll win if you're patient enough. Or, the defenders will leave the Titan to help re-cap the silos, at which point you can launch a massive attack and get through their Titan.

[Diamond621]

There is a subtle flow in Titan rounds after the shields go down, and there is a great deal of strategy involved not just in breaking through a Titan defense, but in being able to manipulate the circumstances so you do not have to.

In 9 out of 10 rounds, it is the team that more effectively balances its forces between ground and Titan play, in order to thin the enemy's control over both sectors, that is going to come out on top. If the enemy team wants to put four grenadiers, two PK-74 assault players and an RDX monkey in a single Titan corridor...then let them. It's seven less people they have available to control silos on the ground or attack your Titan. Let them throw grenades at nothing until the cows come home, while you go win the round.

Remember: the objective is to destroy the Titan, and a direct assault is not the only means to accomplish this. Whether you have two Titan defenders or ten, they will explode in an equally lethal fashion when the four silos the enemy team controls destroy your Titan because you were more worried about an explosive kills badge than victory. Most defenses can be broken with time and persistence. ALL defenses can be broken with control of the ground.

DesmondLocke is on the right track here: as important as knowing how to fight is knowing when it's unnecessary to fight, and when there is a cleaner and more efficient strategy to be found elsewhere. The fact is that beyond a certain point, overdefending a corridor robs tactical resources that can be put to use on the ground.

Controlling four or five silos is a great way to get one or two of those enemy defenders to peel off and abandon defense, which can make an eventual assault easier. And if they choose not to go elsewhere...then you win anyways by controlling that many silos. Provided you defend your Titan well, and in such a way as you don't need a prohibitive amount of people to do so, then there's no problem. You'll win the round one way or another. Dominating on the ground tends to draw more enemies to the ground to try to stop you, which takes enemies away from Titan defense. In turn, destroying three consoles in one minute sends a flock of enemies to defend the Titan (hopefully), which takes resources away from the ground. It is a sliding scale, and all but the most hardened teams very often tweak this scale too far in one direction, neglecting the other. The way to win Titan rounds is to recognize where your enemy is over-committing their resources, and take advantage of the weakness they present to you.

Tactics like killhouses can be effective at training Titan sieges, but they only tell half the story. The game is not solely about Titan attack/defense once the shields go down - the silos do not magically disappear, and can still be incredibly destructive.

Often the best way to defeat a strong defense...is to realize that you don't need to.

[Fingulfin]

^^ Good Posting, he said it all

[-Shifty-]

Well, what I find so funny is once my teams titan shield is down all the silos are left to be point whored...

[CannibalBob]

^^ Good Posting!

Now lets take the roll of the defenders... A good, four man defense is (in my opinion) almost impossible to stop. 3 Medics, One Support. Support Drops supply crate, medics line up and begin PK Spam. If you have them synchronized well, there will NEVER be a time when the entrance to the hall is not being spamed by rockets! Give the support a Sentry Drone, and set up a shield near the entrance of the hall (as a bit of a deterrent to someone rushing in), viola. Simple (although it requires coordination), yet EXTREMELY effective defense. If you have one more man to spare, then get another support in there. Nade Spam + synchronized Rocket Fest = Slaughter in Sector 1!

Personally I think 2 support and a medic or two is better. IMO 1 support cannot supply fast enough at times, even with all the unlocks.

[193d DCAT1]

On a typical 16 player titan game, after the shields of both titans go down, I would say 3 coordinated defenders, 2 attackers, 10 on the ground, and a commander commanding (and maybe defending) is pretty good allocation. The 3 defenders can hold a corridor against all but the most determined/lucky assaults. The 2 attackers will keep half of the other team on the titan. The 10 on the ground will win the game.

For corridor defense the 3 would be a recon up front laying apms/rdx, a medic in the middle with rockets, and a support prone in the back at the top of the ramp to get anyone who slips through. The ammo box goes in the middle, the medic crate in the back with the supply guy. Obviously the support has put up the IDS to give plenty of warning. The sentry gun can go wherever is convenient. By the time the enemy gets through the layered defense, the recon will have spawned back in. The key is not to bunch up and get killed with 1 grenade. It takes a coordinated assault such as the one described above to break this defense. (Adding a 4th guy podding to the top and getting the attackers from behind is a big help if there are a lot of attackers)

[GanglarToronto]

^^ Good Posting!

Now lets take the roll of the defenders... A good, four man defense is (in my opinion) almost impossible to stop. 3 Medics, One Support. Support Drops supply crate, medics line up and begin PK Spam. If you have them synchronized well, there will NEVER be a time when the entrance to the hall is not being spamed by rockets! Give the support a Sentry Drone, and set up a shield near the entrance of the hall (as a bit of a deterrent to someone rushing in), viola. Simple (although it requires coordination), yet EXTREMELY effective defense. If you have one more man to spare, then get another support in there. Nade Spam + synchronized Rocket Fest = Slaughter in Sector 1!

This works almost everytime i play on the zombiesquad server.

[DesmondLocke]

...The key is not to bunch up and get killed with 1 grenade...

That's a good point. As well as grenade-rocket-RDX spamming can keep a corridor clear of attackers, it only takes one well bounced grenade to take out the entire defense. This seems to happen alot.

[MohicanGR]

The most common mistake I've seen in defense is 2-3 guys running around together in a corridor, placing mines and throwing grenades like crazy. If the assault team is calm and coordinated, they can wait and take them out all at once with one rush.

On the other hand, even 2 well-organized guys (probably one medic/rocket and one support/sentry) can hold back an assault of even 5-6 guys for too long. The trick is simple: use suppressive fire/grenades when necessary, IDS/sonar detectors, a protected sentry gun and sit at least 20m apart so that no one grenade/rocket can kill both. If the front man (medic) gets killed, the support man uses plenty of ammo to delay the assault for 30 seconds until backup is there. If the heat gets too heavy, retract inside the console room to force the attackers move closer and get busy with the sentry gun first (stall them for a few more seconds). This works for corridors 1-2, while 3-4 have to be defended with cross-fire from the opposite door.

To my opinion, 2 defenders is almost adequate, 4 is too much for 12-16 men teams, 3 seems quite right but one has to cover other things too if necessary, like running up and taking out some APCs near the Titan or work with motion mines on the roofs. 3 such teams (12 people) can defend the Titan extremely well, but for 12-16 team games this has to reduced by half (5-6 people at most) so that silos and enemy Titan is kept busy too.

At a simple tip for all: try to shoot the medics first (so they can't revive their team). It's not always easy, but it might make the difference between a live and a dead console/core.