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Dos and Dont's For The Effective Squad Leader

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  • Dos and Dont's For The Effective Squad Leader

    DON'TS:

    DON'T fly an attack chopper or jet. Single or two seated aircraft ARE NOT for squad leaders! When you jump into a single or two-seated aircraft, you take away a much needed spawn point from your squad and deliver a serious handicap to your team. The transport class aircraft (BH etc.) are the only aircraft you should ever consider climbing aboard if you are a squad leader. If you are a squad leader and really, really feel the need to board an attack chopper or jet there are a number of viable options: 1) leave your squad and go lonewolf. 2) Leave your squad and re-join it. Or, if you really feel the need to fly AND you just can't live without the direct communication to the commander that an SL enjoys, then leave your squad, crate another and LOCK it.

    DON'T ever jump in a ground vehicle and instantly drive away. There is always a chance that a squad member has spawned with you and is behind you. If he spawned with you, it is likely that he wants to travel with you. Traveling in a group, even if it's a group of two, is ALWAYS better than traveling alone in BF2 (the one possible exception is a sniper, but as SL you shouldn't be playing as a sniper anyway) When you enter a vehicle as SL, always take a second to make sure there are no squad members near you wanting a ride. If you hear a pickup request, take a second to glance at the map and see where it's coming from. If it's from a squad member who's nearby, wait for your squad member to enter the vehicle.

    DON'T play sniper as a squad leader. If you want to play sniper, leave your squad and rejoin it, or play lone wolf. As a sniper you are going to want to camp a certain area for extended periods. Doing this effectively removes a useful spawn point from your squad. It's a serious handicap to your squad when they spawn on you and find themselves a half-mile in the air on top of some smoke stack, 500 meters away from the objective. Also, your claymores, placed to protect you, can wreak havoc on squad members who spawn on you.

    DOS:

    DO Take the time to always place orders! It's helpful for your entire squad to know in what direction you are moving. If you do this, you can hang back and let someone else take point, since they know where they should be going. If someone else in the squad takes point, they will likely get tagged before you and then can spawn back on you when they die. This way, your whole squad can keep moving forward without the need to spawn back at a distant spawn point and travel to the objective again. Also, If you do not constantly keep updated orders on the map, squad members who become separated from the group will not be able to effectively make their way back to the squad and help in the objective.

    DO let someone else in the squad take point. Your primary concern as a squad leader should be keeping yourself alive. The point position should preferably be taken by a unit with body armor. Assault and support classes are the best choices. Medics should never take point either, if it can be helped, and should hang back with the squad leader. In fact, medic is the best option to play as squad leader.

    DO use VOIP if you have it. Communicate your intentions to both your squad and commander as often as you can.

    DO feel free to kick players from your squad who you feel are acting in such a way as to be detrimental to the success of the squad.

    DO make full use of the naming feature when you create a squad. Naming your squad: "Teamwork", "Teamwork VOIP" or something similar can be effective in gathering like-minded players within your squad.

    DO remember to make full use of requests to the commander for arty strikes, supply drops and UAV overflights! And, DO listen for squad members asking for arty or supplies and relay those requests to the commander!

    DO remember to spot any enemies you sight. This is invaluable in order to get your squad to concentrate and work together on the same targets, instead of scattering. It is especially useful to sight enemy vehicles if there are AT members in your squad.

  • #2
    Good points, except I think SL can be a sniper and sometimes it's preferred for the very reason you gave for them to not be. They camp, it's what snipers do, and this can be a good asset to your assualt team. The sniper hangs back and watches over the flag while your squad spawns on you and goes to cap the flag. If they fall they respawn on you, who is safely away from the engagement area but still able to assist in attacking. As long as the sniper is smart about his location than it should be fine.

    I've played a lot of games where the best place to spawn was the lone sniper because he was the one guy most likely to be alive by the time I needed to respawn again.

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    • #3
      Overall pretty valid points. Again, it all depends on the SL style.

      I for one like to play SL every once in a while but what I do is play as a medic, that way I can keep my squad alive. I usually assist with flag caps and/or defends.
      SL should not play "rambo" kits and they should stay and assist more than anything. They NEED to stay alive in order to have the squaddies spawn on him...adds pressure against the enemy.

      Also, when a person creates a squad, please NAME it something that identifies your primary mission, i.e., if you're going to play as an engineer...name the squad the "Engineers" or "Monkey Wrench". That way a commander has an idea of what you're planning on doing. Same thing with being spec ops...people joining you will know that you'll be hitting the enemy's rear guard, etc.

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      • #4
        A sniper as a SL...IMHO should be for a "sniper squad", i.e., ALL squaddies are primarially concerned with playing sniper. Maybe you can throw in there a medic...if he likes to hang around and not do much...

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        • #5
          Originally posted by BurnTheWeed
          Good points, except I think SL can be a sniper and sometimes it's preferred for the very reason you gave for them to not be. They camp, it's what snipers do, and this can be a good asset to your assualt team. The sniper hangs back and watches over the flag while your squad spawns on you and goes to cap the flag. If they fall they respawn on you, who is safely away from the engagement area but still able to assist in attacking. As long as the sniper is smart about his location than it should be fine.

          I've played a lot of games where the best place to spawn was the lone sniper because he was the one guy most likely to be alive by the time I needed to respawn again.
          Yes. I agree, in rare circumstances a sniper can be effective as a squad leader for the reasons you mention. However, the SL playing as sniper has to really know what he is doing, and be dedicated to playing for the good of the squad. The vast, vast majority of players who play sniper do not fit this criteria. Of course, I didn't write the above dos and don'ts for experienced squad leaders who really know what they are doing and are good at it. It's for players who actually need the tips.

          In fact, just last night I was playing in a squad and the SL switched to sniper half way through the map. I was trying to cap a flag on Kubra Dam and died. I respawned on the SL and he had climbed up to the first tier of one of the cranes located a serious distance away from the flag we were trying for, and he had placed claymores to the entrance of the crane. I spawned in the middle of the crane on ground level. There was no way I could get out without tripping one of his claymores. I had to climb all the way up the ladder to where he was and parachute off in order to avoid giving him a tk. Then I had to run all the way back to the objective. I got tagged again, and instead of respawning on him, I just dumped the squad and went to another.


          I think the important thing to keep in mind is that no matter what class you play as SL, you have to completely abandon all traces of the lone wolf mentality and constantly remember that you have an obligation to work for the effectiveness of the squad as a whole. Most SL snipers don't do this. For this reason, if I join a server and begin looking for a squad to join, by default, I automatically disregard any squad who's SL has a little cross hair target beside his name. And, I'm pretty sure there are more than a few other team-oriented players who do the same. I've just had WAY too many bad experiences playing in a squad with a sniper SL.

          But again, If you are experienced and skilled as an SL, the above list of dos and don'ts doesn't really apply to you. The tips are for the people who need them.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by straywolf
            A sniper as a SL...IMHO should be for a "sniper squad", i.e., ALL squaddies are primarially concerned with playing sniper. Maybe you can throw in there a medic...if he likes to hang around and not do much...
            Yes. And, as you said, naming the squad as such would be really helpful.

            A full squad of 4 snipers, a medic and a support would be hell on wheels!!! IF, you could find a support player and a medic that would be content to never fire a single shot at any target farther than about 20 meters away.

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            • #7
              Good stuff, thanks…

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              • #8
                Thank you for clarifying your target audience. An experienced sniper as SL is very deadly, but for an inexperienced SL OR sniper it would be detrimental to the squad. The one thing I do not agree with is locking the squad if you are going to be lone wolfing, so long as you appropriatly label your squad i.e. JetPilot. Another spawn point is another spawn point, and I many pilots are not in the air 100% of the time.

                Overall its a very good post, people just have to remember taht it generalized the SL position, and that specific circumstances will require you to go against the DO's and DON'Ts posted above.

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                • #9
                  Good tips. Most people don't know about the "Custom Squad" button...Calling the squad "Teamwork" sometimes helps, but I find it more effective to call it "Voice only or VOIP only"...people who are able to communicate without typing usually seem to be more inclined to stick together.

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                  • #10
                    hm how do i lock a squad lol i would like to play as a team but. doesn't hurt to know eh? XD

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by GatorDawg
                      Yes. And, as you said, naming the squad as such would be really helpful.

                      A full squad of 4 snipers, a medic and a support would be hell on wheels!!! IF, you could find a support player and a medic that would be content to never fire a single shot at any target farther than about 20 meters away.
                      Or they can cover you ass better than any claymore can by spotting the enemy flankers. But then it really requires a particular type of player to play such non-glamorous role.

                      Sometimes it's fun to have the whole squad on the roof tops in Mastuur City. But you need to relocate quite quickly because of the artillery...

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                      • #12
                        I like to play support almost always as a squad leader. I find medic gets me killed too often trying to revive downed squad mates. Plus, everyone likes ammo and the support gun lays down some pretty nice suppressive fire so your squad can move in on the point of attack.

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                        • #13
                          Burn's point on why sniper is effective is very true. Altough there are pros and cons like you first mentioned. I am most effective as a sniper and as a spec ops. My style of sniping is more close range within the engagment area but still seperated enough from the action that my boys can spawn off me.Do you think an effective formation for a squad would be to have the assault/support guys front, the SL(any kit) mid and the medic/repair rear? Sometimes I like to see medic and support or assault on point so that he can heal faster and take cover nearby where the action is taking place.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by GatorDawg
                            I think the important thing to keep in mind is that no matter what class you play as SL, you have to completely abandon all traces of the lone wolf mentality and constantly remember that you have an obligation to work for the effectiveness of the squad as a whole.
                            I think that right there is the main point that you are trying to convey as well as what will make everyone here agree with what you mean. Good call

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                            • #15
                              only sum times like a sniper squad should there b an sl as sniper its stupid 4 an sl 2 be a sniper

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