Dos and Dont's For The Effective Squad Leader

[Mr. ADHD]

Well done

This should be a sticky. I actually never thought about body armour or going point. It makes perfect sense and I will reconsider.

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.

[JaketheMedic]

Good information

[=HzC=Heinz]

agreed, some great food for thought. personally, I am usually a Support class SL, or a ENG class SL. I don't hang back much, I like the fighting. plus as support class, I love to spam the ammo bags.

just a note in general about SL's in pub servers; 80% of them never even give orders. when I run into that, I just make my own, and like minded team players find me.

[21CW|Seabass]

If your SL doesn't give your orders, hit your T key and request orders. In fact, I will spam the request for orders, because if they don't ever come, the squad will never have any cohesion.

Another point I find that is important for SL's is when attacking a flag or point, it is best to find a good hiding spot for the initial rush, so the cannon-fodder can quickly respawn and continue applying pressure to the enemy. I find that once the flag is neutralized (white/gray) then the SL can come in and help sweep and cap the point. If it becomes a drawn out battle for a point, you save your squad from having to travel from a fixed point back out to where the attack is happening. Not to mention the continual pressure from spawning squaddies.

[Lorenzo]

Not with me in commander mode. I scan the battlefield every time the scan is ready for the people who are not moving from their position. A sniper, the enemy commander, or a squad leader giving a spawn point.

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.

[Donkey]

IMHO-

Medic makes an excellent SL if you are also a good pilot and are flying the BH with the rest of your squad....I have gotten myself and my squad tons of points....its not easy but with the right guys and the right kits the BH is deadly....i.e. Medic SL in Pilot Seat and then 2 Engineers and 1 Supply and 1 AT and you will own any battlefield unless there is a bad arse jet pilot flying around but even then if your a good pilot you can avoid it sometimes....

Using what I have stated above I have gotten round scores of 160+ and my squad mates/team members have gotten scores of 170+. Plus you will get tons of repair, re-supply, healing, driver ability, and kill assist points.

Since the SL is a medic in the pilot seat your squad mates are constantly getting healed from the small arms fire they may be taking while trying to cap a flag. The re-supply guy will make sure that the engineers have plenty of mines to deploy all over the map.

I believe that it really all depends on your strategy and how skilled and team oriented your squad is regardless of the kit it boils down to TEAM WORK something that more often then not is lacking in a squad.

This discussion reminds me of the many online discussions of Windows versus Mac...in other words it can go on forever.....

and thats my 2 cents

[Crashlander]

Good guide
I've not had the game very long and just had my first shot at SL a few days ago and I got really frustrated with it because I honestly didn't know what I was doing. Commander told me to attack a flag and basically I just threw my squad against it time and time again getting killed. The running point thing makes much more sense, and so does the medic as SL.
Right! Let's have another go then.....

[Stripper_Clown]

If you got a group of people who know what they are doing another thing you can do is if you are Sl and you die, and you can't be revived, it can be very beneficial to leave the squad and rejoin so that another squad member can become SL. Your squad will still have a spawn point near where you were fighting, instead of you spawning back at the base.

[DG-Slider]

Re: Dos and Dont's For The Effective Squad Leader

Thanks for the tips. There was a lot in this that I had not considered. This article should improve my gameplay quite a bit.

[Luis_Wu]

Re: Dos and Dont's For The Effective Squad Leader

The Squad Leader tips are right on. If more people acknowledged little things like this there wpuld be an expotential improvement in game play. Most SLs don't know that they can speak directly to the commander. Of course squad memebers need to play as a team for all this advice to have any meaning.

[imported_Anzen]

Re: Dos and Dont's For The Effective Squad Leader

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.

lol, do not underestimate the L85A1, it wil get you killed . It's great if you want to do some medium range snipe (like the Dragunov) and get some good teampoints

[-=SiN=-Broown]

Re: Dos and Dont's For The Effective Squad Leader

I would like to add to the last post as well that the medic upgrade is a great weapon and i have had many head shots with it.

[Black 1 Alpha]

Re: Dos and Dont's For The Effective Squad Leader

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.

I totally agree I think that a sniper is an excellent choice for a SL but I don't use any particular kit for anything. I roll a dice to decide what kit I use because I don't like favouritism in any game where choices have to be made.