Being an Effective Squad Leader

[whoster69]

Re: Being an Effective Squad Leader

Though it's just an opinion--others will vary--I think the SL should be a medic.

1. He can heal himself and stay alive (providing a spawn point);
2. He can heal his team (more people means better chance in a firefight/faster flag capture); and
3. If he dies, someone else in the squad can pick up his kit to revive him (again, giving back the valuable mobile spawn point).

I agree with the part about healing himself but if he's going to heal his teammates he would have to be closer to the firefight wouldn't he? Which would also lead to him getting killed more often. The last point I hadn't considered.

Thanks for the post/ideas!

[trigga1uk]

Useless commanders

I played the game when it came out and have not played recently (lack of suitable computer). But i found incompetance on the part of the commanders. I would apply to be the com and be out ranked by a higher ranked player. But having a higher rank in bf2 isn't related to leadership ability. I would give the commaders a chance but they would remain quiet and the team would be torn apart. Good commanders and squad leaders is essential. I myself see obvious command decisions i.e when to pull the team back to the only remaining flag or when to order an all out attack. There is usually chaos on public servers like people jumpinmg in and out of vehicles. as a commnder knowing who is a infnatry or armour is pretty useful.

[alextaylor29]

Re: Being an Effective Squad Leader

Yes if your commader sucks it does making leading a squad a bit more difficult but not impossible. You just won't have the regular assets such as UAV, Supplies or Arty at your disposal.

[Mernard]

Re: Being an Effective Squad Leader

Commanders need to feckin' use the VOIP, and explain their commands to the squads. Most of the time squads reject the new command if it's not Attack. I've found that explaining the decision to them actually helps. Complacent Commanders are the worst.

[l=lCoBrAl=l]

Re: Being an Effective Squad Leader

Nice thread. One thing about the SL is that they should not be a medic. The points have already been covered. Yet some people still insist on it for some reason. But I'm sure that if these squad combinations were tested in the game the ones where the medic is also the SL will be the ones who lose as their medic will be killed trying to revive someone, which then takes away a spawn point, and also if someone attempts to grab his pack they will also be killed. Squad gone. Even if someone grabs his pack, the switching of the classes is very confusing to the squad and if someone needs something, they begin to ask the wrong person. The only exception is if you just use the feature of leaving the squad, and making someone else the squad leader so you can spawn on them. But sometimes you wont always get to spawn with the person alive. YOU WANT THE SL ALIVE!



One thing about the first post. You keep mentioning flanking and avoiding the strait path towards a spawn. When we all first played bf2, that's what we did, head down the strait path. Then we all began to go around and flank. Which sometimes worked but would also difficult because the enemy would end up expecting that. Then one little noob runs strait up the middle and starts capturing all the spawns because everyone is elseware defending flanks. Just keep that in mind. While flanking is good, it also means bad. You'll win just as long as you learn what the other team is doing and try to learn their tactics and begin to avoid them. Sure approaching an dkilling the other team gives you more points, but it also creates a risk that you will die. Keep that in mind as well.

[imported_Zach]

Re: Being an Effective Squad Leader

One thing about the SL is that they should not be a medic. The points have already been covered. Yet some people still insist on it for some reason. But I'm sure that if these squad combinations were tested in the game the ones where the medic is also the SL will be the ones who lose as their medic will be killed trying to revive someone, which then takes away a spawn point, and also if someone attempts to grab his pack they will also be killed.

Your premise is based on the notion the the SL is some kind of noob and/or newbie. For instance, when I'm SL (and play medic), if I go for the revive, 90% of the time I can take out the enemy before reviving. If the fighting is too intense, I leave my squad member alone and let him respawn on me.

At any rate, there is really no right or wrong strategy. It really depends both on the players making up the squad, including the SL.

[Six.]

Re: Being an Effective Squad Leader

Commanders need to feckin' use the VOIP, and explain their commands to the squads. Most of the time squads reject the new command if it's not Attack. I've found that explaining the decision to them actually helps. Complacent Commanders are the worst.

Ah, we once had the best commander I'd ever seen before. This commander was a she... can't remember the name- but she commanded with clarity and even stated all location names that needed to be attacked or defended.
Not only that, she issued orders as verbally as she did on the commander map as well; all incomming enemies are identified and spotted for us when UAV is not available or engaged. She was one rockin commander.

It's commanders who think their job is to simply place a few UAV, arty strikes and supply drops that are a little dodgy- they don't have any strategies or plans- they just blindly do things rather than do the thing they had been assigned (and requested) to do- to COMMAND.

VoIP is very very good- but at times I don't need it when I head out on the rare occaision to play with my mates down at the net cafe- no microphone, when they're right there with me. I go SpecOps, and I'm glad that we have the rare dedicated medic and AT, along with the assault and support.

Teamwork and communication is extremely important- I must agree. The experience of eliminating enemies front by front by carefully advancing and holding strategic points is awesome- the moment we get to the capture point- we all know what to do- we set up shop and wait for the flag to go up, whilst holding off any attackers; no matter how good or organized they can be, even if they're hacking or cheating or spawn camping- they can't beat a good squad.

We have a tactic where if we spot a heavy armour like the APC or the tank, our AT immediately engages the tank as our assault throws a smoke grenade towards the tank. Specific units will make their way around to flank the tank if possible; usually the medic must stay with the AT in case he goes down. SpecOps (me) will head around ASAP to place 1 C4 charge on the tank (as the AT should have done enough damage by then). If the tank hasn't gone down yet- usually, our AT guy would have reloaded his missile by then and can finish him off. Our medic also has revive priorities. The key personnel is the leader, the medic and the AT; secondaries are the SpecOps(if I choose not to be the leader), Assault and Support. AT being one of the primary because it would be silly to revive anyone else if pinned down by a vehicle - the AT can create an effective diversion against enemy vehicles because he is considered a great threat- thus he can break off an lead the danger away from the rest of the group while the medic is busy reviving everyone if it is feasible.

Advancing in gradual paces is important- what gets people killed is rushing into the fray like a moron thinking he can kill everyone he sees and forgetting about the ones he can't. Also our medic only sometimes has the chance to whip out his gun because he's always constantly healing us or reviving us; only sometimes when we're doing really well he joins in the fight; or when he needs to clear the area before reviving us.

This is of course for people who are playing locally together in one spot- its usually very hard to keep everyone's attention when you're trying to 'brief' your squad before battle - using VoIP.

[0likid]

Re: Being an Effective Squad Leader

thanks for the tips mate! :salute:

[Six.]

Re: Being an Effective Squad Leader

thanks for the tips mate! :salute:

No worries, remember- if ever you play on a server and squad 'Unit 06' is on your side; you're in good hands

A few more tips; don't rely on your squad leader all the time for everything- learn to look after yourself as well- because, in effect, you will be looking after your squad also.

When moving from point A to point B- stick to cover, so move along walls, buildings and other stuff you can use as cover; staying alive means the medic doesn't have to tend to you all the time, and that the squad leader can focus on the objective or the fight without having to focus on staying alive instead. A lot of silly people I see run around in the open- and have no choice but get minced by enemy fire. Patience is the key here - even if you don't come to the enemy- they will eventually have to come to you anyway.

Once again- if on foot or in light transport, don't go into main arteries of battle- stay on the side-roads and areas you would more expect to meet enemy infantry rather than heavy armour and other resistance.

Watching each others backs sometimes gets you more kills than watching your own. And don't forget to spread out a bit- whilst being able to render assistance to your squad- there's nothing more intimidating than incomming fire from all around than from the one point. Also- you may have the slight vantage point to see something the rest of your squad may not.

And if you're not too busy- ALWAYS spot your enemies; no one will know you need assistance unless you tell them. Plus- your squad will know how much trouble it is in if you spot more than your own number or a heavy vehicle incomming. Whether your squad leader has a plan to deal with these threats- in any case, a wise leader is one who knows when to withdraw and re-establish a front than to lose that front altogether.

[Calmae]

Re: Being an Effective Squad Leader

Lots of great tips on this page. Sorry I do not have anything to contirbute but Id just like to know what servers all you interactive squaddies play on? Ive been on so many different servers and never have I seen decent players like yourself on who actually make an effort to communicate. Not including clan mates of course.

[[BF2]Bonsai]

Re: Being an Effective Squad Leader

The last couple of days we had our Sqaud-Leader fly as high as possible in an transport-helicopter as often as there was one available in the map.
One guy in our Clan needs some hours in the air so he doesn`t bother about points at the moment.
Therefore we could spawn on him and parachute over the complete map if necessary.

Nice tactic because you can reach even the farthest flag undected in no time.

[Tyrarnold]

Re: Being an Effective Squad Leader

I agree with the post i try to be active in a squad as leader or not. After all it can take 1 good squad on ur team to win a round almost on there own

[Roger Smith]

Re: Being an Effective Squad Leader

The support guy can help out any with any C4 (very useful for over taking an enemy's capable main base) and AT missiles. Also, with the primary weapon, they can help protect themselves if they are holding back a bit.

A medic kit can help keep yourself alive and to also revive and heal your squad members after a tough battle to take a flag. You keeping them alive will only encourage them to stick with you.

it comes down to squad roll, medic is better for assaulting and support is better for sieging. when you assault, you are often killed or damaged, thats why medic is good for assault, your squadies can also use your kit when you die or your medical attention when alive. support is good for sieging because of the ammo. this is all stuff that you already said, but i just wanted to classify why you would chose one over another.

assault squads do not need to worry about artillery because they are constantly assaulting a flag. but they often blindly run into enemy ambushes.

siege squads need to keep a spread out formation in order to avoid being an artillery target. siege squads either ambush enemy forces or siege an enemy cp. siege squads carefully dispatch enemy at the longest effective range possible.

assault is good for capturing lightly defended bases and blitzing the enemy, where as siege is good for picking at the enemy, and slowly capturing. the difference is an assault squad always and only spawns on thier leader and thier leader is a hard charging killer. where as siege squadies are great for defence and harassing/capturing enemy flags. the siege squad leader finds a place to hide near the flag. while both squad roles can be achieved from either class, its better to stick to mg for siege and medic for assault.

[Six.]

Re: Being an Effective Squad Leader

Yeah, I get your drift Roger Smith (though you repeated yourself a hell of a lot :P ).

Problem is- trying to set up these particular 'Assault' and 'Siege' squads.I doubt anyone is able to set up squads as perfectly as that. Squad invites are a help, however- it's not just because you invite someone, that they'll come so willingly. Not unless you have a clan that work this way (wow... I imagine, if your squads and mine get together, we'd conquer the map in no-time )

With the squad I'm talking about- my squad is already a preset, with all the guys in my contingent dedicated to their kit. We have to keep in mind all the other variables in battle- sometimes it's rarely as easy as just assaulting, ambushing and capturing; so many times the squadleader (me or another delegated leader in team) has to resort to a plan B or even C in order to keep us all from harms way while still attempting to achieve the objective (say- capture or ambushing, even rendering assistance to the main battle between opposing fronts). These variables exist because we're playing against other intelligent human players.

As squad leader of say... a random squad of anyone who managed to join you; take a look at the kits that your squad consists of, and determine what situations your squad is suited to- and then try to stick to addressing those situations only (e.g: your kits mainly consist of assault, support, and medics- you have no explosive ordinance apart from grenades and the GL; so avoid enemy vehicles, but you are suited to infantry fire-fights and also operating on a covert level, perhaps your squad might be better off acquiring a vehicle).

[Six.]

Re: Being an Effective Squad Leader

Lots of great tips on this page. Sorry I do not have anything to contirbute but Id just like to know what servers all you interactive squaddies play on? Ive been on so many different servers and never have I seen decent players like yourself on who actually make an effort to communicate. Not including clan mates of course.

There is a filter option to find servers that are 'battlecommo' enabled... (which should mean that VoIP is enabled in the server). however- this hasn't been working for me, everytime I filter the servers with battlecommo- the server list comes up completely empty. Don't know whats going on there...