PDA

View Full Version : Situational Squads


Saureco
10-31-2006, 07:02 PM
I've been seeing a lot of coordinated squads lately, and their effectiveness is prevalent. What makes many of them even more effective is when they are usually clans who usually have a separate VOIP system. This compounds the situation when servers have their VOIP turned off or broken. But I'm not here to talk up the benefits of VOIP. No, instead I'm here to outline some of the best squad loadouts for certain situations.

A. Squad Sizes

1. Small squads usually consist of 1 to 3 players. Yes, it's possible to have a squad of just one person, but that's hardly as versatile. The only benefit to this is that the commander can give you orders and you can request resources from him. Once you can get at least another person to help you, it's a good idea to carry around different kits. At the minimum I'd suggest a Support and Assault kit combo. You can keep each other resupplied and healthy until you inevitably get killed.

It is more prudent to not have the squad leader as the medic. Here is why. Squad leaders serve as mobile spawn points. If the squad leader is the medic (and when I say medic, I'm assuming you've unlocked the AED) then he is responsible for reviving all of the fallen comrades. If he dies, then the squad must capture a local base in order for him to respawn or else he'll have to hitch a ride or hoof it to catch up to them. If one of the squad members is the medic, they can revive the squad leader, thus keeping the mobile spawn point alive. If the teammates die, at least the squad leader can hide and wait for the rest of the squad to respawn on him (or he can pick up the medic kit and try reviving you, but that's riskier).

2. Large squads consist of 4 to 6 players, the maximum. These groups, especially when moving and attacking together, are quite the destructive force. Again, I suggest that the squad leader not be the Assault medic, but you can risk it so long as you have enough cover fire to allow you to resuscitate your boys.

II. Situational Teams

Silo/Flag Attack and Defense

It's safe to have the same squad loadout for this situation because, as they say, "the best defense makes a good offense". I suggest the following loadout: 2 Engineers with anti-armor weapons. I also suggest diversifying their equipment, as one engineer with the PDS and the other with EMP mines; both should have anti vehicle mines.
2 Support kits with Sentry Drones.
1 Assault kit with the defibrilator
1 Recon kit with RDX and APMs
The reason for this loadout is to kill vehicles on your way in, and to stop vehicles before they can make an arrival to your site. As squad leader, be sure to issue the Attack command on your target site to get everyone squad points. The Engineers, especially focusing fire on the same target at a time, will make quick work of armor. This can be facilitated if the other teammates are in separate armor of their own. Don't stop for repairs until 90% of the defending team is eliminated. Once you're safe, revive, heal, repair, and resupply.

In a defensive position, your first task is to find cover. Get all your buddies back alive and healthy, rearm your weapons, and repair your armor. Second, set up any detection systems you can, including the PDS-1 armor scanner. Thirdly, set up anti-armor defenses, including EMP mines, anti-armor mines, and ant-personnel mines (APMs). There are guides on how to do this, so go look on your own. :p Finally, just sit and wait. As the squad leader, be sure to issue a Defend command on your site to get everyone squad points.

Sabotage

These are the specialized teams that are sent in to destroy enemy assets. Now, for those of you from BF2, you know how much of a pain these guys were. However, with weaker aircraft and strong armor, the turrets will now pose as viable targets for sabotage. This team consists of: 2 Recon kits with RDX
2 Support kits to resupply them
2 Assault kits with AEDs in case someone gets too close to the blasts
One tip about base sabotage: If you are about to attack a base, but you feel the enemy is aware of it, do a flanking maneuver. Have the team gather at the flanks or rear of the battle direction relevant to this base, then move in QUIETLY. I say quietly because there are tons of noobs that will shoot at anything they see, even if they know their pea shooter has no effect on the target. Sneak in, lay an RDX on each turret, then hide. As the enemy spawns there, they will most likely man the turrets. Once the enemy is in the turrets, blow them up and rush the silo/flag. The enemy usually gets 15 seconds to respawn, but a 4-man team capping will neutralize the site in about 8 seconds.

Sabotaging Titans is a bit of an art form. The trick is to land up on top of the Titan with the following kits: 2 Recon kits with RDX and APMs 2 Engineers to take out any aircraft taking off
1 Support kit to keep everyone resupplied
1 Assault kit with an AED to revive any fallen warriorsI suggest having the Recon guys land right next to the enemy chaingun turrets. Plant all 5 RDX packs, then run and detonate. Also, place APMs toward the rear of the roof to fend off enemies using the Titan's drop pods to get on the roof. As the medic and/or squad leader, be sure to hide or place the beacon toward the front of the roof. Engies, you know what to do. Just pop any jet taking by putting some rockets up his exhaust.

Titan Defense

Your most critical role here is to keep the enemy from blowing the consoles. However, you can hold them off if you can keep them from even getting inside your Titan. The best setup is: 2 Assault kits 2 Support kits 2 recon kitsThe reason is obvious. Split up into two sub teams of one Assault, one Recon, and one Support and occupy each of the catwalks. If you can place explosives at the entrances where enemies drop in, then cover that door with Recon and Assault, that leaves the Support player to watch over the cargo bay. Be sure to pull the Assault kit back a bit to revive either of the two guys near him. Also, drop your supply/healing hubs where the catwalks meet the entry vents. That makes for quicker resupplies/heals. All other Titan defense tactics apply just as well, but in the console corridors.

Titan Offense

Similar to what is mentioned above, the catwalks provide better attack paths. However, the best way to circumvent all the risks is by using a strong squad and a little sacrificing. :cool: Make a full squad of: 1 Recon kit 1 Engineer with a defuser device 2 Support kits with Sentry Drones 2 Assault kitsNow, here is where it gets messy.

Once you've landed on the upper landing deck of the Titan, head TOGETHER to one of the vents. Be sure to check around for the occasional enemy Support kit camping the roof. Let all the non-Assault kits hop out and do a check, then let the Assault guys follow. This is to provide safety to the guys who are responsible for reviving anyone who falls dead from taking out any campers. Once you're at the vent, have a Support kit drop a Sentry Drone into the vent facing the rear of the Titan. This should kill or scare off any campers in that vent. As a bonus, it will start shooting at anyone behind the walls on the catwalk. Second, have the Engineer try to defuse any enemy explosives in the vent. If he is killed, the rest of the team rushes and tries to revive him. Once inside, have a Recon kit drop an APM behind the team where the enemy APM was. The best bet is to place it right behind the pillars in the vent so anyone trying to sneak up will be blown up. Now for the assault.

Once on the catwalk, have the Engineer lead to take out any enemy APMs and RDX packs. All others should cover him. Once you come to the first corridor, be prepared to lob grenades down the hall. Again, Assault kits should cover the rear and try to revive any fallen teammates. Once you've breached their defense, rush the console. The Recon kit stands the best chance of taking out the console the fastest. The support gunners go prone and cover both hallway ends with the Assault and Engineer kits. Be sure to drop hubs to resupply and heal anyone there. Blow the console and push on to one of the other consoles. Rinse and repeat until you have breached the core.

The core is pretty tricky to manage. The defenders can come at you from a multiple of directions, so make good use of your Recon kit and Support gunners. Assault medics will pretty much be working constantly to keep people healed and revived. (Don't forget to shock anyone that makes it in to knife your buddies.) Your best bet is to place APMs near the huge enemy force field that goes to their upper deck while the Engineer uses up his ammo to hit the core. Then, the Recon guy comes to drop all his RDX on the core, blow them, then resupply and repeat. Destroying the core takes about a minute or so if done properly. The only thing after that is the mad rush to get off the titan.

dotswarlock
10-31-2006, 07:11 PM
As a side note, you can use RDX to blow up enemy RDX and APMs if you do not have an engineer with the defusing kit while on Titan offense. Making everyone back off before you blow it up... that's the hard part.

Saureco
10-31-2006, 08:21 PM
Did you also know you can pick up enemy RDX packs? :drevil: Either they're enemy packs for friendly ones, but I've picked them up before.

Mr_Mondo
10-31-2006, 08:22 PM
It is more prudent to not have the squad leader as the medic. Here is why. Squad leaders serve as mobile spawn points. If the squad leader is the medic (and when I say medic, I'm assuming you've unlocked the AED) then he is responsible for reviving all of the fallen comrades. If he dies, then the squad must capture a local base in order for him to respawn or else he'll have to hitch a ride or hoof it to catch up to them. If one of the squad members is the medic, they can revive the squad leader, thus keeping the mobile spawn point alive. If the teammates die, at least the squad leader can hide and wait for the rest of the squad to respawn on him (or he can pick up the medic kit and try reviving you, but that's riskier).
I think that you proved that the squad leader shouldn't be medic. its more important for the squad members to keep the squad leader alive than for the squad leader to keep the squad members alive/

Saureco
10-31-2006, 10:29 PM
Mondo, I can see that you understand this statement. However, we live in the age of explicit instruction because people nowadays need to have information spoon-fed to them or else they'll TK their own squad leader and reply with "well, I didn't know".

/sarcasm

But seriously, there are people here that really do appreciate such a detailed explanation. With all the trolling and noob bashing that goes on around here, I'd rather inform the noobs instead of them risking the question "so, why can't the squad leader be a medic?" and all teh l33t kiddies pounce on them. And to those players: squad leaders can be medics. I, for example, am a medic or engineer most of the time I'm a squad leader, but I tend to fight around other medics, too.

rowe33
10-31-2006, 11:20 PM
Doesn't seem like Mondo's criticizing you at all, just reaffirming your suggestion. Unfortunately for me, I love playing a medic and end up being a squad leader much of the time because most of them don't seem to know how to issue orders at all.

El Cid
11-01-2006, 02:09 AM
One of the problems with BF2142 is that you can't order a squad member to take a particular kit and be sure they'll have the capabilities that you need. In BF2, you could order someone to be SpecOps and know that they have C4. Same goes for Engineer and mines or Medic and the defibrillator. Not so in BF2142. If you're on a public server you have to either interview all your squad members to find out what they can do, or tell the entire squad what you need and hope for the best. Which makes it difficult to achieve the precision loadouts that you describe, unfortunately. Very good advice for friends and clanners, though.

Saureco
11-01-2006, 03:29 PM
Row33,

I know he wasn't criticizing me. I was trying to be funny. What I was trying to say was that the experienced players understand the explanation already from BF2's play style. I simply went into detail for all the players who are playing BF2142 for the first time in the BF series.

El Cid,

Yes, this is a great tool for organized teams. For all the other 95% of teams out there, this will fall of deaf ears. Also, you can ask a dead teammate to respawn as a specific kit PROVIDED VOIP IS TURNED ON. I'd wager that 75% of the players out there right now have a good level of unlocks, so there's a good chance that someone will spawn with the unlocks you need. If they dont', well the working in your squad will give them the opportunity to get the global points they need to make it to those unlocks. ;)

Jim.Cognito
11-02-2006, 06:31 PM
I have to disagree that the squad leader should not be the assault/medic. First off of course you want two medics in your squad. If the squad leader is a medic he can drop his own med pack when needed and keep himself alive and behind cover to insure the rest of the squad a spot to spawn. If part of the squad is working from behind cover providing covering fire for the rest of the squad to attack a point that squad leader/medic can keep his snipers and support alive and not have to wait for their respawns. Of course it's risky for any player to run out and revive players in the open but if your squad leader is down and you go to revive him in the open odds are against the both of you on making it back to cover. Now, the squad leader doesn't have to take that risk. He can lay back and keep himself alive with the med packs as I said before helping to insure a spawn point for the rest of the squad if his position is known...at least for a little longer than a support player could.

It's just another theory on play. I'm not saying its the only way to go, but keep it in mind.

Irresistable
11-04-2006, 08:21 AM
Saureco,

Thx for the post as someone new to the BF series it was very informative. I came from a game where squad was the 5 guys on voice no more :P

Saureco
11-06-2006, 04:09 PM
Irresistable,

You're welcome! Funny that you mention that a squad was just 5 guys on VOIP. With the way the game and/or the servers are setup now, it's hard to even get working VOIP. What people don't realize is that VOIP is the very backbone to effective squad work.

Example:

I was playing last night with some random guys in a squad. One of the best ways of maintaining effectiveness on the battlefield was me asking the squad leader "hey, I'm dead. I'm spawning on you. What kit do you need me in?" You can't do that by typing when you're dead. However, VOIP still works when you're dead or alive. This lets the squad stay flexible and adaptive to the task at hand.