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Bardo
05-03-2007, 06:36 PM
I did a search, and saw something similar to a thread like this, but not the same. I figured I have some pointers I could share with the community. This will apply to conquest maps only. I’m not the greatest by any means in this game, but I can hold my own against most. I’ve been playing a lot of Camp G pub servers lately and do very well using my own tactics. So, without further ado, here’s Bardo’s Guide to being a Squad Leader.

The main point out of this ideation is “tactical aggression”. This guide is all about it!

You need people in your squad. Hopefully they’re your buddies, but if you’re in a pub server, you will have to roll the dice and hope you get some teamwork orientated players. Forget the SL beacon. That thing will divide your squad faster than a Voss argument. You should be the squad's spawning point, as you should be where your squad NEEDS to be. Also, don't be affraid to use your squad members as pawns, who rush into an APM or other boobytrap.... just be there to revive them. The accipiter is nice in theory, but lacks punch. Live and die by your Otus. For this guide, the otus is paramount to every action you take. Have it up at all times.

So, ideally you’re starting the squad at the start of the round. The moment you hit “join game”, spam on “insert” like it’s going out of style. That will start alpha squad if you’re first. Most pub players who WANT to join a squad almost always join alpha. You WANT these types of players as squad mates because they will generally stay with you and follow orders.

If you’re joining mid-round, create a squad with a custom name. I use “otus”, but use whatever you think will attract teamwork. Use your imagination.

Now, its time to choose your kit. For this guide, I’m recommending going either Assault or Support. ALWAYS choose light armor. All that heavy body armor is going to do is slow you down. Yes, you can take a 2-3 more bullets to the gut, but now you’ve slowed down your whole squad and spawn point. Speed is key and will be discussed later.

- Assault: krylov if PAC, then voss/baur/scar. Defib (each revive saves a ticket for your team, gives you points, and keeps your squad/team alive and kicking. More valuable then people think). PK rockets (this will give you range and the ability to take out snipers/campers. OTUS (Paramount!!!!). Hopefully you have all the player abilities unlocked so that you can sprint long distances and cover ground, and you better have your friend the ‘nade to use when you can’t get a bullet there.

- Support: default LMG’s (they zero on target faster than Ganz, which is important for speed. The clark is too short ranged.) But, since the new patch, the Ganz is doing a better job at longer ranges and I now consider it. IDS – to be placed on the flag you just capped, or close to the flag you’re trying to take. Sentry gun – used as a decoy/stalling device to flank your enemy, which you already see with your otus.

Engi is no good in this situation. Its up to your commander to take out walkers. If they don’t, THEY aren’t doing their job. Forget being recon. You need to be always moving. The lambert is all fine and dandy, but you have nothing else to assist your squad. (health/ammo).

Assault lets you be lethal in short--> long ranges, heal yourself and teammates, and save their butts when they die.
Support lets you re-ammo yourself/teammates and gives you quite a bit of firepower at close-medium --> medium-long ranges. Ya gotta burst your shots though of course.

Ok, so you’ve selected your kit, now its time to spawn. The moment you spawn hit 8 and deploy that OTUS. Now, set your orders to attack/defend. Choose wisely! If you’re support start giving yourself ammo if you’re not immediately in a battle and head off to your target. Always have an order set and try to update them as much as needed. This will keep your squad on course and also rack-up squad leader points for yourself. Do not follow a commander's order if they do not set appropriate ones. If they set legit ones, by all means use theirs.

I learned a valuable lesson from one of my gamming buddies, M1-Lightning. He was “the man” in bf2 and preached “severe tactical aggression”. Always, always, always attack the enemy where you have the advantage. Pick your battles that give you the edge. Be smart about your fighting but never let up. Be on the offensive!

This means, don’t simply run to the next flag right up the middle. You’ll get a few kills, but die soon. I use the sides of map boundaries and flank enemies where they have tactical disadvantages. The single most important part is having that otus up and telling you where all the charlies are in your immediate area. This tells you if you have 3-4 guys ahead and you better get your ‘nade out. If you have 1-2 diamonds on the move that you will need to gun down. Or maybe simply 1 diamond that’s not moving (easy sniper prey). (If you're assumins it is a sniper, crouch while moving around each corner near them, assume they have APM's out to cover themselves). Having the intel gives you a huge, huge advantage.

Ideally you can take a rear flag and sandwich your enemy. Now they have a battle on 2 fronts, they can’t just focus all their firepower on 1. If you can do this, you’ve turned the battle. You should get an MVP award for this. With the otus you should always know where the enemies are. This gives you little excuse as to why you were snuck up on our lost a gunfight. The otus gives you the advantage of intel. YOU KNOW a Charlie is around the wall heading towards you. They most likely are unaware of the meatgrinder of which is awaiting them. Take your position and mutilate them!

I’ve found that crouching and zooming in is always the best way to engage an enemy. You zero in your reticle faster on them this way. (I’ve made my space bar my crouch button, and my jump button one of the side buttons on my mouse.) So, during any and all fire-fights, hold that crouch key! Also, use controlled bursts of fire. This will keep the recoil down or your gun from overheating.

When you’re about to fully cap a flag, toss your ammo/health down, then change your orders to the next target. Next, you should be sprinting to the next flag. When that flag turns over you should be right at the edge of the capping radius and off to the next flag. Waste no time!!!

Its now a race to get there before the enemy expects you. To take up key positions where you know if you encountered the enemy, you’d have the upper hand. This is why heavy body armor is a bad idea, you will be too slow.

Once your very familiar with the maps, you will know where people hide and areas of advantages/disadvantages. Be smarter than your enemy. We’re not all monkeys with sticks… use that brain!!!

All the while, your squad should be spawning on you… as you all help each other out… steamrolling whoever gets in your way. But its up to the SL to keep this bunch together, focused, and out of ambushes.

If you have a straggler in your squad who’s not following orders, kick him if you can afford to. Don’t be afraid of keeping out the riffraff.

Only follow your commanders commands if they’re competent. Make sure you only give attack/defend commands.

So, the key points are: Use your Otus at all times. Use smart, tactical aggression.

Hope this helps some. Some may totally disagree. Some may already fight this way.

|ZPG|-=Bardo=-

Ezekiel
05-03-2007, 06:45 PM
Nice guide!

If am correct though, you cant actually give orders until you have spawned as you have to be alive/critically wounded!

Bardo
05-03-2007, 06:48 PM
Nice guide!

If am correct though, you cant actually give orders until you have spawned as you have to be alive/critically wounded!

i believe you are correct. edit made. i was making this at work, as a patient cancelled, so i was in a hurry!

Slim1951
05-03-2007, 08:02 PM
Hi Bardo,

Thanks for the post, good stuff. A question for you. You indicate that you should immediately go for the next cap after capping a location. Is there a situation where you feel it calls for defending a cap? Or is there a school of thought that defending loses games? I have heard some say that once your side has the edge say 3 of 5 caps you should start defending. Just curious. I am still learning. I also notice you don't mention using apc's for your squad, is your advice just for infantry maps without much vehicles, like Gibralter? Or do you recommend not using vehicles to stay stealthy?

Bardo
05-03-2007, 08:20 PM
certainly there are times to defend. say you're EU on camp G, or any other map where the enemy starts out at their uncappable. there you always start out defending the flag you feel is most vital. your call, you're the boss.

now, say we've capped the 2nd to the rear flag against the enemy. my next move will usually be to immediately assault the rear flag before the enemy spawns back to protect their rear. once the most rear flag has been capped, i will usually set an order to defend the 2nd to the last rear flat (one we came from). i do this as the enemy might and should be heading over there to take it back. Once i am satisfied it is controlled and well protected, my next issue is another attack order to another enemy flag.

so yes, absolutely use that defend tactic. ESPECIALLY when you feel a vital flag might be overrun. by all means, play defensively in that case. but, as soon as you can... push the envelope and push them back! ;)

i didn't mention much about vehicles, because quite frankly i don't enjoy using them. i'm a footsoldier. and yes, my advice is mainly for vehicle deprived maps.

you are refering to ticket bleeds. once you control a certain amount of flags on a given map, the enemies tickets will bleed. this is a good tactic. but i'm the guy who likes to go for the throat and get a cap out!

besides, most maps the momentum swings back and forth a bit. it can get boring if both sides are "stuck", but inevitably they'll have a guy make it past and take a flag. so i'm an advocate of continuing to attack, but wisely defending depending on your situation. good questions slim.

Kraxis
05-03-2007, 11:34 PM
I would say that Recon is not a bad choice per se... It is however highly limited and should only be used for special insertions or flanking maneuvers.

For instance as PAC the first spawn is Recon, cloaked of course, while the squaddies HOLD BACK their spawn. Then you sneak up on the nearest flag and all of them spawn on you. 6 people spawning on you should get the flag down in seconds. Naturally this can be done again later, but it can be frustrating for players to sit 30 secs waiting for the last guy to die so he can join up.

For me this tactic has been hugely effective.

Also in the case of a 'rolling egg' tactic, where you bypass enemy resistance an unseen SL can be important. In such a case all the rest need to be Assaults with defib to keep the momentum up.

You might say that the three classes as SLs (I don't count Engy as you should never be that, squaddies can handle that) act much like they do individually. The Assaults lead into sustained combat, Supports hang back a little and slowly push the enemy back and the Recons lead their squads behind and around the enemy.

IvanDrago
05-05-2007, 04:43 PM
Nice guide!

I do some similar things you described.

darwinsGate
05-07-2007, 07:53 PM
Bardo>> Do not jump in a vehicle if you have your otus unless you are the driver. If you're the passanger, your teammate driver will get a bunch of team vehicle damages and anger them.... and rightly so!

I have not noticed this since the 1.20 patch. Have you seen team damage since then? I used to get it by deploying the otus and driving a tank. My own otus would give me team damage penalties.

lt.wolfowitz
05-07-2007, 08:13 PM
i believe you are correct. edit made. i was making this at work, as a patient cancelled, so i was in a hurry!

lol what patient is this, a crappy squad leader in BF2142 looking for some advice :P Good guide though, very useful in future.

Bardo
05-07-2007, 08:15 PM
perhaps you are right darwins gate. i have not tried it in a while because i didn't want to cause negative points for a teammate..... sorta the thing you don't want to check to see if it still works... know what i mean? =)

good point. anyone have a definitive answer if it still gives team vehicle damage?

(and thanks for moving this to the tips section. i was going to ask for that)

lol what patient is this, a crappy squad leader in BF2142 looking for some advice :P Good guide though, very useful in future.

i torture patients for a living :evil:

Kraxis
05-08-2007, 12:55 AM
i torture patients for a living :evil:

Ahh... a dentist.;)

Bardo
05-08-2007, 02:53 AM
close. physical therapist

Voop_Bacon
05-08-2007, 03:05 AM
There are a few points I have to dissagree with you in that guide. First of all the Squad beacon should be used to make sure you dont have to run all the way to the base from yours.

Second i greatly prefer the accipter over the otus becuase if you have your squad with you(I usally wait for 2 to spawn at the beacon) it never stops firing and can really cover your ***.

Third, I use heavy body armor beacuse i seem to live longer and die less often when i have it equiped. A SL's priority should be to stay alive.

Finally, SL should try to be support at all times. He needs to resupply his drones and beacon at all times. Also the clark is great to use when SL. As long as your squad is with you, they can take care of any threat to far for the Clark.

Most of this i have learned from my 142 hours as SL and have found myself to be very effective.

Bardo
05-08-2007, 03:28 AM
There are a few points I have to dissagree with you in that guide. First of all the Squad beacon should be used to make sure you dont have to run all the way to the base from yours.

Second i greatly prefer the accipter over the otus becuase if you have your squad with you(I usally wait for 2 to spawn at the beacon) it never stops firing and can really cover your ***.

Third, I use heavy body armor beacuse i seem to live longer and die less often when i have it equiped. A SL's priority should be to stay alive.

Finally, SL should try to be support at all times. He needs to resupply his drones and beacon at all times. Also the clark is great to use when SL. As long as your squad is with you, they can take care of any threat to far for the Clark.

Most of this i have learned from my 142 hours as SL and have found myself to be very effective.

i agree that your tactics could work well! no doubt about that. i was just sharing a different way than most use (i've only seen 2 or 3 others doing something similar to this since playing). i'm up to 124 hours as SL myself of my 257 hours playing. (yes, you have more).

unfortunately, i mainly played titan for a long time when i first started playing this game... and had a kdr of 1.05-1.10 for a long, long time. recently doing this SL tactic i've raised it to 1.96 already and its climbing steadily!

it works for me, but i understand if its not for everyone. good suggestions though.

one last thing. so, you have 32 accipiter kills. do you find that it does a lot of damage or something and you finish them off with your primary gun? Cause that thing is only giving you 1 kill per 4 hours you're a SL. (not that you've had it out the entire time you've been a SL, but that's still a low number)

BandoIruka
05-08-2007, 08:27 AM
Funny that you should call the enemy its NATO phonetic alphabet "Charlie". That was back in the Vietnam war when the enemy was The North Vietnam Army, or Vietcong (Vietnames Communist). These days I think the enemy is called OpFor (Opposing Force) or just enemy.


Aside, these are all nice tactics but its really up to you and your squad how you play that determines which loadout is good. Once you've all agreed on either being a defensive or agressive squad, then squad tactics and loadout become secondary issue.

-Heavy armour for holding position/defense vs Light armour for maneuvering/attack
-Beacons and drones i find great in both attack and defense when used right.
-Flanking, choke points, killzones, coverfire, etc.
-Loadout depending on environment (Ganz vs. LMG, Voss vs. Baur, etc)

It gets alittle more complicated if vehicles gets involved, friendly or enemy.
Most of these are pretty self-explainatory and relies on commonsense.

Squadsize is also something I feel is very important, yet often overlooked. Depending on the amount of enemies you are expecting to encounter, you should adjust the squadsize accordingly. Larger squads tend to have a harder time sticking together and move slower than smaller ones. Plus it becomes abit of a logistics problem for the team where too much men is at one place and not helping in other, more important places. Having your troops in the wrong place, despite working together in a cohesive force, will end up working against teamwork in the longrun. So lock your squads if you think you have enough guys in it.

But the true essense of being a squadleader or working in a squad is teamwork (duh). You are the minicommander for your little group of men and its by your will that they (should) carry out your/your commanders' orders.

Durutti
05-08-2007, 08:36 AM
nice guide I enjoyed reading it

Voop_Bacon
05-09-2007, 04:07 AM
i agree that your tactics could work well! no doubt about that. i was just sharing a different way than most use (i've only seen 2 or 3 others doing something similar to this since playing). i'm up to 124 hours as SL myself of my 257 hours playing. (yes, you have more).

unfortunately, i mainly played titan for a long time when i first started playing this game... and had a kdr of 1.05-1.10 for a long, long time. recently doing this SL tactic i've raised it to 1.96 already and its climbing steadily!

it works for me, but i understand if its not for everyone. good suggestions though.

one last thing. so, you have 32 accipiter kills. do you find that it does a lot of damage or something and you finish them off with your primary gun? Cause that thing is only giving you 1 kill per 4 hours you're a SL. (not that you've had it out the entire time you've been a SL, but that's still a low number)


First of all, i was just saying how mine was different. Your just doesnt seem to fit how i play in general, not just SL.
Second, I only stated my hours to make sure you could see i was credible.
Third i never accipiter during 1.2 because inst-kill glitch. Unfortunatly i had just started to use right before patch. I really wish they would change it back.

Bardo
05-09-2007, 02:58 PM
yeah... i really don't like how easy the accipiter/otus is to kill. clang it against an archway and it gets stuck and blows up. it blows up so easy... that i'm finding i need to spend more time as support as opposed to assault so i can resupply myself and re-deploy the 'droid... since it blows up semi-more often.

looking straight up fixed that glitch...

i really do wish the accipiter would lock on like the sentry gun. that would make it worth-while to me. no hard feelings voop bakon!

Voop_Bacon
05-10-2007, 03:10 AM
No probs. Like i said stick to your squad like super glue and that thing never shuts up.

Dead_And_Gone
05-11-2007, 10:03 AM
I actually have used it as engy and driving a Tank/APC. Usually put a beacon down first, in the hills, then requip at next death with the Otus.

Works OK finding those people trying to put one up your skirts, or finding that lone wolf hiding in the boxes that's waiting for your squad to move on so he/she can recap. It does bang on the armor alot, (Which is annoying), but still highly useful. I'm all for attacking, and only defending a silo/flag if my overall team ability/skills is noticeably lower than the other team. (Regardless of your squads performance) You can still rack up significant points defending a silo (Like Silo 1 in Suez) where you have enough cover to be effective, and you are unable to sustain clean attacks on the other silo's/flags.

A well run squad can still make a difference on a 60-64 player server, but it is much more evident on the smaller servers. A Otus/Accipter equipped SL, at least 1 medic, Good close squad play, and on a small server you can totally dominate. BONZAI !!!

RYKUU
05-11-2007, 10:09 AM
nice guide mate i like it.

Kraxis
05-12-2007, 03:15 AM
... BONZAI !!!

What? Are you into those trimmed little potted trees? Well, I suppose they are pretty cool with the investment of time and work.:p

Slim1951
07-11-2007, 08:50 PM
Your statement on not using the SLB is much appreciated by me. I don't usually play as SL and my goal is to stay with my squad. I usually play on Titan maps and I have 2 problems. The first is when the SLB is deployed and then left behind. I then respawn on it and am far from my squad. This happens to me ALL THE TIME. It makes me crazy. As a matter of a fact, I will leave the squad the next time it happens to me. If the SL will allow me to spawn on him, I will keep him alive and healthy. I make my SL feel like a king. I obey and follow. Second thing that a lot of SL's do is get in a tank. This means just one person can spawn on you and then no one. This again fractures your squad. The only time a SL beacon is a good idea is if the squad does not plan on leaving an area ie. Titan assault. Many times SLB's fall in an area where you CANNOT destroy them and it is there the rest of the game. I hate that. The best squads are squads that stay together. Next time I see you online I will try to join you Bardo. I like to squad and have rarely been doing it with my squadmates as they all have left the building with Elvis.

Cerulean Muerto
07-11-2007, 10:29 PM
Main point of the SL beacon, methinks, is if SL gets killed and you have no spawnpoints left, i.e. as on Cerbere Landing. It sucks to sit there watching the tickets drain away, thinking "if only my SL had laid down a beacon, we could be spawning in and trying to recap a flag"....heh, since you can see from my k/d ratio I spend a lot of time waiting to spawn... LOL

Diamond621
07-12-2007, 03:50 AM
Main point of the SL beacon, methinks, is if SL gets killed and you have no spawnpoints left, i.e. as on Cerbere Landing. It sucks to sit there watching the tickets drain away, thinking "if only my SL had laid down a beacon, we could be spawning in and trying to recap a flag"....heh, since you can see from my k/d ratio I spend a lot of time waiting to spawn... LOL

You must have at least one other spawn point in order for the beacon to function. If your team has no spawn points on the map, the beacon will red-out and you will not be able to drop on it.

ICE*T
07-12-2007, 10:36 AM
just put the support infantry scanner on a drone it''ll give good intelligence-not sure if you can still do this though;wouldnt that be a better idea than the otus?

You must have at least one other spawn point in order for the beacon to function. If your team has no spawn points on the map, the beacon will red-out and you will not be able to drop on it.

are u 100% sure about that?

Diamond621
07-12-2007, 11:23 AM
just put the support infantry scanner on a drone it''ll give good intelligence-not sure if you can still do this though;wouldnt that be a better idea than the otus?

Yes, but the drone will not fire based upon the targeting info it gets from the IDS. The drone locks on to netbat diamonds, not radar blips. You can still do this and it is still moderately effective, though - the best way to get yourself a mobile IDS.

are u 100% sure about that?

Positive.

ICE*T
07-12-2007, 01:07 PM
Yes, but the drone will not fire based upon the targeting info it gets from the IDS. The drone locks on to netbat diamonds, not radar blips. You can still do this and it is still moderately effective, though - the best way to get yourself a mobile IDS.



Positive. you've totally missed the point..bardo's very cpmprehensive squad leader guide emphasises the importance of intelligence ie ( enemy positons) I think this would be a better way to get it , he could still use the otus if required , the support infantry scanner gives the location and he could then scan with the otus to give elevation- surely this would be better than using jus the otus...the idea of sticking the support scanner on the drone is to have a mini uav:rolleyes:comprende hombre?

Bardo
07-14-2007, 12:33 AM
yes, it it is all about intelligence. i feel the netbat system is much more accurate than the mini-map.

the mini-map must be fully zoomed in to get a good idea where people are, but it can be more difficult watching the red dots on the mini-map while trying to engage targets.

the otus's ability to display the diamonds over all infantry within a moderate range let you know the enemy's elevation as stated, but also aquire faster target acquisition. this is also very important. (side story, this is why some laser sights on real guns flash very quickly, it is to allow the human eye to lock onto it faster = faster acquisition of the target. as you all know by now playing this game, usually on a 1 on 1 fight the person who shoots first wins)

good point ice-t. i would assume placing the ids on your otus probably wouldn't help your squad much over the otus's ability... but it WOULD help your ENTIRE team. this is a very good tactic for the good of your team. nice!

and no, you can NOT spawn on a beacon if your team does not have a flag.

thanks for your input fellas.