Campaign Squad Roles

[wolffy.au]

This is a draft for my squad role templates.

I should explain that these are guidelines and are to assist in better planning and utilisation of kit and vehicle assets. They should assist Commanders in delegating tasks to dedicated squads and squads knowing what their purpose is. These are not hard fast rules.

Please post questions rather than make assumptions. I'll try to further articulate what I am trying to say here. Easy on the flaming! :)

[Captain_Wolf]

Looks sweet, maybe a little too in depth for only 32 players as having only 16 players per side will only allow you to have about 3 squads. However it would be awesome if we could expand the campaign to 40, 50, even 64 players eventually.

I use a very similar approach to setting out squads for official Wolf Company games and have found it is a great use because everyone in the squad knows what the squad should have and they don't have to ask "what kit?" all the time because they just look at what we don't have that we should and fill in the gaps.

What does (mixed clan) mean?

Just a few suggestions if I may?

The Mechanised infantry squad should have an engineer if at all possible in case the APC takes a LAT hit in the field.

Every offensive squad should have a rifleman at all times and any offensive squad with a HAT or LAT needs a rifleman at all times.

Motor transport only needs to be 1 truck as there is nothing that 2 trucks are needed for so it would be better to only risk one at a time.

Either way I'm sure you will fine tune it as time goes on and as long as squad leaders are free to adjust and adapt it will be a great asset to organised matches.

EDIT: If I came off as rude or flaming in any of my posts be sure that it was not intended at all, I just trying to contribute some ideas that's all.

[wolffy.au]

Looks sweet, maybe a little too in depth for only 32 players as having only 16 players per side will only allow you to have about 3 squads. However it would be awesome if we could expand the campaign to 40, 50, even 64 players eventually.
Yes, this wasn't explicitly just for the trial match, but rather for the campaign in general. And yes, as the more players register, the more interesting the options get.

What does (mixed clan) mean?
Mixed clan means the squad will be made up from different clans and rather than a single clan.

The reason behind this, is I didn't think it was fair saying that a single clan can fly all the attack choppers, or a single clan should have to provide all the engineers for the engineering squad.

The Mechanised infantry squad should have an engineer if at all possible in case the APC takes a LAT hit in the field.
This raises a good point - let me see if I can articulate where I'm going with this.

If an APC takes a hit, first thing you want to do is drop smoke and get somewhere safe.
Waiting to pick up your engineer won't help the situation.
If you do pick up your engineer and get somewhere safe, its gonna take at least minimum 30 secs for them to repair you.
The other option is driving all the way to the command post for repairs, and the amount of time it will take to repair will probably be very (very) time consuming.The best solution I could think of was a dedicated Combat Engineering squad. In the case of above, you'd let the Commander know that you've been hit, and probably meet at the nearest Firebase or Bunker to rendezvous with the Engineer squad. 6 guys simultaneous repairing your vehicle is the quickest way I could think to get you back out in the field. And if there are more tanks, APCs or choppers, these guys will be pretty busy. Air Defense on the bunker/firebase will be required to keep it from being raped.

If any crewman or pilots get hit, even once, get your vehicle repaired immediately - that asset is too important not too.

Every offensive squad should have a rifleman at all times and any offensive squad with a HAT or LAT needs a rifleman at all times.
Not sure what you mean - might need to provide me more detail or give me some examples.

AFAIK, all squads requiring an ammo guy have one. They may have choices between an ammo guy and something else, but thats up to the SL.

Motor transport only needs to be 1 truck as there is nothing that 2 trucks are needed for so it would be better to only risk one at a time.
Yeah, I'd be good with that. Depends on how much infantry needs transporting. Also, once you're in the game, its good to have a truck driving around dropping supply crates if requested.

EDIT: If I came off as rude or flaming in any of my posts be sure that it was not intended at all, I just trying to contribute some ideas that's all.
That's fine Capt - no offense taken.

One thing I am concerned about is reaching the maximum number of squads when you have squads of 2 or 3 people only. Might mean combining squads for example, Motor Transport might be 6 people driving 3 trucks as a squad or Spec Ops merged as part of Recon.

[Bahlye]

Lol...you guys have got the sig up already...^^.

[wolffy.au]

Can anyone confirm that the maximum number of squads per team is 9?

[Aresnik]

Lol...you guys have got the sig up already...^^.

Yer, it's funny considering it was a draw.

[Psyrus]

Yer, it's funny considering it was a draw.

I beg to differ, unless I've done the addition wrong:

http://www.bigdgaming.net/showthread.php?t=350 6

BigD 10V10 Ladder Season 1

1. N/A (8 Points)
2. Wolf Company (4 Points)
3. bD (0 Points)
4. 667th (0 Points) - No longer participating in ladder
5. Hellfish (0 Points)
6. Stomp - Did not complete any matches

[nedlands1]

N/A have competed in a few more matches than other clans. WC have competed in 3 matches, winning 2 and losing one (to N/A). N/A have competed in 5 matches, winning 4 and losing one (to WC). Based on the mean number of tickets after each match, N/A still wins. If WC had played in more matches and won them with a significant margin then it would be a different story. Guess it is our fault for not organising more matches.

[GruAncH]

Yeah be quick or be dead, you guys jumped outta the blocks and we thought you were going to be hard to catch, we knew we'd get ya in the end, but it's 1 all in the WC v [N/A] stakes and well those stakes are high, till next time enjoy the sigs...:P

[AncientMan]

Can anyone confirm that the maximum number of squads per team is 9?

Yes

[Captain_Wolf]

Back on topic:

This raises a good point - let me see if I can articulate where I'm going with this.

If an APC takes a hit, first thing you want to do is drop smoke and get somewhere safe.
Waiting to pick up your engineer won't help the situation.
If you do pick up your engineer and get somewhere safe, its gonna take at least minimum 30 secs for them to repair you.
The other option is driving all the way to the command post for repairs, and the amount of time it will take to repair will probably be very (very) time consuming.The best solution I could think of was a dedicated Combat Engineering squad. In the case of above, you'd let the Commander know that you've been hit, and probably meet at the nearest Firebase or Bunker to rendezvous with the Engineer squad. 6 guys simultaneous repairing your vehicle is the quickest way I could think to get you back out in the field. And if there are more tanks, APCs or choppers, these guys will be pretty busy. Air Defense on the bunker/firebase will be required to keep it from being raped.

IMO I think the mechanised infantry should be less heavily armed kit wise, than the light infantry as they have the APC which will provide most of their heavy firepower. Ie. It can act as a machine gunner and a LAT. Because of this I would suggest that a mech inf squad always have at least one engineer to conduct field repairs if necessary.

Of course it would be more effective to fall back and repair in a safe zone and in this case the combat engineers could come and assist you. This would be especially effective for tanks and helicopters as the former takes a very long time to repair and the later could fly to a friendly base with ease.

However considering the fast pace and fluid nature of the game it may not possible to fall back if the squad needs to hold it's position or is cut off from friendly lines. Also under certain circumstances it may not be wise for the APC to make a dash over open ground and risk another hit if you had the opportunity to park behind some cover and get some field repairs from your squads engineer.

Additionally I would say that a full squad of 6 engineers would be overkill within the limits of the amount of players we have. An engineer squad of 3 men would be plenty IMO.

EDIT: In regards to the rifleman issue I was referring to the light infantry not having a rifleman in their squad layout. The light infantry being the most likely to be operating without a steady supply of ammo should have a rifleman at all times IMO especially if they are carrying heavy weapons like the LAT of HAT which are very ammo intensive.

[wolffy.au]

Anyone else have an opinion on the subject of engineer squads?? :)

I post these threads up so everyone has the opportunity to have their say, and when it comes to the crunch there is no excuse for bitching. C'mon guys, humour me:

6 or 3 engineers in a Combat engineers squad??
Mechanised Inf should have an engineer??

[Captain_Wolf]

As long as team commanders are free to make adjustments as they see fit I don't see any real problems, just a difference of opinion I guess. I think even if you wanted to have more engineers 2 squads of 3 would be better logistically than one squad of 6 as they could be in two places at once.

Again it's not the theory that is a problem just the fact that with the limited numbers (32 per side max) it would probably be more effective to lean towards under manning the support roles as opposed to over manning them. Freeing up more man power for the combat oriented squads.

Eg.

Transport heli: 2 people by default could be cut to 1 pilot + an optional engineer/doorgunner.

Motor transport: The default 2 people could be cut to 1.

[GruAncH]

You could combine the engineer with anti-armour members? or 3 engineers 2X rifleman +1 medic, just for protection & healing?

[wolffy.au]

Ok, latest squad roles has been updated in first post.

These are only guidelines and are not enforced at all. They will be provided to the Campaign CO's and used at their discretion.

Changes made were:

Light Infantry - Optional second HAT/LAT
Mechanised Infantry - Removed Ammo Rifleman and replaced with Engineer. Optional Engineer if HAT/LAT is unavailable.
Combat Engineers - Merged with Air Defense. Minimum of 3 engineers with additional Anti-Aircraft.
Motor Transport - Changed to 1 Driver, 1 Truck with more drivers & trucks as required.
Airbourne Transport - Removed Officer kit
Air Defense - Merged with Combat Engineers
Special Operations - Merged with Reconnaissance.
Reconnaissance - Merged with Special Operations.

[wolffy.au]

Ok, resurrecting this thread post-campaign trial - any suggestions on the squad roles? Are there any improvements that can be made now that everyone should have a good understanding of where this was going?

Keep in mind, these roles go on the registration form - so the better I understand how to improve these, the better the overall gameplay during the campaign.

[segmentor]

That's pretty good wolffy. My feedback:

Light infantry position 6 should be rifleman ammo rather than AT/engy IMO. Ammo's useful and light inf is primarily to engage fleshy targets so the rifleman gun is more appropriate.

I like the idea of a pathfinder for choppers and also escort of transport choppers.

I also agree with Wolf on the 3 man engy squad(s).

[Captain_Wolf]

I think it worked great in the trial campaign, I can't think of anything that needs changing really.

[S.O.P]

If you are going to be regimented with particular roles, then you can't really allow, during a match, for someone just to grab the chopper/APC/MBT if it's available. What's the SOP on that?

All is well and good in theory but as soon as that match started, everything changed. We, who were in two of the MBTs were inserted as Infantry for a couple of deaths. I think someone took a chopper at one point.

[Captain_Wolf]

Obviously the roles are flexible depending on the way the battlefield evolves. If the armour squads loose their armour they may become infantry until more armour becomes available to them.

Our Attack heli pilots couldn't make it so I think the Attack heli turned into a bit of an organised free for all as the commander adapted to the situation he reassigned two of our guys to pilot the attack heli.

Again I think every asset based squad need to have a contingency plan in case they loose their assets, but this can be allocated in the planning stage or on the fly in game by the commander, depending on the situation.

[wolffy.au]

If you are going to be regimented with particular roles, then you can't really allow, during a match, for someone just to grab the chopper/APC/MBT if it's available. What's the SOP on that?
I think as a general rule, if there is a squad assigned armour, then any available armour should be theirs unless told otherwise by the CO.
People randomly grabbing assets because they are just sitting there may go against the plan of the CO, and against the idea of them campaign.

[S.O.P]

They were my thoughts.

But is something like that, for the sake of 'reality', enforced?

[wolffy.au]

They were my thoughts.

But is something like that, for the sake of 'reality', enforced?
To my knowledge, we haven't enforced anything for these campaigns. If a player goes against the CO's request, they won't be making a good name for themselves with the rest of the team or future rounds/campaigns.