Squad Leader suggestions

**davecraze** · 04-20-09, 09:34 AM

I've been messing around on TTP for about 6 months now. You may have noticed me. I am either being tvd by Saszeus or jet killed by Kelderos. I've come to realize teamplay is the best way to score big majority of the time. I plan to take on the squad leader role more often now. Trouble is I don't have a clue. What does it take to make a successful squad leader? I've attempted it a few times but usually end up with a squad of dumbasses who all have their own agendas. Any suggestions would help.

**Kelderos** · 04-20-09, 09:48 AM

There are many ways to go about it. Communication is key, if you have a Mic use it, that along with the attack markers leaves no reason why your squad should be wandering away. Its up to your own disgression of how strict you want to be, but after you kick a couple of people for not following orders and enough people join you enough times, you end up with a ton of good squads.

I usually spend some of my time every round keeping tabs on were my squad members are, I like to keep all 6 green dots together.

**TheJeep1** · 04-20-09, 09:54 AM

Think of your six men as a Army. When you are issued a order you need to break down what the best way to carry out the order. Then you need to put you and your men in a position to make an attempt to be successful.

There is no right way to do anything, some players have more success just due to setting themselves up in a position to carry out the order. I have a better then average success rating, here is a example.

I am at a flag there are two fast movers, a APC, and a Tank that are sitting there empty. There are Jets and Choppers in the air. The Commander wants me to attack a position that is 2 flags away. It would mean a 3 min walk, 45 second drive.

First thing, we are assaulting..so my squad needs to be equipped with the correct kits. A sniper, spec ops, engineer kit just are not very good choices to support you fellow squad mates. (not that some individuals excel at them) I would want at least 3 medics, so we can stay alive once we are there....2 AT so we have a chance of killing anything we come across...1 support for ammo and long range shots.

Now I must decide what is the safest way to get there to begin the assault. Do we own the skies? Or does the enemy? Or is it even? If we own the skies then we take all the Armor and Vehicles. If it is even we take the fast movers and leave the armor. It we don't have shit for air power its probably better to take your time a walk there, at least you'll get there.

Planning and issuing the orders to your squad it basally a answer for this. And what I described is but one situation you'll come up with.

**w4jchosen** · 04-20-09, 09:59 AM

Don't be the first one to rush into a hostile situation. People will give you different opinions on which kit to be as a SL, but my personal preference is medic because you can revive. When moving into a flag you should hold back to provide a spawn point for those that may go down and only go into revive when you know the situation is clear, but if you must take out the bad guys before whipping out your shock paddles.

Communicate with your squad and let them know up front what you expect and have a plan. Always have them spawn on green and if they can't because you are down tell them to wait. When you cap a point, especially if it is the first cap in the round, defend that point until other squads have a chance to join you. This is especially critical on maps where you are coming in from a carrier where you have no cap points on land.

Try to stay calm. Kelderos is good at this, I'm not

well sometimes I am.

Follow the commanders orders at all times and if for some reason you can't tell them so.

Main things is to do it. You will develop your own style over time.

**Darkenone86** · 04-20-09, 10:27 AM

Dave
When you lead, don't worry about who you are leading. All you have to say is this "If you're not green you are in the wrong squad." If they don't get it. Kick em, your other squad members depend on you to lead, if they see you are allowing others to not play with you, get em out. There are 29 other people on your side that could get in your sqaud.

Follow the commanders orders, if given. Look at the map before you spawn, if you see a car moving past the majority of the team and heading to a flag, spawn in to intercept him. Stay away from the flag so your squad can spawn on you. Like jeep said- Pick your kits wisely, those who don't want to listen are in the wrong squad. However there are times when you need a sniper, SF, and energy. You never need a assult. If primarly defending a flag on a main infantry map, have a guy spawn sniper to drop clays, your support should be able to resupply him for more clays. If you are on a map primaly where armor is, do the same but instead of sniper have him go engy. Drop mines and dig in.

If you are like me that likes to keep moving, then a squad of medic will get it done. If you keep spawning at the same place and dieing, change your spawn point. No sense in wasting tickets, come in from a different way.

Always communicate with both commander and squad. Tell them what they are doing, as well as placing a marker, this allow everyone towards the same direction.

If you have 0 kills and 2 deaths, yet your entire squad is sittign with 50 points a piece, you are a good SL.

You will notice that with (4), Nihi, Jeep, and Kel are SL's. They don't have alot of points, they stay back and stay alive. However if you fight anyone of them while they are not SL's they will mess you up. This is because they have mastered something. Mastering SLing is just another thing to master.

Chosen likes the monkey coming out of H7's asain.

Had to throw your name in there too.

**dex71** · 04-20-09, 10:32 AM

As Chosen said,you have to find your own style.

Take the two previous posters as excellent examples. Both Jeep and Kelderos are incredible SL's,but their styles could not be more different. Jeep is almost always A/T. His style is to bum-rush his objective,and his Medics keep him alive. His squad tends to be a bit safer when he is out front with his rockets knocking down enemies like bowling pins. Kederos tends to be a Medic. Anyone in his squad can pick up his kit and revive him. Kel is also the master of keeping himself safe,thus keeping the spawn point open.

The one thing that all three of the previous posters have in common is teamwork. They keep their squads together,focused on the objective. Their squads are like Jeep stated,little six man armies. Each person has a role,and it is the SL's responsibility to keep them working together.That is what makes them good SLs,even though they have very different styles. All three get the job done,they just go about it a bit different than each other.

Don't worry about your score,especially at first. Being a SL adds more responsibility to your plate,and it is less about you than it's your squad,and your team. Take pride in getting the job done for your squad and your team,and the points will come with time as you gain confidence,experience,and grow into your own style. Some of the best rounds I have ever had as SL,I scored less than ten points. Mostly spending the entire round on Songhua,hovering in a Blachawk,dropping my squad on to flags. It is selflessness and putting the team before your personal score that wins rounds for your team.

If you want to see great SLs in action,there are a lot of people here to learn from. I know I have. Jeep,Kelderos,Chosen,Elkhartadam,iamjohnnyrico,(4) Manno,Enumae,just to name a few. Squad up with them for a while. Watch how they do things. Develop your own style from the things you learn from them. They all have different styles,and different ways of doing things,but they all get the job done,and keep their squads running like little six man armies.

**w4jchosen** · 04-20-09, 10:47 AM

Chosen likes the monkey coming out of H7's asain.

I didn't get that, but okay.

**(2)manno** · 04-20-09, 10:48 AM

Originally Posted by davecraze

I've attempted it a few times but usually end up with a squad of dumbasses who all have their own agendas. Any suggestions would help.

Getting your entire squad on the same page is 80% of Squadleading imo. You'll need a mic and a heavy hand. If you're playing with TTP regs, you won't normally have compliance problems. Here's what it comes down to:

1. If you're playing with newcomers, lay down the law early and often. Tell them to spawn green, make it clear where you're going, explain what you'll do, don't be afraid to ask for a particular kit(s) as you need them (for example you see a tank - say next guy to spawn come in AT, you're taking a flag - maybe you tell the next guy to spawn to come in as a medic). Keep your squad informed and prepared. Squad members don't like surprises, so don't let them be surprised!

2. Above all try to STAY ALIVE. If you don't stay alive, newcomers (and even regs if they lose faith in you) will start to spawn everywhere else but green and you'll lose all control. So a medic kit is a good SL kit, so are sniper and AT kits. Meds will keep you alive longer and if you die someone can grab your kit and revive you (btw - make sure you say i'm dead, grab my kit and revive me! Otherwise your squad may not even know you're dead). AT and sniper kits are good because you can shoot things from a distance with them, and stay out of harms way, thereby dying less often.

3. Finally, be quick to kick people out of the squad that just won't follow orders, and find someone that will. The rest you'll learn through good old fashioned common sense and hard knocks. That journey is the fun part.

**iamjohnnyrico** · 04-20-09, 11:36 AM

Davecraze,

This is a very good question and one that you will probably get alot of responses to it. Take a bit of info from each player's response and make it your own. It's nice to see someone genuinely want to learn how to better there play.

To be an effective SL you must learn to respect the other players that join your squad. This rule comes before any other rule I may suggest to you. BF2 is a multiplayer game and there are live people at the other end, so chose your words and actions wisely. Use your Mic and have the utmost respect for regs and nonregs. Talking to people is what separates TTP from other servers.

Next, you need to keep your squad (army, that sounds so good Jeep) focused and on target. Throw down the markers in this game to help direct your squad better. Consistently use your Mic and tell the squad where you are going. Cohesion and teamplay are hypercritical for an effective squad. You must PLAY AS A TEAM. TEAM stands for "Together each accomplish more". That's what makes this server great. You need a good medic in your squad, someone who won't be afraid to sacrifice their life in order to keep the squad leader alive (like 60_minutes_reporter or Coyote Warlady, just for example). Then you need to watch what kits they are using. If a squadmember decides to go sniper on a vehicle/armor map, simply remind the player that your squad will do better if he/she switches kits to something that can effectively kill armor. If the player doesn't respond don't reward bad behavior - KICK THEM! If squadmemeber persists in non-squad play verbally tell them what they are doing wrong and KICK THEM! You don't need individuals, you need teamplayers - Texas Teamplayers.

On TTP, a good commander will give you attack/defend goals. Look at the objective by pulling up your minimap. If it's at all attainable (which is like 75% of the time), page up and go for it. You have to keep a balance of communication between your squad and the commander. This one's hard becomes some commander's talk so much that it makes it impossible to heard the commander and your squad. Consistently let the commander know of things occurring on the battlefield. Follow the commanders orders, unless they are insane.

Find out which maps/sides are good for attacking and which are good for DEFENDING. That's right I used the "D" word. There are some maps that the lose of a certain flag makes it critical to defend that flag (eg. Wake Island's airfield flag). Your team needs that flag to maintain a foothold in the skies. You might not get all the points that round, but you've helped your team win. Don't worry about the kills, just the objective. Sometimes I've been SL on the server and we have been getting our freaking buts handed to us so I pull back the reigns and say, "No matter what happens they are not getting this flag!" And they don't. It feels good to accomplish something.

I'm only going to give you one last suggestion (I can't give away all of my strategies). When you die (and don't get revived) pull up the minimap and look to see where all the squads are. If all the squads are gravitating to one flag, head for a different one. Your team won't achieve much by being lambs to the slaughter - THINK! Head for a flag that might be undefended. Capping flags is the most important thing to do on this game. It puts serious stress on the other team and prevents them from effectively winning.

I pay homeage to many of the good SL's I learned from and for Grandmasterguess & Triggerhappy2005.

**enumae-k** · 04-20-09, 11:56 AM

Originally Posted by iamjohnnyrico

...I'm only going to give you one last suggestion (I can't give away all of my strategies). When you die (and don't get revived) pull up the minimap and look to see where all the squads are. If all the squads are gravitating to one flag, head for a different one. Your team won't achieve much by being lambs to the slaughter - THINK! Head for a flag that might be undefended....

This is probably the most important thing that the squad leader should do.

If you see that the enemy just capped a flag, and no one is defending the closest flag to it, that is where you need to be.