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Thread: Squad Leader Guide

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    Squad Leader Guide

    Who am I?

    I am Xander Vegas. I generally play marine and go SL, engineer or medic sometimes. This is my first guide. So it may not be the best.
    ------------------------

    Who are you?

    You are SSGT of USCM leading one of the four squads (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta). Following ranks come under you: SGT-Specialist, CPL-Smartgunner, LCPL-Engineers, Medics, PFC-Marines. You are expected to use your leadership and Tactical Equipment over mere bullets to stomp the enemy. If you just wanna gun enemy down, go marine.
    ------------------------

    Squad Organization

    You can assign Fireteams to organize your squad into smaller groups. Assigning PFCs with medics, engineers to cover them or to Specs to finish off kills could help if they follow them around.
    ------------------------

    Gearing Up

    Tactical Binoculars: Use it for CAS, OB, mortar strikes and Supply drops. Also use it before proceeding in any direction. If theres light, you will get a lot of tactical info.

    -Supply Drop: As soon as you land, get coords of FOB and NOTE IT DOWN (You may skip it if you see a competent SL at fob duty). Go to IC Tab, Add Note, to store info for the round. You can read it with IC Tab->Notes. Also remember to ask your Specialist, Smartgunners, Engineers for supplies and PFCs for ammo periodically.

    -CAS: CAS can be lazed in open areas. Discuss payload with POs and remember to tell you squad you are lazing for CAS so they dont charge like mad maybe. Use light CAS like GAU to clear alien structures. and try lazing a little behind few enemies, so they are hit while retreating or they commit to fighting you dying on marine bullets. Ask POs to launch when you need CAS and laze only when CAS is in air. You can also fake CAS, by lazing even if CAS is not up to confuse xenos. Also stop CAS if enemy has retreated from your laze and marines are pushing. Stop lazing and ask PO to stop sending missiles.

    -OB: Big Fat Bomb for Xenos. Use it for pushing and retreating. Always push after OB if you got men to do it. Get coords of OB behind enemy lines. It has a 10x10 area of effect I think. Whenever you ask for OB, ask command to announce it too so each marine know to push after OB and not get bombed. NOTE: It works under metal ceilings and underground but not deep underground.

    -Mortar: This is highly underused weapon and could be effectively used especially in prison where theres metal ceiling everywhere and you cant laze for CAS. Get coords behind enemy lines, ask for inci shell then get offset ask for another shell and then push in to trap xenos cutting their retreat. You can chain it with OB and CAS. Like ask for CAS at a spot and get mortar fired at farther spot so they are hit even when they try to run.

    Motion Detector: To hunt enemies and realize enemy flanks before you get cornered. It helps with lurkers and xenos at edge of your screen in the dark. It also helps to know if they are behind the wall. Note: It doesnt ping on stationary xenos, only moving ones are pinged I think.

    MedHUD: To know whether a marine is goner or defibbable. Grab It!

    Advanced First-Aid Kit: SLs can open pill bottles. Get bicardine, kelotane, tramadol pill bottles from medbay. Remove 2 trauma kit and 1 burn kit from medkit and put those 3 pill bottles in it. Now you can give first aid to wounded marines as well as yourself. Especially useful during low pop.

    Whistle: Very conditional. You can tell your squad that charge on whistle or something like that. Or follow the whistle while in LV caves to stop splitting up. Though xenos will hear it too. I personally take it just for fun. :P

    ------------------------
    Loadout

    Loadout 1:
    Armor slot: Pulse Rifle
    Back Slot: Flamethrower
    Webbing: 3 rifle AP mags
    Armor: 2 rifle mags
    Belt Slot: Motion Detector
    Pouch 1: Large General Pouch - Tac Binos, pocket extinguisher, crowbar/C4
    Pouch 2: First aid pouch or Medkit Pouch - Medkit with bicardine, kelotane, tram pill bottles
    PlayStyle: Rifle is the way to go in pushes. Flame the flanks you see to avoid those lurker pounces and runners running around. Flamer is best used when you are holding or retreatng. Always flame while retreating while your medics get wounded out. I go rifle over shotgun as I can flame a line between them and me so they dont come close and then shoot from across fire. Use flamer to burn sticky, eggs and area denial. REMEMBER NOT TO FLAME if marines are pushing ahead.

    Loadout 2:
    Armor slot: Shotgun
    Back Slot: Pulse Rifle
    Webbing: 3 rifle AP mags
    Armor: 2 handful of buckshot shells
    Belt Slot: Motion Detector
    Pouch 1: Large General Pouch - Tac Binos, crowbar/C4, Rifle mag or handful of buckshot
    Pouch 2: First aid pouch or Medkit Pouch - Medkit with bicardine, kelotane, tram pill bottles
    Playstyle: Rifles is general. Shotgun in CQC as fallback weapon. though if you find using shotgun more you are positioning yourself wrong.

    Loadout 3:
    Armor slot: Shotgun
    Back Slot: Pulse Rifle
    Brown Webbing: C4 and buckshot
    Armor: 2 handful of buckshot shells
    Belt Slot: Ammo Belt with M4A1 mags
    Pouch 1: Large General Pouch - Tac Binos, crowbar/C4, C4
    Pouch 2: First aid pouch or Medkit Pouch - Medkit with bicardine, kelotane, tram pill bottles
    Helmet: Painkiller and First Aid Injector
    Playstyle: Thats how I usually roll. Shotgun for CQC, Rifle for pushing and killing. I take point initially to get marines moving, once they are on the move I usually let them take point. Grabbing C4s on Prison is must. You can create flanks and open paths which can be very useful.

    Some Viable Alternatives:
    Machete on belt slot: helps clearing sticky thereby increasing push speed.
    Ammo Belt: If you are using your gun more than the bigger ornaments that command gave you.
    ------------------------

    Squad Objectives

    -Scouting Duty: Ensure that you tell your squad where to go while the dropship is dropping so your squad knows that you know your shit. Dont rush off alone. Point the path you taking. Those big green arrows are easy to follow. Hold for a moment and watch behind with binos to look for stragglers. Inform your position on squad comms periodically so others may catch up with you. Use your binos constantly. You may spot lone marine getting attacked or a xeno moving around casually and catch it offguard. Everyone likes a SL who keeps speaking and communicating constantly. Also remember to inform command your position, status and enemy contacts. You can get a bag label it intel bag and collect intel while you are scouting. Also be aware of other squad positions. It helps him deciding when to commit fully to a fight and when not to. If other squads are too far and you face lots of xenos, committing to it fully could mean you lose most of your squad.

    -FOB Duty: Make sure you have an engineer onboard dropship before launching. Ask PO, command to wait for him or ask for another engineer if he isnt responding. You dont want to deploy without fob engineer. You will be called incompetent for having no fob defenses. While in transit, tell your squad what to do. If you dont, they are more likely to fuck off to fight. Try giving them something to do like making a FT to gather materials, sending a FT for a patrol run around fob, sending someone to move supplies. Ask spec if he is going to front, send someone to cover him. No spec like wasting his RNG sitting at FOB. But ask him to bail out if things get ugly. You would want your spec to be last spec alive especially if you are fob for fob siege. When you touch ground REMEMBER to get supply coordinates, NOTE it down and relay them to command. Always ask for fob mats even if engineer doesnt ask for it as they are required initially to get the fob going. You can also help engineer in building cades. Get flanks secured. Bolting/Welding doors that are not used could help. Ensure theres ammo at FOB. And try keeping your men manning cades so they dont get melted. You can assign FTs and assign them spots at fob to keep it covered.

    -TComms Duty: Make sure you have an engineer onboard dropship before launching. If you are to hole up there follow same as above. If you are just fixing tcomms and moving out. Ensure you have atleast a single layer or something so strolling xenos dont go and slash at apc easily

    -Power Duty: Make sure you have an engineer onboard dropship before launching. Ask your squad to remain inside engineering compound while engineer is fixing power. Its easier to defend while ALL of you are inside and marines dont get dragged off. Move out together when engineer gives thumbs up that he is done. If engineer doesnt know his shit and is taking way too long, use your judgement whether you should abandon fixing power for now or you can wait. While the power is getting fixed, keep track of location of other squads so you know where to move when you are done.
    ------------------------

    Be Aware Of:

    1. "HELP" scream in squad comms. Ask Command to locate that guy if he doesnt scream his position and save him if not engaged.
    2. "NEED ANOTHER SQUAD" scream on command comms. Sometimes command is slow in rerouting a squad. If you think you should go and help squad thats facing enemy, tell command and move out. (If you are not FOB squad). You can also send a FT and not full squad
    3. RO asking if anyone need supplies on command comms.
    4. Location of Enemies being reported on command comms. Relay them on squad channel.
    5. CAS Runs.
    ------------------------

    Things to do every few mins.

    1. Repeat the last orders or just say anything so that squad knows you are alive.
    2. Check on Specialist, SG, Medics. See that they dont die. If they stop responding, ask command to locate them.
    3. Ask if anyone need supplies. If you have already requested, check on command comms for status of supplies.
    4. Sitreps: Inform command of your position and where you are moving, and request another squad early if you want help. Squads are slow when it comes to reinforcing other squads.
    ------------------------

    EDIT - 1

    Some Useful Guides from a far experienced player than myself
    https://cm-ss13.com/old/viewtopic.php?f=135&t=16628
    https://cm-ss13.com/old/viewtopic.php?f=135&t=16154
    https://cm-ss13.com/old/viewtopic.php?f=135&t=16264
    https://cm-ss13.com/old/viewtopic.php?f=135&t=16424

    Thanks Chatilllon for pointing them out.
    --------------------------
    Edit 2 - Loadouts Added
    --------------------------
    Edit 3 - Loadouts Update
    Removed HPR loadout (I was missing too many shots in burst when I pushed with it), made some changes suggested by Chatillon, updated current loadout that I use.
    --------------------------

    PS: I will be adding more sections which I couldnt at the point of writing. Wrote it on a train journey. Will update it whenever I am idle again.
    Last edited by Desmet; 03-28-2019 at 08:32 PM. Reason: Added Loadouts

  2. #2
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    good first guide, Xander. I'd recommend people to take advice to this when trying a daunting role as SL so you don't get called a baldie every 2 minutes plus experienced player tips right ^^^^ here.

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    Quote Originally Posted by DrinkNaCl View Post
    good first guide, Xander. I'd recommend people to take advice to this when trying a daunting role as SL so you don't get called a baldie every 2 minutes plus experienced player tips right ^^^^ here.
    Thank you comrade.

    On a side note Baldie was ma middle name until they dished out new hair styles and I went for anime hairs

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    The French Madmen: Capitaine Renaud 'Sierra' Chatillon

    Almaric, the history teacher synthetic


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    Senior Member SirMandrake's Avatar
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    These helped me a ton when I started playing cm more, even useful as a pfc. Other good guides on the old forums worth looking at too, like bullets paths.

    Xander I don't SL much but I am curious on your preference for weapon loadouts, and maybe adding adding tactics for objectives during late round. I always enjoy reading guides even for roles I don't play. Good stuff, even though I don't like FTs if it isn't fob squad
    Goosen Dagen-casual marine

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    Add that you are equal in rank to MP's so that they can't boss you around. Overall, good beginner guide.

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    Awesome guides from a far better and more experienced player. Thanks for tagging it here!

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    Xander is one of those SLs which I'm always happy to be playing with. If there's one guy to get SL advice from, it's probably him.

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    Quote Originally Posted by SirMandrake View Post
    These helped me a ton when I started playing cm more, even useful as a pfc. Other good guides on the old forums worth looking at too, like bullets paths.

    Xander I don't SL much but I am curious on your preference for weapon loadouts, and maybe adding adding tactics for objectives during late round. I always enjoy reading guides even for roles I don't play. Good stuff, even though I don't like FTs if it isn't fob squad
    Added Loadout Section

    Quote Originally Posted by CABAL View Post
    Add that you are equal in rank to MP's so that they can't boss you around. Overall, good beginner guide.
    This case never happened to me. I presume its not common occurence, though nice tip.

    Quote Originally Posted by LordBanshee View Post
    Xander is one of those SLs which I'm always happy to be playing with. If there's one guy to get SL advice from, it's probably him.
    Thanks! I see myself as average experienced SL and this is more like beginner's guide. There are some god tier SLs which I love to play under too like Kesserline and Bill Carson. (Carson is an awesome SL may not be the best CO).

  10. #10
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    God I should really headback to SL again... I miss it soooooo much.

    Quote Originally Posted by SirMandrake View Post
    These helped me a ton when I started playing cm more, even useful as a pfc. Other good guides on the old forums worth looking at too, like bullets paths.

    Xander I don't SL much but I am curious on your preference for weapon loadouts, and maybe adding adding tactics for objectives during late round. I always enjoy reading guides even for roles I don't play. Good stuff, even though I don't like FTs if it isn't fob squad
    For the Squad leader loadout, here you have mine:

    Helmet: First aid injector and Pain Killer injector.
    Mask: Breath mask for tacticool effect
    Eyes: MedHUD can be useful (Not mandatory at all, but useful)
    Armor: Classical B12 armor is fine, fill it with splints and Tram pill bottles.
    Uniform: Classic webbing (3 slots) with Tactical Binos, Bica and Kelo pill bottles.
    Shoes: Boots with a survival knife.
    Belt: Standard Ammo Belt with M41 mags (Ext or AP, it's up to you)
    Suit slot: Gyro Flashlight Bayo shootie with Buckshot loaded
    Back Storage: VG RDS M41 (With a BC on low pop)
    Pouch 1: First aid pouch
    Pouch 2: Large ammo pouch with 3 handful of buckshot.

    With it, you have:
    - The tactical binos for scouting/Coords/Laze purposes.
    - Basic Medic stuff, to heal yourself or squadmates
    - A midrange weapon and CQC weapon for Leading the fight/Defend yourself

    For the rest of the given equipment, give the Flamer to a PFC. A SL should NOT be first in the line with a flamer. Give the C4 to one of your engies or your spec. Use your vendor to get MDs for your squad and potentially another flamer.

    Remember that even if this stuff is pretty combat effective, as a Leader you should not be at the frontline at all time! You need to show yourself fighting but mostly leading and informing command of your position, actions, coords and global situation. Speak to your squad, keep them updated, use orders. Those are what squad leader should be doing.

    And there's two thing YOU SHOULDN'T be doing as an SL:
    - Use fireteams. N E V E R D O I T. This will work for 5 minutes and then you will just lost marines between orders. If you have a specific task, use their names, they will feel concerned.
    - Get the big boi weapon. Like getting an HPR as a SL just show that you don't understand at all what the role goal is and should be playing PFC if you really wanna unga. a BC is acceptable, but I mostly request it for my squad and not for me anymore.

    Personally, as soon as I see an HPR or fireteams set up, I know that there's 90% chances that the SL is bad/Bald/here for the gun and that his leadership won't be great.
    The French Madmen: Capitaine Renaud 'Sierra' Chatillon

    Almaric, the history teacher synthetic


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