Today, we'll talk about tactics. What is that bullshit ?
Some will say : it'S ATTACK/HOLD/RETREAT/MOVE/FLANK.
I could say yes. But that's not that simple. That's not that hard neither.
Tactics = Tactical insight + Understanding of space + Decision making
You need those 3 to establish your tactics. Most people do that without knowing it, because it's natural to them, for those whose it's not natural :
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Tactical insight : Whiskey Tango Foxtrot ?
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Tactical insight is the use and the analysis by crossing external intel (those you acquire through other players) and internal intel (those you get by your own eyes).
You cannot only trust external intel as much as you cannot only rely on your internal intel. You need to cross both information to have a better vision of the field situation.
Let's take an example : operational ratio of squad
- You are like me, you prefer a breath mask and some ballistic goggles to be tacticool, so you don't wear a medhud. You have no access to health-status of your squaddies.
- You have been on the frontline intensively for the previous past 10 minutes.
- You can roughly estimate that you have 30 to 40% marines less than you had when first deploying.
- You're in the containers area on LV
What you need to know, is the health-status of your squad. You can ask directly to your squad mates if they are alright or some shit.
What you can understand from those different pieces of information is :
- You have 60 to 70% marines present, but you're not sure if they are all combat able.
- You may lack ammo in the next 5 to 10 minutes if the fights are intense.
- Your current location will make things harder to get supplies (exception for SBs) and for new reinforcements.
Suggestion of decision ? Regroup and rally for 5 minutes, give some rest to your marines, get them loot bodies for ammo, and get ready for your next move. You're actually around 60 % operational. With some rest and regroup, you might go back up to 70 to 80% operational.
You cannot only trust external intel as much as you cannot only rely on your internal intel. You need to cross both information to have a better vision of the field situation.
Let's take an example : operational ratio of squad
- You are like me, you prefer a breath mask and some ballistic goggles to be tacticool, so you don't wear a medhud. You have no access to health-status of your squaddies.
- You have been on the frontline intensively for the previous past 10 minutes.
- You can roughly estimate that you have 30 to 40% marines less than you had when first deploying.
- You're in the containers area on LV
What you need to know, is the health-status of your squad. You can ask directly to your squad mates if they are alright or some shit.
What you can understand from those different pieces of information is :
- You have 60 to 70% marines present, but you're not sure if they are all combat able.
- You may lack ammo in the next 5 to 10 minutes if the fights are intense.
- Your current location will make things harder to get supplies (exception for SBs) and for new reinforcements.
Suggestion of decision ? Regroup and rally for 5 minutes, give some rest to your marines, get them loot bodies for ammo, and get ready for your next move. You're actually around 60 % operational. With some rest and regroup, you might go back up to 70 to 80% operational.
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Understanding of space : to pew or not to pew
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Space is not only important for your own firing capacity. It's important for your squad as a whole.
Fighting in a 2 tiles corridor is not the same thing as fighting in a wide area such as briefing, hangar, large caves, cargo in Big Red, and so on.
The design of this game is to allow Xenos to be outnumbered and still prevail. They are more powerful than marines, while being fewer. What you can understand from that is that they require less space to kick your ass. If they require less space, that means that they excel in tight areas.
Marines, if they do not focus fire, need roughly 2x tiles more than there are aliens :
Having robustos or good marines at your disposal reduce the need for numbers, but eh, if you land on some days with baldies around you, you'll have to deal with it.
Textbook case : Analysis and decision making
In that case. Where the main forces (Allies and Enemies) encounters, that area becomes the frontline. Every path that can lead around the frontline is considered a potential flank. Always consider that a flank you do not use, can be used by the enemy.
Also, always consider that flanking expose you to new paths, new areas, and news ways to get ambushed/trapped/memed by the Hive (basically anykind of counter-attack maneuvers led by the enemy).
All your tactical decisions : moving, holding, pushing, flanking, retreating include risks. You are gambling every time.
When it's blurry, you have to know at least which are the worst decisions to avoid.
If you have clear vision on the field, know what decision is the best.
Fighting in a 2 tiles corridor is not the same thing as fighting in a wide area such as briefing, hangar, large caves, cargo in Big Red, and so on.
The design of this game is to allow Xenos to be outnumbered and still prevail. They are more powerful than marines, while being fewer. What you can understand from that is that they require less space to kick your ass. If they require less space, that means that they excel in tight areas.
- Xenos master CQC. And even for the spitting castes, they need covers. They need blindspots : to ambush, to attack, to rest, to fall back, to surprise, ...
- Marines do not master CQC, they prefer superior firepower. They need clear lines of sight, they only need covers to protect them from CQC and short-range spitting.
Marines, if they do not focus fire, need roughly 2x tiles more than there are aliens :
- For 1 X-ray, you need two rifles.
- For 2 X-rays ? You need 4.
Having robustos or good marines at your disposal reduce the need for numbers, but eh, if you land on some days with baldies around you, you'll have to deal with it.
Textbook case : Analysis and decision making
► Show Spoiler
In that case. Where the main forces (Allies and Enemies) encounters, that area becomes the frontline. Every path that can lead around the frontline is considered a potential flank. Always consider that a flank you do not use, can be used by the enemy.
Also, always consider that flanking expose you to new paths, new areas, and news ways to get ambushed/trapped/memed by the Hive (basically anykind of counter-attack maneuvers led by the enemy).
When it's blurry, you have to know at least which are the worst decisions to avoid.
If you have clear vision on the field, know what decision is the best.
Territories =/= Killing
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Most people do not understand this, capturing an area doesn't allow you to win : you need to kill too.
If capturing T-fort costed you 15 marines and you only killed one Drone, you already lost. Also, you need to man, defend, protect the territory you conquered.
Conquering territory, and especially, strategic locations is important to create triage centers or firing base to prepare/reorganize your next moves.
Do NOT be afraid of withdrawing.
Do NOT be afraid of pulling back and regrouping.
Losing ground is not a defeat, losing troops for no results is a defeat.
Example : making a blitzkrieg push to kill some X-rays and pulling back before the counter attack.
In that case, keeping the push can only lead your troops to be wiped out, because you have no time to fortify your current location to resist, nor you had the time to remove all weeds / sticky resin. Which mean, you are still fighting on THEIR turf, not yours. You're fighting on THEIR conditions, not yours.
The only notion of territory you can accept is if the area is weeded, or not. A non-weeded area is more difficult for Xenos to attack if marines are prepared.
If capturing T-fort costed you 15 marines and you only killed one Drone, you already lost. Also, you need to man, defend, protect the territory you conquered.
Conquering territory, and especially, strategic locations is important to create triage centers or firing base to prepare/reorganize your next moves.
Do NOT be afraid of withdrawing.
Do NOT be afraid of pulling back and regrouping.
Losing ground is not a defeat, losing troops for no results is a defeat.
Example : making a blitzkrieg push to kill some X-rays and pulling back before the counter attack.
In that case, keeping the push can only lead your troops to be wiped out, because you have no time to fortify your current location to resist, nor you had the time to remove all weeds / sticky resin. Which mean, you are still fighting on THEIR turf, not yours. You're fighting on THEIR conditions, not yours.
The only notion of territory you can accept is if the area is weeded, or not. A non-weeded area is more difficult for Xenos to attack if marines are prepared.
Decision-making as SL
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You're not God. You can make shitty decisions. Shit happens. Last week, I made Delta wipe out almost 3 times in a row, with catastrophic casualties (but some good kills though).
But.. Not making decisions kill your leadership.
And.. Making shitty decisions kill your squad.
However, with learning, with reactivity, with speed, with good tactical insight and understanding of space, you limit the amount of shitty decisions you can make. You can protect yourself and others from those shitty decisions.
When you're pretty sure of yourself, just go. Lead the men.
Just learn from your mistakes, and have fun, it's still a videogame !
Good luck boys.
If you need help ? Ask. And most of all : wear your breath mask.
But.. Not making decisions kill your leadership.
And.. Making shitty decisions kill your squad.
However, with learning, with reactivity, with speed, with good tactical insight and understanding of space, you limit the amount of shitty decisions you can make. You can protect yourself and others from those shitty decisions.
When you're pretty sure of yourself, just go. Lead the men.
Just learn from your mistakes, and have fun, it's still a videogame !
Good luck boys.
If you need help ? Ask. And most of all : wear your breath mask.
Let's focus on flanking maneuvers
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Clearly, you know what is a flanking. But let's make a definition for the dipsh- the curious person that doesn't know what a flanking is : If all attacks made from the front are called pushes, or front attackes, ALL attacks on the rear, or the flanks of your enemy are flankings. Basically, your enemy is set on a determined position and not facing your assault.
Which lead to, the benefits of flanking, and how to flank.
The benefits :
- To remind you, Xenos are not Xenos. They are still human beings behind their PCs. It goes for EVERY videogame. We could never recreate a true hivemind, and therefore (except for sci-fi theories) we could never try to understand nor can't imagine what a hivemind looks like. Every human being is subject to psychological effects : panick, paralysis, routed, bullshittery-funny, anger, humiliation, hatred, frenzy
- A good flanking maneuver lasts less than 180 sec as soon as you are first spotted by one of your targets. Exception if you can be sure that your target is neutralized before it can send an alarm signal.
- Effective strike. Not counting the surprise effect on psychological aspect, flanking means the enemy is not prepared for you. High possibility for many kills, or high-value kills.
How to :
- You do not need an army to flank, a full squad at max is enough. Even only 2 rifles are enough (but they'll probably die in the process). Between 4 and 6 rifles is the best. You have the speed, and you have the firepower.
- You must have a clear idea of the location of the main forces. If you know where is the main force, you know where is the frontline. If you know where is the frontline, you can set the flanking paths you want to use. (A GOOD KNOWLEDGE OF THE MAP IS MANDATORY)
- Time is of essence : the enemy won't wait for you to be flanked. Move your ass, fast, now.
- Even if your firepower is enough, try not to TRAP the ENTIRE Hive. Only prevent one of their fleeing paths. If you trap it completely, you'll siege the hive and risk annihilation when they'll discover you're just a flanking party and not a full force. A flanking is an offensive maneuver, not a sieging, nor a defensive maneuver. It's a counter-offensive, and most of the time, a desperate one. If you are brave enough to flank, do not add additional risks of being wiped out. The USCM still needs you. Just think of it as a gross way to explode a pimple. It has to explode in one way, but it'll lose matter in the process. And that's what you want.
Flanking is a high-risk/huge-reward maneuver.
You'll probably die. Your entire task force gonna die.
But if you succeed, you can cripple the Hive for the entire round, or at least for 1 or 2 hours completely before it regains strength.
Same thing for HvH rounds. Same thing for ALL videogames based on tactics. Same thing for warfare and historical battles (you know I'm French, so the Maginot Line is a good example to illustrate flanking and blitzkrieg at the same time).
Which lead to, the benefits of flanking, and how to flank.
The benefits :
- To remind you, Xenos are not Xenos. They are still human beings behind their PCs. It goes for EVERY videogame. We could never recreate a true hivemind, and therefore (except for sci-fi theories) we could never try to understand nor can't imagine what a hivemind looks like. Every human being is subject to psychological effects : panick, paralysis, routed, bullshittery-funny, anger, humiliation, hatred, frenzy
- A good flanking maneuver lasts less than 180 sec as soon as you are first spotted by one of your targets. Exception if you can be sure that your target is neutralized before it can send an alarm signal.
- Effective strike. Not counting the surprise effect on psychological aspect, flanking means the enemy is not prepared for you. High possibility for many kills, or high-value kills.
How to :
- You do not need an army to flank, a full squad at max is enough. Even only 2 rifles are enough (but they'll probably die in the process). Between 4 and 6 rifles is the best. You have the speed, and you have the firepower.
- You must have a clear idea of the location of the main forces. If you know where is the main force, you know where is the frontline. If you know where is the frontline, you can set the flanking paths you want to use. (A GOOD KNOWLEDGE OF THE MAP IS MANDATORY)
- Time is of essence : the enemy won't wait for you to be flanked. Move your ass, fast, now.
- Even if your firepower is enough, try not to TRAP the ENTIRE Hive. Only prevent one of their fleeing paths. If you trap it completely, you'll siege the hive and risk annihilation when they'll discover you're just a flanking party and not a full force. A flanking is an offensive maneuver, not a sieging, nor a defensive maneuver. It's a counter-offensive, and most of the time, a desperate one. If you are brave enough to flank, do not add additional risks of being wiped out. The USCM still needs you. Just think of it as a gross way to explode a pimple. It has to explode in one way, but it'll lose matter in the process. And that's what you want.
Flanking is a high-risk/huge-reward maneuver.
You'll probably die. Your entire task force gonna die.
But if you succeed, you can cripple the Hive for the entire round, or at least for 1 or 2 hours completely before it regains strength.
Same thing for HvH rounds. Same thing for ALL videogames based on tactics. Same thing for warfare and historical battles (you know I'm French, so the Maginot Line is a good example to illustrate flanking and blitzkrieg at the same time).
Scorched Earth - Tactic - know your classics
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Scorched Earth was first used by the Galllics, during the Gallic Invasion by the Roman Empire. Scorched Earth is either an offensive tactic to deal massive damage to structures/resources/human beings to prevent the defender to regroup/resupply/reorganize their forces. It's also a great defensive tactic against invasion forces. You basically sabotage your own resources fields / infrastructures or shits, while retreating, to prevent the enemy from using it.
You'll say : EH DIPSHITS ! IT'S A 2D SPESSGAME NOT A RTS !
I'll answer you : There are resources in this game that the enemy can use. You are their resources. Every captured marine is another unit for them. Every kill, is resources less for us.
By retreating without losing gear, or men, you are preventing them to access OUR resources.
Remember, stop thinking about territories. Think about units and resources, this way, you'll enlarge your vision of tactics, in general.
A quick succession of pushes/flankings/tactical withdrawals can lead the Hive into distress. They can think they win ground,while they lose units, without gaining units in the process.
You can answer : AND HOW DO I KNOW THAT WORK DIPSHIT ?
And I'll say : already tested it, many times, I'm just making this for you to test it, to improve yourself, to be more confident about being in a leading position. The good decisions, to improve your enjoyment, and the enjoyment of those under your command. Not knowing what to do is painful, stressful. This is a videogame. Be confident, have fun. =)
You'll say : EH DIPSHITS ! IT'S A 2D SPESSGAME NOT A RTS !
I'll answer you : There are resources in this game that the enemy can use. You are their resources. Every captured marine is another unit for them. Every kill, is resources less for us.
By retreating without losing gear, or men, you are preventing them to access OUR resources.
Remember, stop thinking about territories. Think about units and resources, this way, you'll enlarge your vision of tactics, in general.
A quick succession of pushes/flankings/tactical withdrawals can lead the Hive into distress. They can think they win ground,while they lose units, without gaining units in the process.
You can answer : AND HOW DO I KNOW THAT WORK DIPSHIT ?
And I'll say : already tested it, many times, I'm just making this for you to test it, to improve yourself, to be more confident about being in a leading position. The good decisions, to improve your enjoyment, and the enjoyment of those under your command. Not knowing what to do is painful, stressful. This is a videogame. Be confident, have fun. =)
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Here is the lastest example
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Keys to read the following shit :
- BLUE : DELTAS INITIAL ORDERS.
1 : After landing, I ordered my men to hold for 60 seconds South LZ1, time for Comms to be set. As I don't trust dipshits Alphas or Bravos, I send one of my own engineers and briefed him during mid-flight. No APC power module, so we are fucked without comms. Fuck it, let's move.
Our orders were to scout all south part of the colony. All buildings located south LZ1. I decided to make the following pattern : Store, Cargo, Engineering, FIltration, then, double back and go to Southern Research Labs, as per orders.
- ORANGE : SL initiative
2 : Thanks to my awesome motion detector (I used to say it was a useless piece of shit, but now, I love this useless piece of shit, because it's not useless, it's truely useful on early round and late-game bug hunts, also very RP because bee-beep, and you can use it as a gay-dar against Charlies during briefing or during DS1 deployment), we located a motion signal N-E of filtration. Investigating it, we discover a spittah, who tried to spit at us. When saying US, I say 10+ unhappy Deltas. They invited this spitter to join the deadchat for free.
3 : Wait a second, my useless-awesome gay-dar discovered another Contact? Wait ! 2 Contacts ! S-E of Filtration. Destroying the windows south of us, we go chasing them. (Check Lisa's Video, I'll put it the link at the end. The scene is around 0:25 to 0:37).
After exploding the contacts, we heard gunfires N-E of us, which would be considered as the "CUNTS" purple rectangle, as it would later be found as Squad Charlie being mauled by Symbio not-cool Hive hammering South Bar location.
4 : I have 10+ Deltas, we made some good early kills. They are hyped. They are following me. They are strong, I know them, they are all in my sights. ISSUE ORDER : MOVE.
Arriving at the crossroads corridor in middle of Office. Hearing the gunfire North and North East. I'm not joining the frontline. I'm flanking it. ORDERING EAST !
Opening the door first, guns blazing, my awesome breathmask and my tacticool ballistic goggles shining dusty ambience of Big Red. We are facing the rear of the hive, and many Xenos resting after harassing the Cunts Charlies. Emptying my mag (getting screeched and killed in the process), my squad finish the job (look at Lisa Hotshot/Spheretech video, you see the part when she runs on the frontline finishing the queen south Bar, that's that round).
Getting my body rescued by my awesome Scout-Batman spec, I would (re)live to fight another day.
The orange maneuver is considered as a flank. From the moment of the first kill of the spittah and hearing the gun-fires on the Cunts locations to the actual mega-encounter between Hive and Delta.
Total kills :
USCM
FLANKERS : Delta, around 30% Casualties, wounded, KIA, and perma-KIA.
MAIN FRONTLINE : Charlie, unknown, but they were in pretty bad shape for the entire round after that.
Hive
5 T3s
Queen
1 hivelord
And some shits T1/T2
Duration of the maneuver around 60 sec from the moment of hearing the first gunshots and opening the door of east Office, guns blazing.
I wasn't ordered to flank. I was ordered to scout.
But I'm SL. I have a margin of freedom regarding to actions groundside. I'm not a simple boot. I'm here to accomplish Command's objectives, but the means to reach those objectives is mine to follow.
I considered that scouting, means also S&R at the moment the first Xenos spat at us and was considered hostile.
I considered that flanking was important, because the lack of comms would have broken and torn my squad part, and not acting would have doomed Charlies.
My moment ? 1 decision.
Timespan ? 60 seconds to act.
My means ? 10+ rifles.
By following the previous steps, by knowing where to fight. By guessing the approximate main frontline, by understanding that a corridor is not a place to fight, but leads to a wider space to offer a good firing line. By hyping my boys and knowing they woud follow me after that first easy kill.
I controlled most factors in the equation : MANPOWER + FIREPOWER + MORALE + MAP KNOWLEDGE + TARGET LOCATION + SURPRISE EFFECT + LUCK.
Even if I only expected a simple skirmish, I didn't expect the full Hive to be there. But we won, because I had most cards in my hands. I would have had less loyal marines, or less insight on the tactical situation, or less manpower, it would have gone with another Delta round wipe.
- BLUE : DELTAS INITIAL ORDERS.
1 : After landing, I ordered my men to hold for 60 seconds South LZ1, time for Comms to be set. As I don't trust dipshits Alphas or Bravos, I send one of my own engineers and briefed him during mid-flight. No APC power module, so we are fucked without comms. Fuck it, let's move.
Our orders were to scout all south part of the colony. All buildings located south LZ1. I decided to make the following pattern : Store, Cargo, Engineering, FIltration, then, double back and go to Southern Research Labs, as per orders.
- ORANGE : SL initiative
2 : Thanks to my awesome motion detector (I used to say it was a useless piece of shit, but now, I love this useless piece of shit, because it's not useless, it's truely useful on early round and late-game bug hunts, also very RP because bee-beep, and you can use it as a gay-dar against Charlies during briefing or during DS1 deployment), we located a motion signal N-E of filtration. Investigating it, we discover a spittah, who tried to spit at us. When saying US, I say 10+ unhappy Deltas. They invited this spitter to join the deadchat for free.
3 : Wait a second, my useless-awesome gay-dar discovered another Contact? Wait ! 2 Contacts ! S-E of Filtration. Destroying the windows south of us, we go chasing them. (Check Lisa's Video, I'll put it the link at the end. The scene is around 0:25 to 0:37).
After exploding the contacts, we heard gunfires N-E of us, which would be considered as the "CUNTS" purple rectangle, as it would later be found as Squad Charlie being mauled by Symbio not-cool Hive hammering South Bar location.
4 : I have 10+ Deltas, we made some good early kills. They are hyped. They are following me. They are strong, I know them, they are all in my sights. ISSUE ORDER : MOVE.
Arriving at the crossroads corridor in middle of Office. Hearing the gunfire North and North East. I'm not joining the frontline. I'm flanking it. ORDERING EAST !
Opening the door first, guns blazing, my awesome breathmask and my tacticool ballistic goggles shining dusty ambience of Big Red. We are facing the rear of the hive, and many Xenos resting after harassing the Cunts Charlies. Emptying my mag (getting screeched and killed in the process), my squad finish the job (look at Lisa Hotshot/Spheretech video, you see the part when she runs on the frontline finishing the queen south Bar, that's that round).
Getting my body rescued by my awesome Scout-Batman spec, I would (re)live to fight another day.
The orange maneuver is considered as a flank. From the moment of the first kill of the spittah and hearing the gun-fires on the Cunts locations to the actual mega-encounter between Hive and Delta.
Total kills :
USCM
FLANKERS : Delta, around 30% Casualties, wounded, KIA, and perma-KIA.
MAIN FRONTLINE : Charlie, unknown, but they were in pretty bad shape for the entire round after that.
Hive
5 T3s
Queen
1 hivelord
And some shits T1/T2
Duration of the maneuver around 60 sec from the moment of hearing the first gunshots and opening the door of east Office, guns blazing.
I wasn't ordered to flank. I was ordered to scout.
But I'm SL. I have a margin of freedom regarding to actions groundside. I'm not a simple boot. I'm here to accomplish Command's objectives, but the means to reach those objectives is mine to follow.
I considered that scouting, means also S&R at the moment the first Xenos spat at us and was considered hostile.
I considered that flanking was important, because the lack of comms would have broken and torn my squad part, and not acting would have doomed Charlies.
My moment ? 1 decision.
Timespan ? 60 seconds to act.
My means ? 10+ rifles.
By following the previous steps, by knowing where to fight. By guessing the approximate main frontline, by understanding that a corridor is not a place to fight, but leads to a wider space to offer a good firing line. By hyping my boys and knowing they woud follow me after that first easy kill.
I controlled most factors in the equation : MANPOWER + FIREPOWER + MORALE + MAP KNOWLEDGE + TARGET LOCATION + SURPRISE EFFECT + LUCK.
Even if I only expected a simple skirmish, I didn't expect the full Hive to be there. But we won, because I had most cards in my hands. I would have had less loyal marines, or less insight on the tactical situation, or less manpower, it would have gone with another Delta round wipe.
Here is Lisa's/Sheretech video, some part of the example (0:25 to 0:37 and 0:37 to 1:00) illustrate the flanking maneuver : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_mpV9zViUs
Please, notice the awesomeness of my breathmask, I have to admit it's awesome, so please, admit it too, so as to be the tacticoolest and most sexiest SL ever.
Tacticool kisses !
