[BF2: Project Reality Mod] Art-of-War: Squad Leader Strategies

[Drayu]

Hey all, thanks for taking the time to read my take on squad leader strategies in the Project Reality Mod! Project Reality is just a wee different (insert sarcasm) from BF2, it is reality based so you have to be more careful! The squad leader has been reworked, as has the commander, so read up and take note....this mod rocks if you give it time! If you disagree, post your strategies in a similar manner after this post, don't start a new thread and I will edit mine with ideas that I grab from you :D ! Enjoy.


Initial thoughts
I can never say this enough, so I will say it again, as with any other part of the chain of command, the squad leader MUST use VOIP!!! Without VOIP communication, saying what you expect of your squad is nearly impossible! The squad leader must fill many roles! The squad leader should never be the first into battle, should never be point man, and should never be in the mix unless absolutely necessary! The squad leader plays an intergral part of the team and should except those responsibilites when becoming a squad leader! The ability of the squad leaders affect how the commander can do his job, and ultimately the outcome of the game! The commander relies solely on the squad leaders for requests for artillery and supply crates.

Starting a squad
Before making a squad, take into account what you want from your squad and name the squad appropriately. If you like to defend more than attack, name the squad DEFENSE. If you like to be a frontal attack squad, name the squad FRONT ATTACK. IF you like to flank the enemy, name the squad Flanking Attack. You get the drift, now let others understand what they are getting into. I like to name my squad VOIP ONLY. That tells people joining that I like to use VOIP. I talk with my squad and the commander ALOT, and I expect the same from them!

Roles of a Squad Leader
The squad leader has many roles in the game, he is a vital part of the campaign to win for his/her side. The roles that a squad leader should play are:

1. Spawn point! You should never put yourself in the position of being the first into battle, being point man, or trying to suppress an onslaught. More than likely as a squad leader you are trying to take a flag with your squad. If you have managed to traverse the entire map to get to the flag you need to take, and you suddenly die b/c you charged in first puts your squad at a disadvantage. One of two things will happen, your squad will hopefully come to your rescue and revive you, or they will die trying to revive you instead of capping the flag. After your death the squad can't spawn on you, this means you not only just wasted the time it takes to get to the flag, but all the tickets that were lost during that time. When trying to cap a flag as a squad leader you should HANG BACK! Be a mobile spawn, don't stay too long in one place, keep yourself alive so that your men/women can spawn on you and take that flag! This role is incredibly important when trying to take flags!

2. A squad leader also needs to be a communicator! You need to have VOIP running, and you need not to be afraid of using it! Talk to your squad and tell them what you are going to do, how you are going to do and what you need in your squad (ie, medic, supply, assault, etc). Tell them what the current mission is and MARK IT ON THE MAP! Communication with your squad is just not in VOIP, but also in giving them directions via the map (that is why it is there). You should also be constantly talking to the commander, relaying info to your squad about what is happening elsewhere and what to expect. Communication with the commander should be ongoing, and not only in VOIP, you should also be calling in Supplies, and Arty when necessary! This is the only the commander can place assests where they need to be (Remember: in Project Reality, the commander can not drop arty or supplies on his own, he needs the squad leaders to call them out!)

3. Strategist. You should always be looking at your minimap and full screen map trying to decipher a strategy to get from point A to B. Use the "T" and "Q" compass rose to give orders quickly. You should know your maps well. Let your squad know when they should all get on a flag, or when they should scatter and take up positions. You should take the directives from the commander and figure a way to get it done.

How to Communicate: Using the "T" and "Q" rose
"Q" rose: http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/th_Qrose.jpg (http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/Qrose.jpg)
1. Use the "Q" rose to spot enemies for your squad (and team). A little hint: you don't have to choose spotted and then right click to choose what you see, just aim at the target and click spotted, it will auto identify what you are seeing!!!
2. Use it to call for a medic when you are in need, or to call for ammo.
3. The "Q" rose has other communication possibilities, but if you are using VOIP you won't need them for your squad. Use them to direct people around you.

"T" rose: http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/th_Trose.jpg (http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/Trose.jpg)

This is possibly the most important tool for a squad leader to use on a regular basis! I use it to send squad orders and request arty or supplies from the commander. Using this tool is a must, and you should learn it early on!
1. Use the "T" rose to give out quick direction to your squad mates without having to go into the map to click points to move/attack/defend. As you can see in the following pictures, I use the "T" rose to tell my squad where to move (this is the same technique as for defend and attack). The crosshairs of the weapon you are using (or the carrot of the binocs) are the point at which the smoke is popped. (notice the different move points I issued and their relation to my weapon.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/th_1.jpg (http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/1.jpg)http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/th_2.jpg (http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/2.jpg)
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/th_3.jpg (http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/3.jpg)http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/th_4.jpg (http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/4.jpg)
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/th_5.jpg (http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/5.jpg)http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/th_6.jpg (http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/6.jpg)
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/th_binocmove.jpg (http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/binocmove.jpg)


Continued in next post due to length limit

[Drayu]

Continued from previous post
2. Use the "T" rose to request arty or supplies. Just as with the move/defend/attack commands, wherever your crosshairs are pointing is the spot at which the request will be sent. As you can see in the following pictures (I like to use binocs as squad leader when I know I am calling in arty), the location of arty request is relative to where my crosshair/carrot is pointing. Also, you can request arty a large distance away just by pointing at a tall building in the distance (last example)
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/th_arty1.jpg (http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/arty1.jpg)http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/th_arty2.jpg (http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/arty2.jpg)
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/th_arty3.jpg (http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/arty3.jpg)http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/th_arty5.jpg (http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/arty5.jpg)
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/th_arty6.jpg (http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/arty6.jpg)http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/th_arty7.jpg (http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c87/drayu01/Project%20Reality/SL%20Tactic%20Guide/arty7.jpg)
(yes, I edited the commander name b/c I didn't want to give away my undercover admin name :D )


Communication with Commander
As a squad leader you should be constantly communicating with the commander. You should be giving him what you are doing, your location, and your squad number. It is very important to communicate as a squad leader.

1. Your first goal should always be to communicate with your commander. When communicating say your squad number and what you are doing, "This is squad 4, we need directives". It is very important to say your squad so the commander doesn't have to see which squad is talking and then decide what to do. In case you are unaware, when the commander is in the commanding screen he can not see the VOIP signal. He can only see who is talking if he looks at the squad part of his screen. When there are 9 squads, it is hard to determine, so by giving your squad number you make decision making easier.
2. When the commander gives you a directive, you should ACCEPT it and then complete it!!! If you feel that you can not do the assigned directive, just don't deny it! There is nothing more frustrating for a commander than to be constantly denied by squads (believe me :( ). The better course of action should be to USE VOIP and say why you have to deny their directive. I commonly will say, "This is squad 4, sorry commander we can't accept b/c we are defending this flag" or "This is squad 4, sorry commander we are on the other side of the map, can you give us a different directive?". PLEASE JUST DON'T DENY THE COMMANDER WITHOUT REASON!!!
3. You should also be relaying what info you see on the field to the commander. Sometime I may be on a building top trying to go for a flag, and if I see enemy movement to another flag, I will tell the commander that they are going that way and that he may want to get some defense there.
4. You should be calling in requests to your commander. The commander only has so much vision, and can not always anticipate where things are needed. Requesting arty or supplies helps the commander put those assests where they are needed. Before going into a flag that you see is loaded with enemy, you may want an arty strike before you rush it...call it in!
5. Request additional squads to your position if you need help! Tell the commander that you need help taking a flag. "This is squad 4, can we get another squad here to help us defend/assault this flag? Squad 6 is nearby"


Additional Tactics and Advice
1. If your squad isn't full, INVITE PEOPLE IN TILL IT IS!!! NEVER LOCK A SQUAD THAT ISN"T FULL!!!! I understand that there are times where you want to just talk with friends, use TS for that. A full squad is a dangerous squad!!!!!
2. You should be telling your squad mates what you need in your squad. "Okay guys, I need a medic, a supply, etc..." or "We have an apc here, spawn in AT". Don't let your squad be one type of squad, ie: spec ops, AT, etc... change your make up with the mission at hand. BUT ALWAYS HAVE A MEDIC!!! I like to play as medic so that I can revive my squad if they get hit, but more important if I get hit they can pick up my kit and revive me!
3. When telling your squadmates what you need in the squad, remember that in PR there are several kits that are limited. Make sure that before you leave a spawn point, proximity to friendly APC, or proximity to a friendly supply crate that you request these kits (Sniper, Support, Anti-Air, Heavy AT). Once you leave the area you will not be able to request these items. If your squad member dies while using a kit you feel your squad needs, direct another squad mate to pick it up or do it yourself! For more info on kit limiting see this link: http://guide.realitymod.com/index.php?title=Kit_Limiting
4. Always take the road less traveled as a squad. Don't try and rush the middle, it will more often than not getting you killed. Circumvent enemy troops and hit em from behind.
5. If you are in a vehicle and it fills up do one of two things: Get out so the squad can spawn on you or tell them to wait until you are closer to your destination to spawn...then jump out and let them spawn on you. If you are in a vehicle, and there is lock on you, get out and run! You are better off alive! If the vehicles survives, they can always pick you back up!
6. When you are too close to an object, sometimes your squad mates will not be able to spawn on you, make sure they can by asking, "can you spawn on me?"

[Multiplex]

Nice guide!