RFH Post match comments

[Thor_23]

not much else can be said that hasnt allready been said....

I also agree that we dont take this too seriously but do however feel we came unprepaired and got our asses handed to us a lot worse than it would have been had we been better prepared.

As for the more important part: The future
I think we need to try and organise as much clannies as possible before end Nov. Coz as soon as Dec hits everyone will be either gone or anavailable and the more experince we can get before hitting season next year will do us good.

So, we need to get team captains asap to get this rolling!

[J_Th4ng]

Just to clarify, my points above were not addressing problems with the in-game performance (clearly I can't give feedback there as I wasn't a player), but rather highlighting my concerns with our approach.

I believe that issues around planning and preparation should be taken seriously now, as they are things that are easily addressed for future games. If we lose to another clan because they are better than us and have superior strategy is one thing, but to not have a chance due to our poor planning and preparation, that's another matter entirely. I have too much pride in my tags to accept them being besmirched by a shoddy performance that's entirely our own fault.

I'm not trying to belabour the point here, but saying that we shouldn't be too critical of what happened last night is wrong IMO. I agree that we shouldn't get fixated on fixing things about individual performances though, because at the end of the day proper planning would have helped us to avoid those individual errors in the first place.

[Megageth]

Agreed with both Ion and Jarrod.
Paul is our captain for the time being, lets give him support and suggestions.

[Paul]

Ok to summarise what pretty much everyone has said we need to do the following


* Prepare better for a match and take each match seriously
* Organise our communication to be more effective
* Practise, Practise, Practise and COMMIT

If we do the above then our growth will be organic and we will then be able to try out some "advanced" strats when the basics are second nature.

[NoMaD]

Hi guys, Hubris here on Nomad's account.

I havn't had internet access at home so I've had to wait to post my response. I've skipped my rant and jumped to possible solutions.

I believe we need some sort of BF3 clan rules / default behaviors to be laid out. Please consider the below as a draft concept that requires on-going clan input.

Call it a policy if you like, but I hope this effort is helpful even if some of the language still carries some mood from last night.

If you don't like the idea, understand that if we don't draw some sort of line in the sand there's no point trying to manage our position in it.


BEING A TEAM PLAYER

* Being a good clan player means you need to put yourself second and the mission first. Protect your teamies, support them and forget the heroics.
* Get involved: play public servers, attend practices and sign up for as many matches as you can! If you don’t, don’t expect to be picked or the first person people squad with on public servers.
* Don’t play public servers by yourself if there are others online, that’s just selfish. If you get asked to join another server, do so. Stop stat padding and start being a team player.
* Use push to talk – we really don’t want to hear your kids screaming or your heavy breathing. Sorry guys
* Don’t be precious about who is going to be the squad leader in public play. Most players don’t fulfil this role properly (setting attack/defend points or leading in any form) so don’t be a d bag about staying in YOUR squad unless you are going to do it properly for everyone. Then again, I know there are times so fun times be had, but not all the time.
* Don’t be one dimensional in any form of play; try out and learn different classes, weapons, vehicles and tactics. Look to see where you can add value and bring solid skills to the table then try to bring something special that is relevant to the team’s needs. This presupposes you are around to bear witness to such needs.
* Attempt to unlock all the ribbons and medals, these are all steps along the road to unlocking better weapons, growing your skills and sharpening your ability.
* Utilize a wide range of weapons, don’t just get sucked into one gun “cos it feels right”. This is especially true when it comes to attachments and the Engineer kit in particular, learn to play with all explosive weapons – you never know when you’ll be required to be proficient in something... exotic.
* Stay competitive in terms of play time and score; pick somebody you are at a similar skill level too (or skill level you aspire to, if you are ambitious) and friend them. Watch your progression, try to learn something and make sure you don’t fall behind. I am trying to follow Anthrax and some other main namers, it's tough going but it's fun and inspiring.

CLAN COMMITMENTS

* Your squad leader must assign you a partner, you need to play with them and stick together come hell or high water. You two are the base fighting unit; if you can’t learn to play together and protect each other selflessly we might as well not play competitively at all.
* All clan players should participate in at least one full Grrr fact finding mission.
A date should be set early in the season to be creative and test strategies on a closed server for at least one hour. This is where players will fool around, come up with new ideas and drill thoughts around squad/vehicle manoeuvres (especially breaching and strongpointing).
* All clan players should participate in routine clan practices, it's only half good if the match players pitch up for practice. We need everyone to get involved and contribute. I think we can make the server unranked soon so this shouldn't be an issue.
A date should be set throughout the season in which players are trialed against each other and specific skills tested for the purposes of selection and skills improvement. Drills to practice complex maneuvers or simply run through typical game routes to get fields of fire right.
* All clan match players must attend Captains practice before a match, unless specifically given leave to do so by the Clan Leader, Captain or Squad Leader. No practice, no play. Reserves must attend all practices to ensure they get practice if someone else skips and to keep up the interest in the game.
A date should be set at least one day before the match in which players work on drilling map specific tactics – like strongpointing this flag or that flag and practicing advanced manoeuvres like a mortar strategy, using armour as cover for an infantry advance, combined air warfare or using a laser designation strike pattern.

MATCH ARRANGEMENTS

* The Clan Leader must provide a high level strategy for the map to be played five days before the match.
* The Squad Leaders must outline a supporting strategy to the Clan Leader three days before the clan match.
* All clan strategies must be recorded in the Battlefield 3 Strategy thread (even if very brief) – no vocal only communication.
* Squad leaders must enforce a pre-match systems and kit loudout check on a server of their choice.
* All clan match players must be online, in voice and with kits loaded up one hour before the match; ready for prematch systems check.
* Breaks may be taken after systems check, but everyone is to be online (at least listening in teamspeak) at a minimum of 20min before the match.


CLAN MATCH RULES

* Never underestimate your enemy, clans are competitive by nature and should always work to improve their game. Grrr might be one of the best social clans, but you/him/her are not the best player and we are not the best clan, ever (humility people).
* Check the date, time, server and password for the clan match you have registered for. Make sure you commit it to memory so you can re-arrange your real life as required. Don’t sign up for a clannie if you have doubts over whether you can play or whether real life is going to send you lemons. Use reserves to cover for you if you have to, but make arrangements clear early.
* Play at least two hours of Battlefield 3 no more than five hours before the clan match. You need to use this time get your mind thinking tactically, get your aim up to scratch and slicken your movement. Try at all times to do this with your squad mates and if possible utilize the set up server to run through patterns and PUMP IT UP!
* Forget your KPD, no one cares about it but you. A good clan player is someone who can go negative KPD to protect their team’s flank, go first into the danger zone or get their team into more advantageous spawn positions. Appreciate players who bite the bullet for you and take a leaf from their book to be a better player.
* Obey your squad leader and hold your tongue. You may not agree with the decisions, but they have been made and you need to fulfil them if any semblance of control is to be maintained. There is always a forum for honest, critical but constructive discussion post-game.
* Be an individual, don’t wait for a squad leaders command to do something that is obvious. Show initiative if you are in a position to flank and potentially trade one ticket for three, do it ten times out of ten. You better deliver on the three tickets though, otherwise you have egg on your face.
* Think for yourself, there’s nothing worse than someone who agrees with everything, is paralyzed by indecision or doesn’t participate in discussion. Air your views, and forget the holy cows. You will earn respect through respectful and constructive criticism.

SOLIDERING EFFECTIVELY

* Soldiering is about risk management in the context of force application. To make this point a little clearer, ensure that you “pie” off areas from cover before moving. You should be minimizing your risk of death as much as possible by looking before leaping and using cover to your advantage. There are tricks related hereto you can do when in the zone.
* Roshambull underpins almost every aspect of BF3 play, especially when it comes to squad and team play. Classes, weapons and perks have a huge impact in the world of BF3. Accept the mechanics of the game. Press your advantage, don’t fight battles you can’t win or on territory you cannot win it on. Don't be afraid of setting traps either.
* When moving as a team, THINK about how you can minimize the squad’s risk and maximize its force application. For goodness sake don’t run two metres directly behind your squaddie – you are asking for a squad wipe. We're all guilty of it. That's why we need to practice routes and manouvers - to stagger and fragment movement/fields of fire.
* When holding an area (strongpointing), make sure that you cover a threat corridor and keep covering it until the squad leader calls it’s time to move on or be relieved. Accept that a player is covering one direction and cover the other, don’t be that guy who forgets his field of fire. Also be clever about where you set up - four guys on top of each other facing different directions fails.
* Don’t throw your ticket away running into the danger zone, unless you absolutely have to take a high risk gamble. Ensure you are supported and have the possibility of a res before risking your ticket in an all-out dash for glory. In other words, only risk your ticket unless you have your team focused behind you.
* Communicate, communicate, communicate.

BE CLASS SPECIFIC

* Don’t be afraid to set up shop and wait for support. You can’t do it all on your own, don’t try. Wait until you have at least one medic (Assault) and one fire support unit (Engineer/Support) before attempting to take an area and be smart about your approach - don't get tunnel vision when chasing an objective, time is on your side.
* Assault players, stay alive! You need to res everyone else, but you need to also be the bulk of your attacking force for flags/positions. This is a tricky balance and you need to learn to let other players do most of the fighting, while you protect and keep them alive.
* Let the Engineers take on the CQB action, their carbines and sub-machine guns are much better suited to run and gun gameplay. That said, there are some really powerful Assault weapons for breaching, but these come at the price of a health pack. The shotguns, C4 and other exotic items must be used in game strategy if deemed good enough to fool or harass the enemy.
* Let the Support player be the base of fire. Cover his flanks and allow him set up and worry about the main threat corridor. No one should be able to overrun your position if he is covering it effectively (proned and scoped up) with a bead at midsection height. You check the windows, buildings and rooms to cover the flanks.
* Your squad leader should decide if you need a Recon player, if you are it, establish spawn beacons and motion sensors in high risk, close quarters areas or behind enemy lines for a quick re-cap. This the an art of camouflage and deceit, to be executed by those with the greatest of skill.
* Breaching priority: Engineer, Assault, Support then Recon. You should be well practiced in this routine and it must become almost unconscious. There must be a delay between Assault and Support element entries and an attempt to use multiple attack routes simultaneously. L shaped defenses, assisted by terrain, are the most effective.

GENERALIZED SQUAD TYPES

Air (Medic ... Mine/AA Engineer ... Support ... AA Engineer)
Armour (Medic ... Mine/Rocket Engineer ... Support ... NoMine/Rocket Engineer)
Anti-armour (Mine/Rocket Engineer ... Mine/Rocket Engineer ... NoMine/Rocket Engineer ... Support)
Anti-air (Mine/AA Engineer ... Mine/AA Engineer ... NoMine/Rocket Engineer ... Support)
Infantry (Medic ... Medic .... NoMine/Rocket Engineer ... Support)
Base of fire (Support ... Recon ... Support ... Recon)
Close quarters (NoMine/Rocket Engineer ... Mine/Rocket Engineer ... Support)
Mixed (Support ... Medic ... NoMine/Rocket Engineer ... Recon)

SQUAD PERKS

Armour/Air (squad explosive, squad flak, squad cover and squad suppress)
Anti-armour/anti-air (squad explosive, squad flak, squad sprint and squad cover)
Infantry (squad sprint, squad suppress, squad frag and squad flak)
Base of fire (squad suppress, squad cover, squad flak and squad ammo)
Close quarters (squad explosive, squad flak, squad ammo, and squad frag)
Mixed (squad ammo, squad flak, squad suppress and squad sprint)

If you can’t bring a squad specialization to the table, bring the individual alternative and for RANK UP please! Target soft medals with the support of teamies if you need to do this quickly.




More sections to come on strongpointing, moving, attacking and flanking based on the outcomes of a fact finding mission. Let’s first get some feedback on this and the practices happening or I’m not going to bother writing anymore sycho:


Some humour to lighten the mood:

http://www.ign.com/videos/2011/11/05/modern-warfare-3-live-action-vet-and-n00b-trailer

[SlipperyDuck]

^ THIS ! ! ! !

[s3xy_j0nny]

Quite a good strategy that worked in BC2 wrt weapon choice for clannies:

There are several guns that can be unlocked for use across all classes (BF3 eg: the PP2000).
Familiarising yourself with the best of these weapons makes you much more versatile wrt changing kits without suddenly having to relearn how to shoot with a different gun.
Clan matches are intense, so the more you can do to keep yourself in a 'comfort zone' when it comes to things like kit loadouts, the more of your brain you can dedicate to on-the-fly decision making and reaction to enemy tactics.

[Megageth]

When playing conquest, if you are on the flag and capping, stay down and stay stealthy. Engage the enemy AFTER you have capped the flag. I have seen many grrr engaging the enemy before the cap is complete, giving away their positions (and mine), trading 1 for 1 ticket and consequently losing the flag. Flags first, frags second.
If you are on the flag and its not turning blue, hunt and destroy/ask for support but otherwise, stay the fuck down, shoot in defence only.

As a reminder, BBH have beaten us a few times with negative KDR's cos they went for flags and we went for kills.

[Paul]

Excellent post Hubris. I have actually been mulling over a kind of player contract. Something that each player who want to play in the league has to agree to. I was just afraid it would sound to FiB'ish.

It is clear through that we need discipline and commitment if we are to get anywhere (and enjoy ourselves) so I will along with the Captains (when chosen) come up with some kind of policy, you have done alot of the ground work though.

[Skouperd]

nice writeup, agreed.