ARΣS -=EnM Squad=- Sunday 4th March

[Snakestyles]

Sorry guys I think I messed up that up calling for two squads in round 2

[Hubris]

Hey guys really well played, unfortunately I didn't play v well with the heavy. The whole time I've been preaching a strategy of using the tank like artillery and I drive right into B about 5 times. I'm so sorry about that, I believe we do have a strong armour combo now and we had a good chance to beat these guys. FiB and SSG will no doubt have good armour teams, but we're ready for them.

I think we are mixing well as a team, there is good chemistry amongst us and we adapted quite well to elimination. We just need to keep tightening the screws on our gameplay and we'll be cruising. Good game in the APC Paul, you did a top job. Tehran turned out good for us, armour is not ARES' forte.

In terms of tactics, guys I really do think we're starting to have the upper hand. They didn't have stacked perks, we won firefights and they capped much slower than us, even their own backflag cap at start was slow. Infantry did well to take out their spanners, we can really get an armour hunt going!

We should definitely roll with 3 squads, I don't think any map really suits 2 squads except maybe Metro RU defence. Not to worry Snake you were giving us good support and advice in game, we tried to switch it up and it was either going to work really well or fail. Moral of the story? Never put armour in B.

Next time on Tehran, we go 3, 3, 2. Tank moves to our back flag and drops off the infantry SL for spawns and cap. Then tank all the way along the road for overwatch of their base and B. Tank, APC and infantry pressure B and infantry take the flag while Tank and APC protects from distance. Infantry SL to their back flag. Then catch them in cross fire to B, move up to their back flag with the APC and shut out!

[Phatso]

Hey guys

Had a tough time last night. Had no idea what was happening with my mic, none of my rounds were hitting their targets and it just felt like I wasn't really there. I feel I let the team down as a result and I apologise for that. Don't misunderstand me here, I am not asking for an ass-licking, but I have really delivered a sub-standard level of play lately and it showed proper last night.

Allow me to step down as SL of vangaurd for now please. I am not in the correct head space for it right now.

To the rest of the team however, we showed fucking courage last night in round one. Some unreal defence around B flag and clinical armor work. It was beautiful to see in action. As Hubris said, the team is starting to gel really great now. Lets keep it up and finish up this leg strong.

[Paul]

Yip, I think they had atleast practised that match, no ways they would have chosen it if they didn't. SO considering we had never played it before, to take 1 round I thought was not bad.

It just shows though we need to know at least 3 maps incase we are in a situation like this again. MY preference would be BAzaar, Sienne and Tehran.


Good spannering j0nny, I hope I wasn't too much of an effort to be my monkey

Having said that though here are my positives and negatives for the game


Positives
=========
* Good hustle considering out strats consisted of a 2 minute description by Hubris
* Armour, j0nny did a fantastic job keeping me up and keeping me honest
* We remained pretty calm, if you watch the RivalXFactor video, they also get into a tiz but we didn't even come close to that
* I know this was actually a mistake but we realised that 2 squads weren't working and made the call to change it pretty soon. So I thought that was pretty good adaptability


Negatives
========
* We didn't know the map. If this is going to be one of the maps we will play on we need to learn it like Grand Bazaar and Sienne i.e. routes of attack, defence positions etc
* Didn't take advantage of key points e.g. when we got their APC or when we capped their back flag. We need to learn to identify these and then make a push to get momentum

[s3xy_j0nny]

Yeah, much more enjoyable rounds last night from my perspective. Paul and I work very well in armour together, mainly because we know each other's gameplay without thinking abt it after 6 years in comp teams, and because we have no qualms about telling each other to stop fucking about. I need tank drivers that are prepared to say "Get back in the tank, we're moving fuckface" / "No, dont chase the troops with your rocket, dickhead - spanner the tank". As Paul said, we keep each other's heads on straight.

Positives
=======
Paul face-raped them in the first round - check the KDR's. Best armour performance from the side so far.
As was mentioned - the grit and determination throughout round 1, esp right at the end when we flipped the ticket count and bled them out.
Good calling from Dry, Tyger and H00bs about when to push flags.
Very good coordination between the three squads - good setup for this map.

Negatives
=======
Driving all our armour into the Valley o' Instant Doom at the start of round 2. For future reference: when you have a narrow channel strewn with debris and flanked by higher ground on either side, it is a bad idea to drive your armour up it. The debris makes it hard to manoeuvre, and the enemy engineers can rain rockets on you at their leisure. Glad we learned this lesson so early in the comp, though; now we make sure it never happens again.
To me it felt like after the epic control and perseverance we showed in round 1, we totally lost the plot and gave up in round 2. TOTALLY. We had players whining like little girls and making sarcastic comments. If you lose heart mid match you are useless. If you can only fight your hardest when we are winning, you are not a real soldier. If you let this seep into Mumble, you infect the rest of the team with your despondency. Kill our morale and we have lost already. The time for bitching and complaining about a match is afterwards like I'm doing now. We need to work on team morale so that when we come up against a seemingly unsurpassable defence like last night round 2, it makes us more determined, more fired up, and kicks us UP into the next gear, rather than crushing our spirits and making us give up.

I have some ideas for teh RU side starting strats that I'd like to test. I suggest we prioritise learning and practicing this map because I think it could be good for us.



PS I think we would have destroyed this team on Bazaar.

[Thor_23]

Hey guys,

Most has allready been stated above.
I would just like to say that we could have had these guys were we better prepared and with the level of preparation we had we gave them a very good run for their money, also as stated above everybody on the team is starting to understand everyone else's game style and therefore everyone is playing better together.

Lasty from my side as a Player. the squad I was put in on the second round didnt have a lot of spawning options. I had a better chance of making a difference in the first round when I had better spawn options available. Also I was unclear as to what to do exaclty in the second round and in between all the comunication could not get a reply. the only time I had a straight order was when hubris told me to stay somewhere and after that didnt get any more orders. Also I felt responsible for when we lost C in the second round and I am verys sorry for that

[TygerBS]

Ok good points everyone, seems we all have a few excuses and some very valid reasons.
My self i had a poor game, i couldn't seem to hit anything i was just slow.

I think we played well in that first round considering. Second round the only 2 spawns cost us a bit, and the tanks at B cost us, but hey we had to learn it to know it.

Hubris i think you did great as the tank driver. Yes going into B with the tanks was not the right choice, but we live and learn.
Paul and Jono excellent game both of you. You guys do play well as a team.
Phatty i hear what you saying. For me i just see you have not been playing, or keeping up with the things we have learnt and last night it showed.
I know you are busy man so its understandable. What worries me is that you don't seem very interested in the game right now, you have said on a number of occasions that you don't really enjoy bf3. Well if that is the case then i am not sure you should play, because enjoying the game and having a passion for it is needed for us all to do well.
You are a brilliant player Phatty, you must just decide if you are willing to put in the effort. And no your play was not to blame for us losing, we are all to blame there.

We still seem to lack communication guys and we not listening to each other. We didn't listen to Phatty when they were taking out back flag. I was surprised to hear you guys after the game saying you didn't know we had stolen their apc. We made such a big thing about it.
It is actually frustrating me a bit the not listening. I am an aggressive player so I am often the first on the front line and encountering their players and i call were they coming from, as i did last night and no body responds. We cant have that hey. There were at least 10 occasions last night if my calls had been heard and responded too we could of stopped their assault dead.

[Phatso]

I need to set the record straight quick.

I am currently going through a pretty rough patch at work and IRL. Its been ongoing and has recently boiled over to a complete catastrophe just recently. Its not an excuse, but it is affecting my ability at the moment. I cannot make every practice I want to and am in a shit mood 90% of my week-day evenings. I shouldn't let it affect my gameplay, but the less i play, the worse i get, the more fucked off i get.

I love this game, I really do. Forget my mumblings Tyger, they rage fuelled loads of BS.

I knew BF3 would be a monstrous success and thus invested a bit of money to making my rig capable this time round (not like in BC2). To a great success for the greater part. Alas, my curse followed me and I still have the occasional system issue. I am working on fixing these as much as possible without spending more money, but I am slowly realising that i need to in order to get a crisp experience.

Coupling these issues together and adding that I am too hard on myself and HATE not giving to the team as much as the team gives to me, makes me act, feel and play like a fucking douche. What MAGNIFIES this issue is that the team is gelling so well, i can't stand that my groove is being difficult to find...

I am working on fixing all my issues and will be back to my old self on and off the field soon i hope.

[s3xy_j0nny]

Thanks, Phats, it's good to know where you're coming from, mate. Sort your head and heart, and dont let something like a pc game get in the way of that. We're all brothers and sisters here, in and out of game, so if there's anything you need, let us know, even if it's just a pair of ears to yell at. RL gets overwhelming at times and we all need support. You know if I was there I'd give you a hug, right? I might even slip a tongue in your ear...

[Hubris]

This might be a good time to get a prescription for medical marijuana! Nothing cures you of work stress like a good spliff. I am also wiling in a hectic environment and I swear it's the only thing that gets me even half sociable to play games.

Hang in there Phatty, there are things you need to straighten out in the real world and we can all understand that. Focus on making yourself happier, even if it means a day or two off work or Baggers to just play some D3Beta and have a good chunky monkey session with the misses.

I'm really proud of how far the Baggers have come in 3 months! We have lives, unlike those under 18, and somehow we manage to make it work. If we didn't have each other to laugh with, complain to or get some understanding from it would be a bleak life indeed.

Long story short we love you long time. Make the Phatty happy and we will all be happy