I know this is probably more material for Tales from the Front, but this round was epic enough that I think it merits a discussion of what is possible and works tactically in Project Reality (also bears mentioning that the following was accomplished WITHOUT USING MUMBLE):
I just finished a two-and-a-half hour round on Karbala as commander of the US forces (this was on the Hardcore clan Insurgency+2 server). US ended up winning 79-0. Yes. You read that right. U.S. won a round on Karbala.
During the briefing, I outlined the guiding strategy for the round, which remained the strategy throughout the entire round:
-The entire team (except for me and the two littlebird pilots) ideally moves as one cohesive unit at all times.
-When a cache is not yet revealed, the team will move to a point far away from the city and establish an FOB, defending this point until fortified with all members accounted for. From here, the team goes out for full-group search raids on small sections of the city (Northwest village, North Mosque compound, Refinery compound, Warehouse compound, etc.)
-When a cache is revealed OR RPG's are detected, the entire team mounts onto vehicles, moves close to the suspected cache area, and deploys infantry into the area while the vehicles provide cover fire. If enemy technicals are detected and destroyed, Littlebird CAS is called in for surgical strikes. Continue until area secured or cache destroyed.
-Immediately upon destruction of a cache, the team gathers infantry onto the vehicles (unless FOB is close to strike zone) and retreats to the nearest FOB to regroup and refortify. Hopefully the act of killing the caches defenders would give enough intel to reveal another cache; if not, repeat point 2 of the strategy.
-FOB's and staging areas are always located outside city limits; long sight-lines drastically reduce the effectiveness of bomb cars, RPG's, and traps. Vehicles and Littlebirds do not deploy deep into the city unless guided by UAV support.
The strategy held constant the entire round, and the insurgent team was only able to mount an effective defense for two of the caches. Littlebird strikes accounted for two of the caches, all but the last one were killed by infantry, the last one was mine
.Several notes on the round:
-We never lost a stryker in the course of the 2.5 hour round; massive credit is due to =]H[='s fantastic crew squad, which not only got a final score of 13375 points, but ferried much of the team's infantry to objectives.
-Many, MANY bomb car and technical attacks were attempted, but reportedly were greeted by four or more .50 cal turrets and fifteen or so assault rifles. We always had a logi truck on hand to repair the APC's when they took damage from RPG's, and the drivers never took the vehicles deep into uncharted territory; I always had the armed hummers take point on convoy drives.
-We lost six Littlebirds over the course of the round, accounting for a fair amount of the team's ticket loss, but between their proficiency and my Forward Air Control work, we accounted for a great deal of insurgent casualties, escorted convoys, performed timely air support, and even took out two caches.
-With five caches destroyed, the U.S. team had 170 tickets.
-The most expensive cache assault was the seventh cache, which was located near the center of the map and within city limits. The US team drove into the area and found themselves besieged by Molotov-wielding rooftop dwellers, mine traps, and a three-pronged attack by a hideout to the north, hideout to the southwest, and the cache area to the southeast, as I watched somewhat helplessly from my UAV. We were fortunately able to cut losses and destroy the cache just after I sounded the retreat.
-Two Insurgent mortar attacks hit us well, but not really hard; one of my teammates and I were smart enough to keep track of the mortar strike interval and made sure not to have everyone waiting in an FOB when the INS had one available. Commanders hoping to implement this strategy in their next Insurgency round are advised to keep a good eye on the clock.
One of the =]H[= clan members was awesome enough to record the entire round (no battlerecorder footage, unfortunately), so expect a video from them shortly! I got to work with some really great clan members and some excellent pubbers that round.
Thank you, everyone involved in that round, for combining your various qualities to make that round the most epic experience I have ever had in a video game.
Those of you who are inspired by the media of this experience to command, you would do well to refer to my priority list as commander, which creates a lot of success for me:
Priority one: Facilitate the distribution of intel. This requires squad leaders who are willing to report their contacts; the better you do this job, the greater an overall picture you and your squad leaders get of the battle as a whole. Oftentimes in public games, this is all you can do.
Inform first, give orders later.
Priority two: When applicable, communicate with air assets as much as possible, particularly gunships and bombers. A team will like you a lot more if you relay air strike requests and give grid references for the pilots; your pilots will like you a lot more if you use Priority one's intel to keep them aware of anti-aircraft dangers.
As you become more familiar with aircraft handling and their threats, you can use information to give much more specific data to the pilot needed for an attack run. Knowing that they need to hit a spot that might be lasered in B5kp3 is different from being told to make an east-to-west high speed pass on a insurgent holdout, with observers attempting to mark moving vehicle targets with GLTD's, and also being told to egress to the north after completing the strike to minimize ground fire. The more questions answered, the more comfortable the pilot, and the more effective the strike.
Priority two-A: Report vehicle health to asset squads. You have detailed information about the hull integrity of that Bradley that just got hit in the front armor by an RPG; they only know that they just got hit by an RPG. If you see it go down suddenly, advise them of their status and to fall back for repairs.
Priority three: Designate clear and attainable strategic objectives for the team. If you want to be able to do this throughout a round, you must do so immediately and in teamchat during a briefing, so that everybody on the team knows what's up. If squad leaders disagree, hear them out and argue your case, you have a minute or so during the briefing before people are mobile.
This also requires an intimate knowledge of the map and risk areas. Often the difference between an okay commander and an excellent commander lies in knowledge of the battlespace.
Priority four: When multiple squads are operating in concert to accomplish your objectives, facilitate mutual support. This is absolutely critical to keeping the focus of a team-wide assault. For instance, if you have two strykers (in one squad) and two infantry squads attacking a cache, declare (with a comm to all squad leaders) that the strykers are to hold and provide covering fire for the infantry units while they advance into the suspected cache area. Done correctly, this will minimize casualties; if teammates die less when following your orders, count on them following your orders. (Conversely, if your orders generate more-than-acceptable casualties, expect mutiny)
Things to avoid:
-Micromanaging individual members of squads, or giving orders that split a squad. Remember two things: one, that's the squad leader's prerogative, two, you are more aware of the large-scale situation and less aware of the situation from the squad's perspective. If there is a threat to the squad that they have not accounted for, do not order them to engage; rather, advise them that there is a threat from (relative cardinal direction).
The exception to this rule is when squads are operating in mutual support and request assistance of specific types. In this case, tell the squad whose support is desired that they're needed to do "blank". If they are too heavily occupied, it's not the end of the world; just deliver the bad news to the squad needing help, or try and find another squad to help out.
-Report unconfirmed or outdated contacts incorrectly. This is more of a subtle thing; if you present intelligence that turns out flawed, squad leaders will trust you less.
The trick here is in the language of your report:
"Squad two, be advised, there may be a technical to your west."
"Squad two, be advised, we have recent unconfirmed reports of technical activity to your west; be on the lookout."
The latter sentence is a little wordier, but if that technical is not reported as an immediate threat, you have time for words. It tells the squad leader everything they need to know based on what you know: Somebody else recently sighted and reported a technical operating west of their position.
-Lose mindfulness of your role. You are more supervisor than manager as far as your team is concerned. Different teams will require different things from their commander.
