Cassius guide squadleader

[Cassius]

Cassius guide squadleader.

Leading a squad is a very demanding job, covering many tasks. The squadleader ha to

Communicate with the commander and the team
Assign kits to his squad
Coordinate his own squad,
Employ his squad in an attack defense or other role.
Call in support and coordinate with that support be it addional manpower armor or close air support.
Call in air transport.
Deploy assets.
Call in jdam/artillery
Set markers.


He also has unique equipment such as colored smoke a GLTD and a pistol.

Communcation with the commander.

To communicate with the commander inform your squad to hold coms, tell your call sign and ask the commander to come in (Example: This is squad 7 please come in)
The CO might be listening to somebody else already and cant pay you attention right now.

There are several statusses your squad can be in.

IDLE
defending
attacking
engaging
under attack.
safe

Inform your CO everytime your status changes.

IDLE
Your squad has no task, request orders with the CO.

Defending
Your squad is defending a location , usually as ordered by the commander

Attacking
Your squad is moving in on an objective

Engaging
Your squad is engaging targets

Under attack
This can happen while your squad is on the move or defending
a flag. Hostiles are engaging your squad.

Safe
Your squad is not under attack. Safe is assumed by the CO If you informed your CO before that your squad is under attack and you repelled the attack inform the CO that your squad is safe again.

Inform your commander everytime your status changed, or when you have completed an objective.
Another very important task is to call out each and every target you see and report it to the commander.

Assign kits to your squad

Some kits are crucial, even vital depending on the mission and map, while other kits are merely a good addition.
However there is a usefull standard layout for an infantery squad. Each squad should include a medic and a machinegunner, unless equipment assigned to the squad, like a vehicle equipped with a heavy machinegune, makes the machinegun redundant.
The medic can keep the squad alive and toegether and the machinegun is a very versatile weapon, effective over range, but also excellent to cover door entrances.

However keep in mind that the kits are limited, so try to avoid redundancy. If you expect to meet lightly armored vehicles on open ground, but are assigned a lightly armored vehicle yourself, equipped with a machinegun rely on the vehicle assigned to you to counter such threaths instead of having an squadmember request a rocket launcher.
A squad that is not equipped with an armored armed vehicle, because it airlifts to the objective for example, relies on the rocket launcher for defense against light enemy vehicles.

Consider the topography of the map and the task of your squad to determine a good set up. A marksman might be more important in an open map than in an urban setting for example. Be aware of the strentgh and limitations of each kit and how they fit in your plan/task.

Coordinate your own squad.

You should always divide your squad in fierteams. Either 2 fireteams of equal size, or 2 fierteams of which one fierteam revolves around a kit. The machinegun has a lot of firepower, so you can form a 2 man fireteam around the machinegun instead of having 2 3 man fierteams.
Designate a fierteam leader. Not all situations require to split your team, but sometimes you need to apply tactics like leapfrogging to advance or retreat, when the fierteams are set beforehand you can apply those tactics on the fly.

There are several squad formations and tactics to use with your squad, which are to be discussed in a separate section.
Squad movement is to be discussed later.

Employ your squad in an attack defense or other role.

When you are looking to take and hold a location make sure you clear the area gradually. You do not want to clear out a bunker and take position in it only to find out that the enemy deployed an outpost behind the bunker. Sweep the surroundings of your objective first before you close in on it, if it is possibile and asses the overall situation.
Try to attack from a vulnerable direction instead of moving up an area overwatched by machinegun emplacements, or equip yourself/call in support to take out those emplacements before moving in.

If you need to hold an objective position yourself the way that you have sufficient overwatch. Split up your squad into sentries and rally on the sentry that is making contact.
If you have a building to hide in do not retreat into it right away, maybe there are pieces of cover from which to take approaching enemies under fire. If they close in or armor is being deployed against you, you can always fall back to that last line of defense.

There are many other roles you squad can fill out, like manning assets hunting assets with countermeasure such a santi tank or anti air weapons. Always be realistic about what your squad can or can not do.
For example a team consisting of a squadleader and 2 anti tank gunners can take down armor, but it can not sustain a firefight against an regular infantery squad for long. Lead your squad accordingly.

Call in support.

Generally the squadleader should get all the help he can for his squad, call in for idle support like CAS or armor or additional, infantery, but within reason.

Be on the lookout for treaths to your support units. When you call in armor support have your squad focusing on identifying and engaging AT soldiers, rather than the enemy squad as a whole, which can be engaged by armor. If you need CAS scout out the area for AA and have friendlies overwatch the AA if possible, or at least warn incoming CAS of its presence.

-Coordinating with other squads.

If you call in support before engaging a target, meet up with the support before moving in, so you can move in toegether in strentgh an amassed assault is harder for the enemy to reppel than a series of smaller assaults.
If you are being reinforced upon requesting support becasue you find yourself outgunned retreat to a defensive position, try to inform the reinforcing squad about the location of your enemies and which way they are facing, so that that squad can attack their vulnerable side isntead of moving up to your position facing off against an enemy entrentched into cover.

Maneuvers are to be discussed in a separate section

-Calling in armor.

When you call in armor inform the crew what you need them for, covering fire, offensive fire, transport, resupply, see the apc guide.
If you want to call in an apc to eliminate hostiles assign a grid and kpad from where the apc has a good overwatch position over the squad and a heading relative to the location.
If you want to move the apc to G1 K5 facing west it would sound something like this.

Need apc support at G1 K5 heading west.

But refrain from assigning the apc too much of a forward position when your team does not control the area, as AT soldiers could be around.

To call in precise firesupport on infantery you might want to set an observe marker on the enemy, to forward the exact location to the armor supporting you.

-Requesting Close Air Support and air transport
Before you request CAS be on the lookout for enemy AA. AA can be handheld stationary or a mobile plattform. If the AA is a mobile platform assign the AA as the first target if you can not eliminate it yourself and CAS isnt a pressing matter. If you absolutely need CAS this instant inform at the very least the pilot. A skilled pilot has a good chance to survive AA defenses.
If AA is handheld or stationary have your squad target the AA as CAS approaches.

To request CAS tell the pilot the target the grid the kpad, the weapons you want him to deploy and if necessary the attack direction. Put an observe marker on the target to get his exact position.
If the target is adjacent to a wall the pilot might be unable to target it from a certain angle, if you want a strafing run on infantery damage can be maximized by giving him an attack angle that covers most of the infantery in a strafe.
For example if you want CAS on an enemy infantery unit say following and type it
down as well if you are not a slow typer, even if you have a voice communication channel with the pilot.

CAS enemy infantery G1 K5 strafing run NW.
Alterntavily talk on can be used if it pinpoints the area you need firesupport on better.
It means you describe to the pilot the area you want support in.
CAS on north bunker, the western bunker of the 2, hit the area behind the bunker.
If you call in CAS on enemy infantery you might want to mark your own position by popping colored smoke.

Squad 2: Is CAS avaiable
Pilot: Yes
Squad 2: CAS on North bunker the western Bunker, hit the area behind the bunker with a strafing run


Use your GLTD to laze the target even if unguided weapons are being deployed, since a marker will be visible for the pilot. Push the mouse button to laze, do not hold it down, make sure nobody else is lazing the target. Refresh your laze every 25 sec.
Multiple lazes or lazing too often confuse the missile.

Squad 2: is Cas Avaiable
Pilot: Yes
Squad 2: CAS Enemy APC G5 Kpad 5 Laserguided rocket
Squad 2: Lasing target


If you require air transport move to a safe location first. Your squad should be rallied at the landing zone by the time the helicopter toutches down. The helicopter should be on the ground as shortly as possibile.
If you need the pilot to exactly pinpoint a landing zone, for example if you are on a roof and on the map the pilot can not tell right away which roof in the LZ you are on, or if you need supplies dropped in the vicinity of already present supplies pop colored smoke.

If you want to get deployed by air likewise assign a safe location, it is better to run an extra 200m than getting blown up or taken under fire the instant you dismount.
Remind your pilot to drop a crate upon toutchdown if his helicopter carries once, since you will need one to request kits.

Deploying assets

Only the squadleader can deploy assets. The assets are a firebase AA guns Tanktraps foxholes and machinegun nests.

The most important asset is the firebase. How to deploy it depends on what type of map and game you are playing.
On AAS maps deployed firebases maintain their strategic role for the duration of the game, or at least a long time. On insurgency maps on the other hand depending on where a cache spawns, firebases can become obsolete quickly.

Try to deploy the firebase itself in an area that offers some degree of cover, like in an area enclosed by walls on open maps, like desert maps, try to find a ditch which helps to obstruct the outpost from view, or at least a valley.

Fortifying the firebase is tricky. If you are looking to place the firebase in a remote hidden area you should avoid placing additional assets, to not give away the position.
If the base is on a contested spot, you might as well fortify it and deploy foxholes and the like.

The assets can be delployed in a 200 m radius around the firebase, so instead of deploying machineguns next to the firebase deploy them somewhere where they can effectively take approaching enemies under fire.
If you do deploy machineguns inside a closed location deploy them a good distance away from the entrance they are to cover.

Sometimes the assets you can deploy are more important than the ability to spawn on the firebase.
One reason might be to deploy tank traps to close off a street or passage, another can be the deployment of machinegun nests to surpress insurgents on an open map like operation archer and then there are of course aa emplacements..

If no commander is around you might have to destroy obsolete outposts. Knife the radio 3 times and finish off the base with a flare.

Call in jdam/artillery

Depending on the map after one hour jdam or artillery is avaiable if the team has a commander.

A jdam clears out an area in a huge blast, an artillery strike reapeadetly hits an area. The advantage of the jdam is that the enemy has little warning time, it is effective to clear out infantery and assets, however destroyed assets can still be shoveled back up.

Artillery saturate an area with shells, although infantery is not likely to survive it can still attempt to run for cover, armor has a good chance to survive an ongoing artillery attack if it retreats. However there is a good chance that an artillery strike can first down an outposts and as shells keep hitting it, destroy its base too.

JDAM should be dropped on an unsuspecting enemy. Target soldiers and vehicles with it, rather than the outpost if you can not target both. The oupost should be easily fisnihed after the strike crushed all resistance.
The artillery strike is best used in an ongoing battle, so that the enemy either gets killed by the artillery because he is fixed in position, or he gets killed trying to get away from the shells.

Set markers:

You can set for yourself and the squad markers. Make extensive use of them to coordinate your squad and help your squadmembers orientate. Although the markers sound and look different most are redundant, except for the observe marker. When you set the marker your in game character does not call out the marker, which might be important nearby enemy troops.

Another use of the marker is for calling in fire support. Put an observe marker on the targer you want to call in support for, to look up his exact position on the map.

[BloodyDeed]

Great guide. I especially enjoyed the CAS part. Hope some SL will keep this in mind when they want the correct use of the air support. I rarely see good coordination between the squads and the planes/choppers on the servers.

[Cassius]

Originally Posted by BloodyDeed

Great guide. I especially enjoyed the CAS part. Hope some SL will keep this in mind when they want the correct use of the air support. I rarely see good coordination between the squads and the planes/choppers on the servers.

Amen to that, its hair pulling material and I aint gonna tell where. Oftentimes I end up calling a run on infantery that is shooting the squad to pieces I am in myself without involving the squadlead, with great success I might add.
Maybe some people just prefer to get the kills themselves rather than asking for a strafing run.

[PLODDITHANLEY]

yes great
PR could be sooooo good once i have learnt it all, just feels an awful lot to leran

[excaliber]

great work cass,

problem is getting SL and commanders to do there job.


most just want to go there own way, and most CO ive run across dont know what they are doing.

[Cassius]

Originally Posted by PLODDITHANLEY

yes great
PR could be sooooo good once i have learnt it all, just feels an awful lot to leran

Its not le much, this guide is about 4 pages in word and its the longest I cooked up. Excaliber, usually the people who just want to shoot stuff get bored of PR quick, because if you remove the teamplay aspect you have just a shooter with a dated engine.

[sakils2]

And again Cassius, great guide!

[Cassius]

Thanks please let me know if any of you find something to add edit cut.