Sometimes it's better to run away.

Rudd · 2015-11-27, 15:37

This is one thing that gamers do very badly, there may be several reasons for this. I personally believe it's simply because gamers want their satisfying moment of action, pew pew pew even if it's probable this will end with their ingame demise and little to show for it.

A classic example of this was on Kashan Desert last night.

We were the USA team and hadn't deployed particularly well, this meant the MEC seized the advantage and quickly positioned their IFVs and two TOWs to prevent any USA vehicle from approaching the bunkers.

Team layout was thus
3 infantry squads
2x IFVs

My squad built a FOB in north village with a ready built AA and TOW, but were ordered to advance to the villa, so we did so and got a new FOB up there. At this point I discovered the IFVs and TOWs ready to pulverise anything that moved, the TOWs were not descrimatory either and were happy to bombard infantry.

We remained for about 5 minutes putting fire down as able, but I decided to give it up and pull back before we lost too many tickets. I informed the 2 other infantry squads what I was doing and ensured I'd marked the enemy units that I'd seen on the map then we got into our defensive position.

The rest of the infantry decided to stick it out and slowly but surely their kill:death ratios went from 1:1 to 1:3 and worse (I shudder to think how many tickets lost to revives).

Seeing that the team wasn't going to listen to reason my squad did some mortar work and awaited an opportunity to actually do the enemy some harm, we had a fun little firefight with some enterprising airbourne infantry at the gas station in the meanwhile.

Then the moment arrived, the Bradleys swung in from the north, my squad quickly advanced in some dead ground and put fire down on a TOW, it was preoccupied which allowed the bradleys to hit it from the rear, then set about destroying it's associated squad, my squad quickly ropped into the bunkers and neutralised the flag, air supply was forthcoming and suddenly we were in the bunkers with a valid spawn point we didn't even lose anyone on the way in.

The fighting intensified and ended up being 105 loss for us, but our squad ended up killing more than the APC squad, dying less than any infantry squad, the only squad to move a flag, the squad the built the most FOBs...

The moral of the story is that sometimes, running away is the best idea; fight on your own terms instead of the enemy's.

Ideally the entire team would have followed our lead, forcing the MEC to fight us on our terms away from their fortifications which would allowed us to counter attack with much less difficulty.

Cavazos · 2015-12-01, 03:39

Yep. Ideally there's a lot of things that can go better, but running away is something more squads can practice doing in-game. I rarely see squads using it as a tactic.

communistman · 2015-12-30, 03:19

I agree. It seems people have an anxiety about making sure they get that exciting moment, and so now they're suddenly ready to rush to their death as soon as bullets start flying. I think the less violence and confrontation you use to achieve your objectives, whether a flag capture or a cache disposal, the more skilled a player and leader you are. This doesn't mean you default to avoiding violence--you will need to use extreme and sustained violence at times. But generally, on both the individual and squad scale; If you are being engaged first, something has already gone wrong and you need to get in cover and probably disengage to either withdraw from the area, or to approach the enemy from a new direction.

2015-11-27, 15:37	#1
Rudd Retired PR Developer Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 21,157 United Kingdom Location: Brighton Blog Entries: 2	Sometimes it's better to run away. This is one thing that gamers do very badly, there may be several reasons for this. I personally believe it's simply because gamers want their satisfying moment of action, pew pew pew even if it's probable this will end with their ingame demise and little to show for it. A classic example of this was on Kashan Desert last night. We were the USA team and hadn't deployed particularly well, this meant the MEC seized the advantage and quickly positioned their IFVs and two TOWs to prevent any USA vehicle from approaching the bunkers. Team layout was thus 3 infantry squads 2x IFVs My squad built a FOB in north village with a ready built AA and TOW, but were ordered to advance to the villa, so we did so and got a new FOB up there. At this point I discovered the IFVs and TOWs ready to pulverise anything that moved, the TOWs were not descrimatory either and were happy to bombard infantry. We remained for about 5 minutes putting fire down as able, but I decided to give it up and pull back before we lost too many tickets. I informed the 2 other infantry squads what I was doing and ensured I'd marked the enemy units that I'd seen on the map then we got into our defensive position. The rest of the infantry decided to stick it out and slowly but surely their kill:death ratios went from 1:1 to 1:3 and worse (I shudder to think how many tickets lost to revives). Seeing that the team wasn't going to listen to reason my squad did some mortar work and awaited an opportunity to actually do the enemy some harm, we had a fun little firefight with some enterprising airbourne infantry at the gas station in the meanwhile. Then the moment arrived, the Bradleys swung in from the north, my squad quickly advanced in some dead ground and put fire down on a TOW, it was preoccupied which allowed the bradleys to hit it from the rear, then set about destroying it's associated squad, my squad quickly ropped into the bunkers and neutralised the flag, air supply was forthcoming and suddenly we were in the bunkers with a valid spawn point we didn't even lose anyone on the way in. The fighting intensified and ended up being 105 loss for us, but our squad ended up killing more than the APC squad, dying less than any infantry squad, the only squad to move a flag, the squad the built the most FOBs... The moral of the story is that sometimes, running away is the best idea; fight on your own terms instead of the enemy's. Ideally the entire team would have followed our lead, forcing the MEC to fight us on our terms away from their fortifications which would allowed us to counter attack with much less difficulty.

2015-12-01, 03:39	#2
Cavazos Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 447 United States of America	Re: Sometimes it's better to run away. Yep. Ideally there's a lot of things that can go better, but running away is something more squads can practice doing in-game. I rarely see squads using it as a tactic.

2015-12-30, 03:19	#3
communistman Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 122 United States of America Location: CA	Re: Sometimes it's better to run away. I agree. It seems people have an anxiety about making sure they get that exciting moment, and so now they're suddenly ready to rush to their death as soon as bullets start flying. I think the less violence and confrontation you use to achieve your objectives, whether a flag capture or a cache disposal, the more skilled a player and leader you are. This doesn't mean you default to avoiding violence--you will need to use extreme and sustained violence at times. But generally, on both the individual and squad scale; If you are being engaged first, something has already gone wrong and you need to get in cover and probably disengage to either withdraw from the area, or to approach the enemy from a new direction.