Hive Assault 101
OldManRipper-nC
Join Date: 2003-02-23 Member: 13871Members
Join Date: 2003-02-23 Member: 13871Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Keep your team under control</div> I have seen six heavies march into a hive that should've gone down faster than a one-legged-opposum dies in the middle of a freeway. I have seen them fail to do this many times. Regretably I have been members of said squads on occasion and here are the main reasons things go wrong:
1.) Diversify - 90% of every HA group comes with a HMG as its weapon of choice. This is great for smashing anything but Umbra. In fact, two Fades and a brave Lerk can kill four HA/HMG in a running fight. Thus, commanders need to start diversifying their squads and convincing the whinning soldiers that a shotgun and grenade launcher addition is a good thing. To really organize them put your HA/Shotgun on point, followed by the HA/GL who has his welder out on the march. Bring up the rear with your HA/HMG troops and you have a marching order than won't be easily beaten or slowed by anything.
2.) Discipline - Maintain control of your troopers at all costs, or be prepared to suffer a 200 resource setback that might have broken through one wall-o-llamaism. Make sure to give your soldiers individual tasks. Let them know that the VIP is the HA/GL soldier and that he should be protected if they want to make any progress. Don't forget to have a plan of assault ready and explain it to the squad as they near the hive. Since Eclipse is the most popular of all the maps I shall now use my assault plan for that hive here. I choose to march my soldiers in from Triad and have them jump the railing (welding if webs are present). Have your HMGs and Shotgunners destroy any O chambers located near the resource tower next to the wall. Once this small area is secured have them move into the hive and take position AGAINST the wall. Remember all the reasons you build Turret Factories in a corner? Well, they all apply here, and circle strafing works on player controled marines just as well as it does on turrets. Always keep reminding them to cover each other and assign fields of fire to each squad member. This not only will keep them focused but it will also raise their confidence in your commanding (morale is a dangerous thing). For this assault example lets assume my diversified HA squad is being used (1 shottie, 2 HMG, 1 GL). Have the two HMG soldiers hold the left and right flank covering towards their respective sides while the shotgunner crouches directly in front of the GL marine as his personnal body guard. Crouching allows HA/GL to fire over HA/Shotgun's head while any skulks wanting to attack him have to charge straight through point blank shotgun fire. After this, instruct the GL soldier to open up on any D chambers located within healing range of the hive itself. As soon as these are cleared have him fire directly upon the hive. While this is definately less glamorous than all-out melee combat it is much more reliable and follows the idea of the command chain in Natural Selection. Also, you can easily drop extra health and ammo packs on your soldiers as they are on the whole stationary and easily monitored in this setup.
3.) Hold the Course - Instead of attempting to lock down the hive (assuming it was not the last hive and you did not just win the game) move your soldiers out immediately. If you are really good at multi-tasking and you are on a larger server, have some other soldiers (preferably equipped with JP, assorted firearms, and mines) secure a phase gate location near the next hive. Accomplish this and you can warp your HA squad to the next hive before most of their team has respawned. This will insure a quick victory from a two hive stand-off since you now not only have the HA Triangle in action but very flashy and distracting jetpackers zooming about (and probably dying). This makes for a grand finale and gets the game over with without many complaints from either side.
Ok guys, class is out now. Go out there and practice teamwork in the face of adversity. Makes the game all the more exciting.
-OldManRipper
1.) Diversify - 90% of every HA group comes with a HMG as its weapon of choice. This is great for smashing anything but Umbra. In fact, two Fades and a brave Lerk can kill four HA/HMG in a running fight. Thus, commanders need to start diversifying their squads and convincing the whinning soldiers that a shotgun and grenade launcher addition is a good thing. To really organize them put your HA/Shotgun on point, followed by the HA/GL who has his welder out on the march. Bring up the rear with your HA/HMG troops and you have a marching order than won't be easily beaten or slowed by anything.
2.) Discipline - Maintain control of your troopers at all costs, or be prepared to suffer a 200 resource setback that might have broken through one wall-o-llamaism. Make sure to give your soldiers individual tasks. Let them know that the VIP is the HA/GL soldier and that he should be protected if they want to make any progress. Don't forget to have a plan of assault ready and explain it to the squad as they near the hive. Since Eclipse is the most popular of all the maps I shall now use my assault plan for that hive here. I choose to march my soldiers in from Triad and have them jump the railing (welding if webs are present). Have your HMGs and Shotgunners destroy any O chambers located near the resource tower next to the wall. Once this small area is secured have them move into the hive and take position AGAINST the wall. Remember all the reasons you build Turret Factories in a corner? Well, they all apply here, and circle strafing works on player controled marines just as well as it does on turrets. Always keep reminding them to cover each other and assign fields of fire to each squad member. This not only will keep them focused but it will also raise their confidence in your commanding (morale is a dangerous thing). For this assault example lets assume my diversified HA squad is being used (1 shottie, 2 HMG, 1 GL). Have the two HMG soldiers hold the left and right flank covering towards their respective sides while the shotgunner crouches directly in front of the GL marine as his personnal body guard. Crouching allows HA/GL to fire over HA/Shotgun's head while any skulks wanting to attack him have to charge straight through point blank shotgun fire. After this, instruct the GL soldier to open up on any D chambers located within healing range of the hive itself. As soon as these are cleared have him fire directly upon the hive. While this is definately less glamorous than all-out melee combat it is much more reliable and follows the idea of the command chain in Natural Selection. Also, you can easily drop extra health and ammo packs on your soldiers as they are on the whole stationary and easily monitored in this setup.
3.) Hold the Course - Instead of attempting to lock down the hive (assuming it was not the last hive and you did not just win the game) move your soldiers out immediately. If you are really good at multi-tasking and you are on a larger server, have some other soldiers (preferably equipped with JP, assorted firearms, and mines) secure a phase gate location near the next hive. Accomplish this and you can warp your HA squad to the next hive before most of their team has respawned. This will insure a quick victory from a two hive stand-off since you now not only have the HA Triangle in action but very flashy and distracting jetpackers zooming about (and probably dying). This makes for a grand finale and gets the game over with without many complaints from either side.
Ok guys, class is out now. Go out there and practice teamwork in the face of adversity. Makes the game all the more exciting.
-OldManRipper
Comments
[Edit] Yes, micromanagement should not be over-prioritized, which is also true for RTS. Showing medpacks may be essential if the hive is going down in 10 seconds, but it can cost you the game if you ignore the whole picture for 5 minutes. [/Edit]
Great tips, you Ripper!!
Especially the do-not-lock-the-recently-destroyed-hive-down-but-build-a-PG-near-your-HA-and-one-near-their-next-hive! I wonder why I didn't got on that one untill now...
in 1.04, attacks are not silenced, and being in HA, the marine should not die ebfore the skulks does.
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->To really organize them put your HA/Shotgun on point, followed by the HA/GL who has his welder out on the march. Bring up the rear with your HA/HMG troops and you have a marching order than won't be easily beaten or slowed by anything.
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
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