Top Commander Mistakes
HeXetic
Join Date: 2003-01-17 Member: 12423Members
Join Date: 2003-01-17 Member: 12423Members
<div class="IPBDescription">I give 10; rate mine and add your own</div> There are a number of failures any commander (and many commanders) make in their overall game strategy. I decided to make a little list, for my benifit (to make sure I don't make them!) as well as for the benefit of anyone else who needs a not-to-do list when commanding.
In no particular order:
<b>1. No strategy</b>
The commander must at all times maintain a clear vision of victory. Will you try to seize one hive then seige a second? Will you try to grab resource nodes like mad and rush to heavy armour? Will you rush the enemy's first hive? Whatever your strategy, you must keep it in mind, and - more importantly - you must have one!
<b>2. No idea what the next step is in the strategy</b>
There are a number of steps in every strategy, and you need to remember what the next one (or next few) steps are. If you don't accomplish the next step, how can you expect to accomplish the strategy as a whole?
<b>3. Excessively micromanaging your marines</b>
Micromanaging your marines involves constantly watching over them, giving them constant instructions relevant to where they are, watching for aliens around them. This isn't bad <i>per se</i>, but when you do it so much that you forget about other things like finances (either not securing enough resource nodes or not using the resources you have), other map locations (aliens can and will be where your marines are not), and even your base (a steady stream of lone skulks is no real threat to most bases, but their harassment and nuissance will slow down your marines and your production).
Good marines will help you when you're micro-ing too much by pointing out stuff you may have missed (e.g. "Commander, we've got almost a hundred resources. How about some turrets in the base to slow down the skulk harassment?" or "Commander, they're building a wall of lame at the backdoor!" or even "Commander, we're up against fades here, how about some frickin' weapons upgrades?") but as we all know, good marines are often in short supply. Consciously pull yourself away from where the marine action is for a few seconds to glance around. Just like a good driver will continuously check his mirrors and dashboard (speed, rpm), so a good commander should check his hud (resources), his map (enemy locations) and even check in with his players: many marines will spot something important but not report it either because they think the commander's too busy, or he already knows about it, or they're just meek. Encourage your marines to point out important stuff like easily defensible resource nodes you may have missed, locations of enemy fortifications away from where the main battle is, etc.
<b>4. Excessively micromanging your base</b>
Natural Selection is <i>not</i> SimCity. You don't get awards for a nice base, especially not when your marines have no idea what they should be doing because you're too busy building structures. It's important to keep a good base, of course. And when the time comes to build important structures (more portals, a turret factory, upgrade structures), then they should be built. But the building should not be to the detriment of your marines' sense of purpose. If you think that nothing can be done until you start handing out jetpacks so your marines can fly past chambers, that doesn't mean your marines should just be standing around in the meantime. Chances are they can go and do something while you're waiting for the jetpack upgrade and the money to build them.
<b>5. Forgetting the strategic golden rule</b>
The golden rule of strategies is: <i>No strategy survives the first encounter with the enemy</i>. If your strategy fails and fails again, don't be quick to blame shotty marines (though that may certainly be the problem). Consider changing your strategy, or at least reconsidering it. We all like to blame others for our group's problems, especially if we're in charge. If your marines are struggling tooth and nail to hold onto a hive, maybe you've got shotty marines, but maybe <b>you've</b> done something wrong. Maybe there aren't enough turrets, maybe they're badly placed. Maybe the aliens are just trying to distract you long enough for their gorge to seize the other free hive. Whatever the cause may be (and you may not always know), try a strategy shift. The axiom "if at first you fail, try, try again" still holds true: try again a couple of times, but if it continues to fail, then try something different.
<b>6. Forgetting who's in charge here</b>
You are the Commander. You are The Man. You control the horizontal and the vertical. Go and watch the movie "Full Metal Jacket" (dir: Stanley Kubrick). See how the senior drill instructor, Gunnery Sargeant Hartman, treats his recruits; "You are the lowest life form on earth. You're not even human f-ing beings." Bad marines should be treated as such. You tell them what to do, and if they don't do it, then tell them to do it again, only more forcefully. Yell at them over voice chat if necessary. Tell them to stop whining for a shotgun in the first 5 minutes of play because the first (and last) time you gave it to them, they died in 5 seconds.
<b>7. Forgetting the three magic letters: T.L.C.</b>
On the other hand, you must remember that you are not omnipotent. Despite the fact that many of them resemble maggots, you <i>need</i> these marines just as they need you. If they lose respect for you, because they feel neglected or abused, then you will have a hard time because, unlike the U.S. Army during the Vietnam war, you can't call Joe 18-year-old up for service with a national draft. You must remember the three magic letters: T.L.C. (Tender Loving Care). Good marines should be praised, and you should heap rewards on them. If a marine is following orders to the letter, being helpful, and requests a shotgun within the first three minutes of play, then you should give it to him, because chances are, he is a Good Marine, and you need him to do all the ****-kicking he can.
Don't go stroking egos. Put rewards in the right place. If the team as a whole is playing well, tell them that. If one player is rockin' every alien that comes a-knockin', then tell him he's doing great, drop a healthpack and ammo, and tell other plays to stick with him.
<b>8. Not having voice chat</b>
If you don't have voice chat, then what are you using to coordinate? The bare essential of setting waypoints? Slow text chat? Come on. Even in medieval times, commanders could at least <i>shout really loudly</i> and play trumpets to signal their troops. Since World War II radio communication has changed the way battles are fought. You're off fighting Species War I and you don't even have a radio? Get out of here. And while you're at it, get out of the commander's chair. A cheap microphone is $5 even at an <i>expensive</i> store. I, personally, have a set of headphones with a flip-down microphone that works great. I know other people who use desk microphones or take the little cheap bud microphones you get with sound cards (that normally attach to the side of the monitor) and tie them around various things inlcuding: their shirt, their headset and, yes, their glasses.
<b>9. Building for Gridlock</b>
If you've read the Natural Selection manual, then you probably know about the whole "nano-gridlock" thing that's part of the backstory. The quick and dirty version is that the Kharaa bacterium interferes with station/ship nano-technology and creates a communications gridlock, blocking off parts of the system to both races. This is why, when fighting in a station that you would expect to have loads of security cameras, motion sensors, and automated defenses, there is still fog of war. Without the nano-gridlock, you'd be able to see the whole map.
So, gridlock is bad, right? Then why are so many commanders creating their own little traffic jams in Frontiersmen bases? When placing buildings, remember that there are only <b>three</b> structures that matter to a marine: the infantry portal (where they come in), the ammunition factory (where they load up), and the phase gate (where they head out). Marines must have a clear path between all three, otherwise there will be slowdown. A haphazard-arrangement to the base will make it harder for your marines to get where they need to go and make it easier for skulks to hide amongs the buildings. Remember: cover helps the person who is <i>near</i> the cover, not the other way around. When a skulk is running amok in your base, they are near the buildings, munching on them, and your marines are running in the open, trying to shoot them. Buildings that are in the way of your marines' bullets will effectively be in the way of your team. And stuff that is in the way of your team is in the way of victory.
Another form of gridlock occurs when your marines are dying faster than they are coming back. The more your boys are dyin' the more spawn portals you need so they can keep tryin'. Two portals is considered standard through most of the game on a 6-10 player team, but it's so easy to slap down a third or even a fourth if need be. And if you need marines pronto, don't forget the emergency beacon at the observatory, which will instantly respawn almost all your marines at the base, regardless of the number of spawn portals.
<b>10. Forgetting about the back door</b>
As the commander, you have the unique position of being able to see all entry and exit points to an area of the map at once. How is it possible, then, that many commanders forget about them? If your base is constantly being harassed by skulks in the vents on ns_caged, then spend the measly amount of resources it takes to have two marines go and weld that vent shut. If skulks keep attacking your turret factory from one direction, then stick some more turrets on that side. It's that easy to be "not bad". It's still not hard to be "good": give your marines waypoints to the back doors. Remind them to cover them. Watch the radar for signs when the aliens are trying to be sneaky. You have the all-seeing-eye. you have the bird's view. Use it, and let your marines reap the benefits by passing on your knowledge to them.
<b>End</b>
Ten wonderful ways to strategically screw up as marine commander! Post your comments and add some more.
In no particular order:
<b>1. No strategy</b>
The commander must at all times maintain a clear vision of victory. Will you try to seize one hive then seige a second? Will you try to grab resource nodes like mad and rush to heavy armour? Will you rush the enemy's first hive? Whatever your strategy, you must keep it in mind, and - more importantly - you must have one!
<b>2. No idea what the next step is in the strategy</b>
There are a number of steps in every strategy, and you need to remember what the next one (or next few) steps are. If you don't accomplish the next step, how can you expect to accomplish the strategy as a whole?
<b>3. Excessively micromanaging your marines</b>
Micromanaging your marines involves constantly watching over them, giving them constant instructions relevant to where they are, watching for aliens around them. This isn't bad <i>per se</i>, but when you do it so much that you forget about other things like finances (either not securing enough resource nodes or not using the resources you have), other map locations (aliens can and will be where your marines are not), and even your base (a steady stream of lone skulks is no real threat to most bases, but their harassment and nuissance will slow down your marines and your production).
Good marines will help you when you're micro-ing too much by pointing out stuff you may have missed (e.g. "Commander, we've got almost a hundred resources. How about some turrets in the base to slow down the skulk harassment?" or "Commander, they're building a wall of lame at the backdoor!" or even "Commander, we're up against fades here, how about some frickin' weapons upgrades?") but as we all know, good marines are often in short supply. Consciously pull yourself away from where the marine action is for a few seconds to glance around. Just like a good driver will continuously check his mirrors and dashboard (speed, rpm), so a good commander should check his hud (resources), his map (enemy locations) and even check in with his players: many marines will spot something important but not report it either because they think the commander's too busy, or he already knows about it, or they're just meek. Encourage your marines to point out important stuff like easily defensible resource nodes you may have missed, locations of enemy fortifications away from where the main battle is, etc.
<b>4. Excessively micromanging your base</b>
Natural Selection is <i>not</i> SimCity. You don't get awards for a nice base, especially not when your marines have no idea what they should be doing because you're too busy building structures. It's important to keep a good base, of course. And when the time comes to build important structures (more portals, a turret factory, upgrade structures), then they should be built. But the building should not be to the detriment of your marines' sense of purpose. If you think that nothing can be done until you start handing out jetpacks so your marines can fly past chambers, that doesn't mean your marines should just be standing around in the meantime. Chances are they can go and do something while you're waiting for the jetpack upgrade and the money to build them.
<b>5. Forgetting the strategic golden rule</b>
The golden rule of strategies is: <i>No strategy survives the first encounter with the enemy</i>. If your strategy fails and fails again, don't be quick to blame shotty marines (though that may certainly be the problem). Consider changing your strategy, or at least reconsidering it. We all like to blame others for our group's problems, especially if we're in charge. If your marines are struggling tooth and nail to hold onto a hive, maybe you've got shotty marines, but maybe <b>you've</b> done something wrong. Maybe there aren't enough turrets, maybe they're badly placed. Maybe the aliens are just trying to distract you long enough for their gorge to seize the other free hive. Whatever the cause may be (and you may not always know), try a strategy shift. The axiom "if at first you fail, try, try again" still holds true: try again a couple of times, but if it continues to fail, then try something different.
<b>6. Forgetting who's in charge here</b>
You are the Commander. You are The Man. You control the horizontal and the vertical. Go and watch the movie "Full Metal Jacket" (dir: Stanley Kubrick). See how the senior drill instructor, Gunnery Sargeant Hartman, treats his recruits; "You are the lowest life form on earth. You're not even human f-ing beings." Bad marines should be treated as such. You tell them what to do, and if they don't do it, then tell them to do it again, only more forcefully. Yell at them over voice chat if necessary. Tell them to stop whining for a shotgun in the first 5 minutes of play because the first (and last) time you gave it to them, they died in 5 seconds.
<b>7. Forgetting the three magic letters: T.L.C.</b>
On the other hand, you must remember that you are not omnipotent. Despite the fact that many of them resemble maggots, you <i>need</i> these marines just as they need you. If they lose respect for you, because they feel neglected or abused, then you will have a hard time because, unlike the U.S. Army during the Vietnam war, you can't call Joe 18-year-old up for service with a national draft. You must remember the three magic letters: T.L.C. (Tender Loving Care). Good marines should be praised, and you should heap rewards on them. If a marine is following orders to the letter, being helpful, and requests a shotgun within the first three minutes of play, then you should give it to him, because chances are, he is a Good Marine, and you need him to do all the ****-kicking he can.
Don't go stroking egos. Put rewards in the right place. If the team as a whole is playing well, tell them that. If one player is rockin' every alien that comes a-knockin', then tell him he's doing great, drop a healthpack and ammo, and tell other plays to stick with him.
<b>8. Not having voice chat</b>
If you don't have voice chat, then what are you using to coordinate? The bare essential of setting waypoints? Slow text chat? Come on. Even in medieval times, commanders could at least <i>shout really loudly</i> and play trumpets to signal their troops. Since World War II radio communication has changed the way battles are fought. You're off fighting Species War I and you don't even have a radio? Get out of here. And while you're at it, get out of the commander's chair. A cheap microphone is $5 even at an <i>expensive</i> store. I, personally, have a set of headphones with a flip-down microphone that works great. I know other people who use desk microphones or take the little cheap bud microphones you get with sound cards (that normally attach to the side of the monitor) and tie them around various things inlcuding: their shirt, their headset and, yes, their glasses.
<b>9. Building for Gridlock</b>
If you've read the Natural Selection manual, then you probably know about the whole "nano-gridlock" thing that's part of the backstory. The quick and dirty version is that the Kharaa bacterium interferes with station/ship nano-technology and creates a communications gridlock, blocking off parts of the system to both races. This is why, when fighting in a station that you would expect to have loads of security cameras, motion sensors, and automated defenses, there is still fog of war. Without the nano-gridlock, you'd be able to see the whole map.
So, gridlock is bad, right? Then why are so many commanders creating their own little traffic jams in Frontiersmen bases? When placing buildings, remember that there are only <b>three</b> structures that matter to a marine: the infantry portal (where they come in), the ammunition factory (where they load up), and the phase gate (where they head out). Marines must have a clear path between all three, otherwise there will be slowdown. A haphazard-arrangement to the base will make it harder for your marines to get where they need to go and make it easier for skulks to hide amongs the buildings. Remember: cover helps the person who is <i>near</i> the cover, not the other way around. When a skulk is running amok in your base, they are near the buildings, munching on them, and your marines are running in the open, trying to shoot them. Buildings that are in the way of your marines' bullets will effectively be in the way of your team. And stuff that is in the way of your team is in the way of victory.
Another form of gridlock occurs when your marines are dying faster than they are coming back. The more your boys are dyin' the more spawn portals you need so they can keep tryin'. Two portals is considered standard through most of the game on a 6-10 player team, but it's so easy to slap down a third or even a fourth if need be. And if you need marines pronto, don't forget the emergency beacon at the observatory, which will instantly respawn almost all your marines at the base, regardless of the number of spawn portals.
<b>10. Forgetting about the back door</b>
As the commander, you have the unique position of being able to see all entry and exit points to an area of the map at once. How is it possible, then, that many commanders forget about them? If your base is constantly being harassed by skulks in the vents on ns_caged, then spend the measly amount of resources it takes to have two marines go and weld that vent shut. If skulks keep attacking your turret factory from one direction, then stick some more turrets on that side. It's that easy to be "not bad". It's still not hard to be "good": give your marines waypoints to the back doors. Remind them to cover them. Watch the radar for signs when the aliens are trying to be sneaky. You have the all-seeing-eye. you have the bird's view. Use it, and let your marines reap the benefits by passing on your knowledge to them.
<b>End</b>
Ten wonderful ways to strategically screw up as marine commander! Post your comments and add some more.
Comments
Lack of a 'plan'.
But failing them being UTTERLY rubbish:
Timidity and reliance on formulaic (and hence predictable) stratagys.
BlueGhost
If you don't have voice chat, then what are you using to coordinate? The bare essential of setting waypoints? Slow text chat? Come on. Even in medieval times, commanders could at least <i>shout really loudly</i> and play trumpets to signal their troops. Since World War II radio communication has changed the way battles are fought. You're off fighting Species War I and you don't even have a radio? Get out of here. And while you're at it, get out of the commander's chair. A cheap microphone is $5 even at an <i>expensive</i> store. I, personally, have a set of headphones with a flip-down microphone that works great. I know other people who use desk microphones or take the little cheap bud microphones you get with sound cards (that normally attach to the side of the monitor) and tie them around various things inlcuding: their shirt, their headset and, yes, their glasses.
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This is not, in fact, as critical as you make it out to be.
You're basically saying that even if someone is the best comm in the world, they shouldnt take the chair cos they dont have voice.
It's ****, frankly.
Oh and FYI, some people cant use voice even if they do have a mic, either because they cant get it to work with NS or it's impractical.
Everything else is fairly spot on.
I'd more or less agree with everything else too. But my own annoyances consist of comm's who build a large outpost in a place where no marines are currently present (and expect them to get there in time). Worse, comm's who give a waypoint without apparently thinking. Man, I'd go behind the OC's if there weren't five of the things with an equal number of DC's... and they just expect you to over waltz there and complain on your "failures". *sigh*
Not too sure why, but other than IP-spammers, comm's who build an observatory too far forward just **** me off; same with all the non-interactives. People! You only need one observatory in this version! It gives distress beacon! Keep it behind the lines and keep it working!! Gah...!
2. Only giving marines grunt-level information. Players are more likely to follow you, and more likely to perform their task well if they hear "We'll secure <insert position here> and get a siege up to take out <whatever>, you need to guard this spot". Instead of just getting a waypoint on their HUD, and no useful information from the commander other than "go here". If what you want a marine to do is stand ground and defend a spot, you have to tell him such. If you just leave a marine standing in a spot with no clue what is going on, he's going to wander off. Any marine which does not know your general plan for the next 5 minutes is going to wander off with nothing to do. Marines don't know that you're about to secure cargo, they don't have a topdown view of the map.
3. Only ever using voice comms. On a public server, a player that cannot hear your voice, or has voice disabled probably isn't going to tell you that he can't hear. When possible, give overviews of the situation in text to be heard by all marines. Given an overview and maybe a waypoint, a good player with voice disabled should be able to pick up the pace and make himself useful. If your voice command to a single player isnt being acted upon, try using text instead of shouting louder.
4. New marines require waypoints, experienced marines will do fine if they just know where you're currently working, or what you intend to do next. From the beginning, try to work out who is who, so you don't give the order to go JP+Weld eclipse to the guy who can't find his way out of the marine spawn.
phase gate? no.
Then come the fades <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo-->
As for voice coms, I really think it isn't Vital but it helps a hell of alot.
How can you rapidly tell marines that the phase is under attack if they're not watching for death messages and keeping track of who else is where
I suppose its possible if you have several messages on your binds:
'look out behind you!'
'Phase area is under attack, phase and kill!'
'Phase is itself under attack phase spin and kill!'
'Move out to your waypoint in a group! Stick together'
I cant really work out how you can do mutational formations without VC tho, I suppose you'd be OK with newb marines provided you have a vocal sgt of marines.
BlueGhost
Building a turret factory at base in the beginning.
If its a small game, the comm can get out and kill the aliens, if its a large game, you just have 1 or 2 people hold back and defend.
So many times I've seen the comm build a tf and 4 turrets, and then the marines move out, and the aliens already have most of the map and have taken all the good positions, and by the time they get just a few resource towers, the aliens have a second hive, and the aliens win. True you can win after building a turret factory at the beginning, but it will be a lot harder. I'm not saying you shouldn't build a turret factory, but they should really wait until they capture a hive.. Those 4 turrets aren't going to do any good at all if they rush for the third hive and bile bomb your base.
I usually send 3/4 of the team to attack the hive while the last quarter looks for resources, build the portals, spawn, obv. and armoury and find empty hives. Then the rest of the team leaves. If you need buildings to be built, wait while your men are heading to their waypoint and tell them you're building so they get a lot more of attack time.
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Same here, man. Unless there are clanners in my team <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
Personally I think one of the biggest mistakes a commander can make is to not use his marines effectively. I'll accept that putting trust in marines you've never played with can be a deadly mistake, but not giving them the chance to prove themselves is an even worse mistake. Let's face it, without some good marines even the best commander is going to get overrun by merely average aliens players. Your marines need to be able to go where you need them hold it long enough to build while fighting off whatever the aliens throw at them. And after your marines leave an area some dedicated skulks can consume all but the heaviest defenses in an amazingly short period of time. A phase gate should be worth a lot more to a commander than a turret farm, if for no other reason than you need someone to keep your precious turrets repaired.
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Here's a few things I've picked up which help me keep going during command sessions. These aren't here to help you win, or beat down a mass of Onos, but they should keep your blood pressure down in the face of all the annoyances commanders face.
#1 Pick your battles: There's only so much of your commander love to go round. You should only have 3 points of interest, Your main base, A staging area prefereably close to at least 2 hives, and wherever the front lines happen to be. Everything else is a distraction, feel free to ignore it.
#2 Use your Veterans: There may or may not be one on your server, but you can spot these guys by the fact they take DEdNOOB187's shotgun and clear our a hive on the other side of the map. Keep tabs on this guy. Whatever he wants, give it to him. Then have him do what needs doing. Make him squad leader, or a covert Rambo, whatever.
#3 Permanent upgrades are your friend: You will never be hounded about dropping motion tracking every 30 seconds. Once Weapon lvl 3 is researched, you never need to worry about it again. Your marines get more powerful, AND you can pay attention to something else. It's a win-win situation.
#4 Nobody "Needs" anything: See that guys saying he needs HA and a HMG right frikken now? He doesn't. Trust me. Feel free to ignore him. Perhaps somebody needs a welder, but chances are that if the guy asking for it doesn't get one, the world will not collapse. Pop one or two down quick if you team needs them, and then move on to more important things.
#5 You are not a tour guide: There are a lot of people out there who aren't familiar with all of the NS map's twists and turns. That's OK, but don't expect me to put a waypoint down every 30 feet because you don't know the way from Marine base to Powersilo. Guide people if you can, but remember that hand-holding a marine group through corridors should be very low on your priority list.
#6 You don't need the resources: After the 4th resource spot or so, you just don't need any more. Sure, marines love to jump up and down like kids at Christmas yelling "I found a vent! I found a vent! Put a resource tower here!!!11", but you don't need to be brining in 30 resources a second. Extra resource nodes are simply more places for the aliens to annoy you with "Your base is under attack" messages. If you feel you really must put something up there, place an Armory. It screams just as much when under attack, and give out free ammo as well.
#7 Ignore voice commands: This ties in with #1. Since you're no longer trying to take in the whole map at once, it's very easy to keep an eye on the marines which matter. Have they been fighting for a while? Drop ammo. Has one lost health? Drop a medkit. Important marines should never have to use voice commands because if their commander isn't looking at them now, he will be in a few seconds. This also prevents you from pressing space to see a marine who desperately needs health because he decided to take on 2 Fades with a pistol in Middle of Nowhere, Wyoming.
#8 Bind important drops: Nothing sucks more than trying to drop a few medkits on marines, only to have your menu selection messed up by lag and put down an Observatory directly on your marine. Then not only do you have one marine who can't move, another couple of marines who have to build the Observatory so you can recycle or kill it, and bunch of wasted resources; You have to mess around with the menu again before you can start dropping more ammo/medkits. It's annoying, don't let it happen.
Personally I think one of the biggest mistakes a commander can make is to not use his marines effectively. I'll accept that putting trust in marines you've never played with can be a deadly mistake, but not giving them the chance to prove themselves is an even worse mistake. Let's face it, without some good marines even the best commander is going to get overrun by merely average aliens players. Your marines need to be able to go where you need them hold it long enough to build while fighting off whatever the aliens throw at them. And after your marines leave an area some dedicated skulks can consume all but the heaviest defenses in an amazingly short period of time. A phase gate should be worth a lot more to a commander than a turret farm, if for no other reason than you need someone to keep your precious turrets repaired.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I dont debate that Marines should be your primary of mode of getting anything and everything done.
What I'm saying is, when your team is all going AWOL on you because they're interested more in killing stuff than in following your orders, then unless you have a few turrets to fall back on in any given area, you're screwed.
Relying on your marines 100% can sometimes be fatal on publics.
Personally I think one of the biggest mistakes a commander can make is to not use his marines effectively. I'll accept that putting trust in marines you've never played with can be a deadly mistake, but not giving them the chance to prove themselves is an even worse mistake. Let's face it, without some good marines even the best commander is going to get overrun by merely average aliens players. Your marines need to be able to go where you need them hold it long enough to build while fighting off whatever the aliens throw at them. And after your marines leave an area some dedicated skulks can consume all but the heaviest defenses in an amazingly short period of time. A phase gate should be worth a lot more to a commander than a turret farm, if for no other reason than you need someone to keep your precious turrets repaired.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yes, of course. The turrets can't CLONE themselves. If they could for free, I wouldn't need any marines <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
Usually I "use" marines until I have 2 hives and then I start turtling like hell and building a farm bigger than Texas. Phasegates are naturally needed so the marines can get to the hives and repair/build more. It's better to turtle up after you got 2 hives instead of trusting your marines to take care of the bases and just finish the game by rushing the last hive. I rush the last hive, but only after I have turtled all important sites (RTs too at some places so I won't run out of ress). Sometimes I've just "secured" 2 hive sites by building a phasegate, an RT and 3-4 turrets and guess what: I've lost many hives to skulks because of this. With good players you don't need so many turrets, but with the avarage public players: build 10000.
Sometimes.
More often then not though, if I have a guy <b><i>ask</i></b> for guard duty and mines, I know that he knows his stuff, and I trust him to look after the ranch.
I think the worst thing you can do as a commander is become drained and apathetic about the outcome of the game. You may not care, but there are 5 or more people on your team who may or may not be playing to win! Have a primary plan, a secondary plan, and a tertiary plan. Ex, on hera:
1) Take Maintnance on the way to ventelation. Fortify nodes, then expand into reception, and weld into archiving.
2) Ventelation cannot be taken, go through maintnance for a bee-line into DCD/ Processing seige area.
3) They have processing locked down. Take holo and reception, then drop a phase in archiving, and cut the map in half. Tech to HMGs/HA, then move en masse to vent.
See what I mean? And, if these plans all fail, then you're screwed anyway <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> . Don't give up though. You never know when {FNK}Legionnaired]NSF[ may walk into your server, pick up a shotgun, and kill about 35 aliens in the last 10 mnutes of the game. (It happens, No, I diddn't keep track, I just loaded 40 shells and almost all shots were kill-shots <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> ).
Also, don't be afraid to have fun with it. For example:
"Ok guys, we have 2 hives locked down, but it's going to be hard to take that last hive. I'm going to send you guys in with welders!"
Or, (Shamelessly ripped from "boondock marines") "Alright, good job getting that hive locked down, <player>, care for a shotgun, jetpack, and bunch of ho's?"
The game is supposed to be fun, make it fun. Crack jokes. Spout montey-python lines. Keep it fun, and everyone wins.... except for the kharra <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
I was once commanding in a game and I locked down 2 hives. I control most of the map so I am spending resorces as fast as I can and very quickly we have full upgrades.
When there is a quiet between Alien suicide rushes i drag everone back to base and load them out with shotguns, jetpacks, hmg's and welders. I then select them all and order them to fly to feedwater so we can siege there hive.
I watch as they look up after reciving my waypoint and then resume humping the armory. When everyone is loaded up they all go in different directions, and all of thoes directions are away from the hive.
It takes my team about 5 minuts for all of them to die and spawn back in. Now that they dont have jetpacks i re-order them to Feedwater and they move as a unit there. They come across a WOL so one runs by it shooting, and drawing all the fire away from the rest of the team. They work together perfectly as a team. When they get there they (quietly) build phasegate and turret farm and i drop 2 sieges.
We ended up losing that game because they aliens took back the 2 hives while they were all ramboing and when I was siegeing feedwater the sieges absolutly refused to shoot it. They nuked everything around it but no matter how much I pinged the hive itself they wouldnt shoot it.
In conclusion drop HA. HA marines cant move much, so they wont go off ramboing.
Forgetting you're not Florence Nightingale, especially at the start of the game <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='sad.gif'><!--endemo-->. I hear a lot of people screaming for medpacks when all they got is a lmg and a pistol. Who cares. Die. Die. Die. As long as the marine isnt on a really important spot or has a lot of res onhim ( like ha, jp, etc), let him die. He is not worth the 2 res.
Lesson of the story: don't give mines in publics unless someone with a clan tag or someone who you know has skill asks them.
1) If someone continually begs you for somehting, DONT give it to them: So many tiems have i seen people "Comm! GIMMIE A HMG/HA NOW" and they keep saying that over and over, even i fi say. "we dont have the money or "im trying to secure a hive" or something. No one needs anything (excpt possibly a welder). The key is, even if you have tons of money, dont give it to him. If they ask nicely and listned to you when you tell them it will be a minute, by all means reward those players- they obviously know what there doing
2) Dont turret farm at every res node- ok, i see tons of comms who first build otns of turrets in there base, then go and take another one only to farm it with 8 turrets, then wonder why theyve got bile bombs exploding around there heads and ono charging at em. A few turrets at key spots is ffine ,but not every node and you certainly dont need 8 turrets.
those are just 2, i have many more. I especially like the first one, if you can teqach it to your team they may end uo being a heck of alot nicer to you and more cooperative, while they still get the same stuff they normally would.
I REPEATEDLY asked the stupid commander for a Jetpack, and recieved an order to build a turret in sewers (on top of the 362 that were already there...). I gladly did this, telling the comm over voice comm that "He OWED me bigtime." I came back to the marine spawn like a loyal puppy dog to ask him again. Oh yeah-I DID however get a command for a THIRD observatory in vent....
I asked, asked, and asked some more. Finally the commander told our team that there were "Goodies at base." I was all like, 'Allright! FINALLY a jetpack!"
Sadly...no.
I asked him a few more times, only to have HA dropped on my head. <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/mad.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='mad.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/mad.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='mad.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/mad.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='mad.gif'><!--endemo-->
I went up to the CC and began to knife it in my rage. Said rage soon subsided as I realized how futile my efforts were to open up the CC like a can of tuna.
I grudgingly trudged (SLOWLY!) to generator, grubling about how <i>DEAD</i> that commander was gonna be. We had nearly taken generator (the Kharaa were putting up a GOOD fight) when the commander left.....
I dropped everything that I was doing and literally *CRAWLED* back to base. I "killed" when I got there and gave myself a **** JP and HMG. I zealously jetted to generator to find a the last alien (a gorge) staring at me with those big, sad puppy eyes. I promptly knifed him. We then won....
A little long-winded, but the message is this: COMMANDERS EVERYWHERE! DO NOT NEGLECT YOUR POOR WORKHORSES!!
Usually I "use" marines until I have 2 hives and then I start turtling like hell and building a farm bigger than Texas. Phasegates are naturally needed so the marines can get to the hives and repair/build more. It's better to turtle up after you got 2 hives instead of trusting your marines to take care of the bases and just finish the game by rushing the last hive. I rush the last hive, but only after I have turtled all important sites (RTs too at some places so I won't run out of ress). Sometimes I've just "secured" 2 hive sites by building a phasegate, an RT and 3-4 turrets and guess what: I've lost many hives to skulks because of this. With good players you don't need so many turrets, but with the avarage public players: build 10000.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
TBH you're prolly wasting yourself on newb servers and getting yourself seriously bad habits. Not to mention creating dull games in which the aliens are left for ages going 'man this is DULL' till you get full upgrades.
Find a server of decent people and you'll gain so much tactical versatility you'll prolly end up in hospital from shock.
BlueGhost
You are the Commander. You are The Man. You control the horizontal and the vertical. Go and watch the movie "Full Metal Jacket" (dir: Stanley Kubrick). See how the senior drill instructor, Gunnery Sargeant Hartman, treats his recruits; "You are the lowest life form on earth. You're not even human f-ing beings." Bad marines should be treated as such. You tell them what to do, and if they don't do it, then tell them to do it again, only more forcefully. Yell at them over voice chat if necessary. Tell them to stop whining for a shotgun in the first 5 minutes of play because the first (and last) time you gave it to them, they died in 5 seconds.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Commander has been ejected.
Nuff said.
I don't use it, and I have won commanding several times.
It's quite easier to miss the message going through voice com because of noises than a printed text on the screen. There's nothing a little sweeping and CAPSLOCKS can't handle.
Gotta with Turret Farming every single darn resource node. How many time have you lose because your marines, or commanders, keep dumping money into that Horseshoe?
I personally think the commanders biggest mistake is not accepting the blame even if it isn't his fault. ESPECIALLY if the marines follow your orders even somewhat. You dont fire the army when it loses a battle, you fire the general. Good troops know whom is to blame...
THERE ARE HOTKEYS FOR YOU TO BIND IN THE MENU. Bind + to Medpack, and suddenly you can spam medpacks now! Bind H, M, and L to Heavy Armor, Machine Gun, and WeLder, and you've created a nice little outfit for spawned Marines.
I just got out of a game where it seemed like the commander was manually clicking on the 'Medpack' icon and then dropping it, with 2-3 secs between medpack drops.
Thank you.
If you want to secure that hive area, you've better keep tabs on the only 3 marines who survived the trip there. Also, for large assaults it is also good to make sure you keep your marines alive with medpacks. It is very worth the effort. Know when to dispense med packs.
So far most commanders lately have been great at this. <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->