A Few Thought On Teamork

So, I just got finished playing a few rounds of Rush with a full party of 8 Redditors. We all had mics, we were all communicating and we were all trying our best to PTFO, but we still got our asses kicked.

Now, I'm not the kind of person to take things like this lightly. It wasn't like we were getting beat by a full team of pro players. We got stomped by randoms. We got the shit kicked out of us not once, but four times.

So what was it that caused us to lose so many times when all the correct building blocks were in play?

Simple. We weren't operating as a cohesive team. We had eight people trying to do eight different things, we had two or three people trying to blow things up in vehicles, we had one or two people trying to rush objectives and one or two people trying to flank.

Now after I chucked my controller across the room and raged for a minute I started thinking about teamwork and cohesion as it pertains to the game. In all the games where I've done really well, or my team has done really well, it is our squad that is pressing objectives, flanking, or using the firepower of the vehicles. We do great when we operate as a unit.

One thing that I have noticed about BF3 as well as other military strategy games is the concept of the four man fireteam. A four man fireteam is a small enough unit to move quickly and nimbly through most terrain yet still possesses a heavy force of firepower if they are engaged. That's the reason why squads in this game are meant for four people.

That being said, there are three components of combat that need to be addressed.

1. Infantry forces
2. Air Support
3. Ground Support

In a two squad party (8 players) BEFORE THE GAME BEGINS there needs to be communication about who does what. Everyone can't drive tanks or helicopters around just like everyone can't sit on top of a building and snipe.

So how do you figure out what your assignments are?

First, you need to establish who is good at what. Then group everyone together. Get an infantry team together and a vehicle support team. then swap squads so that everyone is in its right place. If you have to, switch from party chat to squad VoIP to avoid unnecessary chatter.

Hopefully you've played with the people you are squadding up with. You know what some of their strengths and weaknesses are. I am a ground player. I function best as infantry. If I have to drive a tank or a heli then I can, but my skills are better utilized to help my team when I am capping objectives and flanking the enemy team.

Of course, this comes at a cost. A full squad of pilots flying around the map killing people is great, but it doesn't capture objectives. If your squad has a competent pilot, then you shouldn't try to usurp him or her. You should know what your role is and play it so that your team can succeed.

It makes no difference if you are the best tank gunner in BF3 history, if you're mounted to a turret when you should be on a flag, you're screwing your team. If you're not dropping ammo packs, health packs, and spawn beacons, then you might as well be running around like Rambo with an m60.

Help your squad accomplish its objective and that will help your team. If your squad is pressing towards B then jump in behind them and do the same. Don't trail off by yourself and try to lone wolf it. Your team will help you if you get shot, they'll be able to provide you with health and ammo and they'll cover your back if you go down. I can't tell you how many times i've stuck with my team and been res'd just because the two guys next to me were working together. Get to your objective, establish a perimeter capture/defend/arm and move up.

And for christ's sakes, if you're playing with other people who have mics, talk to them about a plan. Even if you don't stick to it, planning which squad is going where helps to eliminate a lot of confusion. A cohesive team with constant communication will win more times than a team where nothing is being said.

I know this stuff may be common sense to some, but after the ass kicking I just took, I wanted to reiterate.

/rant