What kind of Tactics or gimmicks would you like to see from a commander/XO?

[thatguyfromlife]

heres another "gimmick" id like to see - order the marines to secure the Lz

as in, the actual whole lz, and not just a tiny patch of land next to one set of doors

and have people actually stand guard around the perimeter there

maybe you can even make it the fob

so you dont constantly get cut off from the lz while sitting in the center of nexus
or the ds doesnt constantly get invaded from the rightside doors
or the lz doesnt get invaded from the northeast pass on ice colony that everyone always neglects to fortify and guard
or the aliens dont easily stroll thru the northwest doors on prison station because people forget they exist and place no traps and set no guards
er etc etc

Are you telling me you want marines to act like an actual military force? Someone BE this man.

[Dumblike]

More Mateba
More BE

[Blade2000Br]

Obviously, as everyone pointed out, you need BE more.

And allow CMP execute people more odten than not.

[Arbs]

Are you telling me you want marines to act like an actual military force? Someone BE this man.

Well uh. Marines need idiot proof things and strategies. Anything more than that or different from the usual and they -will- manage to somehow screw it up.

[Tigroon]

I'd like to see less squads getting sent down with the first exploratory push. I mean, come on. The missions are just responding to a distress call. Before knowing the true threat awaiting the troops down below, why send all four squads? Why not just two?

You could have Alpha and Delta head down, alpha set up the FOB, Delta for Engineering and general scouting duties, and have Charlie and Bravo finish up the Colonial Marines Basketball Tourny aboard the ship itself.

[oprayx73]

A re-do of Chubbs' echo squad, he selects certain marines from the RO line, equips them with special guns & gear, and leads them into battle as CO with their smartgun.

[Jakkkk]

A re-do of Chubbs' echo squad, he selects certain marines from the RO line, equips them with special guns & gear, and leads them into battle as CO with their smartgun.

I love Chubb's assembling the Rainbow Six squad and doing these crazy missions, I agree that I want to see more CO's assemble a team of the most robust men alive.

[Durper]

No FOB at the start of the round.

Reason being they'll save resources and actually build defenses where it matters since if you loose your Forward Forward FOB you'd most likely loose the main FOB because most of the marines are now dead, injured, or captured.

Therefore making a super FOB early midround instead of making 2 FOB's is better, albeit the danger being LZ 1 being flanked is high but now with the new QUeen gameplay it's a bit more safer to ignore DS-1 from being hijacked, even if they do they'll have to do it fast and risk being isolated and out numbered in the aylmer.

[juliansl]

I really can't stand having a FOB in the Nexus. It really is a shitty place to defend. A proper defense of LZ1 would be much better in my opinion. Like this for instance.

[Steelpoint]

Removing the walls instantly shuts down your plan.

Firstly last I checked removing walls is a long, painful, task let alone reinforced walls.

Secondly, defending a very long front is much harder than a smaller front. I feel you are better off just setting up very good LZ1 defences like this.

[Skimmy2]

Simply set up the fob in Nexus like always, though expand it down south to cut off the southern entry into the LZ and protect that entire flank with only a handful of dudes. And then do the same up near storage. Only issue is that north of the LZ is too large to completely wall off, but you can still make a few fighting positions up there.

[oprayx73]

OR you could have a lz2 base with a straight shot up from the west part ( which perfectly lines up with the western tunnel that has great pockets that are unflankeable )
and the fact that west hive is 100% undefended would leave LZ2 FOB's pretty effective.

[juliansl]

Yeah an LZ2 defense could work great. Would be great if the CO could somehow share a map to the engineers so that they could see where he wants defenses.

[Imperator_Titan]

The thing about LZ2 FOBs is that the aliens can always simply say "fuck this" and use LZ1 instead to head up to the Almayer, bypassing the entire need of an FOB and being given more time to set up on the Almayer while they await the marines' return. This is why LZ2 FOBs aren't used from what I've seen.

[Blade2000Br]

The thing about LZ2 FOBs is that the aliens can always simply say "fuck this" and use LZ1 instead to head up to the Almayer, bypassing the entire need of an FOB and being given more time to set up on the Almayer while they await the marines' return. This is why LZ2 FOBs aren't used from what I've seen.

isin't it metagaming/powergaming to do such thing?

[Vispain]

isin't it metagaming/powergaming to do such thing?

Doesn't stop them from doing it though. "Aliens can't meta"

[Blade2000Br]

Doesn't stop them from doing it though. "Aliens can't meta"

If you ahelp the queen will get bwoinked and probably replaced if she do such thing.

[Whiteflicker]

If you ahelp the queen will get bwoinked and probably replaced if she do such thing.

Since when was it metagaming? I made a LZ2 FOB before, as a LT, and you know what happened?

Queen took the alamo up to almayer instead of bashing the FOB at LZ2. The better way to do this is have two squads fortifying both LZs, coupled with four engineers each from the remaining scouting teams, and then do the thing going north.

That's the best option that i can see right now.

[Imperator_Titan]

Since when was it metagaming? I made a LZ2 FOB before, as a LT, and you know what happened?

Queen took the alamo up to almayer instead of bashing the FOB at LZ2. The better way to do this is have two squads fortifying both LZs, coupled with four engineers each from the remaining scouting teams, and then do the thing going north.

That's the best option that i can see right now.

Having only two squads defending an FOB at any given time will simply split it down the middle in terms of effectiveness. Not to mention that during attacking, you'll only have two squads attacking, anymore than that will have at the very least, 1 FOB unmanned and easy to destroy from the inside. Marines will also be cut off from both FOBs as soon as aliens advance, all xenos need to do from there is focus in on one FOB since there's only two squads there and then move onto the next one. Choose to flank them and they'll simply move over to the FOB which the flank came from. It's simply futile.

If you choose to fortify Hydro, that leaves one squad able to move up and assault and two if you decide that an attack is actually worthwhile and gamble upon the success of marines and risk abandoning Hydro.

The best solution is to NOT try anything that involves LZ2. You're literally spread too thin and knowing marines, it results in a loss within the 1 hour mark.

[Arbs]

I will actually post a longer guide at working strategies to try for LV, Big Red and Ice colony. Though since the topic is already about LV-624 I will present you with a prelude on my personal strategy used on LV-624.

Here's what the marine entrenchments for the First phase of the operation should look like. (Before the Fog lifts. 12:00-12:50).

Red are defenses, yellow is your troops and supply lines.

► Show Spoiler

Note: Numbers are not meant for chronological order, but just for designating specified areas as mentioned below.

1 - LZ1. This i s obviously where the dropship will land. The dropship is occupied by the pilot, marines, wounded marines and sometimes non-combatant personel (Doctor, MTs, unarmed MPs, colonists whatever). After the initial wave of marine deployment, the pilot and any non-combat personnel (some crewie or lone marine too) can be very vulnerable to lurkers. Those pesky hunters are mighty lethal, runners just slightly less so.

So it is important to keep the dropship safe to prevent a xeno from coming aboard the almayer or kill the pilot or any other person on board. Pilots should usually lock the right side hatches. And in rarer cases some ad hoc barricades or bolting/welding the tail(cargo) door in the end are pretty helpful too.

Moving on is the small area just west of the landing zone. That has to be fortified tightly with sandbags/metal cades all around it's surrounding as it's your most important line of defense. Always place plasteel barricades in front of Alamo left hatches.

2 - This is the nexus. Your actual -FOB-. I prefer to spearate it in a few sections, West Nexus, South Nexus, East Nexus, North Nexus and the Center Nexus. Center nexus is where your forces will be planted in.

• North nexus is going to lead you to hydro, so I strongly suggest making another layer of defenses there. Troops and supplies come out of there towards hydro, so it's imperative that any doors, windows or breaches leading to here are sealed off.
• East Nexus is where your troops and supplies come in. Basic defenses wont hurt as it's in a relatively safe location by itself, however it is imperative that -any- doors leading to this corridor be sealed off.
• West Nexus is more or less unecessary. It is often used by xenos to flank the northern defenses if they are too strong so, it is best to seal the entrances off to buy your self some time and also plant basic defenses in that direction.
• South Nexus is only useful until you set up power. Once that is done it becomes useless, seal the entrances off to prevent straggler xenos from infiltrating your compound. (them pesky hunters again!)

Note: Sealing off all unnecessary doors and entrances is highly recommended as it will significantly decrease the chances of xenos infiltrating into your base (pesky hunters and runners can kiss my ass!). Of course until -that- marine forgets a barricade or two open. That is why there is a lot of extensive red marking in nexus, it's not meant to be barricades, but merely sealed off entry points into your corridors. (fire up that blowtorch!)

You will notice in the picture the shape of an L is formed in the center by the yellow line. That is the important route which now will lead us to hydro.

3 - This is the road to hydro. Making fortifications all along this road using whatever, metal, sandbags, displaced walls found around cargo is imperative as it is an essential component of the yellow line route. If you fail to fortify this road. All your troops and supply lines will be -constantly- ambushed and very likely killed. (them pesky hunters again!)

However the real horror here only happens when xenos start attacking hydro. If the road is not fortified beforehand, the xenos will flank hydro from the road and ultimately surround and encircle hydro, and your comrades inside will have a very slow and painful death. So again FORTIFY THE ROAD.

4 - Hydro is where your main assault force will attack from. It's necessary to have this place fortified to avoid having your main fighting force trapped inside as they take hits left and right, ultimately reducing it's combat effectiveness. Self explanatory really. Fighting will happen here and you need defenses.

5 - Once the log lifts up, it's good to build some fortifications in front of hydro as soon as possible as this will make it possible for marines to support their assault force much more effectively.

Note: Always continue to build up defenses as you advance. After crossing hydro, LV-624 is nothing but open ground until the caves. If you do not make defenses as you advance, you will -not- be able to hold your ground and will be ultimately crushed and pushed back.

Squad duties:

Phase 1: Buliding and setting up. 12:25/12:30 until 12:50. You better hurry as this is intensive because of the limited timeframe.

• Squad X - Start making an FOB from LZ1 to nexus. Seal off all doors leading to corridors. Seal off west and south entrances.
  Squad Y - Fortify the road.
  Squad Z - Occupy and fortify hydro
  Squad M - Set up power, then move up to patrol or join squad Z in hydro.

Phase 2: Assaulting.

• Squad M and Z - push forward north. Secure a foothold up front and build small defenses as you go to help you hold your ground.
  Squad Y - Occupies Hydro to support the assault and ensure a fall back point if the attack goes wrong.
  Squad X - Should guard the supply line. Kill stragglers and make sure the cades stay intact and people dont get kidnapped along the way.

Depending on progress you may send all squads to assault the enemy as well.

Tip: Try to keep the xenos outside of the caves so that you can bombard them with CAS and OBs.

For my experience, in LV it is very important to maintain a safe troops and supplies line and flank. However the drawback of this strategy is that if you rush in too fast for the caves, the xenos will viciously hold their ground as CAS and OBs are ineffective there. Their possible next move would be thinning your forces in endurance by fierce resistance in the caves, or flank your whole fighting force from the eastern caves and attack LZ1 while your troops are occupied in the caves. That happens because your line gets overextended and requires a few troops to keep watch at it at all times.

A few hypothetical additions to that could be deploying the helping hand of the MTs to make construction faster as you have limited time, from ~12:25/12:30 until 12:50. Another would be making a field hospital at LZ1 to make removal of embryos faster and safer for the big ship. Of course, deploy an MP or two to keep the doctor safe (and also watch over LZ1 hehehe).

Sorry for the oversized picture. It was done on my phone in like 30 seconds. Lemme know what you think.

[Vispain]

I will actually post a longer guide at working strategies to try for LV, Big Red and Ice colony. Though since the topic is already about LV-624 I will present you with a prelude on my personal strategy used on LV-624.

Here's what the marine entrenchments for the First phase of the operation should look like. (Before the Fog lifts. 12:00-12:50).

Red are defenses, yellow is your troops and supply lines.

► Show Spoiler

Note: Numbers are not meant for chronological order, but just for designating specified areas as mentioned below.

1 - LZ1. This i s obviously where the dropship will land. The dropship is occupied by the pilot, marines, wounded marines and sometimes non-combatant personel (Doctor, MTs, unarmed MPs, colonists whatever). After the initial wave of marine deployment, the pilot and any non-combat personnel (some crewie or lone marine too) can be very vulnerable to lurkers. Those pesky hunters are mighty lethal, runners just slightly less so.


2 - This is the nexus. Your actual -FOB-. I prefer to spearate it in a few sections, West Nexus, South Nexus, East Nexus, North Nexus and the Center Nexus. Center nexus is where your forces will be planted in.

• North nexus is going to lead you to hydro, so I strongly suggest making another layer of defenses there. Troops and supplies come out of there towards hydro, so it's imperative that any doors, windows or breaches leading to here are sealed off.
• East Nexus is where your troops and supplies come in. Basic defenses wont hurt as it's in a relatively safe location by itself, however it is imperative that -any- doors leading to this corridor be sealed off.
• West Nexus is more or less unecessary. It is often used by xenos to flank the northern defenses if they are too strong so, it is best to seal the entrances off to buy your self some time and also plant basic defenses in that direction.
• South Nexus is only useful until you set up power. Once that is done it becomes useless, seal the entrances off to prevent straggler xenos from infiltrating your compound. (them pesky hunters again!)

Note: Sealing off all unnecessary doors and entrances is highly recommended as it will significantly decrease the chances of xenos infiltrating into your base (pesky hunters and runners can kiss my ass!). Of course until -that- marine forgets a barricade or two open. That is why there is a lot of extensive red marking in nexus, it's not meant to be barricades, but merely sealed off entry points into your corridors. (fire up that blowtorch!)

This is basically what I advocate as far as optimal fortications ranging from LZ1 - Nexus -Hydro.
Sorry for the long quote.

[RobBrown4PM]

I really can't stand having a FOB in the Nexus. It really is a shitty place to defend. A proper defense of LZ1 would be much better in my opinion. Like this for instance.

That is a lot of ground to cover, it's nigh impractical.

[Skimmy2]

That is a lot of ground to cover, it's nigh impractical.

Hardly, a single squad can easily cover that, the issue is why bother when you will barely have half of that set up by the time fog is gone.

Simply incorporate Nexus with Storage to cover more ground.

[RobBrown4PM]

Hardly, a single squad can easily cover that, the issue is why bother when you will barely have half of that set up by the time fog is gone.

Simply incorporate Nexus with Storage to cover more ground.

Ah, thank you, you brought up another good point, Squad separation and dispersion.

As it stands right now, there is nothing from keeping your squad from running amok and going Rambo. This especially effects squads which are assigned to FOB duties. I'm hoping, someday, that there will be some form of law/procedure drawn up that allows SL's to clobber and detain rogue marines that aren't following orders. Having MP's go down to the planet is difficult and takes them away from being on the ship. The detained marine would have to be transported back up after the detention is made.

[misto]

i see a lot of concentration on LV. you guys need to do some theorycrafting on where to put forts of prison station. because marines keep letting themselves get flanked easy time after time on prison station. which is a bit silly, because being made up of hallways mostly, it should be simple to create your own chokepoints, as opposed to a more open place like LV where aliens can almost always loop wide around you to try to make mischief