Post
by K0NFL1QT » 20 Dec 2015, 11:56
Why don't marines push more often? Well, that depends. There are times when pushing is the best move, and other times when trying to push is just running literally into defeat. I'm going to presume we're discussing 'why don't marines push when it would be tactically advantageous', and there's many reasons.
To start with; anti meta. Marines have to go in with a little willful ignorance. They can know the maps general layout, but they can't touch down and go 'right lads the hive is northwest, lets all go shoot it'. Marines have to ALLOW a few of their numbers to get captured so that they can plausibly know where the hive is, what the Aliens can do and what happens if you get a hugger on your face. Early pushes are discouraged, but fortunately there's things for marines to do around the compound to keep the busy while they get to grips with their foe. Now, moving on to the mid and late game...
The Marine Chain of Command isn't enforced with the strictness of the Aliens. This is a double-edged sword, though. Some Commanders give orders that are effectively 'throw yourself into the meat grinder', and others are legit for tactical and strategic advantage. Very few players want to lose on purpose just because they were told to, and on the other hand some marines just go completely AWOL the moment they touch down on the planet and act completely irregardless of the command structures plan. Fundamentally; it's not fun to lose as a marine because it involves a lot of time either knocked out, immobilized or painstakingly and frustratingly camped to ensure zero chance of escape. Things are fun again if you pass into being a Xeno, or if you can get free and have your larva removed, but the interim waiting period is just horrible, so no-one wants to obey bad orders. And it's very easy for Command to give bad orders, or even good orders at the wrong time.
The time lag in reporting information to Command, having Command discuss a strategy, having Command communicate that strategy, having the Squad Leaders pass it on then wrangle their squad under control and move to the designated area, wait for any squad-merging, and then wait for the CO's go-ahead... all while the ground forces are being harassed, picked off and stalked. The perfect counter-attack opportunity might arise completely on the fly, only to be strictly ordered against by Command, in favor of a much more poorly timed attack later. For example; in a recent game, two squads got assigned to the same objective due to a mix up in Command orders, but it worked out in our favor as the squads arrived just in time to utterly crush an Alien assault. A Queen, some T3s and many small fry were killed. Now there's two squads already joined up and practically untouched despite the huge dent they just put in the Alien forces; the natural thing to do would be to direct this motivated, decently organized force into counter-attack, push into Xeno territory and put some serious pressure on them. But Command vehemently decided otherwise. The Squads were split up and sent to different objectives, one 'securing the FOB' from an absent threat, and the other squad was assigned to some equally ineffectual task. Ten minutes later Command decided the squads should join up and go on a counter-attack, but by this time the momentum was lost, marines had wandered off alone and the aliens had been given ten minutes reprieve to move, hatch or re-enforce their hive. Needless to say the eventual attack was poor in its effect.
So, there's the problems I can see. What can be done to solve them? I don't know, here's some ideas. The fact that this isn't how things are already tells me that Apophis just isn't interested in doing things this way though... but he's asking for input to fundamental problems with one of the teams, maybe he's open to change. But, ech. I don't expect this post to be something he's never heard before.
:- A system where players can endorse experienced command staff over whoever happened to check the box and got RNG'd the role. Even if this is simply a timer tied to your account that prevents you from being Squad Leader or Bridge Officer until after your first week, XO and CO maybe a week later. That will, at the very least, prevent total newbies ruining a round by fumbling around in one of the most crucial roles. Alien Queens could likewise be vetted. Marines are far more likely to follow good plans from even moderately experienced Commanders.
:- Make the Marine Chain of Command far more inviolate than it is, so that when an order to attack is given you better go and damn well do it. Once the stock of good and bad leaders is separated and you aren't likely to get complete beginners or hapless idiots in charge then you can start expecting the marines to act as if it was a military scenario. If OOC rulings that strengthen Commands directives isn't enough, discourage mutiny by allowing harsher IG punishments. This will inevitably lead to conflict between well armed, rebellious marines and their relatively unarmed, unarmored Command staff, so adding extra bullet resistance to Officer Jumpsuits would make stupid mutinies far less likely to succeed. Or you could empower Liasons to fax in reports about terrible Command staff so they can be replaced non-violently, or just simply remove the permission to mutiny alltogether.
:- Command needs to be more involved with the consequences of their actions. The easiest way to do this is to make it MANDATORY for the Executive Officer to deploy planetside, acting as a sort of Commander in-the-field, unless their orders are directly over-ruled by the Commander. This would make it easier for the XO to get a feel for the progress of the battle, without relying completely on the SLs to report; they are more often than not busy enough trying to reign in a group of John Rambos while keeping themselves alive, making reports back to Command infrequent and hurried.
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