Postings of Worth

[PrinceCorrin]

I would like to hear opinions on team tactics.

What's the best way to use a team so that it can adapt to any situation and be effective in the most adverse conditions.

This can range from composition and design to battlefield tactics, I'd like to hear it all.

I'll even post my own opinions and small (oh so small) bits of knowledge for your perusal.

[PrinceCorrin]

When I start a team I work on the leader first. I want a leader with good guided skill, or even non guided. I usually put all points into leadership first, then as he progresses I'll add to his missile abilities. I have an affinity for GMs, so I usually stick to those, energy, and indirect fire for my leader. I like to have him in a Medium titan right away. I know he can't build his skill in that, but a missile titan rarely has to dodge or move through rough terrain.
My manager I like to make a midrange cannon toting type. All skill points go into management, then cannons. I usually stick to AC7s early on.
My mechanic is always in a CC titan with a good DCS. This builds his fixit skill really fast. CC titans make the most checks of any titans. I never make a CC titan larger than medium, and never smaller than light. Heavies are just way too slow, and recons haven't enough armor.
After my team has won a few battles and I can add a few more jocks I usually stick in a couple energy recons. I have a design called Timothy which touts two Medium lasers. It seems like a weak titan, but it actually chews armor really quickly, especially in pairs.
I don't like more than 5 titans on my team. 5 is more than enough to do anything that needs doing, without your own troops getting in the way of each other, or distracting you unneccessarily.

Tactics: What can be said of them? What can't be?
Tactics will oft make or break a great team. I have noticed a lot of the newbies asking design questions in their seemingly endless search for that elusive uberToS which will make the AI or online opponents into so much lifeless jelly. I submit that there is no such creature. The real test of a ToSser is not in his design, it is in his tactics.

I dislike how netgames are most often played. It is the one on one fight that puts this mentality into people. I know there are time restrictions, but I would rather play one game, and know I won or lost based on my own skill, rather than three which could be debated because the other guy got a bad titan. Small teams are my game, and I play it whenever I can.

My tactics can be summarised in two phrases. Concentrated, concerted, careful movement. And goal achievement regardless of loss.

On concentrated, concerted, careful movement:
This is probably the most important. To be a team is to work together. If you can't direct your titans to be one unit what use are they when fighting? Letting your recon run ahead and get gunned down without leaving a mark, or engaging with CC before your cannons and missiles can move to assist will gain you nothing but scrap. Using the seconds to your advantage, noting the differences in BMT, range, and rate of fire can seal a victory when otherwise defeat would be assured. Moving in concert also means maximising your field of fire. You should be moving your titans in such a way that if your recon crests a hill and sees your opponents entire three assault team at the bottom of the other side, each of your other titans should be able to see the enemy within the next 50 seconds. That's longer than your recon will survive, but if you send your titans one ata time, none will survive.
Never allow a single titan to be caught alone by more than one enemy titan. Concentrate fire to topple one titan at atime. A titan will not really lose firepower untill it is destroyed. To have one titan shooting at one titn, and another titan shooting at a second is foolish, when by concentrating fire you can cut the enemy's firepower in half before losing one of your own titans. In a two on three battle it is especially important, as it will even up the odds, and help ensure that it is one of yours that stands at the end.

Goal achievement regardless of loss:
No general wins by being afraid to lose a few soldiers. In battle, casualties happen. If winning requires sacrifice, then it must be given.
Acheiving the goal (or winning the battle in ToS) is never easy. But when you allow yourself to become distracted by losses, or threats of loss it is almost impossible. An example: You moved your CC and cannon support titans too far forward, and a couple of CC titans airdropped on your missile boat. Your forward ToS's are hitting the enemy hard, and have destroyed one of the two they are facing. If the cannon titan turns to assist the missile boat, it's field of fire will be lost for the entire time it takes to turn. The CC titan will take heavy damage destroying the enemy titan it is left to face alone, or, worse, be destroyed itself, leaving only a heavily damaged missile boat(maybe) and a still intact cannoner to face whatever is left of the airdropped titans. You lose, because you can't deal enough damage to enough different titans. If you stick to dispatching the lone titan, then turn to engage the titans that have airdropped in, you have a much better chance. Your missile boat will serve as a distraction, and, hopefully, deal some damage to the airdropped titan with the lasers you put in it for just this reason (you did put them in right?)

This concludes my little post. Now the name calling begins:)

[Hetz]

Here PC......Here PC......Come and Get it, Boy

I also start with 3 pilots but usually only buy Titans for two of them (get better titans that way). I leave my repair guy in the shop (where he belongs) until I've won a battle or two and have the money for his Titan. I don't put experience into medium piloting skills but jump from recon/light right to assault (this will change with Warring Suns). Once I have three jocks driving assaults then I'll max my team to 8 (cuze dey gots bodyguards now) and once I have one assault team at champion (or at least in the neighborhood) I'll start building team 3 the same way. ToS for me becomes fun when it's 16 vs 16 I duel because most ToS players have short attention spans
:p

[Lobsteve]

For me it's all about terrain. You can fuss over your combination of jocks and skills and titans all you want but as soon as you see the landscape of your map is when the tactics really begin. This kinda falls under what Corrin was talking about when he mentioned keeping your Titans grouped together I suppose.

There are just so many choices, and so many ways you can find yourself set up. Are your titans spread out over the height of the map? Are they clustered together in the mountains? Can they all see each other? Are there water problems? Dealing with all these questions makes the opening 20 seconds just as important as the final 200. And the middle 200. And, you ought to get the point by now.

What it comes down to is that anything you manage to do in a game is restricted and managed by the terrain. Using the terrain to your advantage is what wins you games.

It's all about practice.

Lobsteve.