Teams, what teams we need?

[sasha]

Guys, i read some info on fireteams in wiki, tactical manual of Shacks, and when i compare it to what we experience i get frustrated:

1. Typical team is 3-4 riflemen + 1 mg gunner. But, according to our experience in games this universality is crap.

When you need covering fire you better have all mgs in one team, while in assault and clearence you need team of riflemen and dont need any bulky mg for close combat.

2. In attack it appears senseless to split up squad to same composition teams and send them different direction (it appeares really senseless) - they usually end up battling separately with cohesion hardly possible. Infantry squad is better to stay together to my mind - by this way we have maximum guns per target.

Idk but it is my experience in latest missions - no sense to split squad (of course a full 3 squad platoon has to be split because too many ppl impossible to control and no sense in being crowded).

3. When team has a sniper they can cooperate but then this would not be a team really - they need special situations to be effective (and maybe 1 sniper could as well support a whole platoon then just 4-men team).

4. So probably there is more sense in making different teams in a squad. Like this: 1 professional squad should have 3 teams - 1 mg team, 1 assault riflemen team, 1 special purpose team (AT,Sniper,Spotter,Medic,Commander).

In all ordinary situations squad will try to stay together in a formation similar to of ordinary infantry squad. But when situation require squad would split into a specialized tactically efficient units - Fire Support MG team, Assault, and if needed AT and sniper.

I am starting to believe that such squad of different-porpose teams would be more effective then the one made of standard unspecialised teams.


What do you think?

[KSK]

1. Biggest problem that I see at moment is, that we never reached at least one full squad strength yet (assuming that a squad has 10 players).

2. And I agree with you, that we need for special task, specialized parts in a squad, but (also agree with you in this topic) also that the squad ordinary should stay like a standard squad (you take the "stick-way", I take the "5-men-way" ).

In missions we need an assault team and an base of fire I would do the following (again assuming that a squad has 10 players and using my "5-men-way"):
Assault team:
Both fireteam leaders, both medics, both AT/Engineer...all equipped with assault weapons, so AT/Engineer wouldn't carry AT or mines. (So 6 guys in assault team)

Base of fire:
The 2 ordinary MG-Gunners + 2 Snipers, but taking not Sniper rifle but MG (scoped) or maybe one guy stay with sniper rifle same distance like base of fire and just the other sniper switches to MG... (3-4 guys in base of fire).
Assault team and base of fire are attacking same target
(We saw the result, what happens, when base of fire is at totally other position and enemy-location than assault team is --> both can't win, high rate of casualties)

3. If more sneaky and silent (town) operating is needed, i would to following:
2 Snipers are on special position to spot and mark targets and observe the location for enemies and reinforcement movement.
Assault ground team would consist of 2 fireteam leaders, 2 medics, 2 At/Engineers (with assault weapon and no AT and mines if not needed) but I would go at least with one MG gunner carrying an MG (but the LMG-SAW) because covering a street with an MG is very useful to stop enemy movement in town or to watch the retreat/protect the evac.

So the roles in an ordinary squad wouldn't be fixed, just as long as there is not specialization needed. If specialization is needed, roles are changed/modified. So it's all about being flexible to random situations.

[sasha]

I just thought that in real armies they reach the needed level of specialisation on the platoon and company level (and usually operations need at least a platoon size unit).

So in reality you will almost never see a squad attacking targets singlehandly (as we do often in Arma). Attack is done by at least a platoon.

Platoon can have (apart from ordinary infantry squads) a special mg team assigned, or a sniper pair, or specialized AT team (which do not belong to either squad but are attached to commander).

So in Arma we mimic platoon/company size operations by just 8-10ppl and so we cant yet (untill DAM reaches platoon size) have standard infantry squad, we need all special roles (AT, Sniper, Medic, Engineer) to be within same squad together with riflemen and mg.

And so when our squad has a sniper it means we mimic separate sniper team of real platoon/company etc.


And good point you have - sniper in base of fire can be even more effective then mg. Because everyone fears snipers. Playing for taki I always hide in building when i hear shots of high caliber US sniper rifle.