Post
by DX » Fri Jan 10, 2014 1:58 pm
Hence the need for a hunting rule or equivalent. We need to preserve the ability to hide and ambush, but if nothing happens for a while, that team needs to begin moving again. Likewise, we can't let the team that's ahead in score run away to hide. Part of this can't be legislated, though, it's up to both teams to want to attack. If they arrive at opposing hills, something needs to give - one of them either needs to attack or withdraw to another location. That comes down to training and fitness more than terrain - I am more likely to attack when I trust that all of my players can handle themselves and can move quickly without prodding. If multiple people have to stop and think about whether it's a good idea to rush when they hear "RUSH THEM!", and burn 10+ seconds standing still, there's no hope of sustaining offensive campaigns. This is such a headache in Nerf that I usually give up and just solo rush, often ending up in lopsided firefights 50ft or more in front of my team from them being useless. Or, I stay with veteran groups who take these actions on their own, no audible prompts needed.
As I've stated before, there's three major components to decision-making in battle: Identify what you need to do, Decide the best way to do it, and Execute that. In the heat of battle under intense pressure, there need to be just two: Identify and then Execute. (there isn't time to decide, so you memorize a list of common/basic moves and take the first one that comes to mind based on the situation and your experience, your instinct will usually pick the best one or at least the most viable). If I'm yelling at you to move, rush, run away, etc...I've already done the thinking and deciding parts for you, all you have to do is execute, it should take less than 3 seconds if you trust me. I don't give direct orders very often and when I do, it's usually for moves that are necessary given the enemy's positioning. In other words, common sense - "fall back" cause yeah, the enemy is rushing us 4 on 3, or "move up" cause you've fallen out of range, or "take that tree" cause if you don't, the enemy will get it and blow apart our position.
At least on my teams and past teams, any of its players has the ability to give orders to other players or the full team when they deem it necessary. The captain's orders overrule others, but there's never been an incident of conflicting orders, as necessary meant necessary. It's an especially important ability when the team is split up in a sudden and unplanned way, with no clear leadership. Someone, anyone, has to take control and prevent a disaster. Then again, not everyone actually wants to make decisions. When I ask, what should we do? What do you want to do?...I get blank stares at least half the time. So, basically, people don't listen to me, but also don't take charge. This is what's really wrong with modern teams in Community Wars and most Nerf rounds. This is also why there's such little use of tactics in Nerf - the teams are a collection of independent individuals who don't take orders from anyone. Water war teams are dependent on tactics to get hits, in Nerf-like standoffs, it's very difficult to hit anything. We have to act as teams and work together. And then, we need to get on the same page, so orders become less necessary in battle, people acting on common sense and naturally judging where/when to move and how fast, where to position themselves, etc. Then, we can actually have sustained offensives and exciting battles that shift all over a park. I don't want to attack or even withdraw when my team can't perform these actions quickly, as one unit.
I'm still convinced that our long rounds will not work very well, regardless of the terrain and rules, until team cohesion issues are addressed.
</rant>
marauder wrote:You have to explain things in terms that kids will understand, like videogames^ That's how I got Sam to stop using piston pumpers