My 2007 prospective team - Not that any of the other years worked..

[Dr. D]

Hey guys. Over the past four years now, I have been trying to set up a soaker team to combat my local veteran team "The Jihad Machines." This year, I have a good feeling that it might just work out, especially with the enormous success of last year's end-of-the-year battle. The biggest problem my prospective team has, however, is lack of experience. I'm going to train them the best I possibly can, so I'm not incredibly worried and won't mind too much even if we lose the first couple matches by rediculous amounts. I wanted to see what you guys thought about my prospective team's weapon selection, and if you think its balanced enough. It's as follows (with the person wielding the gun in parenthesis with their skill level):

1. Slightly modded CPS 4100 MK2 (Me, large amounts of training, arguably the best all-around player in league, best insurgent/freelancer in the league, little skill as captain, expert at single-man missions, might carry an '06 FF as a side arm)

2. CPS 1500 (My apprentice, considerable amount of potential and has completed a good amount of legitimatly successful training, even worse than me as leader)

3. CPS 2500 shotgun edition without nozzle selector (reasonable amount of skill, possible potential, strong, reasonable stamina, little training)

4. CPS 1000? (CPS 2500 wielder's brother, little training, low skill, some potential, incredibly loyal and willing to do his part)

5. '06 Flash Flood (will serve as supply or scout, considerably fast, virtually no training, weak skill, rediculously loyal, reasonable amount of potential)

Due to my low skills as captain, I'm going to train my men as best as possible to be independent thinkers and need as few orders as possible. Also, I'm not sure the 4th player will be using a CPS 1000, and could be using any light CPS (2100, 1200, hyrdoblitzer, blazer, ect). The other team has been training together for about five years, and is equipped as follows:

1. Monster X MK1 (exceptional leadership skills, best tactical mind/leader in the league, arguably second best all-around player in the league, semi-genius at raising morale)

2. CPS 1200? (brother of MX user, second best tactical mind/leader in the league, arguably third best all-around player in the league, expert at leading squads of 2-3 on special missions)

3. CPS 2100 (high amounts of training, third best tactical mind/leader in the league, considerable skill as infantry, good at following orders)

4. CPS 2100 (brother of other 2100 user, very high amounts of training, very good at infantry, exceptional at following orders to the dot, fiercely loyal to his team)

These aren't the only people who will probably be playing this summer, but these are just the people who are on a declared team. Equipment-wise, I'd say we are more than a match for the other team. However, as everyone's been told hundreds of times, a great soaker's no good in the hands of a n00b. I'm going to do my best to train my soldiers, especially my 1500 user. If anyone has any suggestions on basic training ideas or has any idea on how to make my team more effective, I'd love to hear it.

Here's to '07! : :bm2700: :

[HBWW]

Any info on the other team? What kind of 1HK games do you guys do?

[Dr. D]

Any info on the other team? What kind of 1HK games do you guys do?

The bottom list of four people is the other team. As of yet I've never been able to successfully convince the people of my league to try a 1HK, but with the discovery of our new wooded area, we are going to try our first one this spring. Historically, our games have just been highly-organized and complex soakfests.

There's a bunch more people in our league, but the nine people I listed in the first post are just the people who are on a specific organized team. In years past (since I was never able to pull a team together) we'd usually just draft players at the beginning of the game into two teams of anywhere from 4-7 players each. However, the Monster X user (the founder of the league) and I are trying for this year to be much more organized. Do you have any suggestions for 5-on-5 OHK games? Although I consider myself pretty experienced at water warfare, I am new to organized scenarios. What's the general rule on when a man is down or not? Is one fist-sized wound on the chest or back a fair amount, or would that be too little/too much? Thanks!

[HBWW]

Oops, didn't notice that for some reason. I wouldn't be concerned about the guns that much, they're all generally pretty good. However, I would recommend carrying some kind of backup pistol, users who can carry more than one gun should, provided it helps attack without lowering mobility too much. What battlefields do you guys fight in? (I assume it's either backyards, parks, or a combination of both.) I haven't trained before, but try to get your people to know how to use them efficiently, teach them how the stuff works, priming, fill-pump-fill, etc. For target training, shooting bottles, stuff like that could work. Not sure exactly how to improvise excercises though, I haven't done that stuff before. (though I might next summer, even though they're just casual wars where people are invited like a party and teams are formed at the war, I have encountered people who couldn't throw water balloons, fired shots at someone far out of range, someone who wouldn't defend right, etc. but I wasn't very good either and let one of my blasters get stolen by the other team)

Sorry, that post was thrown together rather quickly.



Edited By C-A_99 on 1169696608

[SilentGuy]

Fist-size 1HK is generally good, and you can choose to have Lives where they respawn at a base. Basic tactics should be all you really need--like flanking. Also, stuff like keeping the PC full at all times should help. But other than that, just have fun and see how the league goes!

[DX]

If you are going to try that new forested battlefield, I wouldn't worry about the guns themselves. Woodland terrain tends to balance uneven arsenals. Those rumors of an XP user fending off a CPS for me are certainly not just rumors. That happens in every war. Forests do a wonderful job of naturally reducing all material and physical advantages. Numbers and firepower do not carry the day on such a battlefield. Tactics, especially unconventional ones, can be decisive in forests. They don't even have to be complex, it really depends on the skill of your enemy.

It seems like you have a lot of people with good experience and tactical expertise. You may want to teach your team the Fluid Command style. It is extremely useful when many people on a team have veteran experience. Having this in place deprives the enemy of the conventional strategy of taking out the commander. If many know how to command, the loss of a commander to a hit gives the enemy no advantage. After time, members of your team know exactly when and where to step in, and who should step in when and where. Though for a team new to Fluid Command, I'd suggest assigning people situations, such as when the primary commander is hit, when the team is defending a fort, when the team is ambushing, etc.

However, I would recommend carrying some kind of backup pistol, users who can carry more than one gun should, provided it helps attack without lowering mobility too much.

Since the new battlefield is wooded and the game type is some variant of 1HK, I would recommend against carrying any sort of backup at all. In a forest, you want maximum mobility and versatility, being able to deliver as little firepower as necessary in the smallest platform possible. Hence why I've always hated backpacks, big soakers, and love modded guns. In most game types and on most battlefields, you don't need any mobility. But in a forest, sprinting mobility can be critical in landing attacks and putting distance into a retreat. A fast veteran team is a deadly threat in 1HK. Backup guns of any sort don't provide any advantage [veteran 1HK players never run out of pc pressure and never engage when really low on water]. A 5 minute skirmish can turn into a half hour battle, so it is risky to do anything else but retreat when offered battle with a 1/4 tank or less water in your gun. Tap/Pump can only stretch your reservoir life so far.

For "training" I would teach by doing. Explain how things like Tap/Pump, shooting angles, etc. work and let them use these skills in short scenarios, such as dueling or taking a small hill. When they have the basics down, you can teach them more advanced things like Rotative Refilling, shooting while refilling [CPS only], etc. When they get these down, have full-length battles. The best way to learn the real deal is to simulate the real deal. Also, target practice is best done with a live target in real conditions. Shooting at houses, cars, cans, walls, etc. is unrealistic since real enemies move and some can dodge a stream in less than .15 of a second.

Even if you use really basic tactics, try to use them for unconventional purposes. If the enemy is expecting an action, do that action in some other way. Especially with bases. Let the enemy make a base and defend it, it is their waste. A team which wants the initiative with no effort and wants to stay on the offensive doesn't need a base at all. Long stints on the defensive, with the exception of the tactical strategy of Offensive Defense, does not produce kills or victory. If the enemy has a base, you can use it as a weapon against them.