Post
by HBWW » Thu Jun 23, 2011 6:49 pm
Let's have "CQB" and "Cameraman" while we're at it. A lot of old tactics' team roles systems really miss the point of things; that your team needs to mesh together and coordinate well. It really does not matter at all how this is done; if you have one person who's a "leader" or if everyone's a leader. It doesn't matter if they're all carrying CPS 12k's or CPS 3200's. It doesn't matter if everyone is armed for what's considered "heavy" or "light", what matters is that each warrior is as effective as can be.
That said, it is possible to impose a gametype/gameplay limitation and divide water warfare equipment available at a war into "kits". This ensures more "balanced" games if kits are selected well with the available equipment, but it does impose tactical restrictions that teams may or may not be allowed to deal with. (i.e. Team members trading equipment.) Here's an example of a set of kits that can be assigned to be available to a team:
- Assault: Carries a few water balloons, refill bottles, and anything from a CPS 1200 to 2500. Medium-long range blasters strongly preferred. Can also carry sidearm.
- Support: Carries any medium to heavy blaster with backpack. CPH, CPS 3200, etc. are good choices. Must be able to supply teammates with water. Can also carry sidearm or secondary.
- Skirmisher: Carries light blaster, generally anything lighter than the CPS 1200. Flash Flood, Tiger Shark, or MD6k are good options. Focuses on tasks that require a lot of running. Few or no water balloons and bottles. May dual wield if desired.
- WBL Crewman: Carries light blaster and part of the WBL equipment. Flash Flood, Tiger Shark, MD6k all work.
- Light Grenadier: Carries light blaster (same as above) and lots, lots of water balloons. Water balloon slingshot or lax stick optional. Supplies fellow players and WBL crewman with water balloons.
- Medic (additional game rules required): Carries towel if required by game rules to revive players. May also act as spawn point. Carries relatively similar equipment as Assault but omissions may be made for "balancing" purposes.
- Engineer: Carries light or medium blaster, equipment for setting traps/mines, perhaps a small WBL, and a small kit with screwdrivers, pliers, wrench, duct tape, fast-setting epoxy putty, and other equipment for field repairs.
This would strictly be for making games interesting by creating a template by which water weaponry and abilities are distributed. It's just a sample of what can be done to mix up games and make them more interesting. The intention is not to restrict gameplay possibilities but to create a different interaction of teamplay.
That said, roles typically happen without intention and without rules specifying them. For example, one of my friends switched to carrying only an XP 270 when acting as a runner for CTF. I made a run for the flag on the next round but never dropped most of my equipment (I was armed with a 12k and several water bottles and sidearm, as usual.) Obviously, a player's role may need to quickly change on the battlefield and it's important that all specifications of roles allow for this. Inflexibility or inability to adapt is one of the worst things in any wargame.
IMO, roles should be defined individually by the team playing for the gametype. Both the runner/skirmisher and supply/support warriors are less useful in a short elimination game than in a long CTF game.
Organizing squads for the purposes of gameplay is another possibility. For example, a player may only spawn with certain players in a squad. Squads can be manipulated for interesting gameplay variation, but this is also stretching very far into how video games work. (i.e. Battlefield series, Halo Reach Invasion spawning, etc.) The typical respawning system itself is also nowhere near as ubiquitous to water warfare as it is for shooter games.
Edit: Added "Engineer" kit to list.