I've Got Pretty Good At Comming Ns_caged.
7Bistromath
Join Date: 2003-12-04 Member: 23928Members, Constellation
Join Date: 2003-12-04 Member: 23928Members, Constellation
Granted, it's probably just an easy map to comm, but herding cats is a tough job even on ns_siege007 sometimes, so it feels like an accomplishment to me. So far, if I'm not misremembering (and this is just recent attempts, mind) I've had two victories in a row, and a near miss that went to hell at the last minute for reasons I'm completely unaware of.
One thing I've noticed is that you pretty much have to use a two-pronged attack to carry out the mission with any expediency. Everytime I've seen a comm send all of his forces to either Topo or Skylights, and then lag a few minutes before supporting the "rambos," (of which there are usually half a squad) I've thought to myself "oh god, this comm is going have us turtling up in ten minutes," and I'm usually right. On any other map, splitting up in any significant way is usually risky, but it works very well on caged. There are only two places to go straight out of Marine Start, so you know your rambos are at least going to check in. They won't stay there, but that's fine, as long as they're at least blowing through. If your ronins are the type that hit hives instead of double, your chances are two in three that he'll end up where you want him anyway.
I can get things done fairly rapidly in this map, because I don't even bother taking the time to do any recon. It doesn't really matter where their starting hive is, and whether they're paying any attention to double. The job is easiest if the have Cargo, because you can put them in a pincer, but if they have either of the side hives, you've already tagged the other one before you find out, so you can just blow through into Cargo. This is one of the few maps where having a fluid, adaptable plan doesn't mean you're going to waste a bunch of res on it before it fails. And even if that doesn't work, you have enough res nodes going and electrified by this time that you can get a HA train going pretty fast, so you can rush the side you didn't get, and then blow through into Cargo.
I generally don't even look at double until later on. This angers alotta people who don't listen to what I tell them, but they didn't listen, so I don't really care. There will usually be one or two people up there early on who receive <i>absolutely</i> no support from me. They usually learn their lesson after they die the first time, and start to gung-ho after that. The reason I don't look at double is that it's a longer-term investment than I have interest in. We're trying to go fast, so taking something that's not going to start paying for itself until a while later is jumping into a res pit. If the aliens are on top of their game, it's going to take alotta cash to siege double, and if they aren't, it's going to take only slightly less as I build stuff to support the guys replacing the ones dead from the aliens which have half-arsedly rushed in to protect their oh-so-precious undefended nodes. The alien team knows this, and expect me to strike early, so they'll do whatever best fits their strategy with double. If I take double at all, I want it on my terms, so I just let them waste time on it in the early game, and grab it later on when I have at least one hive completely locked down, and nobody's looking over there.
On the lighter side of things, I've noticed that once you get a HA train going, it helps to get really angry at your marines. This works especially well with the more experienced types who, despite being fine players, seem to think they know better than you.
"Comm, can I get a shotty with my HA?"
"No, just take what's on the floor."
"But shotty is better than HM..."
"JUSTTAKEWHAT'SONTHEF---INGFLOOR, I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!"
---or---
"Cap this res..."
"Keep moving."
"Double is under atta..."
"Keep moving."
"Base needs..."
"KEEP MOVING!"
Truth be told though, it really does help a bit, because once you have a big enough HA train going, recklessness is an asset. When you've got all that stuff, time is of the essence, because you need to tear down your objectives before the aliens have a chance to find out just how screwed they are.
One thing I've noticed is that you pretty much have to use a two-pronged attack to carry out the mission with any expediency. Everytime I've seen a comm send all of his forces to either Topo or Skylights, and then lag a few minutes before supporting the "rambos," (of which there are usually half a squad) I've thought to myself "oh god, this comm is going have us turtling up in ten minutes," and I'm usually right. On any other map, splitting up in any significant way is usually risky, but it works very well on caged. There are only two places to go straight out of Marine Start, so you know your rambos are at least going to check in. They won't stay there, but that's fine, as long as they're at least blowing through. If your ronins are the type that hit hives instead of double, your chances are two in three that he'll end up where you want him anyway.
I can get things done fairly rapidly in this map, because I don't even bother taking the time to do any recon. It doesn't really matter where their starting hive is, and whether they're paying any attention to double. The job is easiest if the have Cargo, because you can put them in a pincer, but if they have either of the side hives, you've already tagged the other one before you find out, so you can just blow through into Cargo. This is one of the few maps where having a fluid, adaptable plan doesn't mean you're going to waste a bunch of res on it before it fails. And even if that doesn't work, you have enough res nodes going and electrified by this time that you can get a HA train going pretty fast, so you can rush the side you didn't get, and then blow through into Cargo.
I generally don't even look at double until later on. This angers alotta people who don't listen to what I tell them, but they didn't listen, so I don't really care. There will usually be one or two people up there early on who receive <i>absolutely</i> no support from me. They usually learn their lesson after they die the first time, and start to gung-ho after that. The reason I don't look at double is that it's a longer-term investment than I have interest in. We're trying to go fast, so taking something that's not going to start paying for itself until a while later is jumping into a res pit. If the aliens are on top of their game, it's going to take alotta cash to siege double, and if they aren't, it's going to take only slightly less as I build stuff to support the guys replacing the ones dead from the aliens which have half-arsedly rushed in to protect their oh-so-precious undefended nodes. The alien team knows this, and expect me to strike early, so they'll do whatever best fits their strategy with double. If I take double at all, I want it on my terms, so I just let them waste time on it in the early game, and grab it later on when I have at least one hive completely locked down, and nobody's looking over there.
On the lighter side of things, I've noticed that once you get a HA train going, it helps to get really angry at your marines. This works especially well with the more experienced types who, despite being fine players, seem to think they know better than you.
"Comm, can I get a shotty with my HA?"
"No, just take what's on the floor."
"But shotty is better than HM..."
"JUSTTAKEWHAT'SONTHEF---INGFLOOR, I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!"
---or---
"Cap this res..."
"Keep moving."
"Double is under atta..."
"Keep moving."
"Base needs..."
"KEEP MOVING!"
Truth be told though, it really does help a bit, because once you have a big enough HA train going, recklessness is an asset. When you've got all that stuff, time is of the essence, because you need to tear down your objectives before the aliens have a chance to find out just how screwed they are.
Comments
Err, Topo and Skylights is in ns_veil, aren't they...? So did you mean ns_caged or ns_veil?
The map I'm looking for has the Sub-Sector, Cargo Transfer, and Pipeline hives, and I think double is Nanogrid Status.
dont worry, i cant remember any of the darned map names either...
build 2 portals if more than 5ppl
build 1 armory
rush hmg and heavy
get about 4-6 res to be ok
get arms labs FAST
get prototype FAST
get 2nd base up MEDUM
<!--emo&::asrifle::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='asrifle.gif'><!--endemo--> Most Important>-----Don't Turret Farm! waste of $$$$ fast!<-----tnatropmI tsoM <!--emo&::onos::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tiny.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tiny.gif'><!--endemo-->
1: You play Bean-net? I haven't seen you around. You got the same name?
2: It is true that I often don't dominate as fast as I could. The reason is that I always want to bet on the sure thing. A good HA train can't be stopped, so my main goal is to work one up. Once you've done that, any problems you had before will just get shot to death.
2. Aww Bis, you should know better. HA trains aren't always a sure thing, a fast train is close to a sure thing, but a slow one definately isn't. But if you let them res up, or fades keep killling YOUR res, you slow down just enough for 2hive onos stun + skulk support to wipe you. Learn new starts Bis.. you're a one trick pony right now <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo-->.
note on veil... Double is important. consider that controlling nano gives you easy acess to 2 hives. Also consider that after you secure nano, west and topo instantly see a lot less trouble: nano is more importatnt to attack for the aliens.
aside from that, consider a few things... say your dont get nano... but they lock cargo, nano and pipe, while you have sub. The problem then, is you control 4 res max, more likely 2 or 3... seige nano all you want, but with 6+ alien res, your in trouble. They probably walled topo ot c12, and are sending onoses to both esub AND base..Once the onoses get stomp, your in trouble... HA trains lose half thier effectiveness, and it takes a stupid 2 hive onos to doe to LA, or a lot of time and effort.
but aside from that, the 2 pronged thing works pretty well, thats how i usually do most of my maps.. one bunch to attack res and get themselves mashed on the aliens, and another to cap and build and sneak where they dont belong. BTW, from playing with you, i think you should pass the shotties out more =P
hee hee.. overall a decent strat for NS_VEIL =P just keep in mind that everything always changes ingame. what about the other maps? =P
Completely true. Thing is, that's why my strategy works so well on ns_veil. Very easy to get a fast train going there, because you've got easy access to several res nodes for long enough to electrify them if you put forth the effort, and Sub-Sector is automatically yours if the aliens don't start there. Furthermore, Sub is very easy to protect, and the aliens don't hit it much at all until later in the game, for some reason.
Basically, how I'm going to win all hinges on my speed in taking the second hive. Immediately after securing the first one, I've got enough res to try for a siege, which I do. If the siege fails, the combat still should've done enough damage to the area to buy the time for the train, and once that's going, the last two hives fall like lead birds.
PS: One of you guys asked about other maps. To be honest, there aren't many others that I comm regularly, and the only one I can remember where I have a pretty good track record is ns_origin. On that map, I have a pretty much similar strategy, but it's not so location-specific because the res nodes aren't lined up like Rockettes, for one, and it's alot bigger, as well. Also, no one hive is that easy for the marines to grab, save Biodome, and that one isn't easy to hold. It's funny hearing people complain that I'm a n00b commander when I turret farm Biodome Control. Anywhere else, they'd be right, but it's very important that Biodome Control is nearly a fortress, otherwise you're not going to have enough time to get back to Biodome itself if they manage to get something going there.
Anywho bis, i agree with bobby, you seem to have an aversion to SGs, i rarely see you pass them out; they're uber on everything cept lerks. And is it just me or do you get ejected almost everytime you hop into the comm chair in ns_nothing (via,cargo,ps)?
dont worry, i cant remember any of the darned map names either... <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Hmm, in that case my knowledge of map names wins <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
I knew all of them in less than 2 day.
Oh, yah. That'll happen alright. My track record on that map is absolutely comical.
Mineshaft is one where I should do okay, but pretty much never do for some reason.
On the upside, my most recent gig in the chair was an excellent run of ns_origin, where for the first time ever, I actually managed to do something serious at double. I never really have a chance to do much with double on any map. It was mostly because the aliens were being lame once again, but I did it anyway, so there.
I've had a really good time in the chair today. Except for when there were some people causing trouble on the server, I've seriously been wailing on them. I've built up a real synergy with many of the denizens of bean-net. (I love you, Spool.) It's good to be a regular in the chair again. And this time I'm actually good at it.
Blech. Turret farming is evil.
1) If you do it, you immediately get ejected anyway, because you lose all credibility as a commander.
2) The reason you lose that credibility is that you're wasting that res on something which is defensive, cowardly, and boring.
Stagnation of any kind sucks the big one, even if it isn't really stagnation. One thing I pride myself on is that, though I'm a pretty good comm, I'm not a REALLY good comm. If I was a really good comm, winning wouldn't be nearly as fun, because there'd be no back and forth, no risk.
PS: Oh, one other thing I'd like to say while I'm here.
I am officially the god of ns_eclipse. Two games in a row where we were reduced to burning cinders, and I pulled us back to victory. Absolutely glorious.
But during the day.. ive noticed the server is FULLLLLLLLL of nubs... and being on steam doesnt help either,
needless to say its crammed with oldbies most of the time. yet sometimes we have n00bs days. irritating