Commanding 101: The Definitive Guide
Rapier7
Join Date: 2004-02-05 Member: 26108Members
Join Date: 2004-02-05 Member: 26108Members
Much to the dismay of the LOC clan members, I'm going to say flat out, that I am one of the best commanders that I know of (I'm also one of the most modest, as well). This is my guide to help the beginning (and unfortunately, veteran) commanders who just can't seem to win unless the teams are stacked to oblivion. Without further ado....
Side Note: This is for comming your average pub. This guide also assumes that you know the basic functions of buildings, weapons, and equipment.
Speed is crucial to comming, that split second in which you have to drop a marine a medpack to complete that pg can be the difference between a win and a loss.
Memorize these keys:
'q': Basic structures
|-'a': Resource Tower
|-'s': Infantry Portal
|-'d': Armory
|-'f': Command Console
|-'z': Turret Factory
|-'x': Turrets
|-'c': Siege Turrets
'w': Advanced structures
|-'a': Observatory
|-'s': Arms lab
|-'d': Prototype Lab
|-'f': Phase Gate
'e': Field Aid (Arguably the most important)
|-'a': Ammo
|-'s': Med pack
|-'d': Cat pack (avoid, avoid, avoid...in most cases)
'r': Equip
I'm not going to include the hotkeys for this, as you usually have to deliberate from which weapons will be the most important at the time.
What YOU need to know.
You are in charge. NEVER let some complaining marine (like me, for instance) tell you what to do. They can offer advice, BUT NEVER RELY ON A BACKSEAT DRIVER TO PULL YOU THROUGH THE GAME.
Medpacks and ammo are a waste in many cases. They are only really useful in crucial battles. And guess what? Good commanders often spectate those crucial battles. You should be able to drop medpacks and ammo without having your marines to tell you. 9 times out of 10, if somebody requests ammo or a medpack, most likely it's just a waste of res. Just let them die, they come free from the IP, it doesn't matter.
Turrets don't kill aliens, guns kill aliens. What separates the wheat from the chaff? The best commanders will very rarely ever use turret factories (unless you are sieging). The only times I ever build turrets are when I'm sieging a hive, and I need that extra protection (in which mines work just as well, and even better in most cases). Think about it, a lockdown consists of (on average), one PG, one TF, 4-5 turrets. That's 65-75 res, you could have used that res to research upgrades for your marines. Marines are just the best defense in the game, you can't rely on static defenses.
Separate the wheat from the chaff: Let's face it, you're going to have some stellar marines on your side once in a while. GROUP UP THESE MARINES. Organize them from the rank and file of the lot, and make sure that these are the marines who get the shotguns, HMGs, welders, and mines.
Upgrades are your friend. UPGRADE RUSH, ALWAYS! With every upgrade, you improve the effectiveness of your base marine drastically. And guess what? These marines are FREE, they come from the IP, upgrade them constantly. You spend less on ammo, meds, and equipment this way.
HA is a MUCH SAFER investment than Jetpacks. Period. HA tend to stick together (called heavy trains) while Jetpacks don't get any added protection, and are limited severely in many cases due to map design, they also tend to spread out. If the game is balanced on a sharp sword, make sure you get HA.
PGS ARE THE DEVIL! In many cases. It's really quite annoying when you have to go through an extensive network of PGs to get to one location. Place strategically, this doesn't mean hives. Never go over 3 PGs, NEVER EVER! With 3 pgs, you can place them all in such a way that it never takes more than 15 seconds to get from point A to point B. It's called, "triangulation". Learn something new every day, eh?
Know when to drop equipment. Usually when fades show up, I usually wait a minute or two to observe how my marines fare against fades. Remember, you are the chairman of the board, and your stockholders will be displeased with needless spending. If the fade proves to be nothing more than an annoyance, don't drop shotguns. If that fade proves to be a serious problem, spend away.
Trash talk works wonders. Feeding disinformation can really throw the aliens off. Sometimes I like to say in all_chat, "MARINES, HEAD TO DOUBLE!", followed by a swift, "FARK! All talk is the devil". You won't believe how many aliens will rush to double. A judicious use of communications can enable that lone ninja the extra second he needs to set up that PG.
All caps can make your marines haul @$$. Don't be afraid to use all caps once in a while, it stresses the point, and as long as you use it in moderation, your marines know that it's important that you do as you're told.
Well, that's the end of edition one of Rapier7's definitive guide to commanding. If this guide gets positive feedback, I'll start off with the second edition:
Specific knowledge/Map strategies
It's been a slice.
Side Note: This is for comming your average pub. This guide also assumes that you know the basic functions of buildings, weapons, and equipment.
Speed is crucial to comming, that split second in which you have to drop a marine a medpack to complete that pg can be the difference between a win and a loss.
Memorize these keys:
'q': Basic structures
|-'a': Resource Tower
|-'s': Infantry Portal
|-'d': Armory
|-'f': Command Console
|-'z': Turret Factory
|-'x': Turrets
|-'c': Siege Turrets
'w': Advanced structures
|-'a': Observatory
|-'s': Arms lab
|-'d': Prototype Lab
|-'f': Phase Gate
'e': Field Aid (Arguably the most important)
|-'a': Ammo
|-'s': Med pack
|-'d': Cat pack (avoid, avoid, avoid...in most cases)
'r': Equip
I'm not going to include the hotkeys for this, as you usually have to deliberate from which weapons will be the most important at the time.
What YOU need to know.
You are in charge. NEVER let some complaining marine (like me, for instance) tell you what to do. They can offer advice, BUT NEVER RELY ON A BACKSEAT DRIVER TO PULL YOU THROUGH THE GAME.
Medpacks and ammo are a waste in many cases. They are only really useful in crucial battles. And guess what? Good commanders often spectate those crucial battles. You should be able to drop medpacks and ammo without having your marines to tell you. 9 times out of 10, if somebody requests ammo or a medpack, most likely it's just a waste of res. Just let them die, they come free from the IP, it doesn't matter.
Turrets don't kill aliens, guns kill aliens. What separates the wheat from the chaff? The best commanders will very rarely ever use turret factories (unless you are sieging). The only times I ever build turrets are when I'm sieging a hive, and I need that extra protection (in which mines work just as well, and even better in most cases). Think about it, a lockdown consists of (on average), one PG, one TF, 4-5 turrets. That's 65-75 res, you could have used that res to research upgrades for your marines. Marines are just the best defense in the game, you can't rely on static defenses.
Separate the wheat from the chaff: Let's face it, you're going to have some stellar marines on your side once in a while. GROUP UP THESE MARINES. Organize them from the rank and file of the lot, and make sure that these are the marines who get the shotguns, HMGs, welders, and mines.
Upgrades are your friend. UPGRADE RUSH, ALWAYS! With every upgrade, you improve the effectiveness of your base marine drastically. And guess what? These marines are FREE, they come from the IP, upgrade them constantly. You spend less on ammo, meds, and equipment this way.
HA is a MUCH SAFER investment than Jetpacks. Period. HA tend to stick together (called heavy trains) while Jetpacks don't get any added protection, and are limited severely in many cases due to map design, they also tend to spread out. If the game is balanced on a sharp sword, make sure you get HA.
PGS ARE THE DEVIL! In many cases. It's really quite annoying when you have to go through an extensive network of PGs to get to one location. Place strategically, this doesn't mean hives. Never go over 3 PGs, NEVER EVER! With 3 pgs, you can place them all in such a way that it never takes more than 15 seconds to get from point A to point B. It's called, "triangulation". Learn something new every day, eh?
Know when to drop equipment. Usually when fades show up, I usually wait a minute or two to observe how my marines fare against fades. Remember, you are the chairman of the board, and your stockholders will be displeased with needless spending. If the fade proves to be nothing more than an annoyance, don't drop shotguns. If that fade proves to be a serious problem, spend away.
Trash talk works wonders. Feeding disinformation can really throw the aliens off. Sometimes I like to say in all_chat, "MARINES, HEAD TO DOUBLE!", followed by a swift, "FARK! All talk is the devil". You won't believe how many aliens will rush to double. A judicious use of communications can enable that lone ninja the extra second he needs to set up that PG.
All caps can make your marines haul @$$. Don't be afraid to use all caps once in a while, it stresses the point, and as long as you use it in moderation, your marines know that it's important that you do as you're told.
Well, that's the end of edition one of Rapier7's definitive guide to commanding. If this guide gets positive feedback, I'll start off with the second edition:
Specific knowledge/Map strategies
It's been a slice.
Comments
some of the stuff is good but JPs are much better than HA 90% of the time, "triangulating" PGs? No, triangulation isn't making a triangle with PGs, it's a way to find your position.. but good job making yourself sound smart.
why not drop shotguns before fades come out?
lastly, stellar marines don't need to group up on pubs... they can just walk to the hive and win the game.
No, JP are not better than HA 90% of the time, you've got it the wrong way around. Go around in a pub, you'll see that HA are the safer investment, they can hold their own.
e.Nadagast, I think you're using scrim/match techniques, most pub comms can't afford to give out shotguns in the early game.
I didn't say DON'T drop meds and ammo. I said don't drop it when they are away from key battles. Medspam IS good, but it's useless for a guy building an rt. Crucial battles. That's the key, medspam crucial battles. Most of the times, your marines are within a moment's walk back to base, they can get meds and ammo from the armory.
Please, read my farking guide before you criticize it.
wow. wow. god, wow.
I dunnooooooo but your modesty might be misplaced.
I would agree with you on HA for pubs. I've found in general that JPs have a negative effect on the team, unless there are very good players than obviously JP > HA. However, sometimes you don't have the res for HA, so you must go with JP.
The thing that confused me most about your guide is your method for dealing with fades or other higher lifeforms.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Know when to drop equipment. Usually when fades show up, I usually wait a minute or two to observe how my marines fare against fades. Remember, you are the chairman of the board, and your stockholders will be displeased with needless spending. If the fade proves to be nothing more than an annoyance, don't drop shotguns. If that fade proves to be a serious problem, spend away.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Shotguns are not only for fades, they own skulks and RTs. I'd rather drop shotguns while I still have 6 rts, than when we are locked in base with 1 rt.
Hop on the LOC server sometime, it sickens me how easily marines win with a few good men and a good com.
Horrible, horrible idea. If you need to budget that tightly to "win" lets face it, you're not going to win. Something you will see consistantly is that when a better comm beats a good team, he is medspamming constantly, all over the place, at the moment when any of his marine needs them. It's not that the medpacks themselves win the game, but that it shows the comm is alert and involved with his team members. There's no way this kind of advice will make good comms.
About the shotgun, a good "pub comm" will be no different from a good "match comm" and hand out weapons as soon as he can afford them, and then medspam the crap out of those guns wherever they are. If you can position a shotgun outside of the hive and then keep it there for the rest of the game, how will you lose?
Good comming is based on proximate and ultimate goals. Your post indicates that you sort of understand the difference (such as "Turrets don't kill aliens, guns kill aliens") but you still miss the point with things like "HA is a MUCH SAFER investment than Jetpacks." A proximate goal is killing a fade or holding a resource node. Both of these goals advance you towards your ultimate goal, but not in a straight line (since you have to spend res on shotguns for the fade or waste time and a marine guarding that node, both of which could be used to kill all the hives). The ultimate goal is to kill all the hives and then kill all the aliens, in that order, since that is how you win. Saying HA is much safer is ignorant, since there are some very obvious situations where grabbing heavies instead of jets will lose you the game, or at least set you back a ton of time and res.
<span style='color:orange'><i>The best comm knows how to prioritize his proximate goals such that the ultimate goal is accomplished the fastest.</i></span>
About the shotgun, a good "pub comm" will be no different from a good "match comm" and hand out weapons as soon as he can afford them, and then medspam the crap out of those guns wherever they are. If you can position a shotgun outside of the hive and then keep it there for the rest of the game, how will you lose?
Good comming is based on proximate and ultimate goals. Your post indicates that you sort of understand the difference (such as "Turrets don't kill aliens, guns kill aliens") but you still miss the point with things like "HA is a MUCH SAFER investment than Jetpacks." A proximate goal is killing a fade or holding a resource node. Both of these goals advance you towards your ultimate goal, but not in a straight line (since you have to spend res on shotguns for the fade or waste time and a marine guarding that node, both of which could be used to kill all the hives). The ultimate goal is to kill all the hives and then kill all the aliens, in that order, since that is how you win. Saying HA is much safer is ignorant, since there are some very obvious situations where grabbing heavies instead of jets will lose you the game, or at least set you back a ton of time and res.
<span style='color:orange'><i>The best comm knows how to prioritize his proximate goals such that the ultimate goal is accomplished the fastest.</i></span> <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
I fail to see your point. Otherwise eveyr comm would always drop an armory, spam shotguns, meds, and ammo, and take out that hive. That prioritizes, you med spam constantly, and letting your marines know that you are with them.
The problem is that it won't work, at least, not all the time.
The problem is, you're just picking off my argument.
When I say HA is a MUCH SAFER investment than Jetpacks, 9 times out of 10, it IS the better, more reliable investment. While there are certain cases in which JP are more useful, they just don't pan out the majority of the time.
When you cut corners to win, you obviously have res that can go into something else, as Hobojoe just said, rushing upgrades will win a game in a pub, with over 8 players on each team. But even as they are cost effective, they are still expensive (not on a relative basis of res:marines). If I can rush upgrades and have 3/3 marines in 7 minutes by not being a spendthrift on meds and ammo, so much the sweeter. Of course, if I can afford to dole out weapons, I will. But the key word is 'afford', and 'affording to give out weapons' usually happens after I have ensured that either A) I have enough res to finish the upgrade tree or B) I have already finished the upgrade tree. If you have good marines that know how to shoot, constantly upgrading them is usually a safer way to complete your so-called "ultimate objective" than handing out weapons, because even the best of the best can get bested sometimes, so why not make sure that they don't cost anything to replace?
When you say that medspamming constantly NOT to save your marines, but to let them know they are being watched over, wouldn't an active voice and mic do the same job, without the resources? Let's face it, on a 10v10 server, you're going to have people who are going to die, no matter how much you med/ammo spam. You need to know when is the best time to give it to them. Otherwise, you'd never have resources for other upgrades and equipment.
Think about it, if you give out 2 med/ammo packs every time somebody needs it, that's 6 res. 6 res==24 seconds from each rt, depending on the intensity of combat, ultimately that aid spam is going to hinder res that could have gone to something just as beneficial, but even more useful.
It's the same thing as: You are the mayor of a city that has been attacked by some sort of disease. There are two choices, let your citizens try tough it out, while trying to develop a vaccine, or give them extra food and water, with no actual guarantee of their survival?
However, I agree with your point Rapier. The only really important times to medspam imo is in a BIG single battle (5 v 5 or more) or a lone guy attacked by a skulk while putting up an rt.
Hop on the LOC server sometime, it sickens me how easily marines win with a few good men and a good com.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I tried to see him comm but everytime he either didn't make it to the chair or was ejected almost instantly ... but he did compliment me saying something like I was better than dsg on both sides, whoever that is.
Meh, dsg is a great player, but the only time I ever saw him com he went afk for like 3 minutes. <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
I was an alien and it was funny listening to the dead marines scream "DROP AN IP COMM"
They spread it around, then start bitching.
<span style='color:orange'><i>The best comm knows how to prioritize his proximate goals such that the ultimate goal is accomplished the fastest.</i></span> <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I fail to see your point. Otherwise eveyr comm would always drop an armory, spam shotguns, meds, and ammo, and take out that hive. That prioritizes, you med spam constantly, and letting your marines know that you are with them.
The problem is that it won't work, at least, not all the time.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Marine victory occurs when there are no hives and all aliens are dead. Imagine a scenario where you had no chance to lose if you immediately walked to the hive and shot it. In this scenario the ultimate goal is uncomplicated to achieve. The only thing you have to do as comm is making sure your marines have enough ammo. In a realistic scenario, of course, the aliens are trying to stop the marines, but that doesn't make the ultimate goal any less important. The comm should be focused on the ultimate goal at all times, and everything he should be doing should "grease the wheels" of progress towards that goal.
The point is not what will work all the time, but what will work in the situation you're specifically in at the moment. In other words, the best strategy is conditional. <i>If</i> this and this, then you drop shotguns; if that and that, phase rush quickly. That why when you say things like:
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->When I say HA is a MUCH SAFER investment than Jetpacks, 9 times out of 10, it IS the better, more reliable investment. While there are certain cases in which JP are more useful, they just don't pan out the majority of the time...
<i>and</i>
...If I can rush upgrades and have 3/3 marines in 7 minutes by not being a spendthrift on meds and ammo, so much the sweeter. Of course, if I can afford to dole out weapons, I will. But the key word is 'afford', and 'affording to give out weapons' usually happens after I have ensured that either A) I have enough res to finish the upgrade tree or B) I have already finished the upgrade tree.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I say, you're wrong, not because the suggestions may not pan out in game, but because they're so inflexible. Remember, shotguns and upgrades are proximate goals. Instead of focusing on getting 3/3 before you do this, or blah before that, it would be more effective to focus on individual situations or marines.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->When you say that medspamming constantly NOT to save your marines, but to let them know they are being watched over, wouldn't an active voice and mic do the same job, without the resources?<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I probably wasn't clear, I meant that medspamming everywhere is a trait that very successful comms seem to have. It's indicitive of someone who (usually unconsciously) understands that things like position are more important to accomplishing your ultimate goal than things like resources and upgrades.
A better analogy might be: You're the captain of a racing crew, there's 20 laps left. You have the choice between adding enough gas to make sure he doesn't have to make another pit stop, or adding less gas so he can go faster, and hoping he doesn't have to stop again. Your choice should probably be made in context of the actual race.
and rapier, maybe those comms you bitched at got a point... when I comm, it doesn't make me concentrate any better on the task at hand when a marine starts complaining about how I suck instead of trying to help.
<!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
He never said that you have to follow the HA train religiously. He said that in public games that the HA will usually be more worthwhile. In addition, he said that you could use JP's if you knew they were good jetpackers in the first place.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I probably wasn't clear, I meant that medspamming everywhere is a trait that very successful comms seem to have. It's indicitive of someone who (usually unconsciously) understands that things like position are more important to accomplishing your ultimate goal than things like resources and upgrades.
A better analogy might be: You're the captain of a racing crew, there's 20 laps left. You have the choice between adding enough gas to make sure he doesn't have to make another pit stop, or adding less gas so he can go faster, and hoping he doesn't have to stop again. Your choice should probably be made in context of the actual race.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I would do less pit-stops, and let my guys pass through for as long as possible, before the status is critical. As there will always be a transition time between pit-stop and top speed, it would skim off seconds.
I completely and utterly disagree. You're leaving out a crucial factor in all ns games: Time.
Time meaning if you don't have decent upgrades at around 4:00 (average fade time), you're more likely than not screwed.
Keeping your marines healthy and ammo'd up keeps them on the field. So what if they come free from the Ip? For example, 2 - 3 of your marines head off to the set waypoint, and the others rambo off for rts. You medspam the hell out of the group, but never pay the slightest attention to the others, you've got some 5 marines in the queue, and the last guy dying gets the short end of the stick, waiting 21+ seconds (assuming you have 2 ips). Your 2-3 marines at the waypoint are screaming for back-up and -- opps, everyone is dead.
And so what if chances are they're dead anyways? You don't know that, you can't know that unless you see 3 onos on mt coming right at him. THEN you know he's dead. You can't always base things on statistics. "Oh nine times out of ten this and that this and that" Statistics are statistics, they arn't fact. 3 skulks coming to his position? I'd hide, and hopefully have them run past me, and when they're out of hearing range, i just dance into that hive and get a phasegate, but, whops, i don't have ammo and i have 35 HP. GG.
Dropping meds and ammo BEFORE they ask for it is not exactly great either, unless you hear another wave of enemies coming. I don't always want a medpack. I don't want that ammo pack, save it for someone else, because i know i'm about to die with 0 armor and 5 hp, and two medpacks isn't going to save me, but make me last 2 seconds longer. If your marines want medpack, ammo then have them call for it. You shouldn't have time to be looking at specific marines in the first place. You're the comm, you have to be in more than one place at any given time. Get armor 1, put down the res node for him, pass out shotguns: You're expected to do all this AT THE SAME TIME.
Time is res. You need to reprioritize. Is giving that marine 4 res worth of meds and ammo worth it? Thats up to you to decide; i'm not in the chair: you are. But to say to let them die and justifying that they 'come free from the ip' is a horrible excuse. Basing everything off statistics is generally a good idea, but you're always going to have deviations, exceptions, whatnot, and you can not write a commander guide without factoring ALL these factors in.
Last but not least, meds and ammo keep your marines happy, and they'll listen to you if you keep them happy: Hooray for morale.
When you say a good commander has to be everywhere at once, you're saying I need to multitask. Keeping marines out in the field longer is a good thing, right? You're focusing on just one part of my argument; when I say to cut corners and just LET THEM DIE, they're going to come out of the IP substantially stronger than they were before. Why? Because I use the majority of my resources to go towards upgrades. Upgrades are important. In fact, it's my number one priority. By getting more upgrades in a shorter amount of time, you ensure that your marines dominate in the early and mid games, even the best fades have trouble with W3 lmgs, they can't dominate as effectively as they could with others.
In the mid-late game, you pass out HMGs, you have this game in the bag. Quite literally.
The only actual times that I pass out meds (except crucial battles) is when a marine is going for that gorge who's waiting for res to build that RT. When you pass out meds at the right time, you ensure that you did it for a good reason. Upgrades are key, as always.
and by substantially stronger i'm assuming you're talking about armor upgrades, because armslab upgrades take effect immediately once they're researched. Welders can fix that. Grenades, which do require a respawn to obtain, are not crucial enough to have your marines die and respawn for it.
If i haven't hit on what you're trying to say, my apollogies. I'm interpreting your post as best as I can.
I think Level 3 upgrades ARE worth it (I don't research HG, anyways). It is mainly for fades. Because, on level 2 armor, fades still kill in 3 hits, but with level 3, they don't. Plus, that extra 50 or so damage you get with level 3 weapons could be the difference between a dead onos or a live one.
Most of the times, I pass out mines and welders. Keep up that armor, and they don't need to worry about health so much. And mines...they just rock. Great for hive sieges (without tf and sieges) and when that fade came around, he blinked right into 3 mines, and my marines finished him. Shotguns are a luxury, in my opinion.
Well duh, but so could those 4 Shotguns be the difference between a live Onos and a dead one. <b>If it were reasonably possible to have Armor3 at a reasonable time in game, I'd agree with you</b> - but as it stands getting Armor3 from Armor1 is nearly as expensive as researching HA (excluding the AA, lets just assume you wanted one anyway) and takes almost as long.
Thats assuming you're not getting Weapon ups. And your success against Fades doesn't matter as much 6-7 minutes into the game when you get your rushed Armor3 - it matters at 3:30 and 4 minutes when they pop up. Dominate at that point, and the rest is a piece of cake anyway.
VERY NICE JOB WITH THE GUIDE
Another note to Lito:
What happened to all those rambos? Did they suddenly lose all of their aiming skills whatsoever, there is never a guarantee that ALL of them will die, instantaneously, and all at the same time.
When I comm, I come to expect that most of my marines can get a lock on at the aliens, you act as if they were all blind. You're basically giving highly exaggerated worst case scenarios, wait...., 3 onos WHILE MY MARINES ARE HUNTING FOR RTS?!?! How the hell did those onos appear in the early game? If that happened, we're guaranteed to lose, not even the most competent commander could turn this game around.
Lito, did I ever USE statistics? I say '9 times out of 10' to stress the point, I don't say that: "Statistically, A1 is always better than W1 because W1 does not offer any immediate advantages while A1..."
Jeez, you're literate, but you've got a ways to go on COMPREHENDING what I say.
You can't always expect that your marines can shoot well. Sometimes marines you know that are good have those off days and what not. Thats why its always best to use the worst case scenario. Do you go to a war saying "Oh we're sure that the other army won't flank us, so we'll just go for a full force frontal assault"? No, because you're sure to get slaughtered.
My post was more of a 'what if', "If the opposing force sends a flanking team to our right, we'll set up some snipers in the valley to pick them off. If the snipers are discovered we'll send it Alpha team to back them up. The rest of the force is to lead the frontal assault" is more like it. If you do the harder questions in your math homework, the easier ones are no problem. etc...etc...
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->You're basically giving highly exaggerated worst case scenarios, wait...., 3 onos WHILE MY MARINES ARE HUNTING FOR RTS?!?!<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Who said anything about 3 onos while you were hunting for RTs in early game? I just stating the fact a single marine isn't dead until some giant unstoppable force is headed thier way. 3 onos seemed to fit the bill there.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I say '9 times out of 10' to stress the point, I don't say that: "Statistically, A1 is always better than W1 because W1 does not offer any immediate advantages while A1..."
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"9 times out of 10" is somewhat of a numeric datum, but not in this context i guess. I still think that if you wanted to stress a point without statistical evidence, you should go for more general statements: "More likely than not", "Often", "The trend is..." etc. It gives it a more generalization rather than cold hard numbers.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Jeez, you're literate, but you've got a ways to go on COMPREHENDING what I say.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Ow. My feelings. Perhaps i should say the same to you :/.