How Ive Gone 14 To 1 As Commander
Kromaxx
Join Date: 2002-11-11 Member: 8205Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Tips on commanding</div> Ever since ive been commanding ive only lost 1 game. Yes i know it doesnt sound right... but it was done, in order to be an excellent commander you have to know and have some tricks up your sleeve.
(What you'll need)
1. You really really really Need to have a working Microphone so you can talk to your troops... Ive seen so many marine games lost when the commander cant talk to his troops.
For example: If a marine needs a Resource tower and your low on Resources, it takes one click of a button to tell him that youll be getting to him in 4 seconds. If you give quick explanations to your team, they will work as a team, as well as work well for you.
2. Learn the Map before playing
Make your own server and take 2 seconds to jump into the CC and look around maps for key points. 2 resource nozzles and hallways with 3-4 access ways are keypoints to victory.
3. Have a good mouse and a fast connection
Nuff said.
Now onto the good part.
(Tech 1)
As soon as you spawn in, use your voice comm to tell everyone your gonna jump into the CC, most people wont argue and will back off.
1. build 1 Marine Spawn
2. build turret Factory
3. build 2 turrets
(I havent seen one rush succeed if you can get just 2 turrets up)
Now you have about 20-33 Resources left... Expand Fast!
You heard me.... dont even bother with an armory yet... if your team can grab extra nozzles youll out resource the Alien and get super tech tree action.
Give your men waypoints to Nozzles and just build the Resourcers... no Defence (yet)
Keep dropping ammo for you men and snaggin as many resource spots as possible.... yes the Aliens may take 1-2 undefended resource towers, but for the 30 seconds that they are up, it will give you enough Resources to build more RTS....
when you have enough resources (and you feel you have enough) Build an armory, then the armslab. and some more turrets.
Youll have resources comming in so bloody fast your head will spin......
**** as a side note **** You should NEVER have more than 30 resources points... there is always something you can build....
I get so Mad at commanders when i see 100 resources and nothing at base
Just plop down HMGs, get heavy armor... anything... drop welders shotguns.... who cares.... it will all help in the long run...
When you have a constant flow of Resources you should have Marines standing around base asking for stuff, they should spawn in and the equipment should be sitting there on the floor for them.
**** EXPAND To Hive! *****
Its totally over, no matter how hard you try, if the aliens get a 3rd Hive.... i dont care what anyone says, over time they will find a way to crack defense.... take a hive, dig in and use teleporters.....
**** Use Teleporters ****
The faster your marines can jump from point A to point B, C, D, E the better... by the time were mopping up the last hive i have around 4-5 telepads...
**** Marines in a Firefight **** No problem, drop a turret factory behind them, youll never see a bunch of marines build something so fast in your Life....
Well, those are my tips, and if you dont beleive me, come play with me some time.... Im usually on Got Wang, or Communist Playground....
Kromaxx
(What you'll need)
1. You really really really Need to have a working Microphone so you can talk to your troops... Ive seen so many marine games lost when the commander cant talk to his troops.
For example: If a marine needs a Resource tower and your low on Resources, it takes one click of a button to tell him that youll be getting to him in 4 seconds. If you give quick explanations to your team, they will work as a team, as well as work well for you.
2. Learn the Map before playing
Make your own server and take 2 seconds to jump into the CC and look around maps for key points. 2 resource nozzles and hallways with 3-4 access ways are keypoints to victory.
3. Have a good mouse and a fast connection
Nuff said.
Now onto the good part.
(Tech 1)
As soon as you spawn in, use your voice comm to tell everyone your gonna jump into the CC, most people wont argue and will back off.
1. build 1 Marine Spawn
2. build turret Factory
3. build 2 turrets
(I havent seen one rush succeed if you can get just 2 turrets up)
Now you have about 20-33 Resources left... Expand Fast!
You heard me.... dont even bother with an armory yet... if your team can grab extra nozzles youll out resource the Alien and get super tech tree action.
Give your men waypoints to Nozzles and just build the Resourcers... no Defence (yet)
Keep dropping ammo for you men and snaggin as many resource spots as possible.... yes the Aliens may take 1-2 undefended resource towers, but for the 30 seconds that they are up, it will give you enough Resources to build more RTS....
when you have enough resources (and you feel you have enough) Build an armory, then the armslab. and some more turrets.
Youll have resources comming in so bloody fast your head will spin......
**** as a side note **** You should NEVER have more than 30 resources points... there is always something you can build....
I get so Mad at commanders when i see 100 resources and nothing at base
Just plop down HMGs, get heavy armor... anything... drop welders shotguns.... who cares.... it will all help in the long run...
When you have a constant flow of Resources you should have Marines standing around base asking for stuff, they should spawn in and the equipment should be sitting there on the floor for them.
**** EXPAND To Hive! *****
Its totally over, no matter how hard you try, if the aliens get a 3rd Hive.... i dont care what anyone says, over time they will find a way to crack defense.... take a hive, dig in and use teleporters.....
**** Use Teleporters ****
The faster your marines can jump from point A to point B, C, D, E the better... by the time were mopping up the last hive i have around 4-5 telepads...
**** Marines in a Firefight **** No problem, drop a turret factory behind them, youll never see a bunch of marines build something so fast in your Life....
Well, those are my tips, and if you dont beleive me, come play with me some time.... Im usually on Got Wang, or Communist Playground....
Kromaxx
Comments
I've found that grabbing 1 or 2 resource nozzles and then charging into an empty hive is much more effective than getting 5 or 6 resource nozzles right off the bat. Granted, I'm not 14-1 as you claim to be, although I do win much more than I lose, so I may have to give this another shot. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
I totally agree with the decision not to get an Armory in your main right away if you're going after nozzles, but I like to get some mines down ASAP and build a turret factory in my main after I grab a hive. Just my .02!
Great post overall. <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
I tend to find that the HMG out preforms the GL.
I also do the same with dropping Weapons at main base, unless our team is completly dominating and have resources comming in abundance, ill upgrade and drop weapon everywhere.
Remember that Skulks can move across the ceiling...
As for tactics, mine is really close to what Kromaxx does. Only difference maybe is I give out shotguns in the early game.
The grab a resource point and go tactic works bigtime. Think about it, If you can spend 5 min in 1 spot spending 75 RPs or in that same time you can claim 2 to 3 Rps spending 66 rps and gaining 3-4 times as much rps a tick. By the time you have built and secured 2RPs, you could already be securing the third hive which is very curcial. Also, with my plan, they will still be waiting to build there second hive.
One game I was commanding in and having CC issues, I ended up having 300+ RPs before I worked them out. Once I figured out how to get around the CC bugs I went nuts on building and we won about 10 mins later.
Do the math soldier!
My strategy boils down to three words: Take the Hive. That's it.
I would strongly reccomend that you DO build an armory shortly after starting. Despite your ideas for resource and time saving, NS is as much about the human element as it is about strategy. In short, **obscenity** marines will vote you out, so give them ammo and they'll be happy for awhile.
I like to grab one, maybe two, resource nodes right at the start, to get things flowing. Then I capture a hive. If it's occupied, I decide right there whether to supply marines with health/ammo and take it out or move to a different hive. Just depends on how well entrenched they are. Once I have one have locked down, we take the rest of the map, one node at a time, moving to next hive.
About dropping weapons: I'm actually kind of forgetful on this point. Despite what I've heard about appeasing marines by giving them guns, I've found no substitute that boosts moral like victory. I drop health/ammo like mad and my marines win. That keeps them happy and content enough that they don't beg for guns until a good ways into the game. Upgrades help a lot too, since with good armor and damage upgrades, they don't seem to notice the lack of heavy gear.
And one point on the undefended resource tower. Each tower gives 1 RP every 5 seconds (assuming the rate I've heard is correct). That means it takes 1:50 for the resourcer to have paid for itself, nevermind helped pay for anything else. Now, if you go build a TF and SG nest (approx. cost of 101 RP) it'll take forever for that resourcer to pay for itself. That's why I find it's a good idea to compromise. Get a skilled marine to patrol your resourcers and take out any errant skulks who are trying to undermine your economy.
That happened to me in a game last night - my troops did a pretty good job of grabbing about 5 nozzles, and then a hive, but a skulk or fade went around and pretty much took out all the towers. Then they proceeded to get a force of about 4 fades together to destroy the Hive base - even though it was pretty damn secure (we're talking 6 turrets, 2 siege turrets, armory, phase gate, the works).
I had to drastically alter my gameplan to slowly taking back all the nozzles and securing each individual one with turrets. <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='sad.gif'><!--endemo--> I really don't like to do this often.
Well that's what happened to me just now.
My team of HA/HMG marines were mowing down Subspace Interface, and at the same time, Fades were hacking away at the Command Console I'm sitting in.
Immediately I layed down a CC, Infantry Portals, basically everything.
lol <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
The alien players even said , "gg"
I think they thought they've won when they took out our starting base.
The teams became uneven later, due to a number of alien players left. I dunno why. <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='confused.gif'><!--endemo-->
Do notice that a skillful marine team can run on almost zero resources. Ammo and armor repair is free, unless you loose your armory/welder. Once you get the upgrading done and have equipped everyone with their weapons, resources isn't really a problem.
So if you can hole up in a hive and put up enough defenses, you should be able to outlast most any alien team. Of course a skillful alien team will make that very difficult. A clueless team .. well, you don't need much of a strategy to win against those.
If you keep your marines in the know, your team will be 20 times better...
Also, its good to set up your own rewards system.... mine for example is this.... If i see 2 groups, 1 group is totally dominating with basic weapons and they work as a team, move together and cover each others butts, ill be more inclined to supply them with the heavy weapons and heavy armor.... but not neglecting your other squads, that need better weapons to compensate for less skills.... not saying they are bad or worthless, just that they havent found their role in that match yet.
Also, if i see one guy staying at base all the time, repairing and building stuff, ill make sure i reward him later, by giving him the heavy armor and weapons when i have the first available resources.
**** New tactic *****
I was fooling around with this the other day, as soon as i started up, i did my normal rootine of expanding, but as soon as i was able i started upgrading the damage that my teams weapons could do, and focused just on this.... i had tech 3 guns within the first 7-14 minutes of the game. After that my team completely dominated the map and took out their first and only hive in no time.
From now on, im going straight for weapons upgrades.... the armor upgrade is good.... but the weapons are killer.... skulks die in 2-3 shots, if they get fades, they die with 1 lmg clip or so.... makes your men save ammo cause they have to spend less to kill things, and in a long hallway they are unstopable at range.
****
Of course all these strats are situation dependent, you always have to adapt a new strat... but there is always 1 strat that will stay the same,
Grab A damn hive early game and dig in... as soon as you do that, its over for the aliens... no tech 3 for them.
Kromaxx
And once enough money has been earned, the siege creep can begin (given a working siege turret, of course).
All you need to remember I find as a marine commander is...Control at least one hive...deny them resources...and keep the presure on them. Don't be foolish and get your mean killed over and over and leave yourself open. Don't slack off though and give them time to run around, build...control the map...build turrent forests...etc. Keep your men on the move...if you need one or two men to say somewhere and gaurd something or build...tell them but keep the team moving.
Critical...All commanders should have a mic. If you have to type what you need done or why something is taking time...etc...it's ganna take to long. You HAVE to have a mic as a commander and keep your team updated on whats happeneing, and where. It's easier then to ask questions of your men and to get them somewhere without waypoints if they know the map which they should.
Question...ever notice how...you get used to a map as a marine...then play as an alien and it seems totally different for a bit...that eye level thing...got me for a bit.
I went for the Portal/Factory/turret build, then grabbed a bunch of nozzles and took a Hive. The aliens took out 1 of the towers, but you were right, they helped a ton.
After I secured the Hive, instead of building an Arms Lab, I got an Observatory and upgraded motion tracking. After that, I built an Arms Lab and started teching up.
Thanks for Giving it a go Flat,
I never thought of going for Observ after armslab, sounds like a good idea, and since you hogging resources it should take that much time to get em back.... good plan.
What you have to realize is that Aliens start out with 10-14 resources each... and have to build up... we start with 90, and with just that can dominate the map, thats why nozzle rush works so well, they cant keep up as we have the lead.......
i have a feeling they are gonna nerph something..... hopefully not us....
Keep testing it out guys, i wanna hear your feedback and results..... and what went wrong. Thanks a bunch
Kromaxx
The main reason we lost...Newbie marines... so it goes. Next round I sent all my marines out...took over 3/4 of the map and had my marines nade spam thier gaint tower farms. Actually one of my marines...the stoned one...go figure, under the name Gajagim...or something similar got behind thier last Hive from a vent and took it down. we were then able to take out the last remaining alien before he got another hive up.
Behold the power of w33d. <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
[edit:] As a matter of fact, Kromaxx actually restored my faith in NS's balance somewhat. Defense turrets and onos are still broken, but that doesn't matter if you can make sure they don't get either. [/edit]
<EDIT>
I just got out of another game (with MeltedSnowman, actually), and I ended up running out of things to research. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
We got up to motion tracking, lvl 3 weapons/armor, jetpacks, heavy armor, and tried to get the one last guy that was hiding in a vent. For some reason, no one on my team asked for HA or even HMGs. <!--emo&:0--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wow.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='wow.gif'><!--endemo-->
Once you have a phasegate in both hives, funnel troops in enmasse to whichever hive the aliens try to take to hold them off long enough to build res towers at each hive followed by turrets. Even if the aliens manage to take one location after repeated assaults, you have kept them at skulk level long enough to research weapons upgrades.
After you have done this, just keep marines rushing via portal to respond to threats, and laugh at the skulks and lerks as you upgrade to hmg+ha or whatever. While this strategy assumes a medium to large number of players in the server, and a certain level of obedience on the marines' part, I have never lost a match so far while doing this.
*the main point of this strat it to keep the aliens from getting fades. It's my opinion that once the aliens get fades, the cost in lives and resources to defend a position multiply ten-fold. If you do go the "dig in at one hive" approach, please make sure a second hive is soon behind*
-Leu
(What you'll need)
1. You really really really Need to have a working Microphone so you can talk to your troops... Ive seen so many marine games lost when the commander cant talk to his troops.
For example: If a marine needs a Resource tower and your low on Resources, it takes one click of a button to tell him that youll be getting to him in 4 seconds. If you give quick explanations to your team, they will work as a team, as well as work well for you.
2. Learn the Map before playing
Make your own server and take 2 seconds to jump into the CC and look around maps for key points. 2 resource nozzles and hallways with 3-4 access ways are keypoints to victory.
3. Have a good mouse and a fast connection
Nuff said.
Now onto the good part.
(Tech 1)
As soon as you spawn in, use your voice comm to tell everyone your gonna jump into the CC, most people wont argue and will back off.
1. build 1 Marine Spawn
2. build turret Factory
3. build 2 turrets
(I havent seen one rush succeed if you can get just 2 turrets up)
Now you have about 20-33 Resources left... Expand Fast!
You heard me.... dont even bother with an armory yet... if your team can grab extra nozzles youll out resource the Alien and get super tech tree action.
Give your men waypoints to Nozzles and just build the Resourcers... no Defence (yet)
Keep dropping ammo for you men and snaggin as many resource spots as possible.... yes the Aliens may take 1-2 undefended resource towers, but for the 30 seconds that they are up, it will give you enough Resources to build more RTS....
when you have enough resources (and you feel you have enough) Build an armory, then the armslab. and some more turrets.
Youll have resources comming in so bloody fast your head will spin......
**** as a side note **** You should NEVER have more than 30 resources points... there is always something you can build....
I get so Mad at commanders when i see 100 resources and nothing at base
Just plop down HMGs, get heavy armor... anything... drop welders shotguns.... who cares.... it will all help in the long run...
When you have a constant flow of Resources you should have Marines standing around base asking for stuff, they should spawn in and the equipment should be sitting there on the floor for them.
**** EXPAND To Hive! *****
Its totally over, no matter how hard you try, if the aliens get a 3rd Hive.... i dont care what anyone says, over time they will find a way to crack defense.... take a hive, dig in and use teleporters.....
**** Use Teleporters ****
The faster your marines can jump from point A to point B, C, D, E the better... by the time were mopping up the last hive i have around 4-5 telepads...
**** Marines in a Firefight **** No problem, drop a turret factory behind them, youll never see a bunch of marines build something so fast in your Life....
Well, those are my tips, and if you dont beleive me, come play with me some time.... Im usually on Got Wang, or Communist Playground....
Kromaxx<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I just have to comment on this post because its obvious you have played with TOTAL NEWBIES.
First of all, your build order sucks. It eats way too many resources. What I do is 2 Portals and Armory, then plop out mines which the marines use to mine every centimeter of the doorways so the Aliens stay out, and then order every marine to nozzle point, etc etc.
Take 2 res points then expand to closest hive. Build the possible res there and then start building defenses for your resource points. Build Turret Factories and 2-4 turrets per point. If you dont have a hive within first 8 minutes youll lose if the alien team knows what theyre doing at all.
When you build a Phase Gate, stick it in a corner and mine the walls next to it because enemy can use it too.
Not necessarily - I've tried his build order against some of my friends that I personally know are not newbies, and it worked relatively well.
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->First of all, your build order sucks. It eats way too many resources. What I do is 2 Portals and Armory, then plop out mines which the marines use to mine every centimeter of the doorways so the Aliens stay out... <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I don't see how the build order sucks. It leaves the commander with about 27 resources, and the towers you secure quickly get resources coming in soon. Building 2 turrets and leaving a marine in the base temporarily, in my experience, is more effective than mining the bejesus out of your entire base. Skulks can just crawl along the ceiling, where most people forget to mine. <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='confused.gif'><!--endemo--> I still use mines and all, but not as much as I used to.
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Build the possible res there and then start building defenses for your resource points. Build Turret Factories and 2-4 turrets per point.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Well, any resources you may have saved using your build order get eaten up here, no doubt. You claim his build order "eats way too many resources," and then you go on to say your build order does the same thing, but at a later time.
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->If you dont have a hive within first 8 minutes youll lose if the alien team knows what theyre doing at all.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Definately. It's much tougher to fight Fades than Skulks. If they get all three, it's game over. <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><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 build a Phase Gate, stick it in a corner and mine the walls next to it because enemy can use it too.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I thought that mines damaged buildings? Wouldn't this blow up a Phase Gate if you mine right up next to it?
Just my $.02!
2 portals, armory, dropped 2 packs of mines, and mined the doors.
Then went for the horseshoe (it was eclipse) built a node, then told my marines to move on. They all thought.. "wtf? no turrets?," but they diddnt boot me. We hit the maintnance hive, set up another node, then took the south loop. Built a turret factory there.
Then, we went the the hallway outside of Comp Core. I did a scanner sweep (I had one of my dead marines build an OBS) and found the hive...
Excellent.
We ploped down a turret factory, 2 turrets, then upgraded it.
2 seiges on the floor. Boom, hive goes bye-bye.
Then, we headded off to the triad array, adn got creamed by a fade and a nest of turrets....
So I have all my marines jetpacks, HMG's, and 2 welders.
They cleared out triad pretty damn quick, and then we set up a turret factory on the south access. 2 Sentries, upgrade, then 2 seiges, with 2 guys building, and the rest keeping them busy at the north access.
The first shot from the siege killed 4, count em, four xeno's. The next shot took out the other 2, and then started pounding the hive.
game won in 30 minutes, and I probably spent only... 200 RP's on turrets. The rest went to shotties and J-pax.
Just goes to show you, turret farming isn't the only way to win.