The One-hive Lockdown
CACerberus
Join Date: 2003-08-06 Member: 19106Members
Join Date: 2003-08-06 Member: 19106Members
<div class="IPBDescription">one of the more stress-free ways to win</div> All of this talk of coordinating multiple teams, rushing choke points, multiple foward bases make my head go woozy. Just telling the public marines to stop whining for machineguns takes about half my time as commander, as such if i want to win I like using strategies that are as simple as possible.
The worst hive for the aliens to get, is the last one. The last hive really boosts the aliens ability to take down any turret farms, primal scream, the fade rockets, and xenocide are all bad. Bad bad bad. As such my favorite tactic is to relocate at the beginning of the game, INTO an empty hive, and quickly capture and fortify the two closest nodes.
Picking the hive.
In my opinion its easier to go for the hive farthest from the first one occupied. Each alien has a longer trip to get to the marines, and your definetly at your weakest when your first relocating. Since the turret farming will take so long that the aliens will get their 2nd hive up anyway, no matter what you do your adjacent to at least one alien hive. Also marines are incompetent fools. No point in risking the game for going for the middle hive. Yes you deny the "middle" part of the map, but with the slow expansion of a turret farm your not much into denying the aliens anyway. So go for the hive farthest from the aliens, and the one easiest to defend. Hallways are not a problem, but vents can be.
Helping the relocation.
Place one spawner, just incase a lucky skulk kills too many marines. Group most of the marines, move them step by step to the empty hive. Babysit their movements, because if they get lost, take the wrong way, or spread out you loose precious time. Once their almost at the hive, drop ammo and health right before they get there.
Build order
1 spawner
1 command chair
1 spawner
1 resouce node
1 resouce node
1 ammo dispenser
Then proceed to turret farm each node. Obs at each node, 8-10 turrets. 1 or 2 siege cannons at each node. Tech up firepower all the way. It makes each turret much more powerful.
Now for the third resouce node...if its close by push in with half your team and grab it. However if its far away, suffer with only 2 nodes and get GLs. HA GLs are the best, but expensive...only give that to the most loyal and skilled players. With a near by ammo dispenser, 2 or 3 GLer can keep back an entire 2 hive alien team with the support of the turrets, siege cannons, and regular sonar sweeping.
With the third node, you'll get enough resouces to start being very aggressive. Expand towards the closest hive, and try to minimize the amount of different approaches the aliens can use to get at the team. With the Glers, full tech, and a steady oozing of your turret farm the demise of the 2nd hive is guarenteed.
Ironically the final hive is not a cakewalk, especially if you have the average marine players. A solid foward base is always useful...but dropping HMGs an armor AT that foward base is a great way off getting marines who just camped for the last 50 minutes to actually go out and assault something. In fact for the last hive, it may be safer to ooze out and take back the resource nodes. By the time your ready for the last hive you have about 5 resouce nodes, so taking a few more might actually be easier then a direct assault on the final hive.
So there you have it, a reasonably succesful way of defeating the aliens, making do with stupid marines, and a strategy simple enough that it doesn't induce brain aneurysms.
The worst hive for the aliens to get, is the last one. The last hive really boosts the aliens ability to take down any turret farms, primal scream, the fade rockets, and xenocide are all bad. Bad bad bad. As such my favorite tactic is to relocate at the beginning of the game, INTO an empty hive, and quickly capture and fortify the two closest nodes.
Picking the hive.
In my opinion its easier to go for the hive farthest from the first one occupied. Each alien has a longer trip to get to the marines, and your definetly at your weakest when your first relocating. Since the turret farming will take so long that the aliens will get their 2nd hive up anyway, no matter what you do your adjacent to at least one alien hive. Also marines are incompetent fools. No point in risking the game for going for the middle hive. Yes you deny the "middle" part of the map, but with the slow expansion of a turret farm your not much into denying the aliens anyway. So go for the hive farthest from the aliens, and the one easiest to defend. Hallways are not a problem, but vents can be.
Helping the relocation.
Place one spawner, just incase a lucky skulk kills too many marines. Group most of the marines, move them step by step to the empty hive. Babysit their movements, because if they get lost, take the wrong way, or spread out you loose precious time. Once their almost at the hive, drop ammo and health right before they get there.
Build order
1 spawner
1 command chair
1 spawner
1 resouce node
1 resouce node
1 ammo dispenser
Then proceed to turret farm each node. Obs at each node, 8-10 turrets. 1 or 2 siege cannons at each node. Tech up firepower all the way. It makes each turret much more powerful.
Now for the third resouce node...if its close by push in with half your team and grab it. However if its far away, suffer with only 2 nodes and get GLs. HA GLs are the best, but expensive...only give that to the most loyal and skilled players. With a near by ammo dispenser, 2 or 3 GLer can keep back an entire 2 hive alien team with the support of the turrets, siege cannons, and regular sonar sweeping.
With the third node, you'll get enough resouces to start being very aggressive. Expand towards the closest hive, and try to minimize the amount of different approaches the aliens can use to get at the team. With the Glers, full tech, and a steady oozing of your turret farm the demise of the 2nd hive is guarenteed.
Ironically the final hive is not a cakewalk, especially if you have the average marine players. A solid foward base is always useful...but dropping HMGs an armor AT that foward base is a great way off getting marines who just camped for the last 50 minutes to actually go out and assault something. In fact for the last hive, it may be safer to ooze out and take back the resource nodes. By the time your ready for the last hive you have about 5 resouce nodes, so taking a few more might actually be easier then a direct assault on the final hive.
So there you have it, a reasonably succesful way of defeating the aliens, making do with stupid marines, and a strategy simple enough that it doesn't induce brain aneurysms.
Comments
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So there you have it, a reasonably succesful way of defeating the aliens, making do with stupid marines, and a strategy simple enough that it doesn't induce brain aneurysms. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
these two parts maye me actually chuckle out loud. SOOO TRUUE.
my god. most of my time is spent doing things that are NEVER outlined in ANY strat. such as repeating to rines where they should go, herding the rambos, getting ppl to build stuff. to GET to a wp.. uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnngh..
i'll try this strat tho. as cerebral and fantastic as some of the strats are that are posted, i really need the simplest plan to win :S
You're only locking down ONE hive - you NEED the upgrades to deal with what they can throw at you with two hives. Turret farms only last so long against bile bomb.
Bilebomb is only scary when the commander isn't watching his ASSets, and the marines are too dumb to find their own ****. A competent commander, with obs, sonar scanning, and marines babysitting the turrets has nothing to fear from bilebomb.
The greatest fear is stretching too thin, depending too much on the skill of the marines. Giving the marines HMGs and HAs early in the game is too risky on pub servers, their dumb, stupid, and will rambo the second you give them new toys.
Besides, the aliens know where you are. They also know where the HA HMGs will be coming from, and they will be ready. On a clan server, maybe this strategy is too slow but on a pub server its just right. If by "most games" you mean clan matches with my peeps, then I agree. But if by "most games" you mean the hundreds of public games going on every moment, then your wrong. very wrong.
Check the aliens forums. Their not talking about that invincible rambo with the HMG, their talking about the turret farms and how to win a third hive lockdown.
Drop 2 IPs and an armory, set up 2 squads. One goes to the nearest res, the other goes to a double node (if the map permits). Have squad one patrol from the near node and your base, have squad 2 stay at the double nodes.
Meanwhile, drop an arms lab and research HA. Pull squad two off of the double node, set squad one to patrol all the nodes now.
Equip all members of squad two (now your assault squad) with HA, shotgun, and welder, move out to a hive.
15 minutes, and it's game over.
The main part of being a good commander is knowing HOW to stop ramboing. Eventually you can get even the most random annoying crew working together if you know what you're doing.
My philoshopy is unless the Comm says use your initiative, then I wait for orders. Sadly not everyone thinks the same way, I ask them not to rambo, and failing that I ask them to rambo in groups (well it cuts down on the deaths mostly).
From now on though I'm letting them rambo off on their own.
The one hive lockdown works, certainly. Works on pub servers for SURE. Assuming, as you've pointed out, that you pick the easiest hive to defend *at that time* and don't sprint across the map to get to it. I've seen too many games with someone going across the map for RTs or Hives, only to get cut off and snafu.
<b>BINGO.</b>
That's the only trick. Once you've gotten your squads set up say over voice comm "If you're ever NOT with your squad I won't help you. You won't get weapons or equipment."
Now, some will run off occasionally, but they'll fall in line quick when they realize you're not gonna back them up.