Squad Leader

Basis

Squad leaders are super important for winning the game. Not only do they place crucial spawn points (rallies & FOBs),but they also have communications with the other squads; extra information that can aid them in calculating the squad’s next move. Squad leading could be a huge guide of its own so I tried to regroup some of the most important fundamentals that have the biggest impact on the game.

Make sure everyone is playing for the same goal. You generally want to avoid players just doing their own thing away from your squad’s goal (for main infantry, except if they are filling a special function). Every individual will have a different playstyle, and the squad will need to make sure all these are put together for the same goal. The goal could be executing a HAB take, defending a flag, capturing a flag, etc. Using an example of attacking an enemy hab, below are some examples of what players could be doing to contribute to this common goal (in order of aggressivity):

• Finding gaps and shoving: Utilising good game sense, this player found an area that is not covered by the opponent and punished the enemy for this open ground by shoving ahead of the squad. Usually, this shover will be the first one on the HAB. Inexperienced teams often play heavy on the flanks; the gaps could often be found in the wide-open centre or along the lattice lines. The player who aggressively finds gaps and shoves is usually very confident. Once on the HAB (and it is blocked by other friendlies that have caught up), this player will remain the tip of the spear by continuing the push to buffer out and stomp backup rallies / returning enemies from different angles.

These 3 players could be in the process of finding/abusing a gap in the enemy (orange lines)

• Poking holes: This player found an area that was covered by enemies, and killed them. By doing this, they are poking holes in the defence of the enemy. By using good game sense, the player can then decide whether or not to shove through this potential gap (utilising aforementioned notions of tempo and momentum) to get onto the HAB / past it.

video of player Rehtori poking a hole

• Crossfiring/overwatch: This player is often playing in a separate lane and covering your squad from there (crossfire) or he is sitting from afar and covering (overwatch). I feel like the best kit to accomplish this is the machine gunner or an optic player that has a more methodical playstyle. In this situation, at the start of the HAB take, this player could be farming the HAB from afar. Once his squad is on the HAB, this player would be sitting on a hill overlooking the HAB and areas enemies could run back from to retake the HAB. This player adapts a more analytical & methodical playstyle.

By looking south, the player circled in green could be overlooking his squad from another lane

• Anchoring: Once on the objective, this player will usually sit on it and hold a more passive angle. They could be the one shovelling the HAB and moving to re-frag / gain ground off the players that were more aggressive. When utilising two medics, the best player for this kit is the scope medic (when he dies he is a quicker/easier revive for the other medic). This player adapts a more methodical playstyle.
• Lurking: This player will purposefully ignore enemies and disengage (will call them out of course) in order to sneak by with the intention of getting behind the enemy and stomping the rally point/getting info. Afterwards they can abuse a gap and keep pushing or wrap back towards the rear of the enemies to help the rest of the squad get through.
• Pocket medic: This player is closely prioritising key players as a medic; acting as a skill amplifier by making sure the player that is being pocketed is constantly alive and in full health. A very important part of the squad, this player is usually playing the ironsight medic and has to adopt a very passive playstyle (see medic section about being the last one to die). The only times they will have to use their weapon is to refrag in short-mid range combat.
• The solo medic attacking a flag 2km away from your squad (useless, kick from squad)
• Et cetera

The squad leader ensures to minimize travel time between tasks/objectives. You can do this by using a vehicle to travel (APC, heli pickup, etc.).

The squad leader’s number one priority is to constantly have a rally point online. When placing a rally, you want it to be up for the whole game (a good rally) by using the fundamental ideas mentioned in the spawns section. Don’t be afraid to put it further, usually the benefits of a close rally is not worth the cons of running for an extra minute by placing the rally point 300 meters further.

When the rally is placed, you must always have a rally point in your inventory. Always make sure to rearm off your vehicle or rifleman after placing the rally point so that you don’t get caught with no ammo later in the game when your riflemen are dead and your vehicle is nowhere to be found. Always be moving to place a better rally for your objective (situational, your rally could be left behind as an anchor or sensor). When flanking to have a better rally, move with a 2nd guy (usually a medic) while your squad draws fire. The rally can also be rotated by using a small armoured piece such as a TIGR or MRAP. By doing this, you could suddenly have your full squad spawning behind the enemy and induce panic.

Abuse rally scanning. When your rally is placed and you have another one in your inventory, you can use it to determine if there are enemies within 50 meters. The first thing the game checks for when placing a rally is if there are enemies, and if there are none, a timer will not be applied. You can keep using your rally point (make sure there is no one around you or it will accidentally place a rally) as a scanner to see if there are enemies nearby. A timer will be applied if there are hostiles in the vicinity. If you do not predict needing another rally and don’t care for the risk of getting placed on a placement timer, there is no reason not to abuse rally scanning to get an idea of where the enemies are. This technique is especially useful for foliage maps where people are just proning and waiting for you.

Demonstration of rally scanning

When fighting with your rally as the primary spawn, ensure that your squad is spawning in sync (makes it easier to fight for the same goal when everyone is spawning together).

Pay attention to the big picture (everyone’s job but specifically squad leader). Mention suspected gaps and timings. If players are not taking initiative to do certain tasks (such as abusing gaps, etc.) you will have to micromanage. Watch how the other squads are moving.

Ensure you are not tunnel-visioned on your objective. You can do this by paying attention to the other lanes around you and crossfiring (hope that they do the same for you or sending one of your own players to go crossfire on their behalf.

This is another thing that is everyone’s responsibility but often you will have to micromanage it as a good squad leader: coordinating explosives. Hard to reach areas can be hit by explosives such as mortar, vehicle, GL, LAT. If you kill someone in a building, they will probably be reviving and you can get the dead-dead with explosives.

Leadership I

The importance of leadership

Half of leading a squad in SQUAD has nothing to do with SQUAD, it's just plain leadership. Getting nine random people to work together towards a common objective, communicate effectively, solve problems as a group, and use critical thinking and quick decision-making skills while soothing ruffled feathers is straight-down-the-board Leadership 101. If you're in doubt as to the importance of effective squad leadership, simply sit down, load up a game of SQUAD, and pay attention to your Squad Leader - what the SL does, what the SL doesn't do, how he handles problems, and how your squad behaves as a result (and how YOU behave as a result). People don't have to have played Squad Leader to tell whether they are under good leadership or not, and make no mistake about it, people notice good leadership - in fact, they don't easily forget it.

Responsibility

Taking responsibility is basically the essence of leadership. Most people want to take responsibility when things are going well, but when things aren't, it's always someone else's fault - and the blame game begins. Leadership means it's always your fault. Blaming your squad, the other SL's, or the opposing team does absolutely nothing except sow negativity - and when negativity is in the air, people shut down. The toxicity and acidic remarks tossed from one SL to another during a stressful game don't come from a bad place - it proves that SQUAD does a great job at getting people to care about the outcome of a match. SQUAD makes players want to win. Unfortunately, frustrated SL's often choose to take it out on their team rather than respond to the situation at hand. Being a leader means you are willing to accept responsibility for whatever happens, whether good or bad. Nothing, I mean nothing, will destroy a squad member's trust in you faster than pointing the finger at them when things go wrong and calling them out in front of the whole squad. Being a leader means that when someone under your command screws up, you point that finger at yourself.

Decision making

Squad Leaders make a lot of decisions. It's important that you make decisions fast, and that you stick to them. Don't hesitate to make firm decisions, and make sure your orders are followed through on. Don't be afraid to make bad decisions - bad decisions are always better than not making a decision at all. Your language should always be confident and clear - don't beat around the bush. Replace "I think we should attack" with "We're attacking. Everyone get ready." Do, or do not - there is no try. Be confident in your decisions, even when you're not so sure about them yourself. Your squad needs that kind of clarity. "I want" is a fantastic command. "I want you watching the fields to the south." Hold your squad members accountable - address them by name (this is extremely effective) and ask them why they aren't following your orders. If people are wandering off, address them by name, order them to rejoin the squad, and give them a time window to comply. The Squad Leader is given the power to Kick for a reason - this is how you enforce your rank, and how you back up your ultimatums. Kicks should be your last resort, but at the end of the day, you're the one who stepped up to the plate and decided to lead. You don't have to tolerate squad members that are determined to ignore you. If their points of view are constantly clashing with yours, inform them that they would be better off leading their own squad. Always give players warnings before you Kick them, and give them plenty of opportunities to correct their behavior. If a player is just asking to be Kicked, don't drag it out. Kick him, and be very polite when doing it.

Attitude

There is a word that perfectly sums up the attitude of a good leader - and that word is, "Unfazeable." Being unfazeable means that no matter what happens - even if the sh*t has hit the fan so hard that the walls are painted brown - you never, ever lose your cool. The squad gets their confidence from YOU. If you're flipping out when things start to go south, then what the hell are the people you're leading expected to do? The squad leader is all about the next step - always thinking ahead, always making a plan, always doing the best he can do with the tools he has available. It's your job to figure out the next step and do the thinking for your squad. Level-headedness is a trait that people deeply appreciate in a leader, especially if those people are already unsure of their own capabilities. Even if things are going completely haywire, even if the situation is starting to look absolutely hopeless - you still lead the squad with the exact same confidence you had at the start of the match. Don't let it take you down a single notch. People respond to that kind of constancy, and they will work harder for you.

Positive reinforcement

This is basically the motivational equivalent of the atom bomb. Every SL, even the very worst ones, are quick to point out what someone did wrong. It's not hard to find out what went wrong - after things have gone wrong. It's easy for a Cpt. Hindsight to come along and point out that someone should have put a rocket in that BTR after it's killed everyone in the town. You don't even have to be that great at the game to make accurate observations on exactly who did what wrong, and what should have happened instead. But few SL's will regularly congratulate their squad members when they do things right. In fact, people might be doing their job so well that you don't even notice - after all, who notices the absence of a problem? If your machine gunner has been locking down the field on the left side of town for the last ten minutes, leaving nothing but bodies strewn across the landscape, still smoking from the tracer rounds embedded in their dead flesh - a beach chair SL could be sitting in town, sipping on a lemonade and scanning the horizon with his binos, chatting about how the squad "just doesn't seem to be encountering much resistance here." Thank your squad members - even for the little things. If you've ever been thanked for doing a good job, whether at work, or in a video game, you know it motivates you more than a thousand reprimands. Thank your fellow SL's publicly. People will bend over backwards for someone that recognizes their efforts.

Leadership II

Making the people around you feel invisible is the opposite of leadership.

Radio etiquette

Local should be your go-to channel. If you can say it in Local, say it in Local. Not only does this help people locate where you are, it cleans up Squad Channel. If you burn out the Squad Channel with random banter and things you could have said in Local, people won't just stop listening to Squad Channel - they'll stop listening to all the channels. Unless your entire squad is being pushed, call out contacts and bearings in Local. Call for medics in Local. Squad Channel should be reserved for things the whole squad needs to hear - squad objectives, enemy FOB locations, incoming armor - or to talk to a distant squad member. Do not call out "guy on my body" in Squad Channel. There are 100 players in a game of SQUAD and they are extremely busy trying to maintain situational awareness. Clogging up squad comms with non-specific callouts is very damaging to squad coordination. When using Command, always refer to both parties, and say "over." For example, "Squad 2, this is Squad 1, how are things at the bridge, over?" This greatly, greatly reduces confusion and makes it clear that another squad is on the line asking to speak to the SL. Use Direct Comms with other SL's when you can, especially vehicle units, by using the NumPad. Use Command sparingly. Be incredibly brief and clear with your comms (refer to the Callouts section). If there's drama going on in Command, never tell your squad about it. Keep SL issues between the SL's.

Rapport

Maybe you're not good at small talk - you don't have to be to be a good SL - but if you like banter in your games, it's an excellent way to build rapport with your squad. There's a lot of downtime after the intial planning as people just wait for the match to start - this is a great time to just joke around and be silly. I've had some absolutely hilarious conversations just on the truck ride to the deployment zone. Breaking the ice with your squad gets people using their mics and invested in the game - and part of the magic of SQUAD is the ridiculous antics and Oscar-worthy Michael Caine impressions that happen throughout the course of a match. Enjoy the silliness, just keep it on a switch - don't mix your joking around with your actual squad leading, or people won't know when you're actually being serious. As soon as the fighting starts, you should snap back to your role as Squad Leader quickly and smoothly. A sense of humor makes even losing enjoyable and takes the edge off.

Other squad leaders

Players tend to get less talkative when things are going badly in a game of SQUAD, and start slowly tuning out - except for Squad Leaders. The verbal lashings that SL's bestow upon each other during a match of SQUAD is truly something to behold. Whenever negativity and blame start being thrown around like a hot potato, people's first instinct is to shoot back. The problem is that if someone's blaming you for something - even if it's not your fault - trying to correct them is like putting out a fire with gasoline. Don't argue with other SL's. Even if you could crush his argument with logic so undeniable it would make Plato proud, don't argue with other SL's. Don't ever make anyone else wrong in this game. If someone's a bad SL, that's simply another factor in the situation you're dealing with. Don't call him out, and don't start a flame war in Command. He may be new, he may be having a bad day, he may not have read this guide - it doesn't matter. SL infighting just undermines the morale of your entire team. Your SL's may be bad, but they're what you've got to work with, and it's better to handle your corner of the war as best you can. If an SL is frothing at the mouth on Command, ordering you to pull your squad back to his position, either calmly explain your objective to him and carry on, or calmly relay the censored version of his request to your squad and start falling back. If you harbor doubts about the other squads, always keep them to yourself - never share them with your squad. Remember to compliment other SL's that are doing a good job and thank them when they come to your aid. Reprimands only get you an inch where positive reinforcement gets you a mile.

Mistakes

You will make mistakes as squad leader. Don't make a big deal out of it. Keep making decisions. Keep giving orders. Don't freeze up. If you led your squad straight into an ambush, just keep leading - figure out the next step and relay the orders to your squad without breaking your stride. It doesn't matter if you screw up, or even if you get chewed out - you had the guts take the lead and assume responsibility. My first game of SQUAD, I threw a bad frag a few minutes into the match and teamkilled two of my squadmates. I was once playing Scout and accidentally pulled out my cell phone instead of my land mine - and blew up the entire FOB my team had been defending for the last 20 minutes. My finger slipped on my mouse while on guard duty and I gunned down my squadmate the exact instant he walked through the door. I shot one of my men in the back of the head when he walked in front of me. I once got in the drivers seat of a British transport truck and almost kicked the person in the left seat for not driving the squad to the objective. ("And the Dumbest SL of the Year award goes to...") The mistakes are just part of learning SQUAD. Get used to making them.

No man left behind

There really isn't a substitute for actually caring about your squad. If you don't give a sh*t, it shows. If one of your squad members says he needs ammo, see if you can get him some ammo. Radio other squads, ask local blues, make his problem your problem. If someone fell behind and is trying to catch up, tell the squad to hold up and wait for him. If one of your guys goes down and you think your Medic can get to him before the squad falls back, tell the Medic to get over there and revive him. Make sure everyone has transportation and nobody is stuck running from main. Use Command to get blues to give your squadmates a lift. Call people by their names instead of by their roles. Make sure people feel like they can speak up. Rotate people on duties like Logi duty, overwatch duty, or guarding the rear. Thank your backcappers and give them rides back to their squad. It has a big impact on people when their squad goes out of the way to take care of them.

R.O.P.E. methodic

Rally, Objective, Plan, Execution. The R.O.P.E. method is a quick and easy way to remember the four tasks you should be accomplishing as Squad Leader.

Rally

Rally is Love, Rally is Life. If you remember nothing else about being an SL in SQUAD, at least remember this. Your Rally Point is your squad's lifeline, and if it's misplaced, or worse, not placed at all, your squad is in danger of being wiped and put out of the fight entirely. If there is no nearby FOB, this could mean having to trek extreme distances to get back to the objective. If your team doesn't have a FOB, you'll be forced to spawn at main. Getting wiped back to a distant FOB or having to spawn in main is a crippling blow not just to your squad, but your entire team's progress. Maybe you're constantly getting shot like a clay pigeon, and your K/D ratio is an embarassment to your nation. Maybe this is your third game of SQUAD and you're spending the entire match testing your keybinds. Maybe you haven't given a single objective to your squad, or maybe you don't even have a mic and haven't said a word at all - but an SL that doesn't place Rally Points is a miserable excuse for a Squad Leader and should immediately transfer the role to someone else in the squad. SL's who don't place Rallies are worst type of SL to play with and should not be leading a squad.

Objective

A squad without an objective is a squad that can't function. Like a musician with no music to play, or an actor with no script, a squad without an objective is going nowhere fast. The confusion and disorientation that occurs in squads that are not given objectives is painful to watch. Without an objective, the squad really has no idea where to be, except perhaps somewhere near the SL. It also has no idea what to engage, and will quickly start dispersing in search of targets. As mentioned, killing enemy soldiers alone does very little for your team. High-priority kills are your goal, and that always means engaging targets that are either preventing you from taking a Flag or FOB, or that are attempting to take a Flag or FOB from you. You would have to kill (not incapacitate, kill) more than six full enemy squads to equal the value of taking a Flag. Always be aware of the big picture, figure out your place in it, and turn that information into objectives that your squad can tackle.

Plan

If the Objective is knowing what to do, the Plan is how you're going to do it. This is the fascinating field of infantry tactics, covered in Article 5. However, as rewarding as it is to turn your squad into a well-oiled killing machine through application of sound infantry tactics, the truth is that this is the least important aspect of Squad Leading. Rally Points and Objectives are what gets your squad going and keeps it going. Watching SL's attempting to order their squad members around like General Patton without having even stated the objective or dropping a Rally Point would be amusing if it wasn't costing your team the game and annoying the hell out of the squad that's suddenly expected to act like it knows what it's doing. If you've taken care of everything else, you can start applying what you've learned from the History Channel and your night classes at West Point.

Execution

Just because you have an Objective and come up with a Plan doesn't mean that everything is going to go perfectly without a hitch. When fecal matter makes contact with the proverbial fan, your squad is not going to be using words like "hitch" - and the person they are going to be looking to for answers is YOU. Welcome to leadership, and the joys of responsibility. Refer to Article 8: Section 2 to learn more. Execution is where the talk ends and the shooting begins - and it's going to push the limits of your decision-making and leadership skills. If the bullets are flying, chances are you're in the Execution phase - and perhaps in need of a new Rally, Objective, and Plan.