Macrobiotic Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 Hi guys, I'm new here as a poster, although I bought Drop Team a while back. I've been dropping by the discussion forum from time to time to lurk, but usually the one thing that I've been looking for appears to be missing. Discussions about strategy. As a fairly inexperienced player of sims involving armoured combat, a lot of the basics may be escaping me. However, I'm hoping this is the right place to pick up pointers on good ways to play. I've picked up the basics, such as the fact that the armour would be thinner at the rear. Also that rounds that don't have explosive tips are likely to bounce off an angled piece of armour. Hopefully this thread will spark some interest, as a good strategy can often win the game against superior forces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toby Haynes Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 I'm not a hardened tank sim player (maybe partly because this is the only one available for Linux ) but I've played this one enough to be able to blabber on for a few paragraphs. Success in DropTeam requires coordination and communication. Coordination between units is key - most tanks have strengths and weaknesses. To have a powerful and well defended battle group requires more than one unit type. For example, a pair of heavy Thor's are slow but can handle most attacks from the front without trouble, but as soon as someone whizzes past the back of that Thor with a 20mmAP, it's all over. So you add a Paladin SAM unit to cut out Dropships landing nearby. But the SAM unit is vulnerable to artillery, so you add a Paladin EWV. Now you've cut out nearby landings to the battle group but you are hardly invulnerable - you need scouts out there to find ambushers and stop them before they get critically close to your Thors. So maybe you add an Apollo H and a Paladin L to the group to scout around and ahead. Now if your battlegroup is comprised of humans, you'd better be using voice comms. Typing is fine up to a point but it means you are a sitting duck while you give instructions. That usually means that that incoming 120mm HEAT round is going to be the last thing your tank experiences. If you are using bots, consider using them in ESCORT mode so that the light bots don't charge off ahead and leave your Thors in the dust. I'm sure others have more to add Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junglist Posted November 25, 2006 Share Posted November 25, 2006 One thing that I think cannot be overstated is the usefulness of sensors, jammed of course, spread throughout the battlefield with either a player, in a command role perhaps, or a bot manning a mercury. Coordination begins with knowledge of where the enemy is. This is especially useful if you want to use bots in a mortar capacity - the mercury accompanied by the sensors helps target acquisition tremendously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarquelne Posted November 25, 2006 Share Posted November 25, 2006 I've been pleasantly surprised at how helpful the experienced players have been during game. I've often been given tips even when on the other team. I do think this thread is a very good idea. I'm just pleased it isn't absolutely necessary. Originally posted by Junglist: One thing that I think cannot be overstated is the usefulness of sensors,Sensors are more useful than all the other units combined. I can beat any number of players using only jammed sensors. I win! a bot manning a mercury. ... bots in a mortar capacity - the mercury accompanied by the sensors helps target acquisition tremendously.That surprises me quite a bit. A bot in a Mercury feeds targets to mortar-bots without human intervention? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junglist Posted November 25, 2006 Share Posted November 25, 2006 What I meant by a bot in a Mercury helping with target acquisition is this: if you field several bot mortars they can tend to pound the one or two red dots on the screen, but if you have sensors they will be far more accurate, while spreading their fire over the battlefield. By maintaining a mercury on the field you have the added bonus of sharing sightings any of your units might make. By having a vehicle on the field you can take control of at anytime to provide additional fire (artillery) support or call down more deployables is always handy too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
__Yossarian0815[jby] Posted November 25, 2006 Share Posted November 25, 2006 Originally posted by Junglist: One thing that I think cannot be overstated is the usefulness of sensors, jammed of course, spread throughout the battlefield ... I totally agree except with the spreading throughout the battlefield. I think that depends on the map and the objective. being able to pound the enemy with precission everywhere is nice, but the more humans play, the higher the sensor attrition will be (bots don´t target sensors), and you don´t want to run out of sensors around the objective (or flag in CTF) in the last minutes of the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
__Yossarian0815[jby] Posted November 25, 2006 Share Posted November 25, 2006 Originally posted by Junglist: ... but if you have sensors they will be far more accurate, while spreading their fire over the battlefield. ...Hmm, never thought of it this way, useful,thx, might come in useful on sunday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarquelne Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 a Mercury helping with target acquisition is this: if you field several bot mortars they can tend to pound the one or two red dots on the screen, but if you have sensors they will be far more accurate,I tried this tonight on a "Defend the Objective" map. Maybe not a good map-type for that tactic, but it worked well for awhile. (I'm sure it would have been more effective if I'd executed it better.) Then around 15 min. into the game all the smoke cleared for a moment and I discovered that I'd pretty much shelled my base away. Oh well. Live and learn. The Big Clue that it was my guy shelling the base and not an enemy bot is when my Dropship was team-killed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junglist Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 Yeah, that is the one danger of using bot mortars: they will drop shells in your base if the enemy is present and friendly Hermes will do nothing to stop it. That's why I primarily use this tactic for offensive operations. The sensors are still very necessary on the defense though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macrobiotic Posted November 28, 2006 Author Share Posted November 28, 2006 Could it be useful to have the option to define a perimeter on the map, that would be out of bounds to friendly artillery? That perimeter would be possible to override, but that would have to be a conscious decision, when a defensive position is in danger of being overrun. On a different topic. do sensor jammers affect AA fire? I've been wondering about the feasibility of making a 'dropship corridor' that would get me as close as possible to an enemy stronghold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junglist Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 Sensor jammers can be used to gradually create a safe corridor against the cobra missile towers and launchers, but are much harder to land, and therefore use, against the point defense style of AA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aittam Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 and always sneak up the enemy with a 20mm infantry, snipe a couple of tanks and change position Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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