FAXORBAT-4B and You!

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Ferrard Carson
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FAXORBAT-4B and You!

Post by Ferrard Carson »

Welcome, Comrade, to a grand experiment authorized by The Party! Too long we have used OrBat-2012 to faithfully emulate the organizational structure of the Capitalists' attack dogs, the United States Marine Corps! Now, we will test a slightly different order of battle, FAXORBAT-4B based partially on British, South African and Soviet doctrine and partially on ArmA 3's ridiculous hard-on for vehicles with 8-man pax. I'll be honest, we're throwing science at the wall here to see what sticks, no idea what it'll do following the glorious experimental design of the finest Politburo scientists.


How does FAXORBAT-4B work?

An excellent question, Comrade. The short answer is to take every piece of information from OrBat-2012, replace the word "Fireteam" with "Section," and change Squads from 3x Fireteams to 2x Sections. For more details, I shall demonstrate using organizational charts:

The Platoon

Code: Select all

CO/DC-|-ASL & M-|-A1 Section
      |         |-A2 Section
      |
      |-BSL & M-|-B1 Section
      |         |-B2 Section
      |
      |-CSL & M-|-C1 Section
      |         |-C2 Section
      |
      |---------|-Attachments (x2 MMG, x2 MAT, etc.)
The Communications Structure (unchanged)
  • The CO, Squad Leaders and Attachments communicate with one another via Channel Commander
  • Squad Leaders and their 2x Sections communicate with one another via Teamspeak
  • Section Leaders and their Sections communicate with one another via Group VON
The Section
  • SCL - Section Leader, Rifle + UGL + Binos
  • GREN - Grenadier, Rifle + UGL + Binos
  • AR - Automatic Rifleman, LMG
  • AR - Automatic Rifleman, LMG
  • RAT - Rifleman (AT), Carbine + AT Launcher w/ 1 or 2 rockets
  • R - Rifleman, Rifle + Frag Grenades + Backpack w/ Spare AR Belts
  • R - Rifleman, Rifle + Frag Grenades + Backpack w/ Spare AR Belts
What are some tactical Dos with FAXORBAT-4B?
  • Within a Section, be ready to step up if your Section Leader dies! Seniority within the section simply follows the order of the slotting screen - the Grenadier is 2IC, then come the Autoriflemen, then the Rifleman (AT) then your Section pretty much ceases to exist. The Riflemen roles are ideal places for new comrades to slot!
  • As Section Leader, be flexible and work with the color team where you and your UGL will be most effective for the current situation. Your fourth gun can help a Base of Fire element control a firefight or help a Maneuver element secure their objective; it's up to you to decide where you will be most effective leading your Section!
  • As Section Leader, be sure to re-consolidate and reassess your Section after each engagement! Remember that your Riflemen in the Maneuver element are carrying spare ammo for your Autoriflemen in the Base of Fire element!
  • At the Section level, make good use of Successive Bounding Overwatch, as helpfully outlined in TTP3. Within each Section, the two color teams are spit very purposefully into distinct Base of Fire elements to fix the enemy with fire and Maneuver elements to flank or assault the enemy. Be sure to re-consolidate your Section after the engagement has concluded!
  • At the Squad level, make good use of Alternating Bounding Overwatch. Within each Squad, both Sections are very robust and powerful sub-units, capable of acting as either a Base of Fire or Maneuver element, trading off roles as the Squad advances using Fire and Maneuver to leapfrog Sections past one another in quick succession.
  • As CO, assign objectives to your Squad Leaders, then allow your Squad Leaders to use their two Sections as they see fit in order to accomplish those objectives.
What are some tactical Don'ts with FAXORBAT-4B?
  • As Section Leader, don't treat your color teams as independent units with sub-leaders. Your Section operates as a whole in support of the other Section in your squad, and you are the brains telling the other six what to do. Think of your color teams as polygamous-Battle Buddies, not independent units!
  • As Squad Leader, don't split your Sections beyond the range of mutual support. Your Squad is the smallest unit with which to accomplish an independent objective such as "Seize the outpost on Hill 138." Use your Sections to support one another in order to accomplish your Squad's objectives!
  • As CO, do not give assignments to individual Sections within a Squad. Your Squad Leaders will manage their own Sections, your job is to control the flow of the platoon as a whole and not get bogged down in the specifics of any one engagement!
What happens when we don't have 16 people to fully fill a Squad?

We simply slot fewer people in each section according to the whims of the evening's host.


How does The Party in its infinite wisdom advise mounting a squad in vehicles?

4/5-man vehicles (MRAPs):
  • Vic 1: Alpha 1 Red Team + Section Leader
    Vic 2: Alpha 1 Blue Team + Alpha Squad Medic
    Vic 3: Alpha 2 Red Team + Section Leader
    Vic 4: Alpha 2 Blue Team + Alpha Squad Leader
8-man vehicles (virtually everything else):
  • Vic 1: Bravo 1 Section + Bravo Squad Medic
    Vic 2: Bravo 2 Section + Bravo Squad Leader
But Ferrard, British "Sections" are equivalent to American "Squads" and it's confusing to have both in the same OrBat!

Image


Questions? Ask, and we shall answer!

:clint: ~ Ferrard
"Take a boat in the air you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turnin' of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurtin' before she keels... makes her home."

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Sparks
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Re: FAXORBAT-4B and You!

Post by Sparks »

  • Can we have a "No ACO green sights in FAXORBAT-4B missions" rules? MRCOs/ARCOs/RCOs/DMS/etc not required, but Mk18s are actually useful for ranging for troops without rangefinders, and except for the ugly-as-a-brick-from-an-overpass-into-a-truck-full-of-kittens Mk20, there's nothing wrong with ironsights...
  • Also, for the first few missions while FTLs (oh, there's my third question) get used to the new Party doctrine, can we not have "we've got two pistols and an apple comrades, now let's attack that mechanised battalion!" missions? At least give us two apples comrade!
  • Dammit, FTL was a useful acronym, but now we have CO, SL and SL... or do we switch to CO, SqL and ScL? Cod, Squid and Scampi? This may make writing AARs a bit confusing... not to mention in-game radio comms...
  • The last time I played with this new ORBAT, the one ORBAT-specific topic that did come up was that in missions where, due to a lack of comrades, you get several layers of command talking to one or two groups of grunts (eg. CO->ASL->A1), it seemed like the chain of command was slightly top-heavy and had unnecessary redundancies. Not a problem with the ORBAT, but a topic to be considered by the host during slotting. Could that get examined during workshops please?
  • Why did reading this thread give me a mental image of seven Kerbals in full battle dress charging the enemy to the strains of Still Alive?
  • What the hell am I doing up at this hour on a Saturday? Who are you people? Where am I? Is Hoover still president? Where's my coffee and croissant?
/muffled complaining noises combined with the noise of dragging a squirming body away in a burlap sack
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Aqarius
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Re: FAXORBAT-4B and You!

Post by Aqarius »

Sparks wrote:
  • Why did reading this thread give me a mental image of seven Kerbals in full battle dress charging the enemy to the strains of Still Alive?
  • What the hell am I doing up at this hour on a Saturday? Who are you people? Where am I? Is Hoover still president? Where's my coffee and croissant?
Ah, I see the chloroform had some sideeffects. Worry not, they should go away in a few days probably maybe.

As for your other questions, the Party is well aware of the potential teething difficulties associated with such experiments, and assures the comrades they will be seen too as they arise. Also, you know you can just take the ACO off, right?
[/allegedly]

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Sparks
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Re: FAXORBAT-4B and You!

Post by Sparks »

Aqarius wrote:Ah, I see the chloroform had some sideeffects. Worry not, they should go away in a few days probably maybe.
Phew! Thank goodness, I was worr....
...er, comrade, why am I in a dascha?
As for your other questions, the Party is well aware of the potential teething difficulties associated with such experiments, and assures the comrades they will be seen too as they arise. Also, you know you can just take the ACO off, right?
I keep trying to do that comrade, but for some reason no matter how many of the things I throw out of boats, under the treads of tanks, off the back of trucks, or just bury in a ditch in the middle of nowhere, the dang things keep coming back...

...not to mention, I feel that the Party could increase the efficacy of its troops significantly without endangering the up-close-and-personal fun we all enjoy just by using a slightly different red-dot style sight with a slightly different reticle...




(Also, about those acronyms? AARs are a bit long-winded to write without them and they don't need to be brilliant works of art so long as there's a standard issued by the Party...)
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fer
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Re: FAXORBAT-4B and You!

Post by fer »

Sparks wrote:
  • The last time I played with this new ORBAT, the one ORBAT-specific topic that did come up was that in missions where, due to a lack of comrades, you get several layers of command talking to one or two groups of grunts (eg. CO->ASL->A1), it seemed like the chain of command was slightly top-heavy and had unnecessary redundancies. Not a problem with the ORBAT, but a topic to be considered by the host during slotting. Could that get examined during workshops please?
Low numbers of guests is always a challenge - even for our current ORBAT. Today, you will often see a session host slot ASL as the highest-ranking role, and have him serve as acting CO. In the experiments, should numbers be an issue, you can expect a similar resolution.

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Sparks
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Re: FAXORBAT-4B and You!

Post by Sparks »

fer wrote:
Sparks wrote:
  • The last time I played with this new ORBAT, the one ORBAT-specific topic that did come up was that in missions where, due to a lack of comrades, you get several layers of command talking to one or two groups of grunts (eg. CO->ASL->A1), it seemed like the chain of command was slightly top-heavy and had unnecessary redundancies. Not a problem with the ORBAT, but a topic to be considered by the host during slotting. Could that get examined during workshops please?
Low numbers of guests is always a challenge - even for our current ORBAT. Today, you will often see a session host slot ASL as the highest-ranking role, and have him serve as acting CO. In the experiments, should numbers be an issue, you can expect a similar resolution.
:thumbsup:
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SuicideKing
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Re: FAXORBAT-4B and You!

Post by SuicideKing »

I actually liked that mission in which we used sections.

It may be a tad difficult for people new to FTL-ing (or SCL-ing) to do that, though - handling 3 people is a task enough. However, it might improve the quality of leadership as people interested in section leading could work their way up through field promotions till they're comfortable with handling 6 people.

Maybe alternate sections with fire teams? Like Section Sundays and Fire Team Tuesdays? Concept is largely the same for both, after all - shouldn't be too difficult to adapt (except for SCLs).

And I guess you could engage in more interesting missions with a Section at your disposal.

I'm wondering about the Section division too - I get the base of fire and maneuver team classification, but I'm wondering whether GREN/AR/R + AR/RAT/R would be more "balanced" in some ways. I guess I'm still thinking in terms of semi-independent Buddy Teams, though.

BTW RCOs are pretty useful, and you can sort of use them for ranging...
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Sparks
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Re: FAXORBAT-4B and You!

Post by Sparks »

SuicideKing wrote:BTW RCOs are pretty useful, and you can sort of use them for ranging...
So two things I'm now realising were not obvious:
1) I like the idea of sections, they were different and fun and enjoyable and yay for FAXORBAT-4B. Having questions does not mean lets not do this :D
2) RCOs and MRCOs and ARCOs are fun (and damn near essential for KoTH and similar modes) but if we had them on every comrade in our missions, people whose PCs allow for very long draw distances and very high resolutions would have a massive advantage in adversarials over, well, me :D At least when you have to be in the 300-500m range to engage us low-end sods have half a chance against these 4K 60fps types :D
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Leander
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Re: FAXORBAT-4B and You!

Post by Leander »

The step from noob to FTL/SCL just became twice as big. No other objections though.

Raptoer
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Re: FAXORBAT-4B and You!

Post by Raptoer »

I think it will work fine in mid range field combat, but will degrade once we get into urban clearing or trying to advance through rolling hills.

I don't look forward to trying to get everyone into the right MRAP though, I will probably end up telling everyone to just jump into a vehicle.

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