Since we’re subdividing officer duties by adding an ASO, why not add a platoon leader to lead the large pushes or final defenses in the way COs usually do? A single role at the rank of gunnary sergeant, they would be responsible for delegating specific tasks to the squad leaders instead of being assigned to just one squad, and being the big figurehead everyone listens to on the ground. Leadership and weapons skill equivalent to XO, maybe also with policing to liason with MPs if a marine is insubordinate in the field. Thus the CO/XOs who love to groundpound will have a role to do exactly that, and the coffee drinkers can chill and RP on ship.
Platoon Leader could also be a great aCO to head off the operation on low pop when there are few flag officers or when the CIC is busy with some shipside event. They might have a platoon command tablet to reassign people temporarily to different squads, see the numbers of different special marine assignments, and place beacons for people to follow just like xeno leaders.
Equipment wise you could give them a cool custom pulse rifle or the command shotgun, some fluffy better than standard m3 armor, a big noticable helmet with resistance against AP rounds because snipers still exist, and maybe a smorgasboard of leading/engineering/medical/killy gear in their vendor for customizing your PL. Additionally having the engineer’s plantable flag would make a lot of sense for this role.
Sounds like you just want a more official “groundside” commander akin to a CO/XO deploying groundside.
On the one hand, I do agree to an extent that having an official “groundside” commander might help CIC and ensure there is always someone performing that role.
On the other hand, we can already do this with a deploying CO/XO.
An active combat leader role completly bad for current state of command. Most of the times SLs already play like they are PFC+ without any communication with command or squad they need to lead, adding a active combat leader role just encourage them more to not communicate.
We don’t need a groundside commander, if you’re an XO deploy an SO. If you’re the CO you can just deploy. More feature bloat for no reason. Last thing we need is another SL++ role to turn into pfc+++++.
These roles already exist, that being the SL role, it’s just that people don’t use it correctly. And to get them to do their jobs correctly, you need to influence the culture surrounding those roles.
It’s been a few times now I’ve seen SL’s feel they didn’t have the confidence to coordinate CAS/fires. They would ask other people to grab coords for them, etc. Something I hadn’t noticed before I stepped into the mentor role was that there would be periods where some positions had a lack of knowledgeable operators, and this effect would swing back and forth over the course of a year or two between many different roles.
Maybe it has something to do with the culture surrounding leadership. If someone makes a bad call, what happens? Are people understanding of mistakes in this community? And do they try to help grow the principles of leadership around a person who is learning?
I don’t know, something to think about. Sadly though I don’t think this idea would work. I rarely see SO’s do the PL thing, usually because it’s smoother to let the SL’s run their squads, barring exceptions for special missions.
From my experience, the situation with being a Squad Leader is that there’s no real community interest/desire to actually follow along with the SL. A SL can generally corral their squad pre-drop, but the moment the marines make contact with the xenos, most sense of squad cohesion falls apart. Unless you are Bill Carson, trying to grab enough marines off of a push to perform even the most basic form of flanking move is a crapshoot.
You should not need to be a celebrity to be an effective SL, but that’s where it stands at least in regard to convincing people to follow you. (even though I feel a “good” SL is one who talks a lot, keeps CIC informed of things, DOES NOT DIE and constantly issues ‘orders’ while using JTAC)
Furthermore, a lot of times I observe some SL players I see them acting more as PFC++ than a SL. Actions such as.
Taking very aggressive loadouts such as 2 guns, no backpack
Failing to really make usage of binocs or JTAC/support assets.
Not really communicating at all with CIC outside of screaming the direction of where the xenos are or calling for help as they are dying
Not taking a radio backpack
Acting more as a vanguard/point man and charging forward and thus dying.
I don’t know how you’d get the general idea of SL’s changed within the community without mechanical changes. Make orders a passive effect that only works when you are within 14 tiles of your SL? Make squads smaller so you have an incentive to form a tight nit relationship with your other squaddies instead of being a faceless goon in a 30 man squad? Give SL’s even more of a unique in-game presence to further solidify their ‘leader’ status?
A good SL is someone that can communicate effectively, making sure everyone knows where you are, the front is and how well its going. Someone that can communicate whats needed at any given time and who can tell CIC what is happening without the need for them to cycle between 10 different helmet cams.
My personal rule of thumb of a decent SL is someone that can coordinate a frontline supply drop without it landing inside xeno lines or be irrelevant as the push speeds past it.
Yeah, no. The argument for and against a ‘Ground Commander’ has been thrown around for the longest time, and it isn’t gonna happen. The XO and CO can deploy respectively if they’re both present, or either of them can delegate an SO (or multiple of them for that matter) to deploy and lead.
People already tunnel vision hard as is, and don’t listen to CIC anyway, and anything this role would accomplish can just as easily be achieved by a deployed SO/XO/CO, or even just a competent and talkative Squad Leader who actually talks up and rallies people to their location.
I think it would be a fun idea it would be 2 max and they would control Alpha +Bravo the other would be a Charlie + Delta shrugs tho i dont see a point to have bravo and alpha together maybe to coordinate a frontline supply base and the backline fob.
then from his headset be able to transfer marines from the squads to balance out the fighting force.
id hate to say it but honestly would be best as a whitelist role id think.
give him a mobile laptop to view helmet cams and troop locations and vitals. no communication to the cic still need a radio pack, special item would be a portable table that can fit on a sling pouch. or just screw it and give him a tablet with those features
On this topic I think a good solution would be to let SLs track other SLs, its a real simple fix. The squad follows the SL, and command can designate an SL as platoon leader for the other SLs to follow.
So command wants ungas to roughly follow the Delta squad, with the alpha squad to the east and charlie to the west. They make it so alpha and charlie SLs can track delta SL. Then the squad leads just have to position themselves relatively close to what command is asking and you have a platoon leader without adding role bloat.
I do like the idea of command being able to put beacons for marines to follow out. Perhaps have it so that they can put them down for the SLs to track. So now delta SL can track commands beacon, and the other SLs track them, and you have a cohesive unit and added features without adding more roles.