I’ve unironically brought this up (i.e “Nothing detracts from roleplay & independent combat operation like everyone dying in <3 minutes because one (1) Rav looked at your fragile and small squad.” and been told quote in feedback:
If you need more than 2 people to kill a Rav, expert skill issue. Dying is part of the game, managing a small squad and employing more flexible tactics than w+m1 is exactly what support is supposed to facilitate. I don’t plan on increasing the cap because, in my several hundred hours of small squad leadership, it’s been made pretty clear that the benefits break down past a certain population.
I have also suggested:
One of my core proposals is we remove Oscar. A 3rd Support squad contributes little of note & creates a number of balancing issues especially relative to what 1 squad (Charlie alone) already adds to the total marine force or what 1 squad split into 2 would look like (Charlie & Kilo) in balancing
And the response was:
We’re happy with it so far, the actual problem child has been Charlie.
I think it ignores the reality of what is feasible while using “roleplay” as a cover for any failures in implementation of squad usage & how this plays out in an actual round.
Gameplay wise: What A.S.S (in theory) would bring to the table is more independent squad action both in-and-out of combat. The latter is when roleplay opportunities actually open up.
In my own experience usually these squads are getting at least 1 put on TCOMMs and then the others thrown into death-ball. Maybe on occasion 2-3 are folded into a larger group or with each other and told to flank. But alone, they’re just xeno-bait with <8 personnel, no Spec or SG, & 1 medic.
The PR response to concerns like squad fragility? A mix of “skill issue” and “not the intent of the PR” without elaboration (I presume because these Support squads are technically meant for “roleplay”). And then, in regards to actual Charlie player concerns? It’s just completely and utter disregard. It’s actually pretty funny and sad: So much patting on the back about ‘building a squad culture’ and ‘watching one develop’ in Kilo and Oscar, while actively impacting Charlie’s.
It even sounds like a shitpost out of context. “I have this idea right? Let’s cut Charlie down to a 8-man team and remove their spec and sg. Alpha and Delta get the SGs and Specs. Bravo is now game-designed around FOB. And we’ll add two new squads with similar size to Charlie. We’ll call it A.S.S for…uh…Assault, Support, Security.”
My own take: ultimately I think the only way this works out is if 2-3 Support Squads are larger (12 slots) and you have at least 2 medics. Why 12 & at least 2 medics?
Remember this is being balanced on 80-active combat marines (mid/high pop) and the cap of 8 slots is the max. 12+2 is more survivable especially on mid/highpop, doesn’t require a Spec and/or SG, and still is small enough you can toss it on like a side-goal like TCOMMS or a flank. Not to get into larger gameplay considerations like SG+Spec brings up or map objectives: I think a simple solution for making the Support Squads unique and more varied in gameplay cycle is to also have a unique squad kit/specialization determined by SL each round. That sounds like a fun, but simple-ish suggestion to implement too. Squad-culture wise: 12 slots is a more sustainable base of players than 8, even on highpop.
we can only hope!! Vote Xeno Horde 2025!!