Folk Workshops

[fer]

I feel as though we're not using our armored assets to their fullest extent in missions that involve them (see Rolling Matryoshka two weeks ago, which very quickly turned into "Walking Matryoshka"), and I'd like to see if we can improve their utility by imparting some knowledge of effective coordination with armor

This would be a very good thing, especially as the hosts intend to keep utilising IFVs/light armour assets as support for the platoon in future missions.

(and effective independent action of armor).

The Party supports all efforts to improve the effectiveness of bronnegruppa.

Also, something we might consider is a series of mass-practice ranges with 203 targets and AT targets and whatnot just for fun. Infinite box of AT4's and RPG's and grenade launcher rounds.

Having this type of mission on the server, with plenty of slots, invulnerability for players and AI forced on (to enable JIP) would be an excellent thing. If any of our mission makers would like to support comrade Ferrard here, the Party will be very much in their debt.

[Black Mamba]

Oh man, those glasses.

I was also planning on redacting a quick guide to Air Assault / Extraction simple procedures, for basically the exact same reasons you want to improve Armor efficiency.
We currently have a few air assault missions (Wideola, Blackfolk down, the one where opfor needs to clear a valley from 8 insurgent dudes). At least one relies on proper extraction methods (can't remember the name, but that's one of Fer's aiXX missions).

I started reading the bear went over the mountain and it's indeed a nice read.

[fer]

What would be great is if you guys can co-ordinate with comrade Tigershark so that no effort is duplicated and everything can be tied into the programme of workshops he has in his mind. This is very encouraging stuff, thank you for the suggestions and offers to contribute, comrades!

PS My glasses are the coolest thing in Pripyat.

[Black Mamba]

I feel like contributing at the moment, so here I go again.
Although I don't know if there is any SOP regarding that fire and maneuver exercice we did yesterday, and the general principles were there, it probably needs a bit of clarification regarding the final assault.
This is how I see things going down:
1 - the assault team stacks up against the fortification/compound/any kind of cover close to the objective.
2 - the FTL informs the BOF element he's about to enter the objective, from the appropriate direction.
3 - Blue team (AR/AAR) stays there and establish security, orienting further along the assault direction.
4 - Red Team (FTL/Rifleman) breach/enter the compound and start clearing it.
5 - The FTL keeps transmitting his position to the BOF element so they can shift fire accordingly.
6 - Once the objective is clear, he calls it, the BOF element can start moving up if needed, and the assaulting FTL regroups and consolidate on the objective while waiting for the rest of the force to catch up.

Point one goal is to have the whole FT ready when it comes to finish. One dude entering while the rest of the FT is still moving up is obviously a recipe for disaster.
Point two has been explained by Ferrard, I won't come back on it.
Point three then. Unless you're absolutely sure there are no more enemies after, going around the wall/fortification/whatever to start clearing the objective exposes you to any enemies situated beyond the objective. That's why I keep the AR's firepower to maintain security. This also allows me to have the FTL participating in the assault per se, which is important for
Points four and five. The rifleman keeps the FTL posted about his position at all times, but communication with other elements (BOF) is of the FTL's responsibility. That's why he needs to be inside the objective to give the BOF accurate positions for his buddy team.
Point six is the usual. Regroup, rearm, treat the casualties, identify and occupy the best positions to provide front security for the former BOF.

Regarding the clearing of the objective itself, just as for the alleyway exercise, I'd execute it at a fast pace with as much violence as possible. The enemy needs to be disorientated and shouldn't have time to regroup and reorganize. Frags first, optics up, shoot and move.
Stopping because you've seen an enemy just gives him enough time to - one, shoot you in the face, - two, get on his comms and tell everybody else where you are. Not good.

I also remember someone asking about the rates of fire, when to shoot, when not to shoot, etc. when in a BOF element.
I don't see any perfect guidelines for that, as each situation could be different.
The fortification we use during the workshop makes it easy, cause you can spot that dude popping up right away. Firing on and around his last known position seems good, as no position seems any better than any other.
In case you're suppressing a compound though, general rule of thumb is to keep suppressing any likely enemy firing positions: corners, doorways, windows,... If every dude in the BOF fires a short burst at a random likely position every one or two seconds, you can be pretty sure the guys inside will have trouble popping up, or will have to do it in unlikely positions.
Suppressing a tree line is the hardest, and needs the most ammo wasting. Don't give your FTL no but, dude, I don't see anybody! Just mow some trees down.
A lot of other parameters here, though, so only one rule of thumb. Use your best judgement.

This can also be the moment AR/AAR teams need to communicate the most, so that when the AR goes to reload, the AAR is ready to waste a full clip to compensate for it.

Finally, a word regarding the first part of the assault. FTLs, think about using the terrain as best as you can. The longer you stay concealed from the objective, the less likely is your fireteam to get shot at. For example, assaulting from the left side in Yesterday's exercise allows you to use the natural curve of the hill only to be exposed in the last few meters.
It can happen that one dude manages to pop up and shoot one of your buddies while you're covering the open ground towards the objective, though.
In which case you don't want to stop. Not in the middle of nowhere. At best, pop some smoke to conceal the casualty (if you can do it in a way that will conceal his movement ot the first bit of hard cover, it's even better) but keep running and resume the assault.
Squad medic or elements from the base of fire will retrieve him when moving up.

As I said at the beginning, these are not hard rules I found in any manual or anything. Just my own judgement and a bit of common sense. Feel free to dicuss/approve/invalidate that at will!

See you guys soon.

[Macaco]

If I may make a suggestion regarding the workshop:
It seems we spend about a 3rd of the time practicing bounding in the lanes but I still haven't seen anyone actually using it in a session. I think a lot of the things practiced rely on everyone in your team/squad knowing them (like the finer points of ally way movement, crossing a street, buddy system/team blue&red etc) and to have to explain all of those mid game seems a bit much. Perhaps more focus on personal skills such as map reading, launched grenades, armored vehicle commanding, basic piloting etc etc.

If more people came to the workshops and we could rely on everyone knowing "Blue move left" means the gunner and his man slave running to whatever cover is available further up on the left, everything would go wonderfully; but we can't.

However that's just my perception of it. I could be missing things, or in most cases just plain wrong.

[Kefirz]

Hi, I haven't been to your workshops, but I have a question. Do you do maneuvers in a squad level also, or just in a fireteam?

[Black Mamba]

We usually do intra-fireteam, inter-fireteam and squad level workshops. Well, when Tiger doesn't crash the helicopter with two thirds of the squad in it.

Macaco, I'm not really sure the point is to build up individual skills. You still have the editor for that. The whole point of the workshop is to reinforce our cohesiveness as units. Dropping it to go learn how to be rambo wouldn't make much sense.
In game, if as a FTL you take the time to assign colors to your team members and make them do stuff like that, they will, more than often. Of course they might lack some automatisms, but the more FTLs from the workshops, the more these things are applied during the sessions. Which means that even people not in the workshops can benefit from it, to an extent.

On the other hand, some more specific workshops could be organized, I guess, granted you find someone who is proficient at the subject, has time and the will to organize and host those.

[Macaco]

Mamba my thoughts weren't to make everyone into rambo, just more effective players. The one time I tried applying colors the team kept forgetting which color they were so I just gave up on that. My other thought was that if there was more skill development or variaty people might be more interested in coming.

[fer]

It seems we spend about a 3rd of the time practicing bounding in the lanes but I still haven't seen anyone actually using it in a session. I think a lot of the things practiced rely on everyone in your team/squad knowing them ...

That's a very fair observation. Something I have not managed to do in recent sessions is this: during the 'main' coop mission, I'll ask recent attendees of the workshops to slot in a particular squad. That way, there should be a shared understanding of the red/blue teams etc. Also, that squad will be expected to perform exceptionally well, or any survivors will be executed by Makarov-wielding Party officials. Let's try and make that the norm moving forwards.

[Black Mamba]

Yeah, I know what you meant, Macaco, I'm just naturally sarcastic, I guess. Point was, thre way I see it, in FOLK, nobody ever really cared about how effective you are as an individual. I myself can't hit the broad side of a barn in plain daylight and nobody ever seemed bothered with it.
On the other hand, the goal is to have fun by playing in a fairly organized manner, which means playing for the team. The workshops in their current format focus on that, and clearly have a good effect. Not everybody can or want to participate in those, but if you attend them, then your role is to circulate what you learned/practiced in the sessions so that the whole group benefits from it.
Regarding the "bad experience" issue, just keep applying what we practice in the workshops as an FTL. Granted, some folks are easier to lead than others, some even participated in the workshops, some missions can get frustrating, but all in all it works okay. I've been trying to apply this in every mission where I was leading anything, and it usually turned out well: we all died all the same, but we did so in an organized fashion.

Might I add, I've personnally seen quite a lot of it in-game, with FTLs such as Ferrard, Tigershark, Toppo... Of course it wasn't exactly the same as what you see in the workshops, but it will never be. Enemies do return fire, don't get suppressed when they're AI, and you don't happen to have contact 55 meters away that often.