Invasion Battle Plan

[Tuefenhandel]

I've been reading (and I admit, getting a bit excited) about the upcoming Invasion of Port Royal. As a non-tester I've been reading through all the post and images being provided by those with Test Server Access (thank you all very much) and have been putting together a mental plan of how best to overcome the challenges that are going to be posed in this event.

Therefore, here is the outline of my plan based on the information available. As with all good military strategies, it is often said that a plan rarely survives the first shot - so, keep in mind that this is framework to be modified, and adapted as the situation dictates.

The goal for this post is to impart some of the techniques and small unit strategy I acquired during my career in the military for the benefit of our forum members and players.


The Crew

Obviously, being in a crew will be of tremendous benefit. Not only in the bonus obtained for rep, but also expedience of communication, HUD info about health status and weapon selection. I am likening being in a crew to being a member of a squad in today's modern military. Further adding to this correlation is the size of the group. A squad in a Marine rifle platoon is twelve members, plus a squad leader. A pirate crew is capped at 12 - therefore similar in size.

I would recommend that the crew then be subdivided into four groups. For the purpose of this discussion the groups will be Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green. These groups are again similar to the construction of a Marine Corps squad in that they would be the fire teams. The reason for 4 teams of three is to take advantage of the weapon types. Each team would act in cohesion, in the same area of operation as the remainder of the crew (line of sight / compass view).

Operation & Responsibilities

Each team would then begin each invasion phase with a member designated to a specific role. In the modern military each team member has a role base on their assigned weapon. Each teams would begin each phase from this starting point.

Red 1 - melee weapon (Tank - cutlass, dagger). Primary function is to stop invading forces at a point to allow for ranged fire. Is the pirate attuned by healer, and would also call for change of roles using the phrase 'Red Switch'. Ideally the switch order would come during a lull in battle (and not while a tank is directly engaged). Upon switch the tank would move to position 3 (Healer). Or as an alternative, each team could have an appointed 'team leader' whose responsibility is to direct the switch.
Red 2 - Ranged weapons (pistol, grenades, staff). Primary function is to inflict damage on any invader assailing the tank and recharge buffs for melee weapons. Upon the switch order, would move to position 1 (Tank).
Red 3 - Healer / Revive (doll). Primary function is to use healing hex on tank to maximize health and allow for buffs to recharge. Upon switch order, would move to position 2 (ranged weapons).

Simultaneously, each of the four teams would be operating and rotating in a likewise fashion. (I have a suspicion that in actual combat the roles of position 2 and 3 might best be reversed as the ranged weapon may benefit from additional time to recharge health in the event that the invader deviates from the tank.)

One pirate would assume the role of crew leader, and in addition to incorporating themselves into one of the operating teams would also provide overall direction (fall back, relocate, concentrate fire). Positioning the four teams based on their strength, cohesion, communication, and performance would be managed by this individual (i.e. 'Yellow team left of barricade, Red team right of barricade, Green team move forward, Blue team fall back').


Tactical Scheme and Advantages

Anticipated Benefits of this process are:
- Maximize firepower through coordination and minimization of eliminated team members
- Specialization of role and responsibilities allows for each pirate to focus on a specific job for a period of time, but will still be able to enjoy using the full spectrum of their arsenal. Thus benefiting the entire crew.
- Provides differentation of weapons to allow for recharge and maximum effectiveness of buffs.


Implementation

- Practice, practice, practice.
- The challenge in using this method is that it requires teamwork, and communication. Those two tools can only be developed through practice and understanding the roles assigned.
- Ideally suited location for practice would be the conjoined pools on the right (center) of Tormenta. The enemy in that location spawn Thrall Captains up to level 50 and also Urchinfist up to level 50. There are several other locations throughout the Cursed Caverns that have staggered pairs of equal (but lower level) targets (i.e. the seabeard / mollusk groups, or the brinescum / spineskull / kelphead groups).
- Great activity for Guilds to use to bollster enthusiasm and promote networking within the guild. You can create specific "invasion crews" and appoint leadership roles therein as a reward for successful practice.
- Test and determine what configuration is best for the skill and levels of your crew members. It's very likely that with lower level pirates three teams of four might be more beneficial (with two healers).


Respectfully submitted for your consideration, comment, and feedback....
Tuefenhandel (a.k.a. Nathaniel Warfury)

[Davil]

A good idea. Using the maps of islands we could have certain zones for them. Here is an example
Note: This is a map for use on a different game but the same principles apply on this one)

[Tuefenhandel]

That's certainly the direction that this plan evolves toward Davil. Each barricade 'area' could be assigned to a crew, with the guild communicating to ensure that various crew's posted each color coded / named area. Then falling back to a guild rally point for the final defense of the Governor's Mansion.

[Davil]

Each pirate squad would have a certain amount of weapons in use because of their location. Higher lvl enemies coming from one point where the barricade is would need weapons that deal more damage. Once we know where the barricades are we can make maps for these things. Each squad could each have a specific weapon to use in pars of 2. 2 swordsman, grenadiers, etc. that could cover different areas. Not only that, but with guild chat in our aresenal we could have as many crews nessacary to achieve total defense. Thus having more people in a squad and making the job easier. Also reconisances team that could move out could lure enemies to an area where we can ambush and overwhelm them.

[Tuefenhandel]

All good ideas, and that is part of the fun of working with a plan like this.

I think that in application, the 'tank' will need to cycle through multiple melee weapons to use as many buffs as possible (and, to allow the buffs time to recharge while inflicting as much damage as possible).

[Davil]

Daggers also work well for weaking up enemies while the cutlass wielders can finsish them off. The "Throw Dirt" skill works great for this and the venom dagger because it's poinson lasts longer than the pistol's. The pistols can also keep hitting enemies with Bane shot to weaken opponets.Sidewinder is also good for giving the 'tank' more oppourtunites to use crippling attacks. If only we could have JDAMs.......

[thomas seawalker]

wow is all i have to say good plans

[Sarah]

it is often said that a plan rarely survives the first shot - so, keep in mind that this is framework to be modified, and adapted as the situation dictates.

As a first shot, and not being on test yourself, it's a darn good one.

Problems with a battle plan for now, as I see it, is it's just all out mayhem right now. (and if the lag doesn' t improve, it will remain that way...)

I hope with improvements and bug fixes the invasions will allow a stratagy to be used. Be interesting to see how this thread develops.

[Sven Niscadae]

Originally Posted by Sarah

Problems with a battle plan for now, as I see it, is it's just all out mayhem right now. (and if the lag doesn' t improve, it will remain that way...)

Hopefully if Disney runs simultaneous invasions on a few servers at a time, the lag will improve but hopefully that doesn't trade off with being overwhelmed with enemies.

[Tuefenhandel]

Don't get me wrong, I am ALL for a little mayhem..........

As I recall, it took a while for Privateering to 'evolve' as it has. At first it was rush straight at an opponent and either sink or be sunk. Then (ignoring the obvious blight of glitching) crews started to work together and regular Svs groups formed. Soon thereafter whole guilds formed that were centered around SvS. I can certainly see a similar phenomenon - if, they have the invasions scheduled often enough to promote this activity.

A fire team with just one member inactive is considered non-operational in RL combat. It takes one, or two team members to evacuate the 'wounded'. In this case, it will take one player to revive, and the third player to cover the healer. The function at that point of the crew will be to cover the opening created by the casualty until the inoperative team has recovered.

Success depends on teamwork and communication - and again I think it's something that can be a great guild activity and set that guild apart from the others.

[Davil]

One my my previous guilds did something similar to take over the Navy Fort on PR back in the origanal layout of the islands was still around.

[skullduggery bones]

Aye, the Jolly Roger battle is all about teamwork. For without those healing and revivng you wont last more than a few minutes, and thats before you even see JR hehe. We found even a small band of pirates (there were only 20 on the whole of Port Royal Langoklia- test ) were able to hold most of the barricades and defeat Jolly Roger providing there was adequate healing cover. I'll be ducking out of the busy servers and looking to find somewhere quieter to have my abttle with Jolly.

[Tuefenhandel]

I'm also hypothesizing that the best way to attack Jolly Roger will be in waves. If, as I have read, he can wipe out every pirate nearby (even level 40+ pirates) with a single blast it might be best to plan on using the multiple teams approach to keep constant 'fire' on him.

Team 1 uses melee weapons to block him in place, while team 2 uses ranged weapons. Once team 1 is incapacitated, team 3 revives and team 4 (previously in a non-engaged reserve role) jumps in and blocks with melee.

Might be that he has to be assailed persistently to wear down his health and prevent him from being able to knock out all the pirates and re-charge.

Testers? Any input?

[The Skirata Clan]

Could we use this thread to post times and places to meet?

[ninety3rd]

Ahoy!
Good tactics in theory, looks a lot like the Roman Legion's usual battle line tactic.

As someone else mentioned (and having done it on test several times, and just 5 minutes ago on live) it does start becoming mayhem.

The enemy, as we all know, often doesn't pay attention to "solid" objects and just moves right on through. Thus you will have lots of them getting past your first lines of defense.

The enemy also seem to be tougher. It takes a lot more hits than what you may be used to bring one down.

There are also a LOT, and I do mean A LOT, of gypsy and witchdoctor enemies who cause a good deal, if not most, of the damage. I know from experience with my test avatars and just now with ol' Ben Whalebutler, this to be so. Most of the times I was knocked out was because of spell casting. (example: You shoot/staff/throw into the melee and hit a witchdoctor, who then makes you his "special target" and you don't even know it. All of a sudden your health is dropping and you can't see who is doing it to you.)
That said, this is where daggers come in very handy, and not many people are using them from what I have seen. The thrown dagger can break the attunement of an enemy spell caster. I have sometimes watched for the spell casters and then aimed a dagger at them to stop their spells and stop damage to my fellow pirates.

The pix which have been posted, though great, do not convey the fury and ferocity of what transpires during the invasion. Many times one of my testers would fall back to defend the Mansion when we were overrun. He would fight standing literally atop Edward Shackelby to be healed as fast as possible by Edward, over and over, until the sheer numbers dragged him down.

Be warned mates -- this ain't your normal zombie romp in the park!