So I've been playing Company of Heroes and Men of War and having quite a bit of fun with them. It got me thinking, with games like Red Orchestra and ArmA trying to create a realistic first-person shooter, and the older Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon trying create realistic tactical shooters, has there ever been a game where you take on the role of just a platoon leader?
Most often RTS games operate at a strange level where the player assumes the role as an omnipotent, sometimes omniscient, role in command. Soldiers respond instantly and you see everything they do. And the tactics demonstrated along with how the soldiers act is a bit messed up. For instance, let's say you have command of two different squads. Most games would simply have controlling them down to drag and left-click followed by a right click. The soldiers then run haphazardly to where you clicked, and battles are often fought and won using extremely rudimentary tactics. Flanking, if it's even present, rarely actually gives a large advantage. Friendly fire is almost non-existent. I can tell my soldiers to cross into their own line of fire with no consequences.
I was wondering if anyone knew of a game which took a more realistic approach to command? I think it would be pretty fun.
Most often RTS games operate at a strange level where the player assumes the role as an omnipotent, sometimes omniscient, role in command. Soldiers respond instantly and you see everything they do. And the tactics demonstrated along with how the soldiers act is a bit messed up. For instance, let's say you have command of two different squads. Most games would simply have controlling them down to drag and left-click followed by a right click. The soldiers then run haphazardly to where you clicked, and battles are often fought and won using extremely rudimentary tactics. Flanking, if it's even present, rarely actually gives a large advantage. Friendly fire is almost non-existent. I can tell my soldiers to cross into their own line of fire with no consequences.
I was wondering if anyone knew of a game which took a more realistic approach to command? I think it would be pretty fun.
You start out as a lieutenant in US Army. This is your avatar in game. You get a platoon. This platoon is yours. It's broken down into four squads made up of two fire teams. Each platoon has a sergeant in charge and two corporals under them in charge of fire teams. Each fireteam contains a rifleman, automatic rifleman, and grenadier along with a team leader.
Okay, so you've got your orders for a mission. You make a plan of action with your sergeants. You will directly take control of one squad while the other three are commanded by sergeants. The important part of the planning stage is deciding what they do. After that, you can conduct rehearsals to provide bonuses depending on the mission. Practicing what to do in case of mortar fire increases defense against indirect fire, for instance.
Movement uses actual squad movements and fire team movements. Wedges, files, lines, along with things such as bounding overwatch. After starting the actual mission, you can only talk and give orders to the other squads by radio. Which means stopping.
Now you've reached the actual objective, let's say it's a bunker. First you need to get a good idea what you're up against. You send out recon. Next, you have to come up with a plan. Charging the bunker will get everybody killed. You need to split up the squad. One for suppression, another for assault.
Alright, so you start the attack, but you forget to tell the support team to cease fire. Your assault team was just killed by friendly fire. You were in the assault team. Position units carefully.
Okay, so you reload and remember this time. You go through, everything was a success. Your soldiers gain experience depending on what they did. Your sergeant left to command their own squads are now better at completing missions. Your soldiers firing their weapons are now better at marksmanship. Your units sent on recon are now better at getting close to enemy positions without being seen. By keeping your soldiers alive for more battles, you get better soldiers. If you perform well enough in missions, you can unlock new schools for your lieutenant: airborne, mountain warfare, arctic warfare, etc. More advanced stuff like Rangers require you to first go through airborne.
Okay, so you've got your orders for a mission. You make a plan of action with your sergeants. You will directly take control of one squad while the other three are commanded by sergeants. The important part of the planning stage is deciding what they do. After that, you can conduct rehearsals to provide bonuses depending on the mission. Practicing what to do in case of mortar fire increases defense against indirect fire, for instance.
Movement uses actual squad movements and fire team movements. Wedges, files, lines, along with things such as bounding overwatch. After starting the actual mission, you can only talk and give orders to the other squads by radio. Which means stopping.
Now you've reached the actual objective, let's say it's a bunker. First you need to get a good idea what you're up against. You send out recon. Next, you have to come up with a plan. Charging the bunker will get everybody killed. You need to split up the squad. One for suppression, another for assault.
Alright, so you start the attack, but you forget to tell the support team to cease fire. Your assault team was just killed by friendly fire. You were in the assault team. Position units carefully.
Okay, so you reload and remember this time. You go through, everything was a success. Your soldiers gain experience depending on what they did. Your sergeant left to command their own squads are now better at completing missions. Your soldiers firing their weapons are now better at marksmanship. Your units sent on recon are now better at getting close to enemy positions without being seen. By keeping your soldiers alive for more battles, you get better soldiers. If you perform well enough in missions, you can unlock new schools for your lieutenant: airborne, mountain warfare, arctic warfare, etc. More advanced stuff like Rangers require you to first go through airborne.
