Squad Cohesion Contact Drills
Situation: Squad members can end up scattered all over a base like chickens with their heads cut off. This results in them getting chopped to pieces one at a time.
Scenario: Given an outpost or facility of fairly linear design set up OpFor along a lane of assault. Have the training Reaper assault through such that the squad takes casualties and ends up split. If time is needed, start the exercise with half of the squad on point and the other half in the spawn room. Objective is to regroup the squad into an effective whole, secondary objective is the storming of the point.
Note: This is a different scenario from “We’ve got this base on lock and we’re just farming them” If that is the case then all the SL needs to do is ensure that the squad doesn’t overextend and is able group up at a given location, typically on the spawn room, cap point or SL.
As a SL you want to be able to give your guys some slack time and fun. Don’t overdo it though and let the guys pull whatever they want without askin, if you need to react quickly to a fight on another continent and everyone just jumped into armor then you look like a dick and everyone will hate you (even if they don’t say it, they do because you’re a bad person and let your squad too far off the leash and now you pay the penalty!)
Trainer should watch for: Ensure that SL stops at relevant points to regroup squad but does not stop long enough to be susceptible to counter assaults. Use and proper placement of squad beacons. Squad members are moving with a minimum of one other person at all times. Displaced ‘clumps’ of the squad are ‘grab assing’ to the other clumps until the squad is formed up.
Harasser Halberd Gunnery Drills
Situation: Enemy armor is advancing on a forward, lightly defended location. Enemy ground based AA are destroying friendly air forces. TLDR: There is a need for highly mobile, mid/long range AV
Scenario: Take your OpFor and training Reaper. OpFor pulls armor of all sorts and drives around while the training Reaper pulls Halberd Harassers and practices their aim. When a OpFor vehicle is on fire it is pulled back and repaired. Repeat until everyone is satisfied with their aiming and driving.
Trainer should watch for: Accuracy really. Practice is what’s going to help, not trainers.
Harasser Screen Contact Drills
Situation: There is a need for a highly mobile screening unit. (Screen in this case means “To slow down and/or fuck with anything that’s moving to our front, sides or rear.” The screening unit drives between the enemy infantry/armor and the BRTD Reaper).
Scenario: Training Reaper pulls a bus and some Harassers (loadouts dependant on current balance but should aim for short/med range AV/AI engagements). OpFor pull armor (Plus infantry if there’s enough of ‘em). The goal of the OpFor is to get the bus to burn, the goal of the training Reaper’s Harassers is to get the OpFor to fuck off.
Trainer should watch for: Proper coordination of all screening units. Use of flanking to gain the element of surprise and the use of extreme violence to create the utmost impact on the battle in the shortest amount of time.
Static Forward Base Establishment and Contact Drills
Situation: Reaper needs to get from point A to point B and there is a TON of enemy shit in the way. The core idea is the establishment of a forward operation base that can be held secure against enemy armor and air for use as a resupply/rally zone.
Scenario: Training Reaper sets up an ammo bus (with AA loadout), minimum of two Skyguards, one Prowler and two Harassers with HA and Engies. (Refine squad setup as needed) OpFor grabs mixture of armor and air. Objective for OpFor is to get the Reaper bus burning. Objective for Training Reaper is to destroy any OpFor elements or to hold out for a set amount of time.
Trainers should watch for: Proper coordination of all training forces by the SL. Identify ground based targets that are unable to be quickly taken out by forces in a static area (Ex: Magrider who keeps popping in and out of cover) such that the Harassers are needed to locate, close with and destroy the enemy through fire and maneuver.
Mobile Forward Base Establishment and Contact Drills
Situation: Reaper needs a place for armor and air to safely resupply and regroup. Similar to above but used in fastly developing situations where maneuver warfare is still viable.
Scenario: Training Reaper sets up an ammo bus (with AA loadout), minimum of two skyguards, two Prowlers, two Harassers. OpFor grabs mixture of Harassers and ESFs. OpFor conducts harassing strikes on the Training Reaper bus until it is burning. Training Reaper must destroy or otherwise negate all enemy forces or hold for a set amount of time.
Trainers should watch for: Proper tasking of training units by the SL to properly engage enemy forces (Skyguards and Prowlers maintain defensive perimeter while Harassers screen flanks and rear) Overall squad cohesion and ensure that Harassers do not overextend and get destroyed.
Special Grenades/CQB Contact Drills
Situation: There’s a ton of shit in a room/building and we’re having a hell of a time getting in.
Scenario: OpFor sets up in a building with MAXes, mines, medics and other typical hold situations. Training Reaper needs to use recon (infil) to scope out potential areas of assault and enemy concentrations. Training Reaper practices their communication, coordination and timing in the use of Smoke, EMP, Concussion, Flashbang and every other tool available to a standard BRTD infantry Reaper. Variations on this are infinite and limited only by the imagination of the trainers setting up the scenario. Set up a ‘king of the hill’ type event and fight until the trainees have got the timing and coordination down. Or at least the steps that allow the squad to establish that timing and coordination.
Trainers should watch for: Timing, coordination, cohesion and use of multiple entry points to assault through and clear enemy concentrations. Overall training should focus on speed, violence and surprise gained by fast and efficient flanking maneuvers (Hit both stairs on the double stack from the bottom as LA are hitting the roof).
Enemy Fortification Infiltration Contact Drills
Situation: There are times when the SL or PL has NO idea what the Reaper is about to drop/run in to. In these situations there is a desperate need for current and accurate tactical data.
Scenario: OpFor sets up around a given area/outpost/facility in a defensive posture. Training Reaper takes turns swapping out as infil and running point for a hypothetical assault. OpFor needs to kill the infil and destroy the assault. OpFor should shift to different positions or trainers should shift buildings/assault lanes to give each new infil an individualized scenario.
Trainers should watch for: The accuracy of the information provided to the SL. The ability of a given trainee to infiltrate enemy fortifications through the use of unorthodox approaches, timing and sound (hearing the infil cloak go on and off) discipline.
AV Turret Gunnery Contact Drills
Situation: There is a need for accurate, long range AV and the establishment of a static defensive/offensive position would not be overly detrimental.
Scenario: Training Reaper sets up AV turrets in a given area. OpFor pulls Harassers. OpFor drives around while the training Reaper shoots at them (Preferably while going ‘quack, quack, quack). Repeat until all trainees are comfortable engaging enemy targets at maximum range.
Trainers should watch out for: As with the Halberd gunnery drills, accuracy is what we’re looking for. Ensure that SLs and Squad Members are able to coordinate fire on priority targets such as incoming enemy AMSes. Ex: VS AMS to the South, aprox 200m. Name: YOLOFUCKNUGGETS. Standby to Fire. Fire.
Prowler/Lightning Gunnery Contact Drills
Situation: There is a need for mobile, accurate AV and the air is currently heavily contested or dominated by TR air forces.
Scenario: Training Reaper sets up Prowlers/Lightnings in a given area. OpFor pulls Harassers, Lightnings, MBTs and Buses. OpFor drives around while the training Reaper shoots at them (Again, preferably while going ‘quack, quack, quack). Repeat until all trainees are comfortable destroying enemy targets and are able to successfully engage on the move..
Trainers should watch out for: As with the Halberd and AV gunnery drills, accuracy is what we’re looking for. Ensure that SLs and Squad Members are able to coordinate fire on priority targets such as incoming enemy AMSes. (Yes, some of these are blatant copy/paste)
Mosquito/Liberator Gunnery Contact Drills
Situation: There is a need for air support/superiority and the ground is currently heavily contested or dominated by enemy forces.
Scenario: Training Reaper sets up Mossies/Libs in a given area. OpFor pulls Harassers. OpFor drives around while the training Reaper shoots at them (Yet again, preferably while going ‘quack, quack, quack). Repeat until all trainees are comfortable destroying enemy targets and are able to successfully engage on the without falling out of the air.
Trainers should watch out for: As with the previous gunnery drills, accuracy is what we’re looking for. Ensure that SLs and Squad Members are able to coordinate fire on priority targets such as incoming enemy AMSes. (Yes, most of these are blatant copy/paste)
Infantry Galaxy ‘Hot Drop’ Contact Drill
NOTE: ...
The overall idea is that when assaulting an area (on a strategic level), there are many times when you want to hit from multiple angles. Everyone knows about the recent change to Gals and Sunderers. One of the ways to utilize this change is to use one squad as a Mobile Infantry QRF (As outlined in The Document), One squad (Reinforced if possible, think of this as the Main Reaper) of Infantry to act as an ‘anchor unit’. This anchor unit works in coordination with any Reaper Armor assets to go do that voodoo that they do so well.
What’s the main difference now that we can spawn from Gals? Unlike the previous method where a bus is hacked out (Always a good idea!), the squad will focus on medics, engineers and HA/LA (and one Infil). How long can the squad hold a room or a building? Cut off in all manners but the Gal and Beacon. Think of this also, as how peopled used to use Gals in Planetside to boost people to the top of the roof of a tower, instead of spawning at the AMS they spawn right in the Gal.
Situation: With the recent change to the Galaxy (and Sunderer), there are many ways in which they can be utilized. Thus, this drill has an infinite number of variations. This manual will focus on the two distinct variations, the hot drop on a tactical level and on a strategic level. What’s the difference between a tactical and an strategical scenario? In Planetside 2, strategy mostly boils down to the OL saying “We need to fight on XXX continent for YYY reason” and the PL saying “That means we need to start with ZZZ facility”. Tactics is figuring out how to actually accomplish all that shit. How to take that gen, that point or destroy an enemy AMS.
Scenario: In a Tactical Manner - Setting up this scenario is as easy as putting a squad of OpFor in a double stack and having one squad of trainees in a gal, with a few TR trainers on the ground. Have the TR trainers and the SL of the trainees coordinate so that the trainees hit the roof of the double stack as the TR trainers assaults the ground.
Scenario: In a Strategic Manner - Again, you’re going to need more people for this drill than normal but it’s worth it. Given a squad of trainees in a Gal as mobile infantry, have a TR trainer or two contest a point (Simulated BRTD Reaper). Set the OpFor down a link in the lattice and have your trainees drop on ‘em. Trainees need to hold out long enough to resecure the point (in case of a defensive hot drop) or flip the base (in case of a offensive hot drop).
Trainers should watch for: Squad cohesion in both manner of drill. Again, the idea is that reinforcements will come from either the Gal or from a beacon. Instead of worrying about securing the objective, the AMS, and a lane from the AMS to the objective; the squad simply has to worry about securing the objective (either by being directly on or around, in an area where the squad has the best effect on the objective. It’s better to sit in a double stack NEXT to the point then in the open area ON the point.)
Prolonged squad cohesion is best, and will come with training and practice. The underlying philosophy is that even if the squad moves somewhat slower, but all together, the squad is more effective.
