Clan Duels

Yeah, if we're going to set up a regular Competative Squad training day I would prefer any weekday except Wednesday.

Also, at least in my opinion, the more people who want to work on leading the better. Assuming we're using standard wingman tactics (which we should be) then half of any squad has some level of responsibility whether that is over the whole squad or just a 2 plane element. It may be helpful to have everyone at least try leading an element just so they can start thinking about engagements in terms of teamwork and get an idea of what their element leader is dealing with. Ultimately, we'll want to figure out who we want in the higher command positions, but I think that's going to be mostly a function of whos' style and personality works best with this group.

 

I have 2 other things we should consider the first is probably up for discussion but I feel the second shouldn't even be a question and is something we should be doing. First is deciding on a standard unit of measurement for everyone to use. (Speed, Alt, Distance) The second thing is when doing call outs we need to use cardinal directions instead of the old at my 4 o'clock. This is something that we have to do because people may be able to see where you are but not the orientation of your plane so they are not going to have any idea where the enemy really is.

 

Wow! Lots of input...that's fantastic. I agree 100% with the need for a command structure while in battle. Here is a little something I cooked up to get those ideas rolling. It's just an idea and food for discussion.



As far as practice for tonight...Wednesdays are tough for me to get on early. I can be there after 9:00 CDT.

 

What would everyone's thought be having Tuesdays and Thursdays be practice days(this would allow me to make it to at least one per week). Not all night but just an hour maybe a little longer if the practice is going well. Almost forgot the time could also be flexible since we all have other stuff going on most days.

 

Thursdays would be good for me.

 

Tuesdays are better for me. I can do Thursdays after 9:00 PM CDT.

 

DeadlyWalrus gets my vote for high altitude shot caller good job tonight

 

Thanks. Mistakes were definitely made last night, but overall I think things went well. I still think we should rotate some other people through the command position if there are any volunteers but it was fun ordering you guys around and I'm more than willing to do it again.

With that in mind, here are my thoughts on last night's festivities in no particular order.

Pre-designated element pairs (i.e. leader and wingman) are going to be very important. A few times I had to spend several seconds figuring out who to pair up for a specific task and those are seconds we might not have against a full squad.

Having a designated second-in-command would be very useful. In the second match (Brits) I was completely unable to give useful directions once I was engaged myself so having someone else who is ready to step up at that point might have reduced our losses.

Even though we're trying to operate in a more organized fashion, I think we still need to make sure we are always ready to take the initiative and don't just passively wait for instructions. I'm going to call out Highlander here because I think he illustrated how this should work in the first (Japanese) match. Starting up with the group, Highlander announced that he had a target low over our ships. This did two things, first it told everyone in the squad where he was going and second, because he announced it before he started engaging the target he gave me the opportunity to either approve his attack or order him to stay high if necessary. Whoever is leading isn't going to be able to see everything all the time so it is still up to the whole squad to communicate what is around them and actively seek to place themselves in a favorable position over the enemy. Just make sure to tell everyone what you're doing and don't get mad if the leader has other plans for you.