Cadet I/Winning the game
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How a game is won
The most common game type
There are a few variations of game play that are possible. For instance, CTF (Capture the Flag), DM (Death Match), race cores and Conquest to name a few.
Conquest is the most commonly played (99%) and and we will be focusing on this game type for the duration of the course.
Conquest
Just like the name implies, conquest revolves around destroying your opponent's technology bases, also known as "tech bases". Each team will always start with at least one garrison base. From this point the commander can expand with either minor bases or more tech bases (we cover the different types later). In a regular two team game, the first team to destroy or capture all of the other team's tech bases wins.
What is needed to win?
You will hear this statement a lot: "Advanced tech wins games". In simple terms, Allegiance is all about the arms race. The team with the better tech should win the game. Of course tactics and teamwork play an important role!
How do we get that tech?
The commander decides what tech to purchase, and when to do so. But the team is relied upon to help advance their technology in two ways:
- Help the commander to run a good economy. This involves the team protecting their miners, as well as their constructors.
- Do the same thing in reverse. Cripple the opponent's economy. This is done by destroying or delaying the opposing team's mining operations. The early game has a large influence on this - a single miner kill in the first 3 minutes is far more devastating than 3 miner kills after half an hour. It is also important to gain control over most of the map, as by doing so you can limit the opposing team's mining sectors. We cover this in more detail further on.
How do we finish it?
The two aspects above are the key to the whole game. Once you have the tech it is just a matter of a TEAM effort to destroy or capture your opponent's tech bases. This means you need to STOP dogfighting the enemy pilots, LISTEN to your commander's plan and SUPPORT your teammates that are flying the game-winning bomber, troop transport, battleship, etc.
When one team's economy is ruined in the first 30 minutes and the game drags out to three hours, because the winners can't pull their act together, it is seldom a good game. If all you want to do is fly in circles dogfighting, then start your own Deathmatch server.
What is the first thing a Cadet can do?
Reading the training material here can be a real benefit, but often a little guidance on what to do in your first 'real' mission is helpful.
Here's what you do. Join a game, grab a scout. Load it with prox, and a nan, and sit with your team's miners. While you're not saving a miner and/or getting podded, use that spare time to: - Read the chat and see what people are saying
- Get used to reading the minimap. Try to connect what people are saying in chat with what you see on the minimap. This is the first step to situational awareness.
- Watch the minimap for enemy movements (assuming someone probed). In particular, watch for enemy ships that appear to be headed to the miners. Use F6 to see who is piloting those ships. After a few games, you get used to the expected miner whores (sorting f6 by sector is helpful).
- Pay attention to how the commander orders the miners around. See if you can understand the pattern. Understanding mining patterns is important for both miner d and miner offense.
- When people rush your miners, try to predict their path and drop prox in their way. That is fantastic practice for a whole slew of prox dropping (and general piloting) skills.
Then, do it again and again and again until you start to understand how a typical game is played. Either two things will happen:
A. Miner d will be exciting, because people will be rushing the miners a lot. In which case, you'll have lots of practice.
B. Miner d will be boring, in which case your team will probably win, and you'll have lots of time to track what's happening in game.- — Quoted from Clay_Pigeon
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