Rethinking The Spec Ops Positions

After a little thought, I am wondering if it would be a mistake to follow the Specops positions too rigidly. Don't get me wrong. I still like the idea of positions, but I think having certain players locked into certain roles might not allow for the flexibility that I'd like to see on my team.

Here are the positions and how I feel about them currently

COMMANDER - I think out of all of them, this position is the most neccessary. Even if you intend to do nothing else, I think it would be pure foolishness not to elect a commander for the team. So for now that one stays.

Sniper - I'm up in the air on this one. I hate to see someone so locked into this position that they aren't capable of anything else should the need arise. I'd like to see more what I call a sharp shooter. Someone who has the basic ambush, observation, and technical shooting skills as a sniper, but his equipment is such that he can step up and switch to something else in a second without being limited by his gear, ammo and gun. In short. I'd love the whole team to be able to assume this postion, and unassume it at any given time.

DAGGER - This is supposed to be a light weight, hard charging forward guy. It should be played by someone of a smaller frame, quick, and in good shape. according to Specops, he should always be found at the fore front of the fight mixing it up in an aggressive fashion. I guess I have no problem with this position. Except again, I would rather see someone that can play this, but when the situation calls for it he can settle down, or play back when needed. Or be sent on a stealth mission instead of something in your face. But, having someone who's willing to play this aggresively would be nice.

SABRE - this is the medium rifleman. In my opinion this is the foundation of the team. This is what everyone on the team should be capable of playing. A whole team of Sabres that can switch to sniper or dagger and back out again when they want would be fine with me. These are the guys who get the job done through the use of good team work and solid common sense tactics.

BROADSWORD - This is a heavy rifleman. not as mobile as the Sabre. He carries a lot ammo and grenades and is not afraid to use them. He should be laying down a lot of supressive fire, keeping the enemy at bay. This is ok, I guess. I would rather just take a Sabre or two, and alott them more ammo, and call upon them for cover fire when needed. No need for a specialized position here.

HAMMER - The only thing seperating a Hammer from a Broadsword, is a special gun you have to buy from Specops, that is capable of firing off 30 rnds a second. So, in my opinion this is a luxury position, not a necessary one. If I had a player willing to go out and by the Hammer gun, then yeah sure that would be fine with me.

Anyway, I am not trying to cast a bad light on Specops. I like the basic idea of positions. But, I think each team needs to tailor those positions to fit their own needs.

For me, I see us all mostly being a bunch of Sabres with mabye one or two guys willing to run up front as daggers, and a couple of guys packing more ammo to lay down lots of fire when needed. And everyone on the team being well skilled in ambush, camoflauge, and flanking like a sniper. Basically a bunch of Sabres who can adapt their tactics and style fluidly from situation to situation.

That's the team I think we should be trying to achieve.



A side note. I used to get comments when I talked about other stuff. Hmmmmm must not be anyone out there who cares about paintball. :(