Squad Leader standing by

I’ve been thinking a lot about leadership lately. I have a very busy life with lots of responsibilities. I take leadership roles very seriously so I tend to be reluctant to take on any sort of responsibilities that I don’t have to…after all, I play War Robots for fun so why add a ‘work’ component to it?

Well, as the 6 pack leagues arrived I decided to step up and start coordinating. Since it was focused on a small enough task, I thought this is a place I could help. I do not regret it!

I wanted to write about my experience in the hope that other people will join me in playing 6-pack or might take some leadership responsibilities in our community.

Six pack-tourney

A little bit of context always helps, so just in case you don’t know, there is a monthly tournament where teams can register and compete with 6 pack rules. i.e. all bots and weapons at lvl6, no components, 3 out of 5 elimination rounds. It levels the playing field so that money can’t buy you a victory. It is a fair play, competitive tournament… For fun!

Leadership

Yes, being team captain for 6 pack is a leadership role, just not a big one. But it requires you to bring people together, coordinate, negotiate, make decisions and sometimes tough calls. I do consider that team Captain does not necessarily mean you have to also be the best player or best tactician, just that you bring the right people together at the right time.

Squad Leader

I think the key to success in the game is communication, live on voice. But in order for a squad to be effective, you need a good leader, someone who can read a field and call the shots. I think this is where the real challenge is. When you are on the battlefield, you need to make quick decisions about where to take the battle, what tactic to take and what bots to take with you.

Team

A good Squad Leader makes a huge difference, but it is not all. A good team needs to work well together, be well coordinated, have the right robot combinations to work well together, and other factors, it is a very complex thing to get right. It needs to take into account player skill, player style, favorite robots and not to be under-estimated, personality. Let’s face it, we’re all human, we’re all quirky, but you need a team that plays well together!

Communication

I cannot overstate the importance of this! Good communication is the key to victory. There are things that your squad mates need to know and there are things that are just noise. Call out important information, “I’m going to capture beacon D”, “I need help wit h this one”, “I’m about to die and lose position, someone needs to take over”.

Tactical and strategy

We all know this game. It is a real live action strategy and tactical game of skill. Decisions like hanger choices and knowledge of the map matters, a lot! But I’m actually not going to spend too much time on this other than to say that 6 pack has a different META-GAME than the regular game.

Practice

Nothing beats experience! Play the game, play with your squad mates, learn how they play, learn the maps, learns the robots, learn ranges etc.

People

Ultimately, squadding is about people. Get to know your people, what their play styles are, whom they get along with, who do not, why…see what works and what does not and make adjustments.

Setting yourself up for success

If the objective is to win, you have to do your best and make calls needed to set yourself up for success. Be thoughtful about what would help the team and what would hinder it, and steer your team in the right direction.

The whole experience brought me closer to a whole new group of amazing people (you know who you are!), and I recommend it to anyone wanting to both help the community and learn a bit about leadership along the way.

War Robots 6 pack needs you!

Psy5,  Aurora Nova group, Red Squadron team Captain in 6 pack tournaments

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Written by: Psy5, Aurora Tolero