A tribute to Araqnid and Mojo. TEAMWORK KILLS!

As we reflect on our previous training courses, it is important to recognize the need for integration.
This is where the butter meats the bread.   With these new practice skills its going to take time to learn to use them, position your team and find a enemy capable of quality combat.  Each new map for whatever new game your playing will lead to learning new tactics and skill sets.  You have to be readily available to adapt to new tactics and techniques and apply them to the battlefield.

With all of the skills working together you will be able to sit back and watch the events unfold.  You have to actively practice these skills for them to become second nature.  Keep pushing your guys to work in pairs and together because it is the very nature of survival.  Two is always better then one. A combination of all skills will lead to success.  Follow your leaders instructions and work with your partner.  Remember the Key to success is to WORK TOGETHER!  Teamwork Kills!

X

One last thing I want to talk about quickly before I figure out what to write about next is that I am by no means the most perfect man in the world.  I am only as good as my team mates because without them I am nothing.  I want to throw there names out there quickly and give thanks to those who help make me great.

My crew and I have formed our own clan after leaving the Armored Fist Community.  We are Iniquity, which means immoral or grossly unfair behavior.  Look up the definition as it defines my guys and I perfectly.

Greeneyedghost our fearless leader and super capable solider also a Army veteran and a great man.  Ghost is also a streamer so please follow him on twitch and learn from him as I have.  www.twitch.tv/greeneyedghost

ListedEZ  The crazy Canadian kick boxer and youtube sensation.  One of the best motherfuckers to crawl in a trench with.  He will make you laugh so hard you'll cry.  Chalkey White your the man!  https://www.youtube.com/user/Listedez

Tonic The craziest kid I've ever met and the best fucking pilot in Arma!  We have done some Crazy shit and I look forward to our future adventures brother!  http://www.twitch.tv/tonicxvs

Irish Rage Virus my best drinking buddy!  Your crazy antics have been an inspiration to me and have totally changed how I look at streaming and twitch.  You have been a blessing and such a positive force in my life and streaming career. You have helped me in some many ways I can never repay them all.

Chaka The Hammer! Chaka without you my nights would be boring.  Thanks for being a great troop and supporting a brother man!

Kirby one of the best dudes I know.  A great Lone wolf and his team skills have improved hugely lately. Thanks for supporting me and being my wingman Kirbs!

Bojacks The best damn Jamaican I've ever met.  (He's actually from Hawaii)  Thanks Bo for being who you are brother!

Tehgrimza another Army Vet and my ST2 Brother!  We look forward to the day you return to us and play FPS again!

Field Formations down and dirty.

Field formations can be anything you can come up with.  It's been difficult to instill simple discipline into the average gamer so take this with a grain of salt.  You can only get as complicated as your crew will let you.  This can be an interesting topic and has much room for growth and debate but today I want it to be a down and dirty guide on how to quickly move your troops to formations.   The troops have to just understand the basic principles behind the formations and why they are to be used.  I am not the next Sun Tzu (which I have read the Art of War numerous times) but just read what I have to say and try and take some of it to add to your teams toolbox of tricks you can apply to the field and the enemy.  The videos in this segment are live clips caught from my twitch and they are face paced action clips.  I hope that you can learn from me and the mistakes that I made as these scenarios unfolded.

Lesson 10:

Lesson 10 - 12 will be simple field maneuvers that you and your team can quickly do and or take that can try and put you at a position of fire superiority.  That is the ultimate goal of any attacking force is to gain the upper hand through maneuvering and firepower superiority meaning the most guns on target as possible.  This is a quick guide on how to quickly maneuver to these positions and gain the upper hand in any engagement.

As you can see in this formation all of your personnel on the field can engage the enemy without risk of having  a friendly fire scenario.  This can be a dynamic movement unfolding as the scenario unveils itself you just have to keep mindful of the enemy's maneuvering to counter yours and keep your troops moving during these times.  

Lesson 11:

The Pincer Maneuver.   The pincer Maneuver is a difficult one as you have to be fast in action to not comprise your teams movement.  If you have momentum and can obtain a surprise flanking attacking on them you will quickly obtain victory.

With the enemy pushing at you you can establish a base of fire that withdrawals from the enemy while the flanks advance in an attempt to gain the enemy's rear.  Like I said this is a more difficult maneuver because it requires a lot of speed.  If you don't get the flank your flankers will be exposed and easily wiped out.

Fast isn't fast enough in this scenario.  If you follow the battle buddy philosophy  it will ensure that you have at least 2 guns on target is better then one.  That was my mistake.

Lesson 12:

Good old faithful.  The Frontal Assault.  This one I have used numerous times in the past.  If you use sheer firepower to overcome resistance and have your guys push you can smash the enemy easily. Frontal assaults can be risky because you are trying to dislodge an enemy that doesn't want to give up its real estate.  You have to push them out of the AO and win the day.  If they are not as well organized this should be easily accomplished.  Hit them hard and fast.  Don't allow them time to gather themselves keep your momentum up and sheer force of will and steel.  Punish those who stand in the way.

Aggression and sheer will is what it takes to pull off a successful frontal attack against the enemy.

There is a ton of different formations that are out there for you guys to look at and see if you like it.  Feel free to share more information about formations that your teams use and bring them to the table we will round table them.  

Keep the fight going!

X

www.twitch.tv/twistedxvs

P.S this is an example of what not to do!

Team leaders roles and responisblilties

The role of the team leader is never an easy one.  With the modern age of gamer getting every younger in years its increasingly easier to blame the one person who is the one trying to direct one's team to victory.  The team leaders job is thankless and often not put in the proper position respect wise that it should be.  Through win or fail the credit for such victor/defeat will never fall on the person who made or tried to make  it happen. It becomes a position of people just expecting you to do your job and they will do theres.  They will never truely understand how incredibly difficult it is to direct men into combat and have them follow your orders.  Most of this generations gamer don't feel tactics are important on the battlefield.  They think that testing their steal in a 1v1 is good enough.  Win or die its the new gladiatorial combat system of this generation that fuels the blood lust.  In reality things can be done easier and cleaner if simple tactics and discipline were applied. This isn't by any means requiring people to apply realism to the point that these game types lose there fun and appeal but a simple understanding that two sets of everything are better then one.

An average pair will always beat a great solo player.  A poor quad will always beat an average pair etc.  The point and simple fact is that if players are willing to take the time, follow instructions and do what they are told to a certain point then they will be surprised by the outcome.



Lesson 7:

The role of a leader in combat is simple.  Organize your troops and deploy them in a way to counter the oppositions movements.  This can be a challenging task and one that is not easily accomplished.  You will have to find people who are like minded and willing to do whatever it takes to win.  You have to find those who are willing to follow direction and actually follow through with it.  Sometimes you will come across great solo players who we will refer to from here out as Furby's.  Furby is a great solo player but feels that his exceptional skills by himself means that he doesn't have to follow your directions.  He's one of your best players but he doesn't follow the team leaders directions. He feels that he is an independent operator and that he is smart enough to find his own way into battle.  What Furby doesn't understand is that sometimes he is going to be asked to risk himself for his team and it won't be in a time that he chooses to do it.  It will be when its asked of him without if and or buts.  The Furby will either have to shit or get off the pot.  If he decides that he would rather do it his way your team will falter as its not a team at all but the individuals choice to belong.  My advice at that point is tell Furby to kick rocks and replace him with someone who might not be as skilled but willing to try and work as a team.  Skill can be taught discipline is hard to find.

Lesson 8:

Maneuvering to contact.  One of the hardest challenges for a team leader is to move to contact and quickly assess a situation and order men to battle.  If you don't understand how to quickly assess a situation and make a split second decision the role of team leader is not for you.  It's not an easy task and its one that has to be done quickly with little thought relying more on reflex then thought process.  The lull of indecision will cost you and your troops greatly. Any decisions even the wrong one will carry more weight then no decision at all.  When its time to order men to move you better be right next to them moving with them.  Once they gain trust in your tactical abilities to lead them they will do so without hesitation.

Lesson 9:

Remain calm.  If you freak out your men or women will freak out.  A leader is one who remains calm and can continue to direct his men to contact.  Keep your voice as neutral as possible or an aggressive neutral.  It will take practice and a lot of it.  Remember to breath when you come under stress a lot of time you will hold your breath and not even realize it.

A calm leader who keeps his cool even though you might be freaked out will inspire men to follow you.  Never tell them or show them how you feel.  Remain calm and lead them to victory or defeat but do so while remaining cool as ice.

Once again come by my stream and watch us perform tactical movements and work on our teamwork.   Hope you guys are enjoying my FPS gamer series!  Show your support by following me on twitch and reading my blogs!

TwistedX
www.twitch.tv/twistedxvs

Buddy system in FPS games

After deploying to the war zone and being submitted to a hostility faced by soldiers over sea's it became quite known that you were never to go anywhere alone.  Bad things were even happening on supposed "secure" installations.  The same goes here state side.  As an officer you never go anywhere alone.  You always bring backup because 2 officers together are better then one.  If there is 2 suspects your dealing with you bring 3 officers.  Simple numbers a lot of the time will defeat the potential resistance you might face.  The same goes in FPS but not for simple intimidation factors it more for potential firepower brought to the battlefield.

The next lessons in this guide are going to focus solely with working with your battle buddy or your partner.

Lesson 4:

Buddy System and how it applies.  The buddy system is crucial to getting advantages over the others.  Being able to communicate well to each other and working simple tactics together such as a flanking maneuver, a bait and switch or the frontal assault.  No matter the tactic you choose to employ any tactic at this point is better then milling about like sheep waiting to be slaughtered. Your ideal battle buddy will thinking similarly to you and will move similarly to you.  Find that person then work together to improve your efficiency together.  Most people will read this and think we do this, but don't be the ones who don't practice simple tactics.  It's when we get complacent we get killed remember that.

Remember our Mantra "Teamwork Kills"

Lesson 5:

That last video leads us to our next lesson.  It's contact and cover.  It's been around since the inception of Law Enforcement and it builds well into the lesson plan today.  The Contact is the main person doing action. The Cover is simply that.  The cover is there to cover your ass if shit hits the fan.  They are your support and there to help you out.  What this can mean is anything from talking to a subject, or to checking a car.  The main purpose of this is that one person is doing something while the other sits in a spot where he can observe and spot any movement that's taking place around him and deem it a threat or not. Simply put always practice this while in the team movement.  

Watch how fluid and smooth this room clearing with Mantle and I is.  We play off of each others movement to make it a smooth transitions between rooms.  The reason for this is we adhere to the rule of 2 guns are better then 1.  If we come across a target we will both engage the target together to bring maximum firepower onto the target to drop it quickly.  In a game of kill or be kill that's a win win for us.

Lesson 6:

The last lesson in this guide is what I'm going to call Target Identification.  Basically what this means when your linking up with your team be sure of your target!  DO something to make yourselves stand out against everyone else.  Everyone is going to be quick to go for green camo to blend in with the forest.  The problem with that is, if everyone is wearing green camo how are you going to tell each other apart from everyone else.  This can lead to bad things happening that wasn't intended.  So do something different wear a pink helmet instead! Do something else make yourself stand out or this happens!

Feedback is always welcome if you guys are ready for the youtube course also let me know and Ill begin work on that!

You guys have been great so far!

X

www.twitch.tv/twistedxvs

Simplified SWAT tactics brought to FPS games

Keep coms clean and tight.

This is where this whole blog chain comes from. My real-world experience as well as being an avid gamer since I was 14 years old. I have gamed many thousands of hours with many different types of people and one thing I can say. If coms meaning communications aren't clear and concise its a shit show of disorganization.

My gaming team and I have almost perfected communication. With that being said I bring to you this series that I wrote in 2014 that I will update this year in 2020. I do so because of the experience I feel can help many young people who struggle with this concept.

Communication is an important aspect in any relationship you will ever have. Being able to talk with your girlfriend, boyfriend, friends mom, whatever is an important everyday occurrence. Clear communication is also very relevant in a high-stress situation. Being in a gun battle will put you into what we call tunnel vision. Meaning that you become so focused on one thing that you will be distracted by random chatter that has no meaning.

Excess communication is distracting. Keeping your communications to what is important will increase your efficiency by giving you the ability to react to enemy movements and additional threats without having to talk over someone or try and process what that person is saying that has no relevance. This prevents you from splitting your attention between whos talking and what you're trying to do.

It's important to have fun while playing the game, but if part of having fun is playing for that WINNING. Many times excessive talking about shit that is not relevant will just detract from your team's ability to work smoothly and win effectively. So if you notice that your friends are carrying on about what they had for dinner, there girlfriend problems or just generally have diarrhea of the mouth, do us all a favor and tell them to shut the fuck up. Teach them that there is a time for that kind of talk, but not when the digital shit is hitting the fan.

Well Twisted how do we improve this? you might ask

Here are some things that we have worked towards that you can learn from our experience and bring to the table.

Work out common terminology for each area that you play in. What does this mean? Well if there are places that you like to go then work out a common name that everyone knows what the reference means. It doesn't have to be a fancy name, it can be as simple as calling it potato or banana, but if everyone on your team understands the reference then that is the first step to being a better communicator. That is a massive coordination win and will make you operate and kill much more efficiently.

Heading call outs are good, but sometimes you have to change it up. If you and a teammate communicate using heading callouts you have to remember when you split from each other sometimes it's easier to just talk them onto the target. Something like he's halfway between me and potato. This is way more descriptive to someone who is not in the same position as you are, but this would only be good if they knew where you were. If you were in EFT with no team markers you would have to get much more descriptive.

You would have to say something like he's 35 meters northwest of the 3 story apartments along the fence. This would be a good style positional call out with a landmark in a game like Escape from Tarkov.

So sometimes its better to just use plain speak. “He’s east of me, near the rock” that would mean a lot more then he’s 90 from me. This is only helpful if your team understands directional call outs. There are times that you are all moving in the same direction you can say something like "contact right." This is applicable but you have to do it when you are all moving in the same direction only.

These are just tips that you can put in your toolbox to help improve your teams' efficiency and ability to communicate better. The biggest thing that I can't stress enough is getting rid of the chit chat that happens and clogs up coms. Also, don't talk over people that are trying to pass out relevant information. This shit gives me cancer, so don't be that cancerous fuck!