 | This article is not about game-specific strategies. It is meant as a primer for how to deal with your fellow teammates as you lead them off to battle. Hopefully your strategy of sulking in the shadows and taking whatever troops are given to you will carry you through the tourney. But in the event your cap doesn't show, or (even worse) he drops during the match and you happen to be the second person listed, here are words to live by: 1. Designate one person to 'talk' to the other team. 'Y' and 'shift + Y' isn't rocket science, but they are mixed up all of the time. Unless it's a requirement of team membership (e.g., tDc), don't encourage your players to yell witty sayings to the other team in PT. You will inevitably have one player who will not listen to your pre-game strat talk, and will (in great detail) spell out all of his duties to you while yelling to the other team. 'You want me to hide all of our pigs in the NE corner, right?' or 'I am sneaking down the east side and going for their fort flags?' As a good cap, you will probably follow this up by screaming 'OH CRAP...I PICKED DEFAULT UNITS!' or 'THIS MAX THRALL NO BOW STRAT RULES!', but the other team can see through the cover-up and will crush those NE pigs. 2. Pick decent passwords. One of the keys to allied games is being able to communicate with your teammates on the other team. Living out dreams of working for the NSA, some teams go to great pains to develop an elaborate system of encrypted phrases. Most don't. First, don't assume in this digital age that your teammates can read the face of a clock. And don't assume that a player can eyeball the overhead and give accurate coordinates based on this system. Only in Myth could people screw up 7 pm with 10 pm. Also, if you use passwords, make sure some thought goes into them first. In a MWC match a couple of years back against WP, our team made the asinine decision to yell 'MCC Rules!' to our allied team every time we did something (see? It was so asinine I forgot what we were doing). I guess it was functional, but WP thought we were gloating the entire match (particularly when we had the upper hand), and it took a bit of explaining to mend bad feelings. Also, don't use the ol' 'reverse directions strategy'. Everyone on all teams will know you mean left when you say right, except for the player mentioned in point 1#. And that's the player you are probably giving the orders to. 3. You are doing a huge disservice to your team as captain by yelling 'WIGHT!' and not elaborating. The result is six guys who will stop everything to madly scroll around their army's vicinity, even as they start getting dorfed by the other army they were fighting 3 seconds ago. It's instinct. I could be defending a flag in Desert, nowhere close to the river, and will start doing the same thing. 4. As cap, it is your responsibility to make sure the unit types match the players. This point was discussed in an earlier story submitted by a member of 12". Believe me when I tell you that if a guy says 'I suck with locks,' he is not just being humble about his skills. He probably sucks with locks. Listen to your players. If they don't want arty, don't give them 3 locks, 6 souless, and 2 morts, and spend the rest of the match wondering how they managed to lose all those men 10 seconds into the game. Also (this is important), if someone specifically asks for the wights, DON'T GIVE HIM THE WIGHTS. That person will either a) Try to wight cheer and blow up your army, b) Snap under the pressure and blow up your army, or c) Extract revenge for beating him in the FFA last night and blow up your army. Whatever way you cut it, you get your army blown up. 5. Ask your players to refrain from yelling 'GG!' 30 seconds before you actually win the game. The losing team usually rallies around that insult, drawing super-human strength from their remaining men. Ever wonder how the hell a thrall beat 2 warriors and a ghol? Cause someone prematurely yelled 'GG!' to it! Also, on large maps featuring a number of small flank battles, I have seen players yell 'GF' after they win their mini-skirmish. Don't do that. This isn't FFA. First, when you wipe out their flank and they manage to only hit the tree your dorf was hiding behind, this is not a 'GF'. Second, the other team's exisiting armies might interpret that 'GF' as a premature 'GG!' and develop the super-human strength as alluded to earlier. 6. Your job as cap is to listen..to guide..and to help your players succeed. As tempting as it may be, I can assure you yelling 'GDI! WTF did I give your sorry ass units for???!' one game into a five game series ensures that person will suck for the remaining four games. And it might invoke the person to blow up your army, as mentioned in point 4. While capping isn't easy, particularly in a big event such as MWC, these steps will help you get the most out of your experience. Now get out of the shadows and show them what you are made of! ~Eldreth *Madrigal Chamber of Commerce* |
