what matters most for survival?

[Shadowshot]

On the battlefield there are many things that will determine if you go home with a smile, or soaked to the spine. So my question is, in a water war what matters most? This answer can vary on the situation so let's set some constants for this scenario. There would be 4 people excluding yourself on the batttlefield. They would each have varying guns, so you need to keep on your tores. You put in the specifics yourself. None of them have weak guns though. Finally they all have some experience of the battlefield and are pretty good. In this situation what would matter more? Would it be a human trait like speedor endurance? Or would it be your gun that you choose? Also what would the human trait that matters most be? What type of gun would it be? Try and back up your answer.

To me speed would be useful so you can dart in and out of dangerous situations. Since there are 4 people on the battlefield you may get caught in the crossfire. Also the gun I think would be most useful would be the CPS 3200/3000. The water supply would be extremely useful against 4 people. You would need a large resevoir. That's my opinion. If you disagree with me or want to show what you believe is best post it, but do your best to back it up.

Till later then

[Silence]

Depends on the situation. If I'm in a group of a few guys squaring off against the enemy, I'd want to have a good weapon for range and good skills in tactics. IMO, if your weapon is significantly better than the enemies on the modern battlefield (both soakers and real), then you will almost certainly win. If you can engage the enemy at long range, then you can knock some people out and get a numbers advantage when the other people on both teams come close enough to clash.

And besides that, I'd want tactics. A team that can adapt to the situation and work seamlessly is far better than any individual--even if that individual is you and if you have whatever skill you want and that you posted in this thread.

[Shadowshot]

I'm pretty much talking about a free for all here. Not really organized but I prefer free for alls. More chaos. So this is just you alone facing off against other enemies, no teams in this situation.

[Silence]

Then I'd want a homemade with a huge PC. Nothing like a lot of shot time to crush a ton of foes!

And for the skills, I'd take tactics if it's a close-combat area and speed if it's a larger area. That's to dodge the shots, in case you didn't know.

Hmm...this is getting a bit to hypothetical for me.

[DX]

IMO, The Initiative is the most important single thing to have in a battle: http://forums.sscentral.org/t3578/

Even if you gave me a weak gun, took away my reflexes, and gave me a team severely outnumbered and outgunned, I could devise a way to win if I had the Initiative for the whole war. In fact, an outnumbered team's chance of winning skyrockets if the gap in numbers is severe. 2v4 would be a close fight, but 2v10 would be a slaughter of the larger team by the smaller team. Of course, only if the fight is one hit kill and if the smaller team applies Tactical Theory's extremely potent Outnumbered Strategy. A conventional outnumbered strategy will fail miserably with those numbers.

IMO, if your weapon is significantly better than the enemies on the modern battlefield (both soakers and real), then you will almost certainly win.

IMO, absolutely not true at all. At least in soaking. If your enemy is conventional, and the fight is not 1HK, and the battlefield is not wooded, then you will almost certainly win. As showcased at Ivy Hill 2 wars ago, a severely outgunned team can take a hill in 5 minutes, wipe out the enemy side, take no kills themselves, against an enemy on the high ground with the initiative and the momentum. However, at the same hill, a team can take it in less than 30 seconds by using only one tactic, regardless of what they're facing. The only exception is a water cannon, I would not attempt a Lightning Oblique within range of those.

If the two teams were even in numbers, but one had worse guns, that team should use Tactical Theory's outnumbered strategy even though they are not outnumbered. By using and mixing the most effective of Tactical Theory's 73 tactics, they could come up with the victory.

In 2004, our local wars were decided by firepower only. In 2005 they were decided by a mix of firepower and tactics. This season, tactics have been king.

For the original questions, I would go with a 1500 or 2500, with knowledge of tactical options in real time being the most important human trait.

Didn't see other posts. For a free for all, I would want a piston water cannon to blow away everything in front of me. 600-800x output, or even the plain air pressure 100x makes a statement. I couldn't care less if I got soaked pumping back up, because in a few 15ths of a second I could deliver more soakage than they in a minute.

[joannaardway]

Weapon wise:

I would pick a long ranged large chamber CPH or PCgH (because large chambered APHs are often a nuisance), and some portable wbl to nail people from really long range.

Shot time and range are the two most characteristics in any water war IMHO.

High output is fairly important for a soakfest as well, but a lower output is fine in 1HK.

Tactics wise:

It's damn near impossible to have tactics in a free-for-all. Teams of 2 or 3 really add to the tactical level of the game. The intitative as Duxburian said - is critical. I have been involved in a few dedicated water wars (with seriously weird rules), and the intitative was pivotal.

The most important thing for survival is awareness.

If you are aware of your opponent before they are of you, then you have the edge beyond anything.

The number of battles that were won where the enemies never saw their opponent's is massive. If you know more than the enemy does then you are victorious. More or less, the words of Sun Tzu.

[Silence]

Again, I sense we're talking about a team with better tactics and worse guns vs. a team with worse tactics but better guns. Granted, in that scenario you might have a point, but I'm assuming the tactical proficiency is the same for both teams.

If your weapons give you a range advantage and you're in the open, then it is very easy to hold off opponents. Yesterday I had a long battle: me with my CPS 4100 vs. a Max-D 5000 and a Max-D Secret Strike. The rules were 3HK on the shirt (they didn't seem to realize that that only makes tap shots better than long streams, which I only hinted at). And even though my CPS 4100 had at most 1-2 feet more range than the MD5K and no more than 5 feet more range than the Secret Strike, I held them away and got both of them--never getting hit myself.

Perhaps one of the reasons I survived was being more conscious of the battlefield and adapting. Not once did they perform a coordinated attack with helpful maneuvers, and as in chess, single attacks can be countered but double attacks can't be dealt with so easily. Had they used tactics, then ambushes, flanking maneuvers, etc. would have overwhelmed me completely, but that did not happen.

That said, initiative is probably the most important single aspect--and something I had forgotten about. I don't need to repeat all the words you've written and those in many different chess books--but it's clear that when you have the initiative, you control the battle. The outnumbered tactic only works in situations where (1) there are objectives and (2) when it is Lives. However, it sounds like outnumbered fighting requires extreme initiative, since you need to get the enemy before they get you.

[DX]

Oh, then I totally agree. Same tactical skill plus better guns = victory almost always.

Outnumbered works without objectives, in fact, if scoring is by objectives, the outnumbered tactic would be useless. The only requirements are lives and kill-based scoring. It does take a lot of initiative, but when you're leading let's say 7-2 and way outnumbered, the enemy realizes that they are actually managing to lose and will play more aggressively. That's when you can make them react to you and choose where you want to hit them. Basically, the initiative kind of sticks to you without much effort to retain it, provided that you have a tie or lead. It is also not unheard of for a team badly outnumbered to almost wipe out the other team in a firefight. Even with the same skill, lucky timing and timing of positioning can affect the end result.