Application

Planning an offensive action or a fall back, and defense are easily done. Unfortunately it is like the Duke of Wellington once said: "In the morning of the battle you will find that the enemy has only two

courses of action, and he will always do the third."It cannot be emphasized enough that preparations have to be made and exercises be held. Going into battle unprepared is playing to lose. I would like to illustrate this with the story of the second in command at Waterloo. When the officer was informed that if Wellington was shot he would be commanding the army, went up to Wellington and exclaimed: �How can you

make me responsible, I do not know your battle plans, please tell me what they are!� Wellington smiled and recounted:�Did Napoleon inform us of his battleplans?� The officer of course said no. �Well�, Wellington went on, �my battleplans depend on his, I need them to arrange my order of battle, yet he does not give them to me.�

TeamFortress has many possibilities, but you need to use them. If you are a one handed player for instance you are a handicapped team member. If you use the cursor-buttons to move your gun you are too slow. Never underestimate your opponents, always treat them with respect. Many battles have been fought in messagemode calling each other names. This is not necessary, use communication only for your team (in teamsay!). On the other end of the computer there is probably someone who enjoys the game just as much as you.

The last points I want to address are the following:

1.We can plan all we want, but the game will probably move into unforeseen moments when all seems out of planning. All decisions on offence and defense suddenly seem irrelevant and you don't know what to decide. Do not wait until the right moment comes along, a true captain or even a general will try to force the action to go his way. Force your troops into offence and turn the chance of victory over to your side. As was said: no motivation = losing.

2. At the start of the battle, you cannot see what strength the enemy is, which classes he has (unless you have done your homework). Do not underestimate your enemy, but never overestimate the enemy�s team. A good shot is generally on both sides. As far as I know there has never been played a match where the outcome for one of the teams was 0 points. (Hence, my statement that TeamFortress will never end up as a non-zero-sum game, or a �tie�).

3.Always trust your team members: if you have agreed a strategy they will follow this through. They want to win as badly as you do. With enough training you will be able to react on the movement of your fellow team member.

4.In the game we will probably run into obstacles, unforeseen and not lightly taken. Any obstacle can be overcome, any defense overrun. If you differ from this don't play the game. You respawn, so your death has only a limited value for the enemy.

5.Don't be upset or angry when a game runs not exactly how you planned it: it's a game and you�re playing with humans. It's always easy to observe a game and say, they should do this, they should do that.

6.Your team will probably never live up to your standards, but if they are trying give them the credit due. They may not have your movements, your ability with the weapon, or your aim, but they are your team members and they can learn.

7.Convince the medics and engineers in your team of their importance, they are there to supply you with weapons and health. This also means that they should stay near the reserve. Make sure they do not get carried away and start attacking without you.

8.When on a pub match you encounter somebody who plays like a pro try to learn. Ask the player whether he/she could give you any pointers. If necessary invite him/her to practice events. Many of the great players are willing to share their knowledge. However, don�t beg for it, just ask nice and polite.

9.Most importantly: it�s just a game!

Attached to this page are two examples: the classic 2fort5 map and one of my personal favorites: Z7, so click on the menu in the left frame to see how you can set up a strategy for a map. However, please remember: these strategies are there to serve as an example!

Anyway, I hope this has given you some ideas, and I hope that this helps you in enhancing your technical insight of the game. It is a game to be played, not to be taken too seriously. Always remember that behind every enemy is a guy or a girl having just as much fun as you have.

It just saddens me to see a lot of good players running out there with nobody to back him or her up. Even an average soldier can back a master soldier. Just aim at the target and push the trigger. However, if we all run around like headless chicken and try to get as much frags as possible it won't do TeamFortress any justice