Protection Roles by Position

Pointman and Coverman work together to advance according to the instructions of the Element Leader. They are responsible for the area forward of the Element Leader.
The Back-up and the Rear Guard are responsible for security behind the Element Leader.
The coverman and back-up are also responsible for the flanks, determined simply by those directions that their partners are not looking toward. Use of your partner's viewport is recommended.

Here are some tips for when you are working in a small element of three. Covering all directions may prove problematic. As long as you cover as many directions as practical and do not linger in an area too long, you should be reasonably safe. The route the Element Leader selects can make this easier on a small team if he approaches trouble spots from the best possible direction and has explained his plan properly before arrival.

As stated earlier, make good use of viewports. In a 3 man element, where the formation is: pointman, EL, rearguard...the pointman should have the EL's camera up to get an idea of what the EL may want to do next and see what areas the EL is covering. The EL should have the Rear Guard's camera up in case there is a threat to the rear where assistance may be needed. This allows him to know what is going on in the back, while staying focused on the forward and flank. The rear guard would also want to have the EL's camera up, so that he can keep pace with the team without turning to check on their position and compromising the rear security.

Another time where proper protection is a must, would be when securing suspects or civilians. Again, in small teams this is very important to do this in relative safety.
When you have a compliant civilian, the pointman will advance beyond the civilian and become a shield to protect the civ against potential forward threat, while the EL equips the cuffs and secures the individual. A lost civilian due to stray fire would negatively impact mission results The rear guard still has their backs.
When you have a compliant suspect, the pointman gets into a position near the suspect where he still has a visual on the forward direction and the suspect. The EL then approaches the suspect in such a way as to create a 90 degree angle with the pointman and EL on the outside edges of the angle and the suspect inside the angle. This keeps the EL out of the line of fire from the pointman while he secures weapons and zips up the suspect.

You will also notice that the coverman (EL in a 3 man team) will deploy flashbangs while the pointman keeps his weapon up for protection. In general, three man teams want to avoid two-stage assaults (multiple tacaids or explosives used with tacaids) because then only one of you is armed. You may want to equip your pointman with a breaching shotgun to take care of locked doors instead of C2 for dynamic situations because you can still fire a breaching shotgun toward a suspect who comes through the door on you, but the safest way in stealth situations is to have your EL (in a 3 man team) wait to pull the flashbang pin until the locked/unlocked status of the door has been determined. If it's locked and you are still operating in stealth, the EL may still re-equip a weapon to cover the pointman while he picks the lock. Let me emphasize that in dynamic situations we would like to see the EL pull the pin as soon as he equips the tactical aid and have the pointman equip the breaching shotgun and deal with the door without waiting for instructions.

I hope this information helps you play some safer games, live longer, and be less of a spectator in the server. Games are more fun to play than to watch

Room Clearing

There are two things that cause the most confusion when public players join the server. The first is lack of game vocabulary or inability to understand chat in English. The second is not knowing how to properly enter a room while at the same time providing protection and having people available for securing evidence and handcuffing occupants. Since I really can't help you with the first one, I'll focus on the second one.

Without giving away too many of our tactics, room entry is done this way:

Stealth or Dry Entry (no tac aid used)
1. team stacks up on the side of the door that has the door knob
2. door is opened by the pointman
3. pointman initiates a slice maneouver starting with the open edge of the door and continuing around to the corner that has the door jamb (the side you stacked up on).
3.5 coverman covers the edge of the open door while the pointman executes the slice, then he follows the pointman into the room covering the opposite side of the room.
Only yell for compliance if you see a threat. If it's only civilians in the room, get your coverage set up before issuing compliance and dealing with any non-compliant room occupants.

If it's a 3 man team, the 3rd man enters the room and follows the pointman's path, but he is covering the hallway the team just vacated by keeping an eye on that doorway the team just crossed through.

In a 3 man team you then have to decide which newly discovered openings need to be covered with the highest priority.

When covering doorways remember that doors open away from the person who opens them. Tangos will open doors into your room and they may fire without actually entering your room. Select a spot that is not overly exposed, but still allows you to put rounds into the opening if necessary. Be sure someone covers those openings that represent the greatest threat and also be sure to close all doors before you start to handcuff room occupants.

In SAS we discourage the practice of "body-wedging" doors. Pick a door and cover it or move to the location that offers you the best view if you do end up having to cover multiple openings. Once all doors are covered to the best of the team's capability, begin to secure occupants and evidence.

In a 4 man team, the 3rd and 4th man provide corridor security as necessary. If there is only one direction in the hallway that poses a threat, the 4th man covers that potential threat direction while the 3rd man assists with room entry.

The 3rd man is usually the element leader. Once the EL determines the room is clear, he will call clear or trailers to inform his 4th man that it's time to fall in.

In a 5 man team, the 4th man slides across the door opening to the hinge side covering the hallway in that direction, while the the 5th man continues to cover the original 6 o'clock.

In general, stay out of the middle of the rooms and only go in as far as necessary to cover your area, allowing for the people who will enter behind you the ability to do the same.

The more you work with these procedures and each other, the better you will become.

Tactical Aid Deployment

In general, we advocate that the second man (aka Coverman) should move in the opposite direction from the pointman. If you think of a tactical aid, like the flashbang, as the first man to enter the room before the pointman, then it's really easy to figure out what to do.

A flashbang bounced off a door to the right will have the most effect on subjects on the right side of the room. Those affected for the shortest period of time will be those on the other side of the room, behind cover, or deep in the room beyond the range of the flashbang. Doesn't it make sense that the pointman should make maximum use of the flashbang by taking the side where the flashbang's effect will wear off first or have the least effect? Of course it does.

Except for odd circumstances or known game glitches, when a flashbang goes right, the pointman should go left, coverman right, EL left, etc. For flashbangs going left, the opposite movement would be indicated.

Another vital thing to know about flashbangs is that they must be deployed outside the swing radius of the door in order to have best effect on subjects behind the door trying to use it for cover. Therefore, the most common placement for a flashbang, when not specified by the EL, should be close to the entryway and just beyond the swing radius of the opened door.

The reason we say that flashbangs belong close to the doorway is that armed tangos can make a reasonable assumption that you will enter the room through a doorway. Focusing their attention on these doorways creates a fatal funnel for your team and will give them a good chance for success against a dry entry (no tac aid used). Deploying a tac aid into their focus points, will stun them just long enough for your team to get through the funnel and take the advantage.

(Bonus Material)
Additional Info:
Now that you know which way to move, you need to clear your sector quickly. Tangos in the open need to be made compliant or put down and blind spots, corners and hidey-holes need to be checked with urgency. Once your sector is clear, let everyone know.

If you sector is clear and you hear other officers still screaming compliance, you should take that as an indication that they need back-up. You need to have the discipline to cover your uncleared doorways, and if possible, get into a position that allows you to provide additional support.

Dynamic Entry (with use of tac aids)

1. team stacks up on the side of the door that has the door knob
2. door is opened by the pointman once he hears the coverman pull the pin on the tac aid.... or he may use a breaching shotgun or C2 charge at the Element Leaders direction. The EL may decide someone else should detonate the door or breach it with the shotgun. There are many options, just decide as much of this as possible before starting the round!
2.5 The coverman covers the pointman while he sets any explosive charge
3. The Element Leader decides who will deploy the flashbang, if it's not to be the coverman. The tac aid is pulled and primed as soon as the explosives are set or the pointman is ready to deal with the door.
4. The EL will give the order to proceed. Bye-bye goes the door. In goes the tac aid...
5. After one or two loud noises, the entry team enters the room according to these rough guidelines:

The pointman (with the exception of having used a shotgun to breach the door) should hook to the door knob side along that wall and the coverman should move to the hinge side to clear the wall behind the door before directing their attention to the middle of the room. If the EL is entering with them, he will enter just inside the doorway (but not blocking it) and cover middle. In the case where the pointman uses a breaching shotgun for entry, he will allow the coverman to enter first and the EL will enter second if he is part of the entry team. If not, the pointman will enter after switching back to a more desirable weapon.

Yell for compliance only after you have passed through the doorway. Too often the pointman yells from the doorway and shuts the door in the face of his coverman. This makes it very hard for the coverman to do his job. Get your coverage set up as soon as possible and secure any room occupants.

If it's only a 3 man team, the 3rd man enters to cover middle then swings around to cover the doorway the team just crossed through.

In a 3 man team you then have to decide which newly discovered openings need to be covered with the highest priority.

When covering doorways remember that doors open away from the person who opens them. Tangos will open doors into your room and they may fire without actually entering your room. Select a spot that is not overly exposed, but still allows you to put rounds into the opening if necessary. Be sure someone covers those openings that represent the greatest threat and also be sure to close all doors before you start to handcuff room occupants.

In SAS we discourage the practice of "body-wedging" doors. Pick a door and cover it or move to the location that offers you the best view if you do end up having to cover multiple openings. Once all doors are covered to the best of the team's capability, begin to secure occupants and evidence.

In a 4 man team, the 3rd and 4th man provide corridor security as necessary. If there is only one direction in the hallway that poses a threat, the 4th man covers that potential threat direction while the 3rd man assists with room entry.

The 3rd man is usually the element leader. Once the EL determines the room is clear, he will call clear or trailers to inform his 4th man that it's time to fall in. If the team takes casualties of any kind, the corridor security team rushes in to dominate the room and take down any pesky tangos.

In a 5 man team, the 4th man slides across the door opening to the hinge side covering the hallway in that direction, while the the 5th man continues to cover the original 6 o'clock.

In general, stay out of the middle of the rooms and only go in as far as necessary to cover your area, allowing for the people who will enter behind you the ability to do the same.

The more you work with these procedures and each other, the better you will become.

See you in the games!