Dedicated person to watch our rear?

[Vigilante]

Hey guys, I hope your all having a good summer so far. I'm going to an HvZ game in Southern California next week, and I had a question about watch the rear in a squad.

In the squad I'm going to make (consisting of about 7 or 8 people) I want one person to be dedicated to watching our rear. However I'm not sure whether to just turn that person toward the rear and have him/her watch it all the time while walking backwards, or just have them keep turning around and checking every 5-10 seconds or so?

When I went to the day long game last summer (about a 30 man game) I dedicated myself to watching the rear, and I would say I kept us pretty safe and kept the group informed of any zeds from behind us. I felt like it was a pretty underated, but important job. It gave my squad security and allowed them to focus on more important things. This upcoming game is going to be a projected 70+ player day long game.

What do you guys think?

[Sixth Kira]

Always have a rear-guard; just make them check over their shoulders every five-ten seconds, though, or else someone's going to get injured. Also, make sure it's someone who can handle themselves in a firefight, because they're the most likely person to get left behind. Ensure that you don't treat them like zombie bait or they'll get pissed as hell at you.

[Dyslexda]

A rear guard is overrated. Simply make it known that everybody is expected to look behind them every three to five steps; that's how a military fireteam moves, at least. Granted, the people in front don't need to, but the people in the rear should automatically do it, rather than dedicating one person.

[Dragon1291]

I say dedicate 1-3 people as "rear guard"
One stays predominately backwards, keeping eyes and ears on everything. Someone else is right next to them making sure they don't run into them and to keep them informed of anything ahead. 3rd relays info between rearguard and frontguard. Rotate positions. These people stick together no matter what, that way if the rearguard gets separated they have a chance to survive, and if a fallback base of fire is needed they can provide it

[BluEncore]

I don't like assigning rear guards in my squads, but for next year's game, I'm throwing my squads and fireteams completely out the window. I feel like they're inferior to a pair-organized structure.

But on topic, the reason I don't like assigning rear guard to someone is because if he dies, the next person you put to fill his position won't be prepared for it. Make everyone familiar with covering your 6.

[bedmano]

For one of our weekend game night missions, we were traveling in a decent sized group. Myself and two others formed what I call the "rear triangle." We were in the back of the group. One of the guys had the back, and would check every so often, while I had the right and the other guy had the left, covering the main group from attacks from the back. It worked pretty well.

OT: Don't assign someone per say. Maybe mention that the rear needs to be covered, and let people kinda naturally do it.

[catbarf]

I always assign a rearguard. Military fireteams may be able to check their six every three to five steps, but untrained civilians are likely to turn and stare the instant a screaming distraction jumps out ahead of the group, then five seconds and one opportunistic multikill later I'm down half a squad. Having at least one person always looking back makes sure this doesn't happen.

[thebestcookie]

I think a rear guard is a good idea. Honestly, it's not that hard to look behind you. Just make sure that the rear guard has a non-retarded blaster that doesn't suck...
Post Merge: July 14, 2012, 09:16:56 PM

OT: Don't assign someone per say. Maybe mention that the rear needs to be covered, and let people kinda naturally do it.

Yeah, that's a good idea. There's always the really sensitive guy that thinks he's being put in the back because he sucks.

[Mr. Three]

When I'm not on a strike team I'm on rear guard. It's a good idea to have a few people to focus specifically on observing/defending individual flanks and the rear is no exception. I've seen a lot of action and stopped a lot of charges by myself thanks to carrying high ROF weapons and being agile enough. I alternate between walking backwards quickly when the horde is close and doing the shoulder check thing when the horde is far.

[yuiikari]

I generally find its best to have at least two; a good squad will have everything down pat and always be watching each others back, but you're generally going to be starting from the ground, and appointing a few dudes to handle it is a good plan (just make sure they're not going to break at the first sign of zombies; last thing you need is the rear guard ditching out during a charge).  Having someone watching your back is going to decrease the chance of running into trouble should you have to retreat.

[Dandelo]

Rearguard is rewarding if you don't care if you live or die. I did rear guard at Ball State's first invitational and died at the very end of the first mission--when you're surrounded by strangers nobody thinks to watch their back, or thinks "Oh man, this-guy-I-know is watching the rear, I'd better make sure he's holdin' up okay," etc. When you ARE with a group of people you know, it's even MORE rewarding (seven straight hours of rear-guard during Mizzou's 12am-7am night mission).

It's the kind of job where a couple people should be 'assigned' to do it, but everyone else needs to still watch their own backs AND protect the dedicated rearguard--3 people can't hold off a surprise horde without help.