The last few rounds I played I had to tell people to 'squad up' several times each round, with little or no response. It's getting on my nerves, so I'm making this thread to try to convince people that lone-wolfing is not the way to go in First Strike.

First of all, when enough people join a squad, your squad leader gets the ability to scan your area and set up spawn beacons, both of which are very useful abilities. He also deploys blaster turrets, which pack a nasty punch, especially when covered by deflector shields. All it takes for these things to start appearing on the battlefield near you is for a couple more people to join a squad.

Secondly, when you join a squad and you and your fellow players follow orders and stick together, the fights become far more concentrated, and as a result, firefights become more intense.

Thirdly, it allows your team to coordinate defense and attack. For example, early on in the Mos Espa map, there is a control point in the south-west part of the city guarding it against intrusion, but no spawn point in the southeast, making it very easy for the Imperials to flank east to get into the town. More on that in the guide I plan to write. See pic below for now:

As a side note, I'm still very strongly in favor of servers that kick players who don't squad up.