Rollout
The Rollout is the actions or paths taken by players before fighting begins each round. In 5CP maps, the rollout is the series of jumps and routes that reach the middle point fastest. In Stopwatch maps, the rollout is the positions and precautions taken by the defense during setup time.
Contents
5CP Rollouts
6v6
In 6v6, one reason that Scouts, Demomen, and Soldiers are the main classes is their ability to perform a rollout extremely efficiently. Scouts run quickly enough to just run to mid through the shortest path. The Demoman(s) and Soldiers have to sticky jump/rocket jump to reach mid quickly while also building uber for the Medic. The Medic must make sure that his whole team, especially the Soldiers and Demoman, is at full health/buffed by the time they reach to the middle point. Usually the Medic begins the round by buffing the Demoman because he will jump away the fastest and won't receive any more heals. Once the Demoman is out of his range, he will give overheals to the Scouts. The rest of the rollout is spent healing the roaming soldier as he jumps to mid. Meanwhile, the pocket soldier is able to run with the Escape Plan and receive "crit-heals" near mid (sometimes roles are reversed with the Pocket running with the Medic and the Roamer jumping quickly to mid). This ensures everyone has full/almost-full overheal when the team reaches the middle point and minimizes time spent running to mid.
Video Tutorials
Highlander
Depending on the map, there are a variety of tactics that can be used on rollouts. However, two of the most useful tips are to make sure that your soldier is running the disciplinary action, as it allows your heavy and medic to get to mid a few seconds earlier than the enemy combo if used effectively. Additionally, it's not always worthwhile for your engineer to place a teleporter when the round starts on a 6v6 map - the four or five seconds extra it takes for him to get to mid will often shut him out, and as a result seriously hamper your team's midfight. Given that spawns shift when mid is captured, his teleporter will be useless if you win mid in any case; so getting him into the fight early, particularly if he's running minisentries, is often a good plan, and can put you at an initial player advantage.
Stopwatch Rollouts
6v6
mainly gravelpit, varies from team to team: traps, engy spots, etc.
Highlander
Make sure that your players (barring the medic and engineer) are ready to kill themselves in the setup time when defending on payload maps and attack/defence maps. While you should be sure of the respawn times in order to ensure that you can get your whole team into position again before the round starts, the ability for your engineer to have a level 2 dispenser and teleporter in addition to a level 3 sentry is very valuable.
Depending on the map in question, your soldier and scout should be watching your flank with the possible addition of other pick classes (spy, most commonly) when the round starts on defence. This will enable you to counter your opponent's flanking classes and call out any others on the flank. This is particularly useful on maps like cp_steel and cp_gravelpit.
