Commander Thread

[Hammy]

I played Commander for the third time last night and I think I did pretty good in an 8 vs. 8 environment.

This was on the map that has Cement Factory as one of the flag points and I was on the MEC defense side.

THINGS THAT WORKED WELL


1) Don't wait for people to ask for supplies or a vehicle. If you see someone in an area without a vehicle moving, drop a vehicle a few paces ahead of them. I'm tracking a "more often than not" re: if they get in and drive it or not.

2) Drop supply crates into "secure" areas. I made the mistake of supplying an area that had bad guys and watched them use the crate for resupply and health against my team.

3) Artillery is not just for attacking. I used it to "buy" time for my team as they drove vehicles to defensive positions or flanked the enemy tank team. Laying down a wall of mortar fire in the street causes them to back up from that point, which effectively doubles the distance they have to travel in order to engage your team.

4) Scan first, UAV Second. Don't waste the UAV. It may not be up for long as it is one of the easiest targets for the enemy to lay waste to. It's very visible and an easy target.

Proactive UAV's
Scan first- determine where they are going, then set up a UAV to meet them there.
Defensive UAV's
Throw the UAV into mid-points. What I mean is - directly overhead is great, but if you scan first and see that the enemy is coming from the north to the flag point- put the UAV a bit north of the flag, but still covering that area.
Remember- Your team has eyes and ears too, so what is in front of them or around them as a threat is often already known.

5) Spawn Engineer- Your team is out fighting, and the enemy will be out blowing up your tools of trade. Don't expect them to drop everything and run off to fix your radar dish. Drop a vehicle on yourself, drive over and fix the darn thing yourself. Don't forget to lay down anti-vehicle mines after you are done.

6) Communicate often. I was giving frequent transition information such as, "North plaza- train accident- 4 units- 1 APC- Camper on Rocket Launcher- Artillery in 10 secs- Clean up position requested"

"Hotel Watch Your Position- sniper on north roof- three units moving to your position on Western Street."
"Plaza is down- 5 Units En-route to Hotel- Artillery in 10 to Hotel"
"Tank crossing River to Cement Factory"


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What Needs to be improved

1) I need a microphone. I'm obviously pretty good at the commander role, but instant feedback to the Squad Leaders would probably be the best.

2) Setting Waypoints- I don't know the etiquette so I am unsure how I should do this. I assume that the street lead can see more than I do, so I am relying on them to decide on what objective makes sense at this moment.
3) My role as a fighter- I have been finding a far off corner and just observing the battle from above until inbound units either threaten my position or I need to clear out an area and repair something. Is this right?

4) Map Knowledge- For example I knew where the rocket turrets were so whenever a red dot hovered in that location, I dumped Uncle Arty on them. But what isnt always clear are the roofs vs the streets- that is- when they are in an enclosure- why waste arty on an enclosure?

Also, knowing opposing locations of Artillery, Radar, Command Posts, and etc are helpful as well. No reason I cant disrupt those locations at well.

For example, a damaged asset replenishes itself much more slowly than one that is at 100%

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Thats all for my minor experiences right now- Please add your thoughts and I will as well as I explore this new fun

[{CLR} Naillik]

Those are all great! Once you get those down, you could start combat commanding, re: Fighting to cap flags solo while maintaining a constant UAV and scan to aid yourself and your team.

Here are some Combat Commander tips:

1). Learn the Quick Command system!!! It's like Q commands, but with T. Use it for quick arty and UAV's along with supplies and vehicles. Make sure you are pointing at the EXACT area you want it, because if you mess it up you could end up dropping arty in the ocean.

2). When nuetralizing an empty enemy flag, scan the area to see inbound units. If you know you could take out an enemy or 2, then spot them out to your team so they can come if you mess up. If, for example, half the red dots on the scanner are inbound, then wait for them to close in and launch an arty strike directly below you as a goodbye present.

3). ALWAYS have a UAV up in the bussiest location on the map. If it it real hot and your team is falling back, launch arty. Use UAV and arty whenever available.

4). Use assets for your team, not specifically for yourself. Scanning before you begin capping a flag is great, but dont toss a UAV on it unless your team is helping, or it is a hot area.

5). Play a class that can defend as well as attack easily, and do not camp. Keep moving, and take a shot at the enemy whenever you can. I play a sniper because while I cap a flag I can plant claymores to prevent any unexpected arrivals, and because I can generally take out any class at any range no matter what weapon they have with a sniper

6). Remember, a good combat commander can make the difference between winning and losing horribly. A bad Combat Commander can royally screw your team, while a good one can be your saving grace.

General Commander Tips:

1). If your rear base (not uncap) is under attack (a.k.a. assets) and your team is not paying attention, drop supplies on the broken asset and follow up with an arty strike, and spawn at that base the next time you die.

2). Use voice chat, and issue orders to squads. In a not-so-hot area that is being capped, manually spot. The UAV should ALWAYS be used in an area your team is.


My tips I think 50-60% of my total points are commander points.

[BigTwinky]

When I issue orders to squads I am usually telling them to go cap a spawn point where armor spawns at.

Controlling the tanks is better than not controlling the tanks. I much prefer taking over Backyard or Powerplant than the Mosque or the Hill on Mastuur as they get the tanks.

So if I am seeing those go down, taken over or even if I a squad of enemies heading there, I will send squads that way.

I also direct squads to ensure that they are split up. I'm all for team work, but when 3 squads are all bunched up, they are arty bait.

[Apache Warrior]

2) Drop supply crates into "secure" areas. I made the mistake of supplying an area that had bad guys and watched them use the crate for resupply and health against my team.

Drop a supply crate near the enemy and then drop artillery on it.
Apache

[Rand{CLR}]

Drop a supply crate near the enemy and then drop artillery on it.
Apache

This is one of the most fun things to do as commander, especially in a more full server or a spot where a battle is taking place. They tend not to think "Hey, I never heard the commander voice say 'supplies dropping in your area,'" and they run toward the crate like lemmings. I used to do this all the time.

Also fun is on a map like Karkand (this was the map you're talking about Hamster), when you have a couple of large squads that are listening to you.

They'll often end up contesting a flag like the square. What I've done successfully is call my squads back, and have them hold. Then I drop arty right on the square flag. The enemy tends to just run in to the flag in their haste to get points, and the arty can catch almost a dozen of them in the right circumstance. Then your guys just waltz back in (time it so you send them in as the arty is still falling, and they reach the outer edge right as it ends) and retake the point.

Another good thing? Dropping a crate on the enemy commander. It's just about the single most hilarious thing you can do as commander in this game when it works.

Regarding combat commanders, unless you've done it before, don't try it during a close game. In my experience there's only a small number of people who can do it right, and a much smaller number of people who can both use armor and command. You'll do more harm than good if you're not already experienced, so the time to try this is when your side has a nice, healthy lead (or deficit--if you're down 120, it's not going to matter much what you do unless your team is close to taking down all the flags).

Finally, contrary to other advice here, DO NOT drop crates on your assets unless you absolutely, positively have no choice (i.e. nobody on your team is coming in as an engineer, and for whatever reason you can't do it yourself). More often than not, this just provides free C-4 refills to the guy that just blew up your asset. That being said, if you absolutely must have that UAV up for the next 30 seconds, go ahead and crate it, but just know that it's free spec ops fuel as much as repairs for your stuff.

-Rand

[Rand{CLR}]

What Needs to be improved

1) I need a microphone. I'm obviously pretty good at the commander role, but instant feedback to the Squad Leaders would probably be the best.

Yes. Mics are almost essential for a good commander. You need to be able to tell them what you see as much as listen to what they think.

2) Setting Waypoints- I don't know the etiquette so I am unsure how I should do this. I assume that the street lead can see more than I do, so I am relying on them to decide on what objective makes sense at this moment.

This isn't really correct. You need to rely on the guys on the ground (and in the air) to help spot enemies and alert you to something you may not see in a scan or UAV, but in general you have a MUCH better overall view of the battlefield than even your best squad leaders, because you see everything and have input from all sectors.

I tend to issue orders based on a mix of what Twinky touched on (high-priority flags based on what spawns there--potentially game-changing assets), which other flag happens to be important based on the flow of the round (think chokepoints), and squad size and composition. So if I issue an order that doesn't make sense to the squad leader, there was actually a reason for it.

For example, I have a full CLR squad, a full second squad, and three guys on the third. The third squad may be closest to a major point, but I may send the CLR squad there because I know I'll need the manpower, and they'll have the best overall teamwork. I'll send the third squad to something they can handle or to support one of the others, and send the other full squad to a key flag elsewhere.

4) ....Also, knowing opposing locations of Artillery, Radar, Command Posts, and etc are helpful as well. No reason I cant disrupt those locations at well.

For example, a damaged asset replenishes itself much more slowly than one that is at 100%

This isn't worth the use of your arty. You do very, very little damage to enemy assets with an artillery strike compared to the potential number of tickets you can drain from the enemy side, which helps you more in the long run. Even if you damage their asset, it's still useable if it has even 1 percent health.

-Rand

[AmazingRedd]

2) Drop supply crates into "secure" areas. I made the mistake of supplying an area that had bad guys and watched them use the crate for resupply and health against my team.

Drop a supply crate near the enemy and then drop artillery on it.
Apache

lol i never actually thought of that, u r one evil genius apache.