Tempus

I'd like to point you to our Battlefield 2 Server Rules and Guidelines...

B) Commanders MUST make their command role their primary activity. A commander should not be engaging in front-line battle as it impedes their ability to command their army and maintain awareness of what each squad is doing.

I saw commanders tonight who did not adhere to this rule.. Please be aware of it in the future, as it will earn you a kick from the server.

Thank you.

__________________
Battlefield 2/2142 Game Officer
Contact me with server/player/admin issues.




-- Suits are what you wear when doing things you shouldn’t want to do anyway.

FROM THE TACTICAL GAMER PRIMER.
3) Support game play in a near-simulation environment. Where the focus of play would not be solely on doing what it takes to win, but doing so utilizing real-world combat strategy and tactics rather than leveraging exploits provided to players by the design of the game engine.

Gordy77

our primary I understand and agree with, but its still ok to do some battling no? I commanded for abit tonight and most of the time just sat still or capped a safe point. but the first vehical I jumped in I got some talk about. no big deal but I was just wondering.

__________________
When I get home people'll ask me, "Hey, why do ya do it man? Why? Just some war junkie?" Ya know what I'll say? I won't say a goddamn word. Why? They won't understand. They won't understand why we do it. They won't understand that it's about the men next to you, and that's it. That's all it is.

Karkianman101

The commander should ideally never see action. As 1 soldier you are pretty much useless. If you die, you are out of the chair for 15 seconds, and if the timer is increased possibly up to 1 minute, then... well thats bad. Every second you spend not in comm mode, thats one less second to notice the enemy squad moving in to seize your assets or airfield, 1 less second to call an arty strike and catch the enemy before they move out, 1 less second to inform the defensive squad that an enemy detatchment is sneaking to their east with a tank.

Tempus

Every second spent in a vehicle, fighting, or whatever, is a second that could be used to help guide your team to victory. Situational awareness suffers, your troops suffer, and the game suffers.

The only other thing the comm should be doing is basic repairs in base.

__________________
Battlefield 2/2142 Game Officer
Contact me with server/player/admin issues.




-- Suits are what you wear when doing things you shouldn’t want to do anyway.

FROM THE TACTICAL GAMER PRIMER.
3) Support game play in a near-simulation environment. Where the focus of play would not be solely on doing what it takes to win, but doing so utilizing real-world combat strategy and tactics rather than leveraging exploits provided to players by the design of the game engine.

Apophis

When I command I usually take the engineer role and sit at the main UCB with my wrench. It gives me the ability to get the UCB assets back on line after a strike without tasking an entire team to it. Other than that, I tend to keep out of the battles, but I do move from place to place on the map to get myself into a vantage point where I can look down on a region with heavy combat.

__________________
Diplomacy is the art of saying "good doggie" while looking for a bigger stick.

Apophis

While I agree with this in theory, in practice it's not quite the same.

I have yet to see a squad that responds to any orders in this time frame. Usually you'll issue an order to a squad and it will take several minutes before they act on their responses to their orders. 15-30 seconds isn't going to make any major difference in these situations.

Enemy squad movements are also largely predictable. It's not the commanders job be the exclusive means of SA on the battlefield either. Soldiers need to be able to bring their own SA to the table.

__________________
Diplomacy is the art of saying "good doggie" while looking for a bigger stick.

Red_Dog

I've not checked this yet, but if your at some high vantage point are you not sightable by the enemy commander with "scan" or "UV"? Would it not be better to be enscounced in something that artillery cannot get to?? Personlly I don't like this because if feels too much like hiding my sorry ass. :-)

Leffty

I agree hiding seems chicken, but its the most effective way of keeping your command assets up and running. I'm suprised people don't hide more. If you think about it though, on a 64 player server, approx team size is 32. So it stands to reason that the "team" is actually a reinforced Platoon and would be led by a 22 yr old Lt. Now if my 35 year old butt was 1st Srgt. and I found my Lt hiding in a basement somewhere after ordering me to storm that bunker/Tank/(insert other scary thing here), I'd Frag him and write home to his mama he didn't die alone... hehe

Meat_Drapes

When I command, I find a corner , get in the prone position and go to my screen where I can run the show. I do not leave it. Although...as an engineer it would make sense to perhaps try and keep your things up and running. But then again, if its been destroyed, are those that destroyed it still there? I dont see how anyone can find the time to ever leave the Commander screen. Not even for 5 seconds.

Meat Drapes

Bommando

I never leave the CO screen. If you don't like dedicating the entire game to CO, then play as a SL or grunt. Nothing on Gordy77, I think he's a good CO. He probably had a reason for getting in that vehicle, but I believe combat should be a last resort. In fact, I find it better to die and spawn in safety than even attempt to take on the enemy. In all likelihood, you will die anyway and you simply waste more time by engaging the enemy or relocating.

As above, fix something if you have to (but only enough to get it online). Also, don't forget that supply crates can be just as effective if you don't have the time.

Makk

Two questions about commander -

1) People say 'be an engineer' to fix assets as needed. Now.. where I see the flaw in that is that the pesky SF guys that blew up my UAV trailer or arty.. will probably be around. As soon as I make myself known to fix them they would probably take me out. Does that make sense? Now, wouldn't SF be a better kit? That way I won't show on the enemy commander scans (do SF only not show on scans or is it also on the UAV?), and thus I will be harder to find if they are 'commander hunting'.

2) I hear you regarding never leaving the CO screen. Now (And I know this question doesn't apply to your server), do you think that would still hold true on a very small game (8v8 or 10v10)? I ask because that is going to be the typical ladder sizes, and my clan will be playing that size games. I've been wondering if that means you NEED the commander's gun, and then you need to be a part-time commander and part-time soldier.

Captain_Klaus

When I play as CO I find a quiet spot, right at the edge of the map. Once there my CO screen comes on and never goes off. If my equipment is attacked I drop supply crates to fix it, if it continues to happen I assign a squad to defend it. IMHO a CO's job is just to command and not fight.

Klaus

Makk

Dropping a supply crate next to equipment (such as UAV trailer, arty, or radar.. even vehicles?) will fix it (without an engineer's help)? I didn't know that.

Telorn

That is a sneaky little trick. Now I know to destroy the supply crates when I see them next to enemy facilities.

__________________
Telorn

Lagomorph

Totally agreed that CO has to command as primary action. The problem arises (As Makk has brought up) when you have a smaller game. Very often you will feel the "need" to get in the fight because "an extra gun is worth 'more'."
While in a smaller game, sure you could be a little less reluctant to engage near your position. From my own experience with small LAN games(never bigger than 8x8) I have found the best thing was to:
-Take spec-ops kit (Enemy CO is unlikely to find you, only UAV will show it)
-Spawn
-Sprint to farthest cover without stopping and hit the deck
-Bring up CO screen, scan...UAV...arty(only if neccessary), exit CO screen
-Sprint again (You're taking a round-about route to the enemy base by the way)
-Continue until you reach the enemy base (Using time sprinting to allow CO stuff to recharge and CO screen time to allow stamina to recharge)
-Drop a supply crate somewhere hidden in the enemy base
-Wait for enemy to have a second flag or otherwise be unlikely to be in their base
-Run around and plant as much C4 as you can on their assets (refill with crate - I think you can place more than your max, I forget how much)
*I recommend UAV and Radar first for small teams (The arty is hard to use anyway if hes near blind)
-Find a good hiding place
-Blow hostile assets

I found this sort of thing to be an effective use of both your CO and "normal" screen time. Also it means you dont have to assign any normal soldiers to spec-ops to blow hostile assets. Feel free to kill the enemy CO if you find him hiding in their base, but I don't recomend attracting "too" much attention. (Unless its your plan to force some hostiles to be pulled back) And don't worry at all about your "wasted" gun, unless its 4x4 or smaller the info you give your teammates via constant scanner+UAV is worth vastly more than another gun.

Good Luck! Sometimes the smaller games can actually be harder on the CO than big ones. =P

__________________
Combat is very simple, there is a first place and a second place. Second place is laying face down in the mud...sometimes, so is first place.
[age-c1]
[eng][air]