When choosing your player class in Red Orchestra, it's important to know what you're getting into. For riflemen, assault troops, machinegunners, sappers, and tank crewmen, the job at hand is fairly obvious. For the Commander classes, however, there are more things to consider.

Who's the Commander?
It is important to know exactly which classes are the Commander classes. There are a total of two Commander classes available for each team:

- Axis: Gruppenführer (Overall Commander) and Panzerführer (Armor Commander)

- Allies: Komandir otdeleniya (Overall Commander) and Komandir tanka (Armor Commander)

Both Commander classes aren't necessarily available on a given map, and this is because one of the Commander classes -- the Armor Commander -- is specific to armor. As such, the Armor Commander class will only appear on maps that involve tanks. The Overall Commander class, however, appears on all maps. Typically, there can be only one or two of each type of Commander class per team.

The only difference between the Overall Commander class and the Armor Commander class is that the Armor Commander can get in tanks, but the Overall Commander cannot. Other than that one key difference, the two Commander classes are the same.


What does the Commander do?
Speaking strictly in terms of the game, Commander classes have two "special" abilities:

- set Rally points
To do this, a Commander must open his map and click on a map location with his mouse, whereupon a small red or black flag will appear at that location on his map. This little flag is a Rally point, and it appears on the maps of every other player on the team. A Rally point can be used as a gathering point for massing troops, or perhaps as a reference point for coordinating a maneuver. It is simply a tool that a Commander can use to organize his team. A Commander can place only one Rally point on his map at a time; if he creates a new Rally point, the existing one is removed.

- spot and call artillery strikes
To do this, a Commander must look through his binoculars at the place where he would like artillery to land, and then press his Primary Fire key to "mark" the location. Again, artillery spots are not made by using the map, but rather by looking through the binoculars. When an artillery spot has been made, a small "puff of smoke" icon will appear on the Commander's map, indicating exactly where the artillery will land. If the spotted location is not correct, the Commander can use his binoculars to refine where the artillery will hit, adjusting until the desired location is spotted.

Once the desired location is spotted, a Commander must go to an artillery radio to make his call for artillery. These radios are present only on certain levels, and are represented on the map as small, red, rectangular icons with white dots in them. In the game, an artillery radio appears as a green, box-shaped field radio, usually sitting on a table. A Commander must get within a few feet of an artillery radio, press his Use key, and then wait for a response from the artillery crew. The artillery crew's response will indicate whether or not an artillery strike is available, and how many remaining artillery strikes a Commander may request. Once an artillery request has been made successfully, the artillery guns will fire and the spotted target will receive hits.


Beyond the "special" abilities of placing Rally points and calling for artillery, the Commander is responsible for organizing his team and implementing strategy. Usually the Overall Commander is responsible for devising the team's strategy, with the Armor Commander assisting and handling the coordination of tanks.

Hopefully this will clear up some of the questions about the Commander classes. Please keep in mind your abilities and responsiblities if you choose to play as a Commander. Your team is counting on you!