Strag

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!

Wyzcrak

Great contribution, Strag! Well done!

Many thanks.

__________________
Steam Community? Add me. | Join #tacticalgamer | Search Results Legend | New Posts Forum Filter | Postbox Toggle | Live Thread Review | One Line Results | Free Remote, Encrypted Backup

Darkilla: In short, NS is pretty much really fast chess. With guns. Apophis: I haven't seen anyone say that SM's are better than non-SMs. Nordbomber: This is THE first server I've seen where either side can comeback from out of seemingly nowhere with the right teamwork. en4rcment: I have NEVER experienced the type of gameplay that I have found here. Nightly I am amazed at the personalities and gaming talent. Root: Welcome to TG. Feel free to punctuate your sentences correctly. Monkerz: Its gonna take all my skills to beat those boys off in the future.

Downtown1

Just wanted to note that anyone can order a barrage using the radio once the beacon is placed.

Leonidas

Really? I keep hearing that only the person who marked the arty target can call it.

__________________
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling that thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety is a miserable creature, who has no chance at being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. -- John Stuart Mill--

"O xein angellein lakedaimoniois hoti tede keimetha tois keinon rhemasi peithomenoi"- Monument, Thermopylae

Strag

Yeah, I've tried this several times as well, but haven't been able to get it to work. So far, I've only been able to call in artillery strikes if I placed the marker, and the same has been true of other people playing as Commander. If anyone can get this to work with multiple people, please share!

dawolf

I noticed you can set a rally point by using alt-fire (right click) with your binoculars in your hands on your current location.

__________________

Wulfyn

B and I tried this last night where I set the point and he tried to call it in, and it didn't work. Maybe it means that if you have both commanders one can set the arty point and the other can order it. Thtat way your tank commander could go forward and spot, and your main commander could co-ordinate from the back.

__________________

Strag

I bet you're right, Wulfyn. If anyone confirms this, please post here.

fldash

When tested in beta, this still didn't work. You have to call in your own artillery.

__________________
It is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9/NIV

shadowman

There was a thread about this is the redorchestragame.com forums -- the official game manual available from that website claims that anyone can call arty once the commander has set the coordinates. It just doesn't seem to actually work for anyone! Perhaps it's a bug?

fldash

No, the manual is wrong. I talked with a developer about the issue.

__________________
It is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9/NIV

|Pz505|Heinz

dumb question?... can the Panzer Commander call in a strike as well?

__________________

Strag

Yes, he can, and it's very useful!

|Pz505|Heinz

nice!! "Drek sau!"

__________________