G'day there fellow marines and nefarious xeno mains! Just wanted to write a little bit about a particularly favorite commander play-style of mine, as it is often one I see maligned, misused and misperceived by many of my fellow CO players and the CM playerbase in general. What am I talking about? The valiant ground CO of course, leading his men from the front without fear!
In my opinion this is an extremely rewarding playstyle when done right, to both the CO player, the marines and even the xeno's as it gives them a special target to take down, but when done poorly you are basically then wasting your CO roll. While no means an expert or a pioneer in this kind of captaincy, I've got a bit of experience and have made many mistakes which I've learnt from (and others have paid for!) so I thought I might share some knowledge. While mostly applying to CO whitelisted players, this could also be applied to XO's or even SO's who find themselves in field command. The aim of this is to create some discussion around ground COing so that we can learn and bounce ideas off eachover, and also to show a different kind of commander that may appeal to more players who don't want to just sit around in CIC all day.
That being said, their are a few things that ground COing is NOT should be very much avoided if you want to be taken seriously:
- Being an upgraded PFC: As a ground commander you should expect to get your hands dirty, and prepare accordingly, especially with the devious meta targeting ways of the ever perfidious runner main! BUT, you should not be finding yourself in constant direct front line battle with the xendigos. Your no good to anyone dead, and foolishly throwing your life away, especially early in the round can lead to a demoralization of the marines and a motivator to the xenos which may lead to your sides defeat and your humiliation in dchat. You can put a smartscope on your M46C anyway, so you should always have a marine between you and the enemy.
- Being an upgraded SL: Your role on the ground is to direct the efforts of all marines, not just a single squad. Not only is this unfair to the SL player but it's also taking away from the main advantage in ground COing, that being tactical flexibility. Over focusing on one squad and babying them around is poor form, although their is nothing wrong with taking a few privates from every squad to form your own little "honor guard".
- Being there to just look good: Your still the captain, and you should still be taking command of the operation. Put your tablet and eyes to use by making orders based on what you observe and what your hearing over the radio, your not just there to walk around with a fancy hat and provide moral support
So, why go ground CO you ask? Why should I leave the comfort of the CIC where I have my big map, my announcer and fancy chair and all that. Well theirs advantages and disadvantages to deploying, the disadvantages can be negated by a good CIC staff and the advantages can be what tips the balance to victory.
- You are able to directly observe the marines, rather than second hand through SO's or cameras. This can help in a multitude of ways, allowing you to make faster paced decisions based on the context of the situation. You can directly send marines where they need to be, you see a weak spot in the FoB? Order that private standing over there to guard it. Most marines will listen to you if you talk to them, especially if it's the captain. Very often orders from command come late, as time takes its toll on the process of information going up the ranks then back down again, being a field commander removes alot of the middlemen and busy work allowing you to direct efforts much more, well, directly.
- If the marines respect you and your able to communicate, you can much more easily organise retreats/pushes in person than over announcements and comms. If you've played CO for any amount of time you will often know how difficult it is to get marines to fall back once they have committed to an attack, but their going to be much more likely to follow the high ranking guy yelling at them through a megaphone than listening to some out of date announcement or a SO chiming in.
- The ungas will respect you more as a commander willing to fight alongside them, although this can backfire if you die quickly and you may earn a reputation as a reckless CO.
- The XO can get a proper CIC experience and a more defined role which they probably appreciate more than just being a fancy SO. When the CO and XO are both in CIC theirs honestly very little for the XO to do that isn't covered by the CO and SO's already, which in my humble opinion has turned away many potential CO players who have had boring XO rounds of roleplaying with CL's and running useless errands. While you field CO the XO should be doing what he normally does, however now the XO actually has to talk to SO's and have a full grasping the battle so that he can inform you of the bigger picture over radio. More responsibility for the XO, and a more rewarding round as a result.
- Theirs more opportunity for roleplay and character interactions between you and your men, the CIC can often be very quiet and devoid of chatter which can turn away more RP focused players such as myself.
- Much easier to observe acts of valiancy, meaning more medals you can give out! Medals are a highly under utilized part of playing commander, while they may not mean much to you it can make the day for that new alpha marine who just got his first kill or helped drag someone to safety. Being known as a commander who recognizes good deeds and actually gives out medals for them is only going to make you more respected, and a respected commander has a much easier time than one who is not.
- No more botched evacs: Pilots are going to be much less inclined to leave early if it means leaving the captain to die rather than just a few stubborn deltas, also marines are going to be more likely to listen to the commander himself yelling at them to get in the Alamo.
- You get to use for Mateba for something other than executing cheeky CL's
So before you crack open that commanders safe and don your armor, theirs a few things you need to makesure of before you drop:
- Makesure you have a XO who knows how to run the CIC, and make sure they are informed EARLY of your decision to go planetside. It's unfair to the XO to just leave them in charge of the ship 2 minutes before you bounce, communication is key in command roles and even more so when your a dropship ride apart from the rest of your staff.
- Probably don't go ground COing if theirs a real shortage of SO's, MP's, RO's and shipside staff in general, thats really stacking on the responsibility of the poor sod you leave behind in charge, and besides on lowpop its much easier for xeno's to meta assassinate you.
THE ESSENTIAL GEAR OF THE FIELD COMMANDER
- The Commander Tablet: 100% absolutely vital for your role as field commander, so vital infact that if it gets lost or stolen you might aswell call it a day and return to CIC. Your going to need it to view the map, make announcements, award medals and all the important commander stuff you used to only be able to do from the CIC. In that way it's effectively a mobile CIC, and should be protected as such. If you think your going to get taken down by a xeno, put it in your backpack and do NOT let it fall on the ground as the xenos will try to corrode it, or some hapless alpha will stumble on it and take it because he can. With luck you'll be revived and still have your means of commanding with you. You can find it in the bathroom of your commanders room, the first door on the left when you walk in, why it's in there I have no idea.
- M46C Pulse Rifle: This should be obvious, your going to need your rifle to protect yourself properly and theirs no better choice than this. Attachments are up to you, but I believe the best choice is a smart scope and grip, allowing you to fire past your men. It starts with a single incendiary magazine, which is EXTREMELY powerful. I would recommend saving that magazine for when you really need it, like during a big push since you can rack up many kills and crits with those 32 fiery bullets.
- The Megaphone: Your going to need this if you want what you say to actually get noticed, use it to bark out orders, call for retreats and advances, or just yell inspiring chants.
- Food: Don't forget to pack your lunchbox! Just because you spawn full doesn't mean you won't get hungry, and it doesn't look great when the commander is begging privates for their spare protein bars.
- Whistle: Makes an extremely annoying, ear piercing sound that catches the attention of everyone. Use in conjunction with the megaphone to direct your men, over use it however and you might find yourself being shot in the back.
- Binoculars: Your going to need to do alot of looking around as a field CO, looking at the FoB to makesure it's secure, looking at Delta to makesure they aren't solo charging the hive, looking at alpha to makesure they havent shot themselves. Binos help alot in this regard, and let you observe without being in decap distance from that lurker stalking you.
Heres some ideas for tactics and things you can do as a field CO
- Create an honor guard of the 4 best ungas you can find, give them the tactical shotguns out of CIC to denote their status and have them follow you at all times. A golden rule of field COing is NEVER EVER travel alone outside of the FoB, you will be meta targeted and killed quickly, I've had rounds where I've noticed lurkers and runners literally stalk me across the map trying to find an opportunity to assassinate me. Having a few blokes with auto shotties around you helps alot with this, just makesure they are marines you trust to stick with you and not rambo off. Giving medals to your honor guard at the end of the round is a good way to motivate people to volunteer for this dangerous role in the future, I've rarely had a round where my little command team didn't take the brunt of many an ambush.
- During a FoB siege, use your megaphone to rally as many able bodied men as you can and simply sally out. This is a risky move but when pulled off right can relieve the FoB and even push the xenos back to their hive, just know when to fall back. This has won me a few rounds, notably a few times on Trijent as the xenos don't usally expect a mass bayonet charge on their boiler line. The key to this move is staying unified and not splitting up at all, which can be difficult for SL's to pull off as they already have trouble getting their own men to listen let alone other squaddies.
- Use the orders! I would recommend putting them to a macro and make liberal usage of them, as a Commander you have the highest leadership skill and therefor your orders have the most effect on your men. Very under used by Commanders especially as they usually only see combat in the CIC last stand where it doesen't matter so much. This has the added bonus of motivating your men to stick to your screen so they actually receive the buff, allowing you to make rapid death ball pushes with MOVE! and more effective gun lines when trying to hold a chokepoint
- Make your presence always known! If theirs no orders to give, no xeno's trying to decap you and nothing else that requires your immediate attention then start making noise! Use your megaphone to yell out inspiring war cries, its up to you to be creative. One time I had a designated battle chanter private who sung his own lyrics throughout the whole battle. It might seem cheesy and purely fluffy, which it kinda is, but it also lets your men know that your in it with them and reassures them of your presence. No marine wants to be caught lacking infront of the Captain!
- Give goodies out to marines you see doing their job right, but aren't quite deserving of a medal yet. It doesn't have to be anything big, labelled cigars are my personal go to. If you see an engineer actually working on the FoB or a medic who is actually doing what they are meant to and healing people not trying to bayonet xenos, a little attention can go a long way in the hearts of the unga.
- Settle disputes between marines. Arguments very often occur planetside between marines, arguments which take focus away from the battle and corrode the integrity of the team, sometimes leading to brawls and even murder! While a bravo SL might have trouble trying to pull apart some vicous deltas, they won't want to look like fools in front of the Captain himself (probably).
I'll add more to this when i'm less tired, and can probably organise it better but the plan is to write a full guide on how to field CO good vs field CO bad. If you have any input, feedback, criticism or ideas of your own please discuss!