Astral’s Book on Commanding in Battlefield 2
So, you’re the commander. You may be trying it out for the first time, or not very experienced at it. Or, you may be experienced, in which case it would be helpful to add tips to this post, since I’m not going to pretend to cover it all. I will try to cover (in detail) the most significant parts of it that come to mind, and leave out insignificant things, the first of which is scoring. I’m not sure how the scoring is done. I don’t command for the score. I command because in team play that’s a role that suits me fine. Of all the things I do in BF 2 commanding, for good or ill, is probably the best. I rank in the top five percent of all commanders that play the game, and believe me, there’s a long list over my head with ten times the points I have. However, for the most part what the job entails is generally the same. I’ll try to deal with the position in a way that follows the flow of a game.
The Vote - Yeah, it’s a vote of sorts. It’s more a process of elimination, highest rank gets it and that’s the name of that tune. Always apply to command as you wait to spawn into the game as it begins. Don’t wait until after you spawn. Some people who don’t really want to do it will apply for it if they see there is no commander. That’s better than losing, so get in at the start. If you find you’re constantly being outranked, what can I say? Rank up. Being persistent helps.
We Begin
The first temptation is to throw up the UAV. This is good if you know precisely where. Rank has a lot to do with this, because with rank comes experience, and with that comes knowing each map and its characteristics. All maps are not the same, and if you try to command them like they are, it’s probably better that you get more experience under your belt.
For instance, Jalalabad playing USMC: On this map there’s a flag on the lake that’s uncapped. The temptation is to throw the UAV immediately on the Outpost. Of course, that’s where everybody’s going to be, might as well light them up, right? Well, not necessarily so. It’s because that’s where everybody will be, and everybody already knows they’re there. Not only that, they already know where everybody that’s there will be, usually along the sandbagged positions toward the USMC spawn, or in the two gun towers. Others will filter out toward the wrecked building, and the rocks on either side of the road, but it takes time to get there, and everybody knows to look. In other words, lighting that up with the UAV doesn’t tell anybody anything they don’t already know. If you light it up, and a problem occurs elsewhere, you can’t get the UAV on it in time since it has to run itself out, then reload.
In this case I light up the Lake flag. It’s the only unknown at the start of the game. It’s pretty pointless to do a frontal assault on the Outpost. I’ve seen that stalemate for a good ten minutes without that flag being capped. Capping the Lake allows MEC to put up a defense against a run on the Mosque, its armor spawn and assets. USMC having it forces MEC to defend from the Junkyard and the Outpost, leaving the road past the Junkyard relatively open for a fast run to MEC’s rear. On this map, it’s crucial for USMC to see what and who is approaching the Lake, and how fast. Now, where on the Lake? I put the center of the UAV across the water toward the Junkyard. The outer sweep covers the Lake flag area, but nothing beyond it, and the UAV lights up traffic coming from the Junkyard (the most likely place would-be cappers would come from) and the main road into that area, where the tanks are certain to eventually appear. On this map, USMC really wants to know when and where MEC’s two tanks appear. In other words, tell them something they need to know.
Another instance, Dragon Valley as the PRC: Maps like this are different than city maps like Jalalabad. The main difference is the UAV sweep is smaller. Technically, it’s the same size, but the map is bigger. However, on large “jet” maps, you’re lucky if the UAV covers the entire radius of the flags capping zone. Also, on these larger maps there are more possible flags the enemy will go for to start the game. What I do here is wait for the scan to load, giving the opponent time to commit themselves. If you light up the Overlook, or the other nearer to the front flags, and some smart aleck manages to get the USMC Blackhawk to your airfield, you’re going to have a difficult time for the rest of the game. Again, everybody pretty much knows how the opening flow works out on maps like these. What you’re looking for as a commander, is someone who’s trying to get cute and pull off a surprise. Should that happen, you need the UAV ready to use. The scan lets you see the dots. You can read the dots and determine if one is a Blackhawk. Highlight it – “enemy helicopter spotted”. If you light up the airfield flag before it gets there, and your hotshot pilots shoot it down, the UAV runs on an empty spot while it’s needed elsewhere. Use your head. Your job is all in timing. Estimate the time it takes for that chopper to get to its obvious destination. Determine what the occupants will be up to when they arrive, and prepare yourself for what you’ll need to do. (They’re going to take your jets, or prevent the ones you have airborne from repairing and rearming; blow your assets forcing you to use supply crates for repairs – more on this later; and other nasty things that will ball up your game so badly, mutiny votes will fly like leaves in autumn, making you feel kinda bad.)
At this juncture I’ll light up the threatened area with the UAV just as the mode of transportation arrives. An arty strike would be good about now, but I’ll cover that in the arty section. It could be a bad thing to do. Just let the team know their sensitive flag is under attack. And, be in a position to light it up.
Note: Type what you need your troops to know into the TEAM COMM. “A chopper is heading for your airstrip.” This little line grabs the attention of your pilots. They suffer without their airstrip and are in the best position to down the thing. If it’s a fast moving vehicle, more than likely your alert attack chopper pilot will go for it. Your command VOIP goes out to squad leaders only. If your pilots aren’t in squads, they’ll never get the message. TYPE IT. Do it fast, and don’t worry about spelling, as long as they can get the message.
Generally Speaking - If your rear isn’t threatened to start, which you’ve verified with a scan, then look at the map in its natural tendency to unfold. Generally there are two flags close to the front of each side with a lot of terrain in between. Generally each team will cap these unopposed, and move on to the center of the map where they will first engage one another. While you wait, it may be wise to point out jets and choppers for your pilots. It helps your pilots to have that red airplane on their little maps, so they don’t have to locate their opponents visually. It also allows them to engage targets faster, and to decide which to engage, and in what order. This initial clash of air assets has a lot to do with establishing the flow of the game. A chopper crew back at their base waiting for their craft to respawn can’t be taking out your armor on the road as it approaches various destinations. Still, you have to have a good idea as to which of the center flags are the most critical to your side. Which has the armor spawns? Which has an attack chopper spawn? It’s likely your team will know this. You want to light it up with a UAV as your team arrives, so they get the longest possible view of who’s there, and who’s approaching. Don’t wait till they get on the flag. Don’t do it so soon the UAV goes down just as they arrive. If you command, your best tool is timing.
From here on in, the battle becomes either a tug of war, or a tsunami. We all prefer the tsunami. You move the UAV forward as your army rolls the enemy back. If it becomes a tug of war, your job gets harder. You have to watch the flanks. Don’t let anyone get past your line of battle without fingering them for your team. If the enemy gets past your line, it’s too late. Light them up anyway, of course, but remember your team will either have to fall back to pick them up, or spawn into the area, which is very iffy. This is the main reason it’s not good to fight and command. When you’ve got your eye in your sniper scope, that’s when the enemy makes an end run on you and occupies your rear taking out your assets. Keep the scans going. Keep the team informed. They’ll generally know what to do to meet the threat. This is also where spamming the comm channel with “enemy infantry spotted” isn’t a very good idea. If you light up only the significant enemy targets, your team will pay attention when you do. If you constantly light up every target on the map, regardless of what kind of threat it is, your team will stop paying attention to you, stop taking you seriously, and quietly wish you were playing Mario.
Your main job is to keep your team informed of things they need to know. You need to let them know in a timely fashion, which means while they’re in a position to do something. If the battle is getting out of hand, you need to get things organized. You’ll have to decide which flag is most important to take, and how to follow on from there. This gets into issuing commands to squads which I’ll cover next in book 2.
LINK TO BOOK 2
Comment