This guide is about playing styles for commanders, and is not a mode guide.
There are many different playing styles which you can adopt while playing as commander, some, such as the fighting commander may be frowned upon by the majority of players, the below tips are only advice taken from my own experience as a commander who just commands, feel free to add more if you have a different playing style.
Some figures first;
Scans can be used every 28 seconds and take 9 seconds to complete
They will highlight all enemy units on the map as blips, and these blips will slowly fade over a period of 5-10 seconds after scanning.
I usually do a full scan before placing an arty strike, but also as a spotting tool so I can mark on the map where enemy units are which may be a threat to flags or friendlies.
Remember after doing a full scan not to rightclick/spotted until after the blip has faded from the full scan or it will not make the enemy visible on the mini map, a sure sign that they're visible on the mini map is when the blip stays a constant red
Uav can be used every 35 seconds, and lasts 30 seconds
These will show all enemies under the uav on the mini map.
Unlike the right click spotted method the blips will not be constant, but will appear every second or 2 while the scan lasts and passes over them.
Remember that the uav can be shot down, for this reason its best to place it directly over a group of enemy, so its flight path is furthest away from them giving it a better chance to survive.
Uav should also be used in areas where there are large numbers of enemy. There's no point using it over just one enemy when spotting him would be more effective.
Also only use uav where your team are, or are likely to be, a uav placed over the enemy main base, or the other side of the map from where your players are helps no-one but the enemy.
Artillery takes around 60 seconds to charge up, and lasts 10 seconds, it takes 15 seconds from firing to reach its target
Obviously used on large concentrations of enemy, and should only be used on armoured vehicles as a last resort, eg if they're at a flag, with noone else around to defend, as often you'll find it lands all around the vehicle but doesn't destroy it.
Also usefull to place over enemy flags as support which your team are about to attack even if theres noone currently at it just in case they spawn before the friendlies arrive
If you see one enemy entering a flag area you can safely arty it and hopefully he'll be dead just after its greyed.
If however you see 2 or more enemy entering a flag zone, do not waste arty unless you're sure they're likely to hang around, if for example they can't get out because friendlies are attacking, as 2 or more enemy will cap a flag in seconds and be gone before the arty lands.
Arty can also be used to ambush squads, its amusing, (well to me anyway), to watch an enemy squad try to sneak across the map only to get artied before they reach their goal.
The best method I've found to achieve this is to carefully watch their movements, see which direction they're going in, and place the arty so they run into it.
A quick guide to this is that if they're on foot, and your resolution is 1024x768 and they were moving from east to west then centre your map so they're just about to enter the left hand side of it, when you see them appear place the arty to land just off the righthand side of the map.
other resolutions will need timed separately, tanks are roughly the same, but allow around a screen and a half.
Problems you may occasionally run into with this include, (my personal favourite), after you've placed the arty one of your team may appear from nowhere and cause them to stall, or change direction, making your arty miss entirely, for this reason make sure that isn't likely to happen before placing it.
Supplies can be dropped every 60 seconds or so, and take 7 seconds to land
Best used in the supporting of squads role, when called for, or dropped into recently captured areas.
Also if you see enemy armour, and a friendly AT is attacking it, drop him supplies so he can reload, but be sure that the enemy doesn't take advantage of it.
If you see an armour battle, dropping supplies on your frienly tank/apc, could mean the difference between him winning or losing, remember if he's on the move to drop it about half a screen ahead of him to allow for its time to land.
Also try to place it on the far side of ehre he's likely to be hit from so it isn't destroyed.
Commander playing styles
There are a few different ways I've seen the commander role being played.
The 3 most common ones are;
The fighting commander
Fighting commander guide
Possible the most hated, this player will take the commander role, and then proceed to jump into a plane, or armour and play the game normally, commanding only occasionally, or just to help himself.
Not only is this not helping your team, but as from the last patch may get you kicked/banned from a lot of servers as bf2rs have included a rule in their ROE preventing commanders from using vehicles.
Personally I don't see the point in playing like this as you don't get points for your kills and are not only disadvantaging your team through lack of co support, but are also doing them out of points from kills as well, I believe the players who do this probably don't realize that they don't get points for it.
The Pure commander
My own prefered playing style, this commander is always in the commander screen, constantly scanning for and spotting enemies.
Normally to be found hidden under a rock somewhere out of the way, or in a building in his main base, only seen when disturbed, or in defence of his own surrounding teritory.
The Semi active commander
This style of play is more in the command screen than out of it, however he will actively defend whichever flag he's cuurently at, as well as trying to capture any uncontested flags which show as free of enemies of his map.
Commander classes
IMO there are only 3 classes which should be used while commanding, Special ops, Engineer, and Sniper.
Special ops gives you a fighting chance of defending yourself if discovered, and also provides you with c4 which can be used to destroy armour, or defend whichever flag you're at.
Engineer can place mines around routes up to the flag you're at, forcing the enemy to leave their vehicles if they want the flag, leaving them at the mercy of your shotgun. Can also repair your tools
Sniper can place claymores around the flag or commander tools, preventing its capture/destruction, as well as being able to pick off anyone heading for your commander tools
General Tips
A commanders job is to command and support his troops, let your team know of any undefended flags, or flags which may be about to be attacked
Find an out of the way spot, preferably inside a building safe from arty to command from, for more security mine the entrance
Repair your commander tools if they get destroyed, or order a squad with an engineer to do it if you're another class.
If not needed elsewhere you can also use a supply crate, but make sure that the spec ops who destroyed them isn't still around when you do this or they'll just be destroyed again
For faster repairs drive a jeep or buggy and sit at the destroyed asset, as it'll repair in seconds what would take minutes by hand
Constantly do scans and keep an eye on where enemy troops are, and where they're likely to be heading, alert your team to their movements, the scan lets YOU know where the enemy are, spotting or uav's lets your team know
Even if all your tools are destroyed, and you have no way of repairing, you can still effectively spot enemies in support of a squad by zooming right into the action and acting as a sentry while the squad carries out their mission
If you have no scan available, and can't see any enemy about, but still suspect someones there, you can rightclick a general area on the main map and select spotted, this will highlight any enemy close to that area
Keep an eye on squads and armour, drop supplies as needed and do this in zoomed in view as doing it in full map view is inaccurate, same applies when answering requests for supplies, uav, or arty
If a squad leader asks for support, do a scan first, don't just automatically launch arty or place a uav there, as often there may be nothing there and that support could be better used elsewhere. Tell him why he isn't getting the support he requested
Time your arty, don't just launch it at where the enemy currently is, in the time it takes to land they could be outta there, think ahead and place it where they're likely to be, not where they are now
Since the last patch making AA more effective, you can help support your airpower by using arty to destroy any AA you feel may be a threat, Arty can also clear mines from areas which also since the last patch can't be destroyed with grenades anymore
After doing a full scan spot the enemies which may be a threat, or are close to your own troops, some players don't like this and may complain of spamming, but I see it as my job as a commander to keep friendlies informed, and you spotting an enemey hiding somewhere could be all thats needed to save a nearby friendly or flag
Place uavs over loactions where there are enemy close to your own team, or over enemy flags being attacked, or friendly flags being defended
If you see an undefended flag, order a squad to attack it, if you see a flag under attack, order another squad to defend, don't just order every squad at once to the same possition as this could leave other areas at risk.
If you notice certain squads following orders, and others constantly ignoring them, give preference to the ones who help and keep them uav'd/supplied
Try not to have a uav and arty in the same area, uav attracts friendlies, many of whom will ignore the arty symbol, likewise place uav over areas where you want your team to go
If you're just sitting at base use a vehicle, (but give it up when a team member comes along and wants it). occupieing, (not actively driving around in), vehicles in your own base prevents enemies from taking them, and helps you build up time in that vehicle, or fixed aa, mg post etc, needed for badges which if you play purely as commander you otherwise wouldn't achieve
commanders gain a 2x bonus at the end of the round if their team win, this bonus is only 2x their score gained while commanding, and not 2x their total score as many believe, so running round killing enemies, then jumping into the commander psoition with 2 minutes left to go and a score of 80 won't get you 160 points, it will give you the 80 you had plus one or 2 gained while commander
Another myth is that Commanders gain points for orders, uav's, etc, they don't, all a commander gets is the average of his team score, however these points are awarded as earned, and aren't affected by players leaving, tking etc
Normally spotted enemies will show red on the map, if you spot an enemy and it shows as a white dot, this is the enemy commander, and should be terminated with extreme predujice
Glitches
If you zoom into mid view on the commander map, then exit to normal play screen, then quickly re-enter commander view and zoom in all the way you'll get a wider view area than normal
If killed as commander you can quickly enter the command screen and right click twice on the map which allows you to still use the commander tools until the death timer reaches zero
There are many different playing styles which you can adopt while playing as commander, some, such as the fighting commander may be frowned upon by the majority of players, the below tips are only advice taken from my own experience as a commander who just commands, feel free to add more if you have a different playing style.
Some figures first;
Scans can be used every 28 seconds and take 9 seconds to complete
They will highlight all enemy units on the map as blips, and these blips will slowly fade over a period of 5-10 seconds after scanning.
I usually do a full scan before placing an arty strike, but also as a spotting tool so I can mark on the map where enemy units are which may be a threat to flags or friendlies.
Remember after doing a full scan not to rightclick/spotted until after the blip has faded from the full scan or it will not make the enemy visible on the mini map, a sure sign that they're visible on the mini map is when the blip stays a constant red
Uav can be used every 35 seconds, and lasts 30 seconds
These will show all enemies under the uav on the mini map.
Unlike the right click spotted method the blips will not be constant, but will appear every second or 2 while the scan lasts and passes over them.
Remember that the uav can be shot down, for this reason its best to place it directly over a group of enemy, so its flight path is furthest away from them giving it a better chance to survive.
Uav should also be used in areas where there are large numbers of enemy. There's no point using it over just one enemy when spotting him would be more effective.
Also only use uav where your team are, or are likely to be, a uav placed over the enemy main base, or the other side of the map from where your players are helps no-one but the enemy.
Artillery takes around 60 seconds to charge up, and lasts 10 seconds, it takes 15 seconds from firing to reach its target
Obviously used on large concentrations of enemy, and should only be used on armoured vehicles as a last resort, eg if they're at a flag, with noone else around to defend, as often you'll find it lands all around the vehicle but doesn't destroy it.
Also usefull to place over enemy flags as support which your team are about to attack even if theres noone currently at it just in case they spawn before the friendlies arrive
If you see one enemy entering a flag area you can safely arty it and hopefully he'll be dead just after its greyed.
If however you see 2 or more enemy entering a flag zone, do not waste arty unless you're sure they're likely to hang around, if for example they can't get out because friendlies are attacking, as 2 or more enemy will cap a flag in seconds and be gone before the arty lands.
Arty can also be used to ambush squads, its amusing, (well to me anyway), to watch an enemy squad try to sneak across the map only to get artied before they reach their goal.
The best method I've found to achieve this is to carefully watch their movements, see which direction they're going in, and place the arty so they run into it.
A quick guide to this is that if they're on foot, and your resolution is 1024x768 and they were moving from east to west then centre your map so they're just about to enter the left hand side of it, when you see them appear place the arty to land just off the righthand side of the map.
other resolutions will need timed separately, tanks are roughly the same, but allow around a screen and a half.
Problems you may occasionally run into with this include, (my personal favourite), after you've placed the arty one of your team may appear from nowhere and cause them to stall, or change direction, making your arty miss entirely, for this reason make sure that isn't likely to happen before placing it.
Supplies can be dropped every 60 seconds or so, and take 7 seconds to land
Best used in the supporting of squads role, when called for, or dropped into recently captured areas.
Also if you see enemy armour, and a friendly AT is attacking it, drop him supplies so he can reload, but be sure that the enemy doesn't take advantage of it.
If you see an armour battle, dropping supplies on your frienly tank/apc, could mean the difference between him winning or losing, remember if he's on the move to drop it about half a screen ahead of him to allow for its time to land.
Also try to place it on the far side of ehre he's likely to be hit from so it isn't destroyed.
Commander playing styles
There are a few different ways I've seen the commander role being played.
The 3 most common ones are;
The fighting commander
Fighting commander guide
Possible the most hated, this player will take the commander role, and then proceed to jump into a plane, or armour and play the game normally, commanding only occasionally, or just to help himself.
Not only is this not helping your team, but as from the last patch may get you kicked/banned from a lot of servers as bf2rs have included a rule in their ROE preventing commanders from using vehicles.
Personally I don't see the point in playing like this as you don't get points for your kills and are not only disadvantaging your team through lack of co support, but are also doing them out of points from kills as well, I believe the players who do this probably don't realize that they don't get points for it.
The Pure commander
My own prefered playing style, this commander is always in the commander screen, constantly scanning for and spotting enemies.
Normally to be found hidden under a rock somewhere out of the way, or in a building in his main base, only seen when disturbed, or in defence of his own surrounding teritory.
The Semi active commander
This style of play is more in the command screen than out of it, however he will actively defend whichever flag he's cuurently at, as well as trying to capture any uncontested flags which show as free of enemies of his map.
Commander classes
IMO there are only 3 classes which should be used while commanding, Special ops, Engineer, and Sniper.
Special ops gives you a fighting chance of defending yourself if discovered, and also provides you with c4 which can be used to destroy armour, or defend whichever flag you're at.
Engineer can place mines around routes up to the flag you're at, forcing the enemy to leave their vehicles if they want the flag, leaving them at the mercy of your shotgun. Can also repair your tools
Sniper can place claymores around the flag or commander tools, preventing its capture/destruction, as well as being able to pick off anyone heading for your commander tools
General Tips
A commanders job is to command and support his troops, let your team know of any undefended flags, or flags which may be about to be attacked
Find an out of the way spot, preferably inside a building safe from arty to command from, for more security mine the entrance
Repair your commander tools if they get destroyed, or order a squad with an engineer to do it if you're another class.
If not needed elsewhere you can also use a supply crate, but make sure that the spec ops who destroyed them isn't still around when you do this or they'll just be destroyed again
For faster repairs drive a jeep or buggy and sit at the destroyed asset, as it'll repair in seconds what would take minutes by hand
Constantly do scans and keep an eye on where enemy troops are, and where they're likely to be heading, alert your team to their movements, the scan lets YOU know where the enemy are, spotting or uav's lets your team know
Even if all your tools are destroyed, and you have no way of repairing, you can still effectively spot enemies in support of a squad by zooming right into the action and acting as a sentry while the squad carries out their mission
If you have no scan available, and can't see any enemy about, but still suspect someones there, you can rightclick a general area on the main map and select spotted, this will highlight any enemy close to that area
Keep an eye on squads and armour, drop supplies as needed and do this in zoomed in view as doing it in full map view is inaccurate, same applies when answering requests for supplies, uav, or arty
If a squad leader asks for support, do a scan first, don't just automatically launch arty or place a uav there, as often there may be nothing there and that support could be better used elsewhere. Tell him why he isn't getting the support he requested
Time your arty, don't just launch it at where the enemy currently is, in the time it takes to land they could be outta there, think ahead and place it where they're likely to be, not where they are now
Since the last patch making AA more effective, you can help support your airpower by using arty to destroy any AA you feel may be a threat, Arty can also clear mines from areas which also since the last patch can't be destroyed with grenades anymore
After doing a full scan spot the enemies which may be a threat, or are close to your own troops, some players don't like this and may complain of spamming, but I see it as my job as a commander to keep friendlies informed, and you spotting an enemey hiding somewhere could be all thats needed to save a nearby friendly or flag
Place uavs over loactions where there are enemy close to your own team, or over enemy flags being attacked, or friendly flags being defended
If you see an undefended flag, order a squad to attack it, if you see a flag under attack, order another squad to defend, don't just order every squad at once to the same possition as this could leave other areas at risk.
If you notice certain squads following orders, and others constantly ignoring them, give preference to the ones who help and keep them uav'd/supplied
Try not to have a uav and arty in the same area, uav attracts friendlies, many of whom will ignore the arty symbol, likewise place uav over areas where you want your team to go
If you're just sitting at base use a vehicle, (but give it up when a team member comes along and wants it). occupieing, (not actively driving around in), vehicles in your own base prevents enemies from taking them, and helps you build up time in that vehicle, or fixed aa, mg post etc, needed for badges which if you play purely as commander you otherwise wouldn't achieve
commanders gain a 2x bonus at the end of the round if their team win, this bonus is only 2x their score gained while commanding, and not 2x their total score as many believe, so running round killing enemies, then jumping into the commander psoition with 2 minutes left to go and a score of 80 won't get you 160 points, it will give you the 80 you had plus one or 2 gained while commander
Another myth is that Commanders gain points for orders, uav's, etc, they don't, all a commander gets is the average of his team score, however these points are awarded as earned, and aren't affected by players leaving, tking etc
Normally spotted enemies will show red on the map, if you spot an enemy and it shows as a white dot, this is the enemy commander, and should be terminated with extreme predujice
Glitches
If you zoom into mid view on the commander map, then exit to normal play screen, then quickly re-enter commander view and zoom in all the way you'll get a wider view area than normal
If killed as commander you can quickly enter the command screen and right click twice on the map which allows you to still use the commander tools until the death timer reaches zero
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