Russian Ground Forces, infantry and a BTR-82A. The Commander Action Artillery Static Barrage is also shown.
The Commander is a command and support role who has two primary objectives. The Commanders first objective is to lead the team and manage other Squad Leaders. Their second objective is to leader their own squad as a normal Squad Leader. The role is available to all factions, however it differs slightly in each faction.
The Commander role is the only role that can exclusively deploy Strategic or Tactical Support Actions for reconnaissance or firepower purposes.
Description
The Commander is one of the most important roles in Squad as the position holds power over every other player in the game. Players should follow their Squad Lead orders and Squad Leads should follow the Commanders' order. Squad leads who wish to talk directly to their command can do so by hitting Num 0.
Commanders are chosen by a vote, in order to nominate yourself you must have 2 squad members and there must be at least 3 squads created. After one or more squad leaders nominate themselves every squad leader gets a chance to vote for a candidate. Upon being selected to become a commander the squad name will change to: "CMD SQUAD". Commanders can be re-elected after 300 seconds. If a new commander is elected the cool downs are reset.
Commanders deaths are worth 2 tickets instead of the usual 1.
The Commander is not available in the Skirmish game mode, Logar and Sumari due to their size.
Support Actions
Requirements for Support Usage depend on the team Faction. Each action and action type incur unique cooldown times after their deployment, and have an initial cooldown when the match starts.
Strategic Support:
Strategic support is used for reconnaissance and does not require a request from a Squad Leader.
Tactical Support:
Delivering a weaponized tactical support payload against the enemy is a 4 step process:
- A Squad Leader (possibly the Commander themselves) marks a location on the map using the radial menu to Request Tactical Support from the Commander. The request mark specifies a radius rather than an exact location.
- The Commander has 1 minute to Accept or Deny the request. If neither is chosen, the request will expire.
- If accepted, the timer refreshes, and the Commander has 1 minute to Accept or Deny their decision from Step 2. Essentially this acts as a "double-check" or a "2-step verification" to ensure a mistake wasn't made.
- Finally, if accepted again (the "double-check" or "2-step verification" passed) then the Commander can choose a Tactical Support Action and specify the details of the payload (its direction, how large the radius is, etc.)
Conventional Commander Actions
Tactical Support can only be delivered/deployed once Step. 4 is completed!
WARNING / NOTE:
TACTICAL SUPPORT PAYLOADS FOR ANY FACTION ARE NOT 100% ACCURATE, SO BE WARY OF FRIENDLY FIRE!!!
| Action Type | Action | Cooldown Timer | Delivery / Deployment Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strategic | MQ-9 UAV Recon or Pchela-1T UAV Recon | 10 min | Roughly 10 seconds |
| Tactical | 155mm Artillery (Static or Creeping) Barrage | 30 min | Roughly 60 seconds |
| A-10 Warthog Airstrike or SU-25 Grach Rocket Airstrike | 15 min | Roughly 40 seconds |
In order to complete Step. 4, the conventional Commander must be near (roughly 30m) a friendly fully-built HAB.
When deploying a static artillery barrage, all barrages will land inside the circle radius, while a creeping artillery barrage will cause the barrages to follow a direction. Both radius and direction length are specified by the Commander. Conventional artillery barrages are accurate, however they require 2 "ranging" shots before the main barrage starts.
The airstrike actions will follow the vector/line defined by the commander.
| Action Type | Action | Cooldown Timer | Delivery / Deployment Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strategic | Handheld Drone | 10 min, plus any remaining flight
time from the previous drone if it was destroyed. |
Instant |
| Tactical | Heavy Mortar barrage | 20 min | ? |
In order to complete Step. 4, the unconventional Commander must be near (roughly 30m) a friendly fully-built HAB or a friendly vehicle.
The Heavy Mortar Barrage fires a rapid succession of mortars in an area defined by the Commander. Heavy mortars are less accurate and have less splash damage than the 155mm Artillery Barrage, but fire more rounds and do not require ranging shots.
The Handheld drone is a small handheld drone that can be used to fly around the map to get a better overview of the fight. The drone is limited by a maximum altitude and has a 10-minute battery life.
Suggestions For Commanders
- A Commander can keep their squad size very small to primarily focus on keeping the rest of the team in the loop on enemy intel markings, planning new FOB build locations, coordinating air assault drop points, using the UAV to mark and scout enemy locations, as well as providing devastating fire support through artillery and airstrikes.
- The Commander role could be used by a Squad Leader that still has a full squad fighting in offensive or defensive situations. This “frontlines” Commander would still be able to help augment the team through the use of his Commander actions and keeping each squad on task, but with a more direct engagement in the battle.
- Another way to utilize the Commander role could be used by a Squad Leader focused on Logistics and building rear defensive locations with a strong emphasis on intel gathering and reconnaissance.