Commander

The ****Commander**** is a **command and support role** who has two primary objectives. The Commander's first objective is to lead their team and manage other Squad Leaders. Their second objective is to lead a squad of their own as a normal Squad Leader. The role is available to all factions, however it differs slightly for each.

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's orders, and Squad Leads should follow the Commander's orders. 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 their preferred candidate. Upon being elected Commander, the Commander-elect's squad name will change to: "CMD SQUAD". Commanders can be re-elected after 300 seconds (five minutes). If a new Commander is elected, the cool-downs are reset.

Commander's 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 small size, which renders the strategic actions available to the Commander obsolete and at the same time overpowered, due to the risk of wiping out the majority of forces on either side.

## 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.

1. 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.
2. The Commander has 1 minute to **Accept** or **Deny** the request. If neither is chosen, the request will expire.
3. 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.
4. 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.)

*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!***

**Keep in mind that just because others, or perhaps you yourself are outside of the designated target area for a strike does not mean you are at all safe in the slightest. All offensive strategic Commander actions have a large splash damage radius, which can wound or incapacitate friendly infantry a large distance away.**

Conventional factions have the following actions:
 **Tactical** | 155mm Artillery (Static or Creeping) Barrage
 A-10 Warthog AirstrikeF/A-18 Hornet AirstrikeJH-7A AirstrikeSU-25 Grach Airstrike | 15 min

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.

Unconventional factions have the following actions:
 **Tactical** | Heavy Mortar barrage

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.

* It can be a viable strategy to get a fellow Sapper to place an IED or more (the max of five before they start disappearing, but it can get hard to balance them after two) onto the drone, which the Sapper can then detonate in coordination with the Commander.

## 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.
* It is good practice to check with other Squad Leaders before utilizing command assets. It may not be worth it to utilize command assets if your team cannot mobilize an appropriate follow-up.
* Artillery barrages can completely obliterate a superfob.
* Since your commander actions have similar cooldowns across factions, be wary of the enemy commander's cooldowns. If it has been 30 minutes into a game without any tactical actions being used, then it can be safe to assume the enemy commander has artillery ready. This knowledge can be used to preemptively prepare a logistics vehicle for a replacement radio or hab.

## Statistics

* Artillery Barrage
* Heavy Mortar Barrage

**Artillery Barrage**

**Heavy Mortar Barrage**