A question came up recently in a forum and I just didn't think I was capable of putting a succinct answer into a Facebook comment. Now I don't pretend to think that I'm an expert commander, but I'm certainly better than I was 3 years, and its something I've been putting a lot of thought into.
How do You Present Yourself?
First and foremost, people are not very inclined to listen to a young person in newbie armor. One of the things that I've noticed is that the older you are, and the better your kit looks, the more inclined people are to listen to you. Beyond that, you need to speak with confidence, have a loud voice, and be very direct and specific about what it is you want people to do. "You guys need to start pressing those guys, " is not a very clear command. "Push around the right. Push around the right. Keep moving. That's good. Keep going. Okay, lets jump them. NOW, NOW, NOW!" is much more authoritative and clear.
Is There a Commander Already Present?
Before doing anything, you need assess the situation as quickly as time allows and see if you can identify someone who is "in charge" worthy.
One Pennsic we shared a bridge with Atlantia. Our unit had mostly died off toward the end of the time limit, and along with that, most of the hot spears on the bridge. What we were left with was a bunch of Atlantian shields facing 2 ranks of spears. The right call was to charge, but instead of calling it myself, I looked back and caught the eye of Sir Bryce de Byram, who I could tell was surveying the situation. I ran up to him and yelled, "they're stacked 2 ranks deep with spears and we've run out. We need to charge." He replied, "yeah, we're on it," looked at the Atlantian commander and gave him the nod, who then called the charge.
Know Your Audience
A disorganized group of young fighters in low grade kits are likely to listen to commands. Households wearing the same colors are much more likely to listen to "suggestions." They don't want a random guy to tell them what to do, but they might likely listen to good advice. If they've lost their commander, there's likely still a couple of veterans in the group that the rest will listen to.
One Pennsic the Tuchux broke through on our left flank and I sent my unit to go and stop the bleeding. I ran back and saw a unit waiting in reserve and started yelling enthusiastically, "Hey, the Tuchux are breaking through. We need you help! We've got to stop them!" They immediately jumped into action. Even though I wasn't "assertive," the task was very clear. You, go there, now.
That goes over much better than actually saying, "Hey, you guys. Get over there right now!"
Know What You are Talking About
People are more likely to listen to commands that are obvious ideas that just need a voice to get everyone on the same page. This is not D&D. Don't pull dumb ideas out of your butt just because the look like epic victories in your imagination.
The Best Command Situations
Don't turn commanding into a personal box to check off on your way to becoming a knight. Good leadership is about getting the job done, not about trying to take charge of a situation that you have no business taking charge of.
The best command situation is very simply motivating units in a "kill situation" (like at any point during a single death field battle) to move toward the enemy when they are unengaged, usually after the surviving the first impact.
From personal experience, the best example I can come up with was from Aethelmearc War Practice, two years ago. I found myself in the middle of a unit of Tuchux (we were on the same team) and we had just wiped out the right flank in a way that left our back toward the rest of the fighting. With ~20 fighters now left with nothing to do, the obvious answer was to turn around and find somewhere else to be where we were needed.
Lacking a commanding voice at this point (their leaders must have died), I began yelling, "Lets go find someone to hit. C'mon! Everyone, this way! To the left, to the left! There they are. Lets get down this hill and hit them. Lets go, lets go! Keep moving!" At this point its really about finding an obvious right decision, and then motivating your side to get on board with the plan.
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