The Weekly Warfare   Musings martial from across the SCA

I am a strong believer in Napoleon’s idea of “A marshal’s baton in every rucksack.”  Every fighter on the field should be able to command.  They may not be the best commander, but they need to have the skill necessary to bring order out of chaos when things go pear shaped and move their unit towards the objective.

I’ll make a confession: This is a bit like the toddler trying to instruct an infant in how to walk.  I’ve been in a leadership role for all of, like, a year and a half now.  But, hey, at least I am walking, so I may have figured out something.  We’ll see.

The first step to being a commander:

Be Confident

You’re in charge.  Nobody else is in charge.  Nobody’s going to save you.  If you can’t exude confidence in your orders, then the only order you should give is “prepare to surrender”.  Are you going to question yourself?  Yep, but you still have to come up with a plan/order, communicate it clearly and confidently, and then shut up.

If ten provosts are in your unit and they all turn to you and say “What’s the order, boss?” you don’t say “er… I dunno, what do you want it to be?”  You give an order.  Are they testing you?  Yep.  They’re provosts, they do that (though they call it “teaching”).  Do you have cause to be a little worried?  Probably.  But you still give an order.  It may be the wrong order, but that doesn’t really matter, for a couple of reasons:

First, it’s just a game.  The wrong order doesn’t get people killed.  It does not lead to the enemy ransacking your homes, stampeding your women, and raping your cattle.  It may lead to a bit of an ass-whoopin’ that you just have to suck up, but hey, at the end of the day there’s still beer.  Am I too beer-centric?

Second, to quote Frederick the Great, “The unforgivable crime in war is not making the wrong decision, but making no decision.”  Dithering is a guarantee of defeat.  Don’t necessarily say the first thing that comes to mind, but say something.

If you give a stupid, asinine command, the majority of white scarves I know will not mock you openly.  They won’t draw a little frowny face or write “+6 months” next to your name in the Big Book of Scholars.  There is no Big Book of Scholars.  That would require more organization and effort than the provosts generally consider worthwhile.

They’ll obey, and if it all ends up perfututum (My new favorite Latin word, thanks to Dreya), they may take you aside and work through what happened and how to avoid it next time.  It will be a conversation, no yelling, and they won’t take away your authorization card.  Those that care enough to talk through the learning experience with you also care enough not to kick you in the guts.

The second step:

Remember What Makes a Good Plan

Think back to WWW#9 and also Rule 6.  Your plan should be thorough, goal-oriented, and last beyond first contact with the enemy.  Your plan should be communicated clearly and succinctly.

Communicate the thorough plan to your sub-commanders (and when you have ten provosts standing there listening to your orders, feel free to stop and wait for any questions at the end), but when it comes to grunts, keep it clear.

The third step:

Communicate

After lay-on, keep communicating.  I mean, seriously, don’t stop till your voice goes hoarse.

Repeat your orders : “Run right, run right, run right!”.
Yell encouragement : “Hell yeah, good work!”.
Drill sergeant your way to success : “RUN RIGHT!  RUN GODDAMMIT RUN!  RUNNNNNNN!”  (And if anybody gets on your case for cussing, blame me.  I, for my part, can blame Rosalind).
Tweak your formation: “Left flank, slow down!  Dress your line!”
Communicate new information: “That cloud looks like a dragon!”  Okay, well, really, “We have the flag!” or “They have the flag!”

More importantly, there’s a secret few people realize: You can change your mind.  If the order was “Go right” and you realize that the enemy is about to bugger your plan, you can entirely change the plan on the fly.  Is it gonna be ugly?  Yep.  In general, I assume changing the plan on the fly costs 10-25% of your effectiveness (yep, totally arbitrary number).  But it’s better than running into a trap and getting crushed, and if you counter your enemy correctly you can do the crushing.   Again, clear, succinct orders, and it’s worth repeating them a couple of times to drive it home.

Fourth:

Know Your Resources

I’ve talked about this before, but it bears repeating.  Actually, it bears going to Master Aedan’s melee class.  If you’ve got a disordered rabble, you’re going to have a different plan than if you’ve got a bunch of fencers who train together.

And that’s what it all comes down to.  Does it require constantly keeping your eyes open?  Yes.  Does it require constantly listening for teammates to yell info at you?  Yes.  Does it require constantly communicating to your team?  Yes.  Does it require thinking a lot?  Yes.  What it really doesn’t require is any weapons.  If you start fighting, you’ve stopped commanding.  The last, and most important thing, required of a commander is that you stay alive.