First of all: No, this is not a “Future of the Blog” post. Yeebus no. Instead, this is about, well… Moving forward. As an army. Together, and whatnot, without dying terribly.
The Step Command
The standard approach to moving a line forward against resistance has been the step command. At the command “Prepare” the line is supposed to begin throwing shots to occupy the opponents’ attention. At the command “Step” the line takes a step forward, thereby gaining ground. Rinse, repeat.
I have never had this work. Ever. The “Prepare” command either triggers no response, or an inverse response: the fighters start thinking about the next part and stop throwing shots. Then, at Step either they step forward and die, or they hesitate, letting the person next to them step forward and die.
So much for the Step Command. It has been removed from the Maneuvers and Command page. It is no longer a Command to Know.
An Alternative
The current alternative in mind right now is a simple command of “Forward” or “Press”. It achieves the goal that the Step command should, far more successfully than the Step command does.
There’s not the setup that guarantees the safety that “Step” SHOULD carry with it, but also not the warning to the enemy, or the antithetical action that is often the result of “Prepare” or “Ready”. The command does have to be given with force and volume so that fighters will hear and obey.
Next… er… steps
I think I’ve got the ARA mostly agreed on this. The real “what next?” response is some experimentation: find out how well “Forward” works as opposed to any other possible option; tweak it however works best; and then teach it (in so far as it needs teaching). Chances are there will be returns to this topic.
Pingback: Ruairc
Pingback: Staffan Arffuidsson
Pingback: Gawin
Pingback: Dominyk