How to: Make a Company
The forming of regiments is banned in War of Rights. Those wishing to form a unit must form a company from a regiment.
Content
- Introduction
- Picking a Name
- Essentials
- Recruiting
- Events
- Running a Company
Introduction
When making your first company you must first understand one thing. It is not easy to make and run a company. Many people struggle to begin when founding their own company. This is a guide to aide you in understanding the basics needed to try and run a successful Company and or Regiment.
This aims to covers the basics such as what is needed when starting, how to manage matters when things get started and how to handle your company. Yes, it can be a pain, but once it gets running smoothly, it is a lot of fun.
Picking a Name
The name of your regiment and the company you pick within that regiment is vital. It is what you will be known as, what people will remember you as. There are different ways you can pick a name. You could scour the internet in search of a historically accurate name. Or you can make one up. Keep in mind however, you want your name to be unique. It will save everybody a lot of confusion, and make you more recognizable on the field of battle.
For War of Rights though the system of picking a Company changes the playing field a great deal. This gives a much wider option of choices when forming your first online community in the form of a company. Do not be afraid to pick off another company from a well known regiment, even if Company A is taken. Pick a company/regiment that has distinction in battle, be that a unique uniform, a nickname, or is very well known in the civil war historical community.
Obviously many of you will want to pick historically accurate names. The regiments that would be historically accurate for context would be regiments that fought in the Maryland Campaign, which the game is based around.
Link to the Order of Battle of the Army of the Potomac:
http://prezi.com/ekkbj1xdoaay/?utm_c...tm_medium=copy
http://www.nps.gov/anti/learn/histor...of-potomac.htm
Essentials
Now that you have chosen your name, you are going to need to...
- Make a Forum Thread
- Establish the Ranks
- Establish a means of Communications
- Make a Steam Group/Website
Make a Forum Thread
A Forum thread is where you will tell people about your company, advertise your company, and organize your company. These are what you will want to put on your company's thread...
- Regiment and Company Name
- Introduction/Description
- Ranks
- Roster
- Contact/Reference Links (Including TeamSpeak Address)
- Application
Don't forget to make it look good and stand out. Never underestimate a good forum thread. People will be interested in your company if you have a nice forum thread. Put effort into it, because you want to show people that you are serious. Distinguish yourself from other companies, this is especially the case for regiment that have multiple companies established for them ie. The 69th New York.
Setting up a chain of command
Establishing a set of ranks will bring structure to your regiment. It will create the chain of command, and keep your regiment from falling apart if you die in a battle. Historical accurate ranks for the American Civil war are easy to find online and many of you will obviously want to follow the correct rank structure. That does not stop you though from choosing your own rank structure.
List of ranks:
http://uniforminsignia.org/index.php...&search_id=top
*Note in a Company the highest CO is a Captain and the highest NCO is a First Sergeant*
Communications
Communication is key to all gaming communities. There are many different means of communication but the best suggested one is TeamSpeak. TeamSpeak is a free, easy to use, voice chat software. Once you have TeamSpeak, you will need to find a server. There are many free servers out there, however they have multiple groups of people on them. Look around and I'm sure you will find a good server. If you are willing, you can pay to host your own server to have your regiment exclusively on it.
There are other methods such as Mumble or in game chat but the best suggested option is TeamSpeak.
If you get your own server you might want to get some icons to give to your sever groups: http://www.warofrightsforum.com/show...your-Companies!
Steam group/Website
As the developers are planning on using steam as a means of distributing the game a steam group would be a suggestion. A steam group gives you a platform to communicate to all your men, set events and scheduled. It can relieve a large amount of pressure so long as you check it every now and then.
A website is a more personal thing for a company to make. It creates a foundation of centralized communication outside of TeamSpeak, or the steam group where you can cut access off from the public and facilitate your community in an open forum to build relationships.
Recruiting
Now that the easy stuff is out the way it's time to get to the hard stuff. Yes, the stuff above is actually very simple. Recruiting is tedious, time consuming, annoying, and difficult. Many people you will ask will already be in a company or are not interested. You just have to keep trying and persevere. Companies will disband, people leave companies, new people buy the game. There will always be a pool of recruits to pull from. The hard part is finding them and getting them to join you.
There are a few ways to recruit. You can go onto servers that allow recruiting and play around for a bit, try to play well, and then ask if anyone is interested in joining a company. Or, if you have one, try and get your server populated and recruit on that. Obviously right now this is referring to other games outside of War of Rights. A good way to attract new recruits is to begin with a small pool of men already. People are more willing to join a company/regiment that already has an okay player base over a company/regiment that has one guy in it.
Events
You have people, communication, and advertising. Now why did you form your company again....oh yeah! You need events.
And now I'll add to this section when things properly kick off.
Running a Company
In this part we will be covering...
- Discipline
- Command
- Company Relations
- Relax
Discipline
Discipline can be the make or brake of a regiment. Too much and the atmosphere could be stifled. Too little and trying to maintain command can be impossible. Finding the balance is tough. Discipline is also a key to success. Maintaining discipline will allow the flow of commands to be smoother, formations to be executed better and allow you to more then often out perform your foe with well timed volleys and precision melee.
Discipline can be a tricky thing to tackle. Even if all your guys are good players, and want to do well. When you are in a battle, orders can be misheard, or not heard at all, because people will be talking over you. Thought this should not be happening in the first case it will happen and there are easy ways to deal with it. The widely used method to do this is called Permission to Talk (PTS). It's fair self explanatory, a member must ask for permission before talking. One, far easier method is to mute the channel but that's your choice.
A surprising discipline issue can be a lack of training. At first, even lining up and maneuvering can be difficult. Having a day in the week dedicated to training can fix this. Use training to finite and hone your skills as a company. Training is a good time to drill the ideals of discipline into the the rank and file. Though a harsh suggestion, removing problem men early, who can not even follow training, can be an easy way to prevent problems later down the line. Do not be afraid to give your high ranking NCOs disciplinary powers as well.
Command
Command is your ability to lead your troops. Not everyone is an effect or able commander. Some people are not meant to command at all. Your skill and ability to command comes through experience. Tactics are developed individual companies, however, here are some basic tactics you can carry into the field with you.
Flanking: A tough maneuver to execute. The idea is to get on the flank, or even behind, your foe. This will aim to put you in a superior position over your foe. Taking them from the flank will give you the ability to bring your full line to bear against a handful. Getting behind the enemy will give you the full advantage of surprise but is far more risky then flanking.
Hammer and Anvil: A tactic for cavalry. This is the simplest idea in the book, one force pins whilst the other, the cavalry, smash into their rear or side.
Cover: There will not always be cover but when there is, take it. A fence, wall or building can save the lives of your men whilst you're able to pick of enemies with little fear.
The general play style of the different unit types differ. As Infantry, you should operate as a well mixed regiment, some melee, some shooting, using numbers to your advantage. Sharpshooters focus on marksmanship and harassment, picking off the chain of command. Cavalry focus on harassing the enemy and using there speed to navigate the battle field. Cannons.....well cannons blow shit up, or at least try to.
Company Relations
Having good relations with other companies is more vital then you think. Sure you might have the largest company or the best melee record but nobody is going to want to play with you if you're asses about it. Be modest and humble. Never boast and always keep in mind who you're dealing with.
Good relations also result from the behavior of your men even when not in events. If you form a company but have a poor reputation nobody is going to be willing to join you. If you have a company but are known to be a bit of an arse no event manager is going to accept you. Never underestimate how fast word travels.
Relax
By all means be as hard nosed in discipline you choose, but relax a little. Having a fun atmosphere will encourage your men to be more active. This is only a game after all and we're all here to enjoy it.
Good Luck!
It's an up hill battle to get things going and it will never truly be easy sailing but it's a hell of a lot of fun!