A noob's lament: Becoming a commander

[Phoenix49]

Hello comrades!

So after taking on the CO role for the first time, I noticed one important problem that I struggled with and which I am sure made some people angry/disappointed:

I am not very accustomed with the game's acronyms regarding enemy vehicles, and worse even, I am not sure what weapons/armor they have. BRDM, BTR and LAV all look the same to me, I would never be able to identify which is which (by the time I did I would die anyways). Which means I do not have the necessary knowledge to deal appropriately with a threat and have to delegate that responsibility to whoever is available at the time, which can be detrimental.

A specific example: Comrade Fer from MAT reports 5 incoming armor + technicals. As I understood, some of them were light vehicles so I ordered MAT and Bravo to "deal" with them, trusting in Fer's experience that he will use the appropriate ammo for the heaviest armor, while Bravo will use their AR on the lighter vehicles. But this means that if anyone less experienced (e.g. me) was on MAT, they would expect orders that would be incomplete.

So here's my question: Is it expected from the commander to delegate the responsibility of "dealing" with a situation to their elements? Or should the commander give specific orders of how to deal with a threat? Because the latter option would deter me from trying CO again, as I would feel that I am letting my elements down by not knowing what the hell is going on.

[IceRaiser]

Is it expected from the commander to delegate the responsibility of "dealing" with a situation to their elements?

Yes.

If the CO gives your Squad/Attachment the order to deal with a situation, you deal with it in the best way you can.
If you can't, you let the CO know why and what you need to be able to do it.

Say for eg, that there's armor AND infantry rolling in. You give MAT the task to destroy them, MAT reports back that they're going to need help to deal with the infantry.
You order Bravo Squad to assist MAT and they either co-plan a quick plan or MAT deals with the armor and pulls out - leaving Bravo to mop up the infantry.

CO orders Squads around, not individuals.

[fer]

Comrade IceRaiser is right - you have to trust your SLs and attachment leaders to find their own solutions to the challenge, or come back to you with very specific requests for additional help. As CO, you can't get bogged down in a single aspect of the mission, but should maintain that overall perspective and let subordinates work out the fine details. Also, for a first time CO handling a tricky combined arms mission with an above-average number of enemy assets, you did fine. If you are nervous about taking CO again soon, a few stints as an SL should help you gain experience and confidence; workshops and the various guides being posted in our forum should also help.