Commander (Feature)

A commanding officer or commander (CMDR) is an officer placed in charge of a military unit. The commander may have various administrative subordinates assisting with his duty, including executive officers (XO) and staff officers.

A field commander is responsible for representing military command in the field of battle. Field commanders are typically supported by non-battlefield assets that provide crucial information, and the ability to coordinate with other units (e.g. artillery missions, airstrikes)

In the Battlefield series, a commander has special abilities for turning the tide of a battle, and is tasked solely with victory for his team.

Battlefield 2
The Commander role first appears in Battlefield 2, along with squads, comprising a chain-of-command. Players are still free to do as they wish, but earn bonus points for following objectives set forth by the commander and squad leaders. A star icon identifies the team's commander on the map.

At the start of a round, players can apply for the commander position. The seniormost applicant (in terms of experience) is offered command, which can be accepted or denied. A player who accepts command gains the ability to use Commander view, commander assets, voice chat with other squad leaders, and issue orders. Successful commanders make the most of these tools, and the extra intelligence afforded.

Commanders can resign their role at any time, and resume play as a regular player. Other players can also call a vote to mutiny against the current commander; a successful vote demotes the commander, opening the role for applications.

Commanders need to take extra care, since assets are not available if the commander is critically wounded or dead.

Scoring
The commander continues to earn credit for various actions, but only earns points based on how many members are on the team. Whenever a number of success points equal to the size of the team is earned by subordinates, the commander earns one point. Should the team win the round, the winning commander earns a 2× multiplier.

No other points are earned by the commander in any way, though actions contributing to global score still apply.

Players do not earn commander points if they are not commander at the end of the round. Players who resign regain the ability to earn points for kills and other actions at round's end.

Battlefield 2142
The commander role remains mostly unchanged, with the commander merely having access to two different strike options, and the "Move Titan" command replacing the "Orbital Strike" option in Titan mode.

Battlefield 4
The Commander role returns in Battlefield 4, similar to previous installments. Resources that used to be housed at the team's deployment are now tied to each control point, and must be captured by the team in order to be utilized by the commander.

Introduced is the ability for the player to use mobile devices such as a tablet computer, allowing a commander to organize squads, use abilities and resources, and navigate them where needed on the map.

It remains to be seen whether the commander is an active player character in the field, or engages remotely.

Abilities

 * Spotting
 * Issue order

Resources

 * Scan UAV
 * EMP UAV
 * Tomahawk Missile
 * Gunship
 * Infantry Scan

Trivia

 * In a match with evenly balanced teams, the one with a commander generally wins over the other team.
 * If the same commander has been active the entire round, a player must earn over twice the average points of the team to beat the commander's score.
 * It is a good idea for the commander to find cover to avoid attack and strikes. A commander can often be identified from satellite scans as the lone blip at a main base.
 * Some servers forbid commanders from fighting on foot or operating vehicles. Commanding while using an air vehicle in particular is very difficult.