Melee for Beginners - Jobs

In a melee each person has a job that they are responsible for. The two most important things to know in a melee are the overall objective for your team and what you are responsible for. The size, objective, and field of the melee will affect how many of each type of unit there are.

Commander – The commander is the person in overall command of each side. Their job is to come up with the overall strategy for the melee, assign units to each task, and during the melee, adapt to any unexpected moves by the opposing team and give orders to counter them. In larger melees, the commander should not be engaging in combat personally, as this will take their attention off of the field.

Subcommander – A subcommander will give orders to a smaller unit during a melee. Their job is similar to the commander, however they have fewer people that they are responsible for. When possible, a subcommander should generally avoid combat personally so they can adapt to changes in strategy from the opponent and new orders from the commander.

Line fighter – Most newer fencers are put into the line. In a line, there are two types of fencers, those that are the attackers, and those that are the defenders. More experienced fighters and those with longer range generally are responsible for attacking, while newer fencers and those with shorter range protect the attacking fighters.

Skirmisher – Skirmishers are typically more experienced fencers who will stand in front of a line (particularly in the woods) to help break up and whittle down an approaching line before it reaches their own. When faced with overwhelming odds, skirmishers fall back into their own line.

Scout – The main responsibility of scouts is to find information that a commander needs to know, such as the location of a flag or a certain opposing unit, and get that information to the commander. A scout should almost always retreat rather than engage the enemy. Scouts are most common in a woods battle where the commander can not see the entire field.

Lone wolf – A lone wolf is an experienced fighter (or three) who roam the battlefield, trying to tie up enemy units by their presence and baiting them to send more people after them and away from their objective.

Flanker – A flanker or flanking unit, pushes the side (or flank) of a unit to push them into their own unit and disrupt their line.

Coming next – Part 4 of Melee for Beginners – Common Commands