Warfare & Tactics

Make sure your voice doesn't sound like a troll gargling rocks or a castrato pig in an ironworks, and you'll be fine.

Sobriety and plenty of sleep also helps.

I hate you!

Bob is NEVER primary, or there will be no cheesecake.

Good luck. I'd love to learn to FC, but first I have to stop paying a subscription for chat-rooms and the occasional flying into a gate-camp.

As a former field commander in NBT:M I cannot add anymore than what has already been said. Learn to pvp ( learn weapons,what they can and cannot do, what modules do, what ship types can and cannot do and there speicallty ) then find as many fleets you can and LISTEN to the FC and how he talks and commands. Take the time and lead small roams, when I was an fc I let the mechs choose my tactics not the other way around i.e. let the pilots of you small fleet bring what they want and then work with that setup. That made me learn allot when I was in mech4 but in the end when I left NBT:M I had a 75% win ratio even out-tonned and out manned.

Good luck because being an fc can be one of the most rewarding experiences and some of the best fights I have ever been in.

Start taking out gangs, familiarize yourself with ship types, and get experience through leading fleets. Start with cruiser sized ships and work your way up from there. Good luck!

Getting everybody to STFU and focus fire on the primary is WIN imho

Gotta say, from all the videos I've watched I'm amazed at how much some people struggle comprehending "All [ship class], your primary is [this guy]" even when it is repeated to them ten times.

"Dare to be bold pilot" <-- Get a ship, get some friends, go into the unknown. Loose your ship, recognize what went wrong and how you can improve. Then come back and try again.

Rome wasn't build in a day and a good FC makes mistakes in his carriére.

There has been some great advice given in this thread, to which I would add:

Just as in solo PVP the fight is over before it begins (ship fitting, decision to engage, etc.), a good FC has developed a fleet of pilots who fly with discipline and respect battlecomms. Your pilots should be willing to fly to their certain deaths should you so order, so that they will brilliantly execute your plan when that's what you order. Fly under a good FC, and you'll know what it's like to think you're flying to your certain death, only to end up covered in glory and wealth.

You must be prepared to bear the responsibility for losing pilots their ships. Even good FC's lose fights and make occasional mistakes; and you don't get to be a good FC without first being a noob FC. In my opinion there are some pilots out there who would make fantastic FCs if only they weren't so afraid of making mistakes that their mates pay for.

Finally, not an addition to what has already been said but more of an embellishment: communicate, communicate, communicate. Assume your fleet isn't paying attention, didn't hear your correctly, or hope they can pretend they didn't hear long enough to let some other guy go first. Repeat your orders, focusing on specific names, actions, timing, etc. During those slow times when you're basically waiting for the scouts to find something or the enemy to move, give your troops some reassurance as you outline your plan, explain your thinking, etc. During combat, when the situation hasn't change for a while, remind everyone of where they should be and what they should be doing. Your pilots will also tend to go silent, so ask questions repeatedly; ask scouts for status updates, remind people to speak up on certain triggers, ask who needs to dock up, who needs a bio break, who is low on ammo, who needs paste, etc. Also, it's smart to get input from people in your fleet--they may have noticed something you haven't, thought of something you haven't, or figured something out you haven't--but don't tolerate anyone countermanding your orders; otherwise, you'll end up in tight situations where two or three people are yelling out conflicting advice, and your fleet splits in whom they follow.

I personally tend to shiver when people claim they want to be FCs (leaders) ... Because you either are one or you aint.

Everybody can learn the basic stuff required but to be a good one you need to have it in you to begin with.

And seriously ... somebody wants to learn to be an FC and you copypaste a massive load of military books for him :D ... Very little one could learn from those for the FC job. Tbh ... if I learned that my FC read a pile of real world military books to become an FC .. id bail the fleet asap.