WR - War Commands

[Tiffany Geisendorff]

Here is a copy of Kein's list of commands that is apart of his war
tactics essay.  In general, these are the commands used by most of
Ansteorra.  Of course, the more you fight as a unit (three man, five man,
or more), the more you refine the commands and make them work for that
unit.  There are a couple of different commands that we have used out
here that are not on this list, but this is a start ...  again.

Comments?

Brita

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Chapter Three: Commands

FORM UP
   Form up means, get into your positions quickly and efficiently. Unless
otherwise stated, form up in Plan Alpha.

DRESS THE LINE
   Dress the line means get the shield wall in shape. If you are a line
shieldman, you should look right to see that you have the proper spacing
between you and the next fighter, then look left to make sure your buddy
is doing the same. If you are behind the line, you should assist the line
shieldmen in doing this in whatever fashion seems appropriate (remember
they are your friends.)
   You should dress the line after any maneuver, whether told to or not.

ADVANCE
   Advance means "Go." Walk forward in a normal fashion. It is important
to "dress your line" while advancing. Do not stop until you are given the
command "Stop". Walk over or around obstacles while maintaining your
speed. It is very important to maintain your speed while approaching the
enemy. Many units slow down when they enter spear range. This is foolish.
The enemy spears have more time to do their work. You should quickly  get
so close that the enemy shieldmen are protecting you from the enemy
spearmen. If line shieldmen slow down on approaching the enemy, it is
usually very inconvenient for the friendly spearmen because they have to
step over the corpses of their line shield companions to engage the
enemy. If no order to stop is given, after you engage the enemy, you
should attempt to continue at the same speed over your opponents.

ADVANCE TO ENGAGE 
   Advance to engage means advance (as above) until your shieldmen are
engaged with the enemy shield to shield, then stop and fight.

ADVANCE BY STEP
   Advance by step means to take one step forward. The command should be
given as follows. "Advance by step!"..... everyone waits...... "Step!"
..... everyone steps. Further "Step" commands can be given without the
preparation command.

DOUBLE TIME
   Double time means "advance" as above except at a trot.

TRIPLE TIME
   Triple time means "advance" as above except at a jog.

CHARGE
   Same as triple time, but faster and meaner.

RETREAT BY STEP
   Same as "advance by step" except backwards.

SINGLE FILE LEFT 
   The commander calling this command should be on the left flank of the
shield wall. All fighters in the unit should pivot 90 degrees left where
they stand . They should then follow the person in front of them closely.
The commander should lead the unit where he wants them to be then stop.
When the unit stops all fighters should pivot 90 degrees back right.

SINGLE FILE RIGHT
   Same as "Single file left", but to the right.

SLIDE LEFT
   The formation moves to the left without turning or breaking their
formation.

SLIDE RIGHT
   Same as "Slide Left" but right. Do I need to tell you this?

ANGLE LEFT 
   Advance at an angle to the left. Make it a 45 degree angle unless the
commander tells you otherwise.  He should try not to make it too
complicated as few soldiers bring protractors onto the field with them.

ANGLE RIGHT
   Same as "Angle Left" but right. I am going to assume that you know
this now.

REFUSE THE LEFT
   This command is used when the wall is about to be flanked. It must be
executed quickly and accurately. When this command is given, the
shieldman on the right flank pivots slowly to his left. The shieldman on
the left flank runs backward on a curve that is the circumference of a
circle that has a radius of the length of the shield wall. Every other
shieldman moves backward at an appropriate speed to keep a line formation
between the two flank shields. Spears and poles move backwards behind
that line. Reserve shields move to the left flank and support. Continue
this movement until the commander says "Stop". I hope this explanation is
clear and no one has to get out a geometry textbook to figure it out.

REFUSE THE RIGHT
   I leave this as an exercise for the student.

REGROUP
   This command is used after your unit has engaged the enemy, when your
unit has scattered into individual fights or smaller units. Upon hearing
this command a fighter should disengage from whatever engagement he may
be in and form up with his buddies in Plan Alpha in front of whoever is
calling the command. He/she should also begin shouting "regroup". This
command, quickly followed, can win a battle for you. If your unit is a
UNIT when the bad guys are a scattered mob, you can take advantage of
their confusion and destroy them.

RETREAT 
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