Angels Fall First Commander Guide: How to Lead a Team of 32

The command layer is Angels Fall First’s most distinctive system and the one no other current shooter really has: a player-run chain of command where orders flow from one commander through eight squad leaders to every player and bot on the team — and where everyone in the chain gets paid XP for the machine working. This guide covers taking the job, doing it well, and the doctrine that wins matches.

How you get the job

Matches open with a short war room phase. Walk to the main console and press F for a briefing of the scenario’s lore and objectives; press F at the door to signal ready. During this phase the team nominates a commander — vote for yourself to stand. If nobody stands, the Milnet AI takes the job and issues serviceable default orders (many veterans quietly prefer a decent AI commander to a bad human one).

Two accountability mechanics worth knowing: the team can mutiny against a bad commander mid-match, and doing the job badly is very visible. Take the role when you know the map, not to try it out — squad leading is the better classroom.

The tools: tac map and the order chain

Everything happens on the tactical map. As commander you see your eight squads (each up to four members, human or bot). Click a squad leader, then right-click an objective to order them there — the same interface squad leaders use on their own members. From the C rosetta you can issue context orders against whatever you have tagged with G.

The chain works like this:

1. You order a squad to an objective.
2. The squad leader relays (or refines) the order to their members.
3. Members who complete it earn Command XP — and so do the leader and you.

That last point is the engine of the whole system. Set achievable objectives and your whole team levels its Command track, which raises loadout budgets, which makes your team stronger. A team that ignores the command layer is literally underleveled relative to one that uses it.

What good orders look like

Concentrate force. The classic new-commander error is assigning eight squads to eight different places. Bots and pub players win by local superiority: mass three or four squads per active objective, leave one on defence or harass.

Order what’s achievable. Command XP flows on completion. “Attack the objective next to our push” gets done; “cross the whole map and take their rearmost point” doesn’t. Achievable orders also build the trust that keeps humans following you.

Update constantly. A stale order is worse than none — players who complete or fail an objective and hear nothing go freelance and stay freelance. Re-issue after every stage change in Incursion.

Match squads to jobs. You can see roughly what squads are running. Send the vehicle-heavy squad around the flank on Yin Tao Shan; keep the CQB squad for interior points on Irega; put a support-heavy squad on defence where their turrets and packs accumulate value.

Doctrine: Incursion

Attacking:

• Stages have multiple simultaneous objectives (capture the pump platform and the garage on Errah stage 1). Split pressure 70/30, not 50/50 — force defenders to commit, then collapse onto the weaker point.
• The moment a stage falls, push orders to the new forward spawns. The tempo window after a stage break, while defenders re-position, is when the next stage is cheapest.
• Assign one squad permanently to escort and repair vehicles. An MBT with a repair squad is a rolling stage-breaker.

Defending:

• The timer is your win condition. Trading ground for time is fine; losing your whole defence to hold the first point is not.
• Keep one squad as a mobile reserve with a transport, committed only where the attack actually lands.
• Losing forward spawns (they’re destructible objectives) quietly loses matches — assign someone to guard them.

Doctrine: Territories

• Five points (three in space). You need majority hold time, not all five. Pick three and own them.
• The middle point usually bleeds the most; decide early whether you contest it or deliberately concede it and lock your three.
• Back-capping wins these matches — a fast squad in a Hare/Silverback flipping undefended rear points forces the enemy to bleed strength off the front. Either run one or defend against one.

Commanding in space

Same interface, different geography. Squads map to ships: one squad crews the battleship (helm, guns, repairs), fighters screen, bombers strike, and a boarding squad stages in a dropship. Your key calls are target priority (which enemy capital dies first — usually their objective ship or their fighter carrier) and timing the boarding action to coincide with a shield-down slugging match. See the capital ships guide for what each hull actually does.

The XP economy of command

Command is the slowest track for most players and the commander seat is the fastest way to fix that — setting attainable objectives generates Command XP continuously. Each Command rank is +5 to the Command loadout budget, which pays for tactical equipment across your builds. If your Command track is starving and you don’t want the top job, squad leading provides most of the income at a fraction of the responsibility: that’s covered in the squad leader guide.

Quick checklist

• War room: read the briefing, take nominations seriously.
• First 60 seconds: orders to every squad, concentrated on 2–3 objectives.
• Every stage change / point flip: re-issue everything.
• Watch for: stale orders, undefended forward spawns, squads freelancing.
• If you’re losing the room: hand off gracefully — a mutinied commander helps nobody.

Related guides

• Squad leader & Command points guide
• Capital ships & crew roles
• Beginner’s guide