What is a good commander to you?

[Warnipple]

Probably opened the glass door as he was spacing them. Suffocated in there instead of running out.

[RussianRifleman]

I've never been CO, XO or BO, but I'd imagine they are difficult jobs. As for what a good CO to ME is:
Not on a power trip. I've heard this too many times "damnit I'm the CO now...."

Needs to understand how logistics works. When Marines need supplies, it's too late to order them. A good CO will keep crates on standby, and when they go down; order more. You need stuff on hand. Explosives, medical supplies, engineering gear. Heck- ammo? Why can't someone drag a couple back packs full of M4 mags, box or two of shotgun shells and some helmets? That goes a LOOONG way if things on the ground get hairy. Use the RASP and Pod effectively. The RASP is not to be used for 2 marines to go down and one casualty to go up. EVERY time the RASP goes down it should have supplies on it. Even if it's just a couple backpacks with helmets and mags.

KEEP YOUR MARINES IN THE FIGHT. Urge your men to recover wounded and get them to a medic or doctor quickly. If you abandon a wounded marine the Xenos WONT and you just gave them another larva. Try to get as many dead to cloning as possible. It's easier to get hurt/dead marines back into the fight than it is to hope for new ones to "wake up" from cryo.

Understand how to control people and terrain. People, especially marines need to be occupied or they get bored QUICK and want to fight shit. Plain and simple. The goal of the mission is to SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS. FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED. Too many Briefs go something like this "Alpha, Get power online.... Bravo, Stay at LZ1.... Charlie and Delta set up FOB. Wait for further orders" then CO goes AFK after we land and marines go rogue looking for Xenos they DONT KNOW ARE THERE. Tell them to look for survivors. Tell them where to search and how to search, keep them scouting and leaving flares everywhere. Tell them to bring tech and valuables up. Know the difference between a FOB, and an outpost. Nexus is great for an FOB, it's close to LZ1, it's roughly in the center of the compound, and it's large enough to accommodate a casualty collection area and supply area. The only downside is that it covers a very large area and can be hard to barricade. Leaving 3 marines to cover it won't work. Medbay is a great place to set up an outpost once youve "discovered" the Xenos and the caves to the north. It can be defended, it already has a few medical supplies in it and it's close to the river and is a good staging area. But I would never order it to be an FOB. Too much ground between it and the LZs. Supplies can't get there fast enough and can be picked off and wounded can't get out fast enough and they, as well as the Marines transporting them, can get picked off.

Finally; don't panic. Too many COs ready an assault into the caves and don't wait for the necessary man power and supplies. Too many COs order a full retreat off the planet before they need to. Be proactive and you won't have to be reactive. Set up a casualty collection point in FOB. That way the meds can stay in one spot and medical supplies can be pooled in one spot. Also set up a Supply storage. That way the pilot and anybody ferrying supplies can get the goods off and get right to getting casualties, Xeno bodies and valuables on the RASP and to the Sulaco. And the people on the ground can get them where they need to go. The only time you should order a full retreat is if the situation on the ground is truly hopeless. I.E. over %25 casualties, ammo is low and FOB has fallen and everyone has fallen back to LZ1. Get any able Marines on the RASP and send it down to cover the retreat and load wounded/dead and survivors. Don't just order a full retreat because the half ass "assault" of 6 marines into the caves was beaten back. If 20 alive and capable marines are waiting for the RASP to retreat; you are over reacting

Best round I played (wasn't the 'funnest' but was close to it and most realistic) was with a CO that had clear and direct orders and stayed on top of the SLs. Had Nexus set up as FOB and power on quickly. Got survivors rounded up and had the colony cleared and began recon. Later he organized an assault of about a dozen marines and had half on Charlie squad (my squad) on standby at FOB While others held FOB and LZ1 and 2. When things went south we ran to the assault team that regrouped at Medbay and helped carry the dead and wounded and we all made it back to the FOB. CO sent a cargo tech and the XO down on the RASP to drag supplies to Nexus FOB when everyone was either holding the Nexus and LZ1 or knocked out in Medbay or our "casualty collection". Wounded and dead get taken away quickly and much needed ammo, helmets, SADAR rockets and med supplies are brought in and we rock and role again. The part that really did it for me was I was eventually hurt (brute damage and infected) and brought to Sulaco, and the CO was right there in the hangar waiting to help transport the wounded quickly. Mark of a true leader there.

[MrMafioso]

Indeed, I been in many rounds when the CO just kinda poofed, or didn't even come on at all.

Just like the captain in vanilla, your don't realize how important having a commander is until they aren't around.

I see where you going with the CO, but the vanilla captain is useless.

[Viveret]

Never EVER order your troops to set up an FOB anywhere but Medical, the nexus, and TComms. The other places are way, way too far to make sense from a in-universe perspective, and from a meta perspective.

On a side note..

Don't order directly. Delegate tasks to your subordinates and monitor them.

[Fritigern]

Commanders, and bridge staff in general, who try to micro manage events on the ground are straight up cancer. Playing as a squad leader and having a BO yell at you to move your squad to X and Y position, or asking why you aren't doing something, is incredibly annoying and counterproductive especially when their spam is drowning out important information or just distracting a squad leader who is trying to keep himself and whatever handful of non-retarded marines he has been assigned alive. Battle plans are all bullshit and either do nothing or directly cause immediate alien major victories. Command staff who forget about the marines on the ground and start jerking each other off with the CL and bald shenanigans on the ship are also really annoying.

So basically, to me, a good Commander is someone who supports his squads rather than someone who is trying to play Starcraft with them. Listen to my reports, make sure I am getting the things I need, otherwise stay out of my way and let me handle the situation on the ground. Oh, and they don't send unnecessary distress signals that call Russians to the ship, and they know how to unlock maintenance doors for marines so they don't all get trapped and killed because they can't open a door on the lower decks.