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Warhammer Online Guide View
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PUG Warband Leadership
An overview of methods and strategies
Author: Eraserhead
Army: all Race: all Career: all
Type: general Difficulty: all
Average rating:  8/10 Total Votes: 4
Guide ContentsPeople Management
"Like hearding cats" is probably the most accurate analogy I have heard to describe the task of getting a group of 24 people to move around a map in a co-ordinated manner. It is a task that for those who are determined to achieve it can create massive frustration and annoyance. But there are many things that you can do to make it fun and succesful.
Your ego is your enemy (I stole this quote but I liked it). Don't get fancy ideas about yourself because you are the "leader". The moment you start acting important is the moment people stop listening to you. You are priviledged to have the opportunity to play a fascinating game of strategic warfare and the cost is that you become on some level responsible for your warband members enjoyment of the game.
Be aware of the warbands mood and the members wishes. While you would be a bad leader to change your mind everytime someone says something, it is also bad to completely ignore the people you are playing with. There are times when the warband needs to be told where to go and what to do but there are also times when neither one path or another holds a greater strategic benefit. Use these opportunities to provide some level of freedom and find out what your warband would prefer to do. Firm when necessary, easy going when the opportunity arises.
Bend with the wind. Sometimes the situation changes, your own people do unpredictable things or you just get surprised. To try to stick to a rigid plan at all costs will not only cause you unending frustration but will also cause you to be acting out plans designed for a whole other set of circumstances. If your warband doesn't go exactly where you want it to or your plans just don't quite pan out then occasionally it is best to just roll with it rather than trying to inflict your will.
To get maximum compliance from the members of the warband try to give instructions in advance as well as directly before you do something to re-enforce it and to increase the number of people who will have actually read them. Instructions ahead of time also helps prevent the moth mentality where people head for the nearest "bright light" when they finish one task and start looking for the next. E.G. "After we cap this bo we will be moving directly to the keep, skip the other bo.". Then repeat to reenforce just before the move. More people will move to the keep and less will be drawn to the 1000 RP of the nearby bo. Keeping the non compliant numbers below a level where they are able to act on there own forcing them to abandon their attempt to do something different than the rest of the warband is the best you can do.
Avoid contentious decisions if at all possible. If you have a limited time to do something such as attack a keep and there is a bo on the way, don't cap the bo and then try to get people to leave before the second bonus because a lot of people just won't do it, your warband will be split and your keep offensive may fail because of it. It's easier to get people to just skip a bo in the first place and then take it later or even better if possible take a different route that doesn't tempt people in the bo's direction. Sometimes it can be necessary to go to ridiculous lengths especially if zerg mind has started taking over.
Note: "Zerg mind". The zerg mind causes people to do things they don't want to! They know they shouldn't go for a particular battle objective as there are other more pressing objectives but the zerg mind says if you don't everyone else will and you will miss out! So everyone does! Zergs have the collective intelligence of a 3 year old.
When things go pear shaped stop and realise that while venting furious wrath and anger at those you deem responsible will make you feel better, it will in fact make your warband less effective as people leave, the mood gets negative and arguments start. Use positive re-enforcement where apropriate. Pointing out blatant errors is necessary but imagine that 20% may listen and act on you screaming it at them but 50% may listen if you do it in a more layed back manner. Take the lesser of the 2 evils, let it go. Angry warbands fail. |
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