Command Squad

Command Squad Field Manual

Squad New Player Guide: From Tutorial to First Match

A practical beginner's guide to Squad — setup, roles, squads, spawning, communication, and the habits that make experienced players glad you joined.

Beginner12 min readUpdated Reviewed

Squad rewards patience and teamwork more than aim. If you’ve arrived from faster shooters, the biggest adjustment isn’t the gunplay — it’s that you win by being where your squad needs you, not by your kill count. This guide gets you from a fresh install to a first match you’ll enjoy.

Before you join a server

Do the in-game training. Squad’s tutorials teach movement, weapons handling, and the basics of the interface. Jensen’s Range (the practice map) is always available for testing weapons and vehicles offline.

Set up your microphone. Open Settings → Audio and confirm your mic works. Squad has separate voice channels, and you’ll use them constantly:

  • Local voice — heard by anyone standing near you, both teams’ proximity varies by game settings. Great for quick coordination and for asking questions.
  • Squad radio — your nine squadmates. This is where most of your talking happens.
  • Command radio — squad leaders and the commander only.

Adjust your settings. Cap your FPS sensibly, raise your voice volume sliders, and consider increasing text size if you struggle to read the map. Nothing else needs changing to start.

Understanding the game

A Squad match is two teams fighting over capture points (in the common AAS/RAAS modes) while managing tickets — a shared pool of respawns and asset losses. You lose tickets by dying, losing vehicles, and losing objectives. Run out and your team loses.

The things that actually move a match:

  • Capture points: stand in the zone with your squad to take or defend it.
  • Rally points: a squad-only spawn your SL places. If your SL says “spawn rally,” do it.
  • FOBs and HABs: team-built forward bases with spawn bunkers. They run on supplies driven in by logistics trucks. Protecting — or destroying — these wins games.
  • Logistics: someone has to drive the supplies. Squads that do logistics quietly win matches.

Your first role: Rifleman

Every kit in Squad has a job, and most new players reach for the scoped ones. Resist. Take Rifleman:

  • It has a capable weapon, plenty of ammo, and an ammo bag that lets you resupply teammates — instant usefulness with zero experience.
  • It teaches positioning and target identification without special responsibilities.
  • Nobody’s plan collapses because a rifleman is learning.

When you’re comfortable, branch into Medic (hugely valuable, great way to learn the flow) or Light Anti-Tank. The roles overview covers the full list.

Joining a squad

After you spawn into a server you’ll see the squad list. Join one — don’t create your own. Look for full-ish squads with named leaders; on Command Squad servers, unassigned players are expected to join a squad within a minute (it’s Rule 6).

Then do the single most valuable thing a new player can do: tell your squad you’re new. On our servers that sentence gets you a mentor, not mockery. It’s the culture we enforce on ourselves.

The habits that make you good

  1. Stay with your squad. 50 meters from your fireteam is usually more useful than 300 meters closer to the enemy.
  2. Listen first, talk second. When the SL is giving orders, radio silence beats commentary.
  3. Call out what you see. “Enemy infantry, northwest treeline, maybe 100 meters” — short, direction, distance. The communication guide makes this easy.
  4. Spawn where you’re told. Rally or HAB — ask if unsure.
  5. Don’t take vehicles you can’t use. Heavy vehicles need crewman kits and coordination; see vehicles.
  6. Play the objective. Defending a point with your squad feels slow and wins games. Solo flanking adventures feel heroic and lose them.
  7. Death is information. You’ll die a lot at first. Each one teaches you an angle, a sightline, or a habit. The respawn timer is thinking time.

What NOT to worry about

  • Your K/D. Nobody good cares about it in Squad.
  • Knowing every map. It comes with hours, not study.
  • Making mistakes. Everyone team-killed someone with a misjudged grenade once. Apologize in chat and move on (it’s in the rules — accidents acknowledged are fine).

Where to play

You need a server where the squad leaders talk and new players are wanted. That’s what Command Squad is for: full-time servers, active admins, seeding culture, and a Discord where you can ask anything. When you’re ready: pick your server, skim the rules, and read what your first match will feel like.