The objective of these guidelines are to improve the playing of professional line battles (as opposed to militia battles on a public server) and we should try to encourage all combatants to take note of so that a form of procedural standardisation can be reached:

[1] The Officer in Charge (OinC) must type '!S' into ingame chat to signify that his team is ready, and it is considered bad form to move out of the spawn before the enemy OinC has also called '!S'.

[2] All formations used by either side must be close rank ie: all men shoulder-to-shoulder whilst engaging the enemy in formation.

[3]Crouching / ducking / kneeling is forbidden unless it is necessary to allow the rear rank to shoot over the heads of the kneeling front rank.

[4] In the case that the OinC of either force is killed, he must cease to command immediately and a subordinate must take over.

[5] Whilst variations in tactics are absolutely encouraged within line battles, using natural innate objects to shield your men or a proportion of your men on the battlefield whilst giving fire at the enemy is disallowed.

[6] If the order to charge is issued, the side which charges may spread out to an acceptable degree, but it is considered poor gamesmanship for the charging force to open fire at an enemy close order formation unless charging force is immediately prior to melee engagement.

[7] No formation may open fire until all of its members have come to a complete halt and are properly spaced in close order. However, battlefield stress must be taken into account in the event of minor breaches.

[8] Splitting your force is allowed, but only where doing so does not leave a group of less than 6 team members in a 'line'. Both 'sections' of your force must apply to all guidelines, and if casualties are taken to lower the number of a section to less than 5, it must join the other section before continuing the fight, unless it is engaged in melee.

[9] Period tactics including the use of advanced techniques such as two rank lines are encouraged as the object of a line battle is not primarily to obliterate the enemy, but to re-enact as close as is feasible possible and to enjoy the experience.

[10] As a general guideline, if a tactic in use could be considered ungentlemanly; it is frowned upon within the battle. An example of this may be using hit and run guerilla-style tactics, or positioning yourself at the extremity of a map to prevent enemy movements onto a flank.

The guidelines are based on the experience of fighting line battles which should be an enjoyable experience in which technical expertise counts as much as raw firepower and dogged determination. The current line battle config should be enabled to allow for a better experience for both teams as it allows the use of more complex tactical manoeuvres under enemy fire.

The objective of these guidelines, is to allow the maximum freedom of movement within the sensible rules. In addition to that, they should encourage people away from thoughts of total annihilation of the enemy more towards a series of mobile and more enjoyable engagements.

Arquebusier