Each Boer commando unit is sent to…

Each Boer commando unit is sent to the district from which its members have been recruited, which means that they can rely on local support and personal knowledge of the terrain and the towns within the district thereby enabling them to live off the land.

Their orders are simply to act against the British whenever possible.

Their tactics are to strike fast and hard causing as much damage to the enemy as possible, and then to withdraw and vanish before enemy reinforcements can arrive.

The vast distances of the Republics allow the Boer commandos considerable freedom to move about and make it nearly impossible for the two hundred and fifty-thousand British troops to control the territory effectively using columns alone.

As soon as a British column leaves a town or district, British control of that area fades away.