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Hamburger Hill – The Commander's Guide to Winning
Version 0.9.0 · strategy and tips
1. General Strategy & Campaign Management
Core principles
Your job is to win battles, not simply command them.
As a commander, your primary responsibility is to eliminate the enemy as quickly as possible. Friendly AI is considerably less effective than the player, and prolonging engagements exposes your squad to unnecessary casualties.
You are effectively a one-man army in the current game version. Expect to do approximately 95% of the actual fighting yourself. Think and act quickly.
Never waste a turn.
- Attack every turn whenever possible.
- Enemy numbers grow over time, making procrastination increasingly costly.
- Prioritize capturing strategically important locations early.
- Avoid unnecessary bonus missions that risk casualties without providing sufficient benefits.
Protect your country's support.
Support represents your country's morale or willingness to continue the war. Allowing it to reach zero results in defeat.
Maintain support as high as possible by:
- Keeping casualties low.
- Capturing high-value territories.
- Avoiding civilian casualties.
- Avoiding unnecessary losses during bonus missions.
Important: Bonus mission casualties can be particularly punishing. Losing soldiers during a bonus mission can cause an additional support penalty, potentially compounding losses from a main assault in the same turn.
Prioritize these strategic locations.
Capture early
These locations become exceptionally difficult to capture in the late game:
- Dhal Stronghold – Particularly dangerous when occupied by Warlordz due to their bayonet charges.
- The Estate
- Hill 712
- Alrin Port
- Alrin Docks
Don't leave these territories for later. Enemy reinforcements and increasingly difficult defenses can turn an otherwise manageable assault into a nightmare.
Maintain a strong frontline garrison.
Keep at least 15 soldiers garrisoned in frontline territories.
Garrisoned troops provide additional defensive manpower, reducing the number of casualties your active squads sustain. This saves both money and national support.
2. Squad Composition & Personnel Management
Recommended setup
Ideal squad composition
Your preferred 12-man squad should consist of:
Unit | Quantity |
Riflemen | 8 |
Medics | 2 |
Radio operators | 2 |
Total | 12 |
Replenish losses as necessary while maintaining this composition.
Always bring two radio operators.
Never rely on a single radio operator. If your only operator dies, you lose access to important support abilities, including:
- Artillery strikes.
- Flares.
Having a second operator provides redundancy and prevents a single casualty from crippling your ability to call in support.
Bring two medics, preferably veterans.
Medics are extremely valuable because they heal squad members and reduce permanent casualties.
- Bring two medics whenever possible.
- Prioritize getting at least one medic to Level 2 or 3 veterancy.
- Higher-level medics can revive fallen squad members.
- More revives mean fewer permanent deaths, less money spent on replacements, and less support lost.
Avoid machine gunners, engineers, and flamethrowers.
These unit types are less useful than riflemen when you have to take direct control of a soldier after your squad leader dies.
Riflemen are more versatile and effective in the hands of the player. Your squad should be built around maximizing your effectiveness as a fighter rather than relying on specialized AI soldiers.
Preserve veteran soldiers.
Veteran soldiers are valuable assets. Avoid needlessly exposing them to casualties.
- Save veteran riflemen for difficult endgame assaults.
- Preserve veteran troops during defense missions.
- Use lower-ranked soldiers for less demanding assignments.
Endgame recommendation: Maintain two separate squads:
- Veteran squad: Your primary offensive force for difficult assaults.
- Low-ranking squad: Primarily used for defensive assignments.
Rotate squad leaders for free promotions.
During the early game, frequently switch squad leaders to accumulate free promotions for your squad.
This helps build up your personnel's veterancy without having to rely entirely on combat experience.
Sell surplus equipment.
Check your inventory regularly, especially during the early and midgame.
You may have surplus weapons that can be sold for extra money. Don't let unused equipment sit in your inventory when it could be funding replacements and other necessities.
3. Combat & Engagement Tactics
Most important in actual firefights
You are the squad's most effective soldier.
Your personal performance has an enormous impact on the outcome of engagements. Friendly AI is considerably less effective at eliminating enemies. You are basically Rambo.
Consequently:
- Prioritize killing enemies yourself.
- Don't unnecessarily prolong firefights.
- Take advantage of your superior accuracy.
- Keep your squad alive rather than expecting them to win the engagement for you.
Prioritize close enemies.
Always prioritize enemies closest to you and your squad.
They pose the greatest immediate threat and have the highest likelihood of inflicting casualties. Deal with immediate threats before engaging distant targets.
Aim for headshots.
Headshots are particularly valuable because they:
- Kill enemies faster.
- Conserve ammunition.
- Help eliminate enemy blobs more efficiently.
This is especially important when engaging large enemy formations:
Maintain distance from the enemy.
Whenever possible, establish some distance between yourself and enemy forces.
You are generally a better shot than the enemy AI, so exploiting that advantage is preferable to fighting at close range.
Distance also protects your squad from:
- Grenade launchers.
- Bayonet charges.
Your squad members seem particularly vulnerable to bayonet charges, with little ability to defend themselves effectively.
Keep moving during engagements.
Don't allow your squad to remain stationary for too long.
Move your squad around during firefights to reduce the likelihood of being hit by:
- Grenade launcher attacks.
- Enemy artillery strikes.
A stationary, tightly packed squad is an easy target.
Watch out for grenade launchers.
Grenade launchers are particularly dangerous to friendly blobs.
A single well-placed shot can devastate your squad, making spacing and movement essential.
This is especially important in urban environments, where your squad may naturally bunch up.
4. Positioning & Environmental Awareness
Use trees as cover in jungle environments.
When fighting in jungle areas, position yourself and your squad behind trees whenever possible.
Trees can block incoming shots, providing useful protection against enemy fire.
This is particularly important against grenade launchers, which can otherwise inflict devastating casualties on tightly grouped soldiers.
Move immediately when spotted.
If the enemy spots your squad, reposition immediately.
Being spotted can expose your position to artillery strikes. Remaining in the same location puts your entire squad at risk of being caught in a bombardment.
Don't wait for the artillery to arrive before moving.
Avoid civilian casualties.
Be extremely careful when engaging enemies near civilians.
An accidental civilian casualty may cause your squad to start targeting civilians as well.
One possible countermeasure is issuing the Hold Fire command, although this behavior and whether the command reliably prevents it still need testing.
5. Mission Selection & Assault Planning
Avoid unnecessary bonus missions.
With one major exception: Ambush
The potential rewards generally aren't worth risking your veteran soldiers and losing additional national support.
Remember that bonus mission casualties can compound the support penalties from casualties suffered during your main assault.
Choose airborne night assaults for difficult territories.
If you're struggling to capture a heavily defended territory, consider an airborne assault at night.
There are two major advantages:
- Reduced enemy visibility: Darkness makes it harder for enemies to spot you and your squad.
- Aerial reconnaissance: Parachuting into the battlefield gives you a brief bird's-eye view of the area.
Use this opportunity to:
- Identify enemy positions.
- Direct artillery strikes.
- Find advantageous positions for your squad.
- Plan your approach before engaging the enemy.
Avoid beach and helicopter landings.
Both landing methods have a high likelihood of inflicting substantial casualties on your squad.
When given a choice, consider alternative insertion methods, particularly airborne night assaults.
Preserve veterans during defense missions.
Defense missions are generally easier because you have additional support from garrisoned troops.
Take advantage of this by assigning lower-ranked soldiers to defensive operations and preserving your veterans for offensive missions where their experience and kit are more valuable.
Use stationary machine guns during defense.
Stationary machine guns are extremely effective in defensive missions.
They're conveniently positioned toward the direction from which enemies will attack, allowing you to inflict substantial damage without exposing your soldiers unnecessarily.
6. Artillery & Fire Support
Bombard enemy positions before assaulting.
When beginning an assault and you haven't been spotted yet, call in artillery at least twice before initiating your attack.
The objective is to reduce enemy numbers before your squad makes contact.
This gives you a significant advantage and reduces the number of enemies you'll have to eliminate personally.
Use artillery to your advantage.
Don't treat artillery as an emergency-only resource.
It can be used proactively to:
- Thin out enemy formations.
- Eliminate concentrated groups.
- Reduce resistance before an assault.
- Support your squad during difficult engagements.
Move after being spotted.
Remember that artillery can be called against your position once the enemy has spotted you.
Repositioning your squad is essential to avoid being caught in an incoming strike.
7. Enemy Faction Priorities
Eliminate Warlordz before GPA.
When fighting both factions, prioritize eliminating the Warlordz before the GPA, particularly in the late game.
The reason is their bayonet charges.
Late-game Warlordz encounters can involve large numbers of charging enemies, which are particularly dangerous to your AI-controlled squad.
Your troops struggle to defend themselves against bayonet charges, making these encounters disproportionately costly.
Don't let the Warlordz accumulate strength until the endgame.
8. Advanced Tactics & Situational Tips
Ambush missions: Destroy the convoy with napalm.
During ambush missions, use your binoculars to observe the bridge the enemy truck convoy will cross.
Time your napalm strike so that it lands just as the enemy escorts are about to cross the bridge.
This can eliminate a substantial portion of the convoy's escort force and, in some cases, end the mission immediately.
Timing is everything. Don't waste the strike before the escorts reach the bridge.
Veteran riflemen are surprisingly effective in the endgame.
Save veteran riflemen for late-game assaults.
Their grenade launchers have a surprisingly significant impact against large enemy formations.
This becomes increasingly important in the endgame, when enemy numbers are considerably higher.
Grenade launchers are particularly effective at eliminating tightly packed groups of enemies.
Use airborne insertion to scout.
The brief aerial perspective during parachute deployment is more useful than it initially appears.
Use it to assess the battlefield before committing your squad to an engagement.
You can potentially identify enemy concentrations and direct artillery before the fighting begins.
9. Miscellaneous Tips
- Read the news. The in-game news articles are hilarious. They're worth reading just for entertainment.
- Check your inventory. Regularly sell surplus weapons, especially early in the campaign.
- Don't waste promotions. Rotate squad leaders early to accumulate free promotions.
- Keep your squad properly staffed. Losing a radio operator or medic can be more consequential than losing an ordinary rifleman.