Hamburger Hill factions: the three sides

U.S. Forces: your side in Hamburger Hill

"Balanced infantry, heavy firepower, and a long way from home." This is the side you play in the campaign. You lead a 12-man squad through the jungles, rice paddies and streets of Granovia, take territory, hold off counterattacks and try to keep your men alive. Their listed weapons are the M16, M60, M66 Tube and M27 Brick, and update 0.4.0 added a U.S. flamethrower soldier with the M83 Torch.

Update 0.6.0 reworked the U.S. soldier and advisor portraits, and 0.7.0 added new portraits and sprites. Some players asked for the older portraits with headgear to come back; Wesware has not said whether they will.

Our take: "balanced" is the key word. The U.S. list is the only one with a rifle, a machine gun, a launcher, a sidearm and a flamethrower, so you can cover most situations if you build the squad with a mix of roles instead of all riflemen.

Federate Army of Granovia in Hamburger Hill

"Strength in numbers. They hold the capital and intend to keep it." Their weapons are the Zippy 67 automatic rifle, the Zippy 67/Z70 with a grenade launcher, the Zippy-62 squad machine gun and the HESH Tube rockets. Players in the comments call them the Granovians, and one player guide shortens the name to FAoG.

Player reports: one player described "a pretty fair fight with the Granovians" compared with the mountain fighters. The 0.4.0/0.5.0 player guide recommends starting fights against them at night and using illumination from your radio operator so your squad can see them first.

Our take: "strength in numbers" and an all-automatic weapon list mean you should expect volume of fire. Cover and support fire matter more than out-shooting them one by one.

W.A.R.L.O.R.D.Z in Hamburger Hill

"Ragtag mountain fighters who close the distance with bayonet charges." They carry the Long Rifle, the Trail Gun, the M18 Broom shotgun and the Trail Knife. The banner spells the name W.A.R.L.O.R.D.Z; players write Warlordz or Warlords.

Player reports: several players say they are the toughest side. One wrote that every attack on their stronghold ended with artillery wiping the squad, which then cost him his campaign support. Another held the port for about 20 turns before the Warlordz invaded in a 60 v 60 battle. The player guide suggests an air assault against them early on to get a safe foothold, and a flamethrower soldier later because they rely on melee rushes.

Our take: with a shotgun and a knife on their list, distance is your friend. Spread the squad out so one artillery strike cannot catch everyone.

• Rifles: Selective-fire M16, automatic Zippy 67 and Zippy 67/Z70, semi-auto Long Rifle.
• Machine guns: Every side has one: M60, Zippy-62 and Trail Gun.
• Rockets: U.S. Forces and the Federate Army only (M66 Tube, HESH Tube).
• Close range: Strongest on the W.A.R.L.O.R.D.Z list (M18 Broom, Trail Knife). The U.S. have the M83 Torch and the M27 Brick.

Full weapons guide

According to the store page, Quick Play lets you build battles with different terrain, weather and opposing forces, including battles with up to 64 soldiers and up to three factions.

In the campaign, the player guide suggests watching the map for sectors where two enemy factions are fighting each other, waiting for them to thin each other out, and then moving in. That is a player tactic, not official advice.

Quick Play guide

In the comments, Wesware said the plan is to keep the game single-player with a unique campaign for each faction, and that multiplayer is a long-term goal. No dates have been given.

Players have asked for historical factions and skins. Wesware answered that the war and the country are kept fictional on purpose. That is why the enemy weapons have names like Zippy 67 and HESH Tube on the official page, even though an earlier player guide still used real-world names such as AK-47 and RPG-7.