Hamburger Hill squad roles: medic, radio, engineer

Player reports: recruiting is expensive, so losing men early hurts the whole campaign. There is no button to reorder squad slots; the player guide says the only way is to send everyone back and recruit them again in the order you want. Players have also asked to see soldier morale on the planning screen, and for more names and faces because duplicates are hard to tell apart.

• You keep a 12-man squad between battles, with one assault per turn (update 0.4.0).
• New recruits automatically fill empty squad slots (0.3.0), and AUTO recruits replacements when needed (0.4.0).
• Click a squad member to see his kit. Right-click to send him back to the army (0.3.0).
• Patrol companions travel ahead and beside you, then spread out and take cover (0.5.0). Update 0.6.0 improved squad movement, cover use and medic behaviour.

Wesware has not published a full controls list. What players describe, as of versions 0.5.0 to 0.7.0: there are squad orders (one Spanish-speaking player mentions giving them with F), a specialist command that highlights your medic so you can point out a casualty, and commands to occupy low cover. Players also describe switching to the radio operator to call in support themselves.

Our take: because the friendly AI does not call support on its own (see below), the soldier you control matters as much as the squad you bring.

The core of the squad. Your side's listed rifle is the M16, a selective-fire assault rifle. Wesware has published a short rifleman video.

Player reports from the 0.4.0/0.5.0 guide: riflemen can pick up other assault rifles, get a helmet at Rank 2 and body armor plus an underbarrel grenade launcher at Rank 3. Another player found that switching the M16 to its grenade launcher could stop it reloading normal rounds until he swapped weapons; the guide author could not reproduce it.

Play video: Hamburger Hill | Rifleman

The U.S. machine gun is the belt-fed M60. Wesware does not describe a machine gunner class separately, but players do: the player guide says machine gunners can pick up enemy machine guns, and that the gun steadies on a low wall or sandbags when you crouch next to it and aim. The same guide calls it powerful but hard to control.

Update 0.5.0 simplified the medic controls and 0.6.0 improved medic behaviour. Wesware has not published step-by-step medic controls.

Player reports: you use the specialist command to highlight the medic and then point out the wounded soldier, and several players asked for medics to heal on their own. The player guide says medics carry a medkit, are limited to pistols, and can only revive critically wounded soldiers from Rank 2, so it recommends two medics of at least Rank 2. Another player asked for medics to carry an SMG.

Play video: Hamburger Hill | Medic

Since 0.5.0, radio operators use binoculars to call artillery, napalm and illumination, with markers for incoming strikes. Update 0.7.0 added binocular support controls and fixed enemy artillery warnings. The official video says there are radio operators "from all three factions".

Player reports: as of 0.7.0 you cannot order an AI radio operator to call artillery, so he is "a worse rifleman unless being directly controlled". That is why many players play as the radio operator themselves; one called radio "the best class but only if you are using it". The player guide says illumination has its own cooldown.

Play video: Hamburger Hill | Radio Operator

Since 0.5.0, one engineer kit covers both demolition and bridge repairs. Engineers demolish enemy outposts once the squad has cleared them. Players stuck on convoy missions found that a broken bridge has to be repaired; see the troubleshooting guide.

Player reports: the player guide uses engineers to mine bridges in ambush missions. One player said engineers carry the launchers and called them "currently useless", and another asked for tank battles where engineers would matter more.

Troubleshooting guide

Play video: Hamburger Hill | Engineer

Update 0.4.0 added a U.S. flamethrower soldier carrying the M83 Torch. Flamethrower fire was reworked again in 0.5.0.

Player reports: the flamer is the only class that costs more than the others, and the player guide recommends one in a late-game squad against the W.A.R.L.O.R.D.Z, with an extra rifleman instead early on.

Wesware has not documented the rank system. The player guide says soldiers can be promoted with money or for free after missions rated A or B, and that some kit unlocks at higher ranks. Treat that as a player report that may be out of date.

The 0.4.0/0.5.0 player guide suggests this late-game mix of 12. It is one player’s setup, not an official recommendation.

• 4 riflemen (Rank 3, with grenade launchers and armor)
• 3 machine gunners
• 2 medics (at least Rank 2)
• 1 radio operator
• 1 engineer, for bridges
• 1 flamethrower soldier