SALUTE AN OFFICER WHEN HE ADDRESSES YOU RECRUIT!

(Salute your monitor, right now)

That's better.

Welcome to the army recruit. We need people like you to help us liberate (or, if you prefer, conquer) Europe. Here in Heroes & Generals, headquarters plans depend on skilled and loyal soldiers. You may not be one yet, but I; General Private Larry, will teach you how.

We will march to glory on the field of battle!

To get started, you need to understand how things work. In Heroes & Generals, the first-person shooter aspect is known as the Action Game. The command aspect is the Strategy Game. Everything iis divided between the two, Heroes and Generals. Get it? Good.

The two sections are tied together. Everything you do as a soldier impacts the war. Everything you use in combat was payed for by a General. Stay on High Command's good side!

Generals decide what units are sent to what cities and such. They create the battles. Your job is to win them.

As a soldier on the Ground your objective is to capture and hold command posts on the battlefield in order to take control of towns and cities on the campaign map. These objectives are captured in order, from your access point onward. On most maps, there are 2 or 3 objective points that a team must control to win, these are usually located near the center of the map and will be denoted as 'O1', 'O2", etc. Minor points that must be taken will be labeled as 'A1', 'A2', etc. The image below shows the Forest Skirmish map, here A, B and C must be captured. Notice that enemy and friendly troops and vehicles are also marked. On the town map, things are a little different; the capture points are organized in lines, leading to the objectives in the center of the map; to take the objectives you will have to capture the points in order, A1, A2, A3, etc. Use the map in combat, it will help you.



To summarize that; your focus should be capturing points, not hunting down enemies. The Kill/Death ratio is largely irrelevant. No matter how many enemy troops you manage to kill, enemy generals will send more units to replace them.

The focus of this section is infantry equipment. Foot soldiers have a variety of weapons available to them, each suited to a different role on the battlefield.

Rifles
The bulk of every army is it's riflemen. Semi-automatic weapons are the default in Heroes and Generals, while bolt-action weapons are also available. Rifles are most effective at medium to long range, picking off enemies from long distances or before they get close. Bolt-action rifles can be modified to kill most enemies in one hit; headshots are always a gauranteed kill. Rifles' light weight makes them useful since they can be carried along with anti-tank rocket lauchers.

Submachine Guns
Excellant for suppressing fire or clearing enemy positions, submachine guns are meant to put alot of bullets in the air in a hurry. The first SMG you'll have access to will be either the M3 Greasegun, MP34 or PPD-40, depending on whether you play as the United States, Germany or the Soviet Union. These weapons have a relatively lower rate of fire and greater accuracy than their cousins, the M1A1 Thompson, MP40 and PPsh-41. The latter weapons have much greater rate of fire, and are excellent for clearing out a tight position. These weapons are best used at short range, ideally less than 50 meters. Beyond that distance they are largely innacurate, and shooting can be a waste of ammo that gives your position away. If you've got to get enemy infantry out of a building, or if you're trying to capture a point, these are some of the best weapons you can carry.

Light Machine Guns
Light machine guns (or LMGs) are bulky weapons that cannot be fired while moving and are best used from a crouched or prone stance. THese weapons have a high rate of fire, especially the fearsome MG42. With the exception of the American BAR and Soviet DP, they use ammunition belts that are slow to reload, so be wary of you ammo, especially in close quarters.

These weapons can be most effective when used in an area with wide visibility and a good field of fire. Having friendly units in the area to spot targets will increase your effectiveness.






Sniper Rifles
Bolt-action rifles fitted with telescopic scopes give soldiers of the Recon class a solid sniper weapon. A practiced marksman will always attempt to engage at ranges of 200 meters or greater. Be sure to adjust your sights when using sniper weapons, as this will have a great impact on your accuracy. Remember, your job is to eliminate the enemy at long range. It is the job of assault troops to storm enemy positions.

Here I've decided to go ahead and create a seperate section because it's a topic you're likely to become intimately familiar with: Anti-Tank warfare.

As an infantryman, you have a number of weapons you can use to engage and destroy enemy tanks and vehicles: Anti-Tank Mines, Anti-Tank Grenades, and Rocket Launchers.

FRAG GRENADES DO NOT DAMAGE ENEMY ARMOR, THROWING THEM AT A TANK WILL ONLY SUCEED IN KILLING FRIENDLIES WITH REAL ANTI-TANK WEAPONS!

Anti-tank mines need no real explanation, place them where enemy armor is likely to go, or sneak up on an enemy tank and place the mine directly in front of or behind it. Grenades are tricky because you must get very close, and it will take three to destroy a medium tank, sometimes a grenade attack is a suicide run. Accept this and you will win a post-humonous Medal of Honor, Eisenkreuz, or Order of the Red Banner.

To engage enemy armor with a rocket launcher is different. With the bazooka or panzerschreck, the two launchers you can spawn with, you have three range settings you can use by adjusting sights: 50 meters, 100 meters, and 150 meters. You'll learn to judge distance on your own fairly quickly. The key is not to fire out of panic, miss and you've wasted a rocket and revealed your position. If an enemy tanker finds where you've fired from, he will use every weapon he has to kill you; he wants to live as much as you do.

The Key is to learn to use cover, find a good position and line up your first shot carefully. Remember that once you've fired, you're likely unsafe, so shift to a new position unless you can see that you are secure. Generally, firing and ducking between cover is safer than camping one position, because your rocket's trail will allow enemies to pinpoint your position.

The armor pattern of a tank is important to remember. It is always thickest in the front, your rocket may penetrate the front armor on a light tank, but not on a medium or heavy. The rear, sides, and especially top plate are weakest.

Always remember that you can pick up one-shot Panzerfaust launchers from command posts or friendly vehicles.

If you aim to be a tank hunter, than good luck, it's a David versus Goliath battle, so you'll need it.

The video below is one of my own, nothing spectacular, but it helps illustrate my point.

As an infantryman there are a number of different vehicles available to you depending on what Assault Team you've deployed with (Motorized Infantry, Mechanized Infantry, etc.) Here I'll try to explain how to best use them.

Bicycles
The humble bicycle, left behind by fleeing civilians (because apparently it's easier to flee on foot, go figure) can be a useful tool in combat. While it does make you a little vulnerable, it will get you where you need to go faster than walking. Use them to get close to capture points, then dismount. You can even bring a friend along! Note that spamming the bell can give your position away to the enemy. And it's pretty ______ annoying too.

Other civilian vehicles, such as trucks, are also available, no need to cover them in detail, they're free, faster than bikes, and slower than jeeps.

Jeeps
A jeep is much faster than a bike. lso with a bit of creative seating it can carry 7 people. The mounted machine gun is good for suppressing enemy positions, and the vehice's speed makes it excellent for flanking maneuvres. When you spawn a jeep, pick up a few buddies. A full jeep is better than an empty one- unless you're crossing open terrain with enemy tanks on the prowl. Try not to hand the tankers too many killstreaks, alternatively, use tham to get behind enemy panzers and then hit them with grenades or rockets. Don't hold down the horn, the enemy also has ears. Spamming the MG on a jeep and shooting at nothing in particular may attract the attention of the enemy and get your fellow passengers killed, keep that in mind soldier.

Armored Personnel Carriers
APCs are very useful to your team. Squad members can use the vehicle as a mobile spawn point, so parking it near an enemy position will let you bring in reinforcements quickly. It can hold a large number of troops, and has enough armor to keep out enemy small arms. The German half-track is faster and better for close combat, having better armor protection, the US and Soviet M3 has a .50 caliber machine gun that is capable of 360 degree fire, but doesn't provide as much cover. Play smart with these. Park them where they won't be damaged, don't take them and drive them off anywhere else if someone else has parked it.

Motorcycles
The Harley Davidson and BMW R75 motorcycles are an excellent way to get around the map quickly. Though a little noisy, their speed makes the rider a difficult target. The German motorcyle also has a sidecar with a mounted machine gun, allowing for mobile fire support.




When using infantry vehicles, teamwork is key; always work with a group, delivering 5 or 6 troops at a time will do alot more damage than charging in on your own.

Recon Vehicles
Recon troops can spawn a few special vehicles; they include:

Armored Cars
Avilable to the Mechanized Recon assault team, the M8 Greyhound, Sdkfz. 222 and BA-10 armored cars are interesting vehicles. They mount tank armament in turrets, but use wheels instead of tracks, making them much faster. Their armor is much lighter making them vulnerable to enemy machineguns though. Also, two players are required to make these vehicles effective, one soldier must serve as a driver, while the other mans the turret, making communication key. The Soviets also have the BA-64 armored car available. I personally find it fun to play with and useful for some sneaky insertions and maneuvres, but it's lightly armed with just a DT machine gun.

The Panzers!

Armored vehicles prowling the battlefield will likely be the bane of your existence as an infantryman. It will also really make you want to get a few of your own; I'll go over basic types and tactics here.

Light Tanks
The first tanks that will be available to you, and the ones you'll see the most on the battlefield. Light tanks are smaller machines meant to deliver firepower to the frontlines and do it quickly. Most are relatively fast. Due to their weaker armor, they are more vulnerable to anti-tank weapons than their heavier friends.

When using a light tank, it is best to stay on the move. Once the enemy has spotted your position, they'll come after you, and a light tank can't take too much damage without being destroyed.

This is a large class of vehicles that includes the American M5 and M24, the Germant Panzer II C, II L and 38(t), and the Soviet T-26, BT-7, and T-70. All of these are fast vehicles with relatively light armor and a small-ish cannon. They are highly effective against infantry and more mobile than their heavier brothers. Their armament will make attacking enemy vehicles difficult but not impossible, if proper positioning is used. In General, the Soviet tanks are faster, while the Germans are slightly more well-armored. The American vehicles exist in the middle. The Panzer II vehicles mount automatic 20mm cannons, which are devastating against infantry and light vehicles.

THIS ISN'T A TANK!
(Getting Started as a Tanker)
The first tank you will unlock will be either the M2A2, the Panzer I, or the T-38. These vehicles were designed before the war, they are lightly armored, and mount only machine guns. They are generally not fun to drive, unless you know how to use them. When you are using one of these vehicles, you should avoid other tanks and stick to heavy cover like forests. Your machine guns can damage other vehicles, but they will obviously work best against infantry. Focus on taking out enemy troops rather than engaging armor, and you'll live long enough to get the M5 or Panzer II.

Medium Tanks
These guys may not pack the firepower of a Tiger, but they're more than enough to ruin your day. Medium tanks pack bigger guns and better armor into a versatile platform. They are mobile and reasonably fast and can still deliver a heck of punch. These vehicles are most effective when they have multiple crew members. On most this means extra machine guns, one tank is a notable exception though. The M3 Lee has a number of different turrets. Mounted in the body of the tank is a 75mm gun, in an upper turret is a 37mm cannon, a machine gun is mounted with them. Several forward and hatch machine guns can also be used. As always, it's best to bring friends!

When using medium tanks you should, as with light tanks, stay hidden and keep your distance. You can hit them from far away and they can't hit back, you need to take advantage of that. When fighting other tanks, flank them and hit them from the rear. Bouncing shells of the front will usually do nothing.

Heavy Tanks
These steel titans deliver unmatched firepower and feature heavy armor, even from the rear they may deflect anti-tank rockets. Slow and powerful, heavy tanks are juggernauts best used when supported by other vehicles and troops. Heavy tanks have two levels of optical zoom, allowing them to engage targets from extreme ranges. They have the most powerful cannons, and can easily destroy almost any other vehicles they encounter; using high explosive shells they can target large groups of infantry.


Tank Destroyers
These vehicles were designed for the sole purpose of taking out enemy armor. They mount powerful cannons which can damage even heavy tanks. The US and German vehicles are very different though. The M18 Hellcat, shown left, is the American TD. It mounts a high-velocity 76mm cannon in a rotating turret, it is very fast, but has even less armor than some light tanks. To use this vehicle, you should stay far out of the way of the enemy, and use your speed to move to a new position before you are spotted and destroyed.

The Germans used a different doctrine when designing their tank destroyers. The German Hetzer and Stug tank destroyers don't have turrets; rather heavy cannons are mounted in the body of the vehicle, and the driver must rotate the whole vehicle to aim. These are much more heavily armored than the US vehicle; their frontal armor will deflect most shells, and their cannons can destroy enemy tanks at long range. When using these, keep your front facing the enemy, engage at long range, and look out for enemy flanking maneuvers.

The Russian SU-85 is very similar to the German Stug in function and appearance, it low, flat and turretless. The front armor is reasonably effective against most enemy vehicles. The player should operate it in the same way as the Stug.


Summary
Tanks are mobile weapons platforms that have significant firepower and armor. That does not make them invincible.

-Tanks need to use cover also, as a tanker try not to be spotted.

-Tanks' weapons can engage at very long ranges, while infantry cannot, stay away from enemy infantry and punish them from a distance.

-A tank's thickest armor is on the front, always make sure to face the enemy and don't let them get behind you.

-Don't outrun the infantry! Especially if you are in heavy combat; you need to infantry to take out enemy anti-tank troops and spot targets. Infantry alone are vulnerable, tanks alone are vulnerable, together they are dangerous.

-DEATH FROM ABOVE! If enemy aircraft are attacking, stay out of the open, the forest is the safest spot for you.

Alright Private! Let's see how much you've learned!

The Basics
Everything you do effects the war! Fight smart, don't waste equipment needlessly!

The Battle
Objectives not kills! Work with your team to capture objectives, the number of troops you kill is irrelevant!

Listen to your Squad Leader! If he gives an order, it's for a reason!

Use the right weapon for the right job! Automatic weapons are good for support or storming buildings, rifles are best at medium ranges, snipers should stay out of the line of fire where possible.

Combined arms! Infantry working with vehicles is the most dangerous combination possible! Tanks on their own might get ambushed and destroyed, ground troops and armor together protect each other!

The Losers
So you're a Private now; congratulations! If you think you've got what it takes, head over to Larry's Losers and fight in my elite regiment!

Still have a question?
Check out Reto-Moto's Guide[forum.heroesandgenerals.com] on the H&G forums!

Good luck out there soldier, work with the team and lead your army to victory!

Pvt_Larry signing out.