Headquarters: World War II – Special Attacks Guide

Read this guide for better combat during the Headquarters: World War II gameplay.

Guide to Special Attacks

Special attacks are alternative Attack actions that follow special rules that fall outside of how the regular HE and AP attacks work and are available on the Actions panel depending on the unit and its skills. Some units have Special attacks, as their regular Attack action, namely Flamethrower infantry (Flame attack), Mortar units, and Artillery (Bombardment).

Bombardment Action

Bombardment action represents the indirect fire of artillery and mortars.

The key differences from regular Attack are:

• Bombardment attack is not limited by the Line of Fire area limitations – you can attack any tile within a unit’s Attack range.
• It also allows you to attack tiles with no enemy units in sight, so it could also be used as a replacement for a Suppression fire action. This is why units with Bombardment action usually have no Suppression fire.
• Bombardment attack is considered to have a 45-degree Elevation angle in Damage calculation, so it partially goes against Top armor, making it more powerful against armored targets. The other part is calculated against the Front/Side/Top armor, so the unit armor facing still matters to a degree, but not as much as for a regular attack.

Otherwise, it follows regular HE and AP attack rules for Accuracy and Damage calculation.

Rocket Barrage

Rocket barrage action represents the indirect fire of rocket artillery. It is similar to Bombardment action (see above) in terms of game mechanics, but units with it have different parameters. They are generally considered a bit less accurate but have higher HE Attack parameters making them a very powerful tool to demoralize the enemy infantry in cover or devastate it in the open.

Flame Attack Action

A Flame attack represents a flamethrower attack. Most units have it as their main attack (second slot on the Actions panel). If this is the case, a Flame attack works as follows:

It ignores Accuracy, making all attacks with it a 100% Hit regardless of other factors. This means the Flame attack ignores Cover and other factors that affect Accuracy.

For some units, like Churchill Crocodile and Sherman Crocodile, a Flame attack is a secondary attack, as they keep their main gun operational as well. In this case, the Flame attack additionally increases the HE Attack and reduces the AP Attack, when activated.

Assault Action

Assault action represents infantry storming positions of another infantry unit in close-quarters combat and occupying them. The key differences from regular Attack are:

• Assault ignores Accuracy, it is always considered a Hit.
• Both units attack each other simultaneously, unlike all other attacks.

Assault and Overrun are two simultaneous attacks in the game, meaning you will be getting an enemy attack as well, even if the enemy was eliminated by your attack. Also, units can eliminate each other.

• Assault Damage calculation is quite different from the regular HE Attack, with the Morale of both units being a decisive factor.
• If the enemy unit is eliminated during the Assault, the attacker moves into the defender’s tile.
• Assault action takes 2 Attacks, instead of 1.
• Assault action can only be performed against an enemy in an adjacent tile (including diagonal tiles).

• Assault Damage is calculated as Damage Modifier * Hit type modifier
• Morale modifier – Enemy Excessive Damage.
• The Damage modifier is the same as usual (see Damage and Damage modifier above).
• The Hit type modifier is always a 2, as it is always a Hit.
• Morale modifier is calculated for each unit as follows:
• Morale modifier = 2+(Unit A current Morale – Unit B current Morale)/100*2
• If a unit’s Damage Modifier * Hit type modifier * Morale modifier exceeds the number of enemy unit’s Crew, the excess is counted as Excessive damage.
• Excessive damage = Damage Modifier * Hit type modifier * Morale modifier – Enemy Crew count.
• Excessive damage reduces the Assault damage of the enemy unit.

For example, two units both with 5 Crew are engaged in Assault.

• Unit A has a Damage Modifier * Hit type modifier * Morale modifier = 6.7
• Unit B has a Damage Modifier * Hit type modifier * Morale modifier = 3.9
• Unit A has an Excessive damage of 6.7-5 = 1.7
• This means that unit B will deal 3.9-1.7 = 2.2 Damage rounded to 2 Damage.

In the end, Unit A will deal 5 Damage and eliminate Unit B, but since Assault is counted as a simultaneous attack, unit B will still deal 2 Damage to Unit A, eliminating 2 of its Crew.

Overrun Action

Overrun action represents armored units mowing down the infantry units in the open – i.e. point blank attack at the enemy infantry to occupy its position.

It is calculated in a very similar way to Assault – see Assault above.

The differences between Overrun and Assault are:

• The use of AP Attack instead of HE Attack for damage calculation of a Defender (enemy infantry), while the Attacker (Armored unit) still uses HE Attack.
• Cannot attack a tile where an armored unit cannot enter (a forest, rough, or a building).
• Can only attack infantry units.

Usually, tanks will have no problems Overrunning enemy infantry in the open. However, there are situations where infantry can fight back very effectively:

• If you try to overrun AT infantry (they have a high AP Attack value).
• If the infantry you try to Overrun has a Cover, that Cover will increase the AT Grenade damage (see Anti-tank Grenade special attack below). For example, attacking Infantry in High vegetation or behind a high stone wall could be very risky for the armored units.

Anti-Tank Grenade Action

Anti-tank grenade action represents infantry usage of close-combat AT weapons such as AT grenades, satchel charges, explosives, etc.

The key differences from regular Attack are:

• It can only be used against an enemy in an adjacent tile.
• The unit can attack Armored units, despite normally having 0 AP Attack. This action provides additional AP Attack value and allows to attack Armored units.
• The unit gets an extra AP Attack, which is further increased by a unit’s Cover. The higher the Cover unit has, the more AP Attack it should get, and the more effective the AT Grenade will be.

Tip! Infantry units with 40% or 60% Cover could be truly devastating to the enemy Armored units if they have AT Grenade action. Use that to prepare ambushes and eliminate the enemy’s armored troops with your infantry units. Try to attack where the enemy armor is the weakest to achieve the maximum effect.

Tip! Do not allow your armor to get ambushed by the enemy infantry with an AT Grenade – make sure your Armored units keep their distance from potential ambush locations and send in scouts or other infantry first to locate hidden enemies.

Sniper Shot Action

Sniper shot action represents a well-aimed and well-timed shot. It follows the general rules with 2 notable exceptions:

• It takes 2 Attacks instead of 1 to perform.
• It increases the unit’s Accuracy by 100.

Rapid Fire Action

A Rapid fire action allows a unit to perform 2 Attack actions at once at the cost of 1 Attack but with reduced accuracy. The enemy’s Return Fire attack will happen after the first attack, so it would go as follows:

• Rapid fire Attack 1
• Enemy’s Return fire
• Rapid fire Attack 2

Hit The Track

Hit the track is the ability to deal reduced damage, but apply the Broken track Effect, which prevents the enemy unit from Moving, until it uses the Repair track skill to fix the problem.

Smoke Screen

A Smoke screen action allows the unit to deploy a Smoke screen that covers a number of tiles. There are several types of Smoke screens:

• Infantry and recon units deploy Smoke screens in 1 tile
• Artillery and mortars can deploy a Smoke screen that covers a larger area
• An HQ Skill Smoke artillery deploys a Smoke screen that covers an even larger area.

What does a Smoke screen do?

• It blocks the Line of Fire (and Line of Sight), similar to a Building or Forest.
• Note that the first tile with a Smoke screen can still be fired at, but the tiles behind it are obscured.
• It reduces the Accuracy of all attacks against a tile with the Smoke screen by 50%.
• It reduces the Accuracy of all attacks coming from a tile with the Smoke screen by 50%.