Headquarters: World War II - Basic Tips (Gameplay, Fixes and More)

Tips to Basics for Gameplay and Game Setting

Technical Questions

How to set the game to windowed mode

When the game is loaded, hold down the Left ALT key on your keyboard and press RETURN.

The game will now be in a window.

This is a standard windows shortcut that works in many games and applications, so I hope this helps you with your gaming.

Playing on Steam Deck

The game supports Steam Deck and Gamepad controls. Mouse + keyboard for Steam Deck should also be supported.

Save file location

C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\Documents\StarniGames\HQWWII\Saves

How to save in missions

Hit Esc, pick a save slot. It also has auto-save frequency options and F5 is quick save.

Can I save live multiplayer games?

Unfortunately, no, at this time. You have to play it in one go… If you want to play over several days it is better to use PBEM.

How to rename units

Open the Unit info by either “Pressing I when a unit is selected” or “Clicking on unit;s name at the unit info panel in the bottom right corner of the screen”.
Near the unit image press the “Customize” button.
Go to the Rename tab there and rename it.

Also, you can use Tab (next unit) and N (Next unmoved unit) hotkeys to cycle through the units.

WASD Keys not working

Try restarting the game.
If it does not work – please follow these steps:
Go to Documents\StarniGames\HQWWII\Saves – and delete the “hq_settings” file. Then run the game again – it will generate a new settings file. (Although keep in mind that all settings will be set to default values, so you might have to check your settings after that and set them correctly).

If it doesnt help go into the settings and changing the keyboard scrolling to high.

Gameplay

How to purchase additional units

You have a limited number of slots for Core units, though you can freely updrage them by, for example, replacing riflemen with snipers or a QF 25-pounder. Best part is that they do keep their XP and you don’t lose prestige points by selling or buying, so the game doesn’t punish you for experiments!

Bias setting in skirmish: how does it works

On the ride side of the screen, you have the Options column. In the upper half of the screen, you can choose the number of your party, which affects where you will appear on the map at the beginning of the Skirmish, a country for yourself and your enemies (or you can leave it random), a color of your units on the map, as well as your enemies, and last but not least – the Bias for each party.

Bias influences how much Prestige you can get each term. If you set a lower Bias, you will gain less Prestige per round. If you make it higher, it will be vice versa. By manipulating the difference between your Bias and that of the enemy, you can change the difficulty of the fight. If you have 30% Bias while the enemy has 130%, you will have a harder time fighting against the enemy, since you will have far less Prestige to buy new units.

Weapons and units

All units use one type of weapons to make it more clear in terms of range and damage, and other parameters.

A few exceptions are things like AT grenades and Smoke grenades that infantry carries, as they offer different types of attacks/actions.

Also, the units in the game are small in terms of men count. So, you can just consider several teams – 1 with MG, 1 with Rifles, and 1 with Mortars as a one larger unit.