Mentallybroken's All Around Tactical Guide!

As a new player to *Mud and Blood*, the task laid ahead of you seems daunting and impossible. Fret not, as a myriad of different tactics and strategies can be used to navigate through your 333 days of hell. Every Commander uses their own personal mix of tactics, and I recommend reading through as many guides as you can to get a good idea of what brings other Commanders success and failure.

There are strategies that work wonderfully for some, and horribly for others. There are some occasions where the strategy is being applied correctly and effectively, yet the commander is too inexperienced to make full use of all available advantages. This is what we call a “Skill Issue” and cannot be avoided.

## How I play *Mud and Blood*

Overall, I tend to play aggressively and I chide myself on times longer than 14 minutes or maps with more than two casualties, regardless of the difficulty. This is ***not*** healthy behavior. I have found less success in using the range of the Springfield M1903 to outrange the Germans, and after achieving D-Day with Honors, my men don't keep a Springfield for very long because of the +5 starting XP. I will now list a few short and specific tactical situations I have seen many players, including experienced players, have issues with.

The following situations will be:

* D-Day Landing,
* Squad Compositions
* Breaching a Hedge,
* House-to-House Combat,
* Vire and Brest,
* Assaulting through an Open Field

## D-Day Landing

It is never a good idea to linger on the beach. Hop from hedgehog to hedgehog, as they provide cover. After a moment behind the closest hedgehogs to get some fire down and possibly remove an enemy or more from combat, one of my two fire teams will move up to the bunker, maybe 300-500 pixels away, to prevent them from being shot at by any Germans on the other side of the bunker.

There is always (in my experience) a trench a short distance behind the bunker, with one or two Germans, so get nice and close to prevent them from seeing your men around the sides of the bunker.

The second fire team will move up next to the first, blocking Line of Sight (LOS) for any Germans behind the bunker. Once the bunker is clear, occupy it, and continue the march one dead Kraut at a time!

## Squad Compositions

You might've gotten a few promotions, and it is imperative to figure out what squad composition works at the moment for you. Your squad’s classes may be a long term investment, or it may last seconds, there is no way of truly knowing.

You will occasionally find yourself in a situation where a certain class is needed, and afterwards, despite not wanting to keep that class, it is unaffordable to lose the firepower provided by that soldier. You **must** find and use any advantages this class can provide you. You may also find that you need a certain class however they are dead and/or all living squad members have gotten a promotion. You just have to make do. *If you are lucky, you can get the commander ability "Discharge" and replace that class you don't want or need.*

My typical squad has only three constants: Scouts, Gunners, and Medics.

You’ll find many who say that medics are useless, but I have had dozens of veteran troops saved by medics. Once a medic has gained a combat promotion or two, they are just as good of riflemen as anyone else.

Never has a gunner failed me. They truly are not too slow to provide an effective assault or reaction. Their target switch allows them to kill several Germans in one burst once they are experienced. They are **invaluable** to proper Fire and Movement tactics.

A scout will always provide you with an advantage over the Germans. They can see further enough to give you decent heads up in places like Vire, Brest, and Aure Valley, and in Hedgerows when the hedges are far between. In urban scenarios, they can show you what to prepare for after you exit the cover of your recently taken house. They also function as a fast shotgunner who can really help out in an “assault team”, or sit back a little behind the bulk of the squad and continue to see further than anyone else on your team.

## Breaching a Hedge

Hedgerows and Aure Valley are some early difficult areas for new players because of the lack of experience as a commander and lack of experienced soldiers. You’ll notice that I have no tips for Aure, and this is because I do not spend all 4 days there, since after beating D-Day and Aure 1/4 in one attempt each, Aure Valley is immediately completed and you get a little ribbon!

When in Hedgerows, the tall, thick, and hard to see through rows of brush make perfect positions to set up an ambush right on the other side. In my experience, **do not** run back through the hedge after losing men or taking damage. You will only have to redo the hardest part of the breach, except with your squad in a worsened condition. In addition, an ambush is best dealt with by pushing forward, through the ambush, rather than stopping, allowing enemy reinforcements, and allowing the enemy to regroup and establish another ambush or a solid defensive position.

To breach a hedgerow, find a gap in the trees and rocks, use it to scout with a low bulk and high XP soldier. Inch your way through the gap, slowly revealing more to your soldiers line of sight. If there is not a natural gap, **make one with explosives**. Any explosives will help immensely. Once he is almost through the gap, rush with your squad.

### **Now is not the time to worry about ideal placements.**

> The only thing that matters is getting every soldier into a place where they can shoot at **an enemy** in sight. Any German will do, just give every soldier the chance to shoot before worrying about cover or health.
>
>

After breaching and passing through a hedgerow, some German may have stuck around in the hedge during the fight, only exiting to tail your squad with the occasional potshot. I have not experienced anything but minor annoyance from these, so it is up to you if you want to hold back a man or move up a little slowly to allow some time to kill the straggler or two. I often do not worry about it, they will catch up once my squad is in a larger firefight and moving slowly once again, and he will get shot then.

## House to House Combat

Once you get to St. Lo, houses will become your best friend and worst enemy. My favorite way to handle house to house combat is by blowing up as many houses as is possible, with panzerfausts, artillery, precision artillery, bomb drops, bazookas, grenades, rifle grenades, and anything else that I have on hand. The point is, blowing up the houses strips the Germans of cover, and damages or stuns them as well.

Alternatively, you can try to advance through one house at a time. Houses block Line of Sight, which means that you can prevent or limit engagement by crowding behind a building, or in a building that is behind the areas that you have cleared. Houses provide high and omni-directional cover, so do not leave them unless it is necessary. You cannot flank like with sandbags, but that does mean flanking maneuvers are out of the question. Remember to engage as few enemies as possible during this type of combat, unlike during a hedge breach, where the only thing that matters is getting across the hedge.

### Vire

Yeah.. Vire is the first **real** fight you'll face as a commander. Sure, all that was hard before, but trust me, Vire puts you 30 days behind schedule on day 3 of the city. There is almost ZERO Line of Sight blockers, and huge stretches without any cover, only for those to lead to rows and rubble, sandbags, and cars that the Germans will be waiting to shoot you from. Emplacements and enemy vehicles in Vire will make you cry for the house to house combat of St. Lo, or the thick hedgerows. Get a scout, get a sniper, get a signaler. Next, get a medic to keep those three alive, get a gunner to keep those three alive, and get an officer to keep them from panicking.

### Brest

Now take eveyrthing from the previous paragraph, and double it. Throw in more random vehicles. That is all. Have fun.

### Crossing the open areas

It is important have at least on automatic weapon to provide suppression so your men can bound. I prefer a gunner, and upgrade their combat skill first in order