Human-Wave

[Volker]

I play Russia, my Dad German. So how do I use Human-Wave in the right way?

I understand its a Conscripts only move order really. How do I use it Effectively? Or should I even?

[Bone_Vulture]

Human wave is a sort of "poor man's assault". It'll give the troops a morale bonus, but you have to be certain on the location where you want your troops to rush, as the waypoint cannot be altered until the troops are well on their way running.

The other perk that the command has, when compared to "assault", is that it can be given to conscript/rattled troops. Human wave should be used when you want to cross open spaces between cover (from one forest patch to another), or when attempting to overrun enemy positions.

Remember that it'll take the length of over a dozen meters before the squad starts running, so perhaps you should initiate the command from deep cover, so your troops will have space to "pick up the speed".

[White Phosphorus]

I use it to cross large open spaces, where it is too exhausting to just use run, and too dangerous to use a walk=>run combination. And where using advance is simply an impossibility because it is an extremely slow and tiring process. If you think none of the standard orders fit your tactical situation, you should consider the Human Wave.

The walking par of the HW is faster than walk, and actually raises morale instead of lowering it.

[Bone_Vulture]

Originally posted by White Phosphorus:

The walking par of the HW is faster than walk, and actually raises morale instead of lowering it.

I've never heard that walking could reduce morale....

[JasonC]

To use it effectively, advance by bounds from cover to cover, with the length of each bound 75 to 150 meters. Lots of little ones, not one big one, in other words. With pauses in between to recover.

Rest between the bounds to untire the men, and to give them time to rally from the yellow morale you will have all over after a rush, and to give stragglers time to rally and catch up.

It helps if you keep a higher level HQ - company or battalion - back in the cover area you *start* the wave from, to pick up guys that are hit too hard and break. There will be some. It takes a few minutes to collect them and feed them forward again. But if the bulk of the force made it, they will cover the stragglers by drawing fire, suppressing enemies, etc.

Do not try to run right on top of the enemy with it, unless you know all the defenders are already broken or heavily pinned. Against up and intact defenders, you will just get shot to ribbons. It is not a bayonet charge - or rather, bayonet charges are stupid even with "human wave" as the move order.

Instead, head for an area of cover one "field" shy of the defenders, 100m away or so. Once there, stop moving and shoot it out. Move out again only after you've outshot the defenders and you see enemy fire slacken, heads go down, etc.

Inside areas of cover, just use "move". Think of "human wave" as a fast moving substitute for "advance" when crossing open ground under enemy observation. Incidentally, you can do it with non-conscipts, and sometimes the added speed is worth it. It is just that conscripts (and out of command greens) can't use "advance".