HLL Officer Class Guide
Introduction & Role Overview
The Squad Leader Role is called Officer in Hell Let Loose. As an Officer, you will serve as a source of leadership and strategy for your unit. Working alongside your Commander and fellow Officers, you’ll organise your unit of up to 5 other troops, and provide instructions on your objectives as the frontline shifts.
In addition to leading your squad, your primary role is to create spawn points to allow attack or defence to be effective.
Secondary roles include marking any enemy activity on the map for other squads and commander to be aware, this could be spotted through your binoculars or pointed out by a member of your squad by comms or their ping.
Loadout
American
- Thompson (SMG)
- Colt M1911 (Pistol)
- Mk2 Grenade x2
- M18 Smoke Grenade x2
- Bandages x2
- Watch
- Binoculars
German
- MP40 (SMG)
- Luger P08 (Pistol)
- M43 Stielhandgranate x2 (Frag)
- NB39 Nebelhandgranate x2 (Smoke)
- Bandages x2
- Watch
- Binoculars
Optional loadouts are available once a higher level is reached in the Officer Class, providing the option of longer ranged weapons.
Level 3: Pointman (Just change of gun)
American – M1 Carbine
German – Gewehr 43
Level 6: NCO
American – M1 Garand, 3 grenades of each type, No Pistol
German – Kar98, 3 grenades of each type, No Pistol
Spawn Points
Officers can place 2 types of spawn point:
- Garrisons
- Outposts
Failure to do so will lead to your team not being able to reinforce a sector under attack or bolster a push on the enemy. Your unit will really appreciate not having to walk a long way to the front.
There are new rules since the recent update 7 about where these spawn points can and cannot be built – refer to the Objectives section of the Gameplay Guide Page for full details.
The Garrison
Allows any member of your team to spawn at that point. A team can have up to 10 Garrisons on the map at any one time. They will last until destroyed by the enemy or can be dismantled by the officer who built them or the commander, to allow more forward garrisons to be built in their place.
The Outpost
Allows just members of your squad to spawn and each officer can only have one active outpost at any one time. The outpost lasts until it is destroyed by the enemy, dismantled by the officer, or a new outpost is placed in another position.
Once you place an outpost there is a 2 minute (120 seconds) cool-off timer before you can place another outpost. You can however dismantle it (using the ‘F’ key) within those 2 minutes and take it with you to place elsewhere. When it is placed again the cool-off timer begins again at 2 minutes.
Whilst the major difference between Garrisons and Outposts is who can spawn there, there are 2 other significant differences between them.
- Placement Requirements
- Destruction of Spawn Points
Placement Requirements
Garrisons need supplies to be built. These can be dropped by any support soldier on your team, not just your squad, or by Commander air drops – you can also use any supplies have already been dropped on the map.
Other than the team limit, there is no limit on the amount of garrisons an officer can build. The garrison will need to be within 50 metres of supplies and not within 100 metres of another friendly garrison.
Whilst a garrison can be dismantled by the officer who built it or by the commander, it cannot be rebuilt without using further supplies.
Outposts can be placed with no requirements by an Officer, but have a cool-down before another can be placed. But, as alluded to earlier, can be dismantled and moved within that cool down period.
This means that an outpost can be set up temporarily to allow your squad to spawn in and drop supplies for you to build a garrison. You can then pick up that outpost and take it with you to where it will be more useful.
Destruction of Spawn Points
The other major difference is in the way that each spawn point can be destroyed by the enemy.
Garrisons can be destroyed by explosions, grenades, artillery, anti-tank rounds, tank rounds as well as by an enemy soldier dismantling them.
Outposts cannot be destroyed by explosions and can only be destroyed by an enemy soldier moving close enough to them.
How to Place a Spawn Point
You can place spawn points by equipping the watch from your inventory. Item 6 or use your mouse wheel to scroll to it.
Hold right click, this will show in front of you where you are placing the spawn point, you may need to move around a bit to find a suitable spot. (green for valid placement, grey for not valid or off-white if there are insufficient supplies nearby for a garrison). Scroll between the outpost and Garrison options using your mouse wheel.
It is a point and place system so it will go where you look, if you need to rotate the spawn then [E] and [Q] will do this.
Once an ideal spot is found, start holding left click and wait until the spawn point appears (a timing wheel will show long it takes).
Communicate & Lead
It is your duty as an Officer to not only lead your unit of soldiers, but to communicate with other Officers and the Commander to help co-ordinate the wider battle effort. This can be done by making use of the Command voice channel. (Default Key ‘X’)
Regarding your unit, you’ll decide when to attack, when to defend or when to make a tactical withdrawal. Maintaining voice communication with your unit will help ensure nothing is missed.
Officer Markers
Whilst, just like other troops, you can still place a ping which is visible to your unit, (by clicking your MMB) you can also provide descriptive location markers when aiming, or when using your binoculars. These markers are also visible to other officers and the commander in addition to your squad.
Aim at the required spot and hold down your middle mouse button to bring up the radial menu:
Use your mouse to move around the menu and select the icon you wish to mark. A description of that icon will appear as you move over it. Release the middle mouse button to drop the marker.
Starting at 12 o’clock and moving clockwise the meanings of the markers are displayed in the table below along with who can see them.
| Marker Meaning | Commander | Officers | Unit | |
 | Move to this position. | Y | Y | Y |
 | Attack this position. | Y | Y | Y |
 | Defend this position. | Y | Y | Y |
 | Observe this position. | Y | N | Y |
 | Request supplies at this position. | N | N | Y |
 | Request resource node. | Y | N | Y |
 | Enemy infantry. | Y | Y | Y |
 | Enemy light vehicle. | Y | Y | Y |
 | Enemy tank. | Y | Y | Y |
 | Enemy Outpost. | Y | Y | Y |
 | Enemy Garrison. | Y | Y | Y |
 | Request bombing run. | Y | Y | N |
 | Request strafing Run. | Y | Y | N |
 | Request supply drop. | Y | Y | N |
 | Request artillery strike. | Y | Y | N |
 | Request smoke artillery. | Y | Y | N |
 | Request garrison build. | Y | Y | N |
 | Request outpost build. | Y | Y | N |
You can also place markers on the map. If a squad member pings a tank for example you can enter your map and drop a marker on his ping so that other units are aware – This marker will remain on the map longer than the ping.
It can sometimes be easier to use ping yourself when aiming or using binoculars, and then open your map to place a marker as this can be more accurate than just marking.
It is important to remove your markers, if, for example, the marked tank is destroyed, this keeps the information provided on the map clean and true.
Officer Tips
Here’s a few tips from regular players to help you to be more effective in the officer role on the battlefield
Place that spawn point
As an officer you should be ensuring that you always place an outpost down for your unit. This should be at the forefront of your mind when deciding on your battle plans. If the frontline shifts, or your original outpost is destroyed, be sure to place another one down in a viable location.
Spawn Placement
Where possible, you should try to build spawn points next to other map clutter, tables or farm machinery so they don’t look out of place. Another suggestion is not to build right up to a wall or hedge as an enemy soldier only has to walk past on the other side to destroy the spawn.
When on a point with trenches, try not to block trenches with your spawn points as friendly troops will have to expose themselves to get around the obstruction.
Assault Team
You could designate two players of your squad as your “Assault Team” – this team will deal with flanking and rear guard duty when that need arises. Make sure the rest of the group understands their role, that they are to stay around the officer and the main group – and supply firepower for the assault team.
For the Greater Good
When placing a garrison down, co-ordinate with your fellow officers to ensure that it’s in a suitable place for your whole team. Clustering garrisons together in close proximity will reduce their potential impact on the battle.
Defence
It’s no good just placing attack garrisons outside the next point – your team needs defence garrisons on earlier points. If the current pointy is taken by the enemy they could steamroll an attack of your undefended points while your team is unable to redeploy due to lack of spawn points.
Eyes on the Prize
It is equally important not to get bugged down on defence, and to have a feel for when a counter attack is possible and take down the enemy outpost or garrison up ahead, here again an assault team comes in handy.
Keep your Head Down
Officers are a juicy target for a plucky rifleman or sniper. Unless absolutely necessary, try to avoid leading from the front of your unit. Losing an Officer at the start of an engagement denies a unit of smoke cover, binocular markers and even a rapidly placed outpost.
Hearts and Minds
A unit wipe not only hits your team’s manpower, but it can also impact your unit’s morale. You may have lost that battle, but the war is far from over! Rally your soldiers with some positive words, keep their chins up and form a counter-attack.
Duty Calls
When storming an urban area or trench system, the officer’s loadout excels. Equipped with an SMG, a pistol and two types of grenades, you are a close quarter combat force to be reckoned with.
Final Points:
- Hard cover is king.
- Flank, Flank, Flank, Flank.
- Prepare for crash defence
- Hurry slowly
- Announce your intentions to the commander
- Binocs are cool