Officer Guide

A comprehensive guide on the role of officers in Verdun, with the ins and outs of leading your squad to victory.

Introduction

Note: This guide does not yet include the new squad type introduced in v163.

The Officer, otherwise known as the NCO or Squad Leader, is arguably the most important and influential member of a functioning squad, able to provide both the leadership and support necessary to turn the tide of battle. But all too often, the NCO's true capabilities are left neglected. Hopefully this guide will help new players to become the next officer that leads the way.

General tips

• Your primary duty as an Officer is to lead your men. You can direct where to attack-defend by holding down 'Q', then left-clicking to place the beacon where you're aiming. On top of offering bonus points with kills in this zone, this is very important to establish some direction and to remind your squad of where to head to as a unit, which leads to the next point:
  
  
• Stay together! As an officer, you have a command aura around you (seen as a blue circle on the map) that will greatly benefit any of your squad members that reside within it. For instance, machine-gunners can load faster and snipers can hold their breath longer. So if you see that all of your squad is hanging out on the other side of the map, consider doing what you can to join them. You can identify your squad-mates by their blue icons on the mini-map.
  
  
• LEAD THE WAY! As an officer, other squad members are able to spawn on you so long as you're alive. This can mean the difference between them having to run across 2 sections of the map, or them being thrown right back into the action where they can fight and not give the enemy time to re-group. As an officer, you want to be incredibly aggressive and be where your team needs you most. It's nigh worthless to be standing behind the frontline, doing nothing but looking through your binoculars at your own men getting blown to bits.
  
  
• At last, STAY ALIVE. Be aggressive, but not stupid. If you manage to work your way up to the enemy line but are pinned down, hunker down and try your best to not be killed. Your teammates will use you as a spawn-point and that is vital. You being a spawn-point is useless and annoying when you stand near the back in your own trench, but extremely helpful and decisive when you're right near the enemy line.

Types of Officers

There are thus far two different types of squads in Verdun, and thus two different Officer types. Their core purpose remains the same, but with some alterations in strategy:

Caporal / Unteroffizier:

This officer type leads the standard infantry squads, the French Poilus and the German Landsers. Your starting arsenal is as follows:

• Pistol (Ruby / Luger)
  
• Binoculars
• Artillery / Mortar strike
  
• A rifleman, grenadier and machine-gunner.

As officer of the standard infantry, you should, for the most part, direct your men to confront the enemy head-on. With grenades and heavy-fire support, you're a force to be reckoned with.

When attacking, storm the trenches. Remember: SPEED IS YOUR FRIEND. The faster you get your keister on the frontline and in the enemy's face, the less time you give them to counter-attack. Encourage your squad to move up as well into the zone to capture. Having them picking off the enemies from a section behind is effectively doing nothing. And remember, your squad can spawn on you, so don't wait for anyone.

You only have a pistol, but do not underestimate it. It fires a full magazine in just a few seconds and you're given a LOT of ammo, so don't be frugal. At close range it can take down anyone with 2-3 shots, so it's perfect for clearing the trenches with. Another reason to get up close and personal in the fighting as an officer. It's also useful to pop a few shots at enemies in the distance if they're pinning you down. It's not likely to kill anyone, but they'll know their being shot at and likely duck and cover for a short while.

As this type of officer you also have the ability to call in ARTILLERY! To use it, hold down 'Q', aim to the location you want to hit and right-click. Your enemies will only see your faint moustacho'd face peek from behind a rock for a moment before their blown to smithereens by your artillery. Then it's your time to move in. Good artillery targets include stubborn enemy machine-guns and large concentrations of enemy troops, especially in their trenches. It can break open a hole for you.

Note: Be observant of enemy officers' incoming artillery. If you manage to see them looking through their own binoculars, followed by dark streaks raining down from the sky, it'd be a good idea to alert your men and move out of there.

While advancing, attempt a rolling barrage by calling in artillery on an enemy-dense location and then immediately moving in once the artillery is finished. It's extremely effective for clearing a stubborn stronghold. (Remember, you can use your binoculars to get a good view before advancing, and you can call in orders whilst looking through them too!) Whilst defending, artillery is best used to cut off enemy routes, especially when they've penetrated your lines through a single gap.

Bonus tips:

• You'll unlock a grenade later on. When you throw your grenade on the attack, get up and move as soon as you hear the bang. Don't wait around. The smoke will provide some cover for you as well as give the enemy no time to fill in the space you just blew up.
  
  
• Never neglect pistol-whipping your foe. If they have a bolt-action and you're in the middle of reloading, you're more likely to survive if you whack them with it than wait to reload. Though note that the binoculars are terrible for this job and should only be used for comic relief.

Guide / Oberjäger

This officer type leads the elite light infantry squads, the French Chasseurs Alpins and the German AlpenJägers. Your starting arsenal is as follows:

• Rifle (Mousqueton / Kar98AZ)
  
• Binoculars
  
• Reconnaissance plane
  
• Heightened mobility
  
• Two rifleman and a sniper.

As you can see, this officer type and its respective squad are a fair bit more limited than the previous one. Though that doesn't make it any less deadly.

As a light infantry officer, your primary objective should be to flank the enemy, using your better mobility and quick-firing rifles to your advantage. Without heavy fire-power, you'll need precision.

Be observant and see where the enemy is amassing. Chances are, there will be one side of the map less densely populated by enemies than the other, and that's where you can flank them. Direct your men to keep to the side less traveled and attack the enemy from the side. All of your men, yourself included, is capable of picking off enemies from across a field whilst staying relatively hidden.

With mostly only rifles and a lack of grenades, your squad is less suited for trench warfare than its standard counterpart. Care should be taken to pick off as many enemies as possible from the flanks and work your way inwards, even better if you and your squad manage to work your way behind the enemy.

Whilst attempting to wriggle your way into the enemy lines though, it's important to take note of the best route in order to get into their zone. REMEMBER: You don't necessarily need to kill the enemy in order to capture land. Your primary objective should be to get into the zone, then kill. Infiltrate first and foremost.

When defending, your men will form an excellent line of defense, so there's not too much to worry about here. The flanks are best reserved for the machine-gunners. Just keep in mind to remind your squad to STAY IN THE FRONT. Refusing your enemy entry to your trench is all about sticking in it. Staying back and picking off enemies in the distance, although perhaps more comfortable for light infantry, will accomplish nothing if the enemy hunkers down in your trench.

You also have a reconnaissance plane available to you with holding down 'Q' and right-clicking. However, as of the time this guide was written, the plane does not yet function besides merely flying overhead. In a future update it will be able to tell you the locations of enemy soldiers on the mini-map, so stay tuned for that and be prepared to take advantage of that.

Bonus tips:

• As a light infantry officer, you are equipped with the same weapon as everyone else in your squad. This is great for long-range combat if you know how to aim it well, especially since these rifles are faster-firing than the ones of the standard infantry. You should aim for where the enemy IS, not where they're going to be. It might be a hard habit to break, but you'll be longshotting heads off a running target in no time if you aim it right on the spot.
  
  
• When fighting through the trenches, it's often best to "hip-fire" the rifle when coming face to face with a foe. At this close a range, chances are it will be a one-hit kill and will save you those precious half-seconds that mean the difference between either you or him pulling the trigger first.

Conclusion

Well that's just about covers it for now. I will update this guide with any new officer types that arise as well. Thank you all very much for reading this guide, and hopefully this guide was of some help, even by a little bit, plus to make the officer class a little less boring-looking to anyone who got just a pistol and thought "what the hell". As an officer, you are pivotal to the outcome of the battle, so go make it happen!

[Fake]

v right click

[C₈H₁₀N₄O₂ Enthusiast]

Stupid question but how do you deploy smoke and gas

[Scott <TM>]

Good guide. As an officer the most important thing to understand is when to just sit there and work as a spawn point and when to call down hell and take over a gap. Peace & Violence.

[~{1E}~℟εįḉђȿ₣ϋḩřS]

Thank You !
Awesome guide

[Bassie_c]

update! thanks :)

[guidodriesen]

good guide and very learnfull, Thanks !

[SHANSHIRO]

helpful

[P40no.1]

Your welcome

[dabbo]

Whoops, my bad, thanks for pointing that out, Galli. Fixed now.

[P40no.1]

The luger and the ruby both use magazines not clips.