Men of War: Assault Squad 2: Complete Guide

A practical guide to Men of War: Assault Squad 2 (Digitalmindsoft, released 15 May 2014; originally published by 1C, now by Fulqrum Publishing): how the simulation actually works, how to survive the skirmish missions, how multiplayer call-ins and progression work, and which mods and successors are worth knowing about.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the final retail build on Steam (no gameplay patches announced since Men of War II launched in May 2024). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

• This is not a base-builder. There is no harvesting or construction economy. You get units through mission scripting (skirmish) or by spending points on call-ins (multiplayer and AI skirmish). Every unit matters.
• Everything is simulated. Every soldier carries a real inventory, every shell has real penetration, and every tank has crew, armor facing and component damage. Treat units like physical objects, not hit-point bars.
• Infantry die fast in the open. Move them from cover to cover, keep them prone or crouched under fire, and never march a squad across an open field toward a machine gun.
• Face your tanks toward the threat. Frontal armor is dramatically thicker than side and rear armor. A heavy tank shown its flank to an AT gun will die to guns it would otherwise shrug off.
• Loot everything. Dead soldiers and knocked-out vehicles carry ammo, grenades, weapons, repair kits and medkits. Pulling these into your units is how you sustain a long mission.
• Knocked-out is not destroyed. Vehicles that stop moving may only have a damaged track or engine or a dead crew. Repair them and put your own crew in. (There is an achievement, Mechanic, for exactly this in the first skirmish.)
• Use Direct Control sparingly but decisively. Taking manual control of a tank or AT gun lets you aim at weak spots yourself. It is the single biggest difference between a good and bad player in close tank fights.
• Start on Easy. The skirmish missions are hard even on lower difficulties, and the achievements for completing missions are tracked per difficulty anyway.
• Save often in single-player. Quick-saving before every push is normal and expected in this series.

What You Are Playing

Assault Squad 2 is a real-time tactics game built on the GEM 2 engine. It is a standalone sequel to 2011's Assault Squad and part of the long-running Men of War series.

Feature | Details

Factions | United States, Germany, Soviet Union, Commonwealth, Japan

Single-player | 15 new skirmish missions plus 25 reworked missions from the original Assault Squad

Co-op | Skirmish missions support co-op (store page lists up to 8 players)

Multiplayer | 65 maps, 1v1 up to 8v8, matchmaking, ranked progression, Extreme Mode

Tools | Mission editor, map editor, 3D model exporter, Steam Workshop

Theaters | Western Europe, Eastern Front, North Africa, Pacific

DLC on Steam

DLC | What it is

Deluxe Edition upgrade | Cosmetic menu ribbon, avatar icon, HUD element, unique achievement (Five Star General) and an XP boost for multiplayer progression

Iron Fist | Additional content pack

Airborne | Additional content pack

Ostfront Veteranen | Additional content pack

Men of War Origins | A remastered version of the original Men of War, released August 2016

The game is also sold in bundled editions. Cold War is a separate standalone expansion that reviewed poorly (41 on Metacritic) — do not confuse it with the base game.

Core Mechanics

Infantry

• Stances matter. Standing soldiers are fast but exposed; crouched and prone soldiers are much harder to hit and harder to spot. Under fire, get them down.
• Cover is directional. Sandbags, walls, hedges and craters protect from the direction they face. A squad behind a wall is still vulnerable to fire from the side.
• Buildings are strongpoints and traps. Infantry in buildings get strong protection from small arms, but buildings can be shelled or collapsed by tanks and artillery. Don't pack a whole squad into one house facing a tank.
• Weapons have roles. Rifles for range, submachine guns for close fighting, machine guns for suppression, snipers for picking off crews and officers, and AT weapons (rifles, launchers, grenades) for vehicles.
• Grenades are precious. Anti-tank grenades and satchel-type charges let infantry kill tanks at point-blank range. Keep a few soldiers carrying them and sneak them close through cover.

The Inventory System

Every soldier and vehicle has a grid inventory. You can:

• Open a dead or wounded soldier's inventory and drag ammo, grenades, weapons and medkits into your own units.
• Swap a rifleman's weapon for a captured machine gun or AT launcher.
• Pull shells out of a disabled tank to feed your own tank of the same caliber.
• Refill from ammo crates and supply vehicles where a map provides them.

This is how you keep a skirmish going. A common late-mission problem is simply running out of AT ammo — before that happens, scavenge.

Vehicles

• Crew: Every tank and gun needs crew. If crew members die, the vehicle becomes less effective or stops working. You can move infantry into empty seats.
• Component damage: Hits can break tracks, engines, turrets and guns. A tank with a broken track is immobile but may still fight. A tank with a broken gun is a pillbox without teeth.
• Repair: Engineers and repair kits can fix damaged vehicles. Retreating a damaged tank behind the line and repairing it is almost always better than losing it.
• Armor facing: Frontal armor is thickest. Angle toward the enemy, keep the flanks covered with terrain or friendly units, and try to hit enemy tanks in the side or rear.
• Visibility: Tanks see poorly compared to infantry. Scout with infantry ahead of armor so your tanks shoot first.

Direct Control

Direct Control lets you steer any soldier or vehicle yourself, like a third-person action game. In practice:

• Tanks and AT guns: Aim manually at the side armor, turret ring or lower hull instead of letting the AI pick where to shoot. This wins duels the AI would lose.
• Machine guns: Sweep a line of advancing infantry precisely.
• Stealth: Move a single unit carefully through a gap in enemy sightlines.

Don't sit in Direct Control for long stretches while the rest of your force idles; switch in for the critical shot, then switch out. Check Options for the key binding, as it is rebindable.

Artillery, Air and Call-ins

Achievements confirm call-in types across the factions, including the 101st Airborne, P51 Airstrike, Veteran Tiger, Goliath, 203mm B-4M howitzer, Super Pershing, King Tiger, Commandos, the Soviet Charge, the Japanese 200mm Type 4 and generic Artillery Strikes. Heavy artillery flattens entrenched positions; air strikes punish clumped units. Always spread out and relocate after the enemy spots you.

Single-Player Skirmish Missions

The single-player content is a set of standalone skirmish scenarios per faction rather than a story campaign. Mission types vary a lot:

Mission style | How to approach it

Assault/breakthrough | Recon first, then use mortars/tanks to crack MG nests before infantry advances. Take one strongpoint at a time.

Defense | Dig in at chokepoints, put AT guns where tanks must show their sides, and keep a mobile reserve to plug breaches.

Tank defense | Hide AT guns and tanks behind cover so only turrets or fronts are exposed. Repair between waves.

Sniper | Stay prone, fire, then move. Kill officers, gunners and crew first.

Stealth | Avoid alerts; take out isolated sentries and use Direct Control for precise movement.

The Introduction and Early Missions

The introduction is a Pacific landing against Japanese forces. Achievements in it reward cleaning the beach, ambushing Japanese reinforcements, clearing a road block and capturing a Japanese fortification. It is a good tutorial in using cover and suppression before assaulting a fortified line.

Each faction (USA, Germany, Soviet Union, Commonwealth, Japan) has its own set of skirmishes, and achievements track completion per mission and difficulty. If you are hunting achievements, check the Steam achievement page to see which missions and difficulties are tracked.

Mission Workflow That Works

• Pause and scout. Look over the map, find enemy MGs, AT guns and tanks before committing.
• Save.
• Suppress, then flank. Pin the enemy with MGs or HE shells, then move a second group around the side.
• Loot after every fight. Refill ammo, grab better weapons, heal the wounded.
• Repair and recrew. Put your own crews into abandoned enemy guns and vehicles.
• Save again.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer uses a call-in system: you spend points to deploy squads and vehicles, and stronger units unlock as the match progresses. The store lists 65 maps, 1v1 through 8v8, ranked progression, and Extreme Mode for very large, chaotic fights.

Multiplayer Principles

• Don't blow all your points on one big tank early. Infantry, AT and a light vehicle hold more ground than one heavy tank that gets flanked.
• Hold flags with infantry, not tanks. Infantry are cheaper to replace and can use cover.
• Always have AT. Keep AT guns, AT rifles or grenade-carrying squads around, because enemies can call in heavy armor at any time.
• Counter artillery by spreading out. Clumped infantry and parked tanks are artillery bait.
• Micro your expensive units. A veteran heavy tank handled well can swing a match; one left on auto-pilot will be flanked.
• Team games reward coordination. Pick complementary roles (infantry holder, armor, artillery) with teammates rather than everyone spamming tanks.

Population in 2026 is much lower than at launch, and much of the active Men of War community has moved to Men of War II and Call to Arms: Gates of Hell. Expect fewer public lobbies; community Discords and mod groups are the best way to find games.

Mods and Workshop

Workshop integration and the included editors mean AS2 has a huge mod scene. Two long-running, well-known overhaul mods:

• Robz Realism Mod — a realism-focused overhaul of units, ranges and damage.
• Valour — a large overhaul mod with its own unit rosters and gameplay changes.

Mods can change the game significantly and often require all players in a lobby to use the same version. For vanilla multiplayer, disable them.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Charging machine guns head-on. Suppress first, then flank or use HE/mortars.
• Showing tank flanks. Always know where enemy AT is and angle toward it.
• Leaving captured equipment behind. Enemy guns, tanks and ammo are free reinforcements.
• Ignoring ammo counts. Check your AT gunners' and tanks' ammo before a big push.
• Moving tanks without infantry. Tanks are nearly blind in close terrain; ambushes with AT grenades and hidden guns will kill them.
• Not saving. One bad push can end a 40-minute mission.
• Packing infantry into one building. One HE shell or collapse can wipe the squad.

Advanced Tips

• Use Direct Control for weak-spot shots on heavy tanks such as the King Tiger or Super Pershing; the AI often aims center-mass at the strongest plate.
• Recrew enemy artillery in skirmish missions — captured guns change the pace of assault missions.
• Snipers kill crews. Picking off exposed gun and vehicle crews disables weapons without needing AT.
• Retreat damaged units early. A repaired veteran tank is worth more than a fresh one.
• Use terrain and hedges to break line of sight and approach AT positions from angles they can't cover.
• Split infantry into small groups. One group suppresses, one flanks, one holds.
• Think about reverse slopes. Tanks hull-down behind a ridge expose only the turret.

Successors and Related Games

Game | Relationship

Men of War II | Direct sequel, released 15 May 2024 (exactly 10 years after AS2's full release)

Call to Arms – Gates of Hell: Ostfront | Spiritual successor by Barbedwire Studios on a GEM-based engine with realism DLC such as Liberation (Nov 2023)

Men of War: Assault Squad | The 2011 predecessor; AS2 reworks its missions

FAQ

Is Men of War: Assault Squad 2 still worth buying in 2026? For single-player and co-op skirmishes, yes — it remains one of the deepest WWII tactics sandboxes, and it is frequently discounted (it was 80% off in the May 2026 WWII sale). For public multiplayer, expect a small community.

What factions can I play? USA, Germany, Soviet Union, Commonwealth and Japan.

Does it have a story campaign? Not in the traditional sense. It has an introduction plus faction skirmish missions (15 new and 25 reworked from Assault Squad). For story-driven campaigns, look at Men of War Origins (DLC) or Men of War II.

Can I play the missions co-op? Yes. The skirmish missions support online co-op.

Is it on Steam Deck? The publisher ran a Steam Deck community poll in November 2025 to decide on future support; it has no official Deck support announcement yet. Try it at your own risk, as the interface is mouse-heavy.

What does the Deluxe Edition add? Cosmetic menu ribbon, avatar icon, HUD element, a unique achievement and a multiplayer XP boost. No gameplay units.

Should I play Men of War II or Gates of Hell instead? If you want an active multiplayer scene, try Men of War II. If you want maximum realism and a big conquest campaign, Gates of Hell. AS2 remains great for its skirmish variety and mod library.

Sources

• Steam store page — Men of War: Assault Squad 2
• Steam achievements — Men of War: Assault Squad 2
• Wikipedia — Men of War: Assault Squad 2
• Steam news — Men of War II is out now (May 2024)
• Steam news — WWII Game Sale (May 2026) and Steam Deck poll (Nov 2025)