Warhounds Getting Started Guide
Warhounds is a high-lethality tactics game where bad positioning permanently costs you operatives. This guide covers what to know before your first mission so that early mistakes do not cascade into unrecoverable losses.
The opening mission, Presidential Palace Insertion, drops you into combat quickly. Positioning before enemies activate is critical.
Choose Your Difficulty
Warhounds allows full difficulty customisation before starting a campaign. The tactical layer can be set independently from the management layer, so you can play challenging combat while keeping logistics forgiving, or vice versa. If this is your first XCOM-style game, start with a lighter setting — the ballistics system has a learning curve even for veterans of the genre, because it replaces familiar probability numbers with physical reasoning.
Understand the Mission Loop
Each contract takes 25–40 minutes to complete (longer on harder settings or difficult maps). Missions are not endless slogs — they have defined objectives and endpoints. Between missions, you return to your mobile HQ — a cargo vessel — to handle recruitment, medical care, equipment purchases, and faction decisions. These management actions directly shape which future contracts and allies become available.
Build a Balanced Squad from the Start
The five classes each fill a role the others cannot. A starter squad that works well:
- Assault — your pressure unit; gets enemies moving
- Sniper — placed on high ground before any engagement begins
- Grenadier — strips cover early; use their actions before enemies scatter
- Machine Gunner — zone control; pairs with the Sniper to pin and shoot
- Specialist — reconnaissance tools (scanner, drone) that reduce blind engagements
A squad of five one-class-each is a solid default. Avoid bringing two Snipers at the start — the early maps often do not provide enough elevation to justify double-Sniper positioning.
First Mission: Presidential Palace Insertion
The opening mission is a direct-action contract that introduces the core mechanics. Before you move, identify high ground — send the Sniper there first. Place the Machine Gunner in a position that covers the most likely enemy approach. Only then begin advancing with Assault and Grenadier. The ballistics system means your first instinct to rush forward and shoot will often fail — range, angle, and cover interact in ways that favour deliberate positioning over speed.
Smoke Grenades Are Essential
Early-game, smoke grenades are one of your most valuable tools. They let you reload, heal, revive, or draw enemies out of entrenched positions without exposing your squad to direct fire. Budget for smoke grenades in your equipment purchases between missions.
Protect Your Veterans
The ten unique veteran operators are irreplaceable — permanent loss ends their story arc and removes their abilities from the squad forever. Treat veterans as your bench of competent replacements: rotate wounded veterans out, keep recruits on missions where exposure is high, and extract veterans before a mission goes sideways rather than pushing for a clean victory at the cost of an operator you cannot get back.
The Intel Economy
Intel is the campaign currency for contracts and base improvements. Do not spend it all on the first available upgrade — Intel also unlocks contract access and faction relationships that shape which missions appear. Keep a reserve and check what each spend closes off before committing.
Mid-mission: cone overwatch covers predicted enemy routes while other units advance. Overlap multiple overwatch cones on the same chokepoint for reliability.