Automatic Rifleman

Automatic Rifleman
General information
Type	Infantry
Faction	United States Germany Soviet Union United Kingdom
Manpower cost	4

"As an Automatic Rifleman, you'll have the advantage of being both mobile and hard hitting. Fighting alongside Riflemen, Assault and Anti-Tank roles, you'll be in a position to attain fire superiority in a skirmish to allow your unit to advance on the enemy and secure the objective."

— Automatic Rifleman Role Guide

The Automatic Rifleman is one of the fourteen playable roles featured in Hell Let Loose.

Gameplay Tips

How to play well: An Automatic Rifleman communicates with his unit and uses suppresive fire to allow other members of his unit to move during an engagement.

How to play poorly: An Automatic Rifleman tries to "run and gun" without the help of their squad, and focusing on kill counts rather than map control.

It’s the thought that counts – When attacking an enemy position where your unit has begun engaging the enemy, if you know where the enemy is but can’t see them, for example a window, fire towards it anyway! The consistent shots will more than likely lead to the enemy not risking themselves getting shot by peeking, allowing your team to overrun the enemy with less resistance and casualties.

Short, controlled bursts – When engaging the enemy at range and going for a kill shot, maintain short, controlled bursts. This will greatly assist you in keeping your sights on the enemy, especially when there are multiple targets in proximity of each other.

Between an explosive rock and a hard place – Having both a mobile automatic weapon and hand grenades allows you to instil panic in the enemy whilst also boxing them in. Throwing a grenade or two into an enemy position, followed up with fully automatic fire can suppress them, leaving them less likely to escape the blast radius. Those that do make a break for it will then find themselves directly in your automatic fire…

Move, but not too far – Whilst Automatic Riflemen are encouraged to shoot and move, it’s worth keeping an active note on your positioning. It can be easy to get over zealous in the heat of battle, leading to a player overextending, leaving them isolated from their unit and vulnerable to enemy reinforcements.

Staying still is ok too – Staying prone and waiting for an ambush opportunity, or merely laying down consistent, suppressive fire from a fixed location on the enemy is a great way to play the Automatic Rifleman too! When paired with the Rifleman’s ammo box, you can successfully keep watch on a given area for an extended period of time.

Loadout

	United States	Germany	Soviet Union	Allies
Automatic Rifleman Level 1	Standard Issue	Standard Issue	Standard Issue	Standard Issue
Primary weapon	M1918A2 BAR x6	StG 44 x6	PPSH 41 with Drum x5	Bren Gun x10
Utility	MK2 Grenade x2 Bandage x2 Hammer M3 Knife	M43 Stielhandgranate x2 Bandage x2 Hammer Feldspaten	RG-42 Grenade x2 Hammer Bandage x2 MPL-50 Spade	Mills Bomb x2 Bandage x2 Hammer Fairbairn-Sykes
Automatic Rifleman Level 3	Veteran	Veteran	Flamer	Drum Gunner
Primary Weapon	M1A1 Thompson x6	MP40 x10	PPSH 41 with Drum x5	M1928A1 Thompson with Drum x5
Utility	M18 Smoke Grenade x2 Bandage x2 Hammer M3 Knife	NB39 Nebelhandgranate x2 Bandage x2 Hammer Feldspaten	Molotov x2 Hammer Bandage x2 MPL-50 Spade	Mills Bomb x2 Bandage x2 Hammer Fairbairn-Sykes
Automatic Rifleman Level 6		Paratrooper
Primary Weapon		FG42 x5
Utility		M43 Stielhandgranate x2 Hammer Bandage x2 Feldspaten

• Loadouts Current for: Update 13

Trivia

• The Automatic Rifleman can be best thought of as a mix between a normal Rifleman and a Machine Gunner, with the mobility and general effectiveness of a Rifleman combined with the ability to suppress and raw firepower of a machine gunner. However it's not as effective as either of these in their dedicated combat roles.
• The Level 3 Automatic Rifleman load-outs can be thought of as an alternative to the Assault role due to their SMGs and access to smoke, however these loadouts will lose out on grenades, limiting the role in some situations compared to Assault.
• Due to the nature of suppressive fire, and the limited number of magazines provided to the Automatic Rifleman, the player will have to choose when and where to provide covering fire much more often than a Machine Gunner. They should seek out a Rifleman or support player for ammunition to stay effective.