Tactics tactics with hand signal

[JOHN_MACCLANE]

It iwll be interresting to see the tactics with hand signal...
It s look like the game day of defeat !
I love hands singal system... It is more realistical inside the battle !!

1 question :
What kind of hand singals will be create ? (less , equal number or more hand singal than in day of defeat ?)

2 question :
can we see national hand signal ? i mean special hand signal created by germans ? and same thing for the russians ??

NB :
i will love to practice special russians and germans hand signal (if national hands signal system exist...)
Look like you cann see in long range if it s a german or a russian by the way the soldier hold his own weapon running, in the same way if you see in long range a soldier doing hand signal you can discover from which side he is...

 

[Dsquad]

handsignals would be cool, and it would be even cooler if they where the same as the german/russians used in ww2.

 

[u-s-e-r]

Yeah, handsignals would be really cool, but this is in the wrong section, it should be in Ideas and suggestions. There it would get the attention it needs too.

 

[Tea and Crumpets]

Apparently the trailer was made from in game footage, just scripted. So I would say that there is already Hand Signals in the game. Would be nice to have it confirmed.

 

[Game-Enthousiast]

Good one but add a whistle as well then for the squad leader in case he is no able to see all his men or the other way around.

 

[Unterscharfuhrer]

Agree, really cool! But if I look at some of the screenshots I ask myself if it isn

 

[lyosha]

Someone in my reenactment group has a book detailing what handsignals the Red Army used, if the devs want this please contact me.

 

[Landrik]

I also have a booklet from my reenacting group that details radio communications, whistle communications, and hand communications for the Germans.

 

[[TW]Wilsonam]

handsignals would be cool, and it would be even cooler if they where the same as the german/russians used in ww2.

We will be using exactly the ones the German and Russian infantry were taught in basic training: absolutely none at all. The only hand signals we've ever found were in a manual for panzer-grenadiers, to signal from half-track to half-track.

The only hand signals I've seen for WWII were in Band of Brothers

To Lyosha and Landrik - are these booklets you are referring to produced by re-enactors or reprints of German/Russian manuals? Just that I have the relevant Soviet "Polevoy Ustav" for 1936, 1940 and 1941 and there isn't a hand signal in sight...

Actually, I was just reminded that I have seen some German hand signals. They aren't from a German field manual, though - they are from one of the many privately-printed booklets around at the time, rather than from a formal Wehrmacht-issued manual. And they are very clunky - I always loved the idea that the signal for "area not clear of enemy" is to stand up straight, facing the rear, holding your rifle above your head in both hands

 

[Zetsumei]

what about natural hand signals that people use even when not trained in them.

Like a gesture like:

come here (waving hand towards yourself)
go away (wave away from yourself)
get down (waving to the ground, like using a dog to sit)
stop (flat hand)
silent (finger against your mouth)
pointing a finger somewhere

Those are signals we often use even though we've never been trained in them.

 

[FlyXwire]

The only hand signals I've seen for WWII were in Band of Brothers

The Band Of Brothers signals are included in a manual I have which was published in 1925 (A Compilation of the Official Regulations as published by the War Department), and there's 8 pages of them. Here's a few taught by the pre-WW2 US Army, just a handful (pun intended), which off the top of my head I think appeared in Band Of Brothers also. A few others shown in the manual also appeared in the episodes:

 

[RedGuardist]

It would appear very strange to me, if there was not "official" hand signals taught and used by the Germans and the Soviets. Hand signals are very essential in combat and I just can

 

[[TW]Wilsonam]

No - hand signals mostly seem to be essential to the AMERICANS. No-one has bothered with much of that in the European armies, even today. There have been bits and pieces of them taught over the years, but far as I've seen, they just don't get used much by anyone except special forces types.

 

[RedGuardist]

Thank you for the info Alan. Very interesting, one allways learns something new.

I wonder why Germans and Soviets did not see hand signals to be that usefull that they would have taught those, as they do the job very well when one must remain silent, or the noise of the combat drowns all shouting. Well, maybe "ad-hoc" hand signals worked well enough for them.

About the modern usage in Europe I have to say that hand signals had quite an important role in leading and communication when I served in FDF. And as I have understood, they used and taught hand signals in Finnish army already before WWII. But I

 

[FlyXwire]

I must add, that I

 

[FlyXwire]

The two following links contain images of German Infantry training manuals illustrating some of the hand signals used by the Wehrmacht (1941 & 1938 editions of Ausbildungsvorschrift fur die Infanterie):

http://www.janssen-militaria.com/oscommerce/product_info.php?products_id=5015

http://www.germaniainternational.com/army29.html

Translation of some of the below images shown here, and for more signals:

http://www.dererstezug.com/HandSignals.htm

 

[Landrik]

FlyXWire: That's what is exactly printed in my field communications manual. I was talking to another reenacting buddy of mine and he says he has one of the old original training manuals from the 30's.

I have to agree that hand signals are important for use on the field especially seeing that the Germans put a lot of emphasis on surprise and hard hitting tactics.

If hand signals somehow died out along the war, (I don't have a lot of information on hand signals throughout the war) I could very much see hand signals being used in Poland, France, and Operation Barbarossa.

 

[[TW]Wilsonam]

Interesting collection, thanks... still isn't going to make me pump my rifle up and down in both hands to indicate "Lots of enemies close", though

 

[FlyXwire]

Landrick, no doubt as war pressures began to constrict the military training programs of Germany (example: whole regiments of Falschirmjagers, most of whom never had practice jumped, etc.), the efficiency and skills of the Wehrmacht declined.

The training film I linked above is attributed to 1944, so in theory combat hand signaling was still being taught/encouraged at that time, at least for specialist troops.

Wilsoman, the various commands would have been used when appropriate, so obviously troops wouldn't have been commanded to stack their rifles except when at rest or at bivouac. Also, by their very nature, many of these commands were (still are) to be used from presumed cover, when in close proximity to the enemy, or when approaching expected enemy positions.

 

[[TW]Wilsonam]

Yes, I did laugh at the concept of a hand signal for "stack rifles"