This is one of the best missions in H&D. The action is intense and exciting, and the scenery is outstanding. It's also a mission with creative possibilities; there are several different ways you can run it.

What follows is how I run it at the hardest level of difficulty. At the easier levels there are more different options. You can experiment a bit if you'd like.

This is the first mission in the game in which there is a good chance - especially at Hard level - of taking casualties. No matter how well you handle your troops, it's possible you're going to lose one or two of them. This is in some measure a luck-of-the-draw mission: sometimes it's not so tough, sometimes it's a nightmare. It's never easy.

MISSION: The prisoners are in a boxcar on a train that has been stopped by the local resistance, who have blown a bridge. (And then, it would seem, buggered off without sticking around to see if they can help you.) Their car is flanked by a pair of armored rail cars, heavily armed. There is another such armored car a little way up the train. The whole thing is sitting on the track next to the demolished bridge. The mission has four parts: destroy the three armored cars, and eliminate all enemy in the area. This is the first one in which you are actually required to kill all the Germans in order to get credit for completing the mission.

CONDITIONS: Daytime. Fine weather. Gorgeous in fact.

THE OPPOSITION: Lots and lots of them. Two basic main types: Luftwaffe and SS. Both are very aggressive and dangerous.

In the area around the abandoned ranch buildings there are about ten of them, mostly Luftwaffe riflemen with some SS packing MP-40s. Two more - one of each - walk a patrol along the road near the bridge. Two more, both SS, patrol along the railroad tracks and out onto the remains of the bridge. There are also three riflemen stationed on the rocky hills overlooking the ranch and the road. You're outnumbered, soldier.

PERSONNEL: You will need one first-rate specialist sniper. Smedley is perfect for this job; he's the best sniper in the game. If you don't want to risk him this early in the game, though, Web is just as good a shot though not very durable.

You will also need at least one good fast gun. McGatt would be perfect but you probably shouldn't be gambling with him this early in the game; he's too valuable later on. I recommend Mills, a superb all-around soldier with excellent reflexes.

Then you'll need two good all-around men. One of these will be the commander of the team; I'm assuming this is your own character. The other ought to be reasonably strong, because he's your demo man and will have to carry charges in addition to a rifle and, if he can manage it, a Sten or MP-40. Lt. Wooley is a good demo man; he's incredibly strong and a reasonably good shot as well, and almost indestructible.

EQUIPMENT: Your character and the sniper should have rifles; captured Mausers if you've got them - and by now you should have plenty - because this mission involves some extreme long-range sniping. You can carry a submachine gun in addition if you like, though you shouldn't have any need for it.

Your demo man should have a rifle as well, and preferably a submachine gun too. There aren't many ghouling opportunities in this mission; with one exception, you can't count on picking up enemy weapons. Your fast gun needs only a submachine gun; he shouldn't have to do any sniping.

Besides small arms, you need three explosive charges. A bazooka with a couple of rounds can be carried just for backup.

AT THE START: You're standing behind a truck on a road that runs along beside a river.

PROCEDURE: First off, STAY OUT OF THAT RIVER AND DO NOT TRY TO CROSS IT. At least one of the walkthrough websites tells you that you can wade across the river, it's only a couple of feet deep. WRONG. If you try it you will merely drown, instantly and ignominiously. It may be that in some earlier version of the game you could wade across, but in the Deluxe version available for free download, you can't. Try it yourself if you don't believe me, but be sure you save first or you'll throw away a good man for nothing.

You want to go to the left, to the northeast. Be aware that the first part of your route may be under fire; there is a rifleman up on the nearest hill who will shoot at you if he sees you, and now and then he hits. Go to crouch, bend way forward, and run like hell following the lowest part of the little valley. As you get near a pointy-shaped green hill, you can turn more eastward. There is an area at the base of the green hill that makes a good assembly point. Wait there and bring up your men, one at a time, everybody staying down and running hard.

If anyone got hit, you may want to reshuffle some assignments at this point. Assuming no one did, the next step is to move your sniper up the green hill. (If you don't like to switch viewpoint characters, you can do this next part yourself.) As you - that is, the rifleman - start to get near the top, as your head begins to come level with the peak of the hill, use the third-person view to check your progress and your direction. There is a single sentry standing on a peak to your southeast. Move gradually up the hill until you have him in sight and zoom all the way in and shoot him.

Now go into a crouch and take off along the ridge running to the east. Don't run along the crest of the ridge, stay over to the left, keeping the rock between you and the road. When you come to the area where the ridge flattens out and starts to climb, run on up the slope but be careful, and hit the deck when you're about two-thirds of the way up. Use third-person view to check what's ahead of you. There is a sentry standing on top of the hill. Move forward until you can almost see him. He turns this way and that constantly. By using third-person view you can determine when he's looking the other way, and quickly move forward till you see him and shoot him.

You now own this hill. You won't own it for long if you don't get the next part exactly right.

You'll see that the hill is flat on top, a little plateau with precipitous sides, overlooking the ranch area and the train. Crawl out on this, staying away from the edge, till you get next to the dead guard. Now turn to face roughly southeast, toward the neighboring hill. There is an SS bastard over there, on the hillside facing your way. You have to eliminate him before you can move around up here, so ignore all other targets till you've got him. Crawl gradually forward until you can see him and kill him.

Staying where you are, staying back from the edge, turn again to your right until you can see the train on the wrecked bridge. There is a spot in between a couple of cars where you can see one of the bridge sentries walk by. Wait till he appears and pick him off. It's long range but you can do it. It may take several shots but once you get him pinned down he's not going anywhere.

Back away from the edge now, out of sight of the valley. If you've been controlling your sniper, pull up the map and give him Wait and leave him there for now. If you've been doing this part as yourself, stay down and head back the way you came - pausing to collect the dead guard's MP-40 - and rejoin the others, and send the sniper up the hill, keeping him low and having him crawl the last bit, and park him somewhere out of sight of the valley and give him Wait. Walk him through all this manually, don't try to use the map command, he's liable to run off a cliff or something.

Either way, you've now got your sniper in position on top of the hill, out of sight of the valley and under Wait command. Time for the next phase. You and your demo man are going for a walk in the country.

And beautiful country it is too. This is one of the most enjoyable experiences in H&D. You're going to walk around the back of the hill where your sniper is located, on past the perimeter of the ranch, into the rugged country on the north and then east sides of the target area. Use the map to plot your course, being careful not to expose yourself. (Remember Uncle Tod who did that, and how they finally took him away.)

Your demo man has to come along too. I wouldn't risk a Follow Me in this rough terrain; God knows what he might do. You can either go all the way to your destination and wait for him, or stop after a short way and have him catch up and so on; it doesn't really matter, whichever you prefer.

Your destination is the big mountain at the eastern end of the map. Be careful, as you get near, and don't let yourself be skylined anywhere within the arc of fire of those machine guns on the train.

If you'll climb up on top of the big mountain and walk around to the more or less level area on the southwest side of its peak, you will find yourself looking down over the whole scene: the train, the bridge, the ranch. As you may well imagine, this has splendid possibilities.

First you want to get the guard who is patrolling on the far side - the south side, more or less - of the train. Just watch for him through your scope, wait till he's out in the open - don't get hasty, you've got all day now - let him get turned around so his back is to you, and zoom in and shoot him and keep shooting him until he quits moving. Reload and say, "All right."

Now move to your right somewhat, up toward the highest part of the area where you're standing or lying. The next part is a bit harder, but well worth it. You're going to get those two bastards down on the highway.

You can't see the highway from here, quite, but at one end of their patrol they turn off the road and come up the slope a little way between the bridge and the ranch, along the ranch fence. When they do this they can be seen from where you are - through the scope, don't waste your time trying to see them otherwise - and killed. They will not be very clear, just blurry bluish figures blending in with their misty background, but you can spot them if you look hard in the right place. Take as long as needed; this is by far the best way to get rid of those two - all the other ways are tricky and dangerous; they're very fast and very good shots.

They'll show up one at a time rather than together, so after you get the first one you'll have to wait some time to get the other one. If the second one doesn't show up after a considerable wait, then never mind him for now; he may have gotten up to something else, anyway we'll find him eventually.

(You may also be able to make out the helmeted heads of the gunners in the armored train cars. Don't waste your time or ammo trying to hit them. This is one of those invisible-armor things you sometimes find in H&D; even though there's nothing between their heads and your rifle, the game thinks there is. Never mind; you'll be getting them soon enough, in a far more spectacular way.)

If you'll move around a little, you'll see that there's a place where you've got a good view of the ranch grounds. With the scope out at extreme magnification, you should see at least a few enemy wandering around the grounds. Don't shoot yet. Back your man away from the edge and lay him down, and give him Wait. Do the same with the demo man, who should by now be next to him with his own rifle ready.

Now it's time to move your fast gun into position. Before you do, though, you need to make sure it's safe. Remember those two guards you shot, back at the start, on that hill above the ranch - the one across from where your sniper is waiting? There's a chance they may have been replaced by now; it's been known to happen. Release your sniper from Wait and crawl him toward the edge, and use third-person view to see if there's anybody alive over there.

Look carefully, because if there's one there's probably two. If there are, pick them off in the same way you did before - using extreme caution, this is a very dangerous business - and then, once they're guaranteed down, move your sniper back and give him Wait once again. Don't move him too far back, he's got a job to do pretty soon.

With the flank secured, take your fast gun - you may be surprised where he's wandered to by now - and move him down into that little grassy draw between the two hills. If you've already gotten both the road guards, then he can just go around the little green hill, but if one of them may still be at large then take him over the ridge, under cover. Make him get well down, out of sight of the people around the ranch buildings.

Now you have a shooting job to do, and you'll have to temporarily take over your fast gun and do it for him. If you have a problem with operating more than one character first person, then you're on your own, I don't have any advice for you.

The fast gun's first job is to eliminate a very dangerous sentry who patrols along the bases of both the hills, first along the base of the hill to the right of the draw, then along the base of the cliff below your sniper's position, then back. If you don't get him he is liable to hit your sniper when he opens up.

So wiggle up the little draw till you're nearly to the highest point - still down out of sight, though - and, using third-person view, watch for the sentry to go by. While you're waiting, look carefully to see if there's another guard standing in your line of sight; sometimes there is. If so, make a note of his location but don't shoot at him yet. The one walking patrol is your priority target.

You want him moving away from you, and not too far away, so you may have to watch while he completes his patrol and starts again. When he comes past and executes a right turn and starts to walk away from you, get back into first-person, move quickly forward, spot him and give him a long, long burst in the back. He's got to be totally, permanently, severely dead.

If there's another one in sight, fire the rest of the clip at him and then move back. If you aren't sure you got him, wait a few minutes to see if he comes after you. He probably won't, though.

Now move your fast gun to his right - you can go back to third-person control now if you prefer - to a position where he has a view of the cliff face below your sniper. He must not be visible from the valley. Using the map, give him a Guard command to cover the cliff face. This is insurance: sometimes the bad guys will try to climb the cliff to get at the sniper, and he'll be able to sweep them off.

Now go back and rejoin your own character, back on the far hill. Move him up to where he's got a clear view of the ranch, cancel the Wait command, pick a target, and shoot. Probably there won't be more than a couple of Germans where you can see them, but kill at least one and then get back out of your character and leave him to snipe on his own. Quickly switch back to your sniper and move him up into position and use him to shoot a couple of the enemy. Leave him for a moment and move your demo man up and take him off Wait so he can fire at any targets of opportunity.

You see what you've done. The Germans down at El Rancho Grande are caught in a ninety-degree crossfire. This sort of thing confuses even real live soldiers, let alone the easily flustered AIs. By dividing their attention, you prevent them from concentrating their return fire. At the same time, because you've got the valley covered from two different angles, there aren't many places they can take cover.

You want to switch back and forth between your own character and the sniper. While the sniper's AI will do a pretty good job of picking off any Germans he sees, he doesn't always spot them if they're behind trees and bushes, and also he has a tendency to creep too far over the edge and expose himself to return fire. At the same time the range from the other hill is awfully long and your own AI may not be able to recognize targets.

When you're pretty sure you've eliminated all the Germans on the ranch grounds, it's time for your demo man to do his thing. First you've got to get him down off that hill, which can be a little tricky; you should save first. If you'll walk him third-person over to the rock lip above the tracks and look down, you'll see that there's a kind of crack or cleft running down the face of the precipice at about a 45-degree angle. Proceed carefully and he can walk down that. Slip up and he breaks his neck; you did save, didn't you?

Once you've got him down by the tracks to the rear of the train, the procedure should be obvious. Blowing the rearmost car is just a matter of walking straight up the tracks and setting a charge underneath the ass end of the car. This should be quite safe; the machine guns on the train can't cover this direction and you've supposedly cleaned out everybody else.

(If somebody does take a shot at your demo man, then run him back toward cover - at this range they probably won't hit him, at least seriously - and check the ranch grounds out again, first from your own viewpoint and then through the sniper's scope. There may be a German or two you've missed.)

Once the rear car is blown, the demo man will have to wait while the fire dies down before walking alongside the train - staying very close against it - and setting another charge by the next armored car. It shouldn't be necessary to point out that he's a dead man if he doesn't stay up against that train. The MGs can't depress or traverse enough to harm him as long as he's in their blind zone, but God's mercy on the fool if he wanders.

Run him back down the tracks toward the tunnel and wait while the second charge goes off. Now there should be only one remaining step; so it's time to start rounding up the team and getting ready to depart.

Your own character can leave at this time, back the same way you came - pause and admire the scenery if you like, it's really spectacular - till you get to the road. Bring the sniper down off the hill and the gunman out of the draw and gather everybody together at the truck and get in. You'll probably want to drive yourself; have the other two get in back.

What about all those bodies lying around the ranch now? Shouldn't they be rolled? No. Forget it. Stay the hell away from that ranch. The remaining armored car has most of the grounds covered with its machine guns. Anyway this isn't a looting mission; it's the last mission in the campaign and by now you should have more than enough German hardware in your collection.

So get everybody but the demo man into the truck and drive the truck down the road and up under the bridge and stop. Much farther and you'll come under fire from the MGs on the train.

(The truck part is entirely optional, by the way; you can just leave everyone where they are - there's no requirement about "reaching the escape point" or anything like that. But it looks cool, and besides you'll want the truck to carry those liberated prisoners, right?)

Now your demo man can walk back up the track, alongside the train - on the left side, just in case there's still a hostile or two wandering around the ranch - and set the last charge at the remaining armored car. Give it a long delay.

It's possible to get down and crawl over the edge of the embankment and then up and run like hell toward the road, staying down underneath the machine guns' line of fire. It's a damn risky business, though, and I don't recommend it. Neat as it seems to have everybody in the truck when the last charge blows, it's not a terribly practical idea. Best just to run your demo man back down the track toward the tunnel once again and let him wait there.

As an alternative, somebody can come up alongside the embankment on the other side of the track and bust the remaining car with the bazooka. There's no real point in doing it this way unless perhaps your demo man got killed or made a mistake and wasted one of his charges, but you might just like the variety; the bazooka is fun to use.

When the last armored car blows, you'll get a third completion message. The message should tell you that you've completed all objectives, including that of eliminating all enemy in the area. If it doesn't include that last part then you've got a problem; you missed somebody somewhere. He's almost certainly holed up in one of those ranch buildings and you're going to have to smoke him out. Everybody will have to get out of the truck, say shit in unison, and go find the son of a bitch. Good luck. It's never happened to me so I have no suggestions. Be careful.

Congratulations; you've just completed your first campaign in H&D Deluxe. If you've completed all four without losing a man, you have reason to be proud of yourself; if you've run this entire campaign at Hard level without losing anyone or taking any serious injuries, you're well on your way to mastering this game.

And now back to Blighty for tea and medals.