HECU RPG

The HECU Rocket Propelled Grenade, simply known as "RPG", is a weapon featured in Half-Life.

Overview

 * The HECU RPG fires a powerful rocket that can either be guided with a laser or fired without the laser, a method known as dumb-firing is excellent for destroying powerful immobile enemies like the M1A1 Abrams in unison with strafing behind cover.


 * Despite being found in HECU-controlled areas, this weapon is never used by HECU soldiers (besides Adrian Shephard). However, rockets for it can be found scattered throughout HECU-controlled areas, such as the areas the player goes through in Surface Tension.


 * This weapon is first acquired in an HECU supply cache in the cliff portion of Surface Tension. An AH-64 Apache appears soon after, giving the player a good opportunity to test the RPG.

Tactics

 * During the Black Mesa sections of the game, the RPG is primarily used to destroy heavily-armored vehicles such as the M1A1 Abrams tank, the M2A3 Bradley armored fighting vehicle and the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. It usually takes about three rockets to the turret to destroy the tanks, while it takes two rockets to destroy the Apache.


 * It can also be used to destroy a large group of enemies with ease, as it has a large damage radius from the point of impact. HECU Soldiers, Alien Grunts and Vortigaunts will try to run away from it, but the rocket is too fast for them to escape in time.


 * The RPG is one of the few weapons that can damage a Gargantua, so the player should try to reserve as many rockets as he/she can if he/she wants to manually kill a Gargantua.


 * The RPG's laser can be used to guide rockets fired from enemy vehicles. This can be a great way to preserve RPG ammo in case the player wants to conserve it for other targets later on.


 * In Xen, this weapon works well against the Gonarch. It take a few rockets for the Gonarch to try to escape to another part of its arena.

Trivia

 * The Incendiary Cannon in Team Fortress Classic uses the HL1 RPG model.


 * The RPG resembles the German-made Armbrust Rocket Launcher.


 * In an older version of Half-Life: Opposing Force, the RPG's laser sight can be used to throw off the Desert Eagle's bullets.


 * The early model for the RPG resembles the Tau Cannon.


 * The late 1997 HUD icon can be found in the Day One Files.

List of appearances

 * Half-Life
 * Half-Life: Opposing Force
 * Half-Life: Blue Shift
 * Half-Life: Decay