Hi all,

I've been looking at the basic infantry for American and does anyone else feel they are… kinda of all the same? Let me clearify first, I'm not taking about the units in armor 3. No, each of them is very different. But, I'm talking about the armor 2 guys. Aside from the BBQ squad, it feels like they are all the same. There are three squads with the same rules and with only 1 or 2 variations to thier weapons. You got one guy with a bazooka or one guy with a Heavy Machinegun. Its there something i'm not seeing about these three units?

Cheers

Your Right, they are all about the same, but they are cheap units want are very useful in game and the minor weapons differences really has a big impact ingame. I'm a little bummed the Recon units didn't get Scout or Fast (some sort of recon ish rule) but in game it makes it really easy to remember what's what and the minor weapons changes really effect there preferred targets or how to maximize there use. Recon Boys are a mid range anti infantry harassment unit, always trying to stay around 16" from the enemy while attacking/suppressing type two 2 infantry, the fact they only have two UGLs allows for some extra emergency fire power, but it's not enough to make me play them as an Assault unit. Gunners are my favorite unit, as they have four UGLs and a bazooka, allowing them to handle almost any threat to some degree, they get up close well, with the quad UGLs, they can harass Walkers with Bazooka, and disrupt infantry from 16". The Deathdealers are the better weapons platform, it functions much like the Gunners, but loses an UGL for a MG, a fair trade, but I don't want them getting two close, and they are the most expensive unit of the three. It's all about the UGLs.

Yeah, the Battle Grenadiers, Recon Grenadiers, and Tank Killers are the Axis equivalent, and all you are really swapping is the special weapons to plan for what you expect to face.

Opponent bringing Panzers? Take the upgraded Gunners (swap out one M1 Rifle for an extra M9 Bazooka).

Markus leading a Gorilla force down your throat? MGs and Flamethrowers are your way to go.

They're not meant to be drastically different, just a way to manipulate your force to be best prepared for what your enemy brings. Just keep in mind, just like tracer rounds point both ways, the enemy has access to the same force manipulation ability as my first paragraph pointed out.

Zombiejoe said:

Iv found its not the size of the armor of the unit but how you use it

its all about the weapons the bring. You sacrifice dice vs infantry due to rifles in exchange for either more dice vs inf (i.e machineguns) or anti walker capability.

The more games you play, the more you will see the difference i find. I too found little difference between tier 2 infantary until i played more games. On the plus side, it means all infantary are atleast average vs other similar infantary

This all makes sense. I haven't really played to much with the Americans so I'm sure its just lack of exp.

Bazooka squad for anti-walker support

MG squad for anti Armor 2

and UGL squad for armor 3.

Or so it would seem.

spot on joe.

id say the ugl's are your "ignore cover" weapon, but you arnt wrong, they help vs tier 3 very much so due to extra dice.

Even with recon boys only now having 2 ugl's, they are still pound for pound a valuble unit.

Pro-tip - assult rangers are also tastey, but try to mix them up. Nothing is a replacement for good ol 16 inch range rifles and 12 inch ugl's

Thanks for all the advice. I'm an old hand at tabletop but this game is much different than what I'm used to. I'm to used to games with units who's rules are game breaking. Dust is actually rather subtle which is different for me.

Zombiejoe said:

That is something that continues to impress me about this game. Just looking at the stat lines rarely does a unit justice. This game is very different, and it takes some time (and play) to wrap your head around it (even if you are a old grognard…). The way suppression and actions work, something that might seem insignificant becomes a defining feature of a squad in play. I recently played Allied to demo a game, as opposed to my Axis forces, and was pretty amazed to see just how different the squads really were. Just changing out one weapon can really affect how the unit will be useful, where you want it placed, and how it will interact with your other squads.

As I've said before, this is the first game where I really feel like you have your units supporting each other to solve a tactical puzzle.

Grim6 said:

I couldn't agree more with that statement sir. I am play Axis and am seriously impressed with how the units appear to be very similar but in play they behave VERY differently. Also there are times where my "super awesome" Lazers or Zombies unit just fails… like hard and other times where I use them just right and they destroy things! I love this game!