Flamethrower Squad (Hell Squad / Sanitation Team) - Normandy
A fully upgraded flamethrower squad is a very versatile unit that is effective in both long and short range combat situations as well as against enemy armor. However, make no mistake, this isn’t the right squad to rush head on thinking your enemy is going to enable you. In this thread we will be focusing on the proper tactics and equipment and upgrades to get the most out of this squad.
The flamethrower upon contact, immediately basks them in an orange screen that immediately screws with their aim, like a flashbang, so not only are they on fire, but they can’t see shit. To an assaulter being set on fire, it’s not a problem since they can always spray and pray in your general direction and usually have a good idea where that direction is, but to any poor fuck armed with a rifle that isn’t semi automatic, they’re going to have a bad time.
The flamethrower class is a class that suffers from extreme overspecialization. The sniper class who also suffers from overspecialization at the very least has an inventory slot that can either provide him with more ammunition, medikits or toolkits if he wants to help out his fellow driver currently being swarmed by a mongolian horde. The flamethrower class has none of that, he has the nozzle taking up the secondary slot, and a gas tank that he carries fills up the inventory slot, this leaves you with nothing but a rifle, sidearm, grenade slot, and an inventory slot.
The soldiers Stats:
As we have two squad types, there are two levels of flamethrowers and their stats have a substantial health pool compared to the other classes, as well as improving their speed, which should give you insight on the meta of this squad.
| Flamethrower I | Flamethrower II |
|---|---|
| +5 Vitality | +7 Vitality |
| +2 Speed | +2 Speed |
| -2 Weapon Handling |
The weapons:
In Normandy each faction has two types of flamethrowers, one that is unlocked at campaign level 6 the other at campaign level 28, the later being an improved version dealing more damage and having a longer range, at the cost of a lower tank capacity. It should be noted that the fuel consumption of all flamethrowers is 1200 fuel/minutes.
| Weapon | Tank capacity | Range | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| M1 Flamethrower | 300 | 18 | 40 |
| M2 Flamethrower | 200 | 32 | 60 |
| Weapon | Tank capacity | Range | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flammenwerfer 35 | 300 | 18 | 40 |
| Flammenwerfer 41 | 200 | 32 | 60 |
Squad Upgrades:
Flamethrower Squad Upgrade Tree
Unlock the middle tree entirely to get the 50%+ squad experience, then unlock the bomber, assaulter, then the engineer and the second flamethrower. Increase squad size before each unlock. You can get 2 engineers or 2 assaulters, but this will reduce the versatility of a very good squad.
Personnel upgrades:
Flamethrower Personnel Upgrade Tree
This is pretty straightforward since you don’t have to worry about an inventory, or a secondary, so just go straight down the middle line and ignore the sidearm upgrade, wait until you’ve reached the 5 stars flametrooper upgrade to consider getting the upgrade.
Perks:
The two flamethrowers squads have the following base perks :
| Squad 1 (Campaign level 6) | Squad II (Campaign level 28) |
|---|---|
| +28% aim stability after taking damage | +12.3% Health |
So the base perk of the improved squad is way more useful than the first one, so make the switch as soon as you reach campaign level 28.
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+10% Run speed. You will need it to get in short ranges quickly.
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+75% medpack usage speed. this makes you bandage in 2 seconds, could be a good idea if you got downed and want a quick second chance.
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-50% headshake caused by explosives. You will know why when your teammate fires artillery where you’re attacking.
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+100% stamina. You can’t afford getting exhausted before reaching a good position to spit fire - If you failed to get in short range, use your regular firearms.
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+100% health regeneration. If one flame trooper is heavily damaged, but still alive, switch to the other and let this guy heal up
Equipment and squad composition:
| Slot | Soldier | Weapon 1 | Weapon 2 | Backpack | Grenade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flamethrower | Gewehr 34 / M1 Garand | Flamethrower | Fuel Tank | Smoke Grenade |
| 2 | Flamethrower | Kar98k / Lee Enfield | Flamethrower | Fuel Tank | Smoke Grenade |
| 3 | Assaulter | Any SMG | None | Grenade pouch | Grenades |
| 4 | Bomber | Gewehr 34 / M1 Garand | Antitank Weapon | Grenade pouch | Bombs |
| 5 | Engineer | Gewehr 34 / M1 Garand | Hammer | Any backpack | Bombs |
| 6 | Trooper | Any riffle | None | Backpack (for medikit) | Bomb |
Maps:
Urban maps
Urban maps are where the flametrooper shines, if you have a flametrooper squad always send them to cities and towns where he will be most effective, defensively, he can lock down entire points with his flamethrower especially considering the fact that a flamethrower when aimed over an area for a period of time would leave the area in flames, making it an area denial tool, going on an offensive the flametrooper can utilize any windows to send in his flames completely engulfing an entire house in flame, however it is also for this reason that they can be tricky to use in offense, since any place you light up is inevitably going to set on fire, and soldiers in the 1940’s don’t have FPE meaning that it would take a while for you to clear a room since you burnt the only way your ever getting into the building
Open maps
God help you here if you were ever sent to open maps like D-Day or the swamps and it is here the problems of the flametrooper shines. My best advice whenever you get sent to these maps is to simply play defensively and stealthily. In the swamp map A and C is your crib as you can set up defensive positions to roast the absolute shit out of any willing volunteer attempting to capture the point. On D-Day your mobility perks are put to the test as you attempt to flank the machine guns then die to another machine gun positioned behind the other machinegun and clear out the bunkers like they did in Saving Private Ryan, at times you will be forced to sneak your way around mg nests in hopes they don’t see you, where your Metal Gear solid instincts are truly put to the test.
Maneuvering Tactics:
Use “Covering fire tactics” to advance from cover to cover, use the trenches and avoid the treeline unless it’s close to the enemy target. However, do not advance with the flamethrower, don’t risk him being killed, use the troopers, the engineer or the assaulter for this purpose. If a tank in close range spots you, you’re in the best squad for short range combat with a tank, flame it’s optics and use any Anti-tank assets at your disposal to get rid of it while it’s blind. Once you’re near the target, switch to the offensive. Get your squad into cover that’s close to the objective and will still shield your squad.
Offensive Tactics:
In order to maximize the effectiveness of your squad, it’s advisable that you attack from the enemy’s flank and without getting into one big cluster with your teammates, avoid red zones that are marked for artillery strikes and air support.
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Give a hold position order to your squad in a position that’s not too far from the objective (medium range).
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Use non-flamethrower troops in your squad to kill anyone defending the approach, don’t use your flamethrower troops to keep them safe until it’s their turn.
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When you think it’s ok to assault. Do the following:
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In case the enemy is preoccupied by your team’s frontal assault:
- Move into the flank with the flamethrower and torch everything that moves besides burning the entire objective up.
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In case your team isn’t carrying out an offensive or is too weak to occupy them or the enemy is aware you’re attempting to flank.
- Throw a smoke grenade, don’t move through it, they will storm it with bullets. Run next to it so that you’re covered by it and still invisible and at the same time not in their potential firing arc. Again you’re behind your enemy, flame everything in your path!
Notes:
- Throw a smoke grenade, don’t move through it, they will storm it with bullets. Run next to it so that you’re covered by it and still invisible and at the same time not in their potential firing arc. Again you’re behind your enemy, flame everything in your path!
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The extra flamethrower soldier is in case your first one dies.
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In case both your flame troopers are dead, use the assaulter to keep up the offensive.
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If all is dead (the flame troopers and the assaulter), the squad is no longer a flamethrower squad and should be played as a normal troopers squad.
It’s a good idea to try to assault with the assaulter first to clear off some targets, test the offensive and better plan the approach before running in with the flamethrower
Defensive Tactics:
Besides being a very powerful offensive tool, the flamethrower squad is versatile enough to defend. Regarding defending, General George S. Patton said: “No one ever defended anything successfully…” So, don’t sit back in the target bunker or building and wait for the enemy to arrive to kill them. This proved a failure every single time, so why do it? Instead prevent the enemy from reaching the point in the first place. The flamethrower squad is a short range unit and if you position them in a treeline, you’re not using them to their full potential. It’s a much better idea if you use ambushing tactics.
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Use tactical maneuvering (it’s ok to go through the treeline) to reach a hiding position in the enemy’s potential attack route to set up the ambush.
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Hide in a trench, behind a building or a tall wall it isn’t recommended to hide behind walls, a tank smashing through it will tell you why.
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Wait in there until the enemy is close, it’s time to use your flames!
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Your ambush has most likely alerted the enemy of your position because of a giant ball of flames coming from somewhere, you need to change your position, you’re already in short range with the enemy, you’ve the advantage.
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Keep your bomber soldier alive, you’re in a great position to ambush tanks.
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You can use your engineer from time to time to build barbed wire and tank traps to further slow down the enemy.
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It’s a good idea to plant mines while you’re there.
Don’t expect to use this play style and survive for long, don’t feel bad if you get killed before you even reach an ambushing position. Use your normal rifles to kill enemies targeting from a long range as you advance, if they ignore you, don’t stop to shoot at them, keep advancing and stay patient. Don’t be afraid to use your flames whenever an enemy is near you
The end
Again I want to thank everyone on the discord! If it wasn’t for you guys this wouldn’t be possible to make! We are working on other classes right now, so stay tuned! And if you want sneak peek or simply find people to play with, join us with this link:
https://discord.gg/yJZyxWX2gY Thanks for giving this a read and I hope it helps you!
-By TroubleMaker22 and God.Defender98
-Edited by GTG | Lyxilion
-Spell Checked by GTG | Anoreth
