Make Tech Tree Squads "Faction-Fluid"

Suggestions
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Background

I’ve seen countless posts on bringing back legacy squads. My proposal here is designed to negate the need (since the Devs literally couldn’t care less, although I know they could) and effort required of bringing them back. I’m a post-merge player, so I especially feel the pain of losing legacy squads (since I never had them to begin with). To us, it feels the same as those who had them, but sold them for gambling boxes.

The Suggestion

So, what exactly do I mean by “Make Tech Tree Squads Faction Fluid”? I mean exactly that. All squads should be able to change the nationality AND CLOTHING. Currently, change nationality order only affects the person, not the clothing. With this suggestion, you should be able to change the entire identity of the squad, person and clothing. So, say if you wanted a fully British line up, you could, since you could change any of the US squads into British squads.

Sure, it may not be the same as having real-life squads or legacy squads already set up to be that nationality, but it’s a fix in the meantime. My honest opinion on us getting legacy squads back is very low, especially free additions to the tech tree. I feel, seeing as how popular it is, the Devs would rather monetise them as the greedy bastards they are. This gives us a free way to obtain faction-specific loadouts.

Conclusion

What does everyone think? I for one want to be able to change my squad nationality and clothing with it willy nilly. Yes, I understand the squads have historical backgrounds, but in terms of gameplay, what does it actually mean? I seriously want an Italian Assault Squad, since they have the best SMGs hands down. And yes, Germans did use Berettas. But it just wouldn’t feel right.

I feel this is a good compromise, but I know for some it likely won’t be enough. Hopefully it is for the majority of us. We deserve to have proper faction-fluid (if you will) squads.

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That is the strongest reason for why I disagree with this

If everything down to premium and event squads are at least based on history, then I prefer to preserve what little shreds we have

The only reason change nationality is good was because I can correct some of the few BR/IT squads I have that were filled with the wrong kind of soldiers. However I would never in good conscious make what’s supposed to be an American squad British.

I think the real thing we should be pushing for is that Britain and Italy get properly expanded as sub factions (until the day they’re independent). The first step is giving them all squad types

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It was nice for that, however, it was realistically an issue that should never have existed. We don’t have American soldiers randomly appearing in Soviet squads, so why should we have had Germans randomly appearing in Italian squads and vice versa?

This suggestion was meant purely as a compromise. I would above anything, love to have a separate sub tree for joint factions or even just foldered squads, however, as mentioned previously:

Wouldn’t it at least be better to have the ability to have all squad types as British / Italian, regardless how historically inaccurate it is, rather than waiting an eternity for a promise that likely won’t be filled? And even if it is, you would be paying $50.00 for a squad that’s essentially no different to the ones in game.

I feel that’s the most likely scenario. If they do add free legacy squads to the tech tree, I will take back everything I’ve ever said against the Devs. But until they do…

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While outfits are one of the reasons i want legacy squads it’s only a quarter… i mainly want the iconic squads and the ability to run my lineup however i want free of pointless restrictions

your suggestion would allow every current squad to have their own outfit but i’d still prefer to see the actual squads because you can have the outfits but it doesn’t matter if you don’t have that iconic italian badge

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Yeah, but at the end of the day, you’re not seeing it in the battlefield, only Italian faces and uniforms. Again, all about compromising. At least we (might) get subfaction squads with this suggestion.

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To be really honest I couldn’t care less about pedantic such as squad logo and name. I want my actual soldier kitted with authentic gears

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Thank you for your post. I agree!!

As you allude to, this suggestion would save the need for legacy squads or even new squads.

One of the things people forget is, if you ask DF to add new squads/bring them back, all it means is we have to grind whole new bloody squads just to make them a different nationality. Thats ridiculous!

As for the name and logo, no one sees that except in the main menu. I have suggested for years now they get rid of that silly idea and just have generic customisable classes like Rifleman, Machinegunner, Engineer etc.

Someone a while back suggested unit specific customisation and as a long term addition I would support that.

So to explain the two ideas it would be like you have Rifleman squad (not any unit). You choose USA and then you could add badges of the Big Red One if so desired.

People talk of realism yet to me its very unrealistic forcing people to have mixed lineups and the wrong uniforms in certain maps (like Italians in Wehrmacht uniforms).

For myself Ive been really hoping that DF would make the Allied APC squad customisable so I could finally make them British/Commonwealth and have a full UK/Commonwealth lineup.

It would be better to have a British or Canadian truck, maybe a Universal Carrier as the APC but I dont think its the end of the world having British/Commonwealth soldiers in a Studebaker truck. I believe us Australians did use American trucks at times.

Just for gods sake have a flag at the top and you click it and it changes all uniforms of that squad to either USA Or UK, Germany Or Italy respectively.
Once a nation is chosen the standard customisation for uniforms would apply with a default option for different maps/climates.

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Man, you make it sound so easy and simple. Shame the Devs don’t see it that way. All anyone cares about is the “Legacy Squads”, which in reality the only reason is to have Italian assaulters or whatever. This whole idea would fix that, but sadly apart from us 2, no one seems to get it.

Yay, another fellow Australian.

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There should be a choice to change the nationality of the entire squad instead of only changing individuals in the squads. For the most part, US and British units might have fought side by side, but they rarely if ever fought in the same squads. So, it would have made far more sense for Gaijin to make the “change nationality” option squad wide. They also needed to have a complete uniform list for that nationality change, whether it be Brit or American. I would also say Canadian and Australians as well, but there is no nationality change option for them.

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I think some British models are supposed to be Kiwi / Aussie anyway, and we all used the same weapons anyway so it doesn’t matter to me much.

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I think for the most part Canadian soldiers uniforms were closer to the British as well, with maybe some subtle differences, however it would have been nice if both the Australians and Canadians had a nationality choice.

I have a buddy who is originally from the UK, and every US independence day he sends me a facebook post saying happy independence day, and since the US gained its independence from the UK I always respond with “Sorry”. :rofl: Well, after over a couple hundred years, I don’t think anyone cares anymore. :blush: We both get good laugh over it. When I first moved to the Philippines a couple years ago, I had two neighbors from the UK, one from the US and one from Perth Australia.

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I wouldn’t mind it. That way I could actually use the SMLE Mk III since it would be historically accurate (the only ones who got the Lee Enfield No.4 were British front lines; the others stuck with the pre-WW1 gun). And it would be cool to use the Ross Rifle as well, instead of equipping it to US soldiers who only used it for training, or British that used it for the occasional lend lease.

That’s an interesting combination. The Philippines isn’t exactly the first place I think of meeting people of similar backgrounds, but then again, I’ve never left the state I’ve lived in, so I don’t know too much of the world outside of what the media portrays.

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I’ve been to about half of the US 50 states including Hawaii. Canada, Bahamas, Russia, South Korea, Japan and the Philippines are the foreign countries I have been to. I am still living on tourist visa and next July 2026 will be my three years here so I have to leave for at least a day. Not sure I am going back to the US, or just fly to Singapore, Thailand or Vietnam as those would be cheaper flights then the US. Plus, its a LONG flight to the US from here. :joy:

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Maybe just take whatever is the cheapest flight at the time? Saves the indecision of choosing a destination…I think that’s part of the reason why I haven’t really travelled overseas or interstate even. Just not knowing where to start. I’ve never experienced snow, so I guess I’ll probably go somewhere that snows first.

Queensland

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I live in Queensland, and I guess I never felt the need to leave much because of how much variety there is. I live in South Western area of the Darling Downs region, which is arguably the prettiest area (also where I was born). It has lots of rolling hills and pastures, however is extremely drought prone. It’s only a pale green for one month, and then all 11 months after it’s just red.

The major city in the area, Toowoomba, is something else entirely…it has trees and plants galore. Basically the smaller version of Atlanta.

I used to live in the Fitzroy region, which is right on the Tropic of Capricorn. That’s where the majority of coal mining occurs. It’s extremely hot too. I lived inland a bit and a few summers hit 49°C, or over 120°F. And the hottest sun you’ve ever felt.

The best way to describe Rockhampton is like California, since there were a lot of boulevards lined with palm trees. Not to mention mountains behind it, sort of like a smaller LA. And going further west, where I also lived, it turns into a sort of desert, much like the bottom part of California. I will say I do miss living in Rockhampton at times, but it’s nicer being closer to family, since there wasn’t any up there.

The Mackay region is full of sugar cane and sugar refineries, which I wasn’t a massive fan of. The stench is something you either love or hate, and I hate it. It’s forever green though, so there’s that.

The Northern section is actually kind of ugly, especially around the Townsville area. It’s heavily monsoon influenced, so it’s the brightest green when in wet season, but as dry as the interior during the dry season. But once you get past it, and into the Far North, it goes full tropical. Rainforests and lots and lots of rain. I liked how pretty it looks, but the humidity was too much for me.

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I grew up in the State of Iowa, where it gets cold and snows 3 or 4 months out of the year. My late Filipina wife had a flat tire coming home from work one night and I went out to change it. It was -30 C out that night, and if you’ve never experienced snow then you’ve never experienced the cold that goes along with it. :rofl: 56 years in Iowa, 2.5 years in Florida and 2 years here in the Philippines. In Florida I lived about 20 minutes drive from Daytona International Speedway. Here in the Philippines, warm and humid 24/7 365 days a year. :joy:

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Yeah its really sad. God Ive said it definitely 50 times by now how easy it is to make ANZAC and Canadian uniforms.
Canadian uniforms as @Luvs2spooge said were basically standard British. All we need is the option to add a patch reading CANADA and bam! Canadian uniforms.

I will note that in the film The Devil’s Brigade and one of those American posters ‘This Man is Your Friend He Fights for Freedom’ both had Canadian uniforms as more Scottish with Tam o Shanter hats and kilts.

Id love for Scottish options to be available, the Japanese are unique to have tech tree swords (shin gunto) so I dont see why Allies cant have the unique ability to equip bagpipes. Id have bagpipes as the same as a flask, (and use the same slot), giving temporary stamina due to ‘boosted morale’

But I digress, yeah Canadian really easy to add.

Australian and New Zealander. We have the uniform assets already, in event/premium squads and also the Allied guerilla squad.
Personally Id just make the Allied guerilla squad options open to all squads and add a slouch hat/digger hat and Lemon Squeezer hat.

I like the 1st Agas uniforms best for Australia, though DF should also know that the existing British uniforms (especially Tunisia) are completely fine as well.
I would assume the 1st Agas uniform would work for New Zealanders, Id have to ask a Kiwi whether there were any major differences between AUS and NZ uniforms, to my knowledge it was just the hat and maybe NEW ZEALAND on the shoulder instead of AUSTRALIA.

Master_Snail I dont know why its only us who care. It really pisses me off when (dare I say Americans) say “it doesnt matter”. Well it does actually, not only to those of us from the various Allied nations, but also just players who want variety.
I believe more new players would be attracted to the game if the devs could say here you can choose to play as various nations not just USA or USSR.

Master_Snail haha Im just over the border from you.

@Luvs2spooge yeah I agree, change the whole squad. What’s your thoughts on mixed lineups overall?

One of the arguments against a separate UK-Commonwealth tree has been oh but players want to have USA and UK in the same lineup.
Is that really the case? My squadmate uses all USA, I use all UK (except APC squad which at present I have no control over).
There were times when as you say US and UK/Commonwealth did fight alongside each other but even then from my understanding it was more like D Day where the British and Canadian forces were on separate beaches, its not like UK and US soldiers were literally next to each other in the same trench.

Australian soldiers occasionally joined US patrols and were given M1 Garands but we prefered our own weapons and as stated forces tended to be separate but joined. Similar to navy and army working together.

I think Canada and Australia-New Zealand are very important nations. Sure we werent as big as USA or USSR but Australia was in every theatre except the Eastern Front.
Likewise Canada, certainly D Day and subsequent liberation of Europe the Canadians were instrumental. It is criminal to straight up ignore them, particularly given that Canadian and Australian specific weapons are in game.

So yeah USA flag, UK flag, Australia, Canada. New Zealand Im open to discussion like they should definitely be included I just mean whether in terms of squad nationality selection DF should have a separate NZ option or players just click Australia and then add the Lemon Squeezer hat if desired?

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Yeah, I don’t know why they have never been added as an option, considering how easy it is. Any developer with a single brain cell would understand how easy it is to add them in but clearly even bacteria is a more cognitive organism than the developers.

This is quite an interesting feature. I feel it would be cool, if they added Scottish troops. But my only issue that other nations may be upset they don’t have a faction-specific backpack / melee weapon. Ah well, who cares, in the real world nobody got the same stuff.

I mean like we were both ANZACs, so wouldn’t the uniform for the most part be the same? It would just be individual squad insignias and maybe different hats or colours. But not a huge difference I would imagine. It’s crazy, I’m an Australian and I don’t even know much about our WWII uniforms.

Not trying to get political or anything, but throughout most of the world’s conflicts, America really did shit all, especially during WWI and WWII. All they really did was the last blow at the end (off the work of everyone else) and called it a day. I know there were some squadrons that did a lot, but the general American public believes they were the sole ones who won the wars, when they really weren’t.

As long as we don’t talk State of Origin, I’m sure we’ll have a happy relationship. . .

Only joking, my parents support NSW even though I support QLD. I have no issue really with whichever side you support in whichever state.

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Holy hell. I’m certain I’d uninstall.

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Man, that’s not cool (like it is, but in the other sense). Where I live frequently gets down to -10℃ during the middle of winter, but I couldn’t imagine -30℃. Just the other day I had to head into the city early in the morning, around 6:30am, and it was -5℃. Because there was morning dew, and my car was outside, it created ice on the windscreen, so it was no fun for 15 minutes trying to remove it.

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Where I grew up the temperature only drops below -17 C for a week or two a year, the rest of the winter I would say the average high is normally around 0, sometimes just below and sometimes just above. June through August is hot and humid. In central Florida, it dropped below 0 a few times in the winter, but the high winter temp rarely was below 7 or 8 C.

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