Paratroopers and Their Boxes
This suggestion is split into two parts:
Part 1 covers changes needed for Paratroopers themselves, and
Part 2 will cover changes to the Paratrooper Equipment Boxes.
Let’s dive right in.
Part 1: The Paratroopers
Paratroopers currently suffer from four major problems:
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1. They’re not in the tech tree, and therefore not available to everyone
All soldier classes in the game should be accessible through progression in the tech-tree, not locked behind paid bundles or time-limited events. This should be a basic principle, and I hope it’s one everyone can agree with.
Ideas for where in the tech tree they could be unlocked:
Soviets:
- PPSh-41 (box), then make the weapon upgrades be shared with the assaulters (like how many tech tree vehicle squads share upgrades for vehicles)
USA:
- M1A1 Carbine, foldered with the M1 Carbine (read issue 4 for context) as a US squad, and
- Sten Mk V (hopefully added in the future) as a UK squad.
Germany:
- MP 38 as a German squad, then make the weapon upgrades be shared with the assaulters, and
- Beretta M1 as a Italian squad, then make the weapon upgrades be shared with the assaulter.
Japan:
- Type 100 Rifle (foldered with Type 99 Early rifle) or Type 100 SMG (foldable version of regular, also hopefull future weapon).
2. Only the USSR has fully customizable Paratrooper squads
Need I say more? The Soviets currently have two customizable Paratrooper squads, whilst everyone else has none. This should be the standard across all factions, along with subfaction alternative Paratroopers. This is a basic parity issue that needs fixing.
3. Paratroopers should not be dropping with heavy weapons
Short explanation: It’s silly.
Long explanation:
What’s the biggest logistical concern for a WWII paratrooper? Weight.
Paratroopers had to carefully balance their gear—every gram counted. Even full-length rifles were a concern during airborne operations, which is why historically equipment was often dropped separately in supply containers. These supply drops didn’t need to cushion a human landing, just the gear, so they could be packed more heavily.
So why are we seeing entire squads parachuting in with machine guns strapped to their backs? That’s lunacy. All heavy weaponry should be in the Paratrooper Supply Boxes, not in the hands of troops during the drop. For customizable squads, this would mean restricting airborne loadouts to SMGs, rifles, and assault rifles.
There’s one exception: the Japanese Type Hei squad, which currently carries an LMG. Changing this squad’s weapon outright wouldn’t be fair to those who purchased it, neither would be reclasifying the squad from Paratroopers to MG. The best compromise is to reclassify the Type Hei LMG to a semi-auto rifle, like the tech tree version, to preserve its use in airborne squads under these new limitations (important in part 2 of the suggestion).
4. Some event Paratrooper weapons should be added to the tech tree
Let me explain:
Several of the Paratrooper weapons currently locked behind events or paid squads deserve to be part of the standard progression system:
- FG 42 with grenade launcher (Schießbecher)
It’s just the regular FG 42 with a mounted grenade launcher—the exact same launcher issued widely to German infantry. If the FG 42 is in the tech tree, so too should this version be. If alternatives for other factions can’t be found (though I can already think of M2 Carbine with nades for the US), well that’s alright, it’s okay for factions to be unique. And if you’re worried about it being a straight upgrade, just give the regular FGs their long-requested bayonets that it already should have, but nades aren’t that good anymore lets be honest especially less useful when your weapon fires in fully automatic. - Vickers No.2 Mk.1
(Name’s wrong in-game, but I’ll save that for another thread.)
This British LMG should absolutely be a tech-tree counterpart to the BR 5 M1919A6, much like how the MG 42 100 complements the German tree. The Vickers K fills a missing role for the UK/Commonwealth factions and doesn’t overpower anything—it’s needed. - M1A1 Carbine
With over 150,000 produced, this was one of the most common airborne weapons in the U.S. arsenal. It’s functionally identical to the M1 Carbine, just with a folding stock. This is a no-brainer tech-tree addition—simply fold it in (no pun intended) under the M1 as an alternate unlock. - Type 100 Rifle
Despite low production numbers, Japan is filled with rare and low-volume prototypes already. The Type 100 Rifle is essentially just a converted Type 99 with worse stats—there’s no reason not to include it. This would allow players to roleplay airborne-themed squads outside of the dedicated Paratrooper class, which adds depth and flavor.
If these weapons are moved to the tech tree, the event squads they currently belong to could either:
- be added to the tree themselves, or
- simply remain unique collector’s squads (and in the silver chests) without exclusive equipment.
In summary:
- Fix issues 1–3 to make Paratroopers fair, consistent, and more historically grounded.
- Move the weapons listed under issue 4 into the tech tree, where they belong.
Let’s finally give the Paratroopers the love they deserve.
Part 2: The Paratrooper Boxes
The recent changes to how Paratrooper Boxes work are a fantastic quality-of-life improvement, shifting from broad the old low/high-BR only boxes to more BR-specific boxes was a step in the right direction.
However, the ideal system would be fully customizable boxes. I hope this is already on the radar and will be implemented in the near future. Until then, I’d like to offer two suggestions to further improve the current system, one tied directly to the paratrooper changes I outlined above, and the other more general in nature:
- Replace all SMGs in the boxes with Machine Guns (Suggestion-specific)
As mentioned in Part 1, no heavy weapons should be dropped directly with the paratroopers. If paratroopers are equipped with rifles and SMGs, there’s no reason for the boxes to contain more of the same. Instead, assault loadout should only carry MGs (and possibly be renamed to something more appropriate, I wouldn’t call a MG loadout “assault”). This both to the historical authenticity of the game and creates more tactical depth in what box loadout you pick up or if you decide that it’s not nessesary.
- Improve gear authenticity — less subfaction borrowing and no captured weapons (General Suggestion)
Being forced to take ahistorical or faction-inappropriate weapons is a frustrating experience. It’s fine to offer the option of mixed or captured gear (rather the beauty of the current squad system), but that’s not the case currently for the boxes. Players who want to build historically accurate squads should be able to do so, and paratrooper boxes should not disrupt that right out of the window. The boxes should reflect faction identity, gear from your nation/subfaction, not someone else’s prototypes or captured gear.
Bonus if this is implemented: The more people get annoyed by “unbalanced weapons” in their boxes, the more they’ll advocate for fully customizable drops, which only helps push the bigger idea forward!
Specific Box Adjustments
- Pre-war Kar98k to replace Gewehr 98 for Germany BR I–II (same BR, lighter weapon, more appropriate in boxes and more accurate for Paratroopers).
- Sniper FG 42 II to replace Sniper STG 44 for Germany BR IV–V (FGs were historically airborne weapons, they deserve to be in their boxes; I understand the Sniper variant will clash with the normal FGs ammo pools but that can be fixed, such as by boost paratroopers ammo pools for their primary weapons, Sniper loadout is the least used and least useful option anyway so even a partial fix such as this will be more than enough).
- Panzerfaust 60 to replace Ofenrohr for Germany and Italy at BR III–IV (lighter and more appropriate for paratrooper drops, a BR lower than the Ofenrohr but still in the BR III range).
- Breda Mod. 30 to replace ZB-26 for Italy BR I–II (standard Italian LMG is more appropriate than the ZB-26, same BR).
- Sniper M1 Garand to replace No. 4 Mk I (T) for US BR II–III (No. 4 should be UK-only; M1 fits better for the US).
- M1C Garand to replace Sniper M1 Garand for US BR III–IV (smooth progression after the above change; slightly stronger and a justifiable buff).
- M9 Bazooka to replace Ofenrohr for US and UK at BR III–IV and IV–V (the Ofenrohr is captured gear, M9 was widely used and is more thematic because “home made”).
- No. 4 Mk I (T) to replace M1/M1C Garands for UK BR III–IV and IV–V (bolt-actions snipers are a sidegrade to automatic snipers so I don’t see this as a nerf, and also more historically appropriate).
- PIAT to replace M9 Bazooka for UK BR II–III (a BR lower, but in the BR II range and is historically accurate, even if they also widely used M9s).
- Te-4 to replace Type 100 MG for Japan BR IV–V (lighter and more suited to box deployment; BR IV but still fits the BR IV-V matches).
Naturally, as more weapons are added to the game these box selections should evolve to reflect better fits, e.g. a sniper rifle for BR I or MGs for BR III and up for the UK.
That’s all from me for now. What do you think of these proposed adjustments? Did I miss any obvious candidates for consideration?
Would you accept these box improvements as-is, or are there parts you’d tweak?
I’m also happy to announce that I’ll be releasing a series of British weapon and vehicle suggestions soon(ish), including posts on rifles, SMGs, MGs, mortars & AT weapons, tanks, and aircraft.
Until then, Commanders — thanks for reading, and I’ll see you on the battlefield!
