Subfaction improvements

[Valkay]

Hello bajtársak and fellow forum dwellers.

I don’t agree with separating factions, because I enjoy mixing Italian and German units in my Axis deck, as well as I enjoy having British and US squads at the same time.
However the current system sucks and needs changing as quickly as possible.
Today I like to make both pro and anti faction separation camps happy with as little compromise as possible.

Rename Germany faction to Axis faction to better represent Italy as well.
Rename US faction to Western Allies faction to better represent Britain and France too.

1. The question of squads

1.0 Players must be able to recruit any squad of any nationality present in the faction.
This includes all of the squads from assaulter IV squad to medic squad, even mortar, rider and guerrilla squads in any nationality (present in the faction).
So all squads need to have Italian and British (eventually even French) equivalents and players must be able to get them once they unlocked the equivalent squad in the tech tree.

There are three possible ways to do this:

1.1 The first possibility is letting people change the squad nationality in customization.

1.2 The second option is introducing a squad shop in which players can buy legacy squads as well as new Italian and British squads.

1.3 The Third idea is the introduction of squad creation by players (strictly for themselves).
The player would name the squad, choose the squad icon, choose the class and grade of the squad.
Certain limitations must apply such as the squad upgrades must be generic so they can not abuse game mechanics.
For history enjoyers and people who do not wish to spend much time with this, some realistic templates should exist for convenience.

*On a personal note, I would happily pay some gold if I could use premium squad icons, could set the base appearance of the squad and have access to premium squad cloths.

2. Regarding soldier nationality

2.0 This one needs the most compromise.

2.1 We could just make soldiers of any nationality recruitable, but that’s not a very good long term solution. Sure it’s manageable as long as we only have US and British soldiers, but what if French soldiers get added to the allies as well, then it will get confusing and annoying trying to find a British soldier for your British squad among your 100+ soldiers.

2.2 A better compromise would be if soldiers placed inside an Italian/British squad would “assimilate” by getting Italian/British voice lines, faces and names.
The exception from this rule would be GO soldiers and soldiers that were named with callsign orders, those would stay the same, but would still speak the same language as the rest of the squad for immersion.

2.3 Additionally players should be able to change the full name and nationality of soldiers using callsign orders.

3. Nation specific additions in the tech tree

3.0 The nation specific subtree holds weapons and vehicles unique to the nation.
Only squads of the same subfaction can use them, to maintain historical accuracy and make playing with different nation slightly more unique.

3.1 It’s completely separate from the main tech tree, not just Italy and Britain but also the US and Germany would have them.
This also helps to increase the size of the tech tree without bloating it.

3.2 Please note that this is just for show and I have moved nothing from the existing tech tree to the nation specific sub trees. Though I suppose it could be possible if there is high support for it.

3.3 The sub tree could have no requirements and special requirements to research equipment. Lets say P26/40 Pesante has no requirements thus once you unlock Axis tier II you can immediately start researching the P26/40. This isn’t a problem in case of vehicles since you can’t use the P26/40 until you unlock the tank squad for it.
Special requirements could be that the player must first unlock a certain gun, such as in order to research the Beretta 38/43 you must research and buy the Beretta 38/42.

4. Soldier uniforms

4.0 Customization in general needs more work, there are many suggestions on the topic so I will be brief.

4.1 British soldiers need proper winter uniforms, giving them the same brown uniform as in Tunisia with some cheap gloves won’t cut it.
white tunic:

long coat:

4.2 Italian soldiers need to have their own uniforms in all campaigns, it’s really messed up to see Italian looking and speaking men use Italian equipment in German uniforms.
No it won’t hurt historical accuracy more (I’m looking at you Veekay45) because we already have Italian premium squads running around in Berlin, Normandy ect…

Italy needs Bersaglieri, Alpini, Camicie Nere and Telo mimetico uniforms. For both summer and winter.
Italian telo mimetico uniform:

Bersaglieri:

Bersaglieri long coats:

forgive me

but this drawing is way too informative not to include, even if its a bit corny.

Bonus Italian SS uniforms:

Potentially for Berlin, Normandy and Bulge campaigns alongside normal Italian uniforms.
This is mainly for HA nuts.

Thank you for your attention, please dont forget to share your thoughts.
Cheers

[Bkworm07]

Yeah I’d like to see what Italian Winter uniforms look like, but I don’t want to look in Wikipedia or articles to see it for a couple of seconds this would be nice

[Valkay]

@Bkworm07

Yeah I’d like to see what Italian Winter uniforms look like

Certainly, I do know a thing or two but I’m not expert here, anyway.
Bersaglieri (again) the main difference between Bersaglieri and regulars is that Bersaglieri have cool black feather on their helmets, these used to be worn on caps and their function was to shield the shooter’s eyes from the sun. By WW2 its basically just ceremonial.

Regulars:

Alpini: as the name suggests they are mountain troops, they have these white tunics.

Finally CCNN aka black shirts/camice nere:

I think that the Bersaglieri, regular and CCNN winter uniforms are mostly identical except for unit markings ofcourse.

[GasMasters]

I agree with 99% of this,I just wouldn’t lock guns to nation specific squads since you would have to fully unlock a new squad (which we all know takes forever and a half) and limit the weapons they can use,but veichles should be squad specific.

[Valkay]

@GasMasters

I just wouldn’t lock guns to nation specific squads since you would have to fully unlock a new squad (which we all know takes forever and a half)

I forgot about that

[Bkworm07]

This is pretty cool the only time I’ve seen the Italian fascists in games other than enlisted was Mafia 2 and it just looks like they had black button shirts and slacks

[Valkay]

Italian combat engineers building a bridge in Albania

Italian flametrooper on the eastern front

[Ma_theos33]

To shield them from the sun? I heard also that it was meant to give camouflage haha

[CaptainBeel]

Thank you for your post.

Some really good ideas here.

Personally I will continue to believe that
UK-Commonwealth should be separate
Italy + Minor Axis Nations should be separate
and that we should have one more faction being France-Poland-Belgium-Netherlands. (would be queued with Allies).

However, there are good suggestions here.

I completely agree with the need for squads of all nationalities to be added (as in an American AND British APC squad, flamethrower squad etc.).
Having flags you click that changes the entire squad uniform, voicelines and names has been suggested before and makes sense.

I am however interested in your 3rd idea. Ive previously said we should get rid of specific unit names given that none of them stick to their real life weapons or battles anyway. (so just Rifleman instead of The Big Red One for example).
Being able to choose/create squads though is a really cool idea. For example myself taking a generic assault squad and making it 39th Australian Infantry Battalion (the unit that fought on the Kokoda Track in New Guinea) with unit insignia squad icon.
It would also mean one could create more (for example) assault squads or AT squads beyond the one or two unlocked in the tech tree.

Point 2.2 100% agree. Indeed we already have a bit of that with uniforms changing when you place an American into a British squad but of course the voicelines and names dont change (noticeable especially for Italians).

Regarding 2.3, Yes we should be able to change the full name and nationality of soldiers however I do not agree this should require callsign orders. Changing nationality should be free, especially for tech tree squads. (eg if I unlocked the American APC squad I shouldnt have to pay to change the soldiers to Brits/Commonwealth).

I like the 3.0/3.1 points, including specifying weapons for that country. I’ve previously discussed elsewhere how shared weapons would work?
Eg the Thompson, an American weapon but commonly used by the British and Commonwealth.
Id suggest weapons like these go in the middle of the two ‘branches.’
Each would have an equal amount of unlocks to get to it.

So for example British might unlock Sten gun, Americans unlock M50 Reising and then both have the opportunity to research a 20 round Thompson. Once its unlocked for one, its unlocked for both. (you still have to research any prior guns for that line but you dont have to research the specific 20 round thompson again).

It would also be good to maybe have some Thompsons more commonly used by Britain/Commonwealth in their line and the more commonly American in the Yank line.
Like, in my understanding UK-Commonwealth tended to have the 1928 style with front grip, whereas USA tended to have the M1A1 style with the square grip under the barrel and different stock.

[Valkay]

@CaptainBeel

eg if I unlocked the American APC squad I shouldnt have to pay to change the soldiers to Brits/Commonwealth

You don’t have to use callsigns to change the nationality of the soldiers to place them inside a British squad, that happens automatically and for free once a soldier is placed inside the squad.

Callsigns are a purely cosmetic change so should you desire to have a mixed squad of both Italians and Germans for some reason, you can set the names and the nationality of the soldiers so those wouldn’t change when placed in the squad, of course they are still going to speak the same language for immersion.

[CaptainBeel]

Right okay, thanks for clarifying.

That would be a way to have British Indian squads with a British officer and Indian soldiers (hypothetically assuming Indian Army uniforms were added along with Indian appearance soldiers)