This new mechanic is a huge step forward, now we can finally make cohesive squads. Not only that, but you’ve gone the extra mile; changing a soldier’s nationality also updates their name and appearance. Honestly, I didn’t expect that level of detail, I was half expecting you to lazily only make the system touch the soldiers voices, thank you for doing it right and defying my doubts
But that brings us to a key issue and the point of this topic, one that limits how useful this new nationality change mechanic really is:
What squads are we actually supposed to use this new feature on?
The British only have four infantry squads in the tech tree. That’s barely enough to form a cohesive lineup, and many squad types are missing entirely (and yes, the US still lacking a mortar squad should be fixed too). But even that looks generous next to Italy, who are practically invisible with half the tech tree squads of Britain and their non-existence outside of the Tunisia campaign.
So, what good is nationality customisation if the squads tied to those nations aren’t present for anyone who didn’t grind the old pre-merge Tunisia campaign?
The easiest solution? Restore cut content.
When the campaign merge happened, a lot of content ended up on the cutting room floor. Many squads just didn’t fit neatly into the new tech tree format. The lucky few were kept. The rest became “legacy squads”, and with them a lot of subfaction flavour and variety vanished from the game.
This was a tradgedy for subfaction representaiton in the game, and something that should be rectified.
How should these squads return?
Some have suggested putting them in silver chest so we can gamble for them. But that would be a bad move, randomness won’t help. Some players would get what they want, others would waste silver on squads they don’t care about, and the result would be frustration for most.
Instead, add a dedicated “Squad Shop” section to the store, where players can buy legacy squads directly for 10,000 silver each.
Why 10,000? Because that’s what legacy squads currently sell for. For people who have previosly sold their old squads, this would effectively turn that investment into a zero interest loan, you got the silver in the past, and now you can buy them back for the same price. For new players, 10k silver is roughly 20 average matches, a fair trade of time and investment vs reward.
Over time, this shop could evolve for other purposes:
- Event reward squads could be added here, so people can choose what rewards they’d like
- New free squads could be added into the game here, like a new US guerrilla squad
It would become a new system in and of itself, begging to be used for other bits than just returning old squads.
Final Thoughts
Some might worry that returning legacy squads would “ruin the uniqueness” for current owners. But let’s be honest, these squads were never intended to be exclusive. They don’t have unique gameplay features or special perks, they were just regular squads that got left behind during the merge because they didn’t fit neatly into the new tech trees. Their “uniqueness” is entirely accidental and arbitrary.
Bringing them back wouldn’t devalue anything, it would simply restore what was once universally available to everyone. And it would finally allow players to build complete lineups for underrepresented factions like Italy or the British Commonwealth, without forcing them to rely on one or two token squads.
Some might also suggest just adding new squads instead. But that’s not a viable solution either. Creating new squads from scratch takes time and dev resources effort that could be better spent elsewhere. And for long-time players, this would only further overcrowd an already bloated squad list, making it even harder to manage and keep track on. Restoring the legacy squads is by far the best option. We’ve got them, lets use them.
This is a practical, low-cost way to enrich the game, one that makes full use of the new nationality system. Let’s not leave half the factions in limbo. It’s time to move past token representation, let’s make Enlisted fairer and more complete for everyone.
At that time, I only wanted to play Allies, so I built them quick.