Automatic rifles for gunners (BAR and derivatives, Lahti-Saloranta M/26)
Scoped machineguns for gunners (Type 97s)
Scoped assault rifles for snipers (Mkbs, StGs)
Semi-automatic carbines for assaulters (VG 1-5, Schmeisser)
Instead of keeping things as disorganized as they are, I’m proposing something with a bit more consistency.
Progression for rifles should start with manually-operated rifles, then to semi autos, then to select-fire/full auto rifles. Likewise for sniper variants.
Progression for assaulters should be low/standard capacity SMGs, then to high-capacity drums, then to assault rifles.
Progression for LMGs should be low-capacity LMGs that usually use a box magazine, then to higher-capacity LMGs, then to higher-capacity LMGs.
Semi-automatic carbines being available to all classes.
Naturally, recategorizing weapons requires adjustments to their present performance. BARs, for example, being turned into riflemen weapons would restrict their ammunition to the same levels as FG 42 rifles, as well as removing the movement penalty and adjusting the recoil and ADS times.
Since the campaigns will be merged, this is the appropriate time to consolidate factions into the Western allies, the European axis, the Soviets, and then the Japanese.
Accordingly, because these factions will be consolidated, deficiencies one may spot due to national constraints may be addressed by another country under the same factional umbrella. For example, British LMGs may fill the void left by turning BARs into riflemen weapons.
I think it would make more sense to give all automatic rifles to gunners and the m2 carbine and assault rifles to assaulters. Keep the automatic weapons in the hands of the classes specifically designed to use automatic weapons.
The last thing we need is more automatic weapons for riflemen and specialists.
During World War I, the original M1918 BAR was developed as a weapon to be used like an assault rifle.
A group equipped with the BAR would walk towards the enemy position while hipfiring mainly in semi-automatic mode to open a spearhead for the allies who would follow.
Thus, there is some rationale for your attempt to move the BAR from the machine gunner class to the rifleman (although I believe the assault class is more appropriate).
However, in the 1940s, the US Army decided to use this as a squad support firearm, and I think that to express “US Army-ness” in the game’s own way, it would be more “appropriate” to keep it a machine gunner’s weapon.
Also, the concept of “class” in games is extremely game-like and is not a realistic concept. In the real world, each country has its own doctrine, and the positions and roles assigned to each individual in a unit differ from country to country. If we demand consistency across national boundaries as a game system, we would lose the unique characteristics and asymmetry of each country, which is the appeal of this game, and we would lose the realism of the game.
In fact, the U.S. gave the BAR the status of a squad support weapon, but in the end, it was used like an assault rifle in accordance with the original design concept. Then, late in the Pacific War, the Marines tried to add as many BAR gunners as possible to their rifle squads. It is just like how players in this game would raise the level of their squads and replace riflemen with M1 Garlands with machine gunners with BARs to increase the firepower of their troops.
I believe that certain aspects of the game’s “chaos” were intentionally designed to relive real-life squad conversions, so I prefer to leave them as they are to some degree.
I don’t know what happens after the merge, though.
The balancing factor when equipping regular riflemen with automatic rifles is their ammo count and magazine sizes, which, while useful in a firefight, don’t have the lasting potential of either LMGs, SMGs or ARs.
Naturally, as I brought up, M2 Carbines are something akin to pseudo assault rifles being handed out to the western allies like candy.
By default, automatic rifles have ~60 rounds total, LMGs have ~100, ARs have ~120 and SMGs have ~150.
Automatic rifles run out of steam pretty quickly, but can be equipped by a larger variety of classes, which balances them out.
It’s why players of a higher skill level would opt for running other squads instead of funni riflemen spam with their 9 men, except, of course, when it pertains to the M2C. In that case, triple riflemen squads terrorizing Normandy it is.