Introduction
Greetings and salutations, friends!
Today I shall be fulfilling a promise I made in my Rider II suggestion, namely to make a suggestion for a fourth specialist slot within the Rifleman squads of the game.
What is the principal change/addition of this suggestion?
The idea is to rework the squad specialist slots around a 4x3 array of choices (instead of the current 2x3 and 1x2), giving Riflemen greater versatility on the battlefield and greater customisability in the hangar. There would still be five Riflemen in a fully upgraded squad; they would still, quite rightly, remain the majority soldier type within their own squad.
Whilst the specifics of which class choices should be available where are up for discussion, and the developers should ultimately choose whichever combination they think works best, the main requirement is that players should be able to bring (at least) one Assaulter, one MG gunner, and one Engineer at the same time in the same squad, for historical reasons.
Why should you consider this change?
There are two principal reasons why I believe this would be a worthwhile change.
- Rifleman squads in lower BRs are very niche.
As things stand, Rifleman squads are rarely afforded a place in most people’s line-ups in BR IV and below - especially for players with few or no unlocked squad slots. Their one major advantage in battles that don’t involve SF-rifles is their numbers. Even so, there is only so much you can do with bolt-actions and semi-autos when SMGs and MGs are the meta picks. The best you can hope for with a 9-man Rifleman squad is to overwhelm an objective with sheer numbers, taking or holding it with the weight of nine men - perhaps even without having to physically contest it in a direct fight.
I think this is rather unfortunate for what is supposed to be the backbone squad of every military, historically speaking. They deserve a little more love, and what better way to do that than by increasing the choices available to players when customising their squad…? I have always believed that player agency should be a prime concern within this game, after all.
Overall, this change would make Riflemen more viable without making them dominant. I don’t see the Assaulter-squad spam meta being toppled simply because Riflemen receive an extra specialist. Rifleman squads should be quintessential generalists, but a dedicated specialist squad should still be able to perform its intended task far better - or at least far more reliably.
- It would allow players to recreate historical squad compositions.
This is, at least for me, the biggest reason to adopt this change. Many militaries had doctrines in which the squad leader carried an SMG, alongside another soldier carrying the squad’s MG, but currently that combination is almost impossible to recreate in-game. The closest approximation is to have a Medic equipped with an SMG alongside an MG gunner, but that comes with its own issues.
Medics carry distinctive medical bags that make it obvious at a glance that they are not officers. They are also unable to carry either an ammo bag or a secondary weapon, making them rather poor substitutes in combat as well.
For those interested, here are some nations and possible loadouts this would apply to:
- The British and the Commonwealth
Almost a 1-for-1 likeness, with only one or two men missing from the traditional 10-man Commonwealth squad. We don’t need deputy commanders or multiple assistant gunners in Enlisted, however, so I would consider this close enough for government work.
- Germany
A 1-for-1 likeness; German infantry squads are perfectly represented within this system.
- Italy
Italian squads were traditionally 18 to 20 men strong, depending on whether the two officers are counted separately from the teams or not: one 11-man rifle team and one 7-man MG team. The 7-man MG team almost perfectly matches MG squads as they already exist in-game, whilst the Rifleman squad is a little too small (like the British) to be 100% accurate to the historical Rifleman equivelant - but would still be fit for purpose under this suggestion.
The two Italian officers typically carried either a pistol each, or a pistol and an SMG each. SMGs were prominent, but not quite as prominent as in Commonwealth and German squads.
- Soviet Union
The Soviets, especially later in the war, had roughly comparable squad sizes, but an increasing number of SMGs within those squads. The SMG was not traditionally the officer’s weapon of choice same as Germany and the Commonwealth; rather, SMGs were often to dedicated assault elements within the squad.
Arguably, the Assaulter Squad as it currently appears in-game represents this assault team fairly well, whilst under this proposed system the Rifleman squad would represent an unusually rifle-heavy portion of a Soviet squad/platoon. This system would also not prevent players from creating historical what-if squad compositions, such as one based on the above image.
Poll
- Aye.
- No.
- I am neutral.
Concerns about BR V
I realise that, to many, the gut instinct is that this would simply fuel Rifleman-squad spam in BR V. However, I think that instinct is mistaken.
To begin with, Rifleman squads are only really “meta” in BR V, whilst generally being one of the weaker squad types in all other BRs (only somewhat better than Sniper and Rider squads).
However, this change is hardly a buff to BR V. Any soldier equipped with an SMG, AR, or MG is inherently a weaker choice for BR V, because SF-rifles really are that good, and anyone not carrying one is mostly dead weight. MGs slow you down considerably in a BR where speed is the name of the game, the Assault Rifle’s two major benefits (magazine size and lower recoil) are largely nullified by their lower damage, and SMGs in BR V are mostly a sad joke.
I think the issue with the BR V Rifleman meta is not that the Rifleman squad itself is particularly effective; rather, it is an easy vector for spamming automatic rifles. The fault, I believe, therefore lies within the BR V weapon balance rather than with the Rifleman squad itself.
Besides, the developers are still looking into how best to rebalance SF-rifles, so this may hopefully not even remain a theoretical concern in the future.
Conclusion
That’s all from me on this topic. Until next time, dear readers, and remember: when it comes to bayonets, the pointy end goes towards the enemy!
Signed,
Lt. Ogge King, 3rd Experimental Tea Infusion and Small Arms Appreciation Company, Home Guard (Reserve)
God save the King.
