Point of Scout squad

[Qberry05]

The title says it, a 3 man team is rough for their durability. i mean i understand scout squad is meant for recon but you would think they would have a sniper or 2, or maybe a upgrade for one. especially with them being just a smaller riflemen team compared to Jaeger squads which are what 5 man teams with 2 snipers that just seems weird to me.

Note i am a casual i only really play against the Ai so maybe they are a lot more powerful vs real humans?

[ionkiller]

I don't play Americans but having played some of the early part of the campaign (and currently looking at them in a custom game), I believe their intent is (and likely is) to be an early, cheap option of capping undefended points. That and recon, since their tooltip says they have increased line of sight.

Besides that they do have that utility/support role.

Recon Flare would give you information (good for mortars or pushes) on the front without risking your units.

Smoke Grenades would help your other squads push an MG nest or flank a nasty AT Gun.

Vet 1 gives them the choice between:

Stealth Reconaissance (which gives them stealth, obviously good for survivability/overwatching an area)

or

Passive Healing out of combat (which is obviously good if they took a hit or two and didn't lose a model)

-

TLDR, they aren't meant for mainline combat purposes, just to harrass the enemy and provide team support.

[katzenkrimis]

Originally posted by Qberry05:

Scout squad

I am a casual i only really play against the AI.

Maybe they are a lot more powerful vs real humans?

I played as the Americans for a bit.

Your best bet with Scout Squads is to immediately turn them into Pathfinders via the Airborne Battlegroup.

[Qberry05]

I can understand that but for 4% of your population, they don't even seem any faster than basic riflemen. and with riflemen having garands as well they often end up in the same spot getting mowed down by that MG. i think if they just had like 1 additional range over riflemen that could help. the real hard part is at least vs Ai they are constantly harassing your backline with engineers/grenadiers. there is no real time to harass them back. plus they seem to get gunned down in a matter of seconds if ever caught off guard.

so assuming that i try to take a point and the enemy shows up i should at least be able to delay and maybe beat a squad with these guys. because if you can't then the enemy just has free range to push on and you cannot stop them.

I definitely think them as a pain in the enemies rear and taking undefended points is a good idea and probably their intended use. however they just are too slow and vulnerable right now when coupled with AIs micro skills.

I don't think anything crazy but i feel they need some form of buff. Slightly higher range, or faster move speed maybe. Idk the USF just seem to be widely accepted as the weakest right now and i think the scout squad is part of that. even if it was locked behind a upgrade similar to the riflemen's bar. either some increased DPS or Higher speed(possibly sprint at a veteran level/upgrade)

[BEAR]

Scouts are great in the AB doc when upgraded to path finders. The rifle grenade and free smoke grenade are very helpful. plus they then turn to 4 man squads

[Kai]

It would help if they by default has stealth functions from the beginning but lacks the firepower unlike the sniper.

This way your Scout and Pathfinder is less on firepower but more on stealth and capturing.

160 manpower isn't cheap if the German Wehrmach gets their first pioneer squads for 125 each lol.

It would make sense if the time to build such units are faster, then you can get them to capture sooner, but if the manpower cost for pioneers are cheaper, you could mass capture more often early on.

[Qberry05]

Originally posted by Kai:

It would help if they by default has stealth functions from the beginning but lacks the firepower unlike the sniper.

This way your Scout and Pathfinder is less on firepower but more on stealth and capturing.

160 manpower isn't cheap if the German Wehrmach gets their first pioneer squads for 125 each lol.

It would make sense if the time to build such units are faster, then you can get them to capture sooner, but if the manpower cost for pioneers are cheaper, you could mass capture more often early on.

so how does the scouts stealth upgrade once. i really don't know.
I think they should be slightly faster their SCOUTS AS IN SCOUTING. you would think they could run a little faster.

but yeah stealth from the start would be real helpful

[steveredd]

another point to consider about the scouts is I do belive they are the fastest capturing unit for the americans. they are great early caps and for scouting. ill send them in with a rifle men squaad and its nice having the long range firepower to flank while the Mainline rife squad takes the hits. I also find there flare abilty useful.
Alone they suck. with other infintry or Vehicles they work well.

[Sooth Sayer]

I would like them to have a slight buff. I'd like them to be a 4 man crew by default and then the airbone make them a 5 man with their upgrade. Its a very basic but potent upgrade to make them a bit more worth their pop cap.

As pathfinders I find them excellent, as regular infantry not going airbone, I often don't replace them if they die. Depends on the match.

[SS]

I'm the only one who get the Grenadier squad almost wiped out by some scout or pathfinder (didnt realy see) ? only rifle shots medium range seem pretty decent unit

[ionkiller]

Originally posted by Hofman:

I'm the only one who get the Grenadier squad almost wiped out by some scout or pathfinder (didnt realy see) ? only rifle shots medium range seem pretty decent unit

Apparently their tooltip says they come pre-equipped with long-range rifles, so they probably are better in that aspect.

[ZombieRommel]

Scouts are one of the most powerful USF units and especially if you upgrade it to a Pathfinder.

They cap territory faster than other USF infantry.

Flares let you know exactly what the enemy is doing and cannot be shot down (unlike recon planes). Flares are also free to shoot.

Smoke lets you silence machine guns and it's also free.

Rifle grenades are godlike and can be used very far away or up close (low minimum arming distance).

Their long range DPS is respectable.

And their vet 1 lets them have perma stealth out of cover as long as no spotting mechanics are used or no enemy bumps into them, which lets you have constant vision on what enemies are doing and lets your mortars auto-fire nonstop.

Just use them with riflemen, not alone. They're amazing.

[Qberry05]

My real question is how they work with riflemen when they should have the same effective range. both squads start with garands. so there range should be the same the scout feels like a watered down riflemen team. i will have to try using them in conjunction with riflemen more.

Can someone tell me how that scouting upgrade works becuase i really don't understand it.

[Connatic]

Originally posted by steveredd:

another point to consider about the scouts is I do belive they are the fastest capturing unit for the americans. ...

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Anyone have the stats of the capture rates?

Unless you upgrade them to Pathfinders, they aren't meant to be a core combat unit. They are a support unit. Shouldn't ever have to build more than one or two. Use them for their Flares, and Smoke. Fast cap speed to help back cap points.

[Kai]

With 'weapon ranges' I think the ability to see attack ranges or effective ranges should help more with determining how you use your units... Maybe color coded reticle to show effective range to fight at?

[Aodha]

smoke is very useful, and without upgrade to pathfinders you can use it against machine guns, vehicles and bunkers. If you want to overcome them with other infantrie or get some protection against suppression.

Besides they are also quite useful for reequipping weapons laying around. They are cheap and the seize of three men makes them nearly exactly fitting for that. Although there is a vehicle/truck (dont know the name) for same purpose, but it is more expensive, maybe you lost one recently and cant afford a new one. Sometimes you need to equip a useful weapon on the ground fast, and the best unit to spawn and use for that is the scout squad.

You can combine the scout squad also with the weasel out of the battlegroup. The weasel is capable of dropping mortars or machine guns (when updraded), if i remember right, for free. So you can build some machine gunners or mortars quite cheap in combination with the scouts.