Deck building and you

An more in-depth guide about how to build a deck from scratch along with some extra information

Outdated Information Disclaimer

This guide may be outdated. It was made at the beginning of the year. Take everything you read here with a pinch of salt

Introduction

Building a deck is easy. Building a good deck is hard.
There's a lot of way to build your deck and people have many different opinions.
But worry not , we'll go over some information to better your decks.

This will be a lot of text and information to give you most if not everything to know about building decks. This is not to tell you how to specifically build your deck but rather explain you the principles of building one.

For simplicity reasons I will assume you have read STB's Basics PDF[www.matrixgames.com].

Understanding unit cards

Before we get into building decks you should learn how to understand a unit card. They hold all the information you want to build a proper deck.



This is a unit card.
There you can see the unit's name , price and general stats.

The card is divided into 3 main parts :
The top being basic information.
Name , price , armor values , abilities and stats (speed , health ect...)



The middle is the weaponry and its stats. This is the one you will want to pay extra attention to and comb through.
There you will find what weapons you have access to , the ammo type that each weapon uses , the targets you can hit and the stats of the different available ammo.



The bottom part is your customization options.
You can select to transform your unit into a more powerful or a different variant of your unit.




I will not go in detail over the different stats and values displayed in the first part. Instead I invite you to read my cheat sheet of these down below.
What you should pay the most attention to there is the price , the abilities and armor values if its a vehicle.

For armor values , the number corresponds to your armor's thickness. The color represent against which ammo it will be effective.



What I will go into detail is the middle part of the card. As it is pretty vital to understand what it does.
On the left , you will see your weapons (in red) and on the right you will get your aim time and reload time as well as your different ammo types (in purple).



Click on the ammo to uncollapse the menu.
There's a lot of information to digest so I will go over the most important ones to focus on.

First and foremost every ammo affects armor in 2 ways.
Kinetic , in white.
Kinetic is to pierce armor. Its very simple so far
HEAT , in orange.
HEAT is usually interchangeable with HE. So if you are looking for what kills infantry , look for the orange icon on the ammo.

Next is the target types. This one is VERY important as it determines what you can shoot and cant shoot at.
Always hover over them to determine what the ammo can hit.



Under all of this is the mess of stats.



The important ones are:
Range , this determines how far you can drop ordinance or how far you can shoot.
Damage, this determines how many health points the ammo will take away on hit after the damage calculation.
Dispersion , how accurate your weapon is.
Blast Radius , how big it goes boom.
Suppressive power , how much it will affect morale.
Penetration , how much armor it pierces (cross reference this with armor values on the first part of a card).
And finally supply cost , which determines how much it costs to replenish ammo at an ammo dump.


There are other values you can pay attention to.



Notable ones are the missile type which will determine how the target is acquired,
the speed of the missile and many more. Carefully look at your weapon and how it works before selecting it.

The different roles and general rules of building

Whatever you buy will weigh in its respective tab. So whatever loadout or transport you take will severely affect your tab , pay attention to that.



Most expensive does not always mean better. Upgrades through the customization menu give very different results. It can change your abilities, armor values, weapons...


In the case of this T80U , the Shtora ugrade makes it a more tank combat oriented vehicle while the Drozd upgrade makes it more geared towards fighting infantry or atgm carriers thanks to its APS.

Always look at the card before selecting something and make sure it will do what you want it to do.
Use the pin function to see any difference for the same vehicle or a vehicle of a similar calibre


Your deck is divided into 6 parts.
In rank of importance:

• Recon
  
• Support
  
• Infantry
  
• Tanks/Vehicles
  
• Helicopters
  
• Airplanes

Recon is what allows you to see. No eyes on the ground means you get shot by what you cant see.

Support feeds your army , protects it from aerial threats and helps you squash hurdles with artillery.

Infantry , is what holds your ground , they are a nuisance to deal with but will have trouble pushing out defenders on their own.

Tanks and vehicles is for your infantry support , they are there to kill things , tanks , transports , other light vehicles and so on.

Helicopters to transport ground troops and potentially vehicles and hit vehicle spammers.

And finally aircraft , to deal with other aerial threats or to just eliminate what's on the ground with ordinance.


Beware the overlaps , avoid taking units if they fit the same role (example : 1 orion card and 1 forpost , 1 card of droks and 1 nona...)
Roles are very important when you take a unit , make sure to read the unit card well and determine its role with the weaponry and average price and availability.
I'll quickly go over this to give you a general idea.

INFANTRY

• Line infantry. It's cheap (or cheap enough) infantry to hold your line and slow down your enemy. It should be in relatively good numbers to deal with threats.
  
• Shock infantry. Shock infantry is specifically to kill other infantry and take ground.
  They are the ones you use to take a forest or a building from enemy units.
  
• Specialists , which often carry atgms or static weapons like manpads or grenade launchers.
  You want to use those sparingly to augment your line and shock infantry.

ARTILLERY

• Mortars , Light and cheap they are there to support pushes with smokes and kill pesky units.
  
• Tube artillery , heavy artillery , use them to kill far away enemies , supply dumps , aa pieces and things hiding in buildings.
  
• MLRS , rocket artillery , used to pulverize buildings or groups of enemies depending on their ammo types. Some can fire ballistic missiles.

AA

• Anti Helo, geared more to killing helos than planes , use those to deny airspace.
  
• Interceptor , capable of shooting large aircraft and cruise/ballistic missiles.
  
• AAA , used to kill everything they can see that the gun can pierce. Helos , infantry , light vehicles or even missiles in some cases.

TRANSPORTS

• Supply trucks , trucks capable of carrying supplies only , usually in fairly large numbers
  
• Multirole trucks , unique to RU at the moment , these trucks can carry supplies and units , and sometimes be lifted by helicopters
  
• APC , Armored Personnel Carrier , they are usually fast and sport a decent gun to support the loaded infantry
  
• IFV , Infantry Fighting Vehicles , these vehicles are usually well armored and capable of punching multiple targets , they are often geared towards killing other infantry units
  
• Armored cars , meant to carry troops faster , they are relatively lightly armored

TANKS

• Light tanks , light fire support. Use them with extreme judgement as they will die easily but can still deal with light targets.
  
• Medium tanks , good and fairly cheap fire support capable of brawling other tanks. Medium tanks are always in the 190-270 price range.
  
• Heavy tanks , your top of the line units albeit very expensive.
  
• ATGM carriers, they carry atgm and can often kill tanks for a cheap price.

HELO

• Transport helicopters , used to transport troops or vehicles , in some cases can have attached weaponry.
  
• Tank busters , to specifically kill tanks or other vehicles.
  
• Multiroles , with AA missiles and ATGMs and possibly rockets to face any threat.

AIR

• ASF , to specifically kill aircraft
  
• CAS , to kill ground units.
  
• Bombers , aimed at bombing various targets.
  
• Cargo, to paradrop units.

What you should pay attention is the type of ammo you are using. In general rule you should follow this.

• Cluster for vehicles
  
• HE for soft targets like infantry and light vehicles
  
• Incendiary to deny an area

Actually building your deck

Still with me ? Good.

I will make an empty RU deck to showcase this. However remember that what Im about to do is not limited to it. You can apply the same logic to the US decks by following this.
If there is something you dont understand feel free to scroll back and read again on roles or anything else you may have missed.

Lets start with making a recon tab.

Priority should go to getting yourself some recon infantry. Recon infantry is vital , its stealthy and comes with great weapons.

Recon infantry such as the VDV razvedka can also be used as line infantry due to its good availability and good price.

You can select multiple infantry types depending on your deck , my recommendation is getting yourself snipers and the recon infantry of your choice.

Grab a couple recon vehicles , they are always useful and come with great weapons. In my case , I love the Razvedchik so it goes straight in.

Next up is your support tab.

Why support before infantry ? This is purely to avoid any overlap you will have when selecting your infantry transports and to better cement your style.

Select some AA. You want at least an interceptor AA and an anti helo piece. You are free to choose more if you'd like to fit different roles.
Take some artillery , you ideally want at least one type of artillery. What you chose there is up to you. However what you shouldnt do is select 2 cards that fill the same role.
Always be mindful of overlaps. Dont take 2 types of mortars , or 2 types of MLRS. You want to be self sufficient.

Once you have your artillery , select supply/troop transports. Depending on your faction you may not be able to carry troops.
Though you should still take some to be able to carry various ammo dumps to keep your army on its feet.
Dont take too many , for example in the case of RU you will not need 4 big KAMAZ trucks. Instead get 2 and get smaller ones as well.

Next we take care of infantry.

You want varied infantry. Infantry will eat bullets and slow down the enemy significantly. Dont skip them.

Start by looking for a good line infantry unit. One that you know will hold the ground well for a decent price. In the case of RU we unfortunately dont get that.
What about dsh ? Yeah dont use those as line infantry. They are basically an infantry support unit , to be added in buildings or next to another specialist.
The US gets better choices at the moment thanks to the Marines' availability and size.

Note that this is bound to change once the game releases.
But in this case I will skip line infantry and take some good shock troops. They will do most of the work when it comes to taking ground.

Next is taking specialists , always take an atgm carrier and a manpad unit. Take a fire support team or two if you can afford it. In my case the metis and the AGS.
In general , the Metis and CAAT team are very good fire support and you should take them.

Notice that I did not mention transports for the recon tab and the infantry tab.

Everyone plays differently so its up to personal preference BUT you should never fully fill your infantry transports UNLESS YOU PLAN ON SPAMMING THEM. Keep about half transport availability if you are unsure of what to pick.

Tanks next. This one is very simple.

You want at least 2 heavy tanks of your choice. Be mindful of their price obviously but DO NOT forget them.
You want to be able to retaliate against lighter tanks as heavy tanks are very survivable given that you don't suicide them into gunfire.

Take some medium tanks , the number depends on how many you plan to deploy. So this one is up to your preferences.
Take a couple atgm carriers and you will be set.

Finally Helos and Aircraft.

Im not doing those because its again purely based on playstyle.
But you want at least one of the following.

1 transport helo.
1 Tank buster or a multirole.
1 ASF oriented plane.
1 Bomber.

What you take in both of those tabs is up to your preferences so experiment.


In the end your deck should look a bit like this. Not 100% obviously , but the general form of it.
From line infantry , to heavy tanks , to artillery , I have everything I need to conduct proper warfare and without relying on my team mates.

Self reliance is very important.

Closing notes

People will be glad to help you through the deck building channel on their discord. But like said at the start , always take the information with a grain of salt.

You can also ask questions inside this guide and I will try to answer you as reliably as I can

Some units are not good. They have shortcomings and there are better options. Here's the list you should avoid taking.
For the US :

• Mech riflemen - There are better infantry choices for better prices.
  
• MMG - Terrible infantry squad
  
• M901A3 - The LAV AT is overall better

For RU :

• Orion - The forpost exists and is cheaper
  
• Vena - Terrible cost to performance ratio , instead buy the nona
  
• TU160 with cruise missiles - Use bombs , the cruise missiles are highly innacurate and have poor damage.
  
• Sturm - Not great and poor damage , invest in the D1 Kornet instead
  
• VDV DSH - Terrible cost to performance ratio. There are better infantry units you could buy. Use little of them.

Some units are very good , you should prioritize taking them and taking at least one card of them. Here's a list.
For the US :

• Marine raiders - Great all around
  
• M1A2 Sepv3 - Best tank in game , you do not want to leave it out
  
• Scout snipers - Great stealth and has a laser
  
• Patriot - Best Interceptor AA in the game currently
  
• CAAT Dragon - Great fire support

For RU :

• VDV Razvedka - Great all around and comes with a laser
  
• VDV Snipers - Same as its US counterpart.
  
• Engineers - Thermobaric launchers and are lethal against infantry
  
• Anything with a KAB 1500 - Best bomb in game currently
  
• Armata - Great tank all around
  
• VDV Metis - Great fire support

Feel free to favorite this or like it , because I did not torture myself writing this for nothing.

At any rate , I hope this has been of help to you. Have fun.

Stat cheat sheet

ARMOR

Kinetic

Designated by the white values , the more armor the more penetration you will require to do damage.

HEAT

Designated by the orange values , independant from kinetic

STATS

Agility

How fast your unit can turn in flight

Armor

A flat damage reduction to your health points

Health

How much health your unit has

Squad Size

How big your infantry squad is

Forward Speed

How fast your unit will go during forward movement

Backward Speed

How fast your unit will go during backwards movement

Seats

The amount of seats your vehicle has

Stealth

A bonus to your detection. The more stealth you have, the better as your enemy will require larger vision for its units.

Vision

How far your unit can see. The more you have the better you will detect units with stealth.

Weight

How heavy your unit is. This is affected by lift loads.

Lift Load

How much your vehicle can carry. The more you have the better.

Fuel

How much fuel your aircraft has.

ABILITIES

APS

A charge to detonate incoming projectiles. Has a 5 second recharge after use.

Laser

A laser guider to use precision munitions.

Sprint

Allows you to bypass any morale state and boosts the speed of your unit.

ECM

Counter measures capable of putting missiles off their path. Flat percentage to dodge missiles. Applies to every individual flare for aircraft.

Amphibious

Capable of going in water. You can cross streams or deep sea with it.

Radar

Activates your radar and gives you range bonus against aircraft. This will lock you in place for certain units forcing you to turn it off to move again.
Makes you vulnerable to SEAD missiles.

Paradroppable

Allows you to paradrop the unit through a cargo plane.

Smoke

Deploy a smoke screen around your unit blocking LOS.

Flares

Gives a chance to dodge incoming missiles.

TARGET TYPES

Vehicles

Will target vehicles , including tanks

Infantry

Will target infantry

Missiles

Will shoot down ballistic or cruise missiles

Helicopters

Will target helicopters

Airplanes

Will target Aircraft

SEAD

Will target Radar AA turned on

ATTACK TYPES

Top attack

Hits the top armor instead of frontal armor.

Guided

Guided round that can be guided with a laser designator

Cluster

Cluster munitions that will damage the target over a short period of time

Napalm/Incendiary

Fire munitions that will deny the area to units for a certain period of time

Other useful guides

These guides may be of help to you , feel free to check them out.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3152982094

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3154887355

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3153569118

[betopg]

GOD

[Dr Mad]

yeah there's a lot of stuff I wasnt supposed to add or change but never got to due to time constraints

[Kali]

Good guide, my two cents about card selection and avoidable units, though (this is all just my own experience as a U.S. deck player); Different units that fill the same role are fine to have if you’re taking multiple ways of attack (you might be using the M6 M-SHORAD alongside LAV-AD if you want AA for your armored force but are also prepping an airdrop or amphibious assault), and Mech Rifleman Squads aren’t completely useless, granted the scenarios where they’re useful is dependent on where you’re fighting and your exact play style (I go ham with urban warfare, so any infantry with an AT4 is my bread and butter). If you’ve got enough Bradleys, the LAV-AT and M901A3 are both pretty useless, since the IFV, CFV, and ESV variants all have TOW missiles.
This is a really solid guide you’ve put together, thanks for this.