Volks

Are they useless aside from being inf that can cap and having bazookas? Aside from rear echelon or not flamer engineer they lose to every infantry units in the game. The bazoka is great to support in AT fight. But does that make them worth it?

before I drop them from my builds, let me know if someone is getting good mileage out of this unit and how do they use them.

Use them at long range, never close in They're very average infantry (to be honest the only infantry i personally prefer less is conscripts), but they're a very durable squad which helps (particularly with vet). I only use 1 sturmpioneer squad (although i could see how 2 squads would work well on certain maps). Volksgrenadiers need to be made, at least 1 but preferably 2 so you can get some mid game AT that's reliable.

Having 1-2 volk squads is good for emergency situations that require quick mp reinforcement or at(shrek upgrade). At Vet 5 Volks are very durable(even at vet 3). So they're not completely useless imo.

Volks are the most durable squad in the game thanks in part to having 5 men and their vet bonuses are both easy to get and extremely strong defensively (shooting high value units like tanks with schrecks and being cheap). I wish at least one of their vet levels would get changed to give them a bit more of an offensive flavor but they're good at what they do - being meatshields.

If you're in good cover and force rifles to approach you - you can win fights but, sadly, you cannot expect them to go toe-to-toe with Rifles (they do quite well against Cons though). I use 3 in almost all of my OKW games, but you can get away with 2 if you want (especially if you use Fusiliers).

I'd like to see them slightly buffed (or maybe cost dropped to 220 or 230) but they're certainly a handy squad to have around. Pair them up with MG34s, Fusiliers, Sturms or some elite infantry. Use them to take fire while your other squads kill stuff. Finally, they're the best schreck platform in the game (1 schreck on 5 durable models means you don't drop it very often).

Long story short. They're not OP, but they're pretty good.

Long story short, volks do the tanking, sturmpios do the killing. They add their own fair amount of dps as well you just have to use them right. Keep them in cover at range and they will be able to beat rifles but you need to keep them supported. + they scale to late game with vet and panzershreck so they are really good. I don't think they need a buff. They're fine where they are.

I usually build about 3 and they are my main infantry for the early game

Don't get in fights you aren't gonna win because you want to get vet.

This goes double after you've put shreks on them - which you want to do because your basic choices for AT that does not cost fuel are that or rockets - later you have the option of the mountain gun though, but that's a mortar than can do AT, not a PAK.

With shreks they will vet fast, but I generally keep them back to prevent my main units (Jagd, KT, Stukas) or base area from being hit by armour.


Actual attacking and screening, that's what PFs, FJs or OSs are for



Also, the upgrade buys them cold immunity - which becomes very interesting on blizzard maps

I think Volks aren't that bad ..... they're actually pretty strong at range. The grendades are really powerful and difficult to dodge ...

Maybe you should be able to give them a 2nd Panzershrek to make them a powerful AT for the lategame (bit like PG's). 1 Panzershrek isn't that impressive in my opinion.

In the lategame they get chewed up by enemy elite Infantry (DP-Guards, Shocks, Mg-Riflemens, Airborn) like nothing, so try to use them as meat shields for Obers or Fallschirms.

Btw: They're a cheap 5 men squad, excellent to capture Paks, Mg's Mortars ....!

They are excellent supporting infantry, doing everything except brute fighting. That's more the Sturmpioniers' job, IMO.

They still get a weapon slot after the Panzerscreck upgrade, so you can either double up their AT or pick up an LMG to get some mixed firepower. Unless it's an LMG I usually don't use my Sturmpioniers to pick up weapons.

They are also great for re-crewing weapons and vehicles due to their higher squad size, plus they reinforce much faster and cheaper than Sturmpioniers. They can also salvage wrecks so your expensive Sturms don't have to risk themselves to do the job.

They also vet really quick despite not really packing a lot of punch. Veterancy is dependent on damage inflicted, not just kills, so punching a hole in that tank gives them XP even if they don't scare that tank away.

They're not great in directly engaging enemies by themselves, but they're great force multiplier even if they don't necessarily make the enemy troops drop dead faster.

In my opinion, Volks are useful throughout the game, for a couple of reasons:

1) Early map prescence. Sturms are much better at actually fighting, but they are significantly more expensive, especially over time when you factor in the cost of reinforcing. Additionally, Sturms suffer at attacking buildings and other well-defended positions since they need to get close, but the Volk grenade can clear out buildings and infantry blobs.

2) Mid-game mobile AT. Without Panzerschercks, you're going to have to resort to immobile AT such as the Rakentenwerfer, so mobile mid-game vehicles like the Stuart are going to be able to dominate the map. There are other options of course, such as the Jagpanzer, but IMO its better to save fuel for the Panther. An AT solution that only uses munitions is really useful for the OKW.

3)Late-game harrasment. I tend to use Fallschirmjager or Obersoldaten as core troops late game, but given their cost I rarely have spare squads who can just roam the map capping points and generally being annoying. Given that Volks don't inflict much damage at all vs. late armour and vetted infantry, they are an ideal, cheap squad to fill this role.