Merge! When to use it?

So I've been thinking recently about Conscripts excellent 'merge' ability, more specifically, when it's viable to use.

I remember that it's always a good idea to merge with Penals, since that unit is identical in terms of durability to Cons, but cons are cheaper.

The other obvious one is merging with other Conscript squads, particularly one that has more Vet so it can stay in the fight longer.

What I want to know is, since they've removed armour from every infantry unit except Shock Troopers, is it more viable now to merge cons with Guards Rifle? Do they miss out on the reduced 'incoming accuracy modifier' instead?

Apart from that, merging with weapon teams is also an excellent life-saver sometimes, something that I really miss when playing as OKW.

That also reminds me, it allows you to recrew weapons with any unit that is available (guards or shocks for example), but then you can just merge with cons back at base so you don't have to pay the inflated cost of reinforcing elite infantry for the weapons team. As a bonus, the conscripts that are merged into the weapon team will also get the elite infantry weapons I believe! An MG42 manned by SVT carrying soldiers is a handy thing to have.

Anyone got any tips and tricks?

I'd like to add something I do often (and probably common knowledge) is use merge then immediately hold Shift and hit the retreat button, so the squad that just merged will immediately retreat after topping up the other guy.

Merge with gaurds.

Always remember they are different in terms of durability and armor values etc to their assigned troop like guards or shocks

^That's what I wanted to ask about actually, what changes apart from armour? Do Guards have more HP for example? What negative aspects do Cons keep by merging with say, guards or shocks?

I know they don't get Shock Trooper armour, but what else do they not gain when merging with elite infantry?

I thougth that the only thing that they don't get is the armour. So you can merge safely penals, support crews and guards if I'm not mistaken.

If you merge with Shocks you lose their armour, which is not a good exchange.

MadeMan, people seem to be missing the main thrust of your thought about merged conscript models inheriting received accuracy. I don't know why it hasn't come up before. I don't know the answer, but I want you to know that someone out there understands the question.

That's an interesting question MadeMan. I was always under the impression that only the armor stat was retained when merging. Recieved accuracy penalties/bonusses are, as far as I know not retained, and thus the conscript model gets the same bonus/penalties as the squad it is merged to (example, cons merged with maxim crews receive 25% incoming accuracy penalty).

All Soviet infantry except for sniper have 80HP. So merging with guards would not lower the survivability of the squad.

Thanks for the responses! I was always unsure about merging Cons with Guards, but I'll do it as often as possible from now on, ditto any other troop types save for shocks.

I might even try to recrew weapons with other units and then merge them with cons to get the better weapons for the support crews.

Thanks for the responses! I was always unsure about merging Cons with Guards, but I'll do it as often as possible from now on, ditto any other troop types save for shocks.

I might even try to recrew weapons with other units and then merge them with cons to get the better weapons for the support crews.

It's expensive, but recrewing AT guns and 120mm mortars with Socktroopers can surprise some axis players trying to flank them.

^Even then, you can recrew with Shock Troopers, then merge conscripts into that AT gun and they'll still get the PPSH!

They don't get armour though, which is a shame.

I did do something similar against a Soviet Player, I recrewed using SturmPioneers and then some flanking conscripts got wrecked by them. He quit the game soon after.

merge them with everything. merge is among the best infantry abilities in the game. its amazing

i always merge when i see the chance. Even if a native reinforcement would have had better stats, youre still taking a cheaper conscript and giving him a free buff by putting him in another squad. If you didnt merge him hed just fight as a part of the weaker conscript squad.

damn I need to learn how to merge more, on the battlefield and back at base. seems like it would save me a lot of manpower from reinforcing guards

My main use for merge so far has actually been into other cons. I like using lots of cons, so I tend to end up with a few vetted squads and a few unvetted ones by mid game. I'd rather merge unvetted ones into vetted ones to keep them on the field longer than retreat the vetted cons, so long as they have enough health per model to make it worth it.