Rear echelon - the worst engineer unit.

Osttruppen is pretty decent if you got lucky with vetted prostruppen, RE can never kill anything unless you give them BAR/M1919. Remember when Prostruppen came with LMG?

Vet 0 REs without upgrades are the worst infantry in the game bar none, that's indisputable.
But a Vet 3 RE squad with a Bar/ lmg? That's another matter entirely. Astonishingly effective troops with a ridiculously cheap reinforce and purchase cost.

Vet 0 REs without upgrades are the worst infantry in the game bar none, that's indisputable.
But a Vet 3 RE squad with a Bar/ lmg? That's another matter entirely. Astonishingly effective troops with a ridiculously cheap reinforce and purchase cost.

In an hour long game, regular infantry will cost 600mp in upkeep, vs 360mp in upkeep for the RE's, roughly speaking, so the cost difference keeps growing.

I've been experimenting with following Lemon's guide and having some success with it. If I go Rifle or Infantry then I get two or three rifles because of the upgrades (flamers or defensive stance) but if I go one of the other commanders I'll get more RE's. They do some damage and serve as a cheap meat shield for everything else.

At first glance Rear Echelon troops may appear bad but they scale rather well for the cost.

All Infantry Models in the game have 80 Health including Rear Echelon Troops.
At Vet 2 you get an extra model so health wise they would have the same health as Riflemen the main difference being the the 2 units have different received accuracy modifiers (Think of Received Accuracy as a chance to dodge attacks)

The Standard Weapons on the Rear Echelon Troops do suck but when given BARS, it is the same as the BAR given to Riflemen which ends up being a more dramatic upgrade for RE as opposed to Riflemen (who already do higher DPS by default)

With the use of Green Cover you can help negate the difference of Received Accuracy and you have yourself (with weapon upgrades) a cheap, cost effective (lower popcap means less drain on manpower combined with lower reinforce costs) and decent unit late game to fill out your army with.

Many players often underestimate Rear Echelons and you can tell the difference between a newer USF player and a more seasoned one by the way they use RE's to their advantage.

Recommended weapons to use for the Rear Echelons

BAR(Browning Automatic Rifle): An effective US LMG that allows the Rear Echelons to actually dish out damage onto enemy targeted squads since their M1 Carbines do very little in the game.

M1919: Although this is doctrinal, it gives Rear Echelons more utility with the Riflemen since they act as extra firepower for the US to have and that they can possibly pin certain units at a quick rate before they can dish out any damage onto the Riflemen.

I do not suggest that you give the Rear Echelons Bazookas since they do very little combination with the Volley Fire ability. However, if the situation is dire and Rear Echelons are needed to pick up this weapon to deal with the vehicle and armor support then it is okay. This is a guide, not a rulebook.

Recommended Vehicles for them to capture

Panzer IV: To be honest, it's better than the M4A3 Sherman since it doesn't have the shell switching that the Sherman has. I recommend that you just take this jsut because of that.

Panzer V 'Panther': Definitely better than a regular Sherman.

Puma: Let's be honest. It is really better than an M5 Stuart when it comes to combat wise. Other than that, it is a good scout unit that can tell other light units to ♥♥♥♥ off.

The Baneblade King Tiger: It's a heavy tank, the US doesn't have one. Self-explanatory.

Tiger: Read the description above.

Recommended Support Weapons to capture

MG42 HMG: It's the best MG with a high rate of fire and with the largest arc in the game. Capture that with cheap infantry and it won't be a problem.

Mortars: ANY mortar is better than the Pack Howitzer. If you have to steal one from an ally, do it.

57mm Anti-Tank Gun: My reasoning is this. Cheap AT gun captured by cheap Rear Echelons will not be a pain when it comes to reinforcing it with manpower.

Pak 40: It has good penetration and rate of fire. The enemy has tanks with good armor. Figure it out. Plus, Target Weak Point will allow you to stun that damn Panther or Tiger before it makes an attempt to escape.

Recommended Weapon Pick Ups (Nothing US)

DP-28: I will not say that it's bad.

MG42 LMG: Bite those Grenadier squads in the ♥♥♥ with those things. It's about time the US had a fighting chance.

MG34 LMG: If you just killed an Obersoldaten squad that is definitely a reward for the Rear Echelons.

Jason Loo, that's the guide I put on Steam!

FYI, volley fire suppression kicks in faster if the RE has a BAR or two. Volley fire is meant for later in the game when you get a flank off and need to suppress infantry.

Fighting positions in the early game.

LMG's later in the game.

They're a solid unit, they just suck early on.

After new commder they get even more utility because pershing dont have crew and cant self- repair


Also their tank traps are best heavy cover , block pathing.
Fighting position near key builidng early game is great, and late game with double bar / m1919 their really most cost effective unit right now (if they hit vet 2).

Also double zook mid game is good if okw goes puma