USF Airborne Commander revision

After playing the airborne commander extensively for several weeks, I found it fun but also somewhat disappointing.

Pathfinders
This unit already confuses me... To my knowledge, they were supposed to be elite scouts who were dropped into landing zones before the main airborne forced arrived. This isn't well reflected by the game unit. They don't do particularily well in combat for an "elite' unit, don't have the means to hold a "landing zone" until help arrives, and also do not deploy from said landing zone.
First, the pathfinders equipment is a bit odd to me. The pathfinders are shown to be equiped with two scoped M1 Garands in game. As far as i know, M1 C/D (sniper variants of Garand rifle) were still semiautomatic, so i don't see why the firing animation of the rifle still has the pathfinder unit charge the rifle after every shot. Perhaps Relic was going for a scoped Springfield 1903, but then the unit is still holding the wrong rifle, and having the wrong charging animation.
They also carry radios, which have no use. Why show them carrying radios if they can't call in artillery support or CAS. silly. AND I think its dumb that theres a seperate pathfinder unit, the I&R pathfinder, which is basically the same thing, but it can call in artillery. Only its for another commander: a commander that has the ability to drop TWO sticks of paratroopers despite not being the airborne comander. wtf??? but im getting ahead of myself.
Lasly, they are a scouting unit, seemingly not well versed for combat. why can't they deploy from buildings? adding this mechanic just makes them a little more worth getting, not to mention fitting for their job description.

HMG call in
drops without a crew... for a MP cost close to just ordering one from base. yeah it comes straight to the field but then you have to crew it and retreat your crewing unit all its just a hassle. I'd rather just add extra MP and get a crew with the MG.

Paratroopers
Meat and Potatoes of this commander.
Why can't paratroopers with thompson smg upgrade pick up weapons?
Its understandable with the lmg upgrade but why the thompson. I don't think it makes sense. I also feel like the lmg upgrade should be changed to BARs because the rest of the squad has carbines, a close/mid range weapon.
Also, it strikes me as odd that paratroopers don't have AT snare (TNT tar sock, AT grenade, mines). As a 3 CP unit, the paratrooper is a unit that an American player can transistion to from riflemen as the game progresses. It becomes less practical, however, when I need to keep one or two riflemen units solely for the AT rifle grenade, an ability useful throughout the entire game. I think riflemen are great, but I'm an airborne commander!!!

AT gun call in
again.. drops without a crew, same thing.

P47 rocket thingy
probably my favorite thing about this commander. good AT for munitions, two passes by the plane, and considerable damage when used correctly. I think its perfect.

Understandably, these would require lots of work and hella balance changes and whatnot, but I think this would promote a unique playstyle that better reflects the versatility of Airborne soldiers who would go in, secure key points, and hold out until armor arrive. maybe you could even get rid of the base and start with a FOB (forward operating base) that you set up with pathfinders as your starting unit, call in medics instead of having an ambulance. The possiblities are limitless! Honestly, I love this game, but i just feel like it lacks creativity and passion from the game developers. The sad thing is, when i play the game, all I can think about is how much better it could be. I thought the way OKW works was brilliant and very cool when it first came out. Its inginuity and stuff thats actually new and fresh that make people okay with paying for DLC ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

Time to study for finals now

After playing the airborne commander extensively for several weeks, I found it fun but also somewhat disappointing.

Pathfinders
This unit already confuses me... To my knowledge, they were supposed to be elite scouts who were dropped into landing zones before the main airborne forced arrived. This isn't well reflected by the game unit. They don't do particularily well in combat for an "elite' unit, don't have the means to hold a "landing zone" until help arrives, and also do not deploy from said landing zone.
First, the pathfinders equipment is a bit odd to me. The pathfinders are shown to be equiped with two scoped M1 Garands in game. As far as i know, M1 C/D (sniper variants of Garand rifle) were still semiautomatic, so i don't see why the firing animation of the rifle still has the pathfinder unit charge the rifle after every shot. Perhaps Relic was going for a scoped Springfield 1903, but then the unit is still holding the wrong rifle, and having the wrong charging animation.
They also carry radios, which have no use. Why show them carrying radios if they can't call in artillery support or CAS. silly. AND I think its dumb that theres a seperate pathfinder unit, the I&R pathfinder, which is basically the same thing, but it can call in artillery. Only its for another commander: a commander that has the ability to drop TWO sticks of paratroopers despite not being the airborne comander. wtf??? but im getting ahead of myself.
Lasly, they are a scouting unit, seemingly not well versed for combat. why can't they deploy from buildings? adding this mechanic just makes them a little more worth getting, not to mention fitting for their job description.

HMG call in
drops without a crew... for a MP cost close to just ordering one from base. yeah it comes straight to the field but then you have to crew it and retreat your crewing unit all its just a hassle. I'd rather just add extra MP and get a crew with the MG.

Paratroopers
Meat and Potatoes of this commander.
Why can't paratroopers with thompson smg upgrade pick up weapons?
Its understandable with the lmg upgrade but why the thompson. I don't think it makes sense. I also feel like the lmg upgrade should be changed to BARs because the rest of the squad has carbines, a close/mid range weapon.
Also, it strikes me as odd that paratroopers don't have AT snare (TNT tar sock, AT grenade, mines). As a 3 CP unit, the paratrooper is a unit that an American player can transistion to from riflemen as the game progresses. It becomes less practical, however, when I need to keep one or two riflemen units solely for the AT rifle grenade, an ability useful throughout the entire game. I think riflemen are great, but I'm an airborne commander!!!

AT gun call in
again.. drops without a crew, same thing.

P47 rocket thingy
probably my favorite thing about this commander. good AT for munitions, two passes by the plane, and considerable damage when used correctly. I think its perfect.

Understandably, these would require lots of work and hella balance changes and whatnot, but I think this would promote a unique playstyle that better reflects the versatility of Airborne soldiers who would go in, secure key points, and hold out until armor arrive. maybe you could even get rid of the base and start with a FOB (forward operating base) that you set up with pathfinders as your starting unit, call in medics instead of having an ambulance. The possiblities are limitless! Honestly, I love this game, but i just feel like it lacks creativity and passion from the game developers. The sad thing is, when i play the game, all I can think about is how much better it could be. I thought the way OKW works was brilliant and very cool when it first came out. Its inginuity and stuff thats actually new and fresh that make people okay with paying for DLC ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

Time to study for finals now

Yes. There are alot to fix, not only with this commander, but with all the gameplay.

Pathfinders would be a nice unit to come in at 0 CP. They are in no way crazy or overpowered and would allow for different USF build orders. This way they can immediately start placing beacons and during their main purpose, scouting.

They could just drop the MP of both the MG and AT gun, that way the downside is that you have to recrew it and send a squad back to base. I mean you can't use it reactionary like CoH1, drops take roughly 30ish seconds.

Fix those things and you'd have a pretty solid commander that I'd use all day.

Pathfinder CP0
MG Drop CP1
Para CP 2
AT CP2 or 3

i hope something change

Pathfinder CP0

cp0 pathfinders sound stupid and OP.

I think the main problem with the commander is paratroopers don't come in with weapons(perhaps add option to spend muni to get them with the drop)

And they are such a manpower bleed, they die easy and they cost a lot to reinforce and now that even Rear echelons cost a lot to reinforce, so USF doesn't have a good weapon recrew squad.

cp0 pathfinders sound stupid and OP.

Yea that 4 man squad that bleeds heavily with a 40% health execute would def be op. I can see the spam like Jaegers already.

Just make their cooldown time on their call in long if you are concerned about it. I could never see myself building more then one.

I think weapon drops should be cheaper, Paths come from buildings and are a little cheaper in terms of pop cap.

Paras are mostly fine but vet 3 could be looked at. P47 Run is fine.

Jarger light have 20% Rec acc and Cri shot need Hp below 75 % not 40% like Path Garand scope

When i select this commander i take into account the fact that the two drops you are despising (HMG & ATgun) basically allow you to entirely skip a tier without hampering your strategy too much by missing a counter (Blob or tank).
While i agree droping a HMG is bad for the cost, it is not if you went straight to the cap'tain and didnt build the LT. It saves you fuel and MP at the cost of recrewing your weapons.

As for the paratroopers i think they would be too much a terminator-rambo unit with an AT weapon included. I see what you point that beeing forced to stick with Rifleman as a para-commander.

Kozo.

Airborne Commander is better then Recon Support Company Commander...

WC51 ftw

Replace the at gun drop with a Chaffee that comes in a glider drop

Really though, let Pathfinders spawn from garrison and give them the Snipe ability for munis like in single player and move them to 2 cp and cost 320.

Pathfinders
This unit already confuses me... To my knowledge, they were supposed to be elite scouts who were dropped into landing zones before the main airborne forced arrived. This isn't well reflected by the game unit. They don't do particularily well in combat for an "elite' unit, don't have the means to hold a "landing zone" until help arrives, and also do not deploy from said landing zone.

In reality they were, but welcome to Company of Heroes 2, where swarms of Volksgrenadiers and their Brostruppen allies can defeat the endless Russian tide of tanks!
Seriously though they aren't meant to be an elite unit in the conventional sense. Their squad is small and their combat value is small...but unlike any USF unit they can snipe. They are good scout units and if you have other units taking the enemy's fire, they can be of real help due to the sniping system they have.
In the end though they are really just good light infantry that serve to support Paratroopers, they're also better used to capture points where your other infantry do their own work. Maybe not elite, but if they were then you might as well not have paratroopers which serve the role you are looking for.

First, the pathfinders equipment is a bit odd to me. The pathfinders are shown to be equiped with two scoped M1 Garands in game. As far as i know, M1 C/D (sniper variants of Garand rifle) were still semiautomatic, so i don't see why the firing animation of the rifle still has the pathfinder unit charge the rifle after every shot. Perhaps Relic was going for a scoped Springfield 1903, but then the unit is still holding the wrong rifle, and having the wrong charging animation.

Relic probably wanted scoped springfields but never bothered to finish that. They won't lose sales over it, so why should they spend the time doing it?
But it's not like they prevent the unit from performing sniper duties.

They also carry radios, which have no use. Why show them carrying radios if they can't call in artillery support or CAS. silly. AND I think its dumb that theres a seperate pathfinder unit, the I&R pathfinder, which is basically the same thing, but it can call in artillery. Only its for another commander: a commander that has the ability to drop TWO sticks of paratroopers despite not being the airborne comander. wtf??? but im getting ahead of myself.
Lasly, they are a scouting unit, seemingly not well versed for combat. why can't they deploy from buildings? adding this mechanic just makes them a little more worth getting, not to mention fitting for their job description.

I would think from a visual point of view, making them look different than other infantry units is helpful. Otherwise they would look just like paratroopers. Yes yes, most people rely on seeing the unit icons to identify, but I don't see Relic changing them to look more like another unit just because if they got radios then it should have a game effect. By that logic, Panzergrenadiers should also be suicide AT because they have rockets on their backs.

HMG call in
drops without a crew... for a MP cost close to just ordering one from base. yeah it comes straight to the field but then you have to crew it and retreat your crewing unit all its just a hassle. I'd rather just add extra MP and get a crew with the MG.

On one hand I agree, on the other there is the balance and teamplay aspect. Dropping a weapons team is probably too powerful because they can drop and then immediately start pinning nearby enemies. You can still already do this if you have a few squads around, and even if not, that one Rear Echelon guy left can still spot for that HMG team.
It also means that dropping this in a team game means the ally can utilize it without waiting for the enemy to annihilate the crew.
All in all, you're not really deprived of anything by the weapon dropping by itself.

Paratroopers
Meat and Potatoes of this commander.
Why can't paratroopers with thompson smg upgrade pick up weapons?
Its understandable with the lmg upgrade but why the thompson. I don't think it makes sense. I also feel like the lmg upgrade should be changed to BARs because the rest of the squad has carbines, a close/mid range weapon.

Some weapon upgrades take up a weapon slot, and this is the case for Paratroopers.
As for making sense, balance. Two paratrooper squads with SMGs and LMG upgrade, but both picked up bazookas or panzerschrecks, make for a very powerful combo that negates the need for using other units. On top of AT gun and HMG drop, too.
In any case, you're usually better off leaving those weapons for other units to pick up, they'll surely need it since they suck compared to paratroopers' firepower.

Also, it strikes me as odd that paratroopers don't have AT snare (TNT tar sock, AT grenade, mines). As a 3 CP unit, the paratrooper is a unit that an American player can transistion to from riflemen as the game progresses. It becomes less practical, however, when I need to keep one or two riflemen units solely for the AT rifle grenade, an ability useful throughout the entire game. I think riflemen are great, but I'm an airborne commander!!!

You're pretty much never supposed to "transition" from Riflemen to anything else. That's part of the overall faction design- Riflemen are useful from beginning to end, this conflicts with units that do the same things but much better, and in the case with paratroopers also drop straight into the field. It is clear that for all their benefits, Paratroopers were designed to be great support troops...but not really replace anything.
Commanders are designed to augment your regular capabilities. Those that do are problematic because it makes certain units redundant.

In short Airborne already promote a unique playstyle unlike any other commanders in the game. To make them more is to make other units less useful. Ultimately the point is to allow for good combined arms, this doesn't happen if the five abilities this commander offers let you ignore most of the core USF units. Why bother getting tanks, Riflemen and howitzers if Paratroopers can do all three things?