M5 half-track

I did love the halftrack in CoH1, so I naturally feel inclined to this guy. The ability to reinforce out of it and drive troops around that are in semi-cover, able to shoot out of it... great stuff. But it comes about the time I can access the standard half-track with the 37mm gun and 2 .50 cals...

So the M5 lets me reinforce and later I can upgrade it to quad .50s. Which does decent damage.

But the dedicated AA half-track does much more damage and suppression. You just can reinforce out of it. But they both come about the same time. The AA half-track can easily take most early game enemy troops and light vehicles out.

I feel like the USF truck, M3, and M5 are just more stuff jammed into the game chaotically. They don't fit a roll that isn't already covered (ambulance anyone?). Troop transport is pretty good stuff, but if I can simply buy an AA half-track that can take me into mid-game with it's heavy main gun... why would I want the quad .50 halftrack? By the time you can get it, it's outdated.

Not so much a complaint as a "explain it please". I'd like to see how it fits in and how to use it better, but... it seems better to skip it for a longer-termed vehicle for a few more fuel and no munitions cost.

I did love the halftrack in CoH1, so I naturally feel inclined to this guy. The ability to reinforce out of it and drive troops around that are in semi-cover, able to shoot out of it... great stuff. But it comes about the time I can access the standard half-track with the 37mm gun and 2 .50 cals...

So the M5 lets me reinforce and later I can upgrade it to quad .50s. Which does decent damage.

But the dedicated AA half-track does much more damage and suppression. You just can reinforce out of it. But they both come about the same time. The AA half-track can easily take most early game enemy troops and light vehicles out.

I feel like the USF truck, M3, and M5 are just more stuff jammed into the game chaotically. They don't fit a roll that isn't already covered (ambulance anyone?). Troop transport is pretty good stuff, but if I can simply buy an AA half-track that can take me into mid-game with it's heavy main gun... why would I want the quad .50 halftrack? By the time you can get it, it's outdated.

Not so much a complaint as a "explain it please". I'd like to see how it fits in and how to use it better, but... it seems better to skip it for a longer-termed vehicle for a few more fuel and no munitions cost.

Against the OKW the USF needs captain technology to defeat rushed light vehicles. But captain technology can not fight the OKW infantry hoard: M5 AA track does though.

in terms of fuels and munis, 60+60+30+(120 munis) is cheaper than 50+50+60+60.

Air dropping weapons cuts fuel cost but costs extra MP, in principle M5 AA is good for same reason.

Something to keep in mind with call-in units, is that the larger the game is, the slower the rate at which you get CPs. A good rule of thumb is to assume you'll have 25% less CPs per player in teamgames than in a 1v1.

By the time you'd have 4 CPs in a 1v1, you'll likely have only 3 in a 2v2, 2 in a 3v3, and only 1 in a 4v4. Being fully teched with only a few CPs is easier to do the larger the game is. This can severely hamper the effectiveness of call-ins in those particular matches. M4C Shermans for instance, usually come after panthers and even KTs in 3v3/4v4s.

You guys lost me. The commander ability call-in for an M5 (which carries troops and can upgrade to quad .50 cals). So it will come later in larger games and it is less than useful compared to the standard AA half-track.

So on a smaller game, I could possibly get this halftrack without going to T2. T2 is pretty quick, tbh.

I guess I didn't really get to asking you in the post, but that's what I wanted to know. There's kind of a different answer for 1v1s, 2v2s and then 3v3s and 4v4s.

For starters, the M5 call-in gives you the option for an actual reinforcing halftrack. The quad upgrade is there as an option, but it serves a strong utility to USF without it. I wouldn't put an ambulance on the front lines, but I would with an M5, Quad or no. The ambulance is just a mobile triage center anyway.

And like you said, the commander call-in gives you a good mobile AA/AI option while skipping LT. Going captain into major, if you're able to capitalize on fuel early game, can work out quite well in your favor.

In 1v1s this utility can be very useful in providing alternate/less predictable teching paths. Fast stuarts are strong in the current meta, and the suppression of the quad can be nice to pop out against an OKW player defaulting to a schreck blob, for instance. I think currently this is where the M5 currently fits in the best.

In 2v2s the usefulness isn't as prominent. Depending on teamwork there's a whole different kind of commander/tier synergy, with the addition of faction synergy. I mean, just having a soviet ally kind of undermines the call-in M5.

In 3v3s and 4v4s, well, USF are silly to begin with. Six to eight player games are pretty much a farce in terms of balance and sanity. They can be a fun arena to wipe a thousand-plus manpower in a single demo charge, but there's no hope for balance/logic there in the game's current form. Light vehicle call-ins arrive way late in 3v3s and 4v4s, and are usually not worth getting. Ostheer's mortar halftrack is the only exception that I can think of.