As someone who plays Airborne almost for all of my games now, they are as good as any elite inf call-in. Paras with LMGs do not come too late at all and will beat almost any ost/okw inf squad you throw at it, with the exception of a vet 4 obers squad. Even then, if a para LMG squad is in creen cover and a vet 4 obersquad comes at a vet 3 para lmg squad, the para lmg squad will probably win.
I look foward to a Ranger company commander and am eager to see how they will play out as well.
4 Rifles -> Captain -> Stuart -> Paras -> ATG, mix in a .50cal in the mix somewhere in there is a safe and effective para build, assuming you lose no units in the early game will leave you in a very strong position.
Also the ability to drop paras anywhere on the field is also quite powerful, despite the massive landing circle into the FOW, I have rarely lost more than 1 model if any.
e: For the record, thommy paras just aren't as good as LMG paras. I recommend never get them unless you are on a CQC map and feel like messing about, they absolutely wreck when standing still and up close, but they seem to have disproportionately low accuracy (and subsequently low dps) when firing on the move, I don't know the actual stats but it sure seems like it.
