Troops and Research

Troops are a.k.a subformation Types. Your troops and your equipment. All Research fields you can actually chose to research in this ruleset concern getting the knowledge to produce a certain Subformation Type or to produce a higher level of a certain subformation type.

Infantry

Infantry are troops that exist out of men carrying their own light arms by muscle power. In general they are cheap to produce

General Infantry

General Infantry is the cheapest of all and has lower offensive value then defensive value.

Rifle I,II,III,IV

Yes Sir! Standing ready for your orders! Standard general infantry. Does the job, suffers the losses.

SMG I,II,III,IV

Yes Sir! Standing ready for your orders! General infantry equipped with submachine guns. Short range, higher firepower. They attack and defend better in forested and urban terrain and worse in plains,fields and mountains.

Militia I,II,III,IV

Can go straight into the meatgrinder! General infantry that is recruited from dubious age groups and is not as combat worthy as other regular infantry. Its even worse in offensive role then regular infantry. And should only be used in defensive roles. (militia requires militia theory but otherwise does not have own research fields, but uses rifle/smg research instead)

Guerrilla I,II,III,IV

Like ghosts they move behind the lines! The Guerrilla is a specialized unit. It is the same as rifle infantry, but it moves a bit quicker and has excellent reconnaissance. Also the Guerrilla is able to hide itself; up to a certain extent they will not be visible to enemy reconaissance, especially if placed in a landscape with high hide factor.

Ranger I,II,III,IV

Elite of the elite! Are expensive to train but when recruited have elite morale to start with and will suffer less casualties in combat. (militia requires ranger theory but otherwise does not have own research fields, but uses rifle/smg research instead)

Mercenary I,II,III,IV

Experienced guns for hire! You can only receive mercenaries if you have a mercenary base. Mercenaries are equal to regular rifle infantry, but they startout with a high experience level.

Support Infantry

Support Infantry is more expensive then regular infantry and adds punch to your regular infantry troops.

Machinegun I,II,III,IV

Spews a hail of bullets! Machineguns have very high defensive ratings versus infantry.

Mortar I,II,III,IV

Portable and highly efficient killers. Mortars are light artillery that can only be used from close up. Mortars add offensive punch against enemy infantry. Mortars are expensive but stay behind the frontline in combat and should thus suffer less casualties.

Bazooka I,II,III,IV

Hollow charge weapons can be lethal to tanks from a close distance. Bazookas have good ratings against enemy armour.

Specialist Infantry

These specialists should not be used in direct combat role but for their own specific purposes.

Staff I,II,III,IV

Control and command! Without staff a HQ is almost useless. Always make sure you have enough staff in your HQs to direct all the troops in the units that are subordinate to the HQs. Do not use in direct combat role, they fight rather weakly. They are the only subformation types that provide staff points.

Engineer

Roads, bridges, fortifications…. These guys build them all! These are not combat engineers but construction and demolition specialists. Use them for engineering tasks behind the frontline. Its the only subformation type that provides EP points.

Guns

Since infantry is mainly defensive and can be very well entrenched guns are needed to break the spirit and entrenchment of the defenders before sending in the troops.

Artillery

Infantry support is nice, but it is artillery that brings real firepower.

(Regular) Artillery I,II,III,IV

Blast your opponent to pieces from a safe distance. Has a range of 2 hexes and can be used in artillery attacks.

Heavy Artillery I,II,III,IV

Heavy and expensive. Has a range of 3 hexes and does a better job in doing structural damage then regular artillery.

Other Guns & Tactical rockets

Flak I,II,III,IV

Umbrella versus air attack! Has a AA range of 1 hex and should be used to support airfields, industries, towns or formations under air attack.

Infantry Gun I,II,III,IV

Light field artillery to fight in the frontline. Very much like a mortar. However it has larger range and also has from level II and higher range 1 for artillery attacks.

Anti Tank Gun I,II,III,IV

Position and entrench! Use this in defensive role against armour.

Katushya I,II,III,IV

Howling rockets raining down! Katushya's are tactical rockets that when used can be compared to a very heavy artillery strike. However katushya's can only be used once.

Armour

To avoid a “sitzkrieg” you'll need to use armour to combine offensive power with speed.

Armoured Car

A tin can on wheels. Only effective against infantry.

Light Tank I,II,III,IV

Cheap and armoured. Best used against infantry and armoured cars.

Medium Tank I,II,III,IV

Strong tank. Best used against a combination of lighter tanks and infantry.

Assault Gun I,II,III,IV

A tank without a turret. Compromise between cost and effectiveness. Best used in AT role in defense.

Heavy Tank I,II,III,IV

Expensive but strong. Should only be used against enemy tank concentrations.

Super Heavy Tank I,II,III,IV

This monster tank should be used against other tanks only. Questions could be raised about its cost effectiveness.

Tankdestroyer I,II,III,IV

In offensive or in defense… This tank is an expert in destroying other tanks.

Troopcarrier/Transport

A number of subformation types enable you to motorize your units and provide transfer capacity points.

Truck

Slurps oil but excellent mobilizer of troops. Provides land transfer capacity points in HQs and can motorize units as well.

Halftrack I,II,III,IV

Armoured transport for elite infantry. Same as truck, but provides less transfer capacity points. It does however increase protection for its infantry passengers from hostile infantry, artillery and armour fire.

Train

Coal trains and railroads bind your empire together. Provides rail cap transfer points and can also directly “motorize” units to travel over rail. Keep in mind that trains do not use oil and are the strategic transport type of choice.

Horse

The good old trusted horse does not need fuel to go forward… Can be usefull to get artillery up to foot speed if you lack the resources to properly motorize. Or if the landscape is to tough for motorized transport.

Aircraft & Strategic Rockets

Aircraft are usually a big investment but once you manage to claim air superiority it will pay off.

Fighter I,II,III,IV

Master of the sky! Use the figther to attain and keep air superiority.

Divebomber I,II,III,IV

Death from above! screaming engines, precision bombing! Use the divebomber to attack enemy artillery and armour concentrations.

Levelbomber I,II,III,IV

Mass produced bomb carrier. Standard, somewhat versatile and cheap bomber. Use the levelbomber versus parked enemy aircraft, artillery, mobile (but not armour) and infantry targets.

Strategic Bomber I,II,III,IV

Destroy the enemies industrial base and win the war. Use the strategic bomber to reduce the anti-structural points of enemy production centers or fortifications.

Torpedo Bomber I,II,III,IV

The ultimate weapon against enemy fleets. Use the torpedo bomber against naval targets. Takes only half the space of regular aircraft on carrier.

Carrier Fighter I,II,III,IV

Small and sturdy. Use it to stock your aircraft carriers with. Takes only half the space from a regular fighter.

V-Weapon I,II,III

Unstoppable terror from above. A strategic rocket. It should be used to cause structural dammage on a target of choice.

Kamikazes

Pilots of the divine wind fly a fighter stacked full of explosives in a final mission for victory. Gives even a single fighter attack a shot to sink a capitol ship. Keep in mind you always lose your aircraft in the attack.

Navy

Ships provide you with a way to cross the seas between continents.

Cargoship

The naval beast of burden. Provides a HQ with Naval Transfer capacity points. And when placed in a unit it allows that unit to load and unload passenger units. The cargoship is essential to any amphibious operation.

Destroyer I,II,III,IV

Equipped with sonar and depth charges as well as a good main gun. Use to destroy cargoships and submarines. Its the master in submarine destruction. No fleet should go without it.

Submarine I,II,III,IV

The silent killer. Use to destroy cargoships and scout. Its stealth will protect it very often.

Cruiser I,II,III,IV

Strong ship with high AA gun count. Use it to beef up your fleets anti-air defenses and attack enemy destroyers and cargoships. It has some shorebombardment power.

Battleship I,II,III,IV

Master of the sea. Use it to destroy any enemy surface vessels.

Aircraft Carrier I,II,III,IV

A mobile airfield on the high seas. Use it to carry torpedo bombers out to the seas. A fully stocked aircraft carrier will be able to beat strong enemy fleets from a distance.