Airborne Guide

<h1>US XVIII Airborne Corps</h1>

The Little Group’s Of Paratroopers effect: “This effect is known as the Rule of LGOPs. This is, in its purest form, small groups of 19- year old American Paratroopers. They are well-trained, armed-to-the-teeth and lack serious adult supervision. They collectively remember the Commander’s intent as “March to the sound of the guns and kill anyone who is not dressed like you…” …or something like that. Happily they go about the day’s work…” Airborne in a nutshell (Pretty proud of myself for finding this gem, not gonna lie…)

<h2>Pros:</h2>

• Very strong infantry that can be inserted almost everywhere
• Almost every airborne unit has a bazooka without using a dedicated model/man (basically, when withing range of a vehicle, one riflemen will take out a bazooka and fire. So, you lose no anti-infantry firepower for your anti tank capability.) (Airborne AT excluded from this rule)
• Most squads can conduct ambushes., and stealth themselves.
• kinda have a sniper…
• can get Thomson equipped infantry incredibly early
• Works very well with armor heavy doctrines (like US armor division)
• effective fire support for every occasion.
• does not use fuel (well, basically never…)

<h2>Cons:</h2>

• Munitions heavy as heck
• Literally nothing in the way of armor. You can call in 2 wolverines, 2 76 Shermans and that’s it! (you can make the basic M4, but it’s not too good against German late-game armor.)
• Your drop-zones are pretty predictable, unless you infiltrate pathfinders
• Airborne troops are incredibly vulnerable when they first land
• Vulnerable to suppression heavy weapons (the MG 42 is basically your nemesis)
• Air support can be denied by AA vehicles

<h2>Key Units:</h2>
This section will be done a little different from my other guides: Instead of listing individual units, I’m going to group them together based on synergy with similar units, and availability at various stages of the game.

• Airborne Pathfinders
• “Old Crock” command squad and airborne engineers
• 101st and 82nd Airborne infantry
• 101st airborne AT squad
• 502nd Recon/Intel element
• Easy Company
• Air support

<h3>Airborne Pathfinders</h3>
Basically, they only have 2 good uses: they provide resupply points for your paratroopers behind enemy lines, and can make safe landings zones. They do both by setting up the little beacon. They are terrible at everything else. Especially shooting. If they are in combat, make sure there is a heavier squad taking most of the damage. They do have evasive action, which allows them to get into enemy territory given time, which is what I suggest you do with them.
<h3>”Old Crock” command squad and airborne engineers</h3>
Your 2 early game airborne squads, both useful for different reasons. Both are armed with Thomson SMG’s, which makes them very effective in close combat,and both a tough and resilient combat units. “Old Crock” is a great assault unit by itself, but the added “on me!” ability allows thee airborne to face off one of their greatest threats: the MG, as it removes suppression, and provides a powerful aura, buffing surrounding airborne units. The squad also has a marksman, who can be called on to snipe one model at a distance from a squad. Use on high priority targets like: snipers, if you can get close, retreating squads with 1 model left, and a lot of veterancy, and weapon crews. The engineers posses very early bazookas, and satchel charges, which can destroy almost any building in one hit (this includes deployed Waffen trucks. If they build outside of their base, punish them!) They can also build an Airborne HQ, which I’ll discuss later.
<h3>101st and 82nd Airborne infantry</h3>
The meat of the airborne doc. There are some big differences though. The 82nd are dropped by plane, with 3 squads dropping in at a time! They have the same “hidden” bazookas as the engineers, as well as SMG’s and are pretty good, though they come without vet. They can be upgraded with 2 M1 Garand’s, Giving them better long range firepower, though its not a mandatory upgrade. The 101st are very similar to the support riflemen of the regular US forces, as they come in at your base, like normal infantry, and use BAR’s, but they can also carry bazookas, have demolition charges and come vet 1.
<h3>101st airborne AT squad</h3>
The only AT you will ever need. Tough to stop, harder to suppress, and even harder to kill, this is one tough infantry unit! Unlike most AT infantry, these guys can take a beating, and have 3 bazookas (5 men total), meaning they do more damage per salvo! The sheer power of this squad is the reason airborne can work without tanks of its own. They also came vet 1 as an added bonus. Use them!!
<h3>502nd Recon/Intel element</h3>
Handy little squad capable of moving while stealthed, then setting up with binocs for a huge sight range. Get them to a bush somewhere where they will be undisturbed, and use them to call in air-support, arty, see counter attacks, etc.
<h3>Easy Company</h3>
Powerful airborne infantry. calls in 2 squads in half-tracks. Can be equipped with StG’s, and have a bazooka plus an MG, as well as 3 panzerfaust if you have weapon support. Can deal with almost anything, the best airborne squad available. I don’t say this very often, but 2 of these might be able to take on wunderwaffe’s 502nd Jager and come out on top (as long as the Jager are a at a similar vet level, and are far enough away). Also equipped with dynamite charges for late game pushes. They provide valuable long range suppression as they have an MG. Remember, these 2 squads should win against elite infantry as long as you have a better position than the enemy unit. They should be out of range for their weapons (especially any and all flamethrowers), while your MG should be laying down pain.
<h3>Air support</h3>
If you have the munitions, airborne can delete almost anything from the map with planes.

• infantry: call in a P47 to strafe the area. Might not kill, but it will pin units, even in green cover.
• Vehicles: either call in the P-47 with 2 500lb bombs work, or call in a rocket strafe which can a kill a Tiger. The bombs are capable of stunning a tank, so it goes well with a nearby AT squad. Use the latter to kill the stunned tank (which cant move or fire)
• B-26: a lot of 500lb bombs which will clean out an area very effectively. IF there is a unit blob in an area, this will deal with it well. There is a good delay before this comes however.

Keep in mind, the B-26 is invulnerable to AA, but the other planes are not, so try to kill AA when you see it.
<h2>Order of Battle</h2>
Team game: Basically, most docs rely on using units/gimmicks/ability to break through the battle lines that forms at mid-game. With airborne, this line should never form. You should be incessantly harassing your opponent, dropping troops into his back-line, decapping points, killing munitions and fuel hordes, blowing up vehicles, even bridges  and buildings, literally anything! The more people, and the larger the map, the more annoying you get.

In a 1v1  game, you basically have the advantage of being able to resupply anywhere (beacons and airborne HQ), and drop a large amount of infantry with little warning, and keep your opponents off balance. Bulk of opponents infantry on one side? Send in the 82nd para-drop on the other, and start decapping everything! Paratrooper’s might not be as powerful as some of the German specialist squads, but there is a heck lot more of them!

Generally, get your command squad and your airborne engineers out ASAP, as they give you a large early game advantage with their Thomson, then go for 82nd and 101st airborne to secure you middle game. Any time you see a tank, send an airborne AT after it,  and with proper flanking and surprise, it should die or be forced to run back to base. If you ever see the enemy coming after you, (the intelligence section is great for this.) just melt away into the country side with evasive actions and lay an ambush. You can use the evasive action ability in advance, get into cover and wait till the enemy gets into that sweet SMG range. (if your infantry get a see-through effect, it means its working, but don’t let the enemy get to close, as you will be revealed instantly.) for late game, the tank call in’s and easy company are what is suggested, though the tanks should be unnecessary in a team game, as your allies should cover your armor concerns in return for superior infantry support. Other than that, This doc is all about having infantry in good spot, wiping out axis infantry whenever they are foolish enough to go anywhere alone, and killing vehicle whenever able. Stay away from keeping any infantry in blobs, and make sure one unit support another. If you can snipe an enemy MG/base MG with a dynamite/satchel charge at any point in the game, do it! Don’t be afraid to rush his base from all directions if you have more airborne, and the base MG’s are gone. Other than that, it’s pretty simple.
<h3>Keep In Mind:</h3>
Because you almost never use fuel, you should call in the munitions airdrop as often as you can.

The Airborne HQ set up the the airborne engineers can resupply any unit, serves as a retreat point, as well as call down medical supplies and weapons drops (75mm arty, .50 cal MG, mortar and a 57mm AT gun.). The medical drops are great, as they can help heal non-airborne infantry, as well as buff any infantry to fight harder. The 75mm arty though, is the best this HQ has to offer. It has huge range, and does great damage, being able to wipe a squad in one hit if they are clustered in one area (like on a point).

Evasive action is a great ability, and I know its mentioned in the Order of Battle section, but there are a few things I want to clear up that gave me problems:

• This is a stealth button combined a hold fire button. Your men will hold their fire, unless enemy units get really close. (that took me a while to figure out)
• It’s not affected by cover. you can crawl across a road without losing your stealth, though make it a fast crossing, and make sure its a clear one.

That all folks. As always, I hope this helps you with your airborne game, and I hope to see you on the battle fields of Wikinger! Please comment and give feedback as you feel is necessary!

• This topic was modified 7 years, 4 months ago by Death_Kitty.
• This topic was modified 7 years, 4 months ago by Lorarius.
• This topic was modified 7 years, 4 months ago by Lorarius.
• This topic was modified 7 years, 4 months ago by Death_Kitty.
• This topic was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by Death_Kitty.