The U.S. Infantry Division – One of the Last Infantry Divisions in Need of Love

Overview
With all of the recent changes coming to Lowlands and Luftwaffe, I found that there was one glaring issue remaining within the infantry divisions in Wikinger: the existence of the U.S. Infantry Division. Lowlands has been turned into a rather great doctrine thanks to the Highlanders getting turned into sniping beasts, and the other QOL adjustments have made them a real fighting force. Luft hasn’t been spared from such changes either – Regiment 6 is now a two-squad heavy frontline unit with a wall of STGs to contend with, and their Fusiliers are more capable than ever owing to their late-game upgrades. However, U.S. Infantry has gotten no such love, and I’m here now to post my own suggestions about what I personally think would make them more enjoyable to play. Of course, criticism and any other ideas are welcome.

The Problem
Now, at a glance U.S. Infantry doesn’t seem that bad. They get many upgrades to their stock riflemen, their infantry seem diverse and versatile, and their tank selection isn’t lacking in the slightest. But it’s that middle tree of theirs that stands as the most glaring issue of the doctrine, and it reinforces the fact that only one real strategy works for them: rifleman spam. Even with the changes to Repple Depple that made engineers-to-Rifleman spam nonexistent, the weakness of their so-called ‘elite’ infantry makes it still the only viable strategy. Rifleman are, without a doubt, their greatest infantry: they’re versatile, have the ability to get either insane amounts of anti-infantry firepower or anti-tank weaponry, can be upgraded into Corporals to get an additional BAR, can be mass-produced due to Rapid Deployment – hell, the only thing holding them back is their 300 MP cost; but, with Repple Depple still being a thing, that cost is completely alleviated so long as you bother to invest in any munition points. Without utterly neutering riflemen, the only way to make that ‘elite’ infantry viable is to give it some serious changes.

Changes to the Rangers

The most obvious issue with the Rangers is…
Tech Tree Adjustments
The fact that the Ranger Scout Patrol upgrade costs 3 CP is a sin, and it makes it a completely worthless investment to get early on. Such a high initial cost dooms it to be chosen later in the game, especially when riflemen perform so highly – a cost more inline with other elite infantry tech-ups (like Highlanders or Regiment 6) of 2 CP would be far more reasonable and make it possible to field the elite infantry early on.

Additionally, the Demolitions Team does not deserve to be a CP-based unit, and – in my opinion – it should be stripped of its bazooka and moved into just being able to be built initially, serving its intended purpose as an emplacement-remover and nothing more. It isn’t there to be the end-all-be-all close-range assault squad or an AT-squad, and moving it into that spot would allow it to better be utilized as a building assaulter instead of being completely ignored for other more useful tech-ups.

Now, what would I put in its place? Well, I feel that – first of all – the Xylophone should be moved to be after the White Phosphorus upgrade. With the WP unlock coming after a line of artillery upgrades, it only makes logical sense for the Xylophone to come at the end of the artillery line, not as a tacked-on side-grade for the Ranger upgrade tree. With the former-Demolitions spot open, it should then be adjusted as to ‘swap’ the position of the Ranger Scout Patrol unlock and the Demolitions unlock, creating a tree that looks more like this: https://gyazo.com/95723a40ceba84d41132bdeeef38fd60

As for what belongs in the former-Demolitions spot, I feel that there is something significant that Rangers is lacking: elite long-medium range infantry. Every other good infantry doctrine has this sort of unit (see: Highlanders, Regiment 6, Sturm Zugs, etc.) and it’s the most obvious lacking part of the U.S. Infantry Division lineup. Despite having Rangers and access to entirety the 2nd Ranger Battalion, they have no unit that serves as a heavy-duty baseline infantry for them. So, with the Demolitions squad being moved into the producible units, there needs to be a new squad to take their mantle as a tech-tree unlock.

US Ranger Marksman Team

6-man squad
Limit of 2 at any given time.
Come stock with 2x M1 Carbines and 4x M1 Garands.
Can be upgraded with 2x Springfield M1903A4 with M73B1 scopes or 1x BARs with rifle grenades.
360 MP.
Equipped with the Mk 2 Frag Grenade and M18 Smoke Grenade, and they’d get the Mk 2 Frag Grenade Assault once the Assault Vests unlock is obtained.

Such a squad would fill a vital role within the U.S. Infantry Division that is sorely (and noticeably) missing: long-range firepower. Sure, they’d suck in up-close combat and get vaporized by anything with a fire rate above 2 rounds-per-minute, but that’s not their purpose. The US already have rather good firepower up close (save for the Infantry Division, but my changes for such things are to come later), and so having them get a truly dedicated squad capable of laying down a field of long-range fire would be welcome.

Finally, there is the issue of Medal of Honor. Most other doctrines with elite units (especially ones focused on it) get an ability to allow their infantry to come in with more veterancy, and yet this is clearly lacking on the U.S. Infantry Division, despite there being a tech-tree slot perfect for it. The change here is simple: take the Medal of Honor unlock and make it so that it allows the elite Ranger units to spawn with one level of veterancy. This ability wouldn’t affect things like AT guns or machine guns, but would affect the sniper and recon teams.

Direct Unit Improvements

Though the tech tree changes alongside the new unit would be a big improvement to the Rangers, there still lies the issue of their existing units: they suck and are largely considered to be some of the worst elite infantry in the game. Here are some improvements I feel would add to the strength of the Rangers and make them far more specialized (but also stronger) in their purposes.

US Ranger Assault Team

Replace two of their Thompsons with two shotguns and remove their pocket-bazooka. This would – though limiting their AT capability significantly – make them fearsome close-quarter combatants, the perfect infantry to support the new Marksman teams.
Make them a little beefier in terms of health – right now they feel a little too much like tissue-paper.

US Ranger Anti-Tank Team

Return their White Phosphorus grenades. This would make them the perfect counterpart to the Airborne AT Team – whereas the Airborne team has three bazookas, the Ranger team would be armed with White Phosphorus, making them deal less overall damage (due to less AT weapons directly on the infantry) but making them far more capable of disabling enemy vehicles.

US Ranger Demolitions Team

Give them a second M2 Flamethrower by default as a replacement for the lost bazooka.

US Ranger Sniper

As a way to offset the seemingly lackluster nature of this unit, make the Sniper a 2-man team, with the second man being armed with a (scopeless) Springfield. However, once the Sniper reaches veterancy level 3 (and the player is at at least Tier 3), they can outfit him with a proper scoped Springfield as an upgrade. Of course, there is a hard limit of one of these teams at a time, and it should cost at least 100 – 150 more MP than the current Sniper.

Closing Remarks
Though likely not perfect by any means, I feel that these changes would be at least a start to bringing back the former glory of the U.S. Infantry Division. Especially after their AT got neutered, they’ve remained as the bottom-tier of the U.S. doctrines, constantly overshadowed by their shinier (and more-airborne) companions. With all the changes coming to the infantry doctrines recently, it’s important the Americans get some love here too, as their long-outdated tech-tree really, really deserves it.