Discussion: Dedicated MG Teams and Inf. Fire Support Squads

[darkfireslide]

I've been thinking lately about the balance in this game, and for infantry I notice that no one really brings dedicated MG teams or fire support squads like Bren Groups. The reasons for this I believe are:
1. Not enough firepower for cost compared to regular infantry.
2. Not enough HP to justify price, especially on dedicated HMG teams.
3. Not enough availability compared to regular infantry squads. Why bring 3 MGs when you can bring 6 regulars?

So this is my question for discussion:
What would make dedicated MG teams and fire support squads like Bren Groups viable? At the moment their price combined with their relatively low availability as well as the opportunity cost of not having more regulars are their biggest issues it seems. How might we go about making them relevant in general?
Do we go with simple price or availability buffs or is something more substantial required, such as damage or range buffs on certain squads? Would veterancy make these units appealing, or perhaps a suppression increase on both HMGs and fire support alike? I could see Bren Groups being very useful if they had high suppression values compared to a regular squad, just as an example.

 

[Yung Rommel]

Lmg fire teams are cheaper and carry more ammo

Full squads have more balanced weapons, are more expensive, and are more durable

 

[Malakin]

Well, anything with the bren has been useless since Beta, after people whinged about it and they over nerfed it. Bren groups do half the supression damage they should (ie the 2x bren doing the equilivent of only one bren in another squad) and also all brens only do 0.15 damage per hit compared to MG34/42 that do 1.0

You need like 6-7 single brens to be as good as one MG34/42 while really the single bren should have about 0.75 damage.

 

[DuroSVK]

Bren sucks, its historical

 

[Nebelwerfer 42]

Bren sucks, its historical

It is definitely not historical. The Bren is one of the most highly regarded machineguns in Firearms history, only 500 rpm but unparalleled accuracy and a light and easy to carry weapon system compared to other MG’s of the time.

 

[darkfireslide]

My thoughts so far to improve fire support teams is to give them improved suppression versus standard infantry squads by using a unit status called "Fire Support" and that way all fire support squads can bring something useful to the table.
As for HMGs moving them to the support tab and improving cost and/or availability would help them tremendously.

 

[Herr_Robert]

Bren Groups can be worth using in high level play, but obviously not for fighting. They only cost $10, so they are useful for taking ground, and they can also be used to force surrenders (moving them up to pinned units with the truck). The Scots have so good infantry availability they can spare a card for Bren Groups and use them like this.

 

[darkfireslide]

And I mean that's true for anything that costs 10 points, but Bren groups have low health to boot and it doesn't seem worth it to bring them over an actual rifle squad.

 

[Mister Maf]

Bren group in particular is mediocre because the Bren in this game is mediocre. Its only purpose is keeping an enemy suppressed after other units suppress it; it accomplishes practically nothing on its own.

If the Bren got a moderate buff then the Bren group might be useful. Better still, give FISTs increased suppression on their machine guns to better highlight their role as fire support.

As for machine guns, I quite like them in many decks, but with so little HP, they're a joke in decks that only offer like 2 per card. An availability buff and/or relocating them to the support tab would be fine in my book.

 

[PanzerMan7]

Brens should have their double Brenness reflected and a major accuracy buff. Brens should be decent damage dealers actually and modest suppression