paratroopers - special forces or just waste of ressources?

[Xerxes62]

Hello dear community,

What do you all think about the paratroops? Will they be a good unit for encirclement tactics or maybe also a good stand alone unit for ground warfare? Or are they just a waste of ressources? As we saw in the www's marines and mountanieers do a great job but what about the paratroopers? Will they be also a good choice for not just air landing operations? Or maybe some of you got other strategys and tactics for them? Best regards to you all. Semper fi

 

[Shock360]

Hah. You rhymed

Anyways, I think they will be a much weaker troop that is mainly for when you really need to get on their land with a good navy or simply for getting behind their lines.

 

[Mirage2k]

"Special forces or waste of resources?"
I would answer that special forces can sometimes be a waste of resources, so it doesn't have to be either or
Special forces like marines and mountaineers are sometimes better, sometimes worse, than normal infantry. Paratroopers are the extreme version of that: They are usually worse, but can in some cases be incredible valuable. I don't think anyone knows any more than you do about how often those cases will occur in your games. It depends both on game mechanics and your choices of nation and plan.

 

[Xerxes62]

Seems like you guys like this rhyme. Well ich dont wanted this obviously i personally like air landing operations. but at least i will just use them for encirclement or to get strategic points. because i think they will be too weak to spam them . we will see at release^^.

 

[kviiri]

Paratroopers won't ever be worth training unless you want to paradrop them. They cost a lot more than normal inf but aren't significantly better, and are actually worse in some areas. Waste of resources unless you use their special power.

 

[Think Tank]

Hello dear community,

What do you all think about the paratroops? Will they be a good unit for encirclement tactics or maybe also a good stand alone unit for ground warfare? Or are they just a waste of ressources? As we saw in the www's marines and mountanieers do a great job but what about the paratroopers? Will they be also a good choice for not just air landing operations? Or maybe some of you got other strategys and tactics for them? Best regards to you all. Semper fi

There's no right answer.
If I have production to spare I'll get some, if only to have as much flexibility as possible available. Be prepared!

 

[tsk92]

I should point out that Dan/Johan never really used them particulary well in the WWW videos, their only role were to be suicide squads (Dan may have tried to use them properly in the invasion of the Soviet Union but lost them to do being cut off and surrounded in open field.

Wait and see, Airborne and indeed all special forces are very good at certain things, less good at others.

 

[Sic Domine]

Well Paratroopers are usually well trained, and not small in size, unlike commando or other units. The German paratroopers were notorious, they had some special nickname I think. I have no actual data about their combat performance though.

Paratroopers shouldnt be that much more expensive, all there is to them is getting them more training to jump out of a plane.

 

[uishax]

There is no air supply in HOI4 yet, so paratroopers will be of limited utility. Probably just used to create micro-encirclements at the front line.

 

[blue_yonder]

There is no air supply in HOI4 yet, so paratroopers will be of limited utility. .

Quite - on top of paras being expensive anyway, there's also the substantial extra cost of building transport planes which have no other purpose. I'm going to give them a miss.

 

[amalric de g.]

Well Paratroopers are usually well trained, and not small in size, unlike commando or other units. The German paratroopers were notorious, they had some special nickname I think. I have no actual data about their combat performance though.

Paratroopers shouldnt be that much more expensive, all there is to them is getting them more training to jump out of a plane.

The first four german Paratrooper Divisions are the Elite troops, the other 10 fought as normal Infantrie. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallschirmjäger_(World_War_II)

The Allies called them green Devils, after Monte Casino. The first Paratrooper Division mauled 3 or 4 Allied Divisions, including Gurkhas and Maoris, on this Mountain. The battle raged from January.17 until May.18 1944.

 

[c00per]

I was not a fan of non infantry units in HOI3 due to the tech investment needed for their doctrines but who knows in this game.

 

[wright1331]

The question I have is why are Transport planes 3 times more expensive than even Strat bombers?

as for the OP, with the reduced roll transport planes have now I think they Paratroopers will be less valuable than in HOI3

 

[Dreadlord]

"Special forces or waste of resources?"
I would answer that special forces can sometimes be a waste of resources, so it doesn't have to be either or
Special forces like marines and mountaineers are sometimes better, sometimes worse, than normal infantry. Paratroopers are the extreme version of that: They are usually worse, but can in some cases be incredible valuable. I don't think anyone knows any more than you do about how often those cases will occur in your games. It depends both on game mechanics and your choices of nation and plan.

Basically this. I bet their main uses will be opening another direction of attack during naval invasions, mopping up islands that your navy can't contest for naval supremacy but you have air supremacy, cutting out an enemy hiding behind a major river/strait with 10/10 fortifications and punishing bad enemy positioning and/or tactics. I'm planning to have one or two corps' worth of para divs around when game comes out.

 

[fredgiblet]

Well Paratroopers are usually well trained, and not small in size, unlike commando or other units. The German paratroopers were notorious, they had some special nickname I think. I have no actual data about their combat performance though.

Paratroopers shouldnt be that much more expensive, all there is to them is getting them more training to jump out of a plane.

The fallschirmjager actually only did a few combat drops. After Crete, where they were severely damaged because the Allies knew where they were going to be, Hitler refused to let them do combat drops again. Their jump equipment was inferior to the Allied systems so they usually dropped with only pistols and had to get their rifles from separate drops.

That said they DID get some nice gear like the FG42 and IIRC they considered themselves Elite much like the US Airborne.

As for training not only is the actual jump very important, it's not the only bit of extra training they need. They will be dropped over a fairly large area, so every soldier has to be able to navigate well enough to link up, they will be cut off from supply so they have to be able to conserve the supplies they have, and they need to be trained in how to operate without heavy support. A regular infantry soldier can count on Allied tanks, artillery and even air coming in for help, the paratrooper can't count on any of that.

Lastly they also need a different mindset. The Americans sent the 101st into Bastogne not because they thought that the paratroopers would be able to beat the Germans back by their godly paratrooperness, but because they knew Bastogne would be surrounded. Paratroopers have it beaten into them from day one that they WILL be surrounded, outnumbered and outgunned, but their job is to win anyway. A regular infantry unit that's cut off has a high risk of panic, this isn't what they signed up for. For a paratrooper being cut off is EXACTLY what they signed up for.

 

[fredgiblet]

The question I have is why are Transport planes 3 times more expensive than even Strat bombers?

Game balance, otherwise you could pump out paras and transports and cut off a whole front from supply.

 

[Bonedeadmozart]

I'd say that even though they may be costly, I reckon that they'll excel in areas that are suited to them as opposed to Infantry.

 

[TimLewis903]

Honestly I think their usefulness tends to vary from country to country. For the US, Britain, Japan they can be very useful. Mostly because of the amount of Amphibious assaults they need to do in an average game. Italy if they are doing well in a game can use a few of them. Mostly for adding a new front if they attack Malta and Gibraltar. Germany can find a few useful as well. Mostly to support Sea Lion, and in certain cases they are useful on the eastern front. For the Soviet Union they are of limited use against Germany, but great if you find yourself at war with Japan. They however are not a replacement for regular infantry on the front line. They are specialists and they are great at what they do. But they are not overpowered in other areas. That is how it should be.

 

[Admiral Piett]

Paratroopers were pretty exploitable in HoI III, if that is your thing. You could easily snipe victory points of minor nations for cheap wins. I don't know if that will work in HoI IV though.

 

[adam-tuck]

I am really curious to see if you can coordinate multiple landings at the same time, from the WWW's I have seen it has mostly been just dropping several Para units on the same prov. I don't think they're is a multi prov selection button is their?