Conscript Squad

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Conscript Squads are the one of the core infantry units available to the Soviet Union. While they lack the combat power of many other mainline squads, their affordability large size combined with their powerful supportive abilities makes them a very useful unit to have on the battlefield.

Overview
Conscripts are one of the more unique mainline units available to the Allies. Compared to units such as Riflemen and Infantry Sections, Conscripts trade raw combat effectiveness for stronger supportive abilities and a cheaper cost. That said, Conscripts aren't an ineffective combat unit and can be an absolute menace on the battlefield when used right.

As far as combat power goes, Conscripts are a mixed bag. Compared to almost every other mainline squad, they lag behind due to their poor armament and mediocre survivability thanks to their awful base-line received accuracy stat. These factors mean that they trade poorly against almost every Axis squad they will encounter, especially those that are armed with automatic weapons such as STG-41s and FG-42s. Their large squad size and tendency to clump together also makes them very vulnerable to explosives of any types. Overall, these factors mean that Conscripts will almost always suffer very heavy casualties in the field.

All that said, Conscripts aren't incapable of performing well. While their armament might be lacking, they have access to a number of abilities and upgrades that allow them to effectively compete in combat. Their cheap Molotov Cocktains combined with their Oorah! sprint allow them to effectively advance into close range and force them to abandon their positions by throwing a Molotov at them. Additionally, their access to PPSh-41 or AK-43 packages heavily boost their close-quarters fighting capacity and partially compensates for their awful base-line damage output. Their veterancy level also has a massive impact on their performance due to the massive increases to their accuracy and received accuracy that they receive at level two and three.

In practice, Conscripts work most effectively when used in numbers. While one squad may lose in a straight fight, two squads can effectively pin down and flank enemy forces. Their cheap production and reinforcement costs allow them to be churned out in large numbers which makes it possible to simply swamp the enemy with units; if an enemy brings two squads to a fight, you bring four. That said, many enemy units are able to rip Conscripts to shreds, so knowing when to push in or when to back off is critical to keeping your squads alive.

Another role that Conscripts can fulfill is that of a supporting unit. If you decide to primarily base your early-game army around stronger units such as Penal Squads and Guards Rifle Infantry, Conscripts can act as an effective unit to make up for their shortcomings. Their access to the Merge ability allows Conscripts to reinforce these more potent units in the field (and effectively save manpower due to the dirt-cheap reinforcement costs that Conscripts have) and their access to the RPG-43 AT Grenade allows them to move effectively zone out and snare enemy vehicles than squads that are limited to AT Satchels. Merge also is very useful for keeping Team Weapons such as Maxims or AT guns in the fight or for stealing enemy team weapons.

Overall, Conscripts are a rather interesting unit due to their number of applications. While their limited availability and the presence of more powerful unit leads to them being somewhat overshadowed, they still are a very useful unit in most matches. Even if you plan on using a doctrine that doesn't have access to them by default, it can still be a good idea to que up a few squads before unlocking the specialization (put the squads in que after the specialization) simply due to how useful they can be as a supportive squad.

Pros

 * Very cheap to produce and maintain
 * Large squad size
 * Great combat mobility thanks to their long-duration sprint.
 * Strong scaling via upgrades and veterancy

Cons

 * Poor combat performance by default
 * Very vulnerable to explosives and automatic weapons
 * Bad long-range capabilities

Conscript Assault Package (PPSH-41s)

 * 40 Munitions
 * Increases close-range DPS

This upgrade replaces three of the squad's rifles with PPSh-41 SMGs. Though this does reduce the long-range effectiveness of the squad, the boost it provides to close-range DPS most certainly off-sets this, especially when one considers how conscripts are usually used.



PTRS-41 Anti-tank Rifles

 * 60 Munitions
 * Improves anti-armor effectiveness

This upgrade replaces two of the squad's rifles with PTRS-41 AT Rifles. This is a rather situation unlock, since there are a number of other Soviet units such as Guards and Penal Squads since they have a higher base-line accuracy value. That said, it can still be a good idea to get one or two of these upgrades on your squads if you are facing lots of early-game light armor such as Kubelwagens.



Conscript Assault Package (AK-43s)

 * 60 Munitions
 * Improves DPS at all ranges
 * Requires Conscript Assault Package commander ability and mutually exclusive with the PPSh-41 Package

This upgrade replaces three of the squad's rifles with AK-43 Assault Rifles. As far as doctrinal mainline-infantry upgrades go, this is one of the better ones. The boost it provides is a game changer since it allows conscripts to threaten most opposing mainline infantry at close-mid range. Though it is expensive and the comparatively limited accessibility of Conscripts (only no-spec and Armored Rush have access to them) can be a limiting factor, this is almost always a good ability to have if one plans on using large numbers of Conscript squads in a game.



Bazooka Tank Hunter Package

 * 75 Munitions
 * Greatly improves anti-tank abilities
 * Requires the Tank Hunter Tactics commander and is mutually exclusive with the PTRS-41 Package.

This upgrade replaces two of the squad's rifles with lend-leased M9 Bazookas and replaces the RPG-43 AT grenade ability with the RPG-40 AT Grenade Assault. This is a rather niche upgrade due to it only being available to one commander, but it is still somewhat useful regardless. The M9 Bazookas are good enough and are more effective than the PTRS-41 for AT duties, though they are situationally worse vs light vehicles due to their worse accuracy. The real highlight of this upgrade is the AT Grenade Assault ability that allows this squad to deal massive damage to any vehicle that gets into range. Overall though, this ability is a nice unlock to have if you're using this commander and need a cheap AT squad to counter heavy armor.



Airdropped Weapons (SVT-40s)

 * 60 Munitions; Requires the Airborne Troops Tactics commander
 * Improves close-mid DPS

This upgrade replaces four of the squad's Mosin-Nagants with SVT-40 semi-automatic rifles. This is a generally unimportant upgrade to get on Conscripts. It only gives four rifles and costs more than far more effective PPSh upgrade. If you are using Airborne Troops Tactics then it is most likely a better idea to give Airdropped Weapons to Penal Squads since they get much more bang-for-buck out of them due to the fact that it gives them AK-43s.

Throw Molotov Cocktail
10 Munitions; The squad throws an incendiary grenade at the target location, engulfing the area in flames. This ability is critical in early-game scenarios where you need to force superior enemy squads out of cover in order to gain the upper hand.



Throw RPG-43 Anti-tank Grenade
20 Munitions; A member of the squad throws a standard RPG-43 AT grenade at the targeted enemy vehicle, dealing damage and potentially causing critical damage.



RPG-40 AT Grenade Assault
25 Munitions and requires the Bazooka Tank Hunter Package upgrade; Every living member of the squad throws an RPG-40 AT Grenade at the targeted vehicle, dealing major damage and almost certainly causing critical damage. This ability has the potential to devastate enemy vehicles, but rushing an enemy vehicle is almost guaranteed to cause the squad to lose models on the approach which in turn reduces the overall damage potential of the ability.



Merge
This ability allows the squad to transfer members to another depleted unit. This ability is very useful for keeping team weapons in the fight and reinforcing more important squads in the field. Keep in mind that the merged models retain their stats, so it might not be a good idea to merge with an elite squad since the merged members will almost certainly not be as durable.



Oorah!
When activated, the squad moves at maximum speed for 10 seconds. This is another critical ability that Conscripts rely on to beat out enemy units in the opening phases of the game.



Repairs
Requires Infantry Repair Package commander ability; Allows Conscript Squads to repair vehicles at a rate of about 6 HP/s.

 Trip Wire Flares 

15 Munitions and requires Veterancy One; Plants a small trip-wire trap that explodes when an enemy unit moves over it, dealing damage and illuminating the area for 8 seconds. Standard infantry squads are guaranteed to lose a single model while vehicles are unaffected.

Constructions
Sandbag Fighting Position

Builds a long wall of dirt and sandbags. Provides heavy cover to units behind it and can accommodate more troops without clumping models together.

 Round Trench 

Builds a large trench that provides heavy cover for any squad inside it; can garrison one squad or team weapon.

 PMD-6 Anti-Personnel Mine 

7 Munitions and requires the Defensive Tactics (Community) commander; Plants a very light anti-personnel mine on the selected location. The mine deals chip damage to infantry squads that walk over it (maybe 20 per model at most) and is entirely ineffective against vehicles, but its low cost allows it to be spammed in large numbers.

 PMD-6M Light Anti-Vehicle Mine 

10 Munitions and requires the Tank Hunter Tactics commander; Plants a light anti-vehicle mine on the selected location. The mine does a very minor amount of damage to vehicles and temporarily damages their engine, slowing the vehicle for ~5 seconds. These are pretty niche mines but they can be useful for slowing concentrated tank attacks.

Veterancy
 Veterancy One 

480 XP: Unlocks the 'Trip Wire Flares' veteran ability and improves survivability.

 Veterancy Two 

960 XP: +40% accuracy; +25% molotov throw speed.

 Veterancy Three 

1920 XP: +10% accuracy; -20% weapon cooldown; -29.3% received accuracy; -25% AT grenade recharge.