Shotgun Team

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The Shotgun Team is the primary early-game close-combat unit of the American Expeditionary Force. Armed with shotguns and sub-machine guns and capable of concealing themselves, Shotgun Teams are an early-game powerhouse that can pose a major threat to most enemy squads at close-range.

Overview
Shotgun Teams are a somewhat situational but quite powerful early-game option for the AEF. Although they are less versatile and cost much more than Rifleman Squads, their close-quarters combat capacity is practically unmatched by anything short of the strongest early-game Axis assault units. Additionally, their ability to pull of ambushes thanks to their ability to stealth allows them to punch far above their weight.

The best way to utilize these troops is as a sort of light shock unit. Using them as your primary main-line unit is often a poor idea due to their high cost and comparatively restrictive weaponry, so it is best to use them in conjunction with other units (aka, Rifleman Squads) that can compensate for their weaknesses. Although they can absolutely mulch almost any squad they run into in a close-range fight, they will struggle if they are unable to close the distance effectively and will consistently suffer losses when facing units with better long-range capabilities than them. As such, it is important to use flanking routes and smoke-cover to close the distance as effectively as possible.

Another advantage they have is their ability to act as an ambush unit. Due to their ability to conceal themselves behind cover (upon reaching veterancy level one that is), they can do massive amounts damage to enemy squads if they get the drop them thanks to the first-strike damage boost. Additionally, their ability to plant demolition charges lets them instantly delete enemy squads if placed in a proper position.

Overall, Shotgun Teams are a very powerful unit in spite of their somewhat situational nature. There are rarely games where they do note have some role do play, whether it be acting as a urban-combat brawler or a team-weapon flanker in open-field combat.

Upgrades
Due to the fact that Shotgun Teams can only pick up one extra weapon, I will be addressing Weapon Rack pickups as a singular upgrade instead of as a per-weapon variable.



Experimental AP Shells

 * 45 Munitions


 * Improves effectiveness against light vehicles.

This upgrade replaces the standard shotguns with special versions adapted to fire an improved AP slug. This improves the M12's against light vehicles and allows the weapons to cause critical hits on penetration. Also provides a marginal improvement to mid-range damage output. Although this upgrade can be useful at times, the added penetration isn't enough to make Shotgun Teams effective against anything larger than a Kubelwagen, and as such, it is likely more cost-effective to simply put a Bazooka or two on a different squad.



M1918 BAR

 * 30 Munitions
 * Mid-Range Anti-Infantry Weapon

This upgrade replaces one of the squad's M3 Grease Guns with an M1918 BAR. Improves close-mid range damage output by a small margin. Although this is still a nice thing to pick-up and has no drawbacks, the improvement to the squad's overall damage output is negligible and it is generally a better idea to spend the munitions on upgrading different units.



M1919 Browning LMG

 * 50 Munitions
 * Long-range anti-infantry weapon

This upgrade replaces one of the squad's M3 Grease Guns with an M1919 LMG. Although the improvement to the squad's long-range damage output is noticeable, this upgrade does not mesh with the squad's overall roll in the slightest. There is no real reason to "upgrade" a unit that performs best at close ranges with a weapon that is only advantageous when used at long-range.



M9 Bazooka

 * 25 Munitions
 * Mediocre Anti-Vehicle Rocket Launcher

Don't.

Pros

 * Amazing close-mid range firepower
 * Good survivability thanks to body-armor
 * Great ambush potential thanks to stealth
 * Strong explosive abilities

Cons

 * Poor long-range capabilities
 * No viable anti-tank options
 * Expensive to produce and maintain

Mk 2 Frag Grenade
20 Munitions; One squad member throws a standard Mk 2 frag grenade at the target location, dealing heavy damage to enemy infantry caught in the blast.



M23 Smoke Rifle Grenade
15 Munitions; A squad member fires an M23 smoke grenade at the target location, laying down a smoke-screen shortly after impact.



Demolition Charge
50 Munitions; The Squad plants a manually-activated demolition charge at the selected point. Deals massive damage to enemy infantry and vehicles caught within the blast radius. Can be seen and destroyed by enemies.

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.

Veterancy
***Exact values are unknown due to limited access to mod files***

 Veterancy One 

Allows the squad to conceal themselves when in cover.

 Veterancy Two 

Decreases received accuracy and increases weapon accuracy.

 Veterancy Three 

Decreases received accuracy and ability cool-down; increases weapon damage and ability range