What is the most overrated/underrated unit in CM

[Copper]

Following on from my T-34 question i ask you this. What do you think is the most over or under rated unit in CM.

Are snipers underrated with their pathetic 10 shot capacity?
Are T-34's underrated with their poor optics (I know I approach them like I approach heavy armoured cars!!)?
Is the artillery effects underrated?
Or is the SMG squads overrated in terms of immense killing power in woods?

Just a few questions - it will be interesting to see what you guys can come up with.

Bootie

[Colonel Talvela]

I will throw in my two cents - but note I am not comparing "over/underrated" to history, but to players use in games. And it goes without saying that environment plays a huge role. I am directing my response to what I consider your average size/cover/weather map.

The Big #1- IMHO, AFVs are the most overrated and Inf are the most underrated. These two go flip sides of the same coin. I still have a strong, strong belief that most CM players put way to much emphasis on AFVs. This is never more evident by the number of players who will just give up (if not literally, then emotionally) when all of their AFVs get torched.

After the Big #1, everything else is minimal.
Mortars - highly underrated. Mortars are just murder against troops/guns, especially those in trees. Even the little 45mm italian mortars will pin/break troops.

rocky/brush terrain - highly underrated. Until a few months ago I considered anything worse than rough terrain as places to be avoided. But there is a significant difference between taking fire in rocky/brush terrain and taking fire in open ground.

engineers/flamers - underrated. These two troops pack a huge punch - better even then SMG squads. They are difficult to use, but learning to use them is worth it.

Stugs - overrated. They are good as a long range assault gun, which is what they are. But IMO they are not the all-purpose Uber AFV that some players want them to be.

Planes - underrated. I always see people bashing on planes. My experience with them is that you usually get what you pay for. If you buy a conscript plane, you can expect conscript results. If you are facing a crack uber-plane, you better expect to lose a bunch of tanks (walkure I still owe :smg:)

Run Command - underrated. Advance through cover, but troops really need to 'Run' in open ground.


That is all for now. Rebuts welcome

[Ratzki]

Green troops- underrated- yes I know they go face down during a spitball exchange but as long as you don't force them too much and use good HQ's in reguards to the job at hand they can still handle a fair bit of work. This does not apply to Armor where the Veterans rule the day.

Small AT guns - underrated- use them for chucking HE around, they are cheap and though not a big blast can still give some good support at range.

Panther/Tiger - overrated- Yes they are good from far but too expensive for what you get.

[Der Kuenstler]

Overrated - craters - it's actually better cover to hide in scattered trees. Craters = 44% exposure, scattered trees = 33%.

Underrated - rough ground - does good when weathering artillery.

[Colonel Talvela]

DK,

foxholes in scattered trees give you 24% cover instead of 33%. I always assumed craters did the same thing. Is this not true?

[Der Kuenstler]

That sounds right - I was talking about a crater in open ground...

[The Coil]

[The Coil]

Second round of tests, platoons in foxholes, otherwise similar to the first test. This time:

Scattered trees: 33 casualties
Open ground: 39 casualties

[bluehand]

ditto

Mortars are over-rated especially the 81 and smaller variety. just start sneaking/crawling and you'll be pretty OK. they only slow you down. the bigger stuff is much more effective though way more expensive and with way less ammo to be truly effective for long. 81s and smaller are only good for suppressing guns while you maneuver against them. they are good for smoke though...

under-rated: 20mm guns. these are great for infantry suppression and halftrack prevention. when on defense they are always a good purchase...

[Fullhouse]

Most underrated, am I am giving away a big personal tactic here that has served me well, is the jagdpanzer4. (Not early) (Note: I dont mean Jagdpanther)

Hull down this is impervious to russian AFVs even IS2 (100m+) You get ubercat performance for much less. I will happily take odds of 6:1+ with this AFV. The 45 degree sloped 80mm armour bounces of russain AP for fun. They have much better survability than stugs imo.

I say underrated because I hardly ever see this unit mentioned in dispatches yet this unit is an awesome and powerfull killer of Russian AFVs. I have won QB set in late war unrestrestricted haveing pretymuch totaly wiped out the Russian afv horde with a single platoon of jagdpanzers with only 1 or 2 losses.

I havnt tested it CMAK, I imagine it posses the same qualities there.