Ostheer Infantry Unit -- Gebirgsjager Infantry

Hello everyone,

This idea for the Ostheer has been on my mind for a LONG time and I was hoping we could see it incorporated into the new German army.

Basically, my idea for a specialized infantry unit (Maybe even doctrinal?) would be the German Gebirgsjager infantry.  That is, the Mountain soldiers of the Third Reich.  I've read many memoirs with these mountain solder divisions, and they're affinity with terrain, sharpshooting, and overall soldiering seems unmatched amongst their equivalences of the time.  Several of the top snipers of the war were in fact inside German Gebirgsjager divisions.  I'd like to point out the memoir "Sniper on the Eastern Front" as excellent reading by one of the war's top sniper aces, Josef Allerberger. 

My idea for this specialized infantry group would be one that eccentuates the characteristics of speed, mobility, marksmanship, and skillcraft. 

To put it in game-mechanics terms: I think the Gerbigsjager infantry squad should have a slightly above average movement speed in all terrain types, perhaps including water.  This would detail their core utility in real life, which was to scale treacherous terrain quickly, and effectively.

Furthermore, perhaps they can have some type of skillcraft ability akin to the Panzer Elite.  Gebirgsjager soldiers typically came from the same area, particularly the Bavarian mountain region -- this meant that the soldiers naturally had a born cohesiveness as they shared similar heritage/roots, and were well known for their comradeship.  I know everyone hates blobs, but perhaps they can have a small unity modifier, maybe with a maximum of 2 squads to keep the blob possibility lower? (Just an idea.) I think a high capture speed would also well suit this unit.

As mentioned earlier, the Gebirgsjager were some of the best snipers of the war, particularly for Germany.  I don't know how this could work, they could possess an ability similar to the Tommy recon squad for a squad marksman, but then again I'd like to see something unique.  Perhaps accuracy can go significantly higher for a brief amount of time, followed by cool-down and perhaps with a munitions cost. 

So yeah, that's basically my idea for a great unit for the Ostheer.  Gebirgsjagers saw tons of fighting on the Eastern Front due to their specializations, and I think it'd be great to see them added.  To leave off, here are some core tasks of the Gebirgsjager, taken from wikipedia.

"
    * Warfare in extreme weather conditions
    * Winter warfare
    * Warfare in urban terrain
    * Warfare in arctic, mountain and desert terrain
"

Love it.  It follows all three protocols for my scale: it's unique, useful, and historically relevant.  The blob modifier is OKAY, but I love the rest.  The theme and personality of this unit is awesome.  Nice job!

Last edited January 28, 2010 at 7:01 AM by Nubrannosaurus

It would be the prefect counter to the Russian mob as well... they where elite infantry, for example, 2 squads could hold out against 3 Conscripts and a command squad OR 2 Strelkys or Guard with Command Squad OR two Red Banner or Shock Guard... possibly give them some form of Anti Armor upgrade such as Panzershrecks or the Panzerbüchse 39 to be able to deal with light to medium armor... granted their MP cost would have to be rather high but you would get what you pay for...


**EDIT** I was tired when i wrote this fixed to be correct weaponry

Last edited January 28, 2010 at 8:34 PM by hgghg4

There is a problem about speed, I think you can´t make infantry units faster by percentages. They either move slow, normal, or sprinting, there are no in-between speeds.

That said, moving through difficult terrain like water without speed restrictions might be an idea.



I would suggest making mountain troops into scouts. Make them three-man squads and give them sprint and binoculars. Binoculars to scout, sprint to get the hell out of dodge. Sniping... well, that´s already covered by the regular sniper. I´m afraid there aren´t many more options about it than giving them the Tommy Marksmen upgrade.

Thanks everyone for the enthusiasm!

I did not know that movement speed wasn't incremental.  That being said, having them move through water at 100% might be possible, but as I said before, this would be an interesting idea in lieu of the sniper since three armies have very similar snipers already.  But even then, they could work jointly together, as I mentioned earlier an accuracy upgrade called "Jager sharpshooters" or something might be possible, similar to the AT Halftrack's focus fire.  Obviously the Squad would have atleast a scoped G43. (Personally, I'd make it a 4 or 5 man squad, with half having scoped G43s, and the other half with MP40s) 

It's important to note that Gebirgsjager infantry were much more than scouts, despite snipers usually acting as such.  They were battle-hardened divisions right in the brunt of the battle.  I'd give them a large line-of-sight, and maybe even make them a sniper-detection type unit, but I think it'd be nice to have them as a durable, not glass-like unit. 

My ideas:
Large sight radius -- perhaps sniper detection abilities.
Accuracy-increased volley.
Constant speed in all terrains, including water.
Jager Field Dressing - Basically a medkit

Most Gebirgsjagers were mountain hunters to some extent before the war, hence their penchant for tough terrain and sharpshooting, it'd be nice to have a pretty unique unit like this in the Ostheer I think.

With large line of sight and sniper detection radius, they would only need the Marskman upgrade to act as sniper teams/Sniper Ace hunters, which I think is fine as long as you keep them down to 3 men so they are not "Recon Tommies only German".

Of course, you could have not one, but two Gebirsjager units. One scout, one main combat, with the combat squad being Recon Tommies German-style, and the scout being a smaller Recon Tommy equivalent with the longer line of sight and sniper detection radius.

I would suggest to make a squad size of 4, and to give them recon ability (maybe without being able to move while in camo but better accurancy and sight).