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Scouts keep other units alive. Their spotting ability is much better than regular infantry units and I don't fight without them. There are some benefits to units who's main role isn't fighting.
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Why do people keep coming up with this myth that scout classes have some magical special spotting ability?.
They do not.
- Scouts are small, so more difficult to spot,
provided you do not shoot or run around at full speed and draw attention to yourself.
- Some formations may give extra starting experience to scout/recce troops over line troops. Experience helps spotting, but in a campaign you will get that by
survival. Fighting is not the primary role of recce troops.
- The primary role of your (core) scout teams is flank security in defence and the offence. Establish Observation Points, and observe enemy movements. Infiltrate carefully around his flanks. Both in the offence and the defence, a scout infiltrated into a good rear position in the enemy lines without being known about is
priceless. Especially in a PBEM game!. Put range to 1 so they do not draw attention to themselves. If they have a radio, then the "0" element can spot arty fires. Do not deploy anywhere near line troops who will fire and attract incoming mail either. So you only need 2 scout formations in a core really - one for each flank.
Any that will be used as point men probing for defenders, minefields and bunkers ahead of your assaults, or as tripwires in front of your defence, or "security" sections in between your company teams in a night battle - buy those from support points. These are unfortunately semi-expendables, like any sappers you buy to shift the mines.
Place a sniper and/or inf-AT team 4-5 hexes behind these scouts and leave the killing jobs on any enemy detected by the scouts up to him and your arty. Scouts really only should shoot their personal weapons in self defence, or to pick off some depleted routers in the end game perhaps when the enemy force is broken, or if presented with a high enough value target (an 88 section that needs dealing with right then and now, say). A scouts "weapons" are his eyeballs Mk1 and his radio, coupled with being stealthy and sneaky. Scouts generally move at 1-2 hexes,
never 3 unless needing to get out of Dodge.
This thread is now way off-topic for its title - if you need to continue, please open a new one in the campaigns sub-forum.
Cheers
Andy