Usmc oob
After not playing the game for a couple years I decided to come back and play the campaign "5th Marines 1967" again, which kind of stumped me the first time. I was a little disappointed to find that version 8.0 had introduced some unimprovements into the USMC units.
- The most egregious was that the M202 66 mm flame rocket was available starting in 1967. While this did make the game vastly easier for me, I looked it up and found that this weapon was not introduced until 1978! Flamethrowers also disappear at the same time, which is incorrect. Marine units with the M202 in the 1960's include 379, 382, and 418. I didn't check the USA file.
- Although it's only cosmetic, the ordinary M16 rifle (used from 1962-1967) has disappeared, being replaced by the M16A1/A2. There's also an instantaneous change from the M14 to the M16, which is definitely not accurate. The M16 was gradually phased in.
- I find it really weird that all M16-equipped rifle squads until 1968 (unit #369) use the Stoner 63 as a SAW. This weapon was fielded only in very limited numbers, mostly with SEALs if I'm not mistaken. I'm pretty sure the marines used the M60 machinegun in this role, as was the case in earlier OOB's. I've noticed there are no more infantry squads with M60's.
- This is more of a gripe than anything, but I was a bit disappointed to find that the M40 sniper rifle had an accuracy of 40. Snipers in this game are already a good replacement for entire infantry squads as well as scouts, and are definitely not in need of improvement. I also looked at other OOB's and found that their snipers have not improved. Do we really believe that the M40 sniper rifle is significantly superior to similar Russian weapons? Even if you think that the US rifles have better optics (debatable, especially for the Vietnam era) this should be reflected in "Fire Control," right?
There were also good changes, such as that the M728's 165 mm gun actually fires HESH rounds now, but it seems like a lot of things were changed to make them less historically accurate than in previous versions.
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