British Captain

[pariah]

Rather than derail that campaign topic further, i decided to create a new 1 about the Captain. In my experience, he is the most worthless unit in terms of cost-usefulness ratio.

The only thing Captains are good for is teching to tanks. THAT'S IT! Admittedly, Victor Target can come in handy, but it will most likely get the Cappy killed. And his defensive bonuses are so useless...

Woah woah mate, no. No insulting the Cpt. His defensive bonuses are immense. With a vet2 captain in the friendly sector you're basically immune to suppression. You also take FAR less damage. Vet 3 gives extra resources so you spam even more FOOs and victor target basically doubles your arty's rate of fire.

I have no idea what a "FOO" is, so let's talk about vet. How are they supposed to get even vet 1 when you have to keep them out of combat?

And his defensive bonuses. How are you supposed to use them when you need to keep him safe behind the front line? Most territory sectors are way too small for the bonuses to have any affect!

From what i've seen, the Captain is almost as useless as a Kangaroo Carrier. Prove me wrong, forum!

[GodlikeDennis]

FOO is the Forward Observation Officers ability from the Royal Arty doc that allows Lt and Cpt to call in arty strikes.

Cpt bonuses:
Vet 0 (base) - 0.5 suppression (infantry)
                   - 0.8 damage (infantry)
                   - health regen (infantry)
                   - 1.25 health (emplacements)
Vet 1           - 20hp (Cpt)
Vet 2           - 0.5 suppression (infantry
                  - 1.15 health (infantry)
                  - more health regen (infantry)
                   - 1.15 health (emplacements)
Vet 3           - 66% increased resources (sector he's in)

The bonuses affect all applicable units in the entire sector. He also gains vet from all units within 40 range (longer range than small arms etc.). The Captain can be garrisoned or in a vehicle and still provide/receive bonuses.

Not to mention retreat to captain is one of the best ways for a Brit player to avoid a HQ firestorm.

[pariah]

Withdraw ability would often fuck me up because relic were too lazy to make it queueable. Eastern Front has fixed that though, so it's alright now.

Forward Observation Officers has the same problem as Victor Target - You have to get close to use it, and you have to keep your Captain safe, hence the unit and ability conflict.

And as stated before, most sectors are too small for his bonuses to be useful. The ONLY reason i ever buy a Captain is to get tanks. It's really all he's good for...

[GodlikeDennis]

You don't have to get that close. You can actually use the ability from out of sight range of normal units, let alone their weapons range.

I rarely have LTs or Cpts die when I play Brits yet always have them close enough to give their bonuses. Maybe it takes a certain degree of micro but I've never found it hard.

[pariah]

My main problem is Pumas and Armored Cars; In just about every game, my Captain will die to 1 of them at some point. Hell, they will often rush my Field Support Truck and start hammering away before the Captain is finished! Needless to say, when he is finished, he will last but a few seconds before dying to those fast armored Snipers.

Yes, having good micro certainly helps keep your units alive, but in the case of the Captain, there's really nothing you can do to keep him alive against those armored cars.

[Tankbuster]

At least the captain bravely struggles against the AC with his.... Pistol. WTF, the captain really is useless.

[Tico_1990]

At least the captain bravely struggles against the AC with his.... Pistol. WTF, the captain really is useless.

Have him pick up a shreck or piat

[HyperSniper999]

Maybe Relic should've gave him something like a Tommy Gun?

[pariah]

I think the Captain should give his bonuses to units everywhere, no matter what territory they're in.

But nonetheless, these officers just don't fit Company Of Heroes gameplay. The Leutnant works alright, because a) he's not required for teching, and b) his abilities are actually of some use.

[Strayker]

because a) he's not required for teching

Nope he actually is required for teching to Field Support Truck.

[pariah]

Leutnant, not Captain.

[Strayker]

Leutnant, not Captain.

Yeah, Lieutenant is required to tech to Field Support Truck, not Captain. Captain is required for teching to Armored Command Truck.

[Blackbishop]

Correct ... each officer is needed to deploy the next truck, besides the captain is needed to deploy stuarts.

[pariah]

Leutnant (Deutsch) = Wehrmacht
Lieutenant (English) = British
 

[otto man]

I use the captain as a way for my troops to get to the battle quicker (retreat)

but I have noticed that he is incredibly weak, maybe if you could tweak his gun to make it stronger like the lieutenant or something, that could make all the difference