Australian Light Infantry Section
500
1
1
35
3.6
1.5
1.25
6
280
6.25
28
28
5Standard infantry effective against infantry at medium-range. Fast capture speed. Can build defenses and defensive Sangar Walls.
The Australian Light Infantry Section is a UKF infantry unit. In skirmishes, they are exclusively available only with the Australian Defense Battlegroup.
Their 'light infantry' moniker can be somewhat misleading as in CoH3 skirmishes, they are not necessarily dedicated to light skirmishing and reconnaissance duties. As such, comparisons with the
Like Tommies, they are a 5-man squad capable of frontline duties. However, there are several key differences.
Australian infantry squads have slightly more health at 100 health per model, and have a significantly higher capture/decapture rate. Unlike Tommies, they also have access to a different scoped rifle package that allows them to gain 3 scoped rifles when upgraded. Australians are also able to construct almost anything a
In terms of damage curve, the Australians actually behave more like the USF
Australian infantry also have their own unique active ability, called Sharpshooter. By default this spends Munitions to fire a shot at an enemy infantry, dealing significant damage and marking them, making them easier to hit for a short duration. It has a minimum range. This ability also scales with veterancy levels, improving with each level significantly. See abilities section for more details.
On the other hand, unlike Tommies the Australians lack combat versatility as a main weakness. The lack of access to the same weapon packages and abilities as Tommies means they do not have access to any anti-tank snares for example, so they will struggle against vehicles. They also lack access to additional utility, such as the Tommy's Recce Package granting flares. Lastly, they also have a higher cost to deploy comparatively.
Overall Australian squads are an interesting unit with some odd intricacies. On the surface, they sound like defensive infantry that are best used at long range. In reality, they are more like the opposite: Their behave more like USF
Once upgraded with their scoped rifle package, they become efficient ranged combatants as it significantly increases their performance at all ranges, most notably at medium and long range. As a bonus, these scoped rifles help negate cover bonuses due to having +25% accuracy against those in cover. While this clashes with their close ranged design (units in close quarters already nullify each other's cover bonuses), it does make them far better at medium to long ranges especially in standard cover vs cover engagements.
If one can keep these units alive throughout the match, it can be quite rewarding as not only do they get standard combat bonuses with each veterancy level, but their Sharpshooter ability continues to scale too, granting Australians a powerful way of dealing with enemy infantry.
It bears reminding that they lack the versatility of Tommies, especially the lack of grenades and anti-tank snares.
Veterancy
1000 XP
3000 XP
6000 XP
Veterancy Abilities
This unit does not gain any new abilities upon reaching veterancy level 1. Instead, its Sharpshooter Training passive ability improves with each veterancy level. These bonuses increase the strength of the Sharpshooter active ability at levels 1 and 2, while level 3 grants a combat bonus to the squad overall.
Sharpshooter Training
Veterancy level 1: Sharpshooter ability now also slows the target.
Veterancy level 2: Sharpshooter ability will now always kill an enemy soldier.
Veterancy level 3: All weapons in the squad have a chance to instantly kill an enemy soldier at low health.
Upgrades
Scoped Lee Enfield Rifles: Requires a
. Upgrades the squad with 3 scoped Lee Enfield rifles, significantly increasing the squad's damage per second (DPS) at all ranges. Also grants the squad slightly increased vision range. These scoped rifles also have a +25% accuracy bonus against units in cover, helping to negate some cover bonuses and making them more efficient against entrenched units. As the only weapon package available to the Australians, it is a straight combat upgrade, though it has an expensive Munitions cost to acquire. While similar to the Tommy's Recce Package, this package notably does not grant any new abilities, and does not increase detection range. In comparison to a Tommy squad upgraded with a Bren LMG, the Tommy squad in this case will out-perform the Australians with scoped rifles at all ranges (though bear in mind scoped rifles are more effective against cover). It should be noted that once upgraded with this package, the Australian squad will no longer have weapon slots available, thus preventing them from picking up any new weapons.
Infantry Training: Grants veterancy XP and combat bonuses to veteran UKF infantry units. See page for details.
Abilities
30
15
35
60
25
60
35
60
35
60
Sharpshooter: Active ability available by default. Spends Munitions to fire a single shot at the targeted enemy infantry unit. This shot deals a significant amount of damage to one soldier in the targeted squad, and after it lands the enemy squad is marked for a short duration, making them easier to hit. Note that this ability has a minimum range, making it unavailable for use in close quarters.
This ability scales with veterancy levels, improving its effects at higher levels.
Veterancy level 1: Sharpshooter ability now also slows the target.
Veterancy level 2: Sharpshooter ability will now always kill an enemy soldier.
Overall this ability by default will improve the odds of winning a fight due to the burst damage and increased damage per second for a short duration. Focus firing while an enemy unit is marked is advised in order take advantage of the increased damage it can receive. At higher veterancy levels, the ability's strength is increased significantly, as at level 1 the added slowing effect makes it even easier to take down a targeted squad, while at level 2 the ability is now guaranteed to 'snipe' an enemy model near instantaneously, as opposed to just dealing damage. As a downside, repeated usage of this ability will require an abundance of Munitions as this cost can quickly add up.
Construction Options
Note: Australians can construct nearly the same things the
Sandbags: Creates a line of heavy cover that can be utilized by infantry. Counts as an obstacle that can vaulted over by infantry. Can be crushed by most vehicles.
Barbed Wire Fence: Creates barbed wire that cannot be passed through by infantry, but can be crushed by any vehicle.
Tank Traps: Creates a series of tank traps that cannot be passed through by most vehicles. They also act as scattered heavy cover for infantry. These are hardy obstacles that are durable to damage and cannot be crushed by anything but the heaviest of vehicles.
: Constructs an emplacement armed with a frontal facing HMG. Effective against infantry and will suppress/pin with sustained fire. Note the UKF version of this is built directly, and thus costs more Manpower but no Munitions due to bypassing the need of upgrading an existing structure. Sangar Wall: Creates a unique defensive structure available only to the
. Essentially a sandbag plus barbed wire combo in one structure, creating one sided cover in a more time-efficient manner compared to building multiple sandbags and barbed wire separately. Resource Cache: Constructs a resource cache over a captured resource node at a Manpower cost. Resource Caches increase the resource granted from its node by 50% (Munitions or Fuel). Does not increase Manpower income if built over a Manpower node. The territory itself cannot be captured until the structure is destroyed.
Additional construction options can be found below with certain battlegroup perks.
Australian Defense Battlegroup
Reinforced Resoure Cache: Only available when the perk of the same name is acquired. Replaces the default Resource Cache for the UKF. Allows
and to construct Reinforced Resource Caches which have significantly higher health and a significantly lower Manpower cost to build. : Only available when the perk of the same name is acquired. Allows and to construct Artillery Trip Wire Flares on friendly territory or Victory Points, for a Munitions cost. Upon triggering, deploys a flare which reveals the area for a short duration once triggered, while simultaneously calling in a single artillery shell onto the area. Defensive Tactics: Allows
and to construct the and the 17 Pounder Anti-Tank Gun Emplacement. : Emplacement that can target aircraft. Also effective against infantry and light vehicles. Has no set up time, no arc of fire, rotates quite quickly, and has long range. 17 Pounder Anti-Tank Gun Emplacement: Emplacement that is essentially a stationary structure version of the
, with similar range, damage, and penetration values. Can gain access to this earlier than the 'mobile' unit version. Has a slow rotation rate but no set up time.
Weapons
Lee-enfield-australian-uk-sp | Near | Mid | Far |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accuracy | 0.72 | 0.61 | 0.35 |
| Range | 7 | 20 | 35 |
Unlike Tommies, the Australian rifles have a standard damage curve. This means they deal the most damage per second (DPS) at close range, and deal less DPS at longer ranges. Compared to Tommies whom have an extremely linear damage curve, Australians perform better at closer ranges less than 20 meters, but perform worse at longer ranges beyond this.
The Scoped Lee Enfield rifle has a +25% accuracy bonus against units in cover, helping to negate some cover bonuses and making the squad overall more efficient in fighting entrenched units.
Change Log
Accuracy increased from 65/55/35 to 72/61/35 (short/medium/far). (Wiki note: These values are listed as %)
Increased Sharpshooter penetration from 1 to 2. (Wiki note: This allows the ability to work against all infantry targets even if they have higher armour values).
1.6 'Coral Viper' April 2 2024
Australian Defense Battlegroup added to the game.