Captain Retinue Symbol

Captain Retinue

symbol
Infantry
Captain Retinue
Captain Retinue Portrait
US Forces Icon
Faction

Support infantry that improves the veterancy gain of nearby infantry squads. Can use Flanking Maneuver on friendly infantry to increase speed and make them harder to hit. Small squad size and limited combat power.

The Captain Retinue is a USF infantry unit. In skirmishes it is exclusively only available when the (ISC) is built. Upon finishing the construction of the ISC, a single Captain Retinue squad is spawned for free at its location. A maximum of only 1 Captain Retinue is allowed per USF player at a time - if the squad is killed, replacement Captain Retinues may be produced at the for a cost.

A very unique USF unit, the Captain Retinue is essentially an elite support unit. In terms of combat stats, it sits in between the and - They do not have the same squad size or individual health as Riflemen, but are certainly more damaging than Pathfinders. The retinue comes armed with a special M1919 LMG that contributes to higher performance at longer ranges, although it cannot fire on the move. Due to their small squad size, they can be quite vulnerable to being wiped out fairly quickly and so care must be taken, emphasizing their support nature over being an dedicated combat unit.

By default, this unit has some active abilities: Flanking Maneuver, and Follow increases a target friendly squad's speed, and makes them harder to hit and harder to suppress while moving. It also removes any current suppression at the time of the cast - essentially relieving them instantly if they were suppressed or pinned. Lastly, Follow simply allows the squad to follow a target friendly squad by right clicking on a friendly squad.

For passive abilities, this unit has Support Veterancy which allows them to gain veterancy experience when nearby friendly units gain XP. They also have Leadership, which increases the experience gain of nearby friendly infantry.

Upon reaching veterancy level 1, they can choose between the following abilities: Mark Vehicle, or Forward Observer Mortar Barrage. More info on all these abilities can be found below.

The Captain Retinue is an incredible utility and force multiplier for USF infantry. Part of the popularity of going down the ISC tech route is due to the existence of this unit, and the fact that it comes for free when the ISC is completed. As a downside to its power, only one Captain Retinue squad is allowed at a time per USF player. The unit's overall purpose is to enhance infantry play by empowering and supporting them. Since the USF lack the same kind of reliable upgrades to veterancy rate like other factions do, this makes the Captain Retinue an important asset for any players looking to improve their infantry as they passively improve the veterancy gain of nearby infantry. In terms of active abilities, being able to instantly relieve a suppressed/pinned squad is a truly unique and powerful ability. They gain even more useful utility upon leveling up, as both veteran ability options help deal with USF weaknesses of lackluster anti-tank options or lack of artillery options. Interestingly, both veteran abilities are also free to cast, though they have long cooldowns.

Overall, for USF players going down the ISC route, the Captain Retinue will always be an important asset to make use of, as their utility is incredible. At worst, even if one cannot make good use of the Captain Retinue, the fact they spawn in as a free unit for naturally teching up is an amazing benefit as it is a free extra unit that can do various tasks like capture territory.

Veterancy


Veteran Star FullVeteran Star EmptyVeteran Star Empty

750 XP

Unlocks veteran ability choice. Unit is harder to hit and all abilities recharge faster.
Veteran Star FullVeteran Star FullVeteran Star Empty

2250 XP

Increases health and the range of all abilities.
Veteran Star FullVeteran Star FullVeteran Star Full

4500 XP

Greatly speeds up ability recharge times and the squad is significantly harder to hit.

Veterancy Abilities

All USF units can choose between one of two veterancy abilities specific to them, upon reaching veterancy level 1.

  • Mark Vehicle: Active ability. The unit will mark an target enemy vehicle for 30 seconds, making it significantly easier to hit, take more damage, take increased incoming penetration, and reveals it for the entire duration. Essentially, this is a powerful 'debuff' to throw onto a desired vehicle target as it will make it far more easier to destroy from various anti-tank weapons. Even more incredible than the bonus effects is the fact that the target is revealed too, which means it will have difficulty escaping AT weapons even if there is no vision of it conventionally. Combine this with a snare ability (such as Sticky Bomb from Riflemen) and the target vehicle can be dispatched very easily as it will not be able to run away while taking increased damage.

  • Forward Observer Mortar Barrage: Active ability. Calls down an off-map mortar barrage on the target area after a delay. As with most artillery, it will only be truly damaging against units that stay in the area, though in most cases it does its job of forcing an enemy to move away from said area. This can be a desirable veterancy ability option as overall USF artillery options tend to be lacking compared to other factions.

Upgrades


M1941 Light Machine Gun Package icon
M1941 Light Machine Gun Package
Upgrades the squad with two M1941 Light Machine Guns.
Munitions Cost

75

Note: The M1941 Light Machine Gun Package is campaign exclusive and not available in skirmishes.

Instead of having upgrades, the Captain Retinue spawns with a special LMG equipped by default.

This unit can benefit from the following upgrades available at the Infantry Support Center:

  • Advanced Logistics: Reduces the Manpower reinforcement cost of all infantry by 25%, and squads reinforced from Triage Station casualties gain a small amount of veterancy XP.

  • Survival Training: Increases the maximum health of all infantry entities (individual soldiers) by +10 health.

Abilities


Support Veterancy icon
Support Veterancy
Receives veterancy experience from nearby allies when they earn veterancy experience. The shared experience is split between each unit with this ability near that ally.
Follow icon
Follow
Orders the squad to follow the target allied squad.
Leadership icon
Leadership
Increases the experience gain of nearby allied infantry.
Forward Observer Mortar Barrage icon
Forward Observer Mortar Barrage
Barrages the target area with off-map mortars. Effective against stationary infantry and structures.
Time Cost

180

Flanking Maneuver icon
Flanking Maneuver
Increases a friendly squad's speed and removes current suppression. Squad is harder to hit and take less suppression when moving.
+80% speed. Unit is 20% harder to hit and takes 50% less suppression when moving.
Time Cost

90

Unlock Off-map Mortar Barrage icon
Unlock Off-map Mortar Barrage
Barrages the target area with off-map mortars. Effective against stationary infantry and structures.
Unlock Mark Vehicle icon
Unlock Mark Vehicle
Orders unit to mark a hostile vehicle.
Marked enemies take +25% additional damage, +50% easier to hit, +50% incoming weapon penetration. Unit is revealed while active.
Mark Vehicle icon
Mark Vehicle
Orders unit to mark a hostile vehicle.
Marked enemies take +25% additional damage, +50% easier to hit, +25% incoming weapon penetration. Unit is revealed while active.
Time Cost

180

  • Support Veterancy: Passive ability. This unit can gain veterancy experience when nearby firendly units gain XP. As such, this unit can gain XP even when not directly fighting.

  • Leadership: Passive ability. Increased the veterancy XP gain of nearby infantry. A great force multiplier benefit for the Captain Retinue, as just their presence will help level up the rest of the infantry faster.

  • Follow: Active ability not listed in the unit card. This unit can be ordered to follow a friendly infantry squad via right click. When hovering the cursor over another squad, the cursor will change to a chain-link icon, representing the Follow ability. While following a squad, it will attempt to move and stay within a medium distance to that squad at all times until a new order is given.

  • Flanking Maneuver: Active ability. The targeted friendly infantry squad will have any current suppression removed from it, essentially relieving it from suppression/pinned status immediately. It also temporarily grants increased movement speed, reduced received accuracy, and reduced incoming suppression while the targeted squad is moving. A very unique and powerful ability in CoH3, as it is one of very few ways to effectively dealing with suppression effects on the spot. Note that while it will remove current suppression, it does not stop incoming suppression entirely and thus the squad can still be suppressed again if fired upon long enough. Aside from dealing with suppression, the ability can also be basically used as a Sprint function for the targeted squad, allowing for faster repositioning. Long cooldown.

  • Rally To Me!: Active 'channeling' ability. The unit will move to the targeted area and become a stationary Retreat point. Once the rally point is set up (a visual radio pole will be seen at the target area), the squad itself can maintain the rally point so long as no new orders are given. They will in effect act like a stationary squad that will not move on its own, and thus will still auto-attack nearby enemies. This effect is cancelled as soon as any new orders are given to the squad, which will also place this ability on cooldown. When the player's units are told to Retreat, they will always retreat to the closest Retreat point at the time, meaning they will run to the Captain Retinue's position if their rally point is closer to the retreating unit than the HQ at the time of the Retreat order. This is a useful ability especially on larger maps to reposition various units faster without forcing them to run all the way back to HQ first, but beware that its long cooldown can make it difficult to use. It can be used as a 'soft retreat' point on the field, which can for example relieve suppressed squads without forcing them to run all the way back home. Note that if a unit is retreating to the rally point and the Captain Retinue cancels the ability, the retreating unit(s) will stop retreating immediately. Long cooldown. This ability was removed in the July 16 2024 Onyx Shark patch.

Weapons


Garand-rifleman-us
Near
Mid
Far
Accuracy0.680.6150.33
Range72535
Penetration1.500
12
Thompson-captain-us
Near
Mid
Far
Accuracy0.5630.350.312
Range71535
4

Trivia

  • This unit used to have the ability "Rally to Me!", an active ability that allowed the squad to act as a forward retreat point by 'channeling' the ability, forcing them to only stand still. Moving or doing any other orders would cancel the channeling and put it on cooldown. Ability removed as of the Onyx Shark July 16 2024 patch.

Change Log

1.7.0 Onyx Shark July 16 2024

Captain Retinue
As part of our changes to make forward retreat more readily available, but also more vulnerable to artillery and off-map abilities, the Captain is losing the ability to act as a Forward Retreat Point. This will indirectly weaken the Infantry Support Center which remains the most popular of the support centers thanks to the momentum it provides through its free Captain. 

  • Captain Thompson accuracy increased from 0.45/0.28/0.25 to 0.563/0.35/0.3125 

  • Can no longer act as a Forward Retreat Point 

1.6 'Coral Viper' April 2 2024

We are removing one of the retinue members of the Captain squad to further emphasize the Captain’s role as a support unit, rather than as a combat unit. In return, the squad now has veterancy that better reflects the squad’s support role that relies on its abilities to be effective.  

  • Squad size reduced from 4 to 3  

  • Squad cost set to 150 manpower when rebuilt  

  • Mark Target range increased from 30 to 35  

  • Veterancy 3 requirements adjusted from 5400 to 4500   

Veterancy changed to the following  

  • Level 1: -10% Harder to hit, +20% Ability Recharge Speed  

  • Level 2: +10 range on abilities, +20 health  

  • Level 3: -25% Harder to hit, +30% Ability Recharge Speed