Best stance for recon?

[Adamo]

What do you suggest is the best stance for a recon or infantry unit to assume if it wants to sit and watch for enemy units?

I thought it would be 'Hide' but it says in the manual that units in this stance have somewhat limited 'view' and is not a good stance for recon.

Any tips?

adamo

[securityguard]

It depends on how far the enemy is. If hes up close, use hide. However if hes far away, tell your HQ or whatever unit you want to spot to unhide and give him a cover arc that is very small. If nothing enters his cover arc, he won't fire. The downside to this is if he gets attacked on a turn, he won't fire back, so make sure the units you have spotting won't get attacked.

[photon]

I'd add that it's also worth it to check and see if the unit you want looking has binoculars. Most HQ units do, as well as machineguns. They're much better at long distance spotting than regular rifle squads.

I usually have my heavy weapons in the rear unhidden with small cover arcs and my front line of troops hidden with small cover arcs.

Sharpshooters are a wonderful thing as well.

- b.

[YankeeDog]

The above comments are very good. The only thing I would add is that it also depends partially on the cover and visibility conditions.

Infantry units in heavy cover (woods, first floor of heavy buildings, rubble, etc.) are MUCH less likely to be spotted before they open fire than units in lighter cover. In general, you can leave even large infantry units like full squads unhidden in heavy cover, and as long as they don't move or fire, they won't be spotted until the enemy approaches to sub-100m, and often sub-50m depending on the exact cover and visibility conditions, and the specific type and experience of the units involved.

As such, it is rarely necessary to Hide infantry in good cover - in general, unhidden + short covered arc is a better choice since it improves spotting ability and offers more than enough stealth for most deployments. Hide is better if you're trying to remain unspotted and the enemy is passing very close, or if your infantry is in marginal cover like brush or scattered trees (especially in winter - scattered trees actually offer pretty poor concealment in winter). Small units like Sharpshooters and IAT teams can actually sometimes remain unspotted on "Hide" in plain open ground, depending on distance and visibility conditions.

Cheers,

YD