General Changes
As will become evident in the squad setups later I think there should be a few new variants of Northern gears to fill in gaps that exist as compared to PS or FiF.
Railguns.
With the latest incarnation of the Southern army list, the people who play southern armies just got much more access to guided munitions than ever before. Since so many people seem to be dead set against giving the North access to laser weapons, an alternative I propose are railguns, or rather the Light Railgun to be precise.
Railgun Cheetah: The idea made me chuckle evilly for more than 15 seconds, so I have to say no unfortunately. Thankfully, and hopefully, there is always the Stalking Cheetah with it's SLC.
Railgun Hunter: Change the Assault Hunter's SC for a LRG. It's a more versatile weapon that is still capable of damaging light tanks and striders. This also brings it in line with it's contemporaries in PS and FiF, namely the Chasseur Hellfire and Striking Jager. It also fits better with Northern military doctrine than the SC does with it's massed cannon fodder requirement for usage.
Railgun Jaguar: The Flash Jaguar replaced it's LRP and MAC for a LLC. This proposal basically takes that and changes it for a LRG instead.
Railgun Grizzly: Replace the HAC and HGM for the LRG. While this does change the mission profile of the Grizzly slightly, it falls in line with the Junglemower variant of the Spit.
Railgun Kodiak: Both variants of the Kodiak is very good at what it does, namely attacking single targets at close ranges. By swapping it's LPA to a LRG, the Kodiak gains both some range, and the ability to hit multiple targets if they clump together too closely.
Railgun Klemm: This is one of two ideas I had for new Klemm variants. It replaces the LAC and ATM for a LRG, turning the Klemm into a mini-Aller capable of dealing with smaller targets. The other idea was to give it a variant that replaces the ATMs for AGMs (preferably two launchers, one each side of the turret), again with the idea of being better capable vs lighter targets.
Basically, the Railgun replaces the SC on Trooper and Heavy Trooper gears, acts like the VHAC upgrade of FS and Assault gears, and is not available to scout gears. The idea is to demonstrate some level of technological development between when the army came into it's current incarnation during the War of the Alliance, and where it stands during the Second War for Terra Nova.
GP Squad.
Line Squad
1 Headhunter, 2 Hunter, 2 Hunter w/ MAC
This is the basic GP squad. Headhunter for leadership, two Hunters with MACs for firepower, and another two Hunters to round it out.
Urban Combat Squad
1 Headhunter, 2 Hunter, 2 Hunter Urban Commando
In both PS and FIF the second GP selection was essentially a close ranged anti-infantry force, with some anti-gear capability by virtue of the weapons they had. Here's my idea for it. The Hunter UC was created to fight GREL infantry, and replaces the LAC, HG, LRP, and APGL with a FGC, HHG, MPZF, and HMG. The Hunter UC also comes with field armour as standard, giving it a full 5 damage boxes. It's very good at fighting close to the enemy, and makes use of an existing unit to fill in the spot on the roster instead of a weapon swap from the current list. If one wants to follow through on the specialization that the North favours, replace the other two Hunters with Hunter UCs as well and watch them mince anything coming close with FGC fire and HHG lobbing.
Squad 3
1 Headhunter, 2 Hunter, 2 ?
The last GP squad has been, in both PS and FIF, called a Gearhunter squad. The last two members in these squads carried a LBZK, but the weapon the North was arbitrarily given for this is the Snub Cannon. The Snub Cannon's best use is the worst use of the GP squad, namely running straight at big, heavy, massively armed targets and hoping you get a shot off before dying. Cannon fodder tactics like that don't fit Northern military doctrine as it is presented which emphasizes minimizing casualties for the simple fact that they are, on a strategic level, outnumbered by every major enemy they face.
1 Headhunter, 2 Hunter, 2 Armoured Hunter
One idea might be to resurrect the old Armoured Hunter (and update it too so it has a 0 defence mod instead of -1) and make this a kind of blocker unit, able to wade through heavy firepower that would put down a less protected gear and still come out on top. Although you would be lacking upgraded weapons for this squad it seems like a uniquely Northern squad with extra protection for the gear (and thus pilot) being desirable.
1 Headhunter, 2 Hunter, 2 Hunter w/ LBZK/LRG
Another idea is to just introduce a variant of the Hunter with a Light Bazooka. They were in use on the Hunter Commando, Desert Hunter, and Hunter Zerstroyer. The Commando has officially stopped being produced, while the other two were phased out over a century previous to the current timeline. This means that there are plenty of them laying around to use. If people are dead set against the LBZK, an alternitive could be the LRG replacing both the LAC and LRP. It gives the gears decent direct firepower at the cost of their main IF weapon (not that many people use it anyways). It also demonstrates some level of development and improvements between the 1920s (when the current arsenal came to be) and 1950 (where the story is now). Another advantage is that it fills the same role as the rather lackluster and over prices SC, namely anti-strider/light tank but with the accuracy that the LBZK enjoys giving it some ability against lighter targets too.
On second thought, I think the North needs more Railguns period. I always did like them.
Fire Support Squad
With the new changes to FS squads in general, this one can get exciting. Let's start with the basics. The biggest problem here is the general lack of Grizzly variants for fire support work.
Line Fire Support
1 Headhunter, 1 Hunter/Cheetah, 3 Grizzly OR 1 Headhunter 2 Cheetah, 2 Grizzly
This one is a toss up. The first option presented is possibly under the North's current army construction, with the lone Cheetah calling in a victim for three HGM/3 linked MRP strikes, or the lone Hunter to try and protect the FS gears from interference (good luck) and generally mirrors what's in FiF The second option presented is more like what's in PS, with the two recon gears to spot for each of the Grizzlies. This is possible with the NAF/NG special rules, but other armies can't do it currently. It's more versatile, but less raw firepower. The second option also plays to the fact that during the War of the Alliance Southern military commanders watched Northern units work in mixed units to take objectives they considered impossible. Mixing recon and FS gears together would play to that bit, and contrasts them from the South which places primarily one kind of unit in a cadre.
Squad 2
1 Headhunter, 2 Grizzly, 2?
The second FS squad typically gives the squad heavier, but less versatile, firepower than the line squad. In PS this is the replacement of the recon gears with the Chevailer Hammer (my favourite variant of that gear), and in the South it replaces the Spits with Support Cobras. There are no current variants on the Grizzly chassis that can do that. If you prefer to have the twin Cheetahs in the line squad, then you could justify 4 Grizzlies here. A pair of Grizzlies carrying MFMs would give the squad more saturation capability at the cost of accuracy, while having them carry LFGs makes me giggle long enough that I should consider myself not allowed to do it.
1 Headhunter, 2 Grizzly, 2 Hunter NBC
This is one idea. If we assume that the line squad is Headhunter, 2 Cheetah, 2 Grizzly, then this does give you a little more firepower at the cost of built in TDs. It would not be able to go toe to toe with it's contemporaries in PS or FiF, but it's capable of moving faster and laying more accurate fire, both which can help. I would also change the Hunter NBC slightly from it's NVC 1 incarnation to keep the LAC.
Anti-Armour Squad
1 Headhunter, 4 Crossbow Grizzlies or 1 Headhunter, 2 Crossbow Grizzlies, 2 Railgun Grizzlies
Death on eight legs. Crossbow Grizzlies trade their MRPs and HGM for 4 ATMs each, meaning you have 16 tank busting shots. I would normally file this under strike squads, but the fact that they loose a massive punch after the fourth shot means they lack the combat endurance for that, something both the Cheaviler Javilen and Slashing Cobra, with their 6 shot ATMs, don't have a problem with. This squad would probably cost an arm and a leg, but with the changes to the heavier gear's defence mods and the introduction of Gear Striders/tanks, you won't be lacking targets.
The second option follows with the idea of giving the North more Railguns. The Grizzly, being larger, could concevable carry one like it carries the standard HAC and only sacrifice the HGM for a power pack. It's not quite as powerful as the first option, but again it's more flexible and over all should perform better in the game since very few armies are going to field enough big units to make 4 Crossbow Grizzlies worth it.
Strike Squad
Strike Squads are where the close in heavy hitters generally reside. Obviously the Kodiak would be an upgrade in here.
Line Squad
5 Jaguar
The Strike Squad at it's most basic.
Assault Squad
3 Jaguar, 2 Fire Jaguar
The linked MRPs of the Fire Jaguars give this squad more firepower without sacrificing it's speed.
Linebreaker Squad
1 Jaguar, 2 Arrow Jaguar, 2 Assault Grizzly
The murderers of the field would describe this squad. The Arrow Jaguars can bury anything with very precise shooting while the Assault Grizzlies are more general purpose with bazookas and IRPs.
Light Tank Squad.
Light tanks are one of the few places where the North has an advantage. The Klemm is durable, quick, and able to bust open anything with it's ATMs. The problem? They are expensive in TV and lack any real second weapon.
Line Squad
1 Klemm
The basic deployment of Klemms. The ability to add another two to this would keep it in line with the current Light Tank squad. Maybe creating a new Klemm variant with AGMs instead of ATMs would be useful since the tank currently lacks any real weapons outside the ATM. Upgunning the LAC to something else could also work. Another idea, falling in with my railgun love, is to replace the LAC and ATMs for a LRG. Paxton players might cry foul about it being so close to the Coyote though.
Mobile Artillery Squad
2 Tyburr
The Tyburr has always been controversial, seeing as how it only mounts the 1 LFG. It comes with more actions than it can reasonably use, and stripping the third action off them can bring the price down to more reasonable levels. An option could be to replace Tyburrs with Jaxons, but they'd need the third action back or a link on the HRPs to be worth it. Veteran upgrades would include the Stromhammer variant. Basically, the Klemms that trade off their ATMs for support weapons would be here.
Anti-Gear Sqaud
2 BH Klemm
Here is where you have the Klemms that trade off their weapons for less devastation firepower. The BH Klemm is decent against gears, and bringing the Chaser Klemm here from it's current home in the Regiment of Note (RoN) in the current army book would be nice too. A decent mid-level firepower squad of tanks is the idea.
Heavy Tank Squad
Here it get's almost too simple to up up. There are only three variants of the Aller, and this means each of the three squad types can specialize in one.
Line Squad
1 Aller
There you have a thickly armoured tank with the biggest gun in the game, the HRG. You might not be able to shoot at something hiding behind a hill, but you're more than capable of killing anything that pokes it's head out.
Heavy Artillery squad
1 Hardy Aller
Arguably the most popular version of the Aller, you trade off the HRG for a VHFG, a weapon that's almost as powerful but also brings AE and IF to the Aller, making it that much more dangerous in general. There is no hiding from this.
Heavy Assault Squad
1 Naval Support Aller
The NS Aller has more armour than any other tank in the game, save the still GU limited Overlord. It combines the HRG with HATMs, giving you the ability to nuke whatever is out there. It's biggest downsides, it's frontal armour is the same as every other heavy tank and it costs a premium. There have been entire 500 point armies consisting of just this one tank with the old price costs. That said, it's still a pocket sized battleship.
Faction Specific Squads
NAF Dorothean Squad
Role: Close Assualt – NAF Unique
Composition: Headhunter (CGL), 4 Hunter
Skills: Att 2 Def 2 EW 1 LD 2
Options (?)
LAC and HG for FGC and HHG (4)
LAC to LGL (1)
Add SKG
Add Monk Staff
Hunter to Jaguar
Hunter to Grizzly – HAC, 2 MRP, HGM to MBZK, 2 IRP
Hunter to Kodiak (1)
Veteran
+1 Att/Def
+1 LD
NG Blitz Squad
Role: Rapid Attack - NG Unique
Composition: Jaguar (CGL), 1 Cheetah, 1 Grizzly, 2 Hunter
Skills: Att 2 Def 2 EW 1 Ld 2
Options
UMFA Corprate Security Squad
Role: Precision Assault – UMFA Unique
Composition: Jaguar (CGL), 2 Jaguar, 2 Tiger
Skills: Att 3 Def 3 EW 1 LD 2
Options (?)
MAC to MBZK
MAC to MRF
LRP to AGM
WFPA Boarder Patrol Squad
Role: Extended Recon and Combat
Composition: Headhunter, 4 SD Hunter
Skills: Att 2 Def 2 EW 1 LD 1(CGL)
Options (4)
LAC to MAC (4)
LAC and HG to FGC and HHG (2)
LAC to MRF (4)
SD Hunter to Mad Dog (2)
SD Hunter to Bobcat (2)
Veteran Options
+1 Att/Def skill
+1 Ld skill
add 2IC - LD1 (1)