Overview
A comprehensive list of weapons, vehicles etc. that could be used by the illusive UK faction.
INFORMATION
- The only weapon stat that will be put down is magazine size. Everything else will change with modifications.
- Vehicle categories that don’t exist yet were confirmed by RETO in a devstream a while ago.
- All duped weapons/vehicles won’t be listed, eg. recon and infantry both get motorbikes, but I’ll only list it once
- Camoflauge worn by UK soldiers is really hard to find details on. Barely any of it was documented, so I’m not going to bother trying to list the varients. I’ll leave that up to RETO 😉
- A lot of FAQs are in the comments of this guide, I will try to update it when these are asked but a lot will probably just stay there. I will also respond to all comments that provide suggestions etc.
Infantry
The UK infantry uniforms were pretty bland during the war, just as plain as the other main factions unfortunately, with Germany being the exception. As far as I can tell they had some basic camoflauge, and basic colour options varied depending on the time period
Ranged Weapons
Starter rifle-
Lee Enfield
Well, duh. 10 Round mag, loaded with 5 round clips. A few people have said that this being a bolt-action doesn’t make sense and would damage gameplay but I disagree. First of all, the Brits didn’t use a semi-auto rifle that could compare to the M1, G43 and SVT. The bolt on the Lee Enfield was also extremely fast to use, and you can find videos of it out on the internet, slower than an SA obviously, but these guns could be ♥♥♥♥♥♥ so fast the Germans supposedly asked if the UK had given automatic weapons to all the infantry at the start of the war 😀
T1 Pistol-
Welrod
Unlike the other three factions, the UK didn’t really have a purse pistol. For this reason I think the suppressed Welrod would be a decent choice. It is balanced by the fact it is bolt action and has 6-8 in a mag (depending on the cartridge size)
T2 Pistol-
Browning Hi-Power
Almost statistically identical to the M1911
T3 Pistol-
Enfield No 2 Mk I
A pretty decent revolver.
T1 SMG-
Sten
32 rounds in a mag. The ♥♥♥♥♥♥ gun that everyone loves.
T2 SMG-
Sterling SMG
An upgunned Sten. 34 rounds in a mag this time. Even though this was barely used in the war, it still saw some combat. A more realistc alternative would be the Thompson or even a later model of the Sten such as the Mk. 4 rather than the Mk. 2. Although most the differences in the Stens were actually for reliablity etc. and wouldn’t change anything in-game.
Rifle
Pattern 1914 Enfield
5 Round sniper. Oh yes, the gun type everyone loves to hate.
Tier 1 LMG
BAR
Yep, the same gun as the USA.
Tier 2 LMG
Bren
Definitely a top contender as far as LMGs are concerned, with a 100 round mag this gun is a beast. This gun was used as only an AA gun (the 100 round varient) but it isn’t too unrealistic for an infantryman to be using this gun, unlike the Lewis Gun which is a really dumb suggestion so please stop asking for it lol. I know you can walk around and fire it in BF1 but realisticly this could never really happen, that thing was HUGE.
End game rifle-
De Lisle carbine
Controversially, the British don’t have a full auto rifle that could compare to the M1/M2, STG or the AVS. For this reason I decided that the most appropriate would be the 11 round bolt action De Lisle carbine as their end-game weapon. This rifle would play like the Lee Enfield, however, it is suppressed. I can see this weapon being the most annoying weapon to deal with in the game, if in the hands of a skilled user. Although it would have a low muzzle velocity, so snipers shouldn’t really be a problem. The Charlton Automatic Rifle is a really good alternative, but was used exclusively by NZ troops, so unless RETO make this faction a universal “commonwealth” faction I can’t find an excuse for the UK to use such a gun, unless they say in the H&G alternate timeline they were given these as lend-lease weapons from down under.
Anti-tank gun-
Boys anti-tank rifle
Only if RETO decide to allow other factions the AT doom guns. Otherwise ignore this.
Para LMG
Bren
The para version of the Bren gun has a 20 round mag. Therefore this version has less recoil (ignore the logic, it’s a good enough excuse), and a much faster reload. Infantry DON’T or DO gain use of this weapon, depending on how RETO feel I guess lol.
Explosives
The explosives the UK gets are what you would expect
Handgrenade-
Mills bomb
What you would expect, a standard fragmentation grenade.
AP Mine-
Hawkings Grenade
This is a weird one. As far as I can tell the British didn’t use any dedicated AP mines in WWII. The closest I could find was the Hawkings Grenade, which was an Anti-Tank grenade/mine that could be used to destroy/disable vehicles. This mine needed to be used in a big cluster to be effective against vehicles, so may have been able to function against infantry. But I could find no sources. If this wouldn’t work the Brits could use lendlease M2A3s from the Yanks.
Anti-Tank grenade-
Gammon Bomb
A thrown AT grenade, similar to the RPG-43 and Panzerwurfminelang
Anti-Tank mine-
MK V Mine
Yep, an anti-tank mine.
Rocket launcher-
PIAT
A very sexy rocket launcher.
Melee Weapons
Melee weapons, nothing different here
Tier 1-
British General Service Shovel
Yep, a shovel.
Tier 2-
Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife
Yep, a knife. The Lee Enfield bayonet would also be a good choice.
Tier 3-
Smatchet
Yep, another knife.
Equipment
Unique skins for the medical kits and binoculars. They will also gain use of the adjustable wrench
Binoculars-
Kershaw Binoculars
Yep, very similar in style to the dienstglas
Medkit-
Nothing special here. Single use medkit.
Medic Pouch-
The big pouch that gives you 3 medkit uses.
Terrain Vehicles
Tier 1- (car)
Jeep
The same vehicle as the US, but with a different machinegun configuration (to spice it up a bit)
Tier 2- (amphibious)
Terrapin
I know what you’re thinking- “THATS HUGE!”, well, actually… it’s not. Its actually shorter in length than the DUKW but slightly wider. A pretty badass, albeit rare, vehicle.
Tier 3- (armoured)
Universal Carrier
An awesome little vehicle, think of it as an upgunned but downarmoured Komsomolets
Motorbikes
With the same functionality of the USA and the Soviets, the British bike is nothing special
Tier 1-
BSA M20
Just a standard bike tbh.
ISVs
Infantry support vehicles do what they say on the tin
Tier 1- (truck)
Scammell Pioneer
Probably the best supply truck in the game, not that it means anything.
Tier 2- (AA truck)
M1 40mm Bofors AAA
A very average vehicle, gun similar to the Germans and a relatively unarmoured vehicle. Nothing special.
Tier 3- (APC)
Ram Kangaroo
An absolutely phenominal APC, it would play very differently to the other two. They are much lower but overall more protected than the other two APCs, and are also designed for more offroad capabilities.
Recon
Its REALLY damn hard to find information on British marksmen and recon units in WWII, I ended up concluding that most were paratroopers, but there were some dedicated reconnaissance infantrymen. They typically wore extra camoflauge (similar in appearance to that seen on modern ghille suits) on their helmets. They also had camoflauged uniforms, but it’s hard to tell if this was paratrooper sniper exclusive or not.
IFVs
Currently there is only one recon vehicle per faction, but IIRC RETO have said they plan on adding tiers later on
IFV-
Daimler Armoured Car
A pretty great recon vehicle. It ticks all the correct criteria boxes to classify as a ISV. It has a nice 2 pounder gun, and coaxial machine gun.
Tanker
The UK tankers have a pretty plain uniform, but they can also apply camo to it, just like the German tankers. One interesting thing to note is that British Tankers used the Thompson SMG, so maybe they would gain use of these instead of the Sterling as their top tier small arm.
Light Tanks
The UK has nothing incredible at lower tiers here, but the Crusader would be possibly the best light tank in the game
Tier 1-
Light Tank Mk. VI
As usual, a simple machinegun tank. It has decent mobility, accuracy and armour. It has a 50 caliber machine gun as its primary armament, and a .303 secondary machine gun.
Tier 2-
Cruiser Mk. I
A weakly armoured tank with a simple 2 pounder cannon.
Tier 3-
Light Tank Mk. VIII
A tank with the same gun as the last, but with double the armour on average.
Tier 4-
Crusader Mk. III
An absolute BEAST of a tank. Low profile, fast, decent armour and a formidable gun. This tank has the potential to rival the Chaffee with its 6 Pounder cannon.
Medium Tanks
The UK’s line of medium tanks is extremely powerful, overall thick armour and powerful cannons
Tier 1-
Cromwell V
A pretty decent starting tank, decent armour and a 75mm gun. Certainly not the worst medium tank.
Tier 2-
Sherman Firefly
Yep, the Sherman. Nothing really new here other than a slightly different cannon.
Tier 3-
Comet
An extremely powerful medium tank with very competitive frontal armour and a 77mm cannon.
Heavy Tanks
The UK’s heavy tanks are a force to be reckoned with, however, if you manage to flank them they will crumble with ease
Tier 1-
Churchill Mk. VII
The Churchill Mk. VII has extremely thick frontal armour at 150mm, however, it has little sloping and much less armour on the sides and back. The tanks gun is also mediocre, being a 75mm. Oh, it’s also quite slow.
Tier 2-
The Black Prince
The Black Prince is a phenominal tank, with frontal armour as thick as the Churchill Mk. VII but also with a 17 Pounder cannon. The Black Prince would probably play similarly to the Tiger II with its inpenetrable frontal armour and powerful cannon.
Tank Destroyers
British tank destroyers are nothing special. They would probably be played similarly to the German and Soviet ones in-game… not much.
Tier 1-
M10 Achilles
The M10, but with a modified gun. It would probably play the same as the M10.
Tier 2-
Avenger
Using the same 17 Pounder gun as the M10, but with better armour, the Avenger is a straight upgrade.
Heavy Tank Destroyer
Oh boy, the British Heavy Tank Destroyer is something special.
Tier 1-
Tortoise
With a whopping 32 Pounder gun and insanely thick armour, it can be assumed that the Tortoise is the destroyer of worlds when it comes to heavy tank destroyers. It would completely wipe the floor against Jagdpanthers.
Armoured SPAAGs
The Brits would get a reliable SPAAG, but with nothing to compare it to it’s hard to judge how well it would function in-game
Tier 1-
Crusader III AA
A good AA gun, but RETO haven’t given us any idea what to expect from such a vehicle yet.
Super Heavy Tanks
This tank is pretty decent, but it’s hard to imagine how it would compare to beasts like the Maus
Tier 1-
Black Prince 32 Pounder varient.
Some sources state that there was a planned 32 pounder Black Prince, with a 20mm autogun coaxial was planned for production at some stage. So yes, the tortoise’s gun on a Black Prince. RETO could take some artistic liberties with this one.
Pilot
The UK pilots were world renown during world war two, and had some of the best planes during the war. Their uniforms are pretty basic and don’t have any camoflauge options
Recon Planes
A pretty good recon plane, as far as recon planes are concerned
Tier 1-
Swordfish Mk.1
Being a biplane with 4x 250 lb bombs, a nose mounted frontal gun, and a rear gunner, this plane ticks all the boxes. Maybe this could do without the 18 inch torpedo for balance sake 😉
Fighters
It’s only fair the UK gets one of the best fighters, I mean, everyone knows the Spitfire.
Tier 1-
Typhoon Mk. 1a
A very interesting plane, with 2 250 lb or 500 lb bombs and twelve, yes, TWELVE wing mounted browning machine guns. This plane would have to be used as a boom and zoom infantry support plane, as it has a good top speed but the turning rate is horrendus.
Tier 2-
Spitfire F. Mk IX
Oh yes, the Spitfire. This varient has 4 wing mounted machine guns and 2 wing mounted cannons, along with a 250 lb bomb.
Heavy Fighters
Although not as famous as their other aircraft, the Brits still had some pretty good Heavy Fighters
Tier 1-
Beaufighter Mk 21
A great vehicle, with 4 20mm belly mounted cannons, 4 wing mounted brownings, and one dorsal turret browning gun. With a payload of one 18 inch torpedo, or eight 73mm rockets.
Attack Aircraft
These aircraft are supposed to act like precision bombers and strafers, like a hybrid between fighters and bombers
Tier 1-
Mosquito FB Mk VI
A great plane, with 4 bellymounted cannons, and 4 wingmounted machine guns. It can carry 2 250lb or 500lb bombs.
Medium Bombers
Here we get into the bombers the UK used. Unfortunately these are only mediums, but get ready for what’s coming next 😛
Tier 2-
Wellington Mk X
A really good bomber, 2 Brownings in the nose, 4 in the turret, and 1 Vickers gun in both beam turrets. It can carry 18 250lb bombs.
Heavy Bombers
Oh yes bois, here comes the big one
Tier 1-
Lancaster Bomber Mk III
An incredible bomber, armed with 2 Brownings in the nose, two in the dorsal and one in the tail turret. It can carry 14 250lb or 500lb bombs.
Paratrooper
The British paratroopers had a HUGE role in the war, and also had some pretty cool uniforms IMO. They also get a selection of camo for it.
Paraplanes
The British used the same paraplane as the USA during world war 2
Douglas C 47 Skytrain
Yep, the same paraplane the Soviets and Americans use.
General
Yep, everything RTS based is the same as it currently is
Thanks for reading my guide!
Please bear in mind, the choice of vehicles etc. in this guide is purely my opinion of what I think British should use, by estimating how well they would work in-game.
Check out my other H&G guides <3
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