Steel Division has plenty of units, organized in eight distinct categories.
Statistics[ | ]
- Every unit is distinguished by its own statistics, including
- Phase: Which phase it becomes available in.
- Cost: The cost in deployment points. Orange on the unit card.
- Reinforcements: The number of units you can deploy per card. Green on the unit card.
- Strength: Indicates the number of soldiers in the squad or gun crew, representing its hit points. Vehicles have their own damage system.
- Supply: Indicates the ammunition load it carries (support resupply units only).
- Stealth: Indicates the level of stealth of the unit. The higher it is, the more difficult it will be for the enemy to spot it. Infantry receives a stealth penalty when moving, but is otherwise excellent at evading detection.
- Speed: Displays the unit's off-road / road speed.
- Optics: Vision level of the unit, determining how good it is at detecting other units. Recon and artillery observers excel in this aspect.
- Transport/Cargo space: Indicates the vehicle is able to transport/tow unit displaying a cargo space. Transport vehicles may only carry passengers occupying a cargo space equal or inferior to their transport capacity. For example, a Kubelwagen has a Very Light capacity, meaning it can only transport units of a Very Light cargo class.
- Armor: Indicates the armour values depending on orientation. From left to right: Rear, sides, front. Vehicle's top armour is either ENCLOSED or OPEN TOP, with the latter vulnerable to infantry grenades.
- Air units are a little different and have the following two statistics instead of Armor
- Agility: Indicates the plane's ability to turn quickly to get behind its opponent. The better it is, the more chance it will have to get the upper hand in a dogfight.
- Resilience: Indicates the plane's ability to dodge/sustain damages.
Special abilities[ | ]
- The following abilities apply to ground forces.
- AIRBORNE: Unlike other troops, airborne units (identified by their wings) don't suffer morale penalties if surrounded in enemy territory.
- AMPHIBIOUS: This unit is amphibious and is therefore able to « swim » across rivers.
- ARTILLERY OBSERVER: This unit is as a Forward Artillery Observer, commanding off-map fire missions. It can call-in powerful strikes in its vicinity, delayed by the mission's parameters. Observers have the following guns:
- FIELD BATTERY: Includes divisional/corps guns from 5.5-in (140mm) to 170mm, supporting the combat from the rear.
- HEAVY BATTERY: Includes corps guns from 8-in (203mm) to 210mm, supporting the combat from the rear.
- NAVAL GUNS: These are the powerful 350mm+ guns of the Allied armada supporting the Normandy landings. German counterparts are railroad guns.
- Note: Fire missions are tied to their field observers: if the latter dies in-game, the remaining off-map fire missions are lost with them. Fire missions are limited and can't be replenished: once all used up, the off-map asset is removed.
- DISHEARTENED: This unit is made up either of raw conscripts, war-weary or unwilling soldiers. It will fight as any other, but will take +25% suppression damage as regular troops.
- FLAMER: This unit carries a flamethrower, a weapon able to wipe out an entire squad in a moment, and terrorise the survivors. Its range is very limited. A flamethrower can engage an armoured unit, but with much lesser effect.
- INDIRECT FIRE: This unit is able to fire HE & smoke shells at any point within its range, even without line of sight and over obstacles.
- LEADER: This unit is a platoon leader squad. An officer improves the resilience and fighting abilities of nearby units. In game terms, this means that units in a leader's area of effect receive +1 experience level, incoming suppression damage is halved, do not surrender, and are not affected by morale penalties even if isolated behind enemy lines.
- RECON: This unit is specialized in reconnaissance: it can spot an enemy unit from further away than regular troops, and identify it quicker. Recon troops don't affect the frontline, nor are they affected by morale penalties in enemy territory.
- SUPPLY: This vehicle carries ammunitions to resupply nearby units. Supply vehicles can also be used as transport vehicles.
- The following abilities apply only to planes. Once called-in, planes can be controlled as any unit as long as they have enough fuel or ammo, or aren't too heavily damaged to stay on site.
- BOMBER: Slow and cumbersome, bombers are more resilient and can carry more bombs than lighter planes. They are perfect for area bombardment.
- LIGHT BOMBER This plane carries up to 250kg of bombs.
- MEDIUM BOMBER This plane carries between 250 & 500kg of bombs.
- HEAVY BOMBER This plane carries over 500kg of bombs.
- DOGFIGHTER: This plane is armed with machine-guns and/or 20mm cannons. It is dedicated to engage and shoot down enemy planes. Guns can be used against ground targets in a strafing run, but will only be effective against the lightest enemy units.
- FIGHTER BOMBER This plane is both a ground attack aircraft and a fighter: carrying bombs or rockets, it can engage ground targets, but is also more than able to fend for itself in a dogfight.
- GROUND ATTACK PLANE: This plane is dedicated to engaging ground targets, but is almost harmless in air-to-air combat. Once called-in, planes can be controlled as any unit as long as they have enough fuel or ammo, or aren't too heavily damaged to stay on site.
- NAPALM BOMBS: This plane carries incendiary bombs, very efficient against infantry (even entrenched) or light vehicles.
- RECON PLANE: Mostly unarmed, recon planes are slow and fly in circles to get a better view of the battlefield.
- LIGHT ROCKET: This plane is armed with small calibre rockets to engage ground targets. Efficient against infantry & soft-skin vehicles, they can still deal some damage to light armoured ones.
- MEDIUM ROCKET: This plane is armed with medium calibre rockets to engage ground targets. Very efficient against infantry & soft-skin vehicles, they can still deal some damage to light armoured ones.
- ANTITANK ROCKET: This plane is armed with anti-tank rockets to engage armoured vehicles. Efficient against infantry & soft-skin vehicles, they can still deal some damage to light armoured ones.
- TANK BUSTER: This plane is armed with one or two anti-tank guns strapped to its wings or belly. It is a dedicated anti-tank platform.
- SMOKELAYER: This plane is equipped with smoke bombs, harmless to the enemy but generating a large smoke screen.
Experience[ | ]
- Experience improves various stats, depending on the unit type (accuracy, morale, Rate of Fire, optics…)
- No star indicates regular troops with basic training.
- One star indicates seasoned veterans.
- Two stars indicates elite troops.