Squad is a PC exclusive tactical team-based first-person shooter video game set in the modern day, developed by Offworld Industries. The stated goal of Squad is to create a "tactical first person shooter built around teamwork and cooperation". It is a spiritual successor to the award-winning Project Reality modification for Battlefield 2, with many of the former mod creators forming Offworld Industries. Development of the game was announced in October 2014; the game is currently in development and is available as an Early Access title.
The game sets up engagements on many different theatres involving US Army, Ground Forces of the Russian Federation, British Army, Middle Eastern/Central Asian Insurgents, and Eastern European Irregular Militia Forces (to be referred to as "Militia" later on for brevity).
The following weapons appear in the video game Squad:
The SIG-Sauer P320 appears in Squad disguised as the newly adopted sidearm of the US Army, the "M17 Modular Handgun System". It is available to the US Army squad leader, and feeds from 17-round box magazines. Note that the real M17 Modular Handgun System comes in Coyote Brown finish (slide included), has a manual safety, and also has 3 rail-slots in its accessory rail, similar to the compact P320 and M18 pistol fashioned after it. As such, this is really a full length P320 in two-tone Flat Dark Earth (FDE). As the game's variant does not have the manual safety, it is also noticeably the only sidearm in the game that is holstered and drawn without turning on or off the safety.
File:SIGP320.jpgSIG-Sauer P320 (full size) - 9x19mmError creating thumbnail: File missingXM17 MHS with 21-round magazine for comparison - 9x19mmError creating thumbnail: File missingThe SIG-Sauer P320 in first person - the two-tone finish and lack of a manual safety ominously warns the player that the US Army may have accidentally messed up their Amazon order.Error creating thumbnail: File missingAiming down the sights as the player coaxes a target into giving him lunch money.Error creating thumbnail: File missingHaving brutally killed said target and his two friends, he reloads his empty P320 - Note the tilted barrel, a nice touch that often goes unnoticed in many titles.
Beretta M9A1
The Beretta M9A1 appears in Squad as the "M9A1 Beretta". It is available to all US Army classes less the squad leader, rifleman, grenadier, light and heavy anti-tank, and feeds from 16-round box magazines. The marksman, crewman and lead crewman get an extra magazine each. Note that the M9A1 is not adopted by the US Army, but is adopted in small numbers by the US Marine Corps.
Trivia: Before animations were changed, the magazine markings read MAS CAL 9 PARA / FABRIQUE SOUS LICENSE BERETTA ("manufactured under a Beretta license"), making it a PAMAS G1 magazine (French copy of the Beretta 92FS).
The MP-443 Grach is the standard side-arm of the Russian Ground Forces. It is available to all classes less the rifleman, grenadier, light and heavy anti-tank, and feeds from 18-round box magazines. As with the M9A1, the marksman, crewman and lead crewman get an extra magazine each.
The Glock 17 appears in Squad under the British Designation of "L131A1 General Service Pistol". It is available to all classes less the rifleman, light and heavy anti-tank and grenadier kits, and feeds from 17-round box magazines. Unlike the M9A1 and MP-443 Grach, only the marksman gets an extra magazine.
The Tokarev TT-33 appears in Squad as the "TT33 Tokarev". It is available to the Insurgent and Militia squad leaders, medics and marksmen, and feeds from 8-round box magazines. Like the PM, it comes with more magazines than the other pistols to compensate for its smaller magazine capacity. It packs the biggest punch of all the pistols in the game, owing to its calibre. It is textured with painted stars on both grips.
The Makarov PM appears in Squad as the "PM Makarov", following OWI's glorious tradition of naming pistols backwards. It is available to all Insurgent and Militia classes less the squad leader, medic, marksman, light and heavy anti-tank. Like the TT-33, it has twice the number of magazines as the other sidearms to compensate for the smaller magazine capacity.
The PPSh-41 is available exclusively to the Insurgent raider class, and feeds from either 35-round stick magazines or 71-round drum magazines. The player has access to 4 of the former and 2 of the latter, and may switch between them at his own discretion, using the scroll wheel.
Switching to the drum magazine (via the scroll wheel) will have the player character remove the 35-round stick, and insert the drum. If the previous magazine had been emptied prior, and the bolt is locked forward, the player character will pull it back after the switch, and the same applies to the converse. However, if you were to holster your PPSh-41 with stick magazines prior and drew it again by equipping the one with the drum magazine option, the character would already have done the switch magically beforehand.
The Colt M4A1 is available to the US Army squad leader and rifleman, and feeds from 30-round box magazines. The rifleman's M4A1 may either have an Aimpoint CompM4 (designated "M68 CCO") alone, or a carry handle rear sight and KAC foregrip. The squad leader's M4A1 on the other hand uses the M68 CCO with a KAC foregrip, and like all squad leader primary weapons, is loaded with tracer rounds.
A quick glance at the lower receiver of the M4A1 when reloading (while using free-look) reveals a three-round burst selector and M4 Carbine markings.
The Colt M4 Carbine is available to the Militia squad leader and rifleman, as well as all US Army classes less the automatic rifleman, machine gunner and marksman. It feeds from 30-round box magazines like the M4A1. The Militia M4 Carbine comes with a round handguard, and no other configuration. On the other hand, like the M4A1, the US Army's M4 Carbine is equipped with a KAC railed handguard. The squad leader and rifleman's M4 Carbine has a Trijicon TA31RCO (designated "M150 RCO"), the medic, grenadier, light and heavy anti-tank's have M68 CCOs, and the crewman and lead crewman uses carry handle sights. Additionally, the grenadier's M4 Carbine has a M203A1 mounted.
Like every other squad leader primary weapon, the respective squad leaders' M4 Carbine is loaded with tracer rounds.
The L85A2 is available to all British Army classes except the marksman, automatic rifleman and machine gunner, and feeds from 30-round box magazines. It comes with a Daniel Defence railed handguard. Only the rifleman and squad leader have Grip Pods mounted to their L85A2s, and they have the option to use Trijicon TA31-CHs (simply named "ACOG"). The grenadier's L85A2 comes with an ACOG and has a L123A2 mounted. Like every other squad leader primary weapon, the squad leader's L85A2 is loaded with tracer rounds. Note that the model of ACOG adopted by the British Army is actually the TA31F rather than the -CH variant, with an RMR mounted on top.
The AK-74 is available to the Militia squad leader, rifleman and grenadier, as well as the Insurgent fighter as a limited kit. It feeds from 30-round box magazines. This is to mimic the relative prevalence of 5.45x39mm weapons in Eastern Europe theatre over the Middle Eastern and Southwestern Asian theatre. The Militia grenadier's AK-74 has a GP-25 mounted, and the Militia squad leader's, like every other squad leader primary weapon, is loaded with tracer rounds.
The AKS-74 is available to the Militia medic, light anti-tank and heavy anti-tank, and feeds from 30-round box magazines. Like the AKMS, it was originally a random spawn for Riflemen using the AK-74, in order to increase aesthetic variety in the arsenal of the irregular forces.
The AKS-74N is available to the Militia squad leader and rifleman, as well as the Insurgent fighter. It feeds from 30-round box magazines, and comes with a 1P29 mounted. While the side-rail for mounting night-vision optics is not visible from any angle, there is no other way you would be able to mount such an optic other than with superglue.
The AK-74M is the available to all Russian Ground Forces classes less the lead crewman, crewman, marksman, automatic rifleman and machine gunner, and feeds from 30-round box magazines. While every class has access to a stock rifle, the squad leader and rifleman have exclusive access to either a 1P63 Obzor or a 1P78-1 Kashtan, while the grenadier's AK-74M has a GP-25 mounted. Like every other squad leader primary weapon, the squad leader's AK-74M is loaded with tracer rounds. Quite unlike the other AK rifles in the game, the player grips it by the magazine rather than the handguard, a trait shared with the RPK-74M. Note that the 1P63 Obzor originated from a mod, and when it was officially added to the game, the pink tint on the lens was removed, probably in the name of gameplay.
The AKM is available to the Insurgent fighter and grenadier, as well as the Militia rifleman as a limited kit. It feeds from 30-round box magazines, and like the other 7.62mm AK rifles, is capable of knocking out a target at close range with 2 shots to the chest. The Insurgent grenadier's AKM has a GP-25 mounted.
The AKMS is available to the Insurgent crewman and lead crewman, and feeds from 30-round box magazines. As with the AKS-74, it was originally planned to be a random spawn for Riflemen using the AKM in order to increase the aesthetic variety in the arsenal of the irregular forces.
The PM.md.63 (AIM) is the one of two weapons available to the Insurgent squad leader, the other being the G3A4. It feeds from 30-round box magazines. Like all squad leader primary weapons, it is loaded with tracer rounds.
The Heckler & Koch G3A3 is available to the Insurgent rifleman as a limited kit, and feeds from 20-round box magazines. It comes with slimline handguards.
The Heckler & Koch G3A4 is one of two weapons available to the Insurgent squad leader, the other being the PM md. 63. It feeds from 20-round box magazines and comes with wide handguards. Like all other squad leader primary weapons, it is loaded with tracer rounds.
The SKS-45 is available to the Insurgent and Militia scouts, as well as the Insurgent light and heavy anti-tank. It feeds from its 10-round internal magazine loaded by stripper clips. Its folding bayonet is currently unusable, and it, bizarrely, can be reloaded mid-clip by pulling the bolt back first to lock it and partially loading the rounds into the magazine.
Note that while it is possible to reload an SKS mid-clip, one needs to manually hold as the bolt only locks back on an empty magazine. The other alternative would be to flip open the magazine floor by engaging a latch so as to drop all loose rounds, then pull the bolt back to lock it. The way it works in game was a deliberate decision allegedly for balance purposes. Additionally, a point worth noting is that the SKS in game can hold an extra round in the chamber when reloading mid-clip, despite a single round having been ejected when the bolt is first pulled back.
Finally, while it looks like the player character is topping off the partially-filled magazine with a clip, in game, it is programmed to be switching of magazines rather than topping off. Topping off a SKS with 5 rounds in its magazine with a stripper clip holding 5 rounds will only leave you with a rifle with 5 rounds in the magazine again.
Light machine guns are usable by the automatic rifleman classes, medium machine guns are usable by the machine gunner class. All machine guns are loaded with tracer rounds.
The automatic rifleman has access to two different kits, with the more powerful kit being unlocked later than the other when enough people join the squad. Additionally, the more powerful kit is considered a Fire Support Role, while the less powerful is considered a Squad Role. As such, taking the more powerful automatic rifleman kit comes at the cost of using up one of a maximum of three fire support roles.
Light and medium machine guns are lowered fairly quickly when undeployed due to their weight, with medium machine guns being lowered immediately upon equipping. Their iron sights are still usable, but it is strongly encouraged that their bipods be deployed on a surface first.
M249 SAW
The M249 SAW is one of two light machine guns available to the Militia automatic rifleman, the other being the RPK-74. It comes equipped with a full length barrel, heat shield and synthetic stock, and feeds from 200-round ammo boxes. It is unlocked later than the kit with the RPK-74.
The M249 Paratrooper appears in Squad as the "M249 PIP". It is available to the US Army automatic rifleman, and feeds from 100-round cloth ammo bags. Aside its distinctive short barrel, it comes with the heat shield, railed handguard and telescoping buttstock of the Product Improvement Package (PIP), which is likely to be the basis for its in-game designation. The automatic rifleman has a choice between the M68 CCO and M145 MGO, the latter unlocking later than the former.
The FN Minimi Para, posing as the British L110A2, appears in Squad as the "L110A2 Minimi", the perfect name to describe the blend of the two variants. It is available to the British Army automatic rifleman, and feeds from 100-round cloth ammo bags similar to those of the M249 Paratrooper. The automatic rifleman has the choice between iron sights or a SUSAT optic. Note that while the actual L110A2 LMG may come with picatinny rails, those are built on top of the L85-style base rail designed to fit the SUSAT. Additionally, the sights on the L110A2 are also unique in order to accommodate the aforementioned base rail.
The L86A2 LSW is unique in that it is available to the British Army marksman rather than the automatic rifleman, accurately portraying its usage as an interim marksman rifle. It feeds from 30-round box magazines, and comes with a SUSAT optic mounted. It unlocks earlier than the other British Army marksman option, the L129A1.
The RPK is available to the Insurgent automatic rifleman, and feeds from either 40-round box magazines or 75-round drum magazines. The former replaces the RPK-74 from the Insurgent arsenal, and unlocks earlier than the latter.
The RPK-74 is one of two light machine guns available to the Militia automatic rifleman, the other being the M249 SAW. It feeds from 45-round box magazines, and unlocks earlier than the M249 SAW.
The RPK-74M is available to the Russian Ground Forces automatic rifleman, and feeds from 45-round box magazines, and unlike the RPK-74 above, uses polymer magazines instead of bakelite ones. The automatic rifleman may choose between iron sights or a 1P78-2 Kashtan (calibrated for the RPK-74M and RPK-74N), the latter unlocking later than the former. Like the AK-74M above, the player holds the weapon by the magazine rather than by the handguard.
The M240B is available to the US Army machine gunner, and feeds from 50-round cloth ammo bags that erroneously hold 75 rounds, although that could possibly be a balance consideration. It comes with an M145 MGO mounted.
The FN MAG 58, posing as the British L7A2 GPMG, appears in Squad as the "L7A2 General Purpose Machine Gun". It is available to the British Army machine gunner, and feeds from enchanted cloth ammo bags, similar to the M240B above. It also has a railed feed cover similar to that of the M240B, which the actual L7A2 GPMG does not have. Rather, the actual L7A2 has a distinct bracket screwed to the left side of the receiver for mounting optics. It also has a unique and distinctly-shaped carry handle.
The PKM is available to the Insurgents and Militia machine gunners, and feeds from 100-round ammo boxes with non-disintegrating links. The PKM in game seems to be built from a mix of both polymer and wooden furniture.
The PKP Pecheneg is available to the Russian Ground Forces machine gunner, and feeds from 100-round ammo boxes with non-disintegrating links, similar to the PKM above. It comes with a 1P78 Kashtan mounted, but in reality the 1P78 Kashtans are calibrated for 5.45x39mm and 7.62x39mm rifles and machine guns. A better and more likely scenario would be a 1P77 scope, designed to be mounted on the PKMN and PKP Pecheneg.
The L129A1 SSW appears in Squad under the British designation of "L129A1 Sharpshooter Rifle", and is one of two weapons available to the British Army marksman, the other being the L86A2 LSW. It feeds from 20-round box magazines, and comes with a Trijicon TA648-RMR-UKS mounted (less the RMR). It unlocks later than the latter.
The SVD is the available to the Russian Ground Forces, Insurgents and Militia marksman classes, and feeds from 10-round box magazines. It comes with a PSO-1 mounted, and its backup iron sights are unusable. It comes with more spare magazines than the M110 SASS and L129A1 to compensate for its smaller magazine capacity.
The Russian Ground Forces marksman uses a SVD kitted out with what seems to be wooden furniture that has been painted black to be disguised as polymer, and does not use the correct stock, receiver and handguard model. It goes by "SVDM" in game, even though it does not look remotely like its namesake.
The GP-25 Kostyor is the available to the Russian Ground Forces, Insurgent and Militia grenadiers, and is mounted to their AK-74M, AKM and AK-74 respectively. Like its real life counterpart, the grenadier's primary weapon is also issued with a recoil pad mounted to the stock, which can be seen using freelook, and is also present on the inventory icon. It has the option to choose between VOG-25 frag rounds, or red, blue and white smoke rounds. Upon equipping the GP-25, the player sets his primary weapon to safe and loads a round into his launcher. When switching back to his rifle, he tilts the barrel down and catches the falling round before turning off the safety on his rifle.
The KAC M203A1 is available to the US Army grenadier, mounted to his M4 Carbine. It is able to fire M433 HEDP rounds or, similar to the GP-25, red, blue and white smoke rounds. Upon selecting the M203A1, the player flips the leaf sight up and loads a round, and when switching back to his rifle, he empties the launcher of any shells and flips the sight down. As of the current build, the M203A1 uses the same smoke grenade models for all 3 colours.
Note that there is no blue smoke round for the M203 in reality; there are only M714 white smoke rounds, M713 red smoke rounds, M715 green smoke rounds, and M716 yellow smoke rounds.
The Heckler & Koch AG-SA80 appears in game under the better-known British designation "L123A2", and is available to the British Army grenadier, mounted to his Squad#L85A2. Like the M203A1, it can fire M433 HEDP rounds or red, blue and white smoke rounds.
The M72A7 LAW is available to the US Army and British Army light anti-tank as a disposable launcher. The light anti-tank carries only one launcher instead of two as of the current build, but is now equipped with a M67 or L109A1 respectively to make up for the reduced firepower.
Note that the British Army does not use M72A7s, but rather M72A9s designated as the "M72 Light Anti-Structure Munition (LASM)". As its designation implies, it is meant to be used for bunker-busting rather than for anti-tank applications. Additionally, this launcher is an interim launcher to fill in for the current shortfall of L2A1 ASMs.
The Saab Bofors Dynamics AT4-CS is available to the US Army and British Army heavy anti-tank class under their respective designations, the "M136 AT4-CS" and "ILAW AT4-CS". Note that the AT4-CS is usually used in a light anti-tank capacity, but this may be a placeholder for the US Army's FGM-148 Javelin.
At the same time, it is worth noting that "ILAW" is an incomplete designation; the proper designation is "L2A1 Interim Light Anti-tank Weapon (ILAW)". As its name suggests, it is an interim solution to fill in for the current shortfall of NLAWs as the British Army replaces its legacy and ineffective LAW 80 launchers.
The RPG-7V2 is available to the Russian Ground Forces, Insurgent and Militia light and heavy anti-tanks. Both classes are armed with two OG-7V fragmentation warheads and a PG-7VM high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead, however the heavy anti-tank has an additional PG-7VR tandem charge warhead. When switching between warheads, the player character removes the existing warhead before loading the warhead of choice. Additionally, the Russian Ground Forces light anti-tank has the option of picking the RPG-26 instead.
The RPG-26 Aglen is available to the Russian Ground Forces light anti-tank as a disposable launcher. As with the M72A7 LAW, the light anti-tank now only has one disposable launcher instead of two, but instead he is now equipped with a RGD-5.
The M67 is the standard fragmentation grenade for the US Army, and is available to all classes less the lead crewman, crewman, grenadier and heavy anti-tank. Previously, as with the other hand grenades, you could see the spoon fly off when throwing it.
The RGD-5 is the standard fragmentation grenade for the Russian Ground Forces and Militia, and is available to the squad leader, medic, rifleman, automatic rifleman and marksman. The Militia's RGD-5 is brown whereas the Russians' RGD-5 is green.
The L109A1 is the standard fragmentation grenade for the British Army, and is available to all classes less the lead crewman, crewman, machine gunner, grenadier and heavy anti-tank.
The F-1 is the standard fragmentation grenade for the Insurgents, and is available to the squad leader, medic, rifleman, automatic rifleman, raider and marksman. The F-1 portrayed in game is the post-war variant with yellow paint.
The M18 is the standard smoke grenade for the US Army, and is available to all classes less the grenadier. All classes less the grenadier has access to the white smoke variant, but red smoke is only available to the medic and squad leader, with blue being exclusive to the latter. Note that M18s are not available in white, and a better alternative for white smoke would be the AN/M8 or M83 Smoke Grenade. Additionally, M18s come in red, yellow, green or violet but not blue.
The RDG-2 is the smoke grenade of choice for the Russian Ground Forces, Insurgents and Militia. All classes less the grenadier has access to the white smoke variant. However, only the Russian medic and squad leader have access to orange, the latter having exclusive access to purple; only the Insurgent medic and squad leader have access to yellow, the latter having exclusive access to black; and only the Militia medic and squad leader have access to green, the latter having exclusive access to yellow. It is worth noting that Russian RGD-2s only come in white or black, the latter being for training purposes.
The L132A1 is the smoke grenade of choice for the British Army. All classes less the grenadier has access to white smoke. All classes less the grenadier has access to the white smoke variant, but orange smoke is only available to the medic and squad leader, with yellow being exclusive to the latter. The two coloured smoke variants are both designated "L152A1 Smoke Grenade", which in real life is the designation of the green smoke variant of the model.
In terms of textures, the L132A1 smoke grenade markings are identical to real life (sans the serial numbers), while the coloured smokes say "Grenade Hand Signal Smoke L152A1", similar to the real markings of the green L152A1 smoke grenade, just without the word "Green" (and sans the serial numbers too). They also have three coloured Cs marked at the bottom; on the real grenades, they have colours that match the smoke's colour, while on the in-game grenades they are colored red, green, and blue individually.
The AN/M14 appears in Squad simply as "ANM14 Incendiary Grenade" and is only available to the US Army, British Army and Russian Ground Forces squad leader on the Insurgency game mode, where they must hunt down and destroy Insurgent weapon caches.
AN/M14 incendiary grenadeError creating thumbnail: File missingThe AN/M14 in first person,Error creating thumbnail: File missingPulling the pin on the AN/M14,Error creating thumbnail: File missingDestroying a weapon cache with the AN/M14, and watching the spectacular visual display of flames and sparks - sadly, the blast radius of the resulting explosion is so great it usually kills the player character, making it difficult to get a complete image of it.
Improvised Explosive Device
The Improvised Explosive Device (IED) is available to the Insurgent and Militia scouts, and appears to be a mortar-based explosive device. It is remotely detonated by phone and has an impressive explosion.
The Browning M2A1 is available to the US Army as both a deployable and a vehicle mounted weapon. Like the DShKM and NSV, its high-caliber rounds are capable of incapacitating hostiles instantly. On tripods it may either come alone or built within a machine gun bunker, while on vehicles, it may either be mounted in a Gunner Protection Kit (GPK) on a MAT-V or as a Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) on a MAT-V or M1126 Stryker ICV. In its tripod configuration, it comes with a mock-up of the TA648MGO-M2 mounted, but with a red reticle instead of the actual green one.
The NSV heavy machine gun is available to the Russian Ground Forces as a deployable, mounted on tripods. It may or may not come with a bunker, with the bunker costing more construction points.
The DShKM is available to Militia and Insurgent forces as deployables or vehicle-mounted weapons. It may come with or without shields to protect its gunner.
The PKT can be found on multiple vehicles, mostly as coaxial machine guns. It can be found on the turret of the Insurgent MT-LB, and found as a coaxial machine gun on the BRDM-2, BTR-80, BTR-82A, MT-LBM (6MA), MT-LBM (6MB) and MT-LB with ZU-23-2.
The KPVT can be found mounted on the turrets of the BRDM-2, BTR-80 and MT-LBM (6MA), and fires BZT armour-piercing incendiary tracer (API-T) rounds. The turret also has a visible PKT coaxial machine gun and 81mm smoke grenade launchers.
The 2A72 autocannon can be found mounted on the turrets of the BTR-82A and MT-LBM 6MB, and fires either 3UBR6 armour-piercing ballistic cap tracer (APBC-T) rounds or 3UOR6 high explosive tracer (HE-T) fragmentation rounds. Like the KPVT above, it comes with a PKT coaxial machine gun and 81mm smoke grenade launchers.
The SPG-9 recoilless rifle is available to Insurgents and Militia forces as deployables or vehicle-mounted weapons. It may choose between OG-9V high-explosive fragmentation (HE-FRAG) rounds or PG-9V high-explosve anti-tank fin-stabilizing (HEAT-FS) rounds, and must be reloaded after every shot.
The UB-32 rocket pod, usually seen on Soviet jets and helicopters, is here mounted on pickup trucks as improvised mobile artillery platforms for the Insurgents and Militia. This is a fairly common modification that has been observed on recently built technicals, primarily in Syria. It holds 32 rockets and is inaccurate, best used for raining down widespread explosive ordnance from a hilltop.
The ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft cannon is available to Insurgents and Militia forces as deployables or vehicle-mounted weapons. It fires OFZT high-explosive incendiary tracer (HEI-T) fragmentation rounds, and feeds from 2 50-round boxes. Both the Militia and Insurgents have access to a MT-LB with a mounted ZU-23-2, but only the Insurgents have access to a Ural 375D with a mounted ZU-23-2.
