Deployed in the final year of World War I, the Browning Automatic Rifle (or BAR) was effectively a form of light machine gun and was first deployed in combat use by American forces in 1918; it was to see much further service during World War II.
Widely regarded for its reliability under trench conditions - an environment which caused problems for many other similar weapons - the M1918 (as it was designated) was air cooled, gas operated and magazine fed, using 0.30-inch ammunition and was loaded via a 20-round detachable box magazine (which could be rapidly changed in theory in 2-4 seconds; 6-8 seconds in practice). The BAR weighed a little over 8kg and had a cyclic firing rate of 550 rounds per minute at 600 yards. It could be used in either semi- or fully-automatic mode.
Uses In Company of Heroes
The BAR is an upgrade obtained in the US Barracks building (Tier 1). At the cost of 200 MP and 60 Fuel, this upgrade is called a global upgrade, meaning that all Rifleman receive the upgrade once completed and any new rifleman built/spawned will have BARs.
Upgrading to BARs is really a no-brainer for the American player, as you can see by the chart below, the firepower of the BAR is far superior to that of the M1 Garand, especially at Short and Medium range. The yellow shaded area is the M1 Garand and the various shades of blue are the BAR.
Knowing when to upgrade to BARs will not be covered in this guide, but there are numerous guides here on GameReplays that cover this topic. The time at which one upgrades to BARs really depends on their playstyle and other factors such as opponent (faction), map, etc.
All your existing and future Rifles receive 2 BARs, unless they are already holding multiple heavy weapons. If your Rifles are unable to pick a BAR up off the ground, they're unable to receive a fresh, new BAR with the upgrade.
For instance, if a Rifle squad had managed to pick up 2 Panzerschrecks before you purchased BARs, they would only receive 1 BAR with the upgrade. Not something to worry about by and large, as most weapons you can pick up are more desirable than a single BAR.
Five BARs is the max. BARs are a 1-slot weapon, and a Rifle squad (regardless of men currently in the squad) has five slots. So once again, if the Rifleman haven't already picked up any other weapons they can technically hold up to five BARs.
When the 5th squad member dies, there is a 20% chance a BAR will be dropped. At that point, with only one BAR left, only the 6th and last squad member dying will drop the last BAR with a 20% chance.
Dropping weapons occurs when you have more weapons than remaining squad members. When a squad member with an upgraded weapon dies, he will try to pass his weapon on to another squad mate. However, if this squad mate already has an upgraded weapon, or there is no other squad mate, then the drop chance triggers. For example, if you had 5 BARs, you could start dropping them at the death of the 2nd squad member.
Moving has no real effect on how fast you suppress targets. Moving will still reduce the damage output of the squad, but that's not really a concern when using Suppression Fire. You could activate Suppression Fire while charging an enemy squad, suppress them just as quickly as if you'd kept your distance, and be at close range when SF finishes, ready to do maximum damage.
The distance of Suppression Fire is the distance of your weapons. If you can fire at an enemy unit, then Suppression Fire is in effect. The only question is whether it will have the desired outcome of suppressing the target, and how long it will take.
Yes, distance is everything. Your standard 3 Garand, 1 Carbine, 2 BAR Rifle Squad with SF active will suppress targets 63% faster by moving from long to medium range, and 92% faster still by moving from medium range to short. At any range SF will suppress a target in the open in roughly one second, but once you consider any cover the target may have, or the time it takes to pin the target, being at medium or close range will get the job done much faster.
Overall, the BARs are the big hitters of the operation, so Suppression Fire is more effective at closer ranges. But keep in mind what weapons you're carrying. If your squad has a 3rd BAR they're more effective at close range suppression while worse at suppressing at distance. And likewise if they lose a BAR they become more effective at long range suppression but will suppress much slower up close.
Suppression Fire works through the weapons. Essentially, for 15 seconds, your squads weapons fire faster, are much less accurate, and put out much more suppression than normal. If you decide you want to try to suppress another target, simply tell your Rifles to attack it.
In fact, Suppression Fire seems designed for this. During the second half of the Suppression Fire ability, your suppression output goes up yet again. Usually this is enough to rapidly suppress as many targets as you can set your sights on. Fire at one enemy squad until it's pinned down, then switch to a fresh target.
Otherwise, you will automatically suppress multiple squads if your opponent is blobbing. Suppression has an AoE, so if there are more targets around what you're shooting at, they'll be suppressed as well - albeit at a slower rate.
Damage vs suppressed units is the same; however, damage and accuracy vs pinned units is greatly reduced for almost all weapons. The general exception to that rule would be Flamethrowers, Artillery, and Snipers.
If a unit remains pinned for 10 seconds without retreating however, these bonuses are removed and they begin to take extra damage.
Suppression Fire works against all infantry that can be suppressed, which is all infantry. The rate of suppression differs however. Knights Cross Holders in particular will be suppressed much slower by Suppression Fire.
Yes. Vet 2 Volks, Knights Cross Holders, and Snipers will be suppressed much slower by Suppression Fire. For Panzer Elite infantry, each level of Defensive Veterancy reduces how fast they are suppressed by Suppression Fire.
Considerable effect. Veteran Rifle squads equipped with BARs are some of the most powerful infantry units in the game. The Rifle squad fires its weapons more accurately for each level of Veterancy, and at Veterancy level 3 will do considerably more damage with them. These potent bonuses apply in full to the BAR, and it makes it one of the more formidable anti-infantry weapons with Veterancy.
In terms of Suppression Fire, Veterancy does not increase how fast you can suppress targets. It may be a waste to have Veteran squads use Suppression Fire, as their increased accuracy and damage is nullified. Since a green squad can suppress just as quickly, have them use Suppression Fire while Veteran squads attack normally.
Cover will significantly slow the effects of Suppression Fire. Using it against targets in a building is worthless. Against targets in heavy cover, only use Suppression Fire if you're at point blank range - in which case Suppression Fire is one of the best ways to drive an enemy unit out of said cover. Light cover will also make Suppression Fire less effective, although you will still likely suppress the target.
Suppression Fire is best used against targets in the open. Using Suppression Fire against enemies in negative cover will suppress them quickly, however it may be a wiser decision to simply attack them in such cases, as dealing more damage is usually more appealing than faster suppression.
Final Notes
There are a couple other notes worth explaining and you should find helpful.
Never use Suppression Fire against Wehrmacht units under the effects of For the Fatherland.
Know the best ranges you should try to use BARs given the situation. BARs make Rifles more effective at all ranges. You should feel more comfortable leaving BAR Rifles in a long-range firefight, but should still look to close the distance wherever possible.
Know weapon vs. weapon matchups. For instance against "rifle" armed units you want to get up close, while against Mp40s, Mp44s, and FG42s, you want to keep your distance at which point the BAR will help win that matchup.
Use Suppression Fire selectively. One of the best uses of Suppression Fire is to pin down enemy SMG-wielding units that are charging your Rifles. Mp40s you can probably manage just with regular fire, but against Mp44s especially, Suppression Fire is one of the better counters. Additionally, having a Rifle squad with BARs (Suppression Fire) next to your vehicles/tanks is a good way to pin any axis infantry carrying a Schreck.
Here is a very nice tidbit on Suppression Fire. A squad doesn't need to have any BARs to use it! It only requires that you've purchased the BAR upgrade. For instance, if you'd managed to pick up a couple of LMGs for some reason and missed out on the free BARs when they came around, you would still be able to use Suppression Fire. In fact, Suppression Fire with LMGs is one of the nastiest things around. During the last 7.5 seconds of Suppression Fire an LMG puts out the suppression of almost 2 MG42s firing at the same target. Likewise if you had an LMG instead of a Garand, the same modifiers apply.