Part of the reason they wer'nt employed in more prolifferent numbers was because it was considered very hazzardous duty to lug around an extremely volitile concoction strapped to your back. Or in the case of a tank, making said AFV an even bigger fire hazzard than a normal one would be should it be struck hard.Originally posted by General Mayhem:
I don't know claim to know anything, but I think flamethrowers would have been employed
greater numbers if they would have been really good.
Add to that the nasty tendancy of some enemies, (such as the Soviets) to put to death any Pioneers caught and identified as flamethrower operators and you can see that some, nay many soldiers might not be so enthusiastic about strapping on such a weapon.
IIRC, the Wehrmacht had to provide financial incentives to entice soldiers to sign up for the duty.
As far as WAW and SP is concerned, Flamethrowers have been traditionally a tad bit ineffective and in SP:WWII they were downright useless so i dont mind their effectiveness in 6.1 I think the rarity idea is a good one. One should'nt condemn the weapon's effectiveness just because the AI or a human player picks an entire company of flamethrowers.
If in someone's core force, i would imagine they would eventually become DEVASTATINGLY effective if their exp levels rise. I have a couple in my Soviet core right now but given the current exp level (green moving to veteren (50's) i'm certainly not getting devastating results and of course added to the fact that they are based on T-26 hulls i have to be very careful about their employment.