Oh goodie a Support discussion. I voted 2 IDFs and support the idea of 1 Shotgun and 1 Mahinegun.

Add me to the Ganz > Shotgun group. I STINK with the shotgun. The Ganz I do VERY well with and my fav maps are the INF heavy ones. However that is for my play style. I have to concede on a run and gun push thru tight building area the shotgun rules. If you are leading the charge you should not be using the Ganz.

My style of play is more of a support position. Think like a sniper. At range the Ganz rocks.

Carebear? Other than the center of the map just north of South town, I will take the HMG There are lanes of fire everywhere.

Gibralter? Other than INSIDE Central or Ruins, there is plenty of room every where on that map.

Tunis? I guess sitting right on the flag at Junkyard you are limited in those boxes, but out side of that I am playing at range.

I think it comes down to the users train of thought. If you can't see lanes of fire that are all over the place then yes the ganz isn't for you. If you aim is like mine and you can not kill people in 1 shot and you need more along the lines of 30 then you should look at the Machine guns.

Someone asked about suppression fire.

Suppression fire works well in this game if you use it right. I like firing at Doorways that have noone walking through them. Ammo means nothing to a support guy so use it. Firing thru that door makes the enemy either take damage before they can even see you or rethink even using that door. Then you have them reacting to you instead of you reacting to them. You can put them off their game.

Snipers HATE getting suppression fire. They always move to where they can't be seen meaning they can't see you and your squad anymore. They can't heal any damage they take and they don't want to go run and find a heal box leaving their perch.

Lastly suppression fire slows people down. We were headed to Playground the other night on Belgrade. As my squad moved up from statue, I got in a friendly APC running by and podded out onto the Monorail. From there I suppressed the enemy squad pushing from the far side. I kept them healing/reviving each other while my squad pushed up. My squad got wiped out from enemy armor on the flank and eventually the enemy squad figured out where I was and started rocket fire on me. By then I had gone thru 2 belts of ammo and was loading my 3rd. I ran away taking damage but not dieing. They had at least 2 people use at least 2 full rocket clips each flushing me out. (Thus their suppression fire got me to give up an advantageous firing spot) But It kept that entire squad off a neutral flag for more than 30 seconds. Had my squad not died to that armor they very well could have taken that flag in the mean time.

I am just saying every thing has its place, but not every thing is appropriate for every situation.