These are the kits/classes through the years with the Battlefield releases. On the far right is my concept of what "ideal" would look like.
Battlefield 1942- Five kits
- Explosives were with the Engineer kit
- Ammo resupply was conducted interacting with a static ammo box
Battlefield Vietnam- Four kits
- Human player deployable 60 mm mortar was added to the Engineer kit
- Ammo resupply was conducted interacting with a static ammo box
Battlefield 2 - Pinnacle
- Seven kits
- 6-man squad
- Stationary Anti-aircraft emplacement
- Functional Squad Leader and Commander
Battlefield 2142- Four kits
- 6-man squad
- Sniper function and C-4 in Recon kit
- Anti-Tank function added to the Engineer kit
- Anti-aircraft function added to the Engineer kit
- Medic function added to the Assault kit
- Functional Squad Leader and Commander
Bad Company 2- Four kits
- 4-man squad
- Light Machine Gun (LMG) assigned to the Medic kit
- Ammo function added to the Assault kit
Battlefield 3- Four kits
- 4-man squad
- Anti-tank and Anti-aircraft functions with Engineer kit
- Medic function added to the Assault kit
- Support assigned C-4 and Mortar
- Squad leader "in name only"
Ideal FPS- Five standard kits
- 9-man squad with two 4-man fire teams
- Some kits have team deployment limits
- Special Forces is an unlock kit
- Anti-aircraft function is added to Sniper
- Engineer could be a separate kit or combined with the Anti-tank function as depicted in the images above
- Support has an assigned human player deployable 60 mm mortar
- Stationary player deployed emplacements (Anti-aircraft, Anti-tank, Anti-personnel)
- Functional Fire Team Leader, Squad Leader, Logistics Leader, Scout Leader, and Commander
Duty Position FunctionsAssault – Primary killer, organic indirect fire
Sniper – Long range killing, surveillance, anti-aircraft (4 per team : 1 position available after every 10 players per team)
Engineer – Repair, mobility, counter mobility
Medic – Restore health (one in every 4 players)
Support – Ammo resupply, suppressive fire (one in every 4 players)
Special Forces (unlock) – Special abilities & unlocks and destroy equipment (4 per team : 1 position available after every 10 players per team)
Bots (NPCs) – Build, Dig-in, Repair, Transport, Defend
Kit changing – death, supply crates, APCs, main base
Spawning - Friendly control points, squad leader, squad leader deployable spawn point, APCs