Just for your last post:
In early game where cons really matter, they are about equal to grens. At close distance, cons will usually win most of the time and with 2 cons squads you can easily get close because it's 12 models against 4 (not looking at molotovs at all).
Ost sniper became pretty good, but Soviets are still 2 guys/girls. If the Ost sniper dies you lost 360MP. If a sov sniper dies you usually can retreat easily.
The maxim builds up much faster, has 6 men and is way better in buildings.
ZiS has barrage. Yes, it lacks target weak point but otherwise it's mostly as good as a PaK.
Nobody should ever build a Su-76 right now.
The M3 comes way earlier and can carry a flamethrower. This is very hard to counter especially as OKW.
A P4 is more expensive than a T34/76. The T34/85 itself is much better than a P4 while costing about the same and doesn't even require teching.
KV-8 has a much better armour than an Ostwind and deals crits 24/7.
So you see what I did?
I don't care if what I wrote is 100% true but at least I gave some reasons why I don't think you're right.
You are simply writing things without any reasons at all.
The fact I didn't take the time to write an enormous post doesn't mean I'm somehow lacking the capacity to justify what was written. But seeing as you want one.
The fact that cons are roughly equivalent to grens at vet 0 with no munitions spent on LMG's is indeed more or less right. The whole 2vs2 thing I frankly have to outright disagree with, though. Two gren squads focusing fire on a con squad will wreck one of them before it even gets to a range where it can start doing good damage unless they get some godly RNG in the long range moving shots and the grens have no cover to sit in.
But the fact that at their very first moment that can be about equal just makes them similar for the first 5 minutes. After that Grens continue to scale, get upgrades, great vet and an LMG. The rifle nade and LMG combo make them so good at long range combat that any attempt to close into close range becomes fatal, making conscripts pretty much obsolete by comparison. Two units that start almost the same but one gets to continue being useful and is allowed a focus on long range combat (and a nade that invalidated MG play) vs. a unit that's good for a few minutes and then petty much fodder and AT snares?
Cons < Grens.
The Ost sniper, including its received accuracy modifier, is now harder to kill than the soviet sniper
ever was. Couple that with Axis squads almost universally having a long range combat focus vs. the close range nature of soviet ones meaning that the Ost sniper has so much more reaction time than the soviet pair? Yeah, it's harder to kill an Ost sniper with the sole exception of sniper wars. 82hp is enough to survive a katty rocket landing on its helmet.
The ost sniper also has a much better vet ability now, much more damage output stock and its veterancy consequently means more in terms of overall RoF and MP bleed.
Sov Sniper < Ost Sniper.
The Maxim has 6 men for the sole purpose that, generally, an axis squad has 1.5x the DPS of a Soviet one at mid to long range, where axis squads like to engage. Their actual survivability to small arms is essentially identical. Also, rifle nades completely invalidate them. It can only suppress one squad, can't do good damage any more and is essentially a big MP bleeding rifle nade target. Is it useless? No. Is it anywhere near as useful a force multiplier as an MG42, which also gets APIT which has more capacity to deal with light vehicles than even the vastly more expensive DshK/.50 cal.
And again, the scalability of the maxim just does not exist. Even with vet it looks at one squad, sort of annoys it and usually catches a rifle nade. MG's remain area denial tools minute 1 to the last moments of the game.
Maxim < MG42
ZiS has a very,
very expensive barrage that takes forever between shells. It's 60MU a time to maybe hit one squad and then just be area denial at best.
The PaK has 10 more pen (it's something) at all ranges, has a much better RoF, and comes with Target Weak Point. The best ability in the game, ever.
ZiS < PaK.
The M3 is faust bait and the scout car in T2 now comes out easily enough to tidy them up. To be honest this is the closest comparison going as both are still fairly useful, but the SC has a MU upgrade that makes it hard counter the also 15FU M3A1, can spot all game with great LoS and is actually a sodding AA gun to boot. The 222 scales, the M3A1 does not. Common soviet problem.
M3A1 < 222.
T-34-76 < P4, SU-76 < StuG, we know this already. The former is justified, the latter is comical.
The T-34-85 / PzIV comparison is a very close one. The lack of a tech cost is an issue with all call in units, bit it quickly ebbs away as the game goes on.
The PzIV is, anyway, much better at killing infantry, can upgrade with pintle MG's, comes out earlier and with a little vet/commander choice is much, much more survivable. It can give a reasonable show at fighting the T-34-85 one on one and can also allow itself blitz and smoke to allow it to get the hell outta dodge or push onto a wounded tank. They're both good and I'd say, given their similar cost, are about as good as each other. A small edge to the 34-85, which works fine with its slight price disparity.
The KV-8 no longer crit machines because its DPS got nerfed so much that the HP damage it does it negligible, so it never lowers HP enough to get them crits in. It may indeed have more armour than an Ostwind but it's also slower, less damaging, less dangerous to light vehicles, can't blitz, can't fire at aircraft. It's good Vs. Buildings but they die to a stiff breeze in the current damage model assigned to them, so ah well. The Brummbarr is just 100% better. More AI damage, good medium killing, indirect fire, pintle MG, vehicle stuns, deflection damage.
Point still stands on the KV-8 < Brummbar. Ost is probably a
closer comparison but is also substantially cheaper and non-doctrinal.
I think, instead of cluttering up the forums, you should consider playing the game- and instead of comparing each individual factor, compare the sum of its parts. I can compare volks > cons and JP4 > SU85 and KT > IS2 and Stuka > Kat+120 all day long but you'd have to be stupid to say that OKW > Soviets in terms of faction performance, where both sides play to the maximum potential.
Ranks for modes I'm actively playing (as and when I have the time, work keeps me a bit busy) tend to float between the 50-200 mark. With some time off and dedication I can normally get in the practice and grind to hit the top 25 for a mode.
OKW > Soviets.
Funnily enough, when every part involved is almost always better than its comparison, the sum of those parts tends to be better too...