I can partly understand the hate vs putting PTRS on Penals (especially from people that haven't tried; or don't even want to bother trying the mod). However, if you guys ever want to see T1 built again, until the next patch, there needs to be some compromise somewhere.
In short, with this thread, I hope I'll be able to convince you that for T1 to be viable, one of the following should hold.
The three possible options are:
1. Keep Penals OP, as they are. Thus, a T1 investment will be worth it. The only issue is which gamemode you balance this opportunity cost to?
2. Give T1 access to some tech-free AT options, without requiring that T2 be built, so that they can hold off until T3.
3. Make T1 free/ultra-cheap. That way, a T1 will be less of a costly detour.
Which one would you choose?
The rest of this post is dedicated to the people that believe that no such compromise is needed.
"T1 doesn't need AT options because..."
"The Soviet guy can always build T2 to get a Zis gun"
"The Soviet guy can always pick a commander with Guards, if things go sour"
"You don't need T2/commanders. Just tech AT nades, and you should be fine vs vehicles"
"I don't agree with the Anti-infantry direction of current Penals because..."
"Penals are just fine in the live version; T1 is a risk-reward tier."
"Penals are just fine in the live version; Just remove the flamethrower and we're done"
"Penals were fine before the May Preview buffs. Just revert those buffs; done."
"Penals were already too strong before the May Preview buffs. Revert the buffs and remove access to the flamethrower"
"Penals get too much utility now, overshadowing Conscripts. Wasn't the point of Penals to supplement Conscripts, but not replace them? Molotov?"
"It is obvious that the reason Penals do not scale because they lack weapon upgrades (e.g., DP-28). Why not fix that?"
"Regarding Flamethrower&PPSh Penals; this is complete nonsense because..."
"Didn't we already establish that 6-man flamethrower squads are bad?"
"Aren't Flamer Penals going to make Shocks completely redundant now?"
"Aren't Flamer Penals going to make PPSh Conscripts completely redundant now?"
"What is this nonsense about Penal PTRS. Revert this change at once because..."
"T1 doesn't need access to AT; it's a risk reward tier"
"PTRS Penals are going to make Light Vehicle play unviable for axis"
"Why do PTRS Penals need to have worse-quality PTRS than guards"
"PTRS Penals have simply too much anti-infantry capacity"
"PTRS Penals accuracy will make their PTRS snipe infantry, won't it?"
"Penals can buy a THIRD PTRS, now? What do they need this for? Isn't that too complicated?"
Why mess with PTRS Penals, when you can add M-42 to the tier?