I understand that this faction is designed to have an early advantage. You want to dominate me early game, OK, I get it. But why does it have to be at this scale? Please answer the following questions;
- Why does the kubelwagon cost no fuel?
- Why is it able to both cap and kill? Why is it mounted with a free LMG34? Isn't %15 faster cap rate alone good enough?
- Why do sturmpioneers are the starting unit?
- Why does the best AI light tank in game had it cost reduced? LMFAO, Is this how you nerf the LV rush meta?
- Why is the Mowing Stuka, the most devastating mobile arty in game, available after 10 minutes? And it costs less than a Calli?
Discuss this like a civilized human, without raging or intolerant behavior.
1) I'd say that kubels are pretty bad in combat unless you have two or more, which by the way will never scale into mid or late game at all. They are a harassing unit at best in combat, and will get dumpstered by any infantry squad in green cover, including RE.
2) Not all MG-34s are equal. Within the attribs, the accuracy, damage, and what have you all fluctuate wildly even between weapons that are supposed to be the same.
3) Sturmpioneers being a starting unit is actually a problem. They can match or smash any starting squad, although they fall off later as do most short-range units. As is though, they're also over-worked, since they do anti-tank, anti-infantry, minesweeping, and repairs, so they're expected to be everywhere at once. Starting off with Volks would bring OKW's early game strengths down to manageable levels, although I'd argue that they have to receive a buff somewhere else to counterbalance, such as an earlier MG34.
4) Compared to UKF, Pz.II comes around the same time as the AEC, or USF Stuart. The only reason why it feels so oppressive compared to the other units is that Allies rely a lot on their infantry (which scales much better than Axis, at least for UKF and USF). There's actually pretty low build variety when it comes to OKW. It's generally MedHQ + rush for Panther, or MechHQ + Pz.II + Puma and rely on call-ins. Prior to WBP, the latter wasn't as popular because it meant forgoing forward retreat + healing, risking more dead infantry and manpower bleed. Obviously the latter required some serious love for it to be considered worth the risk, although the player needs good vehicle micro to pull aggressive Pz.II play off.
5) Sure, it's available at 10m if you rushed it. But congrats, you have no Pz.II or Puma to fend off any light armor rushes, or if your Stuka zu Fuss missed because the Allied player spreads out and doesn't blob half your army value is sitting there unable to be used for the next minute. Rushing a Stuka is a big risk. It sets you back 100 fuel for your big cats, and you have no small cat (Puma) to fend off a dive from an AEC or Stuart.
The way I see it, OKW is a mostly fine as is when compared to USF, and somewhat lacking compared to Vickers-build UKF. As of live right now, they are on the weak side to early maxim from Soviets, although I'm aware this will be addressed next patch. Snipers still are hard to counter for OKW. Also, if OKW makes use of it's forward retreat, the player risks losing a tech building compared to a measly forward assembly. Majors can reposition. MedHQs are static and just have to take whatever sheisse is flying its way. OKW vehicles costs noticeably more than others in the same class. OKW has plenty of weakness you can learn to exploit.