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The current state of the Penal Battalion

13 Mar 2016, 21:20 PM
#1
avatar of Captain QQ

Posts: 365

Greetings all you true believers!

I come to you now with tidings of good hope and joy!


sovietssoviets THREAD THEME sovietssoviets

Our long dark nightmare is finally over. Penals no longer suck. Since the March 9th update I have played over 20 30 games in which I have not built a single conscript, with the majority of these games ignoring T1 altogether. To my amazement, I had

So far, I have only tried this in 2v2 but my results have been roughly 65% win rate using this strategy.
This strategy works in 2v2 very well but not in a 1v1. It does best vs OKW troops. Since I have employed this strat I have enjoyed a upward climb of about 400 points according to my player card and a 65% win rate since the hotfix.

It has been said that this strat will not work once you enter the top 500. I cannot speak to this as I am not there yet, though I am experiencing a meteoric rise and should be there soon.

But... why?
Penal Battalions are better than Conscripts at AI in every way. Conscripts deal very slightly more damage per shot, but Penal Battalions fire faster, reload faster, and reload less often than Conscripts. They offer near twice the DPS of conscripts without even considering the flamethrower.

Replays
All I had to do was ask for smoke and ping once. It sealed the game.

This one was a pretty standard match these days for me and my brit partner.

The joy of being anti blob vs OKW on a tight map.

SOOOOO rewarding vs OKW.


Bulletins

Torched
Penal Battalion rifles are 3% more accurate
(a must for the early game)

Hot Potato
Penal Battalion's Satchel Charge can be thrown 6% further
(It doesn't seem like much, and in fact it isn't, but it can be enough to guarantee you wont lose the squad either to FF or concentrated fire.)

Infantry Production II
Penal Battalions build 10% faster, Shock Troops and Guard dispatch abilities recharge 10% faster
(Not entirely necessary, but useful to catch up from the time lost building Special Rifle Command and waiting for the additional MP)

Commanders

Guard Motor Coordination Tactics
Guards, 120mm Mortar, T-34/85, Mark Target, Crew Repair
(This is the workhorse, it has everything you need.)

Soviet Combined Arms Tactics
Guards, 152mm Howitzer, Recon Overflight, AT gun Ambush Camo, Precision Bombing Run
(I haven't played with this one as much, but it feels strong vs OKW, however you will need to back tech to T1 in order to take advantage of the AT ambush.)

Partisan Tacticssovietssoviets(Current Favorite)
Radio Intercept, Partisan Troops, Partisan Tank Hunters, Spy Network, Mark Vehicle
(Good for gaining a very early advantage if you see an opening for a HMG capture. Build katyusha to make lots of craters for your partisans to advance through camouflaged.)

Build Order

Penal
Penal
Penal
(1st Flamethrower)
Guard or Tank Hunter
Muni Cache (optional)
(2nd Flamethrower)
120mm Mortar (if Guard Motor)
Guard or Tank Hunter
(DP-28 or 3rd Flamethrower)
AT Nade (if Partisan)

-----------

By the time this build order is complete you shouldn't be too far away from deciding if you need to rush a T-34. I would personally advise against stopping off in T3 with a SU-76 or T-70 as this will just slow you down. Build more Guards or Tank hunters if you fear the enemy light or medium armor rushing you. Feel free to have one con squad around for merging into stolen guns and snaring armor. I would advise against merging with Penals as they will bring their Nuggets with them and not the delicious SVT Laser Rifles.

Only God and Cruzz know how the veterancy would apply to merged cons into their new units.

Build Pros and Cons

Pros:
Great anti infantry.
Great anti garrison.
Decent anti tank if you can make to your T-34 or can manage your guards/AT partisans well.
OKW buildings stand NO chance.
Flexible enough to react to most threats.

Cons:
G43 equipped units can be troublesome. A real long range threat.
Vulnerable to rushed Flakpanzer. You may need an SU-76 for this.Screen your penals with TH Partisans if you got em.
Guards are still pinatas. They will drop their PTRS if asked politely some games. Keep them at a distance.
Losing a Penal early will cost you dearly if you don't replace it quickly. You need them at vet 2-3 ASAP.

Some things to consider before trying this out for yourself.

13 Mar 2016, 21:24 PM
#2
avatar of Hans G. Schultz

Posts: 875 | Subs: 2

Well, erm, I just recently went up against a player who used a very similar tactic. He failed miserably. :snfQuinn:
13 Mar 2016, 21:24 PM
#3
avatar of Captain QQ

Posts: 365

Well, erm, I just recently went up against a player who used a very similar tactic. He failed miserably. :snfQuinn:


2v2 or 1v1?
13 Mar 2016, 21:25 PM
#4
avatar of Hans G. Schultz

Posts: 875 | Subs: 2

2v2, idk If I still have the replay.

Edit: No I don't. F*cking CCleaner.
13 Mar 2016, 21:45 PM
#5
avatar of ZombiFrancis

Posts: 2742

What faction are your allies playing?

I can see how this strategy would thrive especially with Brits against Ostheer, but not so much with USF. As long as a Soviet teammate worked the T2 well, this strategy might be quite effective as well.

But far more than anything, I find that 2v2s are about team synergy more than individual builds and strategies.
13 Mar 2016, 21:49 PM
#6
avatar of Captain QQ

Posts: 365

What faction are your allies playing?


Predominantly Soviet and UKF. UKF is great cause I rarely have to worry about getting flanked.


But far more than anything, I find that 2v2s are about team synergy more than individual builds and strategies.


agreed
14 Mar 2016, 15:34 PM
#8
avatar of newvan

Posts: 354

I had an experiment build in 2v2 with ally brit, SU build penals and UK player goes to Special Weapons Regiment for Vickers mgs. Through 2 and 3 star with double mgs penals deal very good DPS, however even with 6 models the are quite fragile. Its fun build, but it is expensive and still weaker than T2 build.
14 Mar 2016, 16:55 PM
#9
avatar of SeismicSquall

Posts: 156



Edit: No I don't. F*cking CCleaner.


Take that back. CCleaner saves me so much time when fixing my relatives' 6-year-old computers. If had nickel for every time I used it to resuscitate a dying comp I would probably have a land mattress by now.
16 Mar 2016, 15:35 PM
#10
avatar of Captain QQ

Posts: 365

New edit to reflect the fact that it only takes 3 satchel instead of 4 to kill okw buildings.

SUCK IT OKW!
16 Mar 2016, 15:40 PM
#11
avatar of PencilBatRation

Posts: 794

Increase their cost (320), reduce their vanilla received accuracy (0.92 should do), increase their midrange distance (12 should be fine)
16 Mar 2016, 15:48 PM
#12
avatar of DonnieChan

Posts: 2257 | Subs: 1

16 Mar 2016, 15:53 PM
#13
avatar of Captain QQ

Posts: 365

Increase their cost (320), reduce their vanilla received accuracy (0.92 should do), increase their midrange distance (12 should be fine)


You are just adorable.
16 Mar 2016, 15:59 PM
#14
avatar of PencilBatRation

Posts: 794

Keep writing books kid
16 Mar 2016, 16:08 PM
#15
avatar of |GB| The Hooligan486
Senior Referee Badge

Posts: 3602 | Subs: 1

16 Mar 2016, 22:01 PM
#16
avatar of wouren
Senior Social Media Manager Badge

Posts: 1280 | Subs: 3

You mentioned tank hunter, and I do agree that it would cost too many munitions to sustain PTRS cons and flamethrower penals along with an optional salvage kit. That said, if you manage to lay down three muni caches down in the early game (which is impossible on some maps) then you can have an all-around early-mid game setup without using any fuel.
16 Mar 2016, 22:29 PM
#17
avatar of VonIvan

Posts: 2487 | Subs: 21

PTRS Penals would be nice.

Also have you consulted with the God of Non-Meta and Penals? RedxWings
https://www.coh2.org/user/10779/redxwings
https://www.twitch.tv/redxwings
17 Mar 2016, 07:10 AM
#18
avatar of Captain QQ

Posts: 365

jump backJump back to quoted post16 Mar 2016, 22:29 PMVonIvan
PTRS Penals would be nice.

Also have you consulted with the God of Non-Meta and Penals? RedxWings
https://www.coh2.org/user/10779/redxwings
https://www.twitch.tv/redxwings


I could always moly guard squads till they drop ptrs and let the penals pick it up. Not unlike what I did to force the forward headquarters at gun bug.
17 Mar 2016, 19:00 PM
#19
avatar of Captain QQ

Posts: 365

jump backJump back to quoted post16 Mar 2016, 22:01 PMwouren
You mentioned tank hunter, and I do agree that it would cost too many munitions to sustain PTRS cons and flamethrower penals along with an optional salvage kit. That said, if you manage to lay down three muni caches down in the early game (which is impossible on some maps) then you can have an all-around early-mid game setup without using any fuel.


I've since tried it a few times and it's much easier to use partisan tank hunters or even guards. Crosing in the woods has become a wet dream as the cutoffs are so easy to hold early game with penals that I can get 3 t34/76 out by 18 minutes
17 Mar 2016, 20:55 PM
#20
avatar of wouren
Senior Social Media Manager Badge

Posts: 1280 | Subs: 3



I've since tried it a few times and it's much easier to use partisan tank hunters or even guards. Crosing in the woods has become a wet dream as the cutoffs are so easy to hold early game with penals that I can get 3 t34/76 out by 18 minutes

I would imagine so. I haven't actually tried to use penals with tank hunter because I usually play random if I'm going past 1v1 and there is no way to get 1-3 people to agree to build a billion muni caches. Usually I play 1v1 with tank hunter, deploy 2 engis, a maxim, 2 cons, a maxim, a mortar and 2 more cons. If you want to play with tier 1, that's 3 cons, 2 engis, and 2 penals. You basically have to contest everywhere AND build 600 mp worth of muni caches AND not get bled out before the t34 horde arrives. After reevaluating and trying this strat in 1v1, I realized my initial instinct was right; it's just too many munitions.
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