Profile of US3K

Panther is fine. Vs Brits go t3 for the DPS of stugs versus slow, armoured Churchill's. VS USF go panther as they have nothing that can safely chase it.
VS soviets wait til you see their doctrine then counterpick t3 or t4.

USF has a real problem with the panther. They can force it off the field but chasing one down and actually killing it is suicide. Then it returns with vet.

Brummbar does need a look at, but I don't want another t4 squad wipe machine.

No i dont like shocks in tier 1 i dont want to give soviets elite ai rambos that come at 0 Cps.

Also dont you think my changes are enaught ?

This thread is not about whining why the tier 1 is useless its how to make it usefull.

Please guys keep more conscructive

Was trying to give some background as to why I thought t1 needed a change, and what led me to my proposed solution. This is a soviet t1 discussion no?

I agree though, your proposed changes would make a nice impact - sniper cloak change is a no brainer, and giving penals their role back would be good even if it's niche.

I just think that t1 could be used to fix the early game call in meta and gaps in soviet base army. It would be a more radical change but better for the game. If sovs always had access to elite infantry at t1 it would make a lot more commanders viable. At the same time it would reduce the ability of soviets to spam conscripts or maxims into shocks as you could no longer call them in free of tech charge.

Perhaps adding shocks to t1 is a bit far, but I'd argue that it wouldn't be as bad as you'd think - first you'd sacrifice capping and manpower to build the rifle command, then you'd have to pay the pretty significant cost of the unit, adding up easily to one less squad of conscripts on the field in the early game. The sov player would also be vulnerable to a 222 rush requiring made tech and mine spend. You could even reduce the shock squad size to 5 men to make sniper a better counter at t1, and reflect the more elite nature of the squad.

I just don't think penals will ever be attractive as a choice when ultimately conscripts can do their job on the cheap. Ignoring all my shocks t1 fantasising I'd just add guards to t1, make them buy their ptrs, and be done with it.

What's weird is unlike USF, OKW isn't a faction with 1 mainline infantry and nothing else, but people still want to play them as USF.

+1. Volks are very good for how cheap they are, idk why people insist they must perform at rifle/gren level.

For AI OKW have 2 other types of non-doc infantry. USF got rifles and REs, that's it.

I wouldn't say up, but yes still micro-intensive. Their whole early game revolves around microing multiple infantry squads in co-ordinated pushes, as opposed to the 'hold and manouver' axis early game. Do it well and you reap the rewards.

There are a lot of quality of life things that you have to be mindful of - weird access to mines, walking back to weapon racks, 'finicky' Sherman smoke, paying munis every engagement, but that's just something to get used to and it's getting easier all the time.

The main gripes I have with USF are that I find myself paying fuel for units I need to keep pace which very quickly become obsolete. Fuel spend for other factions carries through to late game better - for example su-76 or quad aa - whereas if you want a Stuart or AA ht late game you have to put more effort into microing them than you get reward out. That's personal opinion though.

Faction gaps are also a bit annoying - Lack of turtle breaking indirect fire is a big problem in 2v2 up, but its livable with ATM. The mg is also (personal opinion) a bit pants. They have no medium tank destroyer - only the "heavy" tank destroyer Jackson with the armour and HP pool of a t3. It's potent but requires micro, and I have serious reservations about how USF can effectively kill panthers.

The faction mostly works though. They are my absolute favourite faction, and don't require that good micro to be played at a reasonable level. To be great at them yes, it's micro heavy, but I'd argue to be great at any faction you need good micro.

The new AI partisans are very nice. Perfect for popping out and taking out a lone capping squad, but vs anything more than a single enemy they will suffer.

1 on 1 they can take on most axis units at close range. I've had a squad wipe some falls at close range, and they're very nice at forcing grens off the field. I generally use them as expendable squads, when you are down to 1 man, the enemy is down to 2 and they see you not retreat it can make them jumpy and retreat their squad prematurely.

The camo is fantastic - cap a sector away from the fighting and sit in some cover nearby on hold fire, chuck nade at capping squad then uncloak. Good for a lot of wipes. Also popping them out and cloaking them on sniper retreat paths, along with anti vehicle partisans. Such good fun.