Profile of EtherealDragon

I'm also quite positive that a 25% mobility penalty for a tank that gets 20% mobility bonus by vet 2 is not such big deal too
It's a bad ability because there's no reason to turn it off with veterancy which is why I proposed 2 dps modes instead of a penetration buff for mobility

This is an interesting point... It would almost be cleaner if they just gave E8 a Range and Penetration boost at Vet 2 instead of an ability and did something else with Vet 1. Or just give it the Range bonus through Vet and timed HVAP shells. A third option would be to have it have timed HVAP shells give extra range(maybe call it something else to avoid confusion with other HVAP abilities) . I'm thinking

76MM - benefit of HVAP being "always on" and possible synergy with Combined Arms. Vet 3 HVAP close to Vet 1 Jackson HAVP
M10 - Cheap, less health, speed ability, Vet 1 HVAP lets you basically have similar Standard Jackson Penetration
Jackson - Best Pen, Range and extra damage HVAP
EZ8 - Standard 160 damage but more durable, Extra Range as a medium tank, Extra Health

Comparison of Penetrations
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So right now EZ8 in gunnery mode is basically a beefy Vet 0 Jackson with less range and slightly worse pen. 76MM probably has the higher ceiling in terms of pure dive potential with less survivability and range but no mobility nerf, combined arms, and a constant HVAP mode with better penetration. I think it would be feasible to have a theoretical EZ8 HVAP Timed ability that would give you a limited time window to fight heavies. Maybe give it performance in the neighborhood of Vet 0 Jackson and maybe 45 range. That way it's more survivable, has a unique range, but doesn't dominate other mediums too hard unless you are constantly dumping munitions into HVAP. Bonus is this still gives M10 and 76MM their own unique advantages.

For Raid Sections I think they would be easier to use if you could upgrade 1 Vickers at a time. Now that they are in Tactical Support it's difficult to use both the supply drop and upgrade 2X Vickers early on if you want. It's also more appealing to give them a smaller power spike earlier and opens up more builds where you can actually tech weapon racks early.

Should it? I don't think it would be that bad to have 76mm and E8 identical and have E8 be a more expensive, better armored and faster tank.

I guess it's debatable. I mean Easy8 as a slightly different 76MM would work fine but personally I feel like it's more interesting and fun to play with distinct units and not "this unit has 10 better penetration, has more health and fires .5 seconds slower but is otherwise exactly the same". (Obviously not exact stats but you get more point). Thats why I brought up Veterency - Easy 8 has exact same veterancy as M4A3 (Barring the Vet 1 Change). 76MM is slightly different with frontloaded reload % at Vet 2 and bonus Penetration at Vet 3. If Easy 8 is going to be kind of same-y then I think you could at least tweak Vet to emphasize it's relative strengths to M4A3 and 76MM so that while Vet 0 76MM and E8 may feel similar that you actually notice a difference at Vet 2 and 3.

The ability on IR Halftruck is gated behind
a) a tech building
b) a unit

Smoke recon runs are good no question.

It's still non-doc though. You're almost always going to tech at least medics at some point. I think it you really want recon then the side tech and unit isn't going to hurt you that much though the fuel cost kind of stings. Still, the benefits of having it always available in any doctrine is there and I personally prefer the slow recon pass over the sometimes erratic loiter. I feel like the pass almost always shows you what you want to see before getting shot down whereas the loiter can sometimes be a complete dud... Also the regular LOS of the IR HT is still very good (yes I know it's still mostly a meme unit but it's not like it doesn't have it's uses)

Replacing PPSH with SVT upgrade would be thematic fit since I believe SVTs were the more advanced rifle that never got fully rolled out by the end of the war. Would be nice to have SVTs in more than one commander though SVT and Premium Medium might be a bit much lol. DSHK instead of either PPSH or Repairs also comes to mind but then you have overlap with Lend Lease if it replaces PPSH (Repairs, DSHK, and Premium Medium). I wouldn't totally discount Advanced Warfare though since PPSH are getting buffed and that will help distinguish it from Armored Assault.