OKW early game was extremely weak (Volks dealing -16% damage, but costing 235MP, Sturms costing 320). All of this in exchange for Vet5 and the weirdest tech tree in the game.
The reason OKW had to be reworked was because resource tampering and the weird tech structure made it impossible to keep OKW balanced/consistent across all game modes. Just before Brits arrived, OKW was the undisputable underdog in 1v1, and they were the undisputable GODS of 4v4. In 4v4, if Allies hadn't managed to decisively beat the Axis by minute ~10, it would get all downhill from there; and it's not very fun when games last 10 minutes.
The partial resource idea centered on them being limited on units, but this was especially problematic in team games where it made only a marginal difference.
On top of that they had resource switching gimmicks which made it very hard to know what was going on when you were playing against them.
Finally, they were originally designed to be unstoppable at the 30 minute mark to encourage the feeling of being under threat all game but breaking out to win. This was a really annoying way to play because for the other player it meant the clock was running down the entire game, and in team games the time you had before the clock wore out was even faster.
The changes were made to make it feel more like COH2. I mean at one point Obers got bonuses received accuracy for targeting retreating units!
All of this, plus.
- The resource penalty gimmick meant that some vehicles' fuel prices had to be brought down a bit lower, otherwise the faction would just sink. Teching fuel prices (absolute price) were also significantly lower than other factions.
E.g., the nominal price of both Panthers or P4s (OST and OKW) used to be the same. However, the OST version of either vehicle is nowhere near as good as the OKW version of these vehicles (and not just because of Vet4/Vet5).
What this meant is that, if we would balance OKW according to 1v1, OKW would steamroll over everybody in 4v4 because:
- They got access to fuel caches
- They had access to fuel supply drops from OST allies; since all OKW fuel prices were significantly lower, this meant very fast King Tigers hitting the field; and that was getting annoying.
- The other reason for this disparity was that the tech structure only made sense for 1v1.
For instance, you had JP4 in the med truck. Nobody in 1v1 would ever rush a JP4; why would you build a tank destroyer in an infantry-heavy mode? However, in 4v4 it was pretty much a no-brainer to get a JP4 to counter enemy vehicles; your teammates would be able to carry you vs infantry, and your team would have early access to the best tank destroyer in the game, even before enemy mediums would hit the field.
Of course, if you managed to lose that JP4, it was pretty much gg, you lose.
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Romeo
Mr Smith
Luciano
Mr Smith
Relic Entertainment
