The majority of meta commander have access to grenades. There are few that they do not but saying Soviet do not have access to HE is simply inaccurate.
they dont have stock access meaning its more than possible to have no access. the stock roster needs to be accommodating for all commanders. commander with HE nades have that going for them, those without would otherwise be lacking.
If you watch von Ivan streams you will also see that he get wipes with satchels and even demo charges regularly.
if you watch a pro nearly anything can happen. id hardly call securing a wipe with a 3 second fuse satchel an alternative for a proper nade..
It does not matter if it is an ability or not, it still force retreats and get wipes and at a very early stage of the game before axis unit even get HE. OKW especially get access to HE very late.
it does matter if its an ability. especially an ability on a 320mp unit. it allows for retreats and wipes because nothing else in the t0/t2 match up will. you arnt going to fight off an mg with combat engies like you will sturms (which is adequate compensation for later stock elite infantry with nuclear nades- unlike the soviet, you will ALWAYS have access to these)
And since SU-75 and Zis had barrage from early stage of design there is no real correlation between grenades or AI upgrades and barrage, it is not a compensation it is part of the original desing.
a lot of things in the original design were works of compensation. soviet lacked reliable DPS but had generally better AI elsewhere. it may not be written down but its clearly part of the trade off
Implying that soviet can not get early wipes is simply inaccurate.
its significantly more difficult for soviet to get wipes with the sole exception of clown car cheese early on. no thrown explosives or weapon upgrades is made up elsehwere. the zis barrage getting slown down is a good change and all that is needed.
3 easy clicks to put down a barrage, what a waste of resources indeed. Not to mention diminishing returns on your big micro saving investment turning on counter barrage when it fails to hit anything when you could've regular barraged a much more target rich environment instead.
It's a meh ability and generally a bad investment compared to a regular barrage. Easy micro barraging a target rich environment > no micro shooting at a lone artillery piece with a tiny chance of hitting it.
finding a target, not doing anything at else at the time are factors.
tiny chances can define games
its mostly an issue in team games as i said, where there may be more than 1 lefh around, and certainly more things to trigger it. setting 1 for that "tiny" chance to destroy any form of indirect, or at a minimum make the area around them possibly zone for a wipe (preists and sextons often maneuver nearer to the front to barrage) is broken.it may be meh in small modes but in team games it can be incredibly strong. id hope that a member of the balance team would understand that.
it doesnt just trigger on lone arty. it triggers on mortars trying to lay smoke, zis barraging, rockets firing, things that happen in abundance in team games and the ability to set up the game to automatically punish them is bad design for the same reason brit emplacements are bad design- the game shouldnt play itself. this sint supposed to be a tower defense game
That's hardly a strength when it comes at the cost of sacrificing the regular barrage that can/will generally be more impactful. It's not like targeting a regular barrage is the epitome of effort either.
surely you are aware that micro is a resource as well yes? anything that requires none (and i mean NONE) is by default an issue in a strategy game. its not hard to target a barrage, but its infinitely less effort to have the game do it all by itself.
also you can turn off counter battery with the same amount of effort it requires to use it (that being exactly 1 click)
ideally you dont leave it on, but when the enemy gets something that is displacing you you pop it and can turn your attention to making sure that thing doesnt erase your infantry.
A UKF rework would be nice as long as they're not letting Wehraboos make all the changes like they apparently did the last few patches.
Look at crap they did over the last year:
- Reduced armor on UC
- No upgrades to UC before PLCP teching
- No bolster before teching to PLCP
- Reduced dps on Tommies
- Churchill tank increased in price, but worse POP jumped way up to 19
- Grenade removed from Churchill
Seriously, which Wehraboos came up with these changes?
Faction fanaticism is a hell of a thing. There was a guy on here once that claimed the elefant was one axis' multiple monsters and said its AI was too much. Some people just don't understand balance since they only play one side.
I don't mind replacing Counter Barrage on the LeFH18 but for the opposite reason, because it's really bad. I don't know what everyone is complaining about. It uses regular scatter and fires into the FOW (1.75 scatter penalty iirc) so the chance to hit anything it's actually aiming at is very small, and enemy arty is usually not near many other units either. Maybe it'll get a lucky hit on a squad passing by at best. In testing it took me over 5 counter barrage runs to kill a Katyusha and I ultimately had to bring the Katyusha really close to the LeFH for it to finally score a hit. You're way better off using the regular barrage instead.
the strength in counter barrage is that the enemy katy has a chance to self destruct with no input from you. or their mortar, or their zis or anything that harrages. the issue is the no input and the nature of RNG meaning it can be quite devastating, again, with 0 input. the gun even rotates to face the threat so you dont even need to guess where the enemy fire is going to come from...
ive definetly seen the maxim get frontally flame naded more times than i can count, part of the problem with that is the speed and range of the throw, but that doesnt make it any better.
i dont want to pull this thread into a maxim thread, but the maxim falls short in basicly every metric at every point in the game, save soley for durability, which is in part offset by the deathloop. the fact that it costs the same as the mg42 AND has a 160mp unlock first is a travesty
for the multiple modes, i too was thinking if the different stances would be perfect for the different modes. imo the offensive mode shouldnt suppress at all, then it could be allowed to be mobile again. popping into defensive mode should force a reload and take a second or so longer to set up. not sure about arcs, start with the current one assuming it can actually stop infantry in that cone i would be happy...
basically:
offensive-
fast set up/tear down, maybe even as fast as the old maxim!
no suppression
early game DPS unit, the penals of t2
defensive-
performance sort of like the mg34 but with a smaller arc (and higher cost)
at least as slow as the mg34
swapping modes would require reload
sustained fire could become a vet1 ability again since the nit could suppress in its defensive mode. sustained fire would boost its capabilities in both modes by increasing burst length
Honestly I still think this idea that the Maxim's suppression is weak to the point that you can literally walk through the centre of its arc is a being a little hyperbolic. Unless you're a vetted Obersoldaten squad walking through yellow cover you're still going to be suppressed before you can reasonably be expected to have done much damage (Assuming it isnt in red cover or something). This is even assuming you know the MG is there before it starts firing, which isnt always the case for OKW (But often is for OST, thanks to Pioneer sight.)
Ostensibly its intended to be screened heavily by conscripts in any case, and pretty much any delay they can cause will mean you do indeed get suppressed.
The maxim is certainly worse than the other MGs in the game, but it still does its job, and honestly I find MGs of any sort rather annoying to deal with early on as OKW (2v2).
i have very much seen and done myself to the maxim a great disservice by walkinging up and nading it. you arnt going to get up in its guts to bayonet it, but you dont have to. if you can head on nade it you have won most times due to the deathloop or in the case of volks, the flame nade which you gotta move as opposed to the burst damage.
ive also seen units walking across the width of the arc (granted this was at max range) without a care in the world. its the only mg in the game where its arc isnt a complete no go zone and taking the chance to rush it CAN pay off against an already set up maxim
its off topic but id like to see it with a narrower arc and longer range. it already wins against other mgs in MG duels because of the crew and suppression modifiers, but the increased range would allow it time to actually suppress enemies if spotted for without making it attack moveable (because it cant shoot further if it cant see further. this would also allow it properly support cons without being in the line of fire for deathlooping. it would do wonders for its support capacity without strengthening its ability to operate on its own. being further removed from the front would be a pro worthy of offsetting its abysmal defensive capabilities otherwise and justify it costing the same as an mg42
that or a damage mode/suppression mode that has a long set up so that it can be used defensively if set up in advance (without the need to feed it munitions) or be an aggressive damage dealer that it was supposed to be in t2. sustained fire could continue to increase burst length which would benifit both modes
Same times of units having completely different behavior with little way of informing the player are solution that are not elegant and should be avoided.
I agree that having Hull mg improved would be a good idea since it would even promote better maneuvering of the vehicle.
Plus, the hull is directional. Do I get that sweet dps on the squad and risk my thinner armour? Or now that the hull is facing that squad this one can maneuver a bit more freely. Adds another element to the game. And while consistency isn't really cohs thing it would be really nice to know if the shooty bit goes rattatat the leggy boys will get hurt no matter what tank it is.
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