Ostruppen are still very good and even got buffed with better late game scaling with LMG accuracy. The fact they they are slightly slower to arrive and you have slightly less resources due to T1 cost doesn't change their performance at all. Plus I've found that having access to T1 from the get-go means it's easier to mix in Snipers and Mortars which can be beneficial.
Do you know what I dislike about the change, It removes the idea that wehrs teching is based on being able to skip tiers. Honestly it's not just wehr but for all factions risk v reward associated with teching is totally gone. Every faction now is this linear teching 1d stuff this just gets on my nerves.
I don't know who to blame Relic for not thinking balance first over sales or the player who just want everything to be safe and risk free.