Profile of rumartinez89

This is not a balance thread, just testing various SMG units on test map at point blank. I originally got the itch a month or two ago, I was using PPSh Airborne and OKW went IR STG as I kept catching him off guard. Needless to say PPSH got shutdown but I switched to LMG so no big deal. I posted a recent game with 2 scout cars and AssG, OKW this time made IRSTG to counter but it didn't work out as well so I did some testing just to check.

IR STG beat Penal PPSh/Airborne at Vet0, Airborne when both VET3, but loses to Penals with both VET3.
As Airborne need camo to get bonus in real situation the IR detection would shut that down.

AssG/Shocks mop the floor with them.

For the hell of It I tested Shocks vs AssG, at vet0 Shocks win but at VET3 AssG pull the upset more often then not which caught me by surprise. Shocks dominate PPSH Penals, but PPSH Penals can beat AssG when both VET3.

SHOCKS stomp PARAS and Rangers

ASSG lose to Paras and Rangers at vet0, Paras with vet, but goes either way vet3 Rangers.

Edit: None of this testing was scientific in any way shape or form was just testing for fun.

Thoughts:
Even though IR Obers don't really win anything close range their mid-range performance along with ability to negate cover makes them a pretty good choice as real world situations will most likely have at least one squad closing in on the other.

Shocks are beast from the get go, not that was a surprise.

PPSH Penals put out a shit load of damage, they give shocks a run for their money but their inability to get close and clunky upgrade path makes it a nonstarter for most.

Airborne Guards are the weakest if looking from a base damage/durability point of view. However, cloak and smoke can give them the edge although their cloak is the worst. The biggest surprise was even after the PPSH upgrade I noticed that I could give them 2 more weapons. It may never happen but a double LMG cloaked Airborne could be cool.

AssGuards are fairly meh at VET0, but AT Vet3 they gave everything a run for their money except PARAs as a lot of matches had a slim win for AssG or massive win in favor of Paras.

Paras seemed to be fairly good against everything short of Shocks, not good enough with test mods to get a good test with Tactical Advance.

Rangers disappointed me the most, while they did decent I sort of expected them to dominate a bit more since they start off with good Rec Acc, however Soviet VET keeps it closer than it probably should be.

I didn't test Falls too much as they really need their camo to get best performance. They really should not be used outside of cover.

What is a "snowball faction"? If I'm not mistaken, any faction has the possibility of snowballing. Or is this just tacitly admitting that USF can't win unless it snowballs? I am confused.

I have heard Tightrope and other high level players call it that. My personal understanding is you are supposed to play aggressive and constantly force the opponent to react and any misplay heavily punished.

This felt more apparent when LT had bar along with fast 50 cal pack up. The 3 rifleman into LT allowed you to build massive pressure and once Bar was upgraded nothing at that timing was stopping you outside of a PG. 50 cal was ultra aggressive in that you could literally use it like an infantry squad since it packed up/down in a second. From their you were free to choose Stuart or other LV depending on commander. Each step snowballed into the next making it hard to slow down. However if you did stall out the USF player you gave yourself an opening as each unit is expensive to replace and hurts timing into the next if the USF player misplayed or didn’t get enough ROI on say the Stuart or 50 cal.

Wanted to try a slightly different early build as I haves seen other soviet players use it. Wanted to try a different spin on it in this match as I knew I wanted AssG so I skipped flamers to save muni for quick PTRS/Thompson upgrades along with mine spam. Since I am skipping flamers the goal of the cars is to inflict bleed and use up opposing muni on snares while I retreat to safety and repair. Once CP2 hits throw the ELITE infantry in car and go for chase down wipes or catch units out of position.

Went with Double engi to open for fast repairs then Penal into 1st scout car. 1st engagement went my way but did cut it close on one of my engis. We both lost same amount of models but his were Sturms so more expensive for him. Went back and forth a bit and eventually got to CP2, threw a AssG in a car and found my chance. Killed 2 Sturm squads on retreat and beat up VG but lost car, good trade and forced him to build early rak. I poke here and there but once I see his Luchs I switch to PTRS Penals hunt him down and get the wipe. As most of our engagements go my way I start to float MP. I should have hurried up and got 3rd AssG out but I build T3 which didn't do anything for me as I dont usually build LV.

At this point I pretty much am in control of my side and he is behind in fuel so I got KV8 and get some kills. WE pretty much steam role them at this point as they don't really have any counters.

I choose to try with AssG vs the PPSH elites due to AssG being mixed models squads. If I manage to steal a team weapon I can keep the remaining 3 squads in the car and still do about 80% of the damage vs PPSH squads which drop to 50%. The downside being muni cost so it drops the early game aggression a bit.

Possible changes could include some of the following:

Lower CP so the unit can be used earlier especially in large modes

Remove HE firing mode (which is a bad design) if there is a need for it replace it with a single ability shot

Decrease pop by 1

Increase damage to 100

Increase accuracy

Damage to 100 might actually be the ticket. Would make getting 2 worth it despite the cost.

250 behind BP1 and HT upgrade locked until CP2 would be fair as it would give USF/Brit time to get ready. Most aren't rushing a HT in smaller modes so CP2 would help stall them for team games. Early 250 would be rewarded with early Vet which could help HT pay for itself in smaller modes.