Too much RNG, poor pathing, command lag input, (especially when combined with snow/blizzards) makes for an unpleasant experience at times. The effectiveness of the MG42 vs. the Maxim, the repeated buffs to the MG42, the doubling of the cost of Oorah, the pigeonholing of Soviets into T1 openings (I have not seen a successful T2 high level opening in any replays or streams in ages), and the battle of glass cannon scout cars so frequently deciding how a lot of games go are also all limiting the game's appeal.
There are lots of positive things about the game as well, but it does feel very limited at times right now. I'd like to see Soviet T2 improvements, German T4 become more of a possibility in 1v1 and command lag/pathing improved more, if that's possible.
As someone who plays both Ger/Russian equally in 1on1, I'm calling it now: Orrraaah nerf and Armored car buffs are a huge mistake. This patch will shift balance far towards the Germans.
Conscripts were already under-performing due to the proliferation of HMG42 starts. Armored cars will now shred light vehicles even faster while retaining full AI capabilities, which is completely unnecessary.
It's 3 seconds as is - if you can't dodge that, how are you faring with grenades? They have the health of conscripts and need to be giving you a hug before they can throw the satchel - their intentions should be pretty obvious. So either FF them down on approach or just hit retreat worse comes to worse. Penals need an armour or health buff as is - the risk/reward is already huge for them to try to run in that close with such low health. This is why pretty much no one uses them outside goofing around in team games. 360 MP, plus 60 muni for flamer plus 45 muni for satchel just doesn't do enough for you. I'd rather have flamer engineers plant mines or something for the price tag.
I like the proposed changes overall. For the German sniper, I'd go with the health increase option - the vet 1 ability is too good to be a default ability. It's a bit like giving a Stuart cannister shot at sniper range from the start of the game. I'm not sure about the Stug changes. I think the Stug/PIV and the T34/SU-85 issue is a problem mainly because the Germans can have both from the same building in the same window while as Soviets you're only going to be getting one or the other. I'm interested to see how Relic is going to handle any changes. It's a tough one just due to the building/tech differences.
The RNG factor does seem higher than in vCoH or in DoW2. I don't think it will result in players occupying the top ladder spots that shouldn't be there though. It will average out over time. But for tournament play where luck/RNG can decide games, it's a much bigger factor. It does probably limit the eSports potential and the competitive player pool somewhat. It's a little hard to take the game too seriously when luck can decide a lot of skirmishes but it does make it more fun and exciting to watch - even if sometimes you're on the receiving end. In terms of unit combat, CoH2 is about as opposite as you can get to a game like SC2, where there are very few variables involved at all.
Did the Guard throwing the original grenade happen to die at the same time the grenade was released? I've had this happen before using a conscript squad where a molotov didn't go on cooldown after throwing it. It might be a bug related to the thrower dying at the same time the nade is released.
First 1v1 in a couple weeks and I got off to a rusty start and pushed completely off the map by 4 con - 2 engineer - M3 + Sniper. At one point the VPs are 400+ to my piddling 28. I think if the Russian player had played more standard and just went T4 and pumped out a couple SU-85s, it might've been GG right there. But that wouldn't be very interesting would it - so he goes for Shock Troops, maybe because he sees I went for Pgrens earlyish, and T2 with KV-8 and IS-2 call in tanks. I build Stugs and a sniper (what?!). There is a nice Stug vs. IS-2 fight showing how these two semi-underwhelming choices stack up against each other. Also some vicious retreat flaming of vet 3 squads on both sides. Not super high level play but definitely a fun watch with some different builds than the norm. I really need to find the inspiration to play more 1v1...
I was going to say, this game was all Ostheer's to lose. Soviet wasn't "turtling" - he was literally pushed off the map into his base and Hans threw away numerous P4s. The easy win would've been to sit back, build the howitzer, and let VPs tick down while barraging Soviet base.