United States
Why would you compare global faction ratios to meassure faction vs faction balance?
It is the logical thing to do and makes sense when balancing a game. It is one of many aspects of balance to look at. Dota 2, League of Legends and even Rainbow Six Siege all use numerical data as an indication of balance across all skills levels. These are all E-Sport titles which means balance is an utmost priority. COH 2 attempted to be an E-Sport but failed miserably because most of the player base feels the game is poorly balanced. Rightfully so when you and your team are responsible for creating non-stop game breaking issues such as SturmTiger, Fallshirmjaegers, JLI and a whole list of other things over the years. How do you expect new players to stick to the game when there is constant issues and they feel the game is essentially broken? Despite your well intentioned efforts, I stand by my opinion that the Balance Team has made the game worse over time since they started.
Granted this is League of Legends (a game I do not like) however the balance approach they take allows for fairness to be had across all skill levels. This allows the game to grow and bring in new players. COH2 on the other hand provides zero information with its generic tooltips that explain nothing with zero numerical data anywhere to be found besides unit/ability costs. Second COH2 does not have equal levels of
accessibility which lends to the notion that the game is poorly balanced.
Looking through Steam Reviews most of the negative reviews stem from either Balance, or the feeling that the game is pay to win due to the commander system.
(and OKW has nowhere near 60% in any gamemode anyway)
58% in 4v4 which happens to be the most popular game mode and is often ignored for the minority of players in 1v1. I am sure that is healthy for the overall health of the game.
In 1v1 USF vs OKW matchup over the last 3 months the win ratio is 50/50 in top 200 matches and 53/47 in favour of USF in all matches.
https://coh2stats.com/stats?range=range&statsSource=all&type=1v1&race=wermacht&fromTimeStamp=1625097600&toTimeStamp=1634428800
Another aspect of balance that you fail to see is accessibility. Take Dota 2's hero pudge for example. He has to use a skill shot to land a hook which pulls enemy heroes to him. If he lands every hook then the hero is really good and borderline overpowered. If he doesn't then he is one of the most worthless heroes in the game. Essentially USF is COH2's version of Pudge. They are extremely unforgiving and lack accessibility that other factions have the luxury of having. Playing USF is like playing COH2 with Dark Souls settings turned on.
Another indicator of balance is the amount of people actually playing a particular faction. This is evident by the fact that USF is the least played faction in the game. Compared to both german factions which have the highest levels of accessibility in the game due to having every tool possible in their disposal. Essentially the people playing USF and are winning are some of the best players in the game currently. Especially since there is an endless sea of bad players to stomp due to Axis having more accessibility and thus being played by newer players often this is why you need to look at faction numbers as well to paint a picture.
This is why historically you have had significantly more people on Axis and Que times for a match were terrible over the history of the game.
If you want a better balanced game each faction needs to have a similar level of accessibility instead of the extremes that we have now. How is a new player supposed to feel the game is balanced when enemy infantry can just walk right up to a Vickers while MG-42 can instant suppress blobs with ease? These interactions create a negative opinion for newer players who simply just leave which is why the community for COH2 doesn't grow to the level that we all wished it did. I for one would love it if Company of Heroes was one of the top played games on Steam.
Since no one has complained about that unit in a long time, I'll take the step forward and go ahead.
I've been testing the JP4 a lot recently, and I find it either OP or at least very close to it. I am talking from a team game perspective (2v2/3v3), and seriously this thing is amazing.
The stats are good to great. Small target size, good armor, but most importantly: very good ROF.
If I had two complaints about the unit, I'd say it is its mobility. It feels a bit janky to use, but at least after vet3 this problem is solved as well. Penetration is a bit low, I don't necessarily recommend it vs Brits. Still, the pen is high enough to 100% penetrate every other stock unit apart from Churchill and Comet. Against Soviets and USF the JP4 works like a charm.
The vet is SO strong on it. +160 HP at vet 2, making it a 5-shot vehicle. Unless you really screw up, it practically does not die from this point onwards. And even if it does, your opponent has pushed so far that you'll at least get a trade from it. The accuracy bonus at vet3 will basically guarantee you a hit against all mediums and above as long as you stand still. The 60 range will also guarantee to shut down enemy TDs, against which the JP4 will almost guarantee a win in a shoot out.
vet4-5 usually come fairly late and are often not game deciding anymore, but the second vet level is easily reachable, and as I said you won't lose the JP4 from there on, so it is only a matter of time for the rest of the vet to kick in.
ROF is great, even at vet0 (5 seconds) and just gets better at vet4 (4 seconds).
The lack of mobility can often been counter acted by good scouting (I often play Pfusiliere with it) and 1-2 mines on the most obvious flanking paths. As for repairs, I usually play T2 (with my OST team mate donating a med bunker) to get the repairatrons, which also counter acts the increased repair time with 800 HP.
The only real weakness that I have not managed to overcome is the difficulty to really finish off enemy vehicles. That's a clear disadvantage compared to the Panther. But apart from this, you get so much out of this unit it is crazy.
Hannibal is someone who actually plays the game and is very unbiased. I would have to agree with him here 100%. The JP4 is a relic from OKW's past from the original faction design in which Veterancy on units were extremely strong. Without veterancy the JP4 feels like an overpriced 60 range stug and gives off the impression that it is lackluster but in the hands of someone who is good at managing SU-85s the JP4 is overpowered as hell especially once it gets vet. The problem is that many players don't take zoning into account especially when you factor in the cloaking ability and the raketens ability to also be invisible possibly supporting it making a push into enemy territory very dangerous which can't be said about the panther.
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Imperial Dane 
