General Information
Broadcast: https://www.twitch.tv/VonIvan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EXPERTSVonIvan
Steam: 76561198012811763
Residence: United States
Nationality: United States
Game Name: EXPERTSVonIvan
Imo I don't think the Soviet mortar should be buffed or nerfed for the price it's currently set at. It can also be easily countered by a German mortar due to it's increased fire rate.
A fair size like langres or kholodney, equal amounts of open and covered area, have no huge cutoffs like langres has at the north(so just a few like they have in the South of langres), balanced sides, good settings, no water(or a little is okay), good amount of houses(like langres has), and a fun landscape to play on(but not an unbalanced one).
Unfortunately if you're playing someone who lives halfway across the world from you the p2p connection influences the input lag which you have, so that is why you still have it, if you played someone who lives near you or a comp you'll notice a much better difference.
All that being said - sure Shocks can be beaten that early in the game, but I personally dislike the effect that 1 CP shocks/guards on have on the pace of the game. The past few patches have eroded the sense of "early game" that is so dear in CoH. I personally love/enjoy playing and seeing vanilla Grenadiers fighting vanilla Conscripts for the first few minutes of a game. (Don't read this as me justifying gren spam or con spam, I'm not). I love seeing the "dance" for cover and better positioning, trying to lure enemy squads into MG fire, or into bad positions. These early game engagements can really set the tone for the rest of the match, and have the potential to make matches more unique and dynamic. You can be aggressive and go for early cut-offs, you can play more defensive and try to control your own half of the map etc etc.
Elite infantry coming so early really negates this aspect of the game. Shock troops fighting vanilla grens really don't care about cover or positioning, you just right click them next to the Gren squad and watch them shred the grens to pieces. The only thing you have to really worry about is an MG42, and even then you have smoke grenades and Oorah on your Cons to flank.
So yes, they may be counter-able this early in the game, but it isn't fun to play against, it erodes the early game to being even shorter than it already was, and simplifies the game even further.