Well with this aproach I would rather remove PaK43 alltogeather fron Joint Operation if favor of having just LeFH in it.
At the end of the day, if one really want to play defensively around PaK43 you better off having Defensive commander or if you just want to have an option to have it, then Festung Armor is really sweet with new P4J.
Both of the commanders are x100 times better then Joint operation for Pak43. And SturmDoc is like ultimate arty doc, with strong ability for inf (camo), howi and self-spotting hardcounter for enemy howis.
Then you'd have no Commander with the combination of Pak 43 and LeFH.
Edit:
In Ostheer anyway. OKW has their Fortifications Doctrine.
Disruption: Lockdown a unit of Partisans in an enemy sector to sap resource income like CoH1's Vampire 250, or a hostile mirror of the Opel Blitz. The income doesn't necessarily need to go to the Soviet player, the destruction of enemy resources may be enough to be worthwhile.
Vet 4 and Vet 5 bonuses aren't related to durability or dps of the unit, they are remnants from before OKW could easily backtech into Med HQ, and don't fit a mainline unit. Such bonuses could be changed into a cooldown/accuracy and RA boosts to help the unit
OKW Vet 5 had offensive bonuses removed from it awhile ago.
B: Soviets should receive an "Elite" infantry unit nondoctrinally. Either Penals should be able to "Refit" into some type of "Redeemed" unit, or some variant of Guards should be available nondoctrinally. Mobilise Reserves doesnt need changes, I don't think, certainly not a nerf.
SMG armed Assault Squad please, or Frontoviki Squad armed with SVT Rifles.
I would need to look into it more, but it appears on the world builder that it has all the animations.
He animates mostly fine, but using vehicles (and I think team weapons) he became deformed.
Take note of his fingers and his face. I believe this was the primary reason the model was discarded. But if it were fixable, I'd love to see the Conscript Sergeant back in action. The model currently used for the Sergeant could be then used for Airborne Guards since it seems more similar to the Paratrooper uniform (from what I can find) than their Sniper outfits.
Command Panther
With the removal of Artillery Flares from the Special Operations Commander, the Command Panther is receiving a flare ability to somewhat compensate for its loss.
Kinda defeats the point a bit, but Brits still have their invincible eye-in-the-sky too, so whateves.
Le.FH 105mm
Counter Barrage veterancy 1 ability replaced with Overwatch Fragmentation Airburst shells
Airburst shells have a larger damage radius, but less direct damage and low penetration; no cost. 60 second duration on target zone
Good change, should apply to the Ostheer LeFH as well.
Panzerfusiliers
To improve their effectiveness in the early-game, without making them stronger in the mid-late game or adjusting their cost, Panzerfusiliers are having their rifles adjusted. The following changes will make their starting rifles almost on-par with Volksgrenadier rifles at shorter ranges while their total DPS should still be the same, even with G43 Rifles.
I have no problem with this change. I think the main issue with Panzerfusilier G43 and Volksgrenadier StG is that players assume the automatic rifle is superior to the scoped rifle at ranged combat, which is not true.
Special Operations
Artillery Flares replaced with Sturm Offizer
A good change that makes sense.
Other thoughts:
the Opel Blitz Ambulance should find it's way into Fortifications Doctrine somehow because OKW doesn't have a SdKfz 251 Half-Track to reinforce Pak 43 and LeFH emplacements.
Some say the Flakpanzer should be move to Luftwaffe Ground Forces, I agree on this in the condition that it is replaced by a StuG III Ausf. G in Scavenge Doctrine. The StuG III was the most common vehicle in the German army, and is a well rounded vehicle that is rarely out of place in a build.
Overall I have not much to say about OKW one way or the other. These are pretty good and sensible changes.
Breakthrough
To encourage the use of this ability which requires fuel, a reload bonus is being added to allow vehicles to make an aggressive push.
Good change, still not sure whether it's worth the fuel for the ability though. I'm curious how fast you can get a Panzer IV to fire with the reload bulletin, Blitz, and Breakthrough though.
Command Panzer IV
The Command Panzer IV is receiving a smoke shell to allow it to support an assault or cover a retreat. The CP requirement has also been removed to allow the Command Tank to arrive when the Support Armor Korp or the Heavy Panzer Korp has been built. The Command Panzer IV has also received two new veteran 1 abilities to replace Blitzkrieg for this test. One of the two will be decided as the final ability at a later date.
Glad to see this one getting some attention. The smoke shell is helpful for sure. I cannot decide which of the abilities I like the sound of more. Light Artillery helps it support Infantry but Mark Target helps it support Vehicles.
Forward Resupply Station
Converts a garrisoned building in friendly territory to a Forward Resupply Station. Converted buildings have 6 Pioneers that will repair vehicles and reinforces nearby infantry.
Provides a +15% reload bonus to owned vehicles that are nearby - radius of 25
Costs 200 manpower and 45 fuel
Requires 5 CPs
Does this work for the PaK 43 and LeFH? Rapid barrage sounds quite funny ngl.
Grenadier Jeager Light Infantry Package
Given the frailness of Grenadiers who rely on fighting at range, the G43 upgrade was often a downgrade to the unit, especially in late game scenarios against most infantry squads. To compensate for this weakness, the Jeager Light Infantry Package will now provide a survivability boost to Grenadiers and also give them a standard Grenade for offensive and defensive use.
I love this one, I've said here and there before that the Model 24 would help to flesh out their close-in role. I'm glad the team is also trying something other than adding more G43's to make them useful, the target size reduction in this case. I still think the main issue with Grenadiers is they just got power creeped away by M1 Garands, Double Brens, and 7-man squads.
Osttruppen
With the recent changes to Osttruppen, they no longer require their LMG being restricted behind the final tier upgrade.
Good change, never saw why they had to wait so long for it, it's not even as good as Grenadier's version.
Panzer Tactician
Panzer Tactician is gaining a slight delay to its activation to make it slightly harder to instantly block line of sight against anti-vehicle weapons.
Good change, I think it should also apply to the Puma as well.
Strategic Bombing Run
Carpet Bomb over a large area in a line; roughly 40 meters
Drops a mixture of HE and incendiary bombs
250 Munitions
Plane immune to AA fire.
12 command points
Very early-war feeling ability. Interested in seeing how this compares to Air Supremacy Operation - and what it does to a Sim City.
Festung Armor
Command Panzer IV replaced with Panzer IV Ausf. J
I like this change, a late model Panzer IV does feel like it fits the theme.
Festung Support
LeFH replaced with Command Panzer IV
I disagree with this one, as others have pointed out, it leaves only 2 LeFH in the game, and none of them in Stock Commanders. Stock Commanders should be considered when removing units or abilities.
German Mechanized
Mechanized Grenadier Group replaced with 250/1 Halftrack
I wanted to keep the Grenadier group but give them an LMG 34 and Grenades to make them more unique. I suppose that's not really useful, I just thought it sounded cool.
Edit:
Storm Doctrine
Riegal AT mine replaced with Jeager Command Squad
Personally I'd put Stormtroopers in Storm doctrine.
About Veteran Squad Leader, I would increase their firepower slightly somehow, maybe give them a custom MP 44. Whenever I use it I can't help but think an LMG Gren would have served me better.
That's the point. This cheap ability shouldn't be able to almost oneshot (super)heavies. With the reduced pen, its effectiveness against heavy vehicles will be halved and more in line with its cost. It'll still pen the rear armor of mediums at roughly 90-100% chance. It still has significant deflection damage anyway.
Well there isn't much use for an anti-tank strafe that struggles to hurt a tank. I noticed IL-2 Attack loiter is only in Armored Assault now. What about placing the IL-2 Attack loiter into Airborne?; which is thematically appropriate for a now rare ability.
Airborne Guards
Airborne Guards are having their Assault Package adjusted to offer a different playstyle and be viable to their LMG upgrade. The changes reinforce their role as ambushers with a large number of abilities to aid them during combat.
Airborne Guards seem to be a fairly expensive unit to have sitting around waiting for someone to walk into them, and they lack any sort of first-strike bonus that would give them an edge should they open fire on another elite unit. I feel Airborne Guards should be reworked a bit to be more durable (feels like they drop like Conscripts sometimes) and offensive oriented (Soviet Paratroopers were known to fight like hell).
Assault Guards
Assault Guards have been heavily adjusted to be a standalone unit that does not require an M5 to bring the squad to the battlefield. They will now have two upgrade paths they can choose from to fulfill certain battlefield roles. Their abilities and veterancy has also been adjusted to make the unit stand out from other units in the Soviet army.
Glad to see them finally liberated from their Half-Track. I do feel they should remain only in Lend-Lease however, because their western weapons don't fit the doctrinal theme of Anti-Infantry Tactics; especially the Bazooka. I would also give them Elite SVT Rifles that are more like the Riflemen M1 Garand.
B4-203mm Howitzer
The B4-203mm is receiving changes to how the unit functions. The damage has been reduced, in exchange for being able to fire more shells into the target area. This will make the unit more effective at barraging defensive lines, and less reliant on RNG of the first shell.
Finally the meme cannon might be a viable weapon! My only concern is the impact of each shot may have been reduced too much, I doubt anyone will stick around for more than the first, or the second if they're inattentive; so that early damage is very important. Also, Direct Fire might be acting up, so it may be worth looking at:
Conscript Assault Package
Conscripts are gaining another submachine gun to their PPSh-41 upgrade to reinforce their role as cheap close-quarter combat troops, rather than having an equal mix of rifles and SMGs.
This is an ability that's long been out of line with similar abilities. It initially mirrored Grenadier's G43 upgrade but now just looks more like a worse version of Volks MP 40 or various other assault units or upgrades. While another SMG does help it, it still comes later and costs more than it's contemporaries. Maybe add 2 SVT's to even out the DPS lost at long range without adding too much at close range? Or if it's still meant to be contemporary with the Jaeger Light Infantry Upgrade, modify their PPSh's with custom DPS curve that does not go below Mosin-Nagant DPS at long range.
IL-2 Rocket Run
Given the high damage of this ability, we are lowering the penetration of the ability to make the ability less potent - particularly against the heaviest tanks that have limited mobility. Players will now need to set up the rocket run to hit the rear of hostile vehicles to deal high amounts of damage.
This nerf to Rocket Strafe is too harsh, at 80pen it doesn't even guarantee penetrations on rear hits. I feel like this is still trying to target Ram+Offmap on Elefants, and until there is a better way to deal with Elefants or someone can show me how to kill one with only stock units, I will continue to disagree with nerfing these.
IS-2
The IS-2, like other heavy tanks, is seeing its CP requirement reduced. Furthermore, its experience requirements are being lowered to be closer with the veterancy requirements of other heavy tanks.
A small change, but a welcome one. I would personally like to see the IS-2 become more of a contemporary to the Tiger II, as they were adversaries on the battlefield. On the side, I believe the Pershing and Tiger I should also be comparable to each other as the Tiger I was an obsolete model but the Pershing was designed as a modern Medium and only classified as Heavy for political reasons.
M2HB Team Call-In
Call in an M2HB Team for Lend-Lease
A bit weird because the Soviets didn't use M2HB's unless they were already equipped on imported vehicles. I think Kasarov has a far more imaginative ability for this slot with his Universal Carrier idea.
Partysans
Starts with Kar 98ks; slightly worse than Guard Mosins in terms of reload and moving accuracy
Merged into one; now has two seperate upgrade paths
AT Package: Grants 1 Panzerschrek, Vehicle Detection, AT Grenades. 60 munitions
PPsH Upgrade: Unlocks Molotovs, Frag grenades, PPShes and 5 man. 45 Munitions
Partisans seem really weak with this change. They were weak before which is why they were overlooked when all other infiltration units either got axed or nerfed one-by-one. But here we're asking for 45 Munitions to give them SMG's that do half the damage of what Stormtrooper SMG's do for free. I'd like to suggest all infiltration units be reworked like so:
Rapid Conscription
Rapid Conscription is being adjusted. The number of squads it can grant is being lowered. In exchange, Rapid Conscription will provide other boosts such as improvements to build-times and reinforcement speed. Cost and CP requirements have also been adjusted to reflect these changes.
Good change, not perfect, but then again who knows what to do with it? It does help.
SVT Crates
The following change is to delay the SVT Rifles to put this upgrade's timing on par with other weapon upgrades.
Initially was against this, but then I remembered Jaeger Light Infantry Upgrade was also 2CP, so this makes sense. Although, I have to wonder if maybe JLI Upgrade deserves to be 1CP? Maybe I'm just rambling because it's gotten way too late now.
ZIS-6 Cargo Truck
The ZIS-6 Truck has been added to the Soviet faction as their version of the Ostheer Opel Blitz Supply Truck. This unit will allow select Soviet commanders to generate resources over-time, so as long as the truck is protected.
I love this. Really cool to see an Allied Cargo Truck added to reflect their own resource production. Also it's just nice to see the Zis-6 finally being used in Multiplayer.
Reserve Army Tactics
Tank Hunter Partisans replaced with Commissar
Bring back Irregulars as hardened infantry with Obersoldaten Kar 98k's and Grenadier LMG 42!
Soviet Shock Army Tactics
ML-20 Howitzer replaced with T-34/85
IL-2 Sturmovik Attack replaced with 152mm Howitzer Strike
Conscript Assault Package replaced with IL-2 Recon Run
I like the T-34-85 being added to a doctrine Shock Troops, it's very good! My suggestion would have been to put Shock Troops into Armored Assault just because they were Body Armor
I love the addition of the artillery offmap to the Soviet faction, they were the only faction that didn't have such an ability.
I strongly disagree with removing Conscript Assault Package from the doctrine though. The theme of Shock Army was the heavy-handed use of Submachine Guns. As I've said before the Soviet Faction already has a serious draught of SMG's considering they produced more SMG's than every other country combined! I just don't agree with taking Assault Conscripts away from Shock Army, it's currently the only way to combine Assault Conscripts and Shock Troops, why delete that?
Other things I didn't comment on are good changes or I just didn't feel the need to mention it one way or the other. Overall I very much like how this is going so far.