So now the patch has had a chance to settle, what's people's assessment of the Soviet faction?
The old M3 rush that used to define the OKW/SOV matchup seems less effective. I think that's partly down to the much safer Raketenwerfer and partly down to OKW being a lot less dependent on the early game.
One build I've had a little success with against Ost is 2x Combat Engineer 3x Conscript. The new Combat Engineers are four-man Conscripts which are a little less shit, and the flamethrower really helps get Conscripts through the mid-game until they can get their 7 man upgrade.
Finally, after the last two patches is it worth picking up a Maxim now? Or is it still DshK or no HMG?
M3 with penals has been good against OKW to push them around, but like any vehicle, just needs a little support and good micro. Very good against Ost when they decide to spam the old MG42's. So fun to see the retreat alert over the MG'S when you bring a M3 on their flank.
I have found that no HMG'S are worth the wait. As a wise man once said, "Time to go mobile". The small arc for HMG doesn't seem to outweigh the utility of a Conscript or Penal pushing ground.
On a side note, shocks don't seem to be as hardcore as they used to be. I used to be able to put a shock squad in the middle of two grenadiers or two volks with great bleed to the germans. But now....the amount of damage you receive doesn't seem worth it anymore.
Thank you for reading this far.