MG42 dies faster to a Con flank, than a Maxim to a Gren flank, not including the obvious Molotov and RNG flame crits.
Not only does it die faster, but it cant kite either due to the longer setup and its 4 models getting shot in the ass.
You do know that Ost Support crews only have 1 armor, right?
Imagine the survival on a 4 man maxim, and you get the picture.
I see no reason why that should be so, especially considering how important positioning is on MG42, whereas Maxim can simply fall back and re-setup.
Making it the same survival as Maxim in no way makes it invulnerable, as you claim, just makes it exactly as vulnerable as the Maxim.
Your post somehow tries to make out that MG42s are MORE durable than Maxims, which is just flat out false.
Its exactly the opposite.
It's much tougher than MGs in COH1, and people in that game still managed to use them effectively, is what I mean. Of course the MG42 is more fragile than the Maxim, but again, the Maxim comes out later than the '42 unless Soviets give away all their map control. Assymetric balance is not just a question of unit stats, timing is also an important factor.
Look, I will just get my point across concisely: If your MG gets flanked and you don't react properly, you deserve to lose it, no ifs and no buts. It's not like that for the Maxim, and it's not like that for the MG42, which is a problem with COH2 in general. I've said it before, the MG42 could use a small suppression buff. But weapons teams in this game need to be less survivable, not more. That's primarily a Soviet problem, but you won't fix the problem by making the MG42 just as ridiculously tough.