Thoughts on V4
Rocket Artillery
In order to make rocket artillery more of a strategic weapon, to be used in conjunction with an active assault or defence rather than just bombarding the enemy as much as possible, all veterancy cooldown bonuses will be reduced.
- All veterancy cooldown bonuses reduced to a total of ~20% (compared to up to 40% previously)
- Stuka vet 1 cooldown bonus removed. Vet 2 bonus reduced from -30% to -20%
- Katyusha vet 2 cooldown bonus reduced from -40% to -20%
- Panzerwerver vet 2 cooldown bonus reduced from -40% to -20%
- Calliope vet 1 cooldown bonus from 9% to 11%; vet 3 (third) cooldown bonus removed (total cooldown will be -20%)
- Land Mattress will be addressed below along with other changes to it
If the maximum potential of rocket artillery gets reduced - which I agree is far too high - a slight reduction in veterancy requirements of like 10%~ would be in order. It can be hard to justify rocket arty in 1v1 games where pop is more restrictive and targets less abundant if the pay-off at vet 2 isn't as big.
Panzerschreck
In order to make Panzerschrecks a more viable option against light vehicles, its far accuracy is being increased. As compensation, its damage is being reduced. This will make the alpha strike potential against vehicles slightly worse (decreasing the effectiveness of “Schreck blobs”), while the higher accuracy should keep the total damage per minute roughly similar.
- Damage from 120 to 100
- Accuracy from 0.069/0.052/0.028 to 0.069/0.052/0.036 (for example chance to hit a T-70 at long range goes from 50% to 65%)
This still feels like a nerf with too little compensation. Double schreck volley + AT gun shot wouldn't kill a light vehicle anymore, nor would a single schreck volley + 2 AT guns shots. So the synergy between schrecks and AT guns would be far worse.
In my opinion the Schreck units should be looked at individually:
Panzergrenadiers:
Schrecks would be good on them, but their V-formation fucks them over. It's always the 2 models at the rear of their V-formation that hold the Schrecks, which means you have up to 5 less range compared to other AT squads, making them feel less accurate and easier to kite than their counterparts. They should get a regular squad formation, but as compensation have both their RA bonusses moved to vet 2 again instead of split between vet 1 and 2 (as it would also buff unupgraded Panzergrenadiers).
Stormtroopers:
With this squad, it's the most forward model that holds the schreck, which combined with the commando camouflage actually makes them an underrated soft AT unit. They can also still quite reliably beat mainlines 1 on 1, altough you can forget about wiping anything with them. Their vehicle detection ability is overpriced at 30 munitions, compared to 15 munitions that AT conscripts and AT sections pay for the same ability, which should be adjusted.
Sturmpioneers:
If the Schreck wasn't mutually exclusive with the sweeper, it would become a no-brainer in the midgame, which I really dislike. I'd rather see the pop requirement of Sturms lowered from 8 to 7, so getting double Sturms would only take up 14 pop instead of 16. Maybe also give schreck Sturms the ability to lay Rear Echelon mines as a muni efficient way to slow down enemy tanks.
Panzerfusiliers:
Well balanced. Large squad size and cheap manpower cost makes them an excellent vessel for Schrecks.
M3/M5 Halftrack (all faction variants)
The M3 and M5 halftracks are given more utility with a healing option. M5 quad AA power is being reduced to become more in line with other similar units.
- All unupgraded halftracks can now drop a single med crate for 15 munitions
- Quad upgrade AA power reduced (values to be determined later)
Being able to delay the medic upgrade with the M3 - which you're gonna get anyway with T1 Soviets - would have a significant impact on balance. It would be a great addition to the M5 though. I'd rather see the M3 be allowed to cap points without a squad inside once it reaches vet 2, so it stays useful in the mid/late game as sidecapping unit. USF's Assault M3 (from mechanized) should also be changed to only drop 1 crate instead of 3 crates.
Battlegroup HQ
In order to make it easier for OKW to back tech to medics and indirect fire, and give OKW access to support weapons (HMG and ISG) faster to increase build diversity and strengthen their early game options, the Battlegroup HQ's reinforcement and healing options are being switched around, and the HQ is being split into two parts.
- Cost from 200mp/25fu to 100mp/5fu
- Now automatically comes with medic upgrade. Reinforcement deactivated
- Unlocks ISG (and access to the HMG 34 from T0)
- Motorized Support upgrade added. Cost 100mp/20fu. Unlocks Uhu and 251/17
- Medics upgrade replaced by Forward Operating Base upgrade. Costs 200mp/10fu. Unlocks reinforcement and access to the Forward Retreat Point
- FRP still requires T4 teched to activate; T4 requires activation of the Motorized Support Upgrade
I preferred the way you balanced it in V2.
Veteran Squad Leader (German Infantry)
- -10% received accuracy modifier removed
Just thinking aloud, I think it might actually be better to remove their G43 instead of the RA bonus. It would promote using 5 men Grens as your really sturdy mainlines with free healing while mixing in 1 to 2 LMG Grens inbetween for dps. Currently the G43 makes them too blob friendly, making them better at short/mid range, better at chasing and better at retaining dps. Removing their G43 would also mean less overlap in role of VSL Grens with G43 Grens.
Jaeger Light Infantry upgrade (G43 Grenadiers)
- CP requirement from 2 to 1
- Now gives a total of 3 G43s to Grenadiers
- Now takes 1 weapon slot
- Cost from 45 munitions to 60
- Reduced moving accuracy of Gren G43 so that now three rifles have the same total moving DPS as two rifles had previously.
- In light of Grenadier G43 changes, Jaeger Command Squad will now receive 2x PGren G43 instead of 3x Gren G43 to let them keep their firepower advantage over a regular Grenadier squad
While I agree the current G43 Grenadiers are lackluster, the upgrade is also in 3 doctrines that are really strong already, so you risk making the next terminator blob unit, especially cause 2 of those G43 doctrines have sprint. I'd keep the buff more modest by just adding a -10% RA bonus and increasing upgrade cost from 45 to 50 munitions.
This would also be a good opportunity to rework interrogation, which is a really good ability, but hard to use and unreliable:
- Cost from 0 to 25 munitions (low cause it's hard to time).
- Map reveal duration from 10 to 15 seconds.
- Ability range increased from 0 to 10 (squad interrogates crawler at a distance instead of point blank)
- The ability now activates immediately instead of taking 5 seconds (so crawler crawling away or dying
doesn't prevent the ability from activating).
Panzer Tactician
Panzer Tactician is too easy to use because it deploys smoke instantly. By adding a delay, it will become slightly less powerful.
- Now has a 0.5s delay before deploying
This should be the same for all similar smoke abilities, especially because it can be timed to make snares (that are not AT nades) unable to target the vehicle inside the smoke.
Penals
In order to make Penals builds slightly more attractive compared to Conscripts builds, their build and reinforcement times are being adjusted.
- Build time from 32 to 27; reinforce time from 5.4 to 4.5 accordingly
They could also do with a slight 2mp reinforcement cost reduction, because their accuracy-focused veterancy, inability to make sandbags and large squad size makes them prone to bleed.
Infantry Sections
Changing the squad’s formation should hopefully have the effect of slightly nerfing Infantry Sections when attacking / out of cover, because they are more likely to drop a model faster (most forward model gets focussed), while keeping their defensive performance (in cover) the same.
- Cost from 270 back to 280
- Squad formation from regular shape to V-shape
The V-formation is dumb, I wouldn't want to see it added to more squads. Instead of a cost increase and formation change, I'd only remove their arbritary 25% capping bonus, which hypercharges AEC timing. The buildtime increase on their sandbags would already limit their effectiveness enough, as Sections are the most green cover dependant after Conscripts.
AEC
Changing the damage model on the AEC will increase its shots-to-kill (STK) against the most vulnerable 320 hitpoints light vehicles (the 222, the 251, the 221/223 and the the 251/17) by one shot, making the AEC a bit less powerful against them, without changing the STK against the bigger light vehicles with 400 hitpoints (like the Puma or the Luchs). A weapon damage bonus at vet 3 should make it more useful in the later stages of the match to better reward players who keep their unit alive, as the AEC currently somewhat lacks late game scaling.
- Damage from 120 to 100
- Vet 3 now gives +60 damage (160 total)
Stun shot should also be looked at, immobilizing a tank for 8 seconds at 50 range with the 2nd shot is far too powerful. It should only be a slowdown. Maybe the 2nd shot could debuff the reload time on the enemy vehicle instead. Same holds true for UKF Sniper's Critical Shot and Puma's Aimed Shot against turretless vehicles, which should both only slow down speed and rotation instead of immobilize.
Valentine Mk IX
The Valentine will now have to be built rather than being instantly called in.
- Now needs to be built in HQ. Build time 60 seconds
60 seconds is too long on top of 5 CP for the initial Valentine, 30 seconds should be enough to let the Axis opponent recover if the UKF player decides to yolo his Valentine and panic call-in a replacement. Otherwise, can't a cooldown timer be used like for heavy tanks?
Medic squad
Due to the buggy nature of the squad’s automatic healing, it is being replaced.
- Automatic healing removed
- Replaced with ambulance-like AOE healing ability that locks squad into place and slowly heals units in proximity over time
Would be a good change if it only applies to UKF's Medic squad.
M8 Scott
The M8 Scott is receiving further adjustments to tone down its autofire power level while making the barrage better, shifting the power of the unit more towards player input. Changes to the barrage scatter should make the barrage more reliable against far away targets in the fog of war.
- Damage from 100 to 80
- AOE damage from 1/0.25/0.1 to 0.75/0.35/0.2
- AOE distance from 1/2/3 to 0.75/2/3
- Distance max scatter for barrage from 10 to 6
This is too much of a nerf to autofire. The Scott can snipe models, but has a pretty small Aoe, while the Pack Howi can't snipe models, but has a big AoE. With 80 damage and 0.75 near AoE damage, the Scott wouldn't fill any niche and just be a severely overpriced mortar whenever it's not using barrage. The main issue with the Scott is not its damage output, but that it's too hard to kill with its high speed, decent hp and double smoke abilities. Instead, lowering autofire range from 60 to 50 would make it easier for Axis to get AT in range and harder for USF to simply camp the Scotts besides his Jacksons on autofire.
Relic Entertainment
cblanco ★ 
보드카 중대 
VonManteuffel 
Heartless Jäger 
