Crew difference
The only thing that justifies random squad wipes.
Good ironic point, and one Cata also put very succinctly in his.
A 4man Maxim crew, for example, is out of the question.
But Im not so sure that a 1.5 armor on Ost lower man crews isnt still out of the pale of reason. Or even a 1.25 armor.
Thing is, it matters little vs Molotov or explosive ordnance anyway, of which both bypass armor.
But it would take the edge off small arms a little bit.
Im not convinced that a better suppression is enough to offset the crew imbalance between these two core units.Its an additional element on a successful flank vs Ost, whereas a successful Ost flank of a Maxim is faced with killing off 6 models, at their faster resetup and RNade being useless at those close short range distances involved with otherwise killing off a Maxim.
On PaK/ZiS differential, the rate of fire advantage of Ost is answered by the Barrage on ZiS, but the crew count is unreciprocated. PaK really should he 6man, or increased armor.
On Mortar, I think Sov should have a greater AoE or, as Ive suggested before, a AoE radius beyond the dmg one that Suppresses. The crew count is "ok", but Sov 82mm is underperforming in terms of the units actual function.
On HMGs, increase Ost crew armor for better flank survival from small arms (without Molotov and Muni). And certainky increase its suppression. 1s slower than Maxim just doesnt cut it. It cant supppress Oorah u its in time, and really, even supporting Grens cant do enough smg to prevent the Oorah Con penetrationor flank of even the wider arc that MG42 has.