Elite Troops

Having played quite a bit recently I have 3 balance proposals that I think would put the game in an excellent place. The idea behind these is that one of these changes would be enough to greatly improve gameplay.

1. Increase CP requirement to 2 for both guards and shocks. This is my least favorite of the three I will suggest but it seems that guards when used almost eliminate the need for many standard infantry and shocks are very potent and for a noob at my level this can often be the kiss of death that puts me on the back foot the remainder of the game...

2. Require T1-2 (Sov) and T1 (German) before Shocks/Guards/Assault Grens can be deployed but keep the CPs as they are now. This would address 2 issues it would slow Assault Gren spam enough that the Soviet player is capable of establishing a numerical advantage capable of preventing the cut off rush and it would protect the German player from pure elite troop thrusts.

3. Switch the Ostwind and Panzerwerfer. This is by far the thing that I believe would benefit both factions. The Ostwind is a shock unit that can seal your fate very soon if you had a sub par early game and honestly is one of my least favorite units to field and encounter on the field the idea of a whirling death machine is not what drew me to this game. That being said the Panzerwerfer is a light unit capable of unleashing destruction on units from a far allowing you to engage entrenched Soviet players and force strong units off the field while still giving the opportunity of destruction as it is constructed of paper mache and balsa wood.

I agree with 1# and 2#
Both very good idea's

But.. i don't agree with 3# Due to the fact if As soviet's you are holding Half the map equally to your opponent, You can place a T-34 on the field faster then an Ostwind/P4 9 times out of 10.

Me personally, i find Ostwinds not much of a problem to deal with, well placed AT nades and ZiS support, if a T-34 isn't placed on the field at the given time.
Besides, if you get hit with an AT nade, The ostwind is void until repaired, and can't be used to full functionality, due to the fact it can't chase down your squads.

Although the Ostwinds durability and mobility at times can be daunting, They're not at all OP for their price.

I agree with 1# and 2#
Both very good idea's

But.. i don't agree with 3# Due to the fact if As soviet's you are holding Half the map equally to your opponent, You can place a T-34 on the field faster then an Ostwind/P4 9 times out of 10.

Me personally, i find Ostwinds not much of a problem to deal with, well placed AT nades and ZiS support, if a T-34 isn't placed on the field at the given time.
Besides, if you get hit with an AT nade, The ostwind is void until repaired, and can't be used to full functionality, due to the fact it can't chase down your squads.

Although the Ostwinds durability and mobility at times can be daunting, They're not at all OP for their price.

That is fair I did not intend to cry OP! at the Ostwind merely stating that balancing out the indirect assets as Germans have one indigenous that is rarely used due to teching structure it could assist in defeating a heavily dug in T2 player which I view as more of a break out unit and the cost of it is very high and would have to be debated. I guess my point is merely that I tend to see a lot of ostwind rush that ends in the German winning or quitting and I feel it doesn't add much depth to the game.

I'd disagree with number 3 on the account that I would switch the Pz 4 with the Panzerwerfer (with a buff the the Stug). T3 should have more specialised units IMO whereas T4 should have more generalised units. Arty is also severely needed earlier in the game for the Germans.

If you switch the P4 with the Pwerfer, you'd see more stug action but will render the P4 almost decomissioned. Why would I get a P4 when I can hold out just a bit for that panther.

Id give the P4 a good AI and a good AT role (not solid, but definitely passable) (just like in VCOH). In other words, a jack of all trades tank like the T-34-85 (which IMO should be made non-doctrinal).

Happy new year from Sydney!

The panzerwerfer used to be in T3 (and I would also like to see it returned there...). The HQ announcement that plays when you finish researching T3 still says something about how "rocket batteries are now available".
I doubt that there will be a building requirement added for assault grenadiers, since the entire premise of that commander is to give the option of having a BO that does not include base buildings at all. I still like your suggestions, however

Correct me if I an wrong, but I don't think assault grens are considered 'elite infantry'. Either way, they are pretty easily delt with by any unit other than vanilla conscripts (flame CE, maxims, molotovs ect.) The issue with guards coming at 1 cp is that they void the effectiveness of a halftrack or scout car before these vehicles can even come out. Shocks are another animal in that someone who can actually use them well can run into the only counter that the Germans have at 1 cp, which is the mg and negate it with a well place smoke. Adding a building requirement might help a little (could reduce the number of conscripts to support the guatds/ shocks), but wouldn't alter the overall time it takes to get them out - at least I don't think it would drastically stall then any more than changing them back to 2 cps the way they used to be.

Assault Grens are fine as they serve a purpose, are not OP and do not scale well late game. Really they should be knocked back down to 280 MP, though.