Jesus christ what is up with people thinking Assgrens are bad for their cost? Try making 2-3 assgrens without T1 and then straight to T2 for PGs and T2 vehicles, it's the easiest way to play germans really, you just attack move forward with your massive automatic weapon blob and the only thing that can reasonably stop it now that shocks are 2cp is several maxims, and one mistake with those will leave them all decrewed. If you try to use penals against this, you will lose pretty much 100% of the time because the following up scout car/flameht in a couple of minutes will laugh at your penal blob. For that matter even the assgren blob will laugh at penals because they'll have 3 squads for every 2 you field early game.
If you're complaining about how their price makes them hard to use in a balanced build, I guess I can kinda relate, but if anything they're too powerful for their performance when skipping T1 even at 320mp.
Oh and whoever thinks penals can actually beat an LMG gren squad, dream on. You need a flamer or a vet advantage for that to happen, and guess how much vet advantage a 360MP tech-requiring unit has over a 240MP one. Meanwhile with the flamer it's 360MP/60muni (and required tech and a more specialized unit) just to barely beat a 240/60 muni supergeneralist unit.
Your a better player then me for sure but I have a feeling you dont use Penals as much as I do.
I always expect every German player to spam Agrens if they have it equiped. I build Penal Bat as my first unit script second.
I kill the first Agren that goes for my cut off and his second buddy comes right after. Script Merges. Beat the Agren retreat script. Second Penal on its way. Reinforce Script.
Next Agren arrives at my cut off. Retreat Penal. Second Penal destroys Third Agren.
Pgrens arrive. By this time I usually have inflicted heavy damage and have some vet. Upgrade to flamer and mass Penals after the Pgrens.
I really dont have too hard a time beating Agrens at all. But I do have to build Penals to do it and give up T2 and its alot of Micro and a huge investment against the more skilled Pgren spammers.
All the while engi is cutting off their muni.
Granted if I anticpated incorrectly and they dont spam Agrens I am totally hosed.
Due to how SOUNDLY Penals beat Agrens even up close I dont think Agrens are worth 320. All that needs to happen is increase the call in time and problem is solved.