Lets talk about the Sexton

I am really pushing hard for attention to be given to the Sexton post-patch. I know it is still very early, but I want to see the Sexton succeed as a balanced and useful unit for the British.

After playing with the Sexton in several games I think I can confidently say that it has improved greatly. It isn't going to start wiping units any time soon but I don't believe that's what its meant to do. We already have enough Land Mattresses, Stuka Half Tracks, and Calliopes to fill that role. I think that the Sextons role was intended to be, and should be, as area denial (which is reflected by its 8 shells per barrage and steady cool down between shots). This makes it an ideal unit for choke point heavy maps where a lot of the game is going to be decided by who controls one or two points.

That being said, I don't think the Sexton has a problem with damage or cost efficiency, I think it has a problem with how much population it takes up. 14 population is pretty hefty for the Sexton by itself but that problem is exasperated by the fact that the Valentine has the "Concentrated Sexton Barrage" ability which is supposed to be used with *multiple* Sextons. I really like the idea and dynamic of that ability, but in order for it to have any use you need to invest *at least* 40 population (two sextons, one Valentine). That is a lot of population taken up by 3 support units. The result is that it punishes the UKF player too hard in the late game and makes that ability completely infeasible.

I believe that the best way to fix this is simply by lowering the population cost of the Sexton and Valentine down to 10. I don't think it would fix the Royal Artillery commander completely, but I think it would go a long way in making him much more viable.

+1 to pop cap cost reductions.

Sexton cost 90 fuel but it still be outperformed greatly by any rocket artillery unit in this game.
Theoretically it could be usefull at shooting okw emplacements but hell no, it does 25% less damage as heavy artillery unit against it (only 120 damage per hit).

Suggestion is giving sexton 1,25 damage on okw trucks instead of current 0,75.

Also i think all howitzers in this game should be more effective against tanks to improve their late game effectivness.

14 supply is indeed excessive for the Sexton. Good topic.

+1 nice one by pointing this out. Two less population than Priest for a considerable worse performance.

In addition I think this two units should differ more from each other. Sexton shouldn't be just a weaker Priest (AOE/damage). Why not giving Sexton some kind of special ability instead of buffing its damage/AOE any further? Something like a direct fire ability. Only one possible example stolen from vCoH Priest ;-) I would be interested in any way that make Priest/Sexton more unique.

Another +1 to this.

As for what the sexton should be - I think something along the lines of more shells but less damage per shell is a good route. Upping the shells per barrage to 8 is a good start.

+1 nice one by pointing this out. Two less population than Priest for a considerable worse performance.

In addition I think this two units should differ more from each other. Sexton shouldn't be just a weaker Priest (AOE/damage). Why not giving Sexton some kind of special ability instead of buffing its damage/AOE any further? Something like a direct fire ability. Only one possible example stolen von vCoH Priest ;-) I would be interested in any way that make Priest/Sexton more unique.

I actually agree with this a lot. Currently the Sexton has two abilities. Its general "barrage" ability and a "creeping barrage" ability that is available after it hits vet 1. For the life of me, I can't think of a reason why that creeping barrage would ever be used. By the time the 3rd shot goes down the enemy would have long cleared the impact area. It is worthless as area denial, worthless against blobs (or really just units in general), and the shells aren't nearly strong enough to cause any significant damage to a wall of defensive structures.

With that in mind, I think that replacing that ability would be the best way to go in making the Sexton unique from the priest. I believe the best way to do that is giving it a special shot of some sort. Some ideas on that front are:

1. A white phosphorous shot/barrage. I really like this idea because it would further cement the sexton as an area denial unit and also give it a strong anti-infantry ability. In that sense, it would make it more versatile and unique.

2. A smoke shot/barrage. Less of a fan of this idea since the UKF already have mortars to fill that role but it would still be much more useful.

3. A single high damage shot. This would be interesting since it would give the Sexton a sort of "sniping" ability which could be used to finish off/fend off some heavier tanks.

4. A flare shot to light up the fog of war. This would be useful in conjunction with the Firefly/Vickers and provide proper line of sight for units noticed by the Valentine.

5. A signal shot for a 25-pounder barrage. A single shot that also targeted the area for the 25 pounders. I'm not a huge fan of this idea since there are so many ways to do that same thing between tommies, snipers, FRB, and the concentrated barrage ability in the Royal Artillery Doctrine to begin with but it would fit in well with its role as Area denial.

I imagine all of those abilities staying locked behind vet 1 and requiring munitions.

Sorry about any grammar/spelling. Computer is about to die.

I actually agree with this a lot. Currently the Sexton has two abilities. Its general "barrage" ability and a "creeping barrage" ability that is available after it hits vet 1. For the life of me, I can't think of a reason why that creeping barrage would ever be used. By the time the 3rd shot goes down the enemy would have long cleared the impact area. It is worthless as area denial, worthless against blobs (or really just units in general), and the shells aren't nearly strong enough to cause any significant damage to a wall of defensive structures.

With that in mind, I think that replacing that ability would be the best way to go in making the Sexton unique from the priest. I believe the best way to do that is giving it a special shot of some sort. Some ideas on that front are:

1. A white phosphorous shot/barrage. I really like this idea because it would further cement the sexton as an area denial unit and also give it a strong anti-infantry ability. In that sense, it would make it more versatile and unique.

2. A smoke shot/barrage. Less of a fan of this idea since the UKF already have mortars to fill that role but it would still be much more useful.

3. A single high damage shot. This would be interesting since it would give the Sexton a sort of "sniping" ability which could be used to finish off/fend off some heavier tanks.

4. A flare shot to light up the fog of war. This would be useful in conjunction with the Firefly/Vickers and provide proper line of sight for units noticed by the Valentine.

5. A signal shot for a 25-pounder barrage. A single shot that also targeted the area for the 25 pounders. I'm not a huge fan of this idea since there are so many ways to do that same thing between tommies, snipers, FRB, and the concentrated barrage ability in the Royal Artillery Doctrine to begin with but it would fit in well with its role as Area denial.

I imagine all of those abilities staying locked behind vet 1 and requiring munitions.

Sorry about any grammar/spelling. Computer is about to die.

creeping barrage first shot always lands on same location. you can use it as squad wiping machine.
go traning room and check where it lands at first.

I would also increase range of fire to Sexton. It peforms like "big-mortar", not like howitzer...

+1 Great idea OP. Changing population is great way of fine tuning the ballance. Especially as it not only affects popcap but also upkeep, so it changes much more than one would expect, but not enough to make something OP.

creeping barrage first shot always lands on same location. you can use it as squad wiping machine.
go traning room and check where it lands at first.

I'm sure that's not what they meant to do in the design though. I would much rather see them give the Sexton a skill which was actually useful and preformed as intended.

valentine should be 6 pop cap (down from 12)

it's a weaker version of the searchlight, but its got a gun (incredibly gimp as it is) and can smoke. OKW magic searchlight is 5 pop, I think 6 pop is fair.

+1 to Sexton pop reduction, it would definitely cement the unit. I would also suggest looking at the Valentine as well since its so hard to vet the damn thing. If its main gun were buffed a bit versus infantry, everything would be golden