Fixing the Royal Artillery Commander

Hey guys, I already posted a similar thread about this exact topic in the official balance forum. In fact, most of it is just copy and pasted over but I wanted to know your thoughts on my proposed solution to balance the Royal Artillery Commander. In total, I believe that small changes to the Valentine, Sexton, and final ability would make him a completely viable doctrine choice.

Ideas and criticism welcome.

Solutions:
Lower the Valentine's CP requirement, vet requirements, and population cost:
The Valentine is an interesting and unique unit but it suffers greatly from coming out too late to be useful as a combat unit, being extremely difficult to vet up, and having a relatively high population cost due to its Concentrated Sexton Barrage ability. By bringing down the CP requirement to 4 a UKF player would be able to utilize the Valentine as an alternative to the Armored Car for the late-early game. In theory, this should also help the Valentine vet up more reliably, but it has such poor anti-infantry capabilities and is so fragile (rightfully so on both fronts) that the likelihood of bringing it up past vet 2 would still be impractical. Lowering the Valentines vet requirements, therefore, would reward players who micro it well and go a long way in helping its survivability later on. Reducing its population cost is a small change but would help greatly in its synergy with the Sexton.

Lower the population cost of the Sexton and change its vet 1 ability:
At this point, the Sexton is a viable area-denial unit but its current population (14) is just too high. By lowering its (and the Valentines) population cost down to 10 you will make both the units and the "Concentrated Sexton Barrage" ability much more viable. I suggest to also change the "walking barrage" ability on the Sexton because it has no practical use (especially since it is locked behind vet 1 and costs 50 munitions). It is far too slow to counter blobs or act as area denial and the shots don't do enough damage to cause problems for a line of structures. I believe the best alternative to this ability is a 3-shot "white phosphorous" barrage (no change to cost or vet requirement). This would further cement the Sexton as an area denial unit, allow it to be more versatile, and make it's role more unique when compared to the American Priest.

Replace the "Perimeter Overwatch" ability with "Precision Barrage:"
The 25-pound howitzers are good for area denial but they turn far too slowly and are far too inaccurate to reliably help defend the entire friendly territory (especially for 250 munitions). An easy, common sense, adjustment to this would be just to replace it with Precision Barrage. Precision Barrage would make perfect sense with the Royal Artillery Commander (even better sense than with the Advanced Emplacement Commander, in fact) and would give the UKF player a fast-acting artillery ability whereas Perimeter Overwatch would only feasibly be activated if the UKF player was floating extremely high munitions.

The Sexton is by far the most pressing issue, but I fully believe that if all of these suggestions were implemented then the Royal Artillery Commander would be a perfectly useful and engaging doctrine choice.

Solid suggestions allround.

I think that entire artillery system and RA doctrine with it should be fully reworked.

Here is da plan:

1. Throw out Sexton. It's just shitty copy of Priest, pretty lame.

2. Throw out Base 25 QF howtizers. They are good as decorations for your base, but useless as real artillery. And my base is beauteful already.

3. Change them both to solid and good QF 25 Emplacements. Put them in "Anvil tactics" upgrade, instead of airburst shells.

4. Move airburst shells to RA doctrine, instead of Sexton.

5. Change "3-shot barrage for 100 ammo" to "supercharge rounds for mortars and 25s". Increasing range of fire, increasing direct hit damage. For mortar pits all those basic stats should be nerfed after that, because it will be too OP - mortars already cover with fire half of map. Let them do it only with Artillery doctrine.

6. Change Valentine and Counter-battery fire places. Guess, it will be more reasonable to have arty ability in arty doctrine. And Advanced Emplacements will get light tank, for to compensate absence of AEC after taking Bofors. CP 4-5 recomended.

7. Change "Perimetr Overwatch" to "Royal Artillery Officier" call-in. He won't have abilities and will be unarmed (only armed with binocularus and radio station), but will buff all (your and your allies) artillery around, making it reload faster and shoot a few % more accurant.

That doctrine and artillery would be really great, I think. 100% arty-support doctrine. Just a way it should be.

I think that entire artillery system and RA doctrine with it should be fully reworked.

Here is da plan:

1. Throw out Sexton. It's just shitty copy of Priest, pretty lame.

2. Throw out Base 25 QF howtizers. They are good as decorations for your base, but useless as real artillery. And my base is beauteful already.

3. Change them both to solid and good QF 25 Emplacements. Put them in "Anvil tactics" upgrade, instead of airburst shells.

4. Move airburst shells to RA doctrine, instead of Sexton.

5. Change "3-shot barrage for 100 ammo" to "supercharge rounds for mortars and 25s". Increasing range of fire, increasing direct hit damage. For mortar pits all those basic stats should be nerfed after that, because it will be too OP - mortars already cover with fire half of map. Let them do it only with Artillery doctrine.

6. Change Valentine and Counter-battery fire places. Guess, it will be more reasonable to have arty ability in arty doctrine. And Advanced Emplacements will get light tank, for to compensate absence of AEC after taking Bofors. CP 4-5 recomended.

7. Change "Perimetr Overwatch" to "Royal Artillery Officier" call-in. He won't have abilities and will be unarmed (only armed with binocularus and radio station), but will buff all (your and your allies) artillery around, making it reload faster and shoot a few % more accurant.

That doctrine and artillery would be really great, I think. 100% arty-support doctrine. Just a way it should be.

I think people are really underestimating the Sexton and base howitzers. It is true that they are inaccurate and have poor aoe but they *are* good if you use them as intended, the recent patches have gone a long way in helping that (the flare throw range increase/Sexton changes in particular were fantastic). You don't use them to insta-wipe units, you use them as area denial at choke points, support in big assaults, and to destroy emplacements (1 sexton and the base howitzers will reliably wipe out an aggressive medic forward base from the OKW).

I didn't suggest any changes to the "Concentrated Barrage" ability because you can place it literally anywhere through the fog of war (including the enemy base) that makes it useful in a number of ways which justify the 100 munitions cost. The only change I would want to make for it is taking away its ability to fire in the enemy base (which can be problematic for a multitude of reasons) and reduce the munitions cost to 80.

Aside from that, your plan just has far too many questionable changes. You are essentially suggesting to take away two non-doctrine abilities (Airburst shells and mortar range/damage) from the UKF, locking away a faction-specific bonus (base howitzers) and completely trashing a doctrine unit (Sexton) in order to buff one doctrine. That would just act as a massive nerf for the UKF all around with no real cause. Not to mention that your "Royal Artillery Officer" call in just sounds horribly over powered.

Aside from that, your plan just has far too many questionable changes. You are essentially suggesting to take away two non-doctrine abilities (Airburst shells and mortar range/damage) from the UKF, locking away a faction-specific bonus (base howitzers) and completely trashing a doctrine unit (Sexton) in order to buff one doctrine. That would just act as a massive nerf for the UKF all around with no real cause. Not to mention that your "Royal Artillery Officer" call in just sounds horribly over powered.

I think, that UKF deserves serious desgin nerf. Look at that faction - they have almost everything without doctrines: good infantry, best defensive structures, badass tanks, like Comet or even Cromwell, AT-AI snipers... And more than that - non-doctrinal immortal and free-to-get artillery. It's not serious, it shouldn't be like that, specially compared with doctrinal addicted USSR.

But here is a problem with it - non-doc arty sux. I don't know what you mean, when you talk that Sexton and QFs can be used good. They actually can't. More than that - I don't even move my units back when I see that red flare of QF 25 zeroing, because... really why? It won't hit me anyway, and if it will - It won't hurt me hard. Not compareable with all other howitzers, which are really dangerous for infantry and tanks.

I only suggest to make UKF design less ridiculous, make only 1 late coming and not cheap arty emplacement, which will be pretty... poor itself (just like mortar pit), but will rise up it's power with Royal Artillery, as it really should be and as it was in vCoH. I don't really need cheap or even free to get, but totally useless units, like Sexton or QF 25s. I want solid QF 25 emplacements, which will show their real power only with Royal Arty. If you are UKF player, which prefers to play on infantry or tanks - ignore that doctrine, like other people do with other factions. Looks reasonable and fair for me.