History of OKW?

So having started to play COH2 around Feb this year I pretty much found OKW in the state it is now. Watching some preview vids from before WFA was released, they used to have some interesting gimmicks like getting only 66% fuel or something like that.

Why was the faction reworked to receive full resources and the fuel cost of tanks increased?

The partial resource idea centered on them being limited on units, but this was especially problematic in team games where it made only a marginal difference.

On top of that they had resource switching gimmicks which made it very hard to know what was going on when you were playing against them.

Finally, they were originally designed to be unstoppable at the 30 minute mark to encourage the feeling of being under threat all game but breaking out to win. This was a really annoying way to play because for the other player it meant the clock was running down the entire game, and in team games the time you had before the clock wore out was even faster.

The changes were made to make it feel more like COH2. I mean at one point Obers got bonuses received accuracy for targeting retreating units!

In conclusion, because of 4:4 Hero's

The partial resource idea centered on them being limited on units, but this was especially problematic in team games where it made only a marginal difference.

On top of that they had resource switching gimmicks which made it very hard to know what was going on when you were playing against them.

Finally, they were originally designed to be unstoppable at the 30 minute mark to encourage the feeling of being under threat all game but breaking out to win. This was a really annoying way to play because for the other player it meant the clock was running down the entire game, and in team games the time you had before the clock wore out was even faster.

The changes were made to make it feel more like COH2. I mean at one point Obers got bonuses received accuracy for targeting retreating units!

Also, made a losing vehicle for OKW pretty unrecoverable aside from when the Volks/Obers blobs were at their peak.

Finally, they were originally designed to be unstoppable at the 30 minute mark to encourage the feeling of being under threat all game but breaking out to win. This was a really annoying way to play because for the other player it meant the clock was running down the entire game, and in team games the time you had before the clock wore out was even faster.

The changes were made to make it feel more like COH2. I mean at one point Obers got bonuses received accuracy for targeting retreating units!

Somewhat of a shame they made the faction more coh2like, would be nice to have 4-5 extremely different factions. Might be a hell to balance though.

In the early days OKW had 33% fuel and munitions. The trucks would set up in resource sectors and secure them to bring them up to full output. All three trucks would set up in a resource "chain" so you could grab whatever resources you need. Unfortunately, due to inconsistencies with many maps, the "chain" was often very strong or very weak. Tech was also very different, such as T1 being the 37mm flak and able to produce panthers but that was changed to be more like the other factions' tech progression.

oops

OKW early game was extremely weak (Volks dealing -16% damage, but costing 235MP, Sturms costing 320). All of this in exchange for Vet5 and the weirdest tech tree in the game.

The reason OKW had to be reworked was because resource tampering and the weird tech structure made it impossible to keep OKW balanced/consistent across all game modes. Just before Brits arrived, OKW was the undisputable underdog in 1v1, and they were the undisputable GODS of 4v4. In 4v4, if Allies hadn't managed to decisively beat the Axis by minute ~10, it would get all downhill from there; and it's not very fun when games last 10 minutes.

The partial resource idea centered on them being limited on units, but this was especially problematic in team games where it made only a marginal difference.

On top of that they had resource switching gimmicks which made it very hard to know what was going on when you were playing against them.

Finally, they were originally designed to be unstoppable at the 30 minute mark to encourage the feeling of being under threat all game but breaking out to win. This was a really annoying way to play because for the other player it meant the clock was running down the entire game, and in team games the time you had before the clock wore out was even faster.

The changes were made to make it feel more like COH2. I mean at one point Obers got bonuses received accuracy for targeting retreating units!

All of this, plus.

- The resource penalty gimmick meant that some vehicles' fuel prices had to be brought down a bit lower, otherwise the faction would just sink. Teching fuel prices (absolute price) were also significantly lower than other factions.

E.g., the nominal price of both Panthers or P4s (OST and OKW) used to be the same. However, the OST version of either vehicle is nowhere near as good as the OKW version of these vehicles (and not just because of Vet4/Vet5).

What this meant is that, if we would balance OKW according to 1v1, OKW would steamroll over everybody in 4v4 because:
- They got access to fuel caches
- They had access to fuel supply drops from OST allies; since all OKW fuel prices were significantly lower, this meant very fast King Tigers hitting the field; and that was getting annoying.

- The other reason for this disparity was that the tech structure only made sense for 1v1.

For instance, you had JP4 in the med truck. Nobody in 1v1 would ever rush a JP4; why would you build a tank destroyer in an infantry-heavy mode? However, in 4v4 it was pretty much a no-brainer to get a JP4 to counter enemy vehicles; your teammates would be able to carry you vs infantry, and your team would have early access to the best tank destroyer in the game, even before enemy mediums would hit the field.

Of course, if you managed to lose that JP4, it was pretty much gg, you lose.

Lol, sounds like a big mess. I guess that's what happens when you try to apply history to a game.

In the early days OKW had 33% fuel and munitions. The trucks would set up in resource sectors and secure them to bring them up to full output. All three trucks would set up in a resource "chain" so you could grab whatever resources you need. Unfortunately, due to inconsistencies with many maps, the "chain" was often very strong or very weak. Tech was also very different, such as T1 being the 37mm flak and able to produce panthers but that was changed to be more like the other factions' tech progression.

haven't been in alpha. tell more, just out of curiosity

Among the "best" features of OKW at release-time was the uncuttable wire. What this meant was:
- No light vehicle could crush Sturmpioneer wire
- Even if you upgraded minesweepers, you couldn't cut the wire

OKW used to have self-spotting Kubel which could suppress/pin enemy squads really quickly. This was basically uncounterable vs the USF, if the area didn't contain enough garrisons USF could abuse (OKW didn't have incediary nade either). The Kubel thing ran its time from release until rework.

Finally, this:


(sWs trucks used to come for free, and you could later salvage them for fuel).

OKW has had a huge history of changes, especially if you consider the alpha version of them.

The current version is the least differentiated from all other factions, previously there was a lot of experimentation with resource shortages, but more powerful units, and a mix of units in buildings, so that each building added flavour instead of giving you say, just heavy armour or just light armour.

A lot of interesting and fun playstyles they had in the past as a faction, but unfortunately they would never be able to balance correctly and therefore all redesigns led to the current design, which is still awesome, just less unique and interesting.

This game has come a very, very long way since its release. a big thanks to Relic for supporting it and trying to improve it along the way with a variety of changes.

Hahaha i remember that truck wiping thing, first time i actually can say that wow Relic really failed with game design with allowing something like that into live game

Here is another video showing how big of a fail Relic did by allowing this to get into live

And another stupid thing that got into live game

haven't been in alpha. tell more, just out of curiosity

Here's what I remember.

OKW trucks came out on a timer, much like launch OKW. The difference though was that you could have all 3 trucks in their unset state just chilling around. The trucks were a supply chain system, points they were sitting on gave you 50% instead of 33% resources, but it was a pain in the ass because you needed resources to set the trucks, but needed trucks set to get resources.

Original structure of their tiers, which I don't remember 100% and hope someone else can correct:

T1 Flak Cannon: Was super nerfed when I started playing the Alpha. Had Panther, ISG, Luchs, IR I think.

T2 was Medic Truck. I think it contained the Flaktrak, Puma and Stuka. The retreat upgrade also used to cost fuel and less MP, but was changed due to the need for any and all fuel into the war machine.

T3 was the Mech truck. Obers, KT, Sturmtiger. It also, when I started, had an ability to directly convert your stockpile of Fuel or Muni back and forth in set values rather then as an over-time thing like at launch.

I have no idea where the JP4 was.

Strategy back then with OKW was generally infantry blob into rushed KT. The problem was, no other vehicle in their fleet was worth investing in, so it was pretty boring, despite having a lot more risk/reward payoffs.

OKW used to have self-spotting Kubel which could suppress/pin enemy squads really quickly. This was basically uncounterable vs the USF, if the area didn't contain enough garrisons USF could abuse (OKW didn't have incediary nade either). The Kubel thing ran its time from release until rework.

Upon release Kubel didn't have suppression iirc. At release Kubel was I think the most useless vehicle there ever was in the game. It did nothing, cost fuel and it lost to any other unit in the game. I think even USF medics would beat it.

Then it went to suppression platform that would win against any other inf unit in the game, and was pretty mcuh the first unit in everyones build order.

Upon release Kubel didn't have suppression iirc. At release Kubel was I think the most useless vehicle there ever was in the game. It did nothing and it lost to any other unit in the game.

Official release of the WFA? It definitely did at that point. You can see in page 2 of the official forums' patch notes, nothing about adding suppression to Kubels.

haven't been in alpha. tell more, just out of curiosity

A few other small differences in the Alpha were that volks were 230 mp instead of 235 mp at release and PF's G43 upgrade was 6 G43s instead of 3.

I was also told that very early in the alpha Sturms had schrecks but it was moved to volks since no one was building volks at all. If that's true then we've sort of done a full 360 in the balance preview mod. lol

Here's what I remember.

A few other small differences in the Alpha were

Thanks guys much appreciated. This is all super interesting

Lol, sounds like a big mess. I guess that's what happens when you try to apply history to a game.

IMO this was the worst thing about them. They were supposed to be the battle of the bulge German Army (IRL strong start but eventually ground down.) Instead they were exactly the opposite. It was the Americans who were desperately attacking to win before superior German forces were brought to bear. It's much better now.

Upon release Kubel didn't have suppression iirc. At release Kubel was I think the most useless vehicle there ever was in the game. It did nothing, cost fuel and it lost to any other unit in the game. I think even USF medics would beat it.

Then it went to suppression platform that would win against any other inf unit in the game, and was pretty mcuh the first unit in everyones build order.

My recollection is that it acquired suppression sometime in the Alpha and kept it until the rework. FWIW imperial dane's lehr video on it (near to release) shows it suppressing. (It's also kind of hilarious that he thinks its a bad unit.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yP9H8moIGM