yeah, if opponent is caught off guard, you can easily win the battle for the early resources and then rush for the T34.
but beware of high level players, because they are starting to adapt to this meta. Early fights require only a lot of micromanagement, but the moment german player decides to go for Pgrens, you need to adapt too. If you keep sending conscripts out, Pgrens + molotov dodging is lethal.
Conscripts spam can be overwhelmed by Pgrens spam in no time.
See, this is where "AHHHMOTHERLAND" Strat works so well. i perfer seeing pgrens over an ostwind becuase i can immediately choose my commander with Shocktroops/kv-8; get shocktroops to match his 1-2 Pgrens. Then, if he keeps building p-grens, call in a kv-8 and fall asleep.
With the 'nerf' to German MG, this strat became even better, as you can take the map fairly easy, as long as your unit preservation/attention stays on par.
however, a well micro'ed flame-halftrack/scout car still gives this build some manpower trouble.