Ontopic:
Keep in mind the following:
- AT guns are meant to be a sustainable cost-efficient way to counter vehicles
- Even if an AT gun crew gets wiped you can recrew the gun for a bit of MP cost (reinforcing the squad)
1. Due to how things work, no matter how we change things, recrewing an abandoned M-42 will still cost 120 MP/6 popcap to operate.
For comparison, a Zis-3 gun would require 120 MP/9 popcap to operate.
Thus, even if we go for a crappy-for-crap's-sake design, we can't circumvent that part. (Yes, we can give a reduced reinforcement cost for crew, but that might lead to recrew-with-shock-troops cheese).
2. If penetration is bad, there will be no way for the M-42 to gain vet from attacking vehicles in the late game. Thus it will suffer the same fate as the soviet mortar; if its vet is wiped, it won't be worth to replace it.
3. Regarding anti-infantry
You have to keep in mind that Soviets can also get the Zis-3 gun that has an expensive, but decent barrage ability.
- Giving M42
direct-fire anti-infantry (T70-like) might be problematic depending on the map and obstacles available. The performance of the gun might range from terrible (hills etc) to OP in closed space maps. Unlike T-70, M42 is not mobile enough to manoeuvre
- Giving it Focused Fire (i.e., turning it into a short-duration sniper) might end up being a bit cheesy (e.g., using it to snipe MG teams, or even snipe the sniper). This is not a bad idea per se, however it requires care given that it hurts low-member squads the most
- Canister shot seems like an OK proposition. It can combine the best of both worlds outlined above, but also the worst of either of them. At the very least it costs munitions but doesn't guarantee kills, which is fine in my books.
Offtopic:
Why is access to one of the better AT guns in the game at T2 not enough? Please just stop this agenda of giving Soviets more and more AT.
I really feel like you guys are just f-ing with stuff just to f with stuff.
Even when the units within T1 have not been changed multiple times, T1 has changed a lot. That's mostly indirectly, due to the other factions changing.
You are entitled to your opinion that we should be ashamed of ourselves for even considering giving comparable AT options to both tiers, and experimenting with that in a balance preview mod. However, no matter how hard I try to scan your comments for useful feedback, all I see is ranting.
What is your proposed solution to the T1 problem?
In the most recent history, Soviet T1 has been through 3 different iterations
- Current iteration, where you have Flamer Penals, and Flamer Penals are really really worth it. Especially if you have guards/ your teammate can provide AT
- 1-year+ ago, when Luchs was locked behind T4, and 222 had 240HP with a need-to-buy autocannon upgrade. This meant that there was no light vehicle threat to worry about.
- Pre-buff Penals, where Soviets had to worry about 320HP auto-cannon 222 and T2 Luchs. That was a ~6-month period when Soviet T1 was not seen-of or heard-of.
Assuming it's heresy to give T1 access to even soft-AT options, which one of the forementioned iterations would you consider closer to "the spirit of T1".
Thanks.