Hector´s suggestions on how to fix Brace

My suggestion on how to finally balance brace and make it interesting for both sides is rather simple and it cosist of these 2 points.

1. Emplacements cannot use stand fast nor be repaired with forward assembly engineers while braced. They can still be repaired by normal engineers, because engineers are put under huge risk while repairing under fire.


2. Emplacements will take (33-50%) increase damage after brace ends. Let´s say for 15-20 seconds. With this change, UKF player will still be able to use brace to protect his emplacement from heavy artillery fire/tank pushes/whatever but will be punished greatly if he does not manage to establish strong foothold after brace period ends. Axis player will be able to play around brace, because he will get 15-20 second window of opportunity after brace, when he deals bigger damage to emplacements. This will open up options for great mind games. For example make fake push with tank, force emplacements to brace and kill it afterwards.


By these changes emplacements will be no longer no brainer, will need furthure support from other sources, and quick response for UKF player,if he wants to keep the alive. UKF won´t be able to keep them alive forever and ever with brace+stand fast combo. He will also be punished if he uses brace badly and does not manage to hold line withing brace period.

Axis player will get option to play around emplacements and kill them after brace period rather easily thanks to these changes.

I´m not aiming to remove brace altogether because it´s very interesting feature that helps emplacements to survive (something like retreat). I want to give brace handicap afterwards, so it becomes high-risk high-reward ability that may keep your emplacement alive or destroy it alltogether.

What do you think about this idea ? Disuss.

I like these ideas! However the 33-50% increased damage in this bonus period after the brace is a bit too much and will totally kill emplacements as a 'unit'. I would go with 20% at the most.

I like these ideas! However the 33-50% increased damage in this bonus period after the brace is a bit too much and will totally kill emplacements as a 'unit'. I would go with 20% at the most.

We can change this "damage bonus" where we want to, once we realise how strong it is.

Also with this handicap, another possibily opens - to decrease brace cooldown time. 1 minute may be enaught right now. 30 second brace period, 20 seconds handicap period, 10 second cooldown. After all, if axis player does not manage to kill emplacement within 20 seconds "handicap" period, then he did something wrong and UKF player should get next chance.

Just make brace also reduce incoming repairs while it's active. That will help fix Advanced forward assembly and Stand-Fast top-ups.

That way you only use brace to delay the emplacements getting wrecked (since they are immobile), but you still have to respond with a mobile force. Going sim city with the nerf on means that it will take about 3-4 times fewer ISGs/Mortars to inevitably wreck a sim city.

I would still rather swapping brace with stand fast (working for a singe emplacement not all) or having brace cost MU.

And have advance repair assembly point not self repair.

Making brace cost munitions is a great idea!
I feel like what makes emplacemets feel cancerous is the fact that players just spam them, imagine a team game where one of the players or even both build 2 mortar pits and 2 bofors, just the thought makes me want to puke. To fix emplacements just limit the player to build one of each type, this way the brit player still has the strongest defensive "units" but on the other hand he has to have some sort of army and cant spam emplacements.

Making brace cost munitions is a great idea!
I feel like what makes emplacemets feel cancerous is the fact that players just spam them, imagine a team game where one of the players or even both build 2 mortar pits and 2 bofors, just the thought makes me want to puke. To fix emplacements just limit the player to build one of each type, this way the brit player still has the strongest defensive "units" but on the other hand he has to have some sort of army and cant spam emplacements.

Limiting to 1 is not the answer. Its just acknowledging the OPness of unit instead of fixing it. If you limit a unit to 1 instead of nerfing you are creating a no-brainer - a unit that is always beneficial to build and cant be produced in numbers. Thus you take 2 important decisions off players: whether they need the unit and how many of that type they need. A well designed and ballanced unit is the one that is build in some strategies and situations, while not in the others and the one that has enough counters or downsides so it's a player who decides that building too many of them is not good for their army composition.

Can't repair while braced
Brace last 10 seconds

Easily the most idiot proof ability in the game with artillery overwatch behind it

- Remove brace
- Increase emplacement health to that of OKW t4
- If emplacement takes some amount of damage, like 33% of total health or something, it gets decrewed


This will add more bleed to the unit and make it more difficult to counter its counters. This will also make the emplacement over-all stronger in health to make up for the loss of brace, without making it even more of a pain in the ass. It is also still rewarding to shoot at the mortarpit without killing it, because you get the chance to wipe the veterancy and cause some bleed requiring them to recrew it. Right now you are stuck in a loop of try to kill it, fail, lose a bunch of shit, brits repair and take no losses.


Also make it so Advanced Cancer engineers can't repair the emplacements. They need to be vehicles only repairmen. You don't see the OKW t3 engineers repairing their trucks, because that's ridiculous.

Coh 2 is about counterplay right? Why not simply add effective counters for emplacements?

Certain weapons like flame could ignore brace, Brumbar being a siege cannon could ingore brace, OKW incediary grenades, bundled grenades, p-werfer, hell stuka vus technically could.

It doesn't diminish brace as that still protects the emplacement from indirect, tank and small arms fire, but it does reward players for gettin a volks squad/flametrack on top of say a mortar pit early game, just as giving players proper counters to sim-city outside of the LEFH.

Or only allow you to brace 1 emplacement at a time?

Honestly any nerf to this stupid ability is welcomed with open arms.

Increasing damage after brace is a bad idea. It will be impossible to keep them alive, brace counter artillery strikes and usually you don't get that many units around an artillery strike, so how would you be able to have engineers in time to repair the emplacement.
You already need 2 engineer squads to repair faster than what a stug deal to you, increase its damage will be an overkill.

Like I suggested before and like Mr.Smith is suggesting here, just disable or strongly reduce the repair while braced and problem solved. Engineers have to be there before brace to repair, You cannot anymore just wait for brace and repair.

Or another idea, make repair disabling brace. Once a unit is starting repairing an emplacement under brace, brace ends.

An other one, make brace and both mortar and bofors barrage on the same CD.

- Remove brace
- Increase emplacement health to that of OKW t4
- If emplacement takes some amount of damage, like 33% of total health or something, it gets decrewed


This will add more bleed to the unit and make it more difficult to counter its counters. This will also make the emplacement over-all stronger in health to make up for the loss of brace, without making it even more of a pain in the ass. It is also still rewarding to shoot at the mortarpit without killing it, because you get the chance to wipe the veterancy and cause some bleed requiring them to recrew it. Right now you are stuck in a loop of try to kill it, fail, lose a bunch of shit, brits repair and take no losses.


Also make it so Advanced Cancer engineers can't repair the emplacements. They need to be vehicles only repairmen. You don't see the OKW t3 engineers repairing their trucks, because that's ridiculous.

I think emplacemets need the ability brace or else the player would only build and then forget about the unit for the rest of the match. But there is some problems with brace, it makes the emplacement take almost no damage, it stays active a long time and it is free. With this said I think the way to balance brace would be to make it cost 50 muni (making the player choose wisely when to use it or risk being muni starved) and maybe reduce the time it stays active.

I think emplacemets need the ability brace or else the player would only build and then forget about the unit for the rest of the match. But there is some problems with brace, it makes the emplacement take almost no damage, it stays active a long time and it is free. With this said I think the way to balance brace would be to make it cost 50 muni (making the player choose wisely when to use it or risk being muni starved) and maybe reduce the time it stays active.

Do remember that emplacements cannot operate while firign.

50 munnition will be overkill.

Do remember that emplacements cannot operate while firign.

50 munnition will be overkill.

Well I think it is a fair price since brace makes you take (almost) no damage.

Well I think it is a fair price since brace makes you take (almost) no damage.

Who would build them then ? Having sitting duck that bleed you 50 munnition every time something attacks it isn´t something you want to build

Limiting to 1 is not the answer. Its just acknowledging the OPness of unit instead of fixing it. If you limit a unit to 1 instead of nerfing you are creating a no-brainer - a unit that is always beneficial to build and cant be produced in numbers. Thus you take 2 important decisions off players: whether they need the unit and how many of that type they need. A well designed and ballanced unit is the one that is build in some strategies and situations, while not in the others and the one that has enough counters or downsides so it's a player who decides that building too many of them is not good for their army composition.

Well I think we can compare emplacements to the tiger ace, it is op but you can only build one despite it's penalties.

Who would build them then ? Having sitting duck that bleed you 50 munnition every time something attacks it isn´t something you want to build

Who would build a tiger ace?

Another suggestion to brace would be to make it cost 20/30 muni but it only would make you invulnerable to indirect fire (mortars/arti) this way emplacemets can survive long range attacks but get punished if not well defended from ground units, allowing the axis faction player to take a risk with a easier reward in sight instead of having its efforts shut down by an free op ability.

Who would build a tiger ace?

Tiger ace is great unit because you don´t need it alive to fulfit it´s job.

Tiger ace is finishing unit, you build 2-3 p4 for fuel you save on tiger ace and then call in tiger ace for 800mp. Then you make big push with tiger ace and 3x p4, completely outnumbering enemy AT forces, killing his most valuable assets and losing kingtiger in process, so you do not get handicapped.

Tiger ace will trade 800 mp for ~ 250 fuel on enemy side (2 jacsons or pershing or is2 ...)



On the other hand, you cannot use emplacements as trading units, emplacements are sitting ducks.