The problem with the static arty units is they are already uncounterable on certain maps (crossing, trois ponts). if you buff its health or something, i predict: mortar pit 2.0 --> constant arty shells in your base you can do nothing against. My assumption for its counter is then just 2 people going Jäger armor/CAS to drop 2 stuka strikes at once which will lead to even less commander variety
the stuka strike is actually ok for what it does. however, since it is so precise and good at what it does, it should cost more. I suggest 250 ammo. then you would have to spend 80+250=340 Muni to kill an arty piece
which is a reasonable price imo. this also means less rifle nades or flamers against the soviet player which is also a big advantage
For howitzers, we could also experiment decreasing their range a bit, along with the price change. However, that's too far down the list.
I think it's good design to have a hard-counter ability handy for the maps where howitzers can be too nasty. The hardcounters, as you indicate, have to be expensive enough to keep howitzers useful for all stages in the game. 250MU is a good price for that; not too expensive, nor too cheap.
Ideally, every faction should have at least 1-2 abilities that can fit the bill. Ostheer, in particular, also has railway artillery, which is cheap enough, which also does that. What makes Stuka Dive bomb so controversial however, is that nearly all the commanders that have it (except Storm) are already carried by the other abilities in the same commander.
- Jaeger Armor commander definitely doesn't need that ability
- CAS & Luftwaffe support should be better defined through their unique abilities, rather than let Dive Bomb dominate everything
Therefore, the question that arises is:
- Should Jaeger Doctrine, with the Elefant, also possess the hardcounter for Howitzers (Recon & Dive Bomb)?
- If we nerf Dive Bomb, should we compensate the other doctrines in some way (e.g., replace Dive Bomb with Railway arty for Storm, so that it's more similar to Soviet Combined Arms)
This problem is also present in a smaller scale at the IL-2 & ISU-152 commander. The reason why it's not so obvious is because ISU-152 is extremely map dependent (hills matter). IL-2 could use with a price increase for that reason.
The reality is that when you enter a team, the team has to come up with commander combos that make sense. With the changes, we just want to eliminate super-commanders (Jaeger Armor Doctrine) to give breathing room to more varied combos.