I didnt even bothered to answer your question, to let you realize how stupid it was.
I stated my point of view in the thread prior to this, but in case you forgot:
Let me put it clear:
Is it fair to compare Pak howies to former howitzers? NO
Is it fair to compare pak howies to mortars? NO
Because it gets the best of both worlds. Autoatack (howitz dont) and more range (mortars fall short) therefore. Its only disadvantage, "its fragile", but it can always be recrewed, because other team weapons, THEY HAVE TO BE IN ACTUAL COMBAT RANGE, involving risk of being stealed/destroyed.
And the only excuse i get from all this is: They are expensive! (like literally dirt cheap if you compare to the former howitzers or the damage they are able to do)
You did consider tech cost for pak howies, how funny, then we should do the same for Wstukas, the only natural counter or Pwerfer.
To cherrypick arguments is a sign of how loose their bolts are.
Less damage than a howitzer and less mobile than a mortar. What category is most proper for the pack howitzer, if I had to choose between those two items, I can't say, but generally, since howitzer happens to actually be in the name of the unit, I err in that direction. At the end of the day, they are all indirect fire units, and comparisons can be made nevertheless in either direction.
And yes, it is expensive. Is it worth it's price? Yes. Because of it's barrages? No. Range? The autoattack range is even the same as the Ostheer mortar, and I would be willing to suggest that two grw34s would probably do more damage overall than a single pack howitzer (480mp vs 340mp). But you pay for the consistent output it delivers; having an autoattack that is effective at dislodging a static enemy. This is why any proposal to remove or nerf autofire MUST either allow the M1 to still perform this role adequately still, or (more likely, given the limitation of barrage and the probability that autofire would be overnerfed) allow it to deal more damage in bursts via buffed barrages, making it more like the other howitzers in the game.
And yes, it is very fragile. Certainly as much as, if not moreso, than any 240mp mortar in the game. Saying walking stukas of all things are the only counter to the pack Howie is like saying the M36 is the only counter to Axis armor (and might as well imply that mortars themselves are all uncounterable). As said already, the autoattack range is already matched by all of your own Ostheer IDF options; the pack howitzer's range advantage is only apparent in its barrages. The crew all wear 1.25 target size bullet magnet vests, and clump directly around the howitzer at all times, hence the often repeated and very much accurate claim that a single P4 hit could decrew it. To make matters even easier, I have repeatedly suggested some sort of teardown/setup nerf to make this unit even more vulnerable to either call-in artillery/strikes or flanks/pushes than it already is.
Furthermore, we've already discussed methods of reworking this unit in a way that removes or nerfs autofire while keeping it useful; you're the one who has continuously fallen apart over the mere suggestion that the Pack Howitzer be anything but a long range mortar (and, apparently, the only one you want USF to have, if you still believe anything you said in your first post in this thread), when it has been abundantly clear over and over that nobody is going to pay 340 manpower and 8 popcap for a mortar that cannot lay free smoke and which is utterly fucked if ever contacted by the enemy since it cannot retreat. Nor will anyone pay the same for a barrage-only howitzer that is generally incapable of killing a single model.
You refuse to answer my questions because you have absolutely no real suggestions beyond an impulsive nerf to essentially remove a unit from the game. The fact your main complaint about the unit is now it's range, when everyone up to this point, and even yourself, have been talking about the autoattack capability, proves as much.
There's no argument to cherrypick. You have offered absolutely nothing constructive this entire thread.