Sweden
I think, that "aura buff" will be bad idea. Maybe they should be like Imperial Commissars in DoW - shot one "coward and traitor" down and grant short but efficient buff for all squads around. Maybe they could also have ability to shot one "coward and traior" for to break supression and give short time immunity for all squads around, like USF Capitan's "On me!". I think all his abilities should be connected with executions or pressing on soldiers. Hard frontline motivating, in other words. And Im not joking.
It might be "historicaly wrong" or something like that, but Relic doesn't care about history in CoH, really so, that's last point which we should think about.
Thank you Enemy at the Gates. Fuck you Jude Law.
USSR's stock infantry is really horrible, if you will compare them with stock infantry of other factions. Cons are worst stock infantry in game at all (if we don't talk about engineers squad, of course). Low accuracy, lowest rate of fire, (as I think) increased "recived accuracy", and no way to scale them to be effective in late. No additional weapons without doctrines, and no officiers to buff them.
Same Artillery Officier of Ostheer with his "accuracy buff" turns Ostheer infantry into monsters - they almost never miss with that and dealing huge damage. But without him - ostheer infantry is pretty weak. So, adding officier is a good way to making poor infantry more effective.
And T1 is horrible shit. It has no AT, and only specific thing it has are snipers. Clown cars dying from fausts and fast-shrecks/222s, and Penals are just "little more effective version of Cons, without AT nades, but with big explosive rack". They are "situative usefull", not like "always usefull" Obers, for example. Majority won't pick T1 not because "it's such meta right now", but because units in T2 simply way better, than in T1. And adding Commissar in T1 will make it more reliable with intresting playstyle "without supports, only with straing infantry forces". So, why not?
And most obvious - don't you think, that USSR is already luck of a lot type of things in compare with all other factions? USSR doesn't have static defenses (bunkers/MG positions), but all factions have. USSR doesn't have non-doctrinal AT-weapons for infantry, all other factions have. USSR doesn't have officiers, but all others have. That all makes USSR looks pity...
You are ignoring cost and HP. Cons can soak damage and are cheap to reinforce. They will beat Grens and Volks up close, don't see how having to fight at larger combat ranges makes them worst in the game.
They scale very well with vet and are a must have in later games, especially in team-games. For no other reason than that they can go into the fray, and stay there for longer than others.
T1 Isn't shit. Penals are very very useful and at vet 3 they become an incredibly effective means to knock out enemy infantry, again dirt-cheap to reinforce.
If your clown cars get in range of fausts that's not really the fault of the game balance, keep your distance. You know how long their range is.
Sure you do not have AT-guns, but you still have mines, AT-nades, or just infantry and some cover will do you fine. If you include doctrines you have even more.
The bottom line is: Factions do not have comparable units. The Soviets aren't lacking anything, they have good offensive and defensive power, sure it is different but so are all factions. You want things you think would be cool. Nothing else. Balance wise the game is in a very good spot at the moment.
If you go over to coh2chart.com and look at the actual data you'll find that balance is better now than it ever was before.
Relic Entertainment
