Our long dark nightmare is finally over. Penals no longer suck. Since the March 9th update I have played over 20 30 games in which I have not built a single conscript, with the majority of these games ignoring T1 altogether. To my amazement, I had So far, I have only tried this in 2v2 but my results have been roughly 65% win rate using this strategy.
This strategy works in 2v2 very well but not in a 1v1. It does best vs OKW troops. Since I have employed this strat I have enjoyed a upward climb of about 400 points according to my player card and a 65% win rate since the hotfix.
It has been said that this strat will not work once you enter the top 500. I cannot speak to this as I am not there yet, though I am experiencing a meteoric rise and should be there soon.
But... why?
Penal Battalions are better than Conscripts at AI in every way. Conscripts deal very slightly more damage per shot, but Penal Battalions fire faster, reload faster, and reload less often than Conscripts. They offer near twice the DPS of conscripts without even considering the flamethrower.
Replays
All I had to do was ask for smoke and ping once. It sealed the game.
Torched
Penal Battalion rifles are 3% more accurate (a must for the early game)
Hot Potato
Penal Battalion's Satchel Charge can be thrown 6% further (It doesn't seem like much, and in fact it isn't, but it can be enough to guarantee you wont lose the squad either to FF or concentrated fire.)
Infantry Production II
Penal Battalions build 10% faster, Shock Troops and Guard dispatch abilities recharge 10% faster (Not entirely necessary, but useful to catch up from the time lost building Special Rifle Command and waiting for the additional MP)
Commanders
Guard Motor Coordination Tactics
Guards, 120mm Mortar, T-34/85, Mark Target, Crew Repair
(This is the workhorse, it has everything you need.)
Soviet Combined Arms Tactics
Guards, 152mm Howitzer, Recon Overflight, AT gun Ambush Camo, Precision Bombing Run (I haven't played with this one as much, but it feels strong vs OKW, however you will need to back tech to T1 in order to take advantage of the AT ambush.)
Partisan Tacticssoviets(Current Favorite)
Radio Intercept, Partisan Troops, Partisan Tank Hunters, Spy Network, Mark Vehicle (Good for gaining a very early advantage if you see an opening for a HMG capture. Build katyusha to make lots of craters for your partisans to advance through camouflaged.)
Build Order
Penal
Penal
Penal
(1st Flamethrower)
Guard or Tank Hunter
Muni Cache (optional)
(2nd Flamethrower)
120mm Mortar (if Guard Motor)
Guard or Tank Hunter
(DP-28 or 3rd Flamethrower)
AT Nade (if Partisan)
-----------
By the time this build order is complete you shouldn't be too far away from deciding if you need to rush a T-34. I would personally advise against stopping off in T3 with a SU-76 or T-70 as this will just slow you down. Build more Guards or Tank hunters if you fear the enemy light or medium armor rushing you. Feel free to have one con squad around for merging into stolen guns and snaring armor. I would advise against merging with Penals as they will bring their Nuggets with them and not the delicious SVT Laser Rifles.
Only God and Cruzz know how the veterancy would apply to merged cons into their new units.
Build Pros and Cons
Pros:
Great anti infantry.
Great anti garrison.
Decent anti tank if you can make to your T-34 or can manage your guards/AT partisans well.
OKW buildings stand NO chance.
Flexible enough to react to most threats.
Cons:
G43 equipped units can be troublesome. A real long range threat.
Vulnerable to rushed Flakpanzer. You may need an SU-76 for this.Screen your penals with TH Partisans if you got em.
Guards are still pinatas. They will drop their PTRS if asked politely some games. Keep them at a distance.
Losing a Penal early will cost you dearly if you don't replace it quickly. You need them at vet 2-3 ASAP.
Some things to consider before trying this out for yourself.
The only thing I can say for sure is that this map requires constant attacks and flanks. Never be resting. The more you offset your opponents plans, the more you can solidify your own side.
forget going t1, i find 0 use in it, except for fun.
did you mean T0? You have to have meant T0. Not that I completely agree, but 1 makes more sense than the other.
Either way you come to us now at a crossroads. On the 9th a patch is being released that fixes a long standing bug regarding the long term offensive effectiveness of veteran infantry.
As I am sure you can appreciate, this will make a massive difference for soviet players. Penals that a worth retreating. Conscripts that can hold there own after 30 minutes. And shocks that become terminators even more so than before.
Personally I think soviet reserve is better in most cases because, like most soviet armor, I cannot trust the IS2. Reserve army is best used on crowded urban maps, and I don't just say that because of the partisans. having shot blockers for the ppsh cons is a big deal and it makes it harder to flank your 152 and ALSO gives su-76s and even su-85s more survivability. A vet 3 su-85 has a fire rate of once every 3 seconds. something to think about. It's just too bad it can't randomly cloak itself to avoid killing blows like some tank destroyers
That being said, a t34/85, or rather 3-4 of them can be very useful. Use them to swarm.
0
United States
Relic Entertainment
cblanco ★ 
보드카 중대 
VonManteuffel 
Heartless Jäger 
