I wanted to put into words the Ostheer redesign that just occured to me; so when reading this, put aside the fact that it is unlikely to ever happen, consider that this is not a balance discussion but a possible reshaping of Ostheer tiers and just enjoy the ride.
First of all, why do I think that Ostheer could do with redesigning at all? Here's why in a nice, tidy list:
1. MP cost for teching is through roof. The fuel costs are pretty tame, but the MP cost is a bit too cruel for the Ostheer players who go the way of teching instead of getting a Tiger/Elefant.
2. There is too much overlap within Tiers 3 and 4. Tier 3 has StuG and Panzer IV clashing, with Ostwind being a far more situational Panzer IV that is not that much better against infantry than Panzer IV (both will make them retreat after all), with StuG generally underperforming, lacking on every front compared to Puma and M10. Tier 4 on the other hand has Panzerwerfer and Brümmbar, both roughly doing the same thing even if in a different manner. That's of course fine; or would be if you didn't have to triage the Fuel between both them AND a Panther; which you likely will need as a result of not having gotten T3, because let's face it, if you're going T4 you probably didn't stop at T3. As it is, T3 is really just a worse performing and earlier T4. It doesn't offer anything particularly special; your OKW ally has the AA covered anyway.
3. Tier 2 has the markings of a starting tier and all of its units would join the "Ostheer early game" category, drastically increasing Ostheer's early game options. This would have to come with a penalty in comparison to simply going T1, just how I'll explain below.
4. It's really annoying that T3 claims to offer Rocket Artillery when, no sir, it doesn't.
Let's try to solve these problems then.
MP Cost Is Through the Roof
I think the combined Ostheer MP cost amounts to about 1120 without accounting for your starting amount, but as all of you know well, MP is what keeps the gears spinning and Ostheer is robbed off of a lot of it.
I think that the MP profiles should be as the following, resulting in a combined MP discount of 150:
Battle Phase 1: 120 MP (-80)
Battle Phase 2: 120 MP (-80)
Battle Phase 3: 200 MP as it was before
T2 Building: 15 MP cheaper (-15)
T3 Building: 55 MP cheaper (-55)
But wait a minute, that amounts to 230! Where did the other 80 go then?
Tier 2 Has The Markings of a Starting Tier But It Should Come With a Penalty
Here's the proposal. Make Ostheer start with 60 fuel instead of 20. (+40) Then, make an upgrade, that costs 80 MP and 40 Fuel, which unlocks just about every non-doctrinal munitions-based upgrade and ability you can think of. Bunkers, LMG42, Halftrack flamethrower, vehicle MGs, bundle grenades, mines, you name it. All of those things would require their current requirements AND this upgrade, so for example, LMG42 would require BP1 and this upgrade.
Since BP1 is cheaper and since BP1's research time should be reduced to 20 seconds from 45, the said upgrade would get the 25 seconds and it would get the 80 MP BP1 no longer pays for.
So it evens out, what was the purpose of any of this? Well, it allows a T2 start, but if you do it, you'll have to pay to unlock bunker upgrades, mines, even the bundle grenades on your Panzergrenadiers. You'll in turn be able to do an early T2 start, but it will be delayed because of the BP1 research time. You won't have any team weapons, and both Allied factions have valid counters to them already. This bit is actually something we play tested in a mod, and it does not seem to be overpowered. It did turn out however that the Halftrack should be locked by the upgrade that unlocks everything I mentioned before, and perhaps even the Scout Car. That's a balance discussion, which is obviously something I cannot do with myself on this OP.
T3 and T4, So Close Yet So Far
Now to the bit I thought of just now, here's the proposal, hold on to your hats and set your flamethrowers to not-burn:
-Replace Panzer IV with Panzerwerfer
-Give StuG the penetration profile of SU-85, a drastic penetration increase.
-Give Panzer IV 800 health like T-34/85.
-Make Panzer IV more expensive.
-Add an Officer to T3 that can speed up production
-Add some sort of elite infantry to T4, or maybe a purchasable squad-size increase upgrade. Not sure, I haven't really thought about this one to be honest so do let me know what you would add here.
Now I believe the initial reaction to this would be that Panzer IV and Panther overlap, but when you consider the 800 health, this really just sets Panzer IV as the generalist tank and Panther as the dedicated tank hunter. You could argue that that is already the case, but Panzer IV comes in a seperate tier and people aren't really inclined to get it. The downside is that Brümmbar and Panzer IV overlap even more; but I always thought that Brümmbar wasn't special enough as a breakthrough tank; it felt like an Ostwind with more health and armor and better anti-vehicle capability. I honestly don't know about solving this issue, so do let me know.
T3 lineup after this change would be:
STUG (with SU-85 penetration)
Ostwind
Panzerwerfer
Officer
StuG becomes the cheap, and highly specialized tank destroyer, with obvious shortcomings like low health and lack of a turret. Wtih Panzer IV gone, Ostwind has no alternative anti-infantry tank in the same tier, which does open up the way for it significantly. It's also your AA. Panzerwerfer at T3 solves the issue that Panzerwerfer really has no reason to come in later than a Katyusha, but it also fixes the very annoying voice announcement and punches some truth into it. Officer completes the "you still want this even if you went T4" theme of the tier, increasing production speed especially helpful after those late game blunders where everything you ever cared about (during that game) is exploding.
I notice the possibility of making this tier back into Jackson food with StuG dying in two hits to it, so a health boost to 480 for StuG may be in order. T-34/85 call-ins are still an issue as they come in far too early, but that is a seperate problem in my opinion. It would be a shame if that were the only reason to delay Panzer IV more but make it more impactive overall for the entire game.
I'm out of time right now so do let me know what you think.
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