Profile of Hawking

Hey folks! Played a half dozen hours in the new patch, thought I'd try and ignite some discussion about what commander selection trends we can expect based on the balance changes.

(EDIT: Accidentally hit Post before it was done. )

USF:

Big One: Airborne.
Airborne is in a great place right now to make a resurgence within the meta. With buffs to the Jackson and Scott, the Easy Eight and Pershing "requirements" to stay competitive late game may not be as vital. USF's strengths may well be centered around the early game once again, with the addition of the mortar and the resurgence of the LT Tier to favour. The buffs to the 57mm AT Gun drops will make the AT Gun drop ability extremely useful, allowing players to go for a quick LT build and still maintain an exceptional AT presence. Against OKW, particularly, The reworking of Volksgrenadiers will make Paratroopers a solid elite infantry choice once more. The ease and accessibility of mortar smoke might even allow for Thompson Paras to finally take their place alongside Shocks as effective assault infantry. The P-47 strike isn't what it once was, but, may see use once again to support Jacksons in taking down heavy armour.

Others to watch out for:
Everything except Mech and Recon Supp.

SOVIETS:

Big One: Shock Rifle
Shock Rifle has always been an exceptionally solid doctrine choice, but, the buffs to the IS2, SU85, T-34/76 and reworking of Soviet tier 1 will open up a new slew of options. Spawning changes will also be significant. Will be as good as ever.

Others to watch out for:
Garden Motor, Armoured Assault(We can dream), many others.

OKW

Big One: Breakthrough
With the reworks to Volksgrenadiers, I suspect elite infantry will be a welcome compliment. Panzerfusiliers in particular will make for a great compliment to their STG wielding brethren, especially with the Offizier nearby. The JT's "survivability" buffs might also make it workable, if not desirable.

Others to watch out for:
Luftwaffe(For the same reason, FSJ will be useful), Scavenge, Firestorm (Hetzer buffs...maybe? Bit of a stretch)

Brits

Big One: Sim City Commander
I won't lie, I'm not a big UKF player, nor do I have the Sim City Commander. From what I've seen in the changes, however, I'm not certain that the update has shaken things up enough for the Brits to drastically instigate change in meta.

Others to watch out for:
As before.

Ostheer

Big One: Lightning War

With the changes to Wehrmacht's teching and (arguably) the strengthening of their core non-doctrinal units, I suspect Ostheer players will be looking for more toys to add to their playstyle depending on where the game is going. Similar to Shock Rifle, Lightning War is a solid commander that adds more options on top of an already solid non-doc structure.
That said, Ostheer is in for a rough ride with the strengthening of allied early game this update. Perhaps people will find a use for Stormtroopers or Assault Grens?

Others to watch out for:
Spearhead (Mortar HT may be useful once again), Mech Assault, Mobile Defence

Americans do nothing but whine about their lack of proper tanks and snipers can we accept that in our army in the Commonwealth?

We're fearsome warriors and we act like it, we cant have that sort of negativity around!
With our mighty Churchill tanks, agile Cromwells and deadly Comets tanks we will break through the Axis lines and crush their bones to dust

Supported by our Lads with stout hearts and a belly full of tea we will be a formidable and dangerous force and shall stay and fight in the late game when the Americans are retreating because foolish notions of defeat is brought up

Let's just not mention the Emu War.
A dark day in our history.

I remember seeing a suggestion to make the T-34/76s a doctrinal call-in in Mech, Soviet Industry or Adv. Warfare, 630/170 for two T-34s at 9CP, from memory. Replace the 34/76 with a nondoc 34/85.

SU-100 in Advanced Warfare to replace the T-34/85 would be neat, imo.

Thermite dust and holograms.

I smell a decisive return of American elite infantry vs OKW.
#LongLiveAirborne