I always did penals, but how can you cope with less map presence and high replenishment costs?
Would 3 penals, and 2 cons work well?
ANd with the penals shall i make the AT or keep them on fighting infantry and call in guards?
Go 2 Engis for capping power and then go Penals and scoutcar. I typically go 3 Penals and mix a scout car in there somewhere. Volks dont get fausts so the Scout Car is super effective at forcing retreats.
3 Penals 2 cons is too much bleed. Maybe 1 con at most if you want utility.
The thing about Sov OKW matchup is that cons typically want a large presence of infantry to either spread the enemy thing due to map pressure or overwhelm an area with multiple squads. Cons do not trade favorable with any mainline early except maybe Grens. Problem is OKW can field around a similar amount of Volks as you do cons so you dont get early map pressure and dont trade well into him.
Penals on the other hand typically beat Volks pretty easily. Focus on a part of the map early to hold and use ur scout car to force strums and volks of ur penals.
At penals depend on how the game is going. If you can get guards out and not need the extra at then keep them unupgraded. If your expecting a fast LV then tech 1 penal for AT.