Profile of TomDRV

I'd like to see a little rework of the Medics and Tommies.

People using Medics are mostly using them to cap team weapons or take over abandoned vehicles. Its arguable that this was a capability that Brits were missing, but clearly not the intended role of medics. Additionally, the healing they do provide is pretty wonky.

I'd say remove the basic healing from medics and call them something else, possibly giving them Enfields and let people use them as a second line team, then give it a 60 or so munitions upgrade that turns them into medics and gives them a USF Ambulance style healing aura.

Sections likewise need a rethink of their specializations with Medics added to the mix. I'd dump the medkit option, and then put on Assault and AT Specializations instead.

So the changes would look like this:

* Medics lose their healing by default and are renamed to some form of rear line support squad
* Said squad can now spend 60 or so munitions to upgrade to a USF Ambo heal aura that locks the squad in place.

* IS Healing removed.
* Assault Upgrade added. Enfields swapped for Brens, and Grenades swapped for Smoke.
* AT Upgrade added. Grenade swapped for AT Snare and squad gains the improved PIATS ability. (Think ranger improved Bazookas)

They're interesting.

Like you I don't know what the medic squad would be renamed to. I do use my medic squad for that .. . but at three people it's 180 manpower to do it so it's actually expensive and the models are pretty weak. But it's a nice last ditch grab-that-now gimmick.

I don't like the assault upgrade though, Brens are LMGs so would never be standard weapons (and they're at the weapon racks anyway). And such as massive change of role from long to short range would be a funny transformation for a unit. I think the sapper upgrade fits the role better and the anti-garrison can be worked into it with the light gammon bomb. It's also behind a bit of tech.

Disclaimer: I'm a UKF main player and I have hundreds of hours in the game, but I'm no MLG and I recognise these may be wrong.

I've ended up making a few suggestions of ways to rebalance UKF over the past few days in different threads. So I'm gonna throw them together here in one place for people to critique. Mods, if you want to clear up a bit I'll point you to where they are

Edit: changed section 2

Most of the debate seems to be agonising over numbers and values when the prob is just there's an unfilled role which needs a unit to fill it. When an existing unit is adjusted to perform well in a role it wasn't intended to be in, it has multiple domino effects into it's original niche and interactions with units, as we're seeing with the current state of Tommies.

Basically comes as three points:

1) After the latest update, UKF healing to too powerful and encourages blobbing (or it already was with Section's medical supplies)
2) Forcing some compromises around tommy strengths
3) How to give UKF earlier anti-garrison and a sevicable CQB unit.

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1) After the latest update, UKF healing to too powerful (or it was already was with Section's medical supplies)

I haven't played against UKF since the update, but by playing as one, it feels like there's too much healing now? I have an amazing medic squad who can go wherever independently AND my rifles can heal themselves and anyone near. It feels way too easy to keep everyone topped off.

I understand why the medic squad was thought necessary and I like the freedom of moving my healing unit around at will, so my suggestion is:

- Remove the medical supplies upgrade for IS

And replace it with another upgrade, perhaps to try to separate out the IS's power a bit late game across different squads and encourage some diversification and micro. When just one of your combat squads can heal everyone nearby simultaneously WHILE ON THE MOVE blobbing gets much easier too.

I would also suggest make the medic squad's medical supplies ability a toggle-able AOE that locks movment (Like USA ambo) So it can't heal on the move and it can be set up by a retreat point.

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2) Making tommies scale better and forcing some gave & take
Remove bolster, pyro/attach arty observer & medic add one extra model at the cost of a weapon slot

"Attach artillery observer":
- Occupies weapon slot
- Adds 1 model armed with regular rifle with regular stats, maybe give him a radio backpack or something.
- Squad gains ability to call down from base arty the regular barrage, smoke barrage (both with slightly buffed call-down ranges, maybe using a rifle grenade to pop the flare now?) and a flare shot (which would have a much further call-down range than the other two).

I think the current smoke animation is really weird, could they have each of these abilities on separate cool downs, but have them all actually use the on-map base arty guns. As a result they could not be used simultaneously, though you could pop one straight after the other had finished firing. But of course the cool down for each individual barrage type would be global. It would be nice to give the base guns a few more functions.

I would also then buff the smoke barrage a bit to two arty smoke rounds, which would land in a slightly randomised (but small) pattern. Would also be consistent with both the guns turning for the barrage and I guess you could poach the regular barrage code, reduce the salvo to 2, make it more accurate and just turn them to smoke shells. The flare shot would compensate for the lack of recon/removal of ALO/AO recon sweep.


then the second:

"Attach medic":
- Occupies weapon slot
- Add 1 medic model once again armed with regular rifle, regular stats, medic hat ofc
- Gains medical supplies ability. Or to keep the medic squad relevent, the medical supplies ability is removed and the medic auto heals 1 one model at a time and nearby models of other squads when the tommy squad is idle. As a result the dedicated medic squad is a still a much more powerful alternative.

Because the extra man has a regular stat-ed rifle, it would serve the same purpose as bolster and make it more reasonable to have one or two of these on field even when the player is losing weapon slots.

Or have neither of these two upgrades and stay as a 4 man squad with double weapon slots.

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3) Giving the UKF earlier anti-garrison and a CQB unit.

The assault officer is very powerful but it really feels forced into the unit roster and out of place, it's a commando stylised officer unit with no other assault units to command! And I think having no dedicated CBQ assault squads is a fair factional disadvantage to have given the UKF's other strengths and defensive nature. But it still needs something.

-Remove the airlanding/assault officer from the Platoon command post.
- Give Ro.E enfield rifles as standard
- Give Ro.E an 'assault package' upgrade. Squad receives gammon bombs for garrison clearing/destruction, buffed Stens and body armour (from Heavy engineers) for CQB. Squad loses the ability to construct buildings and defences (mines etc) but can still repair. Weapon slots also removed (no PIAT/Bren)
- Heavy engineers could remain the same (now with enfields not smgs) but . ..
. . . the upgrade feels like it can't identify between a combat engineer or advanced repair unit. With this other assault package upgrade in the game. 'Heavy engineers' could be renamed as 'R.E.M.E package', the upgrade loses the Vickers and body armour in return for gaining the repair critical ability (from US vehicle crews). Keeps the double repair/build speed (ofc) and is still slowed down in combat from the extra repairing gear

The minesweeper could be upgraded alongside either of the two RE packages.

If you don't know what REME are: https://www.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/corps-regiments-and-units/corps-of-royal-electrical-and-mechanical-engineers-reme/

There is now a mid-game anti-garrison assault unit and the anvil engineer upgrade feels a bit more purposed, not hamstrung between a combat upgrade and something I want waiting to fix my tanks.

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Also, these ideas together feature true units and regiments in the real UKF of WW2, not an abstract 'heavy engineer' or 'assault officer'. I think it's a major plus.

The gammon bombs for Hammer tactics could be replaced with something else, but I dunno what

I am also not a fan of the moving accuracy change as it saps more diversity away. I think they should have looked into diversifying the upgrade paths and found a way to adjust Tommie chase potential in that way (5 man squad removes penalty like recon upgrade did in cohf for example) and looked at volks hardcounteirng the entire Brit t0 after okw places their first truck so they could play for more than the first minute with the cover penalty.

*cough*

Something like this? (The side-track suggestion in the OP)

https://www.coh2.org/topic/105071/opinion-suggestions-ukf-balancing-is-overthought

I think defensive tommies are great. Instead of trying to dial down the uniqueness and make them more standardised and jack-of-all-trades. They need to start as defensive, then get the option to re specialise into something more mobile. In later game, it would encourage some more inter-squad synergy and micro, rather than low-brain-power blobbing.

It definitely makes me pay hard attention, but it's completely defeatable.

Actually,
did the Valentine ever have a command aurora?
It's called a 'command tank'but it doesn't have one?

I would use it if it had one of those without the weapon penalties. (Which could be justified cause it can't be slapped on to a comet or something, it would be part of the Valentine)

Commmand aurora & recon run, with the smoke grenades and concentration barrage would make it a great utility vehicle. Worth sacrificing the pop space to over an AEC or a crom.