The change on soviet sniper, in my opinion, is in favor of the axis side. The unique design of Soviet and OST/OKW tech makes the one-man Soviet sniper more easily get killed.
First, OST have much earlier access to light armor, 222 and HT than soviets. You are not considering use a M3 Scout car alone to catch sniper, but with 222 and Flame HT, you have better chance. Add additional accuracy to T70 help nothing, as it is far more expensive than 222 and Flame HT. OKW also can get Flak HT or Luch much earlier than Soviets. This combines the nerf to Guards and PTRS, make Soviet sniper a easy prey for the Axis.
Second, OST and OKW has much earlier field reinforcement than soviet. The medical HQ , Halftrack and bunkers can compensate the bleeding of Soviet sniper, while Soviets don't have non-doctoral field reinforcement method in early game.
Third, soviet sniper, in my idea, is the only suitable method to counter OST sniper. The two man design makes great pressure on the OST players to keep their sniper not too aggressively. A one-man squad completely denied this advantages, and make the OST sniper the king in the earlier game.
Maybe someone will think it just a Soviet noob that don't know how to counter sniper. You can check my rank as "『FC』#12345678" in the ladder, and I must admit that kill a sniper in 4 vs 4 versus experienced Axis is very difficult without a 2 man Soviet sniper.
Add the player card link: https://www.coh2.org/ladders/playercard/steamid/76561198155221383
Update:
Please don't tag me as OP!! I just have more games played and I just play COH2 for fun. I am also not good at micros or multiple line operation. The reasoning here is just the analysis on the strongest/weakest of each fraction from my experience.
There are two more arguments on the opposition of the soviet sniper change:
1. The axis factions had much better earlier anti tank than the allies. They have easily accessed snares (Panzerfaust in Grenadier and Volks), good at guns. And they don't have sacrifice any tech to get these. The better anti-tank makes allied light armor assault highly risky. Let alone the high price of allied light armor(m20: 340 mp, 20 fuel, Stuart: 270mp, 60 fuel?, T70: 260mp, 70 fuel). Will you want to trade your precise armor for a 360 mp OST sniper?
2. The design of the Easter front snipers.
OST: high fire output but high risk, get one shot killed by Soviet sniper.
Soviet: Low fire output, but low risk. Only lose 90MP when get snipped.
I think this dynamic design is quite smart and well-considered. Just homogenize Soviet sniper to a worse OST one is a poor choice. COH2 is quite interesting because of the unique design of each unit. If you get all units to similar mirrors, what's the point to play it?
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