It's strong, but nowhere near M36 "oppression" levels.
The MG42 does very, very little actual damage - especially against anything in cover or garrisoned; compare its damage output of that to the .50cal or Vickers, and you'll see that it can't really drain any MP, it just forces retreats (hard or soft). It does suppress incredibly quickly, but that's the only area it's truly exceptional in (AP rounds seem in-line with other MG-AP rounds).
Even then, its suppression isn't insurmountable; get some Double-Bren-Bolstered-Vet 3 infantry sections or Vet3 rifles w/ M1919s, and you'll be able to melt it head-on. It also has the slowest traversal rate in the game (for MGs), making it very vulnerable to simply having two units attack in from slightly different angles. Another counter is that due to the 3 second pack up time, it is exceedingly vulnerable to Penal-satchels; if the throw animation is started, the MG is gone. This means that OST players will likely move/retreat the MG if penals even get close, regardless of the satchel being thrown or not.
It's a very solid unit, but by no means is it OP. There are simply too many ways to counter it for it to be "oppressive", many of which are available quite early on (having 2+ infantry squads, mortar smoke, MHT smoke, RE smoke, penals, flamer UC/M3).
The M36 actually takes work to unlock and actually costs something. The HMG42 is...not that way. It also doesn't get a hard counter until medium tanks hit the field but it's available righr off the bat. Some light vehicles can withstand it but they don't deal much damage to it. |
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Either that or tie it to the grenade unlock but that's probably a little unfair still because of all the free stuff OKW and OST get. |
Absolutely, although I find vet 3 LT with double BARs to be extremely strong. Officer passive sprint is very strong.
I don't know if it's just me but a double BARed Riflemen sqaud seems like it works slightly better than a double BARed LT sqaud.
To the OP, USF does get free sqauds with teching but it does suck when you factor in the side tech for weapon racks, side tech for grenades, retreating and walking around the whole friggen base to get a weapon, then having to vet to get AT snares. Having to do all that is a bit much even with a free sqaud or two. |
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The HMG42! Congratulations! Pretty absurd this is an actual starting unit but I'm sure we can all give up on this thing ever changing. The thing gets to be as cheap as any MG, better than any other MG, and available before any other MG at the same time.
It pins better than a USF flak HT, it kills light vehicles in one AP round burst.
Is it bad that it preforms so well? No, not necessarily. Should it preform this well and be so inexpensive AND be available right off the bat? Hell no, not from what I've seen. I'm surprised we don't hear more complaints about this especially given the inordinate amount of crying about the Soviet Maxim which isn't nearly as good as the MG42 (even though it costs the same) and requires a specific tech to unlock.
It's not going to ever change I realize that but I'd like to know the justification for this being a starting unit. It seems to me like it should be part of the same tech tree that the other support weapons are in like the mortar and sniper and Grens should be the starting unit. |
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It would be cool if USF could build an "aid station" or something like that. For Brits they really should be allowed to build medics AND a forward retreat point on their forward assembly areas. Pretty lame you cannot do that. |
I am watching guys, so keep the criticism coming and I can update the map. Even tho the topic seems to gone off rails a bit with other maps, I understand its not everyone's cup of tea, so you can always veto it. Its your freedom of choice, I am not forcing anyone to play it. 
I actually like the look of the map a lot. My main gripes with it though are that it seems too big and the fuel capture points as well as the cut offs are pretty far from the bases. As USF or OKW if you stumble on to an MG you're screwed. You have to retreat all the way back to your base and then try to mount another attack which is not quick process due to the size of the map. And if it happens again you start the whole process over again. It's not as bad with OKW because of the Kubelwagon but with USF it's pretty punishing. |
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In 1v1 at least, because its way, WAY too big for that game mode. |
How is USF's opening worse than UKF?
USF since has last patch probably has the best allied early game and is probably pretty close to matching OKW's on the axis side.
You are literally only weaker until the third rifle squad hits the field. (Going 3 rifles into officer has better field presence for longer than going 2 into officer)
So I don't understand this. How is USF's early game that good? You have just one, predictable, unit you can rely on as a combat unit. RETs don't give you anything but some capping power, mortar is useless unless fighting OST in buildings and I don't even know why they bothered to make the Ambulance T0. |
Honestly I prefer Assault Grens to regular Grens at least in 1v1. Don't mind mixing them together though to have snares.
Assault Grens are a pretty good starting unit they're almost like OST Strumpioneers but more durable with slightly less firepower.
But if you blob 3-4 Grens they're not going to be stopped by Riflemen (so long as you keep your distance which is not hard to do). You need some kind of supression with USF doesn't get until way later. |
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It's no question USF has the worst starting roster in the game. No MGs, no vehicles, no alternative to Riflemen which still struggle against much cheaper units. It's pretty easy to just own USF with MG spamming on these small 1v1 maps. The doctrines don't help much because what do you have?
Assault Engenieers are only available with one lack luster doctrine and preform pretty poorly themselves so they're not really an option. I thought they were supposed to be like USF Assault Grenadiers but that they are not never the less they sure get to cost the same for some reason.
The pattern of paying more for less continues with Pathfinders. A small, poorly preforming Paratrooper sqaud that apparently are good at spotting and are USF's only cloaking unit but of course they have to cost 290 MP and have a very high reinforcement cost despite their poor combat preformance. This I will never understand.
The best alternative (I say best, not great) is probably Mechanized with WC51s. Of course they are unarmed but they are quick enough to get out of harms way and can often provide a good enough distraction to keep your units from getting steam rolled by the superior firepower available to your opponent at the start of the game. But they aren't all that hard to counter once you get the hang of it.
Now if anyone has successfully used something besides Riflemen early on I'm all ears but there really doesn't seem to be anything there to work with. RET spam I guess was a thing when they were 180 MP but they're pretty terrible.
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