Profile of Rasputin

For all those people saying "Oh but the german mortar...", have you ever considered that russians have 2 more men per squad than germans? Makes it easier to hit them. They also reinforce alot cheaper per model. Meaning 20 kills on an ost mortar vs 20 kills on a 120mm will not mean the german mortar is super op as shit whatever. It means the 120mm caused a bigger bleed cause germans have higher reinforcement costs.

Dont get me wrong, the 120mm overall is absolutely fine. For its price and the time it arrives on the field, its range and lethality are totally fine. The problem here is that once again relic gave a weapon with big aoe to a faction that has more models per squad. Meaning with the overall rng dice roll bs germans will not only bleed, but theyll lose squads. Be it due to a lucky shot, a couple lucky shots left and right or the occasional precision strike when the cover system decided to clip all 4 models of an mg crew into each others faces.

The problem here is not the lethality and damage and mp bleed that the mortar causes. Hell, it deserves those for its hefty cost. It costs as much as Obers, might aswell perform the part. The dicey rng roll squad wipes are what has to go. Changing its rof or accuracy or whatever wont change the rng squadwipes. It will just make the mortar useless and the only reason you wont see squadwipes is because ppl wont build it anymore since it wont be cost effective.

My only real gripe with the thing is that its the biggest mortar, yet its the hardest to kill. Both stock mortar crews die as soon as only one model is left and they both deal less damage. Then you look at the pack howitzer the americans can field and the crew already runs when theres only 2 ppl left. So why on earth should a mortar with that range and lethality allow for a single guy to get away with the goddamn weapon?

Also, I agree. If the mortar gets its wipe potential nerfed, a potential price decrease is definitely warranted.

I honestly dont think the Tiger is the real problem here. It works pretty well for what it is meant to do in this game - being a breakthrough damage sponge.

Using Tigers as AT is not really that good an option anymore. It can certainly still deal a good punch to medium tanks, especially with Pak support, but it performs way better at AI than AT. With the current rampant use of blobs, the tiger is actually really useful to ward said blobs off.

It bounces the occasional Zis shot but overall it has gotten realtively easy for allies to penetrate it from the front. It is still a bit of an rng fest for T34/85 to penetrate it from the front, but overall they reliably manage to do so. Same goes for the IS2 and allied AT guns. Jacksons manage to hand out a good punch too. It certainly has enough weaknesses while not being completely helpless.

I think the real problem here is the IS2. It performs way too good for its cost, leading ppl to believe the Tiger is lackluster when in all reality it isnt.

Now lets, just for the sake of it, look at those 2 tanks in a vacuum. They have the same price but overall, the IS beats the tiger in every category except scatter.

Of couse, in a real environment a vacuum will almost never be the case and germans tend to have more and better AT options, but ppl tend to forget that IS doctrines synergize really well. Fire barrages can clear Paks or force them to move and thus make them not shoot at the IS2. With the tiger being busy shooting at the IS2, shock troops with their squad size and armour can often manage to get close enough to Paks to clear them out, especially considering that by the time Tigers and IS2s arrive on the battlefield those shocktroops are likely to be on vet3 already, making them even more survivable and ensuring they will make it to the Paks.

This is by no means supposed to say that german doctrines suck. CAS poses a real threat to slow tanks like the IS2 and can often shift the battle in favour of the germans but unlike a fire barrage it can be warded off by building an AA halftrack, which most players should do imo, considering how popular CAS is atm. With an AA halftrack close to the IS2 the CAS plane will likely be shot down after its first pass or even before that in some rare cases. Add to that that you can minimize the damage taken by simply reversing(just like germans can against P47 strikes) and it has alot less impact that a fire barrage rendering your Paks useless. Smoke is very useful aswell, but theres this thing called attack ground. Add into that that it is alot easier for the tiger to catch a burning engine(due to cheaper mines on soviet side and generally lower armour of the tiger, allowing more consistency for at nade penetration from the rear) and youve got an almost immobilized kitty cat tank thats surrounded by smoke but wont really be able to leave and will likely be taken out by attack ground.

Now all this rambling aide, of course it is also a question of skill and micro skills. A good player with decent micro will still be able to defeat the IS2 and its support with his tiger and own support, but this requires alot more skill and micro on the german side than it does on the soviet side(just like it was and in many cases still is the case with most allied units against german ones).

What I would propose is to lower the tigers rear armour further to 160 to make it easier and more consistend for allied tanks to penetrate it from the rear, overall rewarding a good flank. I would also propose doing the same thing to the IS2 and lowering its rear armour to 160 aswell, finally giving german medium tanks the chance to take it out if you managed to flank it. This will put an end to reckless overextending of heavy tanks that rewards reckless play when it really shouldnt. The IS2 should also have its frontal armour brought down in line with that of the tiger, or somewhere close to it - 300-320. 375 armour is simply too insane. This change would also see weapons like the Raketenwerfer finally being more useful against heavy tanks. Furthermore, while it is true that the IS2 hits alot less consistently than the tiger, vs infantry, it is also true that when it hits the hit often results in a squad being wiped or being left with only 1 guy, who is likely gonna get wiped on retreat anyways. Considering german squadsizes, I would bring down the AOE of the IS2 below that of the tiger but to compensate for it, lower its scatter drastically, similar to how the Jacksons damage was nerfed but it has gotten a penetration buff for more consistent damage and less dice rolls. This would result in consistent damage vs german infantry without dooming it completely. I feel the tiger is in a good spot with its 1k hp. And so is the IS2. Lowering the armour of the IS2 to something like 300 might(it doesnt necessarily have to) result in it becoming too weak, considering stuff like TWP. So maybe raising the HP of the IS2 by 100 might be in line with its armour nerf.

Overall I feel that the IS2 should remain as good/better than the tiger but it has to become more consistent. Consistent in dealing damage to infantry without wiping it and also consistent in taking damage from AT weapons(especially when it comes to rear hits) without dying like an insect the moment it sees a Pak.

T34/85 is an entirely different problem that I dont really wanna get into here. I believe the tanks are fine for what they cost, but their synergy with mark target completely messes shit up.

tl;dr
The IS2 is the problem, not the tiger.

Lower rear armour of tiger and IS2 to 160. Lower frontal armour of IS2 to Tiger level. Lower AOE of the IS2 below tiger level, but buff its scatter, maintaining lethality vs infantry but giving it more consistent damage output without wiping squads when it gets a lucky shot off. Maybe raise the HP of the IS2 by 100.

Nerf Infiltration Grenades, buff ISG, everything gets what it deserves.

I would also take issue claiming tossing Infiltration Grenades very meaningfully decreases Schreck buying, because those things are ridiculously cheap and a good opportunity for them is the same as a good opportunity for a regular Model 24 at a third of the price. My use of the ability has never made me think "My Volks might be regularly shredding their infantry with grenades...but when they do that nine times, they'll have one less Schreck! ", it's that cheap.

Now tossing three Model 24s, that's a noticeable and fair trade-off against a Schreck with 6 less squad-wipes for enemies to dodge. Plus the cooldown of it actually does stop Volks from spamming the things every time they fight so it's hard to suck away all your munitions on Infiltration Grenades even if you wanted to.

Not arguing that you are right. Because you are. Just said it would add up to the munitions costs, BECAUSE it is so cheap and makes you think less about the investment. Sure, throwing 5 of them is almost negligible but the point stands.

And yes, they balance out the other shit and give OKW a fair chance to win building fights(other than cheesing 3 obers behind green cover next to the building) and Ill be the first one to support a nerf of these op grenades. Never argued with that. Much rather the opposite, as you should see in my other posts where I clearly stated these things are op as fuck several times(which in itself suggests I want them to be changed).

Seeing as I try to go for double Obers as fast as possible to counter the marauding shock/rifle(choose to your liking) I can probably tell you what works against them seeing as I sometimes get face stomped really bad, despite the immense killing power of Obers.

First up would probably be the scott. Unless your enemy already has panthers, those are probably your first choice as americans. Another way would be to send in troops with flamethrowers, seeing as they can be brutal with their flame crits at times. Granted, its a bit unrealiable, but it works. Muster up a squad or two as cannon fodder and screening troops, backed up by flamers that advance in while your other troops soak up the fire. A very unrealiable(because its not gonna work against skilled players) but nonetheless viable one is to go in with a rifle m1919 blob. The sheer dps will just shred the Obers in seconds before they can do any serious damage.

As russians, snipers will probably be your first choice, if youve got good micro. If not, refrain from it as the lmg34 will just shred through them in a matter of 1-2sec and its gonna be a bottomless manpower drain. Ive seen ppl pull this one off very successfully against me and others, while Ive also seen micro scrubs try to do it but lose something like 3 snipers in the process of failing horribly. An early t70 would work too, if you can kite properly to avoid the shreck blob. With a panther backing up the OKW units thats not an option though. Mortars or, for that matter, any AOE explosives that arent offmaps work pretty well too. 2 mgs will do the trick aswell. While they are busy shredding 1 of them(which will probably end up as dead meat), the other one will get the job done.

Half of these options are not viable anymore once the obers reach vet somewhere around vet3-4 or get assault rifles though because their dps will just go through the ceiling and anything involving infantry is doomed to fail. At that point, your only chance is really only to avoid them at all costs and praying to the rng gods that your sherman/is2/isu/whatever will get a 1-shot squadwipe.

Generally, its hard to tell the outcome as the game just has too much rng and youll never see the shreck blob back them up 100% of the time(otherwise, just avoid them and score a win due to superior map presence). Youll have to be careful, avoid them as much as possible and sometimes make risky moves to try and exploit a gap your opponent has left in his lines to wipe the obers on retreat or catch them off guard with a tank.

E://

One thing I forgot, probably the most important one aswell. Place mines wherever you can. Demos are optional but useful too. The mines are your priority nr1 though. Obers are super prone to getting squad wiped by mines, because of their squad size. I cant tell you how often Ive lost full health vet5 obers to 1 mine because my minesweepers were on the other side of the map.

I think the unit is fine, really. Its a big blow on fuel early on and leaves you rather open to a big rush of something. Its click-hit reliability is nice but can also be its doom sometimes. A panzerwerfer or katyusha has some scatter that has to be factored in. So unless youre on the outter border of its firing circle, youre mostly best off just retreating. Walking stuka can be dodged by simply moving to the sides, unless youre in a ton of buildings, in which case you saw the counter to your campy playstyle in the walking stuka, really.

What kinda annoys me though, is that its ability to gain vet is so terribly slow. Usually you wont ever get to vet4 or 5 in your average vp game, which makes having those levels of vet just obsolete for the unit.

I propose to make it gain vet faster and, in return, add a shared cooldown to its vet4 fire barrage thats tied to the normal barrage and, maybe, decrease the vet reload bonuses a tad bit as youll attain them alot faster. Otherwise, id leave the unit unchanged as youll just make it borderline useless by nerfing it into the ground(at least considering its price).