I agree but on the other hand the tech cost and cost of the unit (at least for Otheer) make the unit even less cost efficient than the Comet since neither it's AT or it's AI justify the price.
In addition with latest patch allies have some very potent AT infantry and AT snares like the AT conscripts and AT support paras which Panther can not simply defend against relying on its hmgs that require the unit to be in range and stationary.
The only think that could justify it price would be its FRONTAL/side armor but even that does not actually work for the unit since in order to engage it has to move exposing its weak rear/side armor and since allied heavy TDs can actually penetrate the frontal armor reliably while remaining outside its range.
Again I agree but on the other hand TIGER is a doctrinal unit and limited to 1 and currently one of the few ways for Ostheer to stay afloat. (Who now seem to have become what Soviet used to be and have to relay on Call-in units and abilities, both infantry and Tanks to survive)
Comet already has "war-speed" available from vet 0 and can runaway from the Panther.
The Panther already has trouble dealing with allied Super heavies units while having pop of 18 which is very close to those unit making the stug a far more attractive solution, if it can not even deal with allied mediums Premiums like the Comet it will become really useless.
Since ostheer unit are used as benchmark, one has first to find a role for Ostheer Panther (instead of TD with hmgs) and balance the unit and then adjust the Comet.
My suggestion:
the Comet's anti-tank capability is good, but it can't win in a straight fight against the heavier axis beyond panzer4.
and allies "super heavy" does not exist. the IS-2 and pershing are tiger level at best and merely a even match against panther. Panther usually die to concentrated tank destroyer fire.
lasty, hammer provide two ability and the comet unlock. The tank is the main draw for hammer.
Except this damage is negated by yellow cover, vetarancy and the fact it does damage over time, instead of bursts.
None of this applies to AoE based damage and as such, panther's AI is alot worse than people give it credit for.
No one get's a panther for the mg's.
Yellow cover doesn't "negate" smallarm, it merely mitigable it. Anyone that play this game should know that yellow cover does not make your infantry immune to small.
coaxial matter even if they are diminished by cover and veterancy. Remember when t-34 got the buff to its mgs?
this also means the comet is on the lower end of dps in terms of anti-infantry. both t34/76 and 85 use the same mgs. sherman get the super HE, panzer4 also get effective mgs. Comet only get the gun. The panzer4 would be a lot less effective against infantry if they were still using the old ost gun.
and subsequently, both wehr pz4 and panther are now using the OKW mg. Even if the dps of mg is mitigable they are still better than the nonexistence mg on the jackson, etc.
We're balancing this game on feelings now?
And we're disregarding every negative that comes with said health increase?
yes.
german grenadier fighting with a numerical disadvantage against allies is very much part of their identity, as as the superior fighting capability of the tiger and panther. It's part of their identity.
(Volks and ost being different since they were "bottom of the barrel" recruit.)
The durability of 5 man grenadiers versus small arms fire is significant. The problem is that it snowballs grenadiers, especially with lmg42s, into a roving mass of effective a-move.
Bolt action rifles are typically secondary to how powerful all slot_items are like lmgs, bars, and brens.
In a way it only duplicates existing problems so all factions are equitable in having a problematic, blobbable, mainline infantry.
I have tested 5 man gren squads off and on in various forms for years and I am still not sold on whether it's actually a good idea.
It HAS to come as a global upgrade using fuel, like UKF bolster, but it also would need to come as apart of a larger effort to give factions global, fuel based upgrades.
5 man grens would be a "fix" of sorts for ostheer, but it would solidify a greater design issue, likely forever. Right now ostheer is kind of the last bastion of the coh gameplay that made the franchise famous.
Every other faction has been coalescing into "infantry do everything". Even the redesigned ostheer commanders revolve around using primarily (if not only) infantry it seems.
I still favor recrewing with 2 man squads, and global upgrades that increases vet rate or reduces manpower upkeep via reinforce rate or popcap, or both.
5 men grenadier feels wrong. They are not suppose to have that much model.
Again the Panther and Comet should not be compared in their current setup and roles.
In addition the Comet should not have a have a pop 16. It a main battle tank that can engage both hard and soft targets. Actually specialized units should have a lower pop than multirole units.
Same goes for price.
I one want to compare the Comet with an axis tank that should be the Tiger.
As I also pointed in a previous post Comet has access to number of abilities from vet 0.
Actually it is the Panther that needs a clear role and vet bonuses and abilities to fit that role.
Currently it is supposed to be a counter to heavy armor with HMG. It fails both in fighting heavy armor and in fighting soft targets.
true specialist unit like the Firefly, jackson, su-85, and jagdpanzer are almost devoid of anti-infantry except pure lucky hit. The panther lean on anti-tank but its mg is too deadly for it to be regarded as purely anti-tank.
and while the tiger and comet occupy a similar role, there's a huge difference between great at everything (tiger) vs good at everything (comet). The tiger is one of the best tank slugger as well as one of the best anti-infantry unit among single shot cannon.
and given the current relation between the panther and comet, the comet needs to have better acceleration to run away from a panther.
I find it super funny how infantry sections start with 4 models and come on top in a 1v1 with a gren most of the time (better base squad) and they then can upgrade to 5 man squads and then get double weapon upgrade and they are cheaper to reinforce (28 manpower) than grens are (30 manpower). Not to mention that after the early game you will lose every engagement versus IS unless you blob or have your infantry in heavy cover with sniper support...
too weak to be a 280 4 men but too strong to be a 280 5 men squad.
This is also why adding a fifth man to grenadier is a bad idea. The british tommy isn't even properly balanced yet.
We find the range of both abilities (80) and the lethality of the White Phosphorus to be over performing. At the same time, we are introducing a critical fix to both abilities to make them more reliable.
Range of Smoke Shell/White Phosphorus reduced from 80 to 45
Comet White Phosphorus will no longer finish off infantry models, bringing its performance in-line with other White-phosphorus abilities
and any "bug fix" that cut down the range of an ability by half will have affect on balance.
the comet should be cheaper. The comet should lose to the panther, but right now people seems to over estimate the comet's anti-infantry capability.
remember that the last mega patch substantially nerf the comet's anti-infantry capability as well. Larger scatter + shorter range + slower rotation significantly cut down its killing power against infantry. Plus the nerf to its WP shell. The comet actually took a bigger cut to Anti-infantry than anti-tank.
At the same thing the wehr panther saw a substantial boost to their coaxial and hull mg. They are actually okay at killing infantry as long as it stay stationary. Meanwhile the mg on the comet completely suck.
the comet could probably go down to 470 mp 175 fuel and 16 pop.
lmao you also realize the comet shoots at infantry too, right?
The comet has more than 50% more pen than the cromwell and 33% more than the t34-85, while being better at AI than both of them. It's got only 5% less armor than a tiger. It has a smoke shot that rapes AT guns, and nades that let it circle strafe them easily. It's non-doctrinal, and you're complaining that it loses against a tank specifically designed to counter it. I'm not sure what more you expect from this tank.
saying that the comet only have 5% less armor than the tiger is seriously misrepresenting the difference in durability. the extra hp on the tiger will allow it to survive two more penetrating shot.