it wouldn't be that simple. the 222 was still pretty bad until the health upgrade recently. I would say that it's actually the hp that made the 222 decent, not the "free" cannon.
Giving the penal their flamethrower by default is not going to get around the necessity of buffing the unit.
I'm making a mod combining the various suggestions in an attempt to improve the game's balance and gameplay, as well as fixing various bugs.
link to the mod:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=716438093
thanks to everyone in this thread providing feedback. [
note that this is a separate effort from miragefla's mod. He and I have different opinion on regarding balace, and so I've decided to make my own version.
new grand list of changes (9/2/16). This list will be continually updated as more changes are added or removed.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PmjzZ77TVnD09iHRi3Yn7wObnAz-UlUloUqIl_iNd94/edit?usp=sharing
old grand list of changes, kept for record
Show Spoiler Soviet:increase the viability of the penal squad by increasing their mid-long range dps and usefulness of their satchel. increase the viability of the conscript by increasing the potency of their molotov and their firepower increase the viability of the t-34/76 by increasing its general firepower lowered the cost of the medical kit to boost the wehr's early game power and to give it better map control through the use of on-field healing and reinforcement lowered the cost of the pioneer to better reflect its combat performance lowered the veterancy bonus of the grenadier to bring it in line with rifleman and tommies. lowered its population cost to more accurately reflect its early game strength decrease the survivability of sniper to make the unit more risky to use decreased the cost of the wehr mid-late game building to increase their viability increase the population cost of the panzer 4 to bring it in line with similarly price units such as the jackson improve the sherman's durability to improve its viability as the USF's late game unit and main tank lowered the scaling of the rifleman to encourage the usage of USF combined arms lowered the cost of the .50cal to improve its viability as the USF's main suppression platform redone the veterancy bonus on the volks grenadier increase the population cost of the panzer 4 to bring it in line with similarly price units such as the jackson provide the OKW with a usable suppression platform by increasing the flak ht's surviability and mobility. lowered the cost of the glider commandos to more accurately reflect the squad's strength and the glider transport's utility. lowered the damage of the light gammon bomb to more accurately reflect its cost and lower the possibility of an ohk increased the cost of the vicker to more accurately reflect its performance. lowered the long range capability of the british emplacement to lower its offensive power against axis artillery increased the 17 pounderâs range and hp to improve its combat capability, mostly so that it can win against the jagdtiger one on one. decreased the 17 pounderâs pop cost to make it more viable increased the cost of the bofor emplacement to increase its rarity, and increased its hp to increase its durability lowered the cost and the reload time of the firefly to improve its performance as the british's main tank destroyer. lowered the cost and potency of the tulip upgrade to decrease its alpha damage and the possibility of ohk against axis armor decrease the survivability of sniper to make the unit more risky to use increased the cost of the cromwell to more accurately reflect its performance. removed the scoped Enfield from the vet 3 tommies to lower their tendency to drop heavy weapon. increased its veterancy bonus to offset the loss in firepower lowered the cost of the hammer gammon bomb to improve its viability and to improve the versatility of late game tommies
penal being a "mid-close" range unit is an artificial constraint.
penal's mid and close range dps are not even that good. the wehr pio have better close range dps than the penal.
the penal are just crap. their dps is neither good enough at close range nor is it good enough at long range.
I think the biggest problem with a straight up damage buff is that it would make them like American rifles but with an extra man and Sprint... They almost need a cheese to be unique.
If they are buffed too much then we have another flamer rifles...
the american flame rifle was difficult to balance, because the flamethrower was an unique situation. It would not have made sense to nerf the rifleman in order to accommodate a DLC doctrine upgrade. The only sensible thing to do was to nerf the flamethrower itself in some way.
By comparison, the penal and flamethrower are irrevocably linked to each other. there's a lot more room to work here, because the penal would be balanced and designed around the fact it's got a flamethrower.
Penal don't need double far DPS. They are designed mid to close and since they are using flamers will move to range 20 to fight or will lose the DPS of member due to flamer. They do need to have different veterancy bonuses and abilities.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LOYMDi_XR7rILsk6HbAZqGihsk22t-45C_6NbQEP-m0/edit#gid=0
for a 270 mp unit, their dps is abysmal. Their mid-long ranger dps is even worst than the conscript.
fixed, thank you. it's under the vehicle section.
To be fair that isn't really a problem with the Vickers, it's the extraordinary strength, availability and cheapness of OKW grenades which is ridiculous.
wehr rifle grenade and panzerfusilier grenades are just as deadly.
the issue is more due to the price. the schwerer cost 300 mp 135 fuel, compared to 280mp 30 fuel on the bofor.
the advanced bofor is just as difficult to take out as the schwere, if not more so, but the bofor is a lot cheaper.
the bofor isn't the first emplacement in the game. the okw flaktruck have been in the game for roughly two years now.
(according to stat.cho2.hu)
I made a more detailed chart for dps.
https://www.coh2.org/topic/50986/coh2-dps-chart/page/1#post_id510832
the vicker does have significantly better dps under 20 meters, but at that range the team is going to be eating a grenade anyway.
Firesparks
CPU - Easy
Firesparks
Relic Entertainment
