Profile of ZombiFrancis

If it's an entity modifier, which I believe the conscript RA modifier is, it does transfer between squads with merge. I am not entirely sure how that RA modifier is applied though.

Conscripts that merge into other squads retain conscript stats on the entity level, but not the squad level.

This is why weapon crews recrewed with pioneers retain the larger sight radius, despite being a different squad, and conscripts merged into shock troops don't have the armor.

A lot of OKW's early game depends on effective Sturmpioneer use. Using shot/LOS blockers to your advantage to keep them alive and maximize their close range effectiveness is key. Any smart player is going to focus on the Sturmpioneers over Volks, and you can use this to your advantage. Once your opponent starts focus firing your sturms, try to duck them behind a LOS/Shot blocker. Enemy infantry will all jump out of cover and start closing the distance to try and reveal your sturms. If you opponent is wise to this, they will stop focus firing, which can be your cue to move those SPs back in.

If you have a volks squad at long range, you can use this dance to whittle down your opponent.

Also, many OKW players have gotten into the habit of using kubels offensively, which was extremely effective before being patched. They really have to be used defensively these days, except for maybe an all-out rush on a fuel point in the first moments of the game.

But losing the manpower spent on the kubel is usually not worth delaying a fuel point most times, especially since all non-muni points give fuel income. Trying to deny a fuel specific point is hardly as effective a tactic in CoH2 as it was in vCoH.

I still wish Penal Battalions had the option for a DP package instead of only flamethrowers. I miss having a long(er) range stock unit as Soviets. An upgrade path for Penals with flamethowers and Satchels, or DPs and a suppression ability would've been great.

As far as the package goes on Guards, I find it to be worth it if you have spare munitions to spend on anti-infantry measures. It isn't worth it for Button though. If you're playing Guard Motor, Mark Target is a far superior use of munitions for handling Axis armor than button.

And yet, with both Ciez and Katitof's examples of how imbalanced the game was in its earlier days, things were so much easier to balance because there weren't USF and OKW completely changing how Ostheer and Soviets interacted.

Soviets and Ostheer were designed to face each other. But the WFA did the same thing that Opposing Fronts did: introduced factions that attempted to reinvent the wheel. The WFA factions, like the British and Panzer Elite, are designed to play against each other, and don't necessarily integrate well against the original factions.

A fifth faction, British no less, is only going to make balancing even harder to accomplish. The easiest way they will mesh with the existing factions is if they bring absolutely nothing new to the table, or if core game mechanics are being overhauled, neither of which are exactly likely possibilities.

I often use an alias in ANY game if I am a)not trying to be social with friends and acquaintances and play without distractions b) I am testing things out, especially new maps or mods c)I am (not) playing competitively.

I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. I think what's more in play is that automatch is currently not providing satisfactory match-ups regardless of your rank or account, and this undermines virtually all sentiments of sustainably competitive play.

I know I haven't ever smurfed in games that use our steam information like CoH2, but back in CoH1, for instance, I had an account I would only use when I was playing competitively and 'for realz'. Any game after a few bong rips and half a pint of whiskey would usually be on a different tag.