Here are my 2 cents about the first 2 rounds of the UTT. I will come back to some of the topics that were already discussed and add some additional thoughs:
The Mortar Pit's Reign of Terror
I'm really surprised that nobody brought up the recent balance changes to explain why the emplacements are a lot harder to deal with.
Winter balance patch
LE.IG/Mortar Half-Track Incendiary Barrage
The DOT against emplacements has been slightly reduced. Previously a full salvo would almost kill an emplacement if it was at full health.
DOT Incendiary +25% against Commonwealth Emplacement tag removed.
Brings DOT damage per tick versus defenses from 4.67 to 3.75
The best way to deal with emplacements were significantly nerfed. One of the few reasons to pick "Firestorm" was the incendiary shells for leigs that could deal pretty good damage to emplacements. Now the incendiary ammo- useless against almost anything else- is also bad against emplacements. The nerf was just too hard and a bad decision.
I'd forgotten about this change. It also significantly reduced the mortar halftrack's effectiveness, so I don't expect this unit to be a saving grace for Axis.
As an aside, one unit I'd like to see be explored a bit more is the artillery field officer. His mortar barrage could be pretty useful for nuking the pit and his synergy with panzerwerfers is great. He comes in a commander with an elephant too.