Profile of Kurobane

Since this is a Fantasy Patch Thread here is my input on what I would like changed.

General Changes
The option to disable replays added to the options Menu
Performance and Optimization Fixs
Crossfire/SLI support added
Pathing improvements made
You can now assign a different set of Bulletins for each commander (currently you have 3 Bulletins for all three commanders, I would like the ability to have 3 bulletins for each seperate commander)


Feedback on Proposed Changes
Call in System
The game would be easier to balance if Call In Abilities were tied down to Tier Upgrades/Requiring Buildings to be made. The problem I have with this is that it restricts choices which takes away from Strategic Deph. I would rather see tweaks made so that you could have a choice between Teching up or waiting and saving CP's and using them for call in abilities. The issue at hand is that Call In abilities are too effective making teching a waste of fuel if you want to optimize your fuel usage.

Possible Solutions
1. Variable Pricing - I will show an example using Soviets. Say for example calling in a T34/85 had a cost of 600 Manpower and 200 fuel. If you made Soviet T3 or Soviet T4 the call in cost would drop down to 400 manpower 150 fuel (Just random numbers im tossing out here) Here is another example. The Soviet 120 Mortar costs around 400 manpower and allows you to skip T2 avoiding the tech cost. Now if you had built Tier 2, then you could essentially reduce the price of the 120 Mortar to 300 Manpower. Now lets look at Germans. Assault Grenadiers are 280 Manpower if I am not mistaken. You could essentially skip German Tier 1 and go straight into Tier 2 by just spamming Assault Grenadiers. Now what if they had a cost of 350 Manpower and then after building Tier 1 the price went down to 280 manpower. Now keep in mind these are random numbers I took off the top of my head. The idea here is to allow the player to have two choices.
Choice 1 - Skip Tech, pay more for Initial Cost
Choice 2 - Tech Up, Gain more Efficient Call In Abilities

The Current Game only gives you one Choice which is "Spam Units, Skip tech, Spam Call In units" Which is why call in units are too effective and teching up is a waste of fuel if you can avoid it.

2. Variable Cooldowns - Similar to the Idea above, basically the cooldowns of call in abilities are adjusted based on wether or not you teched up. For example, 5-10 Minute Cooldown to Call im Units without teching up. With Tech, normal Cooldowns.

Feedback on USF

Agree with your changes for the most part. The only thing I disagree with is giving M8 Howitzer Carriages a direct fire mode as it would change the role of the unit. I would rather see the unit improved in its ability to provide indirect fire support for your army since currently the USF is lacking in non doctrinal artillery options. Soviets have Katsuya, OKW has Stuka, Whermact/Ostheer have the Panzerwerfer.

Feedback on Soviets

Maxim - Not sure how I feel about these changes. Keep in mind that they are a 6 man squad still and making them more expensive they would probably still get spammed.

Penal Battalion - Personally this is a bit radical but I would like to see Penal Battalions become doctrinal and in its place either put Shock Troops or Guards. As a Doctrinal Unit, I would like to see some improvements made. Ability to fire on the move with a Flamethrower, Some additional survivablity. Reason being is that T1 is the least made Tier Building for Soviets. If you go Tier 2 then tier 3/4 there is no reason to go back and pick up Tier 1. Most commanders have the ability to call in Guards or Shock Troops so grabbing T1 to make Penals is not exactly efficient.

Swap Su76 and T70

Feedback on Ostheer

I like your proposed changes.
Things I would add.
Pak43 - Some additional Range, current range is too short


Feedback for OKW

MG34 - Max cost should be 240. 270 is a bit too high

I am in favor of a T70 and Su76 swap as it would create some interesting builds. The reason why call in spam is effective is because you can forego the cost of making T3 or T4 and get extra units out onto the field. Wether it is KV-1 Spam, or T34-85 getting Command Points as Soviets is not really an issue. You should want to tech up and build your buildings. Making T3 and T4 slightly more attractive would give you a choice between saving up your fuel and using it for callin units or using it early on and having added flexability to your gameplay.

Su85 + T70 combo is not an issue. The Su85 can spot for itself and with Vet 1 can see even further. Really it is there simply to give you something to help with anti infantry.

Su76 and T-34 would be a nice combo. To those scared of this idea keep in mind you Could call in a KV-1/Su-85 Combo which is much deadlier. The Su 76 needs its barrage ability nerfed, longer cooldown in favor of having the units price drop. During the original Coh 2 beta I remember this unit costing around 30-40 fuel which justified the cost. The main problem with this was the barrage spam. Instead of nerfing the barrage Relic chose to double the fuel cost making this unit very underwhelming. For a unit that dies in 2 hits the current fuel cost makes this unit extremely unattractive which is why you rarely see it made. Now I am not saying the Su76 should cost 30 fuel, but it does need to be slightly cheaper or buffed in order to be worth making.

Assuming the Su76 was in T3 would you rather have another T34 or make a Su76? I am sure most would go with the T34 and wouldn't bother wasting the fuel with the way the current Su76 which is why I would like to see its cost go down slightly as well.

The OKW Flak Half Track was close to the American AA Halftrack during the Western Fronts Alpha performance wise but got hit with the nerf bat while the American version was left untouched until the recent nerfs.

As it stands now the unit would be fine if a pebble on the road didn't block half of its shots. Terrain Projectile Collision is one thing they need to remove from the game.

If the OKW AA Halftrack got buffed, I would propose making it similar to the kubelwagon in which movement is unrestricted but in order to shoot it has to setup. So if you need to retreat, the unit could back up immediatly but only fire when it has been setup which would justify the current 3 second setup time.

One of the issues with this game is lack of global upgrades and having everything tied to the commander system. It would be great if Conscripts were able to have the PPSH upgrade by default tied to T3 or T4 so they could have some late game scaling.

Conscripts are cheap and are good early on though. Sturmpioneer may be a pain in the ass to deal with but they cost twice as much to reinforce (40 vs 20) and they take a long time to reinforce. Say for example you drop a SturmPio down to two squad members and they retreat and your conscripts retreat as well. The conscripts will be reinforced and capping again while the SturmPio is still in base reinforcing.

Also keep in mind that Conscripts do well vs Volksgrenadiers early on, and the AT Grenade almost one shots the kubelwagon. Once you get Guards or Shock Troops you can use them to merge saving you manpower down the road.

What would be nice though is having the ability to Auto Reinforce like in Dow 2 and have conscripts with Auto Merge leaving you with at least 1 conscript left (so you dont lose the squad) A quality of life issue but you would see less people complaining about conscripts as they would be vital to keeping the reinforcement costs of your other units down. All the infantry units have 1 armor now so there is no downside to using merge anymore.

When you build an MG42 or Maxim, with good gameplay you could keep the unit alive the entire game and it will be useful. You also have the option to retreat preserving the unit. The Kubel Manpower cost is close to the other MG's in the game yet is only useful for the first give minutes. Something needs to be done to fix it at the very least remove the large radius turns and give it proper pathfinding.