General Information
Broadcast: https://www.twitch.tv/VonIvan
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Game Name: EXPERTSVonIvan
Thanks for your posts and the inside they offer DevM and VonIvan, good reading.
I got a question about this. In case there wasn´t a chance these are the vet boni for Riflemen and Rear Echelon Troops:
Riflemen
Vet1: Unlocks the 'Anti-Tank Rifle Grenade' ability
Vet2: -23% received accuracy, -20% weapon cooldown
Vet3: +30% accuracy, -50% ability recharge time, +25% grenade range
Rear Echelon Troops
Vet1: +20% accuracy
Vet2: Increases the squad's size to 5, +50% repair speed
Vet3: -23% received accuracy, -20% weapon cooldown
Why are the RE´s much better then the Riflemen?
Low reinforcement Cost, 20 mp vs 28 mp. Get 5 men at vet 2. Gain veterancy faster than rifles due to the way they operate with a higher dps weapon rather than their crappy pew pew riflez(plus better veterancy scaling imho than rifles with the BAR). They also have much better squad formation than rifles and drop BARs a little less frequently than Rifles for the most part. That's why.
Though I do recommend for anyone trying out REs, to never, ever, ever, ever blob them CaptainSPrice style or spam more than 3 on the battlefield. It'll be a waste to have just an RE army imho and backfire especially towards the late game. Rifles, while not scaling as well as REs still have more effective anti-inf abilities where as REs have more effective repair abilities.
On DevM's opinion for B.A.R.S. I agree somewhat B.A.R.s are sometimes sub-par on riflez but that's mostly due to bad veterancy scaling and lmg gren blobberinos. However have you tried getting 2-3 RE squads and equipping them with BARS late game especially vs OKW? They're quite useful as they gain vet with them well and scale much more effectively than Riflez into the late game when equipped with said weapon. However this usually works best when you're not building more than 3 rifles. As a side note the nice thing about B.A.R.s on Riflez over Flamerz is that you have better medium-long range DPS, rather than relying on Flamerz for that short range DPS critage, which can backfire on more open maps vs LMG Grens hordes and mg spam even when smoke is used.
Now onto the USF mp problem. I find the reinforcement cost towards the late game for rifles to be a bit of a cross-over between bad veterancy scaling and huge reinforcement cost if you build 4+. You have said that if and only if USF utilizes itself through each offensive push effectively then they are at their best. I agree to a certain extent because, as many have said, if your opponent is as smart as you are he'll know what to expect half the time and be able to slowly bleed you if he goes for a long term buildup of units....i.e. lmg blobs, OKW blobs, pak walls, dbl mg lockdowns, fast stuka + jadg, etc.
Utilizing USF effectively takes time, patience, and careful timing. Not constant flanking imho. Though flanking does have a direct effect on some offensives. Overall if the enemy is smart and expects your flank you could be bled very well/possibly lose the engagement horribly via unit preservation. Since USF doesn't have any heavy tanks at their disposal(something I don't entirely mind) you need to make sure your inf build up is acquainted with a strong armor combo because without medium tanks as USF towards the late game it is almost impossible to crack your enemy if he is evenly skilled, as it is with all factions. Armor + Inf are key. Now while USF has an interesting selection of late game armor most of the tier-made pieces of armor are much easier to deal with than if it is selected via a doctrine giving you the ability to utilize much more effective pieces of armor, which I find to be a slight problem. USF Shermans, while effective vs inf and medium tanks with the switch of a gun can be easily cornered and taken out by pak walls + fausts + shreks + jadgs + almost literally everything due to it's slow speed and maneuverability. With the Jackson it's paper thin armor for high effective dps makes it an easy thing to hunt down and destroy with the right tools(i.e. shreks, fausts, multiple tanks, jadgs, etc.) and the scott, while good in it's own right, at 75 fuel is a bit of a heavy investment and can be easily hunted down by what was listed above.
Now onto the fun part, Riflez.
Rifles, I honestly, feel are strong in there own sense, however scale a bit harshly into the late game and have a hard time utilizing their own special weapons(except for the flamer riflez) without serious mp bleed. The only time I've found them to be useful is when I utilized dbl bazookas on two rifles to assist in fighting medium armor specifically. Other than that I have found equipping rifles with special weaponry aren't worth it in the long run cost wise when other munition abilities can be better utilized(i.e. BAR REs, Nades, Smoke Nades, Demos, etc.). Now here's the catch with riflez. I personally believe riflez don't need DPS specific buffs, armor buffs, etc. etc., what they need are adjustments to their scaling into the late game(via veterancy, model setup, mp bleed). This can be accomplished in several ways.
1. Make vet 3 rifles cheaper to reinforce, have faster reinforce and the ability to use special abilities in a slightly more efficient way.
2. Make vet 2 and vet 3 rifles have better veterancy perks(i.e. increased accuracy at vet 2, and more efficient fire or stronger defensive bonuses at vet 3.
3. Change the way Riflez operate. Give them an option to either have stronger armor or stronger offensive capabilities. Increase rifle squads to possibly 6 men instead of 5 at vet 3.
Lastly, to re-iterate I feel smoke usage with USF, while effective in certain scenarios can honestly back-fire more than be actually useful. This is because people don't realize if you're smoking an mg42 your flanking for example, or smoking to get past something that is a threat to your inf DPS wise, closing in on the gap can backfire pretty badly since your enemy will see the smoke and immediately know what is coming, thus allowing him to prepare a simple counter to what you have by backing away and preparing the DPS onslaught.
I feel in the big picture USF simply needs, as with many other factions to a different extent more diversity and utilization of everything they already have included in the faction via balance touches or changes to the way certain abilities are forced to be utilized. I have found with my own personal USF 1v1 strat utilizing different things and knowing when to use them effectively against the enemy makes USF a special little snowflake in a field of charred riflemen bodies.
After the Dark Ages of being forced to tech Molo has seen the light and discovered a new passion. This time in the form of m4c Sherman hordes and troll fuel drops and con repairs. Will the community be able to counter this new onslaught of call-ins?
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO IT ALREADEY. Relic pls