Gameplay-wise you are wrong. Panther is a tank hunter that also has attributes of a heavy tank: armour, higher health, heavy crush, cost and cannot be compared to medium tank in-game. It is primarily meant to close in and kill all vehicles with minor AI capabilities for support and brute force from its heavy tank-like stats. It also has speed to chase vehicles.
PIV is also much much better vs infantry than the Panther, furthering the Panthers role as a mainly dedicated anti-armour vehicle.
i remember relic saying USF has to flank in order to be effective funny that axis have non-doc units like the panther or panzer IV with armor upgrades (veterancy) can go thru dense foliage and thick shrubbery while the sherman cannot?
Panzer IV, even with vet and blitz doesn't gain heavy crush.
you skipped alot of tech options soviets need to survive just so you can tell me a rushed t34-76 comes "quicker" then a panzer 4,i pointed what you missed.
anyways the t-34 will be a trash unit when panthers arrive so good luck fighting panthers with t34-76,since the new tech system made it possible for those 2 units to arrive at the same time.
(the t34-76 is a very cheap tank that comes too late to make any meaningful impact on the game)
Ostheer T4 =/= Soviet T4
Ostheer T3 =/= Soviet T3
Ostheer T3 = Soviet T4
Only OKW can rush out Panthers in the smaller game mode and they were doing that awhile ago because they're special.
Also I hope the Panther can fight T-34s as it's an expensive anti-armour tank with only mediocre AI.
It also has a better ROF and a worse armor value. I think it may be marginally faster too (definitely faster with vet).
Random thing, but I could have sworn the Comet also had superior rear armour compared to a Panther. I remember a PIV having issues dealing with the Comet, even when flanking.
It appalls me how nobody has mentioned the 251 flamer yet.
Seriously, the best counter to a T1 opening for OH is the 251 with the flamer upgrade. It also works awesome against maxim spam, conscripts, and really anything that doesn't have an AT gun looking at it.
I've had so many games where my SU enemy built like three or four maxims, or nothing but penals and snipers and clown cars, and then they ragequit when I literally burn their entire army to death, chasing them down with the raging infernos, and when they come back with an AT gun or armor I suddenly have four Maxims, and they're all backed up by Paks.
251 kicks ass.
It may have to do with its price, frailness, and range, especially compared to its counterparts and how soon its counter (Stuarts, Captain, any Soviet T3 unit) arrive which might be better spent on LMGs or Tellers.
60 range, a penetration value of 200/190/180, total reload speed of 3.775-4.275 + (2.9-3.4 + 0.875 winddown), 120 damage, a barrage ability on a mobile vehicle worth only 280mp/75fuel and available very early on? I'll take two please.
most likely you didnt count anything before posting that. Obviously its vice versa. Plus currently if you dont win fast (which is rare) you cant skip anything. T1 and T2 are both must have. T1 can only be skipped maps on semosky and laglez (if I remember their names).
What?
T2 can hold its own until you can get T3 and it's probably the most chosen as it provides MGs, mortars and most of all, ATGs. Soviet don't need snipers, M3s, or penals. They can even just get a large groups of cons to hold on, buy either T1 or T2 depending how they feel then build the T3 right after.
Unless things get adjusted, we'd have very early T-34/76s rolling around the field... Or people would would just stick with T3 because of units like the Quad which trade durability for utility, shock value and high killing power versus our generalist tank which is actually more of a meatshield/steam roller.
T70 - Rare to see this, laughably bad compared with a luchs
Why do some Allied players seem to hate this awesome little tank so much? Is it because it's not capable of busting up PIVs or the fact it's currently overshadowed by the Quad in everything except recon and AOE? And the thing will beat the Luchs head-on and is almost like a 222-spotting scope map hack with vet which is not hard to get.