outside of how the game actually is,
does anyone want to explain the logic behind, the mainstay conscript of russia is generally a worse unit than criminals forced to fight fresh out of jail?
There were penal battalions and penal companies.
Penal companies were what in-game battalion description says.
Penal battalions were trained OFFICERS and had supply priority over regular infantry.
Its historically accurate they are better performing and equipped then fresh conscripts.
Its also historically accurate that Relic doesn't do their research well.
In game however, conscripts are much better, especially in cost efficiency, lasting power and late game scaling - they also have much more flexibility and utility even if most of it is locked behind doctrines.
Relic original design had 3 types of armies/commanders:
Shock armies that provided shock troops
Guard armies that provided Guards troops
NKVD armies that provides Penal battalion
At some point the designed was changed and Penal become "stock elite" similar to PG.
Then thing started to become complicated...
That's completely untrue and deliberately misleading.
In fact, for AI performance and cost, Penals were CARBON COPY of PGs and were on exact same level of elite infantry as them with sole exception of not having grenades and AT upgrade compared to PGs.