Ok, let me tell you something about balance.
Let's start from beggining.
Cons/Penals vs Grens.
Grens have grenade and faust for free (just jump to T1 for grenade).
Cons need upragde witch costs fuel!!
Penals have very powerful grenade but only noob player won't handle to run.
Grens have much better weapon than Penals and Cons. They can be upgraded with MG without doctrine.
Cons can get PPSH only from commander.
Penals can get flame.
What's the point? PPSH and falme work only in close-range. By the time they get close, MG will wipe them out.
T1,T2 vs T1
In 1v1 I go only for T2. Guys who lost with me call me MG noob (I don't think 3MGs is MGs spam) but what else I can do? Bring mortar od AT guns against grens? Or maybe cons (I don't like them) and see how they get ripped by MG? I would be very glad if I could get in T2 some nice inf with MG and AT gun as Germans.
Now we need to choose do we want MG, AT and mortar or go for clown and sniper (which push us for fast t34 cause we don't get any AT power).
Shocks vs Assault
Shock may be better but it's assault grens who enter battlefield at 0CP. Give us 0CP shock or Guards and we are fine.
Guards vs PGrens
First one doctrinal. If we won't choose them then we are left with very powerful AT nades (btw faust is free and almost always make engined damaged (even on heavy tanks), AT nades have to be bought and often it even make no dmg on Pz4...)
Without DP28 they are really shit. With they are medium long-range inf. 75uprade + 40 for blind ability. Their dmg to vehicles is a joke so the only use for them is to stick them close to t34/SU and blind every vehicles. PGrens are not doctrinal. Not bad vs inf and awesome vs tanks. They can bring down SU easliy. Hmmm wonder how Guards can destroy Stug or Pz4...
AI tanks
Best soviet AI tanks? ISU-152 and IS2. I can bring them whenever I want! Oh, wait... Those are doctrinal opposite to Brrumbar...
AT tanks/assault guns
T34 is still worst than Pz4 so don' cry.
Su-85? Quite good but need some backup to prevent flanking. That's all we have. What Germans have? Pz4. Great middle game units. Panther - unit which can be used in very late game against everything so in fact you don't need to choose commander with Tiger.
Soviets need to choose commander with (MEDIUM!! THIS SHOULDN'T BE DOCTRICNAL. LET'S MAKE PANTHER A DOCTRINAL UNIT ALSO!!!) T34/85, IS2, KV-2 or ISU-152. If you think that game can take some time you need those commander to counter Tiger or Panther. Germans can easlity counter IS2 by Panther so you're not bind to doctrin with Tiger.
Button is doctrinal so don't cry and use doctrinal counter (Pssst... it's a smoke if you don't know).
No heavy inf... For god sake... Give our guards schrecks!!
As I said, PZ4 is still best medium-game unit.
Yea, soviets tanks have great survability... Check some SU-85 or T34.
Elite troops useless? Dude... I beg you... Check this forum and you will see many threads about how this commander is OP...
Useless? Al right... I get it. It was just to "click" and attack from behind SUs and ZiSs.
Reduce sniper to 1? Ok but give me MG and AT gun in the same tier.
ISU-152 should be a beast ad deal with it. It's doctrinal unit so you have to counter it by other doctrinal abilities.
"enough advantage" - key words. There shouldn't be any adv! Faction should be equal.
Mines - sweepers. (Germans also can put mines)
Some of you may not agree with me but after 420h played by both factions I see some big
disproportion between soviets and nazis.
PS
I know it's a looong post and most of you will just skip it