Winter Balance Preview Changelog
OVERVIEW
This balance mod has been created as a collaboration between community members and balance modders, GGTheMachine, Mr Smith, and Miragefla. The scope of this patch has been focused to a subset of priority balance concerns sourced from community feedback and balance data. These concern areas include Light Tanks/Vehicles, Squad Formations & Clumping, USF Mortar, Penals & Guards, and Wehrmacht Infantry Scaling. Through addressing potential issues in these areas, we hope to mitigate dominant meta and increase strategic diversity. For more detailed insight behind these changes, read our Winter Balance Preview blog post.
To playtest these changes, subscribe to Relic's Winter Balance Preview Mod now on the Steam Workshop.
GENERAL
Squad formations and Clumping (INFANTRY SCALING)
Unfortunately, there is a disparity in how squads are assigned formations which is impacting performance and game balance. The address this problem we have implemented the following changes:
- Give all squad members a roughly equal breathing space, regardless of the size of the squad (be it 2 members or 6 members)
- Prevent unwanted clumping when given two opposing orders in quick succession (e.g., forward & backwards to avoid an AoE projectile).
- Allow stealth-oriented squads to better utilize crater wherever available, without breaking their formation, but without clumping too much either
- Change unwanted reaction behaviour which would cause squads to break formation and put them unnecessarily into danger.
Reinforcement Half Tracks/Transports (INFANTRY SCALING/LIGHT VEHICLES)
We wanted to make using these units less frustrating as a reinforcement platform and more reliable in order to better supplement Wehrmacht field presence.
- Reinforcement Half-tracks now have shared veterancy from infantry squads.
- Load Times for all Half-tracks standardized to 2.
- Given a handbrake ability to prevent unwanted movement
- 251 Half-track can now carry mortar teams
Snipers (LIGHT VEHICLES)
We feel that the Sniper’s cloak ability is over performing, making them extremely difficult to counter with infantry. To address this issues we have made the following changes:
- When firing a shot or using an offensive ability when not camouflaged, the unit will be unable to return to camouflage for 10 seconds
- Snipers cannot cloak until out of combat for 3 seconds
Stealth Changes (GENERAL)
To bring other stealth units in line with the cloaking changes made to Snipers, we have applied the following re-cloaking restrictions:
Anti-tank gun/Tank stealth changes
* Tanks (e.g., JP4) and anti-tank guns cannot re-cloak until out of combat for 5.5 seconds
* Neither type of unit can re-cloak within 10 seconds of having fired a shot
Non-sniper stealth infantry changes
* Stealth (infiltration) infantry cannot re-cloak until out of combat for 4 seconds
* Stealth infantry cannot re-cloak within 10 seconds of having used an offensive ability (e.g, grenades)
Mortars (GENERAL)
In a recent patch, all mortars received a +33% range bonus to their auto attack at Vet 3 as where previously it was only on the barrage abilities. This escalation of mortar power made them over perform compared to other types of more costly artillery pieces that had not received this bonus such as Pack Howitzers and Mortar Half-tracks.
- Vet 3 no longer grants range increase to auto attacks.
Puma (LIGHT VEHICLES)
The Puma is receiving a damage reduction against infantry on the main gun to solidify its role as a strong vehicle hunter and soft counter to medium tanks.
- Main gun near AOE damage reduced from 1 to 0.33
- Scatter profile changes (to improve accuracy vs vehicles)
- MG incremental MG accuracy removed
SOVIETS
Penals (INFANTRY SCALING)
The combination of Penals equipped with flamethrowers, accuracy bonuses with their veterancy, and their long range Damage Per Second (DPS) of the Penal Rifles, Penal Battalions have become a dominate meta in Soviet play. Therefore, we are removing the Flamer upgrade, toning their vet 3 accuracy bonus, and upping their popcap to keep their scaling in line with other infantry.
- Flamer upgrade removed
- Vet 3 accuracy bonus reduced from 1.3 to 1.15
- Population cost increased from 7 to 8
- Veterancy requirements increased from 540/1080/2160 to 640/1280/2560
Guards (INFANTRY SCALING)
Guards were proving to over perform in ratio to their cost, appearing to supplement any strategy, thus, limiting variation in Soviet commanders.
- Manpower cost increased from 330 to 360
- PTRS damage vs infantry lowered from 27 to 20 (AT damage remains 40)
RGD-33 Fragmentation Grenade (Affects Partisans, but not Shocks)
* AOE far damage reduced from 0.5 to 0.25 (Same as MK2)
* Ready aim time increased from 0.125 to 0.625 (to match MK2 overall delay)
* Munitions cost reduced from 45 to 35
Veterancy
* Vet 2 accuracy bonus reduced from 1.3 to 1.14
* Vet 2 received accuracy bonus decreased from 0.83 to 0.88
* Vet 3 now grants a further 1.14 accuracy (1.3 total)
* Vet 3 now received accuracy bonus increased from 0.77 to 0.75, total received accuracy at vet 3 has been reduced from 0.6391 to 0.66.
M5 Half-Track (LIGHT VEHICLES)
The M5 itself has been lowered in manpower cost to better match its value.
- Manpower cost reduced from 270 to 250
M17 Quad (LIGHT VEHICLES)
We wanted to tone down the performance of the Quad to be in-line with Light Tanks and other suppression platforms. In order to make infantry counters to this unit viable, the M17 can no longer suppress enemy squads on the move.
- Moving Burst reduced from 1 to 0.5
- Moving accuracy reduced from 0.4 to 0.25
- Near rate of fire reduced from 1.24 to 1.15
- Accuracy reduced from 0.5/0.3125/0.125 to 0.34/0.28/0.1
- Near Cool-down modifier increased from 0.5 to 0.75
- Cannot suppress units while moving.
- Increased the chance for the Quad to take down an airplane (from 30 in 10000 to 30 in 100)
T-70 (LIGHT VEHICLES)
We feel that the T-70’s high damage and AOE allowed it to wipe infantry too effectively, particularly if they are clumped in cover.
- Manpower cost increased from 200 to 260
- AoE damage reduced from 1/0.35/0.05 to 0.65/0.35/0.15
- Scatter Max increased from 1.7 to 2.5
- Health increased from 320 to 400
- Crew repair removed
SU-76 (LIGHT VEHICLES)
The SU-76 barrage was weak but became problematic when multiple SU-76’s were on the field as simultaneous barrages could reliably dislodge support weapons and AT guns.
- Barrage now costs 15 munitions
WEHRMACHT
Medkits (INFANTRY SCALING)
To give Wehrmacht more staying power on the field, Medkits will now fully heal up a squad.
- Medkits duration increased from 10 to 20
Pioneers (INFANTRY SCALING)
We felt that pioneer damage output was under performing and proving ineffective in combat.
- Near accuracy increased from 0.403 to 0.463
- Mid accuracy increased from 0.23 to 0.27
- Population reduced from 6 to 5
Assault Grenadiers (INFANTRY SCALING)
Whilst they have an initial impact, their damage fall off, manpower bleed, grenades and veterancy scaling made them not scale well or a viable choice in the late game. Therefore, to improve their scaling, we have made the following changes:
- Reinforce cost lowered from 28 to 26
- Grenade Assault munitions cost lowered from 45 to 30.
- Grenade Assault aim-time and ready-aim time reduced by half to allow faster throwing.
- Squad leader armour reduced from 1.5 to 1.
- Medical kits removed.
- Veterancy 1 now Grants -10% received accuracy and reduces recharge on sprint by 25%.
Panzer Grenadiers (INFANTRY SCALING)
Panzer Grenadiers are a strong unit but their timing means other factions already have veterancy on their infantry making it difficult for PGs to gain their own veterancy in a timely manner.
- Vet 1 now grants 0.84 received accuracy bonus
- Vet 2 received accuracy bonus reduced from 0.71 to 0.84 (~0.71 total)
G43 Package (Also affects Stormtroopers but not Grenadiers)
* Far aim time multiplayer reduced from 3.5 to 3. (Boosts long range DPS)
* Now increases sight range by 20%
222 Scout Car (LIGHT VEHICLES)
The 222 also wasn’t scaling with veterancy as well as other light vehicles and suffered from inconsistent damage output preventing it from tracking infantry properly. We also felt that the auto-cannon was too reliant on AOE for damage.
- Manpower cost increased from from 210 to 250
- Fuel cost increased from 15 to 30
- Veterancy requirements increased from 480/960/1920 to 720/1440/2880
- Acceleration increased from 2.4 to 3
- Spotting Scopes Sight bonus reduced from 2 to 1.4
20mm Autocannon
* Accuracy changes from 0.06/0.04/0.02 to 0.05/0.04/0.03
* Autocannon Rate of fire multiplier from 1.4/1.2/1 to 1
* Autocannon penetration increased from 35 to 40
* Mid range distance from 15 to 20
* Autocannon AOE Near damage reduced from 1 to 0.6
Coaxial MG42
* MG42 now properly tracks infantry
* Accuracy reduced from 0.6/0.425/0.25 to 0.4/0.35/0.25
* Accuracy increases with veterancy: +10%/+15%/+15%
* Range distance near from 10 to 0
* 0.75 Accuracy modifier versus Snipers (down from 1.5).
Note that, even though, it may appear that we are heavily reducing the MG’s damage output, however, the MG was never able to fire in the first place, due to a MG tracking bug.
Stug E (LIGHT VEHICLES)
The Stug E was proving to be overly effective for its cost, especially as a call-in tank that could bypass tech requirements. Furthermore, Target Weak Point allowed the Stug E to have strong anti tank utility even though it's primarily an anti-infantry vehicle.
- Manpower cost increased from 200 to 260
- Health reduced from 540 to 480 (Now Destroyed in 3 ATG shots)
- AOE distance reduced from 1/1.5/2.25 to 0.5/1/2
- AOE damage reduced from 1/0.15/0.05 to 0.75/0.35/0.15
- Radius from 3 to 3.5
- Scatter Max increased from 2.15 to 2.5
- Scatter Angle increased from 5 to 5.5
- Scatter offset turned to 0.
- Projectile no longer collides with terrain, can still collide with objects
Target Weak Point
* Target Weak Point now only disables turret rotation
* Damage reduced from 80 to 40
* Always penetrates
Puma (LIGHT VEHICLES)
The Puma serves the role of a anti-vehicle and soft counter to tanks, however, the Target Weak Point’s ability to stun tanks made it over perform for its cost and mobility.
Target Weak Point
* Target Weak Point now only disables turret rotation
* Damage reduced from 120 to 60
* Always penetrates
USF
M1919 Light Machine Guns (INFANTRY SCALING)
The ability to equip two M1919 LMG’s on a squad was resulting in over performing long range DPS for a squad as durable as Riflemen or as cheap as Rear Echelon.
- Can no longer be double equipped via weapon racks.
Riflemen (INFANTRY SCALING)
To improve Wehrmacht's late game infantry scaling, USF Riflemen have received a slight reduction in their vet 3 bonus to their received accuracy.
- Vet3 Received accuracy was changed from -20% to -15%
81mm Mortar (INFANTRY SCALING)
The USF Mortar’s barrage, rate of fire and veterancy bonuses have been causing this unit to overperform in most engagements. Furthermore, it has overshadowed the more expensive pack howitzer, lacking only range on its barrage until the pack howitzer hits veterancy 2.
- Range reduced from 80 to 65
- Set-up duration decreased from 1 to 0.5
Veterancy
* Vet 0 now provides access to the Smoke Barrage ability
* Vet 1 reduced scatter bonus replaced by increase to Smoke Barrage range (80)
Vehicle Crews (LIGHT VEHICLES)
Critical repair allowed USF vehicles to escape too easily after getting caught by a Panzerfaust or hitting a mine.
- Veterancy requirements increased from 200/400/800 to 650/1300/2800
Critical Repair - Munitions cost increased from 10 to 25
- Delay increased from 0 seconds to 4 seconds.
M20 (LIGHT VEHICLES)
We wanted to make the M20 more accessible but also make its interaction with the 222 more consistent while lower its close range damage to limit its effectiveness at diving after support weapons and infantry on retreat. We also felt that the M20 vets up too slowly and without enough bonuses.
- Manpower cost reduced from 340 to 240
- Crew no longer start with Bazooka, it now must be upgraded
- Veterancy requirements lowered from 880/1760/3520 to 500/1000/2000
- 50cal accuracy reduced from 0.75/0.475/0.2 to 0.45/0.33/0.25
- 50cal accuracy increases with veterancy: +10%/+15%/+15%
Stuart (LIGHT VEHICLES)
We felt that the Stuart was overperforming in its role as an anti-infantry unit and as a strong vehicle hutner. Furthermore, its stun rounds allowed it to hunt down light vehicles that were designed to counter it.
- Manpower cost increased from 240 to 270
- Main gun damage vs infantry set to -25%
- MG Accuracy from 0.6/0.45/0.25 to 0.4/0.3/0.16667 (Hull & Coaxial)
- MG Incremental accuracy from 1.04 to 1 (Hull & Coaxial).
- Stun rounds only disables weapons and sight. Does not affect movement.
M15 AA Half Track (LIGHT VEHICLES)
Due to the changes made to the Stuart , the M15 needed to be brought in line to prevent it from becoming the new dominant meta choice.
- Manpower cost reduced from 350 to 310
- Main gun damage vs infantry set to -50%
- Veterancy 3 bonuses (accuracy/penetration) now apply to the main gun
M3 Half Track Call-In (LIGHT VEHICLES)
Given the timing, price and mode of operation of the M3 halftrack (reinforcement platform), we believe that the USF M3 halftrack performs more akin to other reinforcement halftracks, rather than the Soviet M3A1 halftrack.
- Hit points increased from 200 to 320
- Armour increased from 5.4 to 11
M5 Half Track Call-In (LIGHT VEHICLES)
We felt that this unit was arriving too early, especially compared to the Soviet equivalent.
- Command Point requirements increased from 3 to 4
- Manpower from 350 to 300.
OKW
Sturmpioneer (LIGHT VEHICLES/STRATEGIC DIVERSITY)
We felt that the risk vs reward for the Mechanised HQ as a tech choice was too high due it not offering any type of healing.
- Medical Supplies available at Vet 0
- Medical Supplies munitions Cost reduced from 40 to 20
- 50% of the vet 3 construction bonus moved to vet 1
251 Flak Half Track (LIGHT VEHICLES)
We’ve found that the 251 Half-Track was underperforming in its role as an anti-infantry unit due to its immobility and vulnerability to vehicle rushes, lack of infantry support, and inability to counter some of OKW’s primary threats such as MG lockdown.
- Garrison Damage Multiplier increased from 0.25 to 0.35
- Garrison Accuracy Multiplier increased from 0.4 to 0.5
- Defensive Smoke no longer requires vet 1
- Defensive Smoke munitions cost increased from 0 to 25
- Vet 1 now reduces cost of Defensive Smoke from 25 to 10
- Penetration increased from 20 to 30
- Minimum Range Removed
- Given handbrake ability to prevent accidental movement
- The FlakHT now displays the max range of the weapon when selected
Panzer 2 Luchs (LIGHT VEHICLES)
The Panzer 2 is a powerful unit with high AI damage, though was still a risky build order due to the lack of healing that came with the Mechanised HQ tech choice.
- Manpower cost reduced from 315 to 290
- AoE damage reduced from 1/1/1 to 0.6/0.5/0.1
- AoE distance reduced from 1/1/1 to 0.25/0.7/1
- Accuracy reduced from 0.775/0.66/0.56 to 0.65/0.5/0.4
- Vet2 accuracy reduced from 0.875/0.76/0.66 to 0.78/0.6/0.48
- Moving accuracy increased from 0.25 to 0.3
- Luchs MG incremental accuracy from 1.04 to 1.
2cm vs Garrisons
* Garrison Damage Multiplier from 0.25 to 0.3
* Garrison Accuracy Multiplier from 0.4 to 0.5
Puma (LIGHT VEHICLES)
Aimed shot was being used less for its utility and more for its guaranteed ability to wipe infantry on retreat.
- Aimed shot can no longer target infantry
BRITISH
PIAT’s (LIGHT VEHICLES)
We feel that PIAT’s are a primary influencer to why the British are experiencing a disparity in the early and late game anti-tank capability. PIAT’s also pose a problem between game modes, skill levels and maps due to the fact they must be manually and precisely aimed.
- Gave PIAT homing projectile, if there is no obstruction between the PIAT and the target
- PIATs have the same accuracy as bazookas for ranges between 0 and 30
- Adjusted scatter offset, so that misses are centered around an immobile target
- Range reduced from 45 to 30
- Damage reduced from 120/80 (penetrating hit/deflected hit) to 100/25
- Munitions cost increased from 40 to 50
- Fire-aim time reduced from 2.4 to 0.625 (reduces delay to fire)
- Cooldown increased from 0 to 1.775 (Keeps rate of the fire the same despite fire-aim time.)
- Reduced scatter, so that PIATs in indirect-fire mode are unreliable (especially when the user is suppressed)
Universal carrier (LIGHT VEHICLES)
Given the Universal Carrier’s low health, we felt that the damage of the WASP was too low for it to effectively dislodge exposed or garrisoned HMG teams, making British too reliant on the Mortar Pit and Sniper.
WASP
* Munitions cost reduced from 90 to 60
* WASP flame burst duration increased from 2 to 3
* WASP Cooldown from 2/3 to 3/4
* Damage versus Garrisons from 1.25 to 1
* Aim time increased to match 251
* Moving Accuracy from 0.5 to 1
* Flame can now fire over obstacles
* WASP DoT Radius from 5 to 3.
* Fire Aim Time from 0.125 to 1.375
* Ready-Aim Time from 0.375/0.625 to 0.375/0.375
AEC (LIGHT VEHICLES)
The AEC’s anti-infantry damage was too potent for a vehicle with so much anti-tank capability, yet its main gun was very inconsistent due to its large scatter. The AEC also suffered from extremely low armour causing it to be destroyed by S Mines and HMG teams too easily.
- Armour increased from 40 to 55
- Angle scatter reduced from 7.5 to 6
- Max scatter increased from 1.7 to 6.5
- Main gun AoE reduced from 1/0.25/0.1 to 0.33/0.15/0.05
- Machine gun accuracy reduced from 0.7/0.6/0.46 to 0.48/0.47/0.46
- MG incremental accuracy reduced from 1.04 to 1
- Medium crush replaced with light crush
Treadbreaker
* Added a projectile
* Scatter changed to match main gun
* Cone of fire increased from 5 to 10
* Stationary accuracy increased by 20% from the main gun
* Duration reduced 20 to 7
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue with certain squads breaking formation and leaving cover involuntarily (Sappers, Commandos, Officer).
- Fixed an issue with players being able to double-buy certain upgrades using macro-based cheats.
- Fixed an issue where several Off-map abilities (mostly belonging to Soviets, OST, OKW) could still be targeted in the base sector
- Fixed an issue where Paratrooper models had 1.5 popcap, as opposed to the intended 1 popcap per model.
- Fixed an issue where Paratroopers would receive an involuntary move command when reinforcing near a beacon.
- Fixed an issue where the USF Mechanized M3 halftrack would display an incorrect healthbar when captured.
- Fixed an issue where re-crewed M8 Scotts would lose access to their auto-attack when de-crewed when “Hold Fire” was active
- Fixed an issue where the Sherman Bulldozer “Hold Fire” ability was not applying correctly to the gun.
- Fixed an issue where static Howitzers (e.g., B4, ML-20, LeFH) would sometimes become temporarily unresponsive when given consecutive direction-facing commands.
- Fixed an issue where the UKF “Command Vehicle” ability would become permanently unavailable when the previous vehicle would become abandoned.
- Fixed an issue with UKF infantry gaining access to the wrong version of their intended Bren gun, when picking up a Bren gun from the ground.
- Fixed an issue with Anvil “Early Warning” not giving sight over captured territory. Note that the scope of the ability has been restricted: the only territory points that the player gains access to are those that the player captured themselves (i.e., not allied-captured territory), just like the similar OKW Overwatch commander ability
- Fixed an issue where Commando Ambush bonuses would apply inconsistently (sometimes none at all, other times permanently). The reworked Ambush requires commandos to be out-of-combat for 25 seconds, for 5 seconds of sprint & +50% accuracy on their Sten guns.
- Fixed an issue where the second mortar belonging to the mortar pit would deal reduced damage while barraging.
- Fixed an issue where the AEC would crush wall segments when driven next to them.
- Fixed an issue where the damage Sexton Creeping Barrage had not been increased to match the AoE damage of the normal barrage ability.
- Fixed an issue where Recovery Sappers would still apply their Vet1 Cover Bonuses to picked up weapons. Now, the ability correctly only applies to Sapper Sten guns only.
- Fixed an issue where USF/UKF medic squads would, sometimes, stop healing nearby wounded troops.
- Fixed an issue where Luchs Hold Fire would not prevent the MG from opening fire.
- Fixed an issue where UKF HEAT anti-tank grenades would, sometimes, fail to apply their snare.
- Fixed an issue where the USF mortar would become unresponsive when ordered to fire its smoke rounds
- Fixed an issue where Snipers would avoid engaging infantry units when the Sniper was cloaked without “hold fire” on.
- Fixed an issue with the G43 package interrogation ability that would not reveal all enemy units in a sufficiently-large map.
- Fixed an issue where the AoE of the Brummbar “Bunker Buster” ability was lower than that of the main gun of the Brummbar.
- Stormtrooper detection ability reverted to Vehicle Detection to fit the unit’s role
- Fixed an issue where Tank Hunter Infantry Sections would not suffer from reduced range to their “Heavy Gammon Bomb” throw ability.
- Fixed an issue where Raketenwerfer/Soviet AT guns crews would open fire and break stealth (thus ruin ambushes)
- Fixed an issue where the M1 57mm gun would not benefit from Soviet AT ambush tactics.
- The Raketenwerfer can now pick up medical supply drops from Sturmpioneers
Quality of Life Changes
- We have made improvements to all Squad formations in the game
- Prioritize Vehicle now only affects the main gun of the affected tank, but not the MGs. Thus, vehicles with the Prioritize Vehicles ability active will continue to engage infantry with their MGs.
- Base medics (OKW/Soviet/OST) will no longer chase after retreating units.
- Troop transports are given the “Handbrake” ability. This ability disables the unit from moving or rotating to make the following tasks easier: (i) loading/unloading troops (ii) setting up as a forward reinforcement point.
- Infantry units can target their snares at de-crewed/abandoned vehicles.
- Luchs is given access to the Prioritize Vehicles ability.
- AVRE given a “Hold Fire” command to make the bombard ability more responsive.
- Commandos given a UI indication while the bonuses of Ambush are active.
- USF/UKF Medics are given an auto-heal toggle. This way, the player can control whether they wish these medics to go after wounded units or not (e.g., to avoid putting the medics in danger)
- USF/UKF Medics will not chase after moving squads, to avoid unwanted long chases.
- Anti-infantry partisans no longer display the PPSh icon, to help the player identify any picked-up weapons.
- Due to interference with UKF teching, it will be no longer possible to call Gliders or Air Resupply operation in the base sector
- Elite Doctrine Stormtroopers can upgrade G43’s in enemy territory
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Comments
V1.1 UPDATE
Performance Framedrop issues
We have received multiple reports that the mod is causing players to experience framedrop and/or performance degradation when playing the mod. We have identified and eradicated a source of such performance issues.
Nevertheless, we ask that players remain vigilant for performance degradation and report such issues immediately. It is very important that those issues be identified before the changes make it into the live version.
Thus, if you begin to experience from frame rate drops:
1. Quit the match
2. Save the replay
3. Quit the game
4. Save your warnings.log file
5. Contact us at: https://community.companyofheroes.com/discussion/243356/winter-balance-preview-bug-crash-reporting
Shout out to Nacho for helping identify the cause of this issue as well as Firesparks and Le Saucisson Masqué for helping debug it.
WEHRMACHT
Field First Aid
The use of this ability was limited due to the lack of self targeting. Due to the high munitions cost, we are making this ability self targetable.
Stug E
To address the disparity this unit has between the game-modes, and make the Stug-E a desirable unit for different map types, the unit now fires a low-arc projectile. Combined with the anti-garrison damage, this will fortify Stug-E’s role as an anti-infantry-only specialist, and will allow Ostheer to reclaim garrisons.
Based on community feedback, we have also reverted the reductions to AoE distance. Lastly, in light of these changes we feel that some of the previous changes to accuracy (scatter) were in fact insufficient to curb the strength of the unit.
Stug-E auto-auto-attack fires a slow moving artillery projectile
Impact visual/audio effects changed to match SU-76 barrage
Hold-Fire added
The projectile changes will achieve the following goals at the same time:
SOVIETS
Guards PTRS
The DPS performance decrease for Guards PTRS vs infantry does have a silver lining. Due to the way the damage system has been implemented on PTRS, this will cause the PTRS rifle to deal additional deflection damage vs vehicles. Although this was not originally intended, we are going to leave this as is, and evaluate the impact of this change.
Penal Battalion
To continue our attempts at finding a good fit for Penals in Soviet teching, we are going to trial a second version of Penal squad. This time, we are restoring part of their veterancy so that Penals excel as hard-hitting long-range skirmishers, which will allow them to defend against advancing short-range squads.
At the same time, we are experimenting with making Penal demo charges more affordable, so as to give Soviets a potential ammo sink.
We are also experimenting with adding some anti-tank utility to T1, with the goal of:
Thus, Penals get access to a PTRS package upgrade, which the following perks:
Awards Penals with 2 PTRS rifles that have the Guards’ profile vs vehicles
Penal PTRS rifles are 50% less accurate vs infantry
T-70
The T-70 is in a much better place now, but we felt the initial performance reductions were slightly too strong. We believe that part of the accuracy reduction was a bit too much and are reverting part of the scatter change in order to give the T-70 a bit more consistency. To further improve consistency, we are also giving the T-70 projectile the ability to clip through terrain. This is something we have previously applied to the Stug-E, and it seemed to work well.
OKW
Sturmpioneer Medical Supplies
The low cost of the medical-kits had the unintended consequence of providing OKW inexpensive healing that allowed multiple squads to stay the field after engagements. The cost has been adjusted accordingly.
Raketenwerfer
Due to the changes made to Stealth, the Raketenwerfer has become overly vulnerable to infantry flanks. We feel that this leaves the performance of the Raketenwerfer somewhat lacking against vehicles.
To address these issues, we are improving the reliability of the Raketenwerfer vs vehicles
I* ncreased the fire-aim-time of the raketenwerfer from 0.125-0.25 seconds to 0.25-0.375 seconds
Swapping the ready-aim-time delay with the fire-aim-time delay will have the effect of the Raketenwerfer acquiring new targets faster, once it has set up. This should significantly cut down the time the raketenwerfer will have to wait until it finishes tracking the target.
Panzer 2
The Panzer 2 was still packing more infantry damage compared to the other light tanks, but it wasn’t worth the heavy investment of tech into the Mechanised Truck compared to the accessibility of the T-70 and Stuart. Therefore we have given it less scatter to match the reduction of the AoE and made its output more consistent (both when stationary and moving).
BRITISH
Royal Engineers
We have found that the Sapper squad simply scales too well due to the reduced reinforcement cost bonus they achieve at Vet3. Their bonus, combined with the fact that infantry units can attain veterancy extremely fast when carrying handheld AT often leads to the creation of PIAT-totting Sapper blobs.
To address this:
Universal Carrier
The command vehicle ability allow vehicles to have access to cost-free recon. We found this to be an extremely cost-efficient benefit to inexpensive light vehicles such as the UC.
Bug Fixes
Known Issues
V1.2 UPDATE
WEHRMACHT
Stug-E
The Stug E has been modified to have lower damage drop-off through AOE Distance to allow the unit to be deal more consistent damage to units that are spread out or are not in cover. This ensures the Stug E can fulfill its role as an anti-infantry vehicle. The Distance scatter ratio has also been modified to make the Stug E more accurate at shorter distances.
The primary reason we are trading AoE radius for reload time is because, although we feel that the Stug-E will become a more micro-heavy unit, when it comes to engaging moving targets, we did not feel that the micro invested per shot was worth it. Thus, we increased the power per-shot and compensated by prolonging the reload cycle.
The scatter ratio change, in particular, will give the player the tactical option to close the distance with the fragile Stug-E to create a wedge on the enemy lines.
SOVIET
PTRS Penals
To further emphasize a PTRS Penal squad’s role as a light AT unit, the PTRS anti-infantry damage and accuracy has been reduced to prevent the unit from excelling in both roles. These changes do not affect the PTRS’ performance against vehicles.
To ensure PTRS Penals are still a major threat to heavier vehicles in the mid-late game, the unit has gained a new ability in the form of a Sticky AT Satchel. This ability does not track targets, but will stick to vehicles should they collide with them. While short-ranged and mainly meant for defense, it pairs very well with AT Grenades, Mines or Guard Button due to its high damage and ability to cause criticals.
The purpose of the sticky AT satchel charges is to give late-game Penal squads to thwart enemy tanks manoeuvering to crush them.
As a consequence, the long fuse time of the satchel charge, combined with the short range can cause a high number of fatalities on the assaulting squad.
Sticky AT Satchel
T-70
The T-70 has received a slight increase to its reload speed to lower its damage potency and allow players to react while maintaining its AOE profile to ensure the unit can deal with squads in the open.
Quad
The munition cost on the Quad mount has been lowered to better reflect the Quad’s new performance.
USF
M20
The M20 has been given hold-fire so players can ensure the M20 does not give away its position either as a scout or mine-layer by firing at enemies within range.
Hold Fire added
M15
When using the attack ground command, the M15 will attempt to rotate to face its back to the target. To avoid this kind of behaviour, players are advised to combine attack ground commands with the handbrake ability.
OKW
Panzer 2 ‘Luchs’
With the increase of option in Allied light AT that has lowered the Luch’s shock value along with its specialised role as an AI unit, the Luchs has received a slight price reduction to better reflect the unit’s performance and impact on the battlefield.
Flak Half-Track
Fixed an issue where the OKW FlakHT could setup on the move
Fixed an issue where the setup timer would reset (prolong) when given new attack commands
Due to the nature of the bugfix, the setup timer will only be visible in Vet0/Vet1 (where the setup is 4 seconds). At vet2 and higher, the setup timer will no longer be displayed
BUG FIXES
Panzerfaust Bug
We have identified a potential value that might be causing the panzerfaust bug and have modified this value in an attempt to fix it. However, since this bug is very difficult to reproduce, we are asking people to playtest the mod and report if the bug is experienced. Constant vigilance!
AI CHANGES (Dec. 12th Notes Update)
The following changes were included with V1.2 of the mod but were missing from the notes.
Utility values for UKF, OKW and USF added, and values for Soviet and Wehrmacht units adjusted.
These changes improve AI build diversity, and should help bring the difficulty levels of the AI for the different factions in line with each other. For example, the AI is a lot less likely to build additional halftracks if there is one already on the field. Similar changes were made to other units in order to prevent spam of specific unit types.
V1.3 UPDATE
GENERAL
Shared Veterancy
Normalized team weapon veterancy for all factions (all HTs and USF officers). Our halftrack reinforcement changes left the shared-veterancy changes in an inconsistent state. This is because all USF weapon teams were contributing shared experience for the USF officer mechanism.
To bring everything together, we decided to only allow HMGs and Mortars to provide shared veterancy, but at a rate that is lower than infantry. This is because mortars gain experience at a higher rate, and to avoid awarding HMG-overuse too much.
OKW
251 Flak Half-Track
To prevent the unit from coming out too early and dominating the field (e.g., a cut-off manoeuvre), players now require to first research Field Medics. This was especially problematic for Soviet Tier 1 or USF Tier 2 did not have access to proper counters. The 251 Flak HT was also overshadowing investing into a Mechanized HQ for Panzer 2 due to its earlier timing and not suffering from any of the downsides of Mech.
* Building the 251 FlakHT requires the player to first research Field Medics
SOVIET
Guards troops
The recent changes to Guards have brought the unit back into line with other squads in the game. Except for one detail; Guards now truly require their upgrades in order to function. Thus, losing their slot items will make them a bit less desirable. Thus, we have given Guards the opportunity to rebuy lost items and equipment for a small munitions cost:
Penal Battalions
With this patch, we aim to refine the anti-infantry and anti-vehicle roles Penals should have as well as late game scaling.Thus, in order to give Penals the tools to become more desirable and interactive, we are giving them the Molotov Cocktail ability. The rationale is that Penals rifle are very good at engaging enemy infantry at all ranges. However, a Penal investment might not look so lucrative if all fight is happening between green cover. Thus, we deem that a Molotov Cocktail will restore Penal’s capacity as both an anti-garrison specialist unit (forcing squads off cover), and a skirmisher unit (creating impediments for incoming squads). This will also allow for better Conscript mixing and make the upgrade more viable.
Furthermore, we are enhancing Anti-Tank Penal battalions. Even though 2x PTRS would be more than enough to hold off against a vehicle threat, PTRS Penals would lose out in relevance to nearly every other squad in the game. To give PTRS Penal squads the ability to scale as a decent AT-squad, we are adding the ability for PTRS Penals to upgrade to a 3rd PTRS rifle. However, to prevent 3x PTRS Penals from hard countering light vehicles too easily, we are gating this upgrade behind Soviet Tech.
Moreover, we have found that the Sticky AT Satchel is nearly impossible to use in a realistic combat situation. To alleviate this, we have modified the AT satchel as follows:
Finally, we are also experimenting with giving Penals their Flamer back, but with a catch; upgrading the Flamethrower will severely inhibit the squad’s long-range capability. This is so as to prevent Penals from being to able to engage enemy squads at all ranges and all cover-types. Part of the reason the previous Penal Flame thrower package was too potent was because of the durability of Penals, but this has been weakened in a previous iteration of the Preview Mod.
WEHRMACHT
222
We found the 222’s MG wasn’t quite performing for its cost. Although a small change, it will help the performance of the 222 better reflect it cost.
QUALITY OF LIFE
Retreat point de-congestion
The OKW headquarters layout makes it so that retreating infantry units often get caught up in high-congestion areas. This, in particular, makes it difficult for nearby-stationed medics to reach injured soldiers, thus reducing the efficiency of healing.
Squads will halt their retreat within 10 yards from the OKW headquarters
We have noticed a similar situation arising in the forward OKW MedHQ. Healing performance is further degraded by the fact that activating the forward retreat point ability spawns antennas that inhibit movement. To address this:
Squads will halt their retreat within 10 yards from an OKW MedHQ base acting as retreat point
Forward retreat antennas can now be traversed by units
Finally, we have noticed similar patterns emerge with the forward retreat mechanic of the British faction. Like the OKW faction, the entities that act as forward retreat points are large immobile objects. Unlike OKW, there was only one single spot acting as a forward retreat point, creating unnecessary hotspots. To address this:
Squads will half their retreat within 10 yards from a Forward Assembly or a Vanguard Glider acting as retreat points
BUG FIXES
UI FIXES
V1.4 UPDATE
With this version we aim to normalize the behaviour of early harassment vehicles with respect to their containing armies. Given the overwhelmingly good feedback we have already been receiving from submitted replays, we will also be treating the playerbase to fixes/reworks of unused doctrinal vehicles that also fall within the scope.
Hopefully with the continued support of the community, we will be able to iron out the changes so as to make the live version of the game more diverse, and more enjoyable.
WBP v1.4 brings along the following types of changes:
GENERAL CHANGES
Veterancy Rates from Infantry-Based Anti Tank
Anti-tank infantry squads were attaining veterancy disproportionately fast compared to anti-infantry squads. This was allowing blobs of infantry to scale versus armour too easily. This also allowed anti-tank-equipped squads to outpace dedicated anti-infantry squads and trade more efficiently than they should. With this change we aim to streamline the speed of veterancy gain or all squads.
Reduced the rate at which infantry-held anti-tank weapons would award veterancy:
SOVIETS
Penals
We are tidying up PTRS upgrade UI and make it more intuitive instead of having multiple tiered upgrades. Lowering the accuracy will make PTRS less effective vs light vehicles early on, but still just as effective. Lowering the accuracy means PTRS will sometimes miss vs light vehicles at long range but still at a satisfactory rate vs heavier targets.
AT (Sticky) Satchel Shanges:
* Can be targeted either on enemy vehicles, or the ground
* If an enemy vehicle is targeted the Penal squad will throw a satchel that will home-in on the target (if the enemy remains within proximity long enough)
* If a non-vehicle target is chosen, the Penal squad will throw the satchel on the ground. If the satchel’s trajectory intersects with a vehicle, the satchel will “stick” to the vehicle
* Fixed an issue where the AT satchel would not cause engine damage criticals to vehicles
The new AT satchel ability is an amalgamation of the v1.2 WBP AT satchel and v1.3 WBP AT satchel. This change will allow AT Penal squads to also, occasionally, pose a threat to vehicles that utilise smoke.
PTRS Upgrade Changes:
* 3x PTRS package at 80 munition (from the word go)
* Upgrade time increased from 30 seconds to 40 seconds
* Penal PTRS accuracy reduced to 0.0385/0.06/0.10
The accuracy change of the PTRS makes it so that at Vet0, and at max range:
Nevertheless, this change makes it so that Penal squad veterancy perks more meaningful/necessary when performing an AT role. Thus we have:
M3A1 Scout Car
Although the M3A1 is a solid unit when rushed, the relevance of an M3A1 drops very quickly to the point of becoming a deadweight to the player that used the vehicle. Since all units should hold some relevance, we are improving M3A1’s scalability through some moderate veterancy bonuses.
To assist the M3 in achieving those bonuses, we are giving M3A1 the shared-veterancy perks we have introduced for other transport/reinforcement vehicles in WBP1.0. The M3A1 requires such kind of help since it is a highly fragile unit with fixed-arc MGs.
The armour-to-HP tradeoff will make M3A1 will make the vehicle more resilient to autocannon fire, and other kinds of high-penetration attacks that would quickly destroy the M3A1 without warning. The resilience of M3A1 to small arms fire will remain relatively unchanged due to lower armour, but the damage will be more consistent due to less reliance on chance-to-penetrate. As a result of this trade-off, M3A1’s damaged primarily through small-arms fire will take a bit longer to repair to full.
To ensure that a surviving M3A1 remains a useful scout, we are buffing its acceleration, progressively, so that it can match the acceleration of other light vehicles by vet3. Shared veterancy will ensure that M3A1 will be able to reach those levels in due time (so that it doesn’t become obsolete).
Finally, the Veterancy 3 received accuracy bonus will allow a fully-vetted M3 to potentially survive in a hazardous late-game environment. With these changes, players that utilize their M3A1 aggressively to gain enough experience will not end up with a “deadweight” unit by the lategame
T-70
Given the generous squad formations that infantry models are benefiting from, we are finding T-70’s performance somewhat lackluster vs squads in the open. To compensate for this, we are improving the output and reliability of its coaxial machine gun.
One of the main reasons that T-70’s coaxial MG performance is so low is because it would often take pauses as long as 9 seconds between bursts. By addressing the reliability issues of the coaxial MG, we are allowing the T-70 to be able to deal consistent DPS across all ranges with the MG.
WEHRMACHT
222 Scout Car
We found the 222 to still be too fragile when compared to the target size of other, more durable vehicles. The changes to 222 veterancy will allow vetted 222s to scale into the lategame as frontline scouts.
251 Flame Half-Track
Although the performance of the flame HT vs units in the open is satisfactory, we find the lethality of the Flame HT vs garrisons far too high. Even though the Flame HT should pose a serious threat to garrisons, it should still afford some reaction time to the defender to disengage. This is especially because the projectile of the Flame HT can traverse walls and other shotblockers, which would normally deny the reaction time needed.
To clarify. This change will only affect the performance of the 251 flame halftrack when engaging garrisoned units. This does NOT affect the performance of the flame HT vs non-garrisoned squads.
The change does NOT alter the anti-garrison performance of the damage-over-time (DoT) effects of the flames spawned by the flamethrower weapon.
Stug-E
To prevent players from spamming Stug-E’s too quickly, we are doubling the recharge time for fielding multiple units. This should afford the opponent the opportunity to field a vehicle to counter Stug-E’s before they reach a critical mass.
USF
81mm Mortar
We found this unit was still performing too well within this faction. To compensate for this we’ve decided to reduce the distance of the near AoE, thus reducing the number of one-hit-kills the unit is likely to produce. With this change we also aim to keep the other indirect fire options of USF relatively competitive to the mortar.
M20
We find that M20 is far too fragile to perform the role of a late-game scout unit that the USF needs to probe defenses. To reward players that have invested in an early M20 and played aggressively with it, we are increasing the durability of the M20 when it achieves max rank. The health boost will allow the M20 to survive an additional pak shot.
M15
Unlike other light vehicles, which bring some utility to the table (i.e. smoke), the M15 has little use in the late game. To address this, we are increasing M15’s survivability and lethality vs infantry as it vets up. The health bonus at Veterancy 3 will allow the M15 to survive exactly one extra shot from an anti-tank gun.
Stuart
To improve the Stuart’s performance without making it too strong as an early game shock unit we have increased its penetration, giving it more of an impact against medium tanks, though not enough to fight them head on.
OKW
Panzerfausts
OKW are the only faction in the game to have snares which cost 35 munitions. This heavy Panzerfaust cost made them too vulnerable to vehicles, especially when compounded with their other inferior anti-tank options. The delay on OKW unlocking Panzerfausts compared to Wehrmacht made them helpless versus early light vehicles such as the M3 and M20. This, additionally made the prospect of going for a Mechanised HQ less viable.
Kubelwagen
The Kubelwagen has a fixed-arc MG and is, generally, not very well geared for frontline combat. Thus, it never really gains veterancy. To address this:
At the same time, the Detection ability is too potent due to its lack of price and we fear that with a veterancy gain buff, it will become too available, thus making the 251 Infrared Searchlight Halftrack even less wante. Thus, to address this:
Thus, a well-preserved Kubelwagen that gets ignored long enough to achieve maximum rank can turn into a mobile suppression platform.
Sdkfz 251 Flak Halftrack
Given the potency of the reworked FlakHT, we want to ensure that FlakHT’s cannot be rushed early enough to “close” a game before it has begun. In a previous version of the WBP we have tested the possibility of gating the arrival of a FlakHT behind an upgrade. In this version, we want to see whether a simple increase to the build time of the FlakHT would have been adequate instead.
QoL CHANGES
Ghost Wire/Sand Bags
“Ghost Wire/Sandbags” is the name for a common exploit in competitive play which allows partially completed fortifications to block movement. While unfinished fortifications could be destroyed by small arms, they took several seconds of focus fire to destroy what could be placed instantly. To compound the issue, several infantry-borne weapons would take significantly longer to tear down unfinished obstructions.If players want to impede enemy movements with barbed wire and sandbags, they now have to fully complete constructing them.
Bug Fixes
WBP-specific Bug Fixes# (i.e., stuff we broke, and have now fixed)
V1.5 UPDATE
SOVIETS
Penals
We have found that the flamer assault package achieves the intended outcome of preventing the squad from scaling too well into the late-game. Unfortunately the nature of the package combined with the time of arrival would make this package too potent for certain matchups, especially when combined with an M3A1 scout car. To delay the package, and to present people that want to rush early flamers with a strategic trade-off, we are locking the Penal flamer upgrade behind molotov tech.
USF
USF mortar
The USF mortar is still very lethal, given the early-game strength of the faction it is in, as well as the characteristics of the opposing factions. To keep things fair and unique, we are further reducing the raw damage (and range) in exchange for mobility. Thus, the USF mortar, like all mortars in the game, will have a particular area it excels in, and it will better fit the theme of the faction.
Stuart
The Stuart tank receives some interesting bonuses with its veterancy that would allow it to scale into the late-game as a scout, and as a harassment tool. To ease Stuart’s transition into the late-game, we reducing the veterancy requirements of the stuart, which are currently too high, compared to other vehicles.
M15
We’ve found that the M15 simply takes too long to achieve maximum veterancy level and benefit from the scalability bonuses we have introduced in WBP.
UKF
PIATs
We have found out that due to a numerical mistake, the reworked PIATs achieve a much higher damage output than the one we intended for them:
Universal Carrier
We have found that the universal carrier has a very difficult time to perform its anti-garrison role once certain events happen: a counter enters the field, an MG42 achieves veterancy 1 (with phosphorous rounds). To improve the situation and allow the British faction to have a somewhat reliable anti-garrison tool apart from the Mortar Pit, we are trading some armour for the universal carrier off for raw hitpoints. This tradeoff will make the universal carrier more resilient to the following kinds of threats:
At the same time, we have found that the carrier is particularly good at “tanking” damage, by being able to out-repair it. The same armour-for-HP trade-off will make tanking less feasible than before. This will also make engaging the carrier with small arms fire feel more reliable.
The Universal Carrier with its fixed-arc weapons has a very difficult time gaining experience in the later phases of the game, especially once anti-tank guns hit the field. To rectify, we are expanding the shared veterancy mechanic to the universal carrier as well. We have also readjusted the veterancy requirements for levels 1 and 2 to bring the carrier in line with other units, and make the transition more smooth.
To give players an actual goal to strive towards for attaining veterancy for their carriers, we are giving the carrier the ability to capture points when it reaches max level. Thus, a universal carrier will feel less of a dead-weight unit for the late game.
BUG FIXES
Bug Fixes (mod-only)
QoL (Mod-Only)
MERGED NOTES (V1.0 to v1.5)
GENERAL
Squad formations and Clumping
Unfortunately, there is a disparity in how squads are assigned formations which is impacting performance and game balance. The address this problem we have implemented the following changes:
Reinforcement Half Tracks/Transports
We wanted to make using these units less frustrating as a reinforcement platform and more reliable in order to better supplement Wehrmacht field presence.
Additional info about Shared Veterancy
The following unit types will contributed shared veterancy to nearby officers/halftracks at the following rates:
Snipers
We feel that the Sniper’s cloak ability is over performing, making them extremely difficult to counter with infantry. To address this issues we have made the following changes:
Stealth Changes
To bring other stealth units in line with the cloaking changes made to Snipers, we have applied the following re-cloaking restrictions:
Anti-tank gun/Tank stealth changes
* Tanks (e.g., JP4) and anti-tank guns cannot re-cloak until out of combat for 5.5 seconds
* Neither type of unit can re-cloak within 10 seconds of having fired a shot
Non-sniper stealth infantry changes
* Stealth (infiltration) infantry cannot re-cloak until out of combat for 4 seconds
* Stealth infantry cannot re-cloak within 10 seconds of having used an offensive ability (e.g, grenades)
Offmap Abilities in Base-Sectors
Ghost Wire/Sand Bags
“Ghost Wire/Sandbags” is the name for a common exploit in competitive play which allows partially completed fortifications to block movement. While unfinished fortifications could be destroyed by small arms, they took several seconds of focus fire to destroy what could be placed instantly. To compound the issue, several infantry-borne weapons would take significantly longer to tear down unfinished obstructions.If players want to impede enemy movements with barbed wire and sandbags, they now have to fully complete constructing them.
Unfinished wire/sandbags/tank traps (aka ghostbags) will self-destruct automatically if there is no longer an infantry squad (owned by the same player) within 10 meters of the unfinished fortifications for 5 seconds.
Retreat Point De-Congestion
The OKW headquarters layout makes it so that retreating infantry units often get caught up in high-congestion areas. This, in particular, makes it difficult for nearby-stationed medics to reach injured soldiers, thus reducing the efficiency of healing.
We have noticed a similar situation arising in the forward OKW MedHQ. Healing performance is further degraded by the fact that activating the forward retreat point ability spawns antennas that inhibit movement. To address this:
Finally, we have noticed similar patterns emerge with the forward retreat mechanic of the British faction. Like the OKW faction, the entities that act as forward retreat points are large immobile objects. Unlike OKW, there was only one single spot acting as a forward retreat point, creating unnecessary hotspots. To address this:
Veterancy Rates from Infantry-Based Anti-Tank
Anti-tank infantry squads were attaining veterancy disproportionately fast compared to anti-infantry squads. This was allowing blobs of infantry to scale versus armour too easily. This also allowed anti-tank-equipped squads to outpace dedicated anti-infantry squads and trade more efficiently than they should. With this change we aim to streamline the speed of veterancy gain or all squads.
Mortars (GENERAL)
In a recent patch, all mortars received a +33% range bonus to their auto attack at Vet 3 as where previously it was only on the barrage abilities. This escalation of mortar power made them over perform compared to other types of more costly artillery pieces that had not received this bonus such as Pack Howitzers and Mortar Half-tracks.
Puma (LIGHT VEHICLES)
The Puma is receiving a damage reduction against infantry on the main gun to solidify its role as a strong vehicle hunter and soft counter to medium tanks.
SOVIETS
Penals (INFANTRY SCALING)
The combination of the raw amount of bonuses Penal Battalion squads receive, in combination with the power of their flamer upgrade make the squad capable in winning all engagements, in all situations with very limited avanues for counterplay. To address this, we are removing some of the raw power of Penal battalions, while giving the squad some tactical versatility, which it previously lacked.
Flamer Upgrade
We are modifying the nature of the Penal flamer upgrade to make it more of a balanced side-grade that makes improves Penals’ short-range performance while hurting their long-range performance. This is in start contrast to the current Flamer upgrade which, simply, makes them stronger with no downsides. To Ensure that the flamer does not arrive too early, when there are very few counters for close-ranged squads, we are locking the flamer behind an upgrade.
Finally, we are also experimenting with giving Penals their Flamer back, but with a catch; upgrading the Flamethrower will severely inhibit the squad’s long-range capability. This is so as to prevent Penals from being to able to engage enemy squads at all ranges and all cover-types. Part of the reason the previous Penal Flame thrower package was too potent was because of the durability of Penals, but this has been weakened in a previous iteration of the Preview Mod.
PTRS upgrade
Penals get access to a PTRS package upgrade, which the following perks:
AT satchel
The AT satchel behaves like the ordinary satchel, with the following differences:
Guards
Guards were proving to over perform in ratio to their cost, appearing to supplement any strategy, thus, limiting variation in Soviet commanders.
RGD-33 Fragmentation Grenade (Affects Partisans, but not Shocks)
* AOE far damage reduced from 0.5 to 0.25 (Same as MK2)
* Ready aim time increased from 0.125 to 0.625 (to match MK2 overall delay)
* Munitions cost reduced from 45 to 35
* Veterancy
* Vet 2 accuracy bonus reduced from 1.3 to 1.14
* Vet 2 received accuracy bonus decreased from 0.83 to 0.88
* Vet 3 now grants a further 1.14 accuracy (1.3 total)
* Vet 3 now received accuracy bonus increased from 0.77 to 0.75, total received accuracy at vet 3 has been reduced from 0.6391 to 0.66.
M3A1 Scout Car
Although the M3A1 is a solid unit when rushed, the relevance of an M3A1 drops very quickly to the point of becoming a deadweight to the player that used the vehicle. Thus, we are improving M3A1’s scalability through some moderate veterancy bonuses. To assist the M3 in achieving those bonuses, we are giving M3A1 the shared-veterancy.
M5 Half-Track
The M5 itself has been lowered in manpower cost to better match its value.
M17 Quad
We wanted to tone down the performance of the Quad to be in-line with Light Tanks and other suppression platforms. In order to make infantry counters to this unit viable, the M17 can no longer suppress enemy squads on the move.
T-70
We feel that the T-70’s high damage and AOE allowed it to wipe infantry too effectively, particularly if they are clumped in cover.
Coaxial MG changes:
* Coaxial MG cooldown decreased from 5 to 3
* Coaxial MG cooldown multiplier changed from 0.5/1/1.5 to 0.75/1/1.25
* Coaxial MG accuracy changed from 0.38/0.33/0.28 to 0.38/0.355/0.33
* Coaxial MG reload frequency reduced from 4-6 seconds to 3 seconds
* Fixed an issue where the Coaxial MG would not track targets properly
SU-76
The SU-76 barrage was weak but became problematic when multiple SU-76’s were on the field as simultaneous barrages could reliably dislodge support weapons and AT guns.
Bug Fixes & QoL Changes
WEHRMACHT
Medkits
To give Wehrmacht more staying power on the field, Medkits will now fully heal up a squad. We are also giving some QoL improvements to the ability.
Pioneers
We felt that pioneer damage output was under performing and proving ineffective in combat.
Assault Grenadiers
Whilst they have an initial impact, their damage fall off, manpower bleed, grenades and veterancy scaling made them not scale well or a viable choice in the late game. Therefore, to improve their scaling, we have made the following changes:
Panzer Grenadiers
Panzer Grenadiers are a strong unit but their timing means other factions already have veterancy on their infantry making it difficult for PGs to gain their own veterancy in a timely manner.
222 Scout Car
The 222 also wasn’t scaling with veterancy as well as other light vehicles and suffered from inconsistent damage output preventing it from tracking infantry properly. We also felt that the auto-cannon was too reliant on AOE for damage.
20mm Autocannon
* Accuracy changes from 0.06/0.04/0.02 to 0.44/0.385/0.275
* Autocannon Rate of fire multiplier from 1.4/1.2/1 to 1
* Autocannon penetration increased from 35 to 40
* Mid range distance from 15 to 20
* Autocannon AOE Near damage reduced from 1 to 0.6
Coaxial MG42
M* G42 now properly tracks infantry
251 Flame Half-Track
Although the performance of the flame HT vs units in the open is satisfactory, we find the lethality of the Flame HT vs garrisons far too high. Even though the Flame HT should pose a serious threat to garrisons, it should still afford some reaction time to the defender to disengage. This is especially because the projectile of the Flame HT can traverse walls and other shot-blockers, which would normally deny the reaction time needed.
Stug E (LIGHT VEHICLES)
The Stug E was proving to be overly effective for its cost, especially as a call-in tank that could bypass tech requirements. Furthermore, Target Weak Point allowed the Stug E to have strong anti tank utility even though it's primarily an anti-infantry vehicle.
To address the disparity this unit has between the game-modes, and make the Stug-E a desirable unit for different map types, the unit now fires a low-arc projectile. Combined with the anti-garrison damage, this will fortify Stug-E’s role as an anti-infantry-only specialist, and will allow Ostheer to reclaim garrisons.
Target Weak Point changes
* Target Weak Point now only disables turret rotation
* Damage reduced from 80 to 40
* Always penetrates
Puma
The Puma serves the role of a anti-vehicle and soft counter to tanks, however, the Target Weak Point’s ability to stun tanks made it over perform for its cost and mobility.
Target Weak Point
Bug Fixes
USF
M1919 Light Machine Guns
The ability to equip two M1919 LMG’s on a squad was resulting in over performing long range DPS for a squad as durable as Riflemen or as cheap as Rear Echelon.
Riflemen
To improve Wehrmacht's late game infantry scaling, USF Riflemen have received a slight reduction in their vet 3 bonus to their received accuracy.
81mm Mortar
The USF Mortar’s barrage, rate of fire and veterancy bonuses have been causing this unit to overperform in most engagements. Furthermore, it has overshadowed the more expensive pack howitzer, lacking only range on its barrage until the pack howitzer hits veterancy 2.
We are also reducing the distance of the near AoE, thus reducing the number of one-hit-kills the unit is likely to produce. With this change we also aim to keep the other indirect fire options of USF relatively competitive to the mortar. To compensate, we have given the mortar the same price as the other mortars, and have increase its mobility (through setup time/pack-up time). Thus, the USF mortar will have mobility to compensate for its poor range and weaker punch.
Vehicle Crews
Critical repair allowed USF vehicles to escape too easily after getting caught by a Panzerfaust or hitting a mine.
*Veterancy requirements increased from 200/400/800 to 650/1300/2800
Critical Repair
* Munitions cost increased from 10 to 25
* Delay increased from 0 seconds to 4 seconds.
M20
We wanted to make the M20 more accessible but also make its interaction with the 222 more consistent while lower its close range damage to limit its effectiveness at diving after support weapons and infantry on retreat. We also felt that the * M20 vets up too slowly and without enough bonuses.
Stuart
We felt that the Stuart was over-performing in its role as an anti-infantry unit and as a strong vehicle hunter. Furthermore, its stun rounds allowed it to hunt down light vehicles that were designed to counter it.
To improve the Stuart’s performance without making it too strong as an early game shock unit we have increased its penetration, giving it more of an impact against medium tanks, though not enough to fight them head on.
Finally, the Stuart tank receives some interesting bonuses with its veterancy that would allow it to scale into the late-game as a scout, and as a harassment tool. To ease Stuart’s transition into the late-game, we reducing the veterancy requirements of the stuart, which are currently too high, compared to other vehicles.
M15 AA Half Track
Due to the changes made to the Stuart, the M15 needed to be brought in line to prevent it from becoming the new dominant meta choice.
M3 Half Track Call-In
Given the timing, price and mode of operation of the M3 halftrack (reinforcement platform), we believe that the USF M3 halftrack performs more akin to other reinforcement halftracks, rather than the Soviet M3A1 halftrack.
M5 Half Track Call-In (LIGHT VEHICLES)
We felt that this unit was arriving too early, especially compared to the Soviet equivalent.
Bug Fixes & QoL Changes
OKW
Sturmpioneer
We felt that the risk vs reward for the Mechanised HQ as a tech choice was too high due it not offering any type of healing. To compensate, Sturmpioneers have Medical Supplies available from the start.
Panzerfausts
OKW are the only faction in the game to have snares which cost 35 munitions. This heavy Panzerfaust cost made them too vulnerable to vehicles, especially when compounded with their other inferior anti-tank options. The delay on OKW unlocking Panzerfausts compared to Wehrmacht made them helpless versus early light vehicles such as the M3 and M20. This, additionally made the prospect of going for a Mechanised HQ less viable.
Raketenwerfer
Due to the changes made to Stealth, the Raketenwerfer has become overly vulnerable to infantry flanks. We feel that this leaves the performance of the Raketenwerfer somewhat lacking against vehicles. To address these issues, we are improving the reliability of the Raketenwerfer vs vehicles.
Swapping the ready-aim-time delay with the fire-aim-time delay will have the effect of the Raketenwerfer acquiring new targets faster, once it has set up. This should significantly cut down the time the raketenwerfer will have to wait until it finishes tracking the target.
Kubelwagen
The Kubelwagen has a fixed-arc MG and is, generally, not very well geared for frontline combat. Thus, it never really gains veterancy. At the same time, the Detection ability is too potent due to its lack of price and we fear that with a veterancy gain buff, it will become too available, thus making the 251 Infrared Searchlight Halftrack even less wanted. Thus, to address this:
251 Flak Half Track
We’ve found that the 251 Half-Track was under-performing in its role as an anti-infantry unit due to its immobility and vulnerability to vehicle rushes, lack of infantry support, and inability to counter some of OKW’s primary threats such as MG lockdown. Given the early arrival potential arrival of the flakHT, we are increasing its build-time to prevent it from being rushed to cut an opponent off their resources, before it can be countered.
Panzer 2 Luchs
The Panzer 2 is a powerful unit with high AI damage, though was still a risky build order due to the lack of healing that came with the Mechanised HQ tech choice.
Puma
Aimed shot was being used less for its utility and more for its guaranteed ability to wipe infantry on retreat.
BRITISH
PIAT’s
We feel that PIAT’s are a primary influencer to why the British are experiencing a disparity in the early and late game anti-tank capability. PIAT’s also pose a problem between game modes, skill levels and maps due to the fact they must be manually and precisely aimed.
Royal Engineers
We have found that the Sapper squad simply scales too well due to the reduced reinforcement cost bonus they achieve at Vet3. Their bonus, combined with the fact that infantry units can attain veterancy extremely fast when carrying handheld AT often leads to the creation of PIAT-totting Sapper blobs.
To address this:
Universal carrier
We have found that the universal carrier has a very difficult time to perform its anti-garrison role once certain events happen: a counter enters the field, an MG42 achieves veterancy 1 (with phosphorous rounds). To improve the situation and allow the British faction to have a somewhat reliable anti-garrison tool apart from the Mortar Pit, we are trading some armour for the universal carrier off for raw hitpoints.
WASP
Given the Universal Carrier’s fragility, we felt that the damage of the WASP was too low for it to effectively dislodge exposed or garrisoned HMG teams, making British too reliant on the Mortar Pit and Sniper.
AEC
The AEC’s anti-infantry damage was too potent for a vehicle with so much anti-tank capability, yet its main gun was very inconsistent due to its large scatter. The AEC also suffered from extremely low armour causing it to be destroyed by S Mines and HMG teams too easily.
Treadbreaker
Bug Fixes
GENERAL BUG FIXES/QoL
Bug Fixes
Quality of Life Changes
UI FIXES
V1.6 UPDATE
REVERTED CHANGES
With the Winter Balance Preview now passing the half-way mark of its iteration period, moving forward we have decided to narrow the scope to essential changes only. This has been done to ensure the results of the changes made to units that are currently having the most significant impact on balance and the meta can be properly tracked and their performance measured. This will also help make the changes more concise and allow the community to focus on a smaller scale of changes in order to provide more accurate and higher quality feedback.
The following units have had their changes reverted:
The reverts do not affect any QoL changes introduced in the aforementioned units (e.g,. Hold fire, handbrake, shared veterancy for reinforcement halftracks, etc). Although these changes have been removed from this patch, it does not mean they will not be added in future, sequential updates.
SOVIETS
Penal Battalions
We are trialing a new iteration for Penal battalions, so as to minimize the amount of overlap they have with other squads in the soviet union.
With this iteration, we aim to give Penals the ability to be able to dissuade vehicles from being too aggressive vs Penal squads, while allowing vehicles to safely engage Penal squads from a distance. Thus, vehicle counter-play to T1 openings will have a direct effect on the conclusion of the conflict. We have also increased the popcap cost of Penal battalions to offset this increase in utility.
Comparison to v1.5 Penals:
* Popcap cost increased from 7 popcap to 8 popcap
* Lose access to Molotov (Conscript overlap)
* Lose access to the PTRS upgrade (Guards overlap; too many Penal-exclusive upgrades were promoting Penal-only builds)
* Gain access to AT satchel by default (essentially the satchel ability takes on the engine-damage and tracking features of AT satchel introduced in v1.5, except for the heavy-engine-damage feature).
Comparison to live-version Penals:
* Popcap cost increased from 7 popcap to 8 popcap
* Satchel can behave like a vehicle snare
* Veterancy requirements increased
* Vet3 RA reduced
* Vet2 oorah removed
* Flamer locked behind molotov
* Flamer now takes up both slots and forces the squad to get 2-3 ppsh bundled with it to reduce all-range potency
* Veterancy 3 reduces the cost of the satchel ability from 45 munitions to 35 munitions.
Penal satchel now behaves as follows:
* Damage vs vehicles reduced to 240 (same as AT satchel)
* Friendly fire multiplier increased from 25% to 50%
* Causes engine snare on targets with 75% HP or lower (after the damage is applied)
* Satchel will stick to vehicles if it hits them on its trajectory to the target
* Satchels can be targeted directly on enemy vehicles. However, the throw will abort if, at any time, the target leaves the range of the ability (unlike other snare abilities that will fire regardless)
We expect that the ability of Penal squads to have tech-free snare will allow unique synergy to come to light:
A player that builds T1 to start their aggression can tech to T2 to buy an AT guy without having the risk of having their only AT gun flanked by singular light vehicles. Now, Penal battalions can provide flanking protection to the AT guns
Penals can satchel vehicles snared by other units (e.g., guards button)
T-70
In order to reward players that have managed to preserve their T-70s while using them aggressively, we are improving T-70’s accuracy vs infantry at Vet3. This will allow vetted T-70’s to perform a bit closer to current game performance if the enemy has chosen to ignore them.
We are also making some QoL changes to T-70’s Recon mode and Capture point abilities. The following quality of life changes are to reduce the amount of micro to access the T-70’s numerous abilities and consolidate them into one for ease of use. Players could already have both Recon mode and capture territory active at the same time. With these changes we are simply reducing the amount of “clicks” required.
BRITISH
AEC
Given the partial revert given to the Puma, and in order to keep AEC’s performance consistent with the Puma, we introduce the following changes:
MG incremental accuracy increased from 1 to 1.12 to match the Puma (original value in live-version was 1.04)
Near-AoE damage multiplier reverted from 0.33 to 1 to match the Puma
UI IMPROVEMENTS
V1.7 UPDATE
GENERAL CHANGES
Base Structure Rotation
Soviets engineers and Wermacht Pioneers will be able to select the rotation of base buildings to allow players to optimize paths, as well as create unique layouts! Many thanks to community member Capiqua for implementing this functionality for the balance team.
Retreat Point Decongestion
Retreating infantry now stop their retreats within 10 yards from the respective army’s HQ. This applies to the following armies:
For USF, due to their USF base layout, retreating infantry will stop within 5 yards from the closest weapon rack.
To optimise healing performance, Wermacht players are strongly advised to place their healing bunkers as close to the broad side of their HQ as possible.
Handbrake Ability
SOVIETS
T-70
We found that the projectile QoL change we added to the T-70 (projectile ignoring elevation), was causing the targeting system to become extremely unreliable, making it very difficult (and unintuitive) to get good performance out of the unit.
Moreover, we are improving the targeting of T-70 (distance_scatter_offset), so that it doesn’t overshoot by as much as it currently does. With the previous targeting profile of the T-70, it was very difficult for the T-70 to engage infantry targets that were moving towards the T-70 (e.g., to faust it). This made kiting infantry particularly difficult to pull off.
WEHRMACHT
Medkit Ability (veterancy 1)
To put Wermacht Medkit cost more in-line with other healing abilities, we are reducing their cost.
OKW
Panzer 2 'Luchs'
We are increasing the consistency of the damage output of the Luchs by eliminating sources of inconsistency other similar units do not normally suffer from.
We are increasing the moving accuracy multiplier the Luchs gets at Vet2, to compensate for the reduction of the base accuracy we introduced in the balance patch..
We are making the main gun of the Luchs ignore suppression modifiers of the target unit. This is to make the performance of the Luchs consistent with non-accuracy-based anti-infantry units (e.g., T70/Ostwind).
We are increasing the performance of Luchs when it closes in on enemy squads. With this change, the Luchs will ignore cover of nearby infantry units if driven up within 10m from them, (similar to small-arms fire weapons, i.e. the Point Blank mechanic)
With respect to scaling, we find the Veterancy 5 bonus of the Luchs to be over performing. Thus, we are changing the strong passive suppression of the Luchs to a weaker ability with a cooldown.
Finally, to ensure that Luchs has easier access to the entire array of veterancy bonuses, we are reducing the veterancy requirements to be more in line with other light tanks.
BRITISH
AEC
With the PIATs opening up as an option for Brits, we feel that an AT-only AEC will see very little use. This is because both the PIATs and the AEC are meant to be used defensively. At the same time, fielding an AEC presents the Brit player with a higher risk than simply investing in infantry upgrades that can stay with them until the end of the game.
To avoid restoring AEC’s generalist-tank status (which would make AEC-tech an one-way), we are modifying AEC’s abilities to make its strengths and weaknesses more pronounced, and allow the AEC to be used more offensively (where PIATs would be lacking).
The new AEC is a Puma-like vehicle, with very little AI. It is supposed to assist infantry pushes with its smoke screen (rather than with raw firepower, as is the case in the live version). As added utility to the British faction, the AEC is supposed to provide the snares the faction, otherwise, lacks.
Compared to the Puma, the AEC has lower range, and worse mobility. However, the AEC makes up for that with better on-the-move accuracy, and better turret traverse. That way, the AEC is meant to be the close-range “flanker” counterpart to the long-range “kiter” Puma.
As a final note, we expect that the turret traverse improvements will make it easier for the AEC to line the shots needed to trigger the treadshot “immobilize” critical.
V1.8 UPDATE
We are now approaching the end of the iteration period for the Winter Balance Preview. V1.8 is likely to be one of the last 2 or 3 versions before the changes are locked for live game integration. If you have any feedback on the existing changes but haven't voiced your opinion yet or if you haven't played the mod yet, now would be a good time. Thank you again to everyone who has participated in this process, your feedback has been invaluable.
A refined survey will be going out later today to gather feedback on some of the remaining changes that have had polarizing opinions. Keep an eye out for it in-game and on COH2's social channels.
GENERAL CHANGES
Retreat Point De-Congestion
Following our live game tests, we are making adjustments to this QoL change for the USF and the UKF faction.
For the USF faction, we are completely reverting the changes, since these changes only deteriorated retreat point performance. Nevertheless, we have made Major’s retreat point antenna traversable by all units, to allow USF units to quickly relocate after finishing their retreat.
For the British faction, we are refining the changes so that British weapon racks also act as candidate retreat points, in a similar fashion to how weapon racks behave for USF (even for the live version. This will prevent units from creating bottlenecks in the British base building complex.
Refined retreat points for the British faction.
OST
Target Weak Point (Stug-E/OST Puma)
We feel that the turret rotation critical we gave to both Target Weak point abilities for the Stug-E and the OST Puma makes them simply inferior versions of the OKW Puma aimed shot ability. To keep the ability somewhat unique, while not making it overpowered, we are changing the type of critical to a Blind critical (equivalent to the Stuart stun-shot ability).
For both vehicles, the shot has 100% chance to penetrate any target, and the amount of damage dealt is equal to half the amount of damage their respective weapons would normally deal. E.g., for the Stug-E which would normally deal 80 damage per shot, the TWP ability deals 40 damage. We are also reducing the cost of the Puma TWP ability to be inline with the rest of TWP abilities in the faction.
USF
M15
We are still not happy about the veterancy thresholds for the M15 anti-air half-track, and are lowering them so that the survivability bonuses at Vet3 become attainable.
OKW
Puma Aimed shot
We are changing how OKW Aimed Shot performs in relation to infantry. In the live version, Puma’s aimed shot is able to reliably kill any infantry model, regardless of the circumstances (e.g., a moving Puma has 100% accuracy vs a squad retreating, even when it is hugging the best kind of cover). This often leads to unnecessary squad wipes.
BRITISH
AEC
We are further reducing the anti-infantry potency of AEC’s main gun, by making it as inaccurate as the Puma gun. Furthermore, we are giving AEC’s acceleration a small boost at Veterancy level 3, since this has been, so far, the only vehicle not to benefit from increased mobility.
BUG FIXES
V1.9 UPDATE
This is the final iteration of the Winter Balance Preview Mod. Further testing will be intended for any additional last minute fine tuning of the existing changes in this mod. A massive thank you goes out to the community for spending countless hours playtesting the WBP and providing pages upon pages of feedback to our community balance team. Pending final approval, the changes in this mod are targeted to be released to the live game near the end of March, 2017.
SOVIETS
Penal Battalions
We have integrated the feedback we received from the latest survey. As a result of this, Penals will now have access to a 2x PTRS upgrade as opposed to a flamethrower. This will allow Penals to perform better in a soft-AT role vs vehicles and potentially allow Penal Battalions to synergise with non-Guards builds.
Penal PTRS Stats
The PTRS rifles Penals receive have the following differences from Guards PTRS
Dropped PTRS Behaviour
* If Elite Units (e.g., Guards) pick up any PTRS (Guards/Penals) -> they get Guards PTRS version
* If anything else picks up a dropped PTRS rifle -> they get Penal PTRS version
BRITISH
AEC
We are further reducing the anti-infantry output of the AEC turret MG to make it less efficient as a harassment tool vs infantry.
BUG FIXES & QoL CHANGES
We have also carried out a thorough recheck of the mod files to check for inconsistencies. Our scan has revealed that the following items had different values from the one intended/advertised:
V1.9.1 UPDATE
Due to a high-priority bug fix, we have made certain changes to the suppression values of all suppression platforms. Players are strongly advised to stay vigilant and report whether suppression platforms still suppress as fast as they used to (neither faster nor slower).
BUG FIXES
UI
V1.9.2 UPDATE
BUG FIXES
V1.9.3 UPDATE
BUG FIXES
1.9.4 UPDATE