Lend-Lease Assault as a Wehrmacht Doctrine
#1
4 months ago
PanzerFutz
Melbourne, OzPosts: 346
Here's what Lend-Lease Assault would look like if it were a Wehrmacht doctrine:
(0 CP) Genadier Assault Upgrade
- Grenadiers receive MP40's
- Gain extra man
- Gain Incendiary Grenades, lose Rifle Grenades
- MG42 upgrade locks out Panzerfausts
- lower Received Accuracy
(0 CP) Marder III SP AT Gun
- light tank-destroyer with little anti-infantry capability
- built out of Support Armored Korps
(0 CP) Sdkfz 250/1 Halftrack
- Can upgrade to Mortar Halftrack
- built out of Leichte Support Kompanie
(1 CP) 75mm LeIG 18
- call-in unit
(6 CP) Relief Infantry
- unchanged
No heavy tanks, no artillery and no off-map strikes.
Looks great, doesn't it? Who wouldn't want this commander in their line-up?
Now you know how UK faction players feel about their new commander.
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Comments
@thedarkarmadillo I wanted a direct equivalent to the Wolverine so, it didn't really matter that the Marder doesn't exist in-game. What counts is their similarity.
The JP4 is too strong compared to the M10 - better gun, better armor and it can hide. The Wolverine has better ammunition, better target tracking and better mobility but, in a stand-up fight, it would always lose to a JP4.
The halftracks are similar, not the same but a rough equivalent.
Relief Infantry is nothing like Vehicle Repairs but, it's the only Ostheer ability that comes at 6 CP. I find it less useful than the repairs but, other players seem to think it's pretty good.
I'm glad you like the doctrine but, I meant it as a comparison to the new Wehrmacht commander, not the new British one. I'm curious to know which of the two doctrines players would choose: the one above or one which contains stand-alone assault infantry, explosives, an intel-gathering item, a good medium tank and a veteran heavy tank. The doctrine I formulated might be fun to play but, I doubt many players would choose it over Strategic Reserves.
Also, I suspect that if the above doctrine was presented as the new Wehrmacht commander, the forums would be jammed with complaints until it was changed. The UK faction seems to get little attention so, it's easy for the team to ignore the obvious flaws of the new British doctrine.
I guess my real point is that I think trying to balance the whole game using the new commanders is a stupid idea. The new commanders should be relatively balanced when compared to each other, within the limits imposed by the themes of the respective doctrines. The new UK commander still doesn't meet that standard and the only question is:
Why are they so determined to keep the doctrine weak?
Just because it's not what you were hoping doesn't mean it's trash and should be scrapped. It doesn't have to be all A list abilities if it's fun to use and offer variety. That's what the commanders are supposed to be in the first place - variety. And this commander is a shining example of that.
I'm not asking them to scrap the commander; I just want some form of artillery added to it.
The doctrine does give the Brits a lot of new options but, I don't think many players will use it in competitive play under its current form. Once heavy vehicles appear, the only item in this roster that will be used is Vehicle Crew Repairs and it will be used a lot.
Having play-tested it against the AI (as OKW, which is the only faction which fully works under this mod), I can say that, once Panthers and King Tigers showed up, I didn't use any of the other items again. Instead, I spent a lot of time repairing my tanks after they had tried (unsuccessfully) to destroy the enemy's tanks. An artillery strike would have been really handy at that point to help my tanks finish the job or to cover their escape.
From this, its easy to see that this doctrine is pointless after about 20 mins. There was no point in building any of the 4 units because, they are all light units that are easily wiped by heavy tanks. I realized that I was playing a doctrine that relied exclusively on core units in the second half of the game, with the help of Crew Repairs to keep my tanks from getting knocked out too quickly. What is the point of a doctrine that has only one item which is useful for the second half of a game? It's not even a game-winning item, like the Tiger Ace; it's a "lose a little slower" item.
The Soviet doctrine suffer from the same issue but, curiously, neither of the German doctrines have this problem. The OKW will use the Smoke Run, Tactical Movement and, of course, the Tiger extensively in the second half of a game; the same is true for the Wehrmacht's satchel charges, Pz4H and Tiger Ace.
This mod is so unbalanced in so many ways it's a bit of a joke. It's a pity it's not funny.
Sorry that I've been harping on this issue so much. I get that you're happy with the doctrine but, I'm not. However, all they have to do to shut me up is put some form of artillery in the next mod, even if it's just adding the Coordinated Barrage to the 81 mm mortar. Everything else is fine because, as you say, they are new tools for the UK faction - ones which fix structural issues within the British arsenal.