Red Army Tech Tree - a must for defeating Nazis

[thebomb]

Hey guys,

Given that the current Red Army tech tree is linear and not very fun (Mustering Tent -> SSB -> Armory -> Tank Hall) I have created one under the framework and influence of existing tech trees.

I used the Wehrmacht and American factions as a guiding tool in order to create a tech tree as close and true to vanilla CoH while at the same time making it unique to the Soviets. The tech tree that I have created is based on the Soviet method of war in WWII: Deep Operations.

Put simply, Deep Operations involved two cruical phases during a Soviet attack: The breakthrough phase and the exploitation phase. The breakthrough phase was to be carried out by infantry, heavy tanks, and artillery support units of the Soviet army. The exploitation phase was to be carried out by massive, mobile, tank forces. This short explanation of Deep Operations is the motivator for why I grouped units and upgrades the way I did.

The tech tree itself is very simple and simply divides and categorizes existing units and upgrades into manageable "chunks" which the player may choose or not choose to pursue. This choice, I believe, is very important because at the moment there is very little decision making involved for the Soviet player in terms of teching.

I have separated the tech three into three tiers:

Tier 1 (the tier the player starts the game in)
Tier 2 (called "Deploy Breakthrough Forces")
Tier 3 (called Deploy Exploitation Forces")

Since the breakthrough phase was carried out by infantry, heavy tanks, and artillery, "Deploy Breakthrough Forces" is researched at the Soviet Support Barracks.

Since the exploitation phase was carried out primarily by Tank Armies, "Deploy Exploitation Forces" is researched at the Tank Hall.

Tier 1
Units available:
Engineer
Command Squad

Conscripts
Sharpshooter
Tank Hunter Squad

Upgrades available:
Extra Rifles
Men against Machine

Tier 2 - Deploy Breakthrough Forces
Units available:
Strelky

Mortar
Medic Truck
ZIS-2

T-70
T-90
IS-2
T34-76
Su-85

Upgrades Available:
Sturmovie Ingenery
Sharpshooter artillery call-in ability
Red Banner Strelky

Tier 3 - Deploy Exploitation Forces
Units available:
Guards

Upgrades available:
Shock Guards

ZIS-2 squad upgrade
Mortar squad upgrade

T34-85
SU-100

I have split the units and upgrades into groups which I think are natural and logical from the point of view of the player. I find that I invisibly go through these tiers when I play. The whole point to implementing them though, is to give the player a choice whether they want to tech up or not. This is desperately needed right now because the current "tech tree" is simply too linear.


All that's left is to figure out the costs for moving up these tiers. That's why I want you guys to first look over my tech tree and tell me if you like it and second, suggest what these tier upgrades should cost.

[Artillerist]

Mi idea was:

Staff:
Engineers
Major
ZiS-5

Infantry Barraks:
Conscripts
Riflemen
Guards
Sniper

Artillery Depot:
PTRD squad
ZIS-2
PM-38

Tank Hall:
All tanks

[Loupblanc]

 My brain went meep when I saw IS2 in tier2
 IS2 should come same time as T34/85. Using it's upgrade
 as an unlock. NOT BEFORE!.

 Side note: with the rabid nerfs against god of war and
 IL2... shouldn't those timers be reduced??? So I could use
 it more often than, say, the V1?

[thebomb]

My brain went meep when I saw IS2 in tier2
IS2 should come same time as T34/85. Using it's upgrade
as an unlock. NOT BEFORE!.

I had the same thought when making this tree but there are two reasons why I put the IS-2 as a Tier-2 unit.

First, the IS-2 is technically a tier 2 unit now since you can build it as soon as you get a tank hall up. I was reluctant to group it as a tier 3 unit because I wanted to differentiate the Soviets from the other factions i.e. they are the only faction which has access to a heavy tank mid-game - which is the case right now. Besides the IS-2 is currently balanced in terms of cost, power, armor etc.. as a tier 2 unit. Moving it up to tier 3 would require further balance changes from the developers which I want to avoid.

The second reason is due to the IS-2's historical use. The IS-2 is a slow, high power tank that was used only in breakthrough attacks. Grouping it with exploitation forces would just be silly and defeat the whole purpose of the tree.

Side note: with the rabid nerfs against god of war and
IL2... shouldn't those timers be reduced??? So I could use
it more often than, say, the V1?

Here I agree w/ you.

[WhiteFlash]

THIS is how the soviets tier should work.

http://easternfront.org/forums/index.php?topic=2436.0

Please take a look, very much worth it.

[thebomb]

Added tree:

[WhiteFlash]

this is okay, the problem is, there is still no big choice system with this...you get teir 1, make inf, you get tier2, make tanks, you get tier3 you upgrade.  There needs to be more decision making within the tiering system, just like other factions.  There needs to be unit choices, resource options, upgrade options.  The bottom line with tiering is it CANNOT be linear, that ruins the decision making process that is critical to making a faction good.

[Akalonor]

If you unlock IS-2's in tier 2 whats the point of going forward to tier 3 ?Yes you can upgrade but IS-2's can win by themselves.

[thebomb]

If you unlock IS-2's in tier 2 whats the point of going forward to tier 3 ?Yes you can upgrade but IS-2's can win by themselves.

You need tier 3 to fight off vet 3 wehr infantry and tanks. IS2 by itself or with vet 1 support weapons/infantry won't hold off vet 3 panthers + vet 3 wehr infantry.

[Versedhorison]

I agree with this tech tree. I make sense given soviet late war strategy.