Axis Strafe

[Chancellor]

I am making this topic because I am excited by that the Ostheer will actually have some air support, as opposed to the BS Henschel call-in right now that misses half its shots.

I am convinced that the purpose of every new faction is to bring something new to the table for their teams; Soviets bring strong build-able tanks like the IS-2 for the Allies for example, and that is what makes up their contribution and uniqueness to the Allies.  So what is one of the things Ostheer can bring to the table for the Axis team?  USEFUL air power.

I read the Me262 suggestion, but I think that plane is too rare and the ability of limiting only certain Allied doctrines is not useful.  (What if USA went armor instead of AB doctrine?)

My suggestion: A Messerschmitt Bf 109 strafe that does 3x normal P47 strafe damage.  Now before everyone cries OP lets go through this.

For balance and to reflect Allied air dominance:
-The ability will definitely have the siren warning like the P47 and also an additional(added on to the current P47 delay) 1 second delay before the plane comes in, so it is perfectly avoidable
-Costs 200 munitions
-Has 3x the recharge time of the P47 ability
-Unlike the USA strafe, the Ostheer strafe will be the last ability on the tree, so it will come at a time when Allies have something besides infantry as their combat forces

Additional Reasoning:
-Allies have larger squads, so even if the player has bad micro and gets caught in a strafe, there is a chance that not every member of the Allied squad gets caught in the strafe box.  It will be hard to 1 hit KO a moving squad
-This ability is overpriced against players that do not blob, as it should be.  Although one might argue that this can potentially wipe an entire capping squad out, the current P47 can also 1 hit KO a whole volks squad.  In addition, there is the siren warning of course.
-Finally, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 model is already out (Battle of Crete mod)

-Against Americans, they can build a medic tent as insurance, and their reinforce costs aren't that high
-Against British, they also have a medic tent.  These guys can also dodge pretty much any type of off map stuff.  They have retreat and also retreat to captain, and even if they get caught with their pants down at their HQ they can also quickly unpack the HQ truck, retreat, and repack on the point.  Please don't comment about this if you don't know what I am talking about.
-Against Soviets, these guys have the largest squads, so the chance that every member gets caught in the strafe box will be very slim.  Also, they have very low reinforce cost.

Usefulness:
I think there can be no question as to the usefulness of strafe.  Everyone who plays CoH knows its usefulness, and I think this is something unique that the Ostheer can contribute to the Axis team.

Uniqueness:
Yes its played out by 1 faction already, but one can argue that its the same thing with mobile artillery call-ins and a lot of other doctrine abilities.  Katyshas basically perform the same function as Callipopes.  Both British and American get very similar off-map artillery call-ins too.  I don't see why strafe must be an exception.

[RedGuard]

ehhh I dont know 

It just seems too played out already. I dont think this idea will receive much support 

And yes, without getting into it, I'm completely against it 
+1 for effort though!

[Chancellor]

It just seems too played out already. I dont think this idea will receive much support 

Yea its played out by 1 faction already, but one can argue that its the same thing with snipers.  For example, we have snipers for 3 factions already, and now there will be a new useless one for the Ostheer too.

Same thing with mobile artillery call-ins and a lot of other doctrine abilities.  Katyshas basically perform the same function as Callipopes.  Both British and American get very similar off-map artillery call-ins too.  I don't see why strafe must be an exception.

[RedGuard]

Yeah I dont know, Im sure there will be a lot of balancing and reworking as they are released

[TheReaper]

Additional Reasoning:
-Allies have larger squads, so even if the player has bad micro and gets caught in a strafe, there is a chance that not every member of the Allied squad gets caught in the strafe box.  It will be hard to 1 hit KO a moving squad

In the beta the starfe changed to more effective against blobs, so it would be usefull against the soviets, and force the SU player not to blob, but blay a bit micro to his game. For example in the beta a SR can't kill a whole capping squad, but kills EVERYONE if 3 squads blob togeather. I like the idea.

[RedGuard]

kills EVERYONE if 3 squads blob togeather. I like the idea.

I dont understanding the logic behind this anti-blobbing movement, that I see more and more players subscribing to. Obviously theres mindless noob blobs, but theres also intelligent blobbing with a purpose

Sometimes 3 squads "blobbed" together can achieve what 1 squad cannot. If you dont need to split your forces up or flank why would you?
Brute force is a legitimate tactic, just as quantity has a quality all its own.

build a machine gun and you'll fight a few blobs, instead of one.

besides its impossible to control all of your individual units simultaneously, and maintain any kind of effectiveness. unless you're a computer.

[IJoe]

+1 ^^
One should also mind, that soviet infantry has far less health, than literally any other in this game, so this "anti-blobbing" thing most likely will turn to be too much to their disadvantage, while barely doing any good against PE MINDLESS MP-GREN BLOBS.

[GodlikeDennis]

I dislike strafe. Though I think if a non-pinning strafe were available to the OH luftwaffe doctrine unlocked with the Stuka dive bombing then I wouldn't be against it for the reasons you stated. I dunno about triple damage though. Clearly extensive testing would have to go into it to determine it's damage.

[TheReaper]

while barely doing any good against PE MINDLESS MP-GREN BLOBS.

If you play the beta against US, there's 90% that you're enemy go to strafe, that you have to spread youre squads a bit out. If you're forces is too close together, it will be a massacre as I experienced 3*4 men there goes the SR and barly 1-2 man survived. But it's my oppinion, the Ostheer is just doing fine in paper.

[IJoe]

while barely doing any good against PE MINDLESS MP-GREN BLOBS.

If you play the beta against US, there's 90% that you're enemy go to strafe, that you have to spread youre squads a bit out. If you're forces is too close together, it will be a massacre as I experienced 3*4 men there goes the SR and barly 1-2 man survived. But it's my oppinion, the Ostheer is just doing fine in paper.

OK, thanks for the info. I'll just have to wait, until the patch arrives, to check it out for myself. 

[Griptonix]

I like the idea, not all of it but I don't know all the technical mumbo jumbo as far as balance goes either but the idea of replacing the Henschel run sounds good. The blitzkrieg mod uses the Focke-Wulf 190 for strafe and bombing runs which is a nice addition in my opinion especially on the Eastern front where the Germans had air superiority for the most part.

[Chancellor]

I dislike strafe. Though I think if a non-pinning strafe were available to the OH luftwaffe doctrine unlocked with the Stuka dive bombing then I wouldn't be against it for the reasons you stated. I dunno about triple damage though. Clearly extensive testing would have to go into it to determine it's damage.

I suggested 3x because currently if you strafe a huge blob, it does nearly nothing.  Allies have the most men per squad.  If you strafe an Allied blob with the current strafe they won't take damage.  Also the strafe comes at the end of the tree.  Since it comes at the end of the tree, it should have pin.

People will b1tch about what I'm about to say here, but I'll say it anyways.  I have a strong feeling a strafe will be much more useful than some stuka dive bombings.  Its kind of like USA strafe run compared to bombing run.  While bombing run also has its uses, anyone that truly knows CoH knows that SR is the ability everyone goes for when going AB doctrine, not BR.  Give me a strafe or a few "fancy" stuka diving runs, and I'll take the strafe any day.

[Cranialwizard]

I dislike strafe. Though I think if a non-pinning strafe were available to the OH luftwaffe doctrine unlocked with the Stuka dive bombing then I wouldn't be against it for the reasons you stated. I dunno about triple damage though. Clearly extensive testing would have to go into it to determine it's damage.

I suggested 3x because currently if you strafe a huge blob, it does nearly nothing.  Allies have the most men per squad.  If you strafe an Allied blob with the current strafe they won't take damage.  Also the strafe comes at the end of the tree.  Since it comes at the end of the tree, it should have pin.

People will b1tch about what I'm about to say here, but I'll say it anyways.  I have a strong feeling a strafe will be much more useful than some stuka dive bombings.  Its kind of like USA strafe run compared to bombing run.  While bombing run also has its uses, anyone that truly knows CoH knows that SR is the ability everyone goes for when going AB doctrine, not BR.  Give me a strafe or a few "fancy" stuka diving runs, and I'll take the strafe any day.

+1

[GodlikeDennis]

Except that strafe comes earlier in the airborne tree and bombing run is grossly UP and unreliable for it's cost. Stuka will likely be more of a pinpoint strike that you know will actually hit targets in the attack box/circle. Also, if a strafe comes with the same cp unlock as the stuka you get what you're aiming for, an end tree powerful version of strafe. So the final RHS unlock for OH luft would be "air support" that unlocks both the strafe and stuka powers.

The strafe mechanic has been changed in the beta patch to do more damage to blobs and less to single targets so throwing about random modifiers is pointless at the moment. The instant pin is the most annoying thing about strafe in my opinion. It adds more OH SHIT buttons to the American player's arsenal. It is also usually the saving grace from having your forces wiped since strafe is affected by suppressed/pinned modifiers I believe and does less damage. So again, the numbers have to go through extensive testing to make it balanced. The original strafe hasn't been balanced since release, so it could take awhile.

[RedGuard]

strafes been a disaster from the start and always will be considering this is the last official patch.  I actually think its gotten wackier now

its up to us here at the EF to finally get it right!
Its off topic but will the policy about modifying relic factions be less strict once final patch is released?