Comments - gamer_1001

So does that mean nothing is going to replace the hedges in the new maps? Dancing around them until heavy armor rolls out is an important part of the original COH gameplay.

China is not a tank country any way...too much mountain, swamp and rice paddies (even in the Central China Plain). I'm more interested on what new map element the team is going to introduce to limit tank movements, since there is no hedges like in the original COH.

Wait, I thought real life shotgun is designed to clear out covers...

It is rare to see shotguns implemented in a RTS...is it identical to SMGs or a substitute for flamethrowers?

I can't speak for the dev, but the Stryker Mobile Gun System is equivalent to the Chinese medium tank (same 105mm rifle gun), while in game Americans have two different versions of M1A2. So technically Americans also have two heavy tanks and one medium tank like the Chinese.

I think he meant the veterancy system of the Chinese units...and I believe a a lot of people mistakenly thinking that a Chinese unit in game can earn 20 ranks after this preview.

The ranks explained:

20: Yi Ji Shang Jiang or Upper General First Class (NATO equivalent General of the Army)
19: Shang Jiang or Upper General (NATO equivalent General)
18: Zhong Jiang or Middle General (NATO equivalent Lieutenant General)
17: Shao Jiang or Junior General (NATO equivalent Major General)
16: Da Xiao or Senior Colonel (NATO equivalent Brigadier General)
15: Shang Xiao or Upper Colonel (NATO equivalent Colonel)
14: Zhong Xiao or Middle Colonel (NATO equivalent Lieutenant Colonel)
13: Shao Xiao or Junior Colonel (NATO equivalent Major)
12: Shang Wei or Upper Lieutenant (NATO equivalent Captain)
11: Zhong Wei or Middle Lieutenant (NATO equivalent First Lieutenant)
10: Shao Wei or Junior Lieutenant (NATO equivalent Second Lieutenant)
9: Xue Yuan or Officer Cadet
8: Liu Ji Shi Guan or NCO Level 6 (NATO equivalent Sergeant Major)
7: Wu Ji Shi Guan or NCO Level 5 (NATO equivalent Master Sergeant)
6: Si Ji Shi Guan or NCO Level 4 (NATO equivalent Sergeant First Class)
5: San Ji Shi Guan or NCO Level 3 (NATO equivalent Staff Sergeant)
4: Er Ji Shi Guan or NCO Level 2 (NATO equivalent Sergeant)
3: Yi Ji Shi Guan or NCO Level 1 (NATO equivalent Corporal)
2: Shang Deng Bing or Private First Class
1: Lie Bing or Private

BTW, when can we see the US ranks?

Officer Cadets, or NATO equivalent OF-D rank.

Judging from all the pictures, when the gunner is attacking ground targets, he should be standing up and his helmet should be over the gun shield, while when the gunner is firing into the sky, he is sitting down and entirely covered by the shield. I presume that it is tricky to actually animate a gunner switching between the two firing mode.

On the bright side there is no way the gunner could be killed without destroying the entire vehicle.

Is the missile part going to be functional in game?

Nice details on the rocket. I didn't know they were actually modeled in COH.

The gunner is indeed too small...the gunner's helmet should be over the shield.

No. First of all, it's a design decision. Second of all, it's impossible to get the realistic stats on Chinese equipments.

I think that is the color of the canvas covering the joint...

Humm, so I guess we will be seeing a lot of maps covered with swamps and rice paddies to make this vehicle really shine. It will be funny to see a ZBD dancing around a M1 Abram stuck in swamps during the game.

Well, I'm not commenting on the exact stats of weapons or cost, but the playing styles.

As for range effectiveness, I'm not saying that US only has good long range weapon and PLA only has good short range weapon, I'm saying that in a match up, US playing style will make weapons that is effective at long range, such as artillery and rifles, to have more utility against the PLA than the sub machine gun, and vice versa. To take a real life example, according to combat surveys in Korea, US artillery is always the number one killer against PLA, followed by rifles, then the sub machine gun, and finally the bayonet. The opposite the true for the PLA, in which knife, grenade and sub machine gun is the number one killer against US, followed by rifles and mortars, and finally artillery. This doesn't mean that Chinese don't have good artillery or US don't have good sub machine gun (in fact, both PLA and US uses the same 105mm artillery and Tommy gun at that time), it is just that the differences in tactics and philosophies made US better at long range fights, while PLA is the better short range fighters.

As for PLA inexpensive units with high upkeep, that is how PLA works in the real worlds, as in the fact that they have the ability to rapidly mobilize a lot of units, but lacks the logistics to support them for long. To take advantage of this situation, the PLA always tries to surround and contain its opponent first with numbers, then move up higher techs units to break the enemy pockets and strongholds. When this translates into game term, it means that PLA early game will be around the concept of inexpensive Militia spam for map control and harassment, then the high upkeep of the Militia unit will force the PLA to phase them out by mid and late game.

To elaborate, I'm guessing the pros and the cons of the match up is something like this:

US:
Weapons most effective at long range
Expensive and versatile units with low upkeep
Flexible tech trees that can soft counter anything
Powerful off map fire support and defensive systems

PRC:
Weapons most effective at mid or short range
Inexpensive units with high upkeep
Wide selections of hard counter units and tech trees
Extremely good at harassment, capping and map control

This could be an interesting match up...

The match up is more like Wher(US) vs. US(PRC)...

Technically ZBD is more of a mini gun boat that is capable of crossing 30 miles of open ocean than an regular IFV like the Bradly, thus explaining its bigger size.