Global
------

-Demolition charges now cost 30 munitions for engineers of all factions to set up. In addition, the issue with that lack of icons and such has been fixed.

-Working in a more informative tooltip system to aide player awareness and ease the game's learning curve. Vehicles and AT guns now have stated front and rear armour values and penetration values (where applicable) that show up. This information can be seen before building the vehicle (underneath the unit type) and also by clicking on the unit itself (at the bottom of the lengthy unit description). Note: This applies to enemy units as well, so clicking on an enemy unit will show that info in the same way.

-Updated some code to comply with recent official changes made to the mod tools with regard to crushing and the type of cover vehicles provide to nearby infantry.


Americans
---------

-Increased damage of M15's 37mm AA gun to match that of the Ostwind's FlaK 43.


Germans (Ostheer)
--------------

-Fixed a range discrepancy with the PaK 43. It should now fire out to 100m.

-Flakpanzer IV Ostwind now defaults to firing HE rounds.

-SdKfz 251/17 now defaults to firing HE rounds.



Germans (OKW)
------------

-Fixed a bug where Panzergrenadiers were unable to construct trenches, sandbag walls or campfires. They decided to learn some fieldcraft skills after FINALLY getting the hint that the company's Pioneers had more "important" things to work on.

-Fixed a range discrepancy with the PaK 43. It should now fire out to 100m.

-Flakpanzer IV Ostwind now defaults to firing HE rounds.

-SdKfz 251/17 now defaults to firing HE rounds.

Global
------

-Corrected maximum range for sniper rifles (was far higher than intended).

-Increased turret speeds for AA weapons from 30 to 40.

-Lessened occurrences of Panzerschreck rockets "disappearing" in flight before reaching their targets at long range by increasing the projectile's speed to match that of the Raketenwerfer's. This problem exists in the base game but it's not noticeable due to the weapon itself having a much shorter range than in the mod.

-Snipers moved to Company HQ buildings (for now) to compensate for Relic's recent changes to AI behavior.

-Tooltip tweaks and fixes.


Americans
---------

-Improved AoE penetration of the M36 Jackson's 90mm M3 gun so that it matches the actual penetration of the weapon.

-Increased damage done by P47 rocket strike from 120 to 150. Damage should also be more evenly distributed over the blast radius.

-Reduced tracking speed for the M20's .50 cal M2HB to match that of other AA weapons.


Germans (Ostheer)
--------------

-Adjusted selection group parameters for the SdKfz 234/2 Heavy Armoured Car (Puma) so that double-clicking one will only select other SdKfz 234/2's as opposed to any SdKfz 222's and 223's that are nearby as well.

-Changes to Mechanized Infantry Doctrine: Smoke Bombs ability changed to call in a Panzergrenadier Gruppe mounted in a halftrack. The Gruppe has a random level of veterancy and improved morale (resistance to suppresssion and damage) compared to regular Panzergrenadiers. Mechanized Scout Troops altered slightly so that the squads themselves have better resistance to suppression and damage.*

-Flakpanzer IV Ostwind population increased to 6, with a corresponding increase in size to its dismounted vehicle crew.

-Increased the damage and damage over blast range done by individual S-mines slightly.

-Individual Snipers replaced with Sniper Teams, comprised of a Spotter and a Sniper.

-Panzer II 'Luchs' available as a Divisional Support option for Panzergrenadier Companies.**

-Reduced the cooldown time for Flakpanzer Ostwind's round switcher.

-SdKfz 251/17 can now switch between firing AP and HEF-I rounds. AP rounds allow the HT to quickly engage and destroy Armoured Cars and other Halftracks (it can only reliably pen up to 20mm of armour, so going up against light tanks is not recommended); HEF-I rounds can decimate infantry squads and weapon teams with shrapnel.


Soviets
-------

-Improved AoE of 45mm M-42 AT gun's Canister Shot round.

-Improved AoE penetration of 45mm M1938 tank gun (found on KV-8 and T-70) so that it matches the actual penetration of the weapon.

-Improved AoE, damage and range of the KV-2's 152mm Howitzer to match that of the ISU-152's.

-ISU-152 now defaults to firing HE rounds instead of AP.

-Increased build time of Sniper Teams to 36 seconds (note: German Sniper teams take the same length of time to recruit as well).


Germans (OKW)
------------

-Increased the damage and damage over blast range done by individual S-mines slightly.

-Individual Snipers replaced with Sniper Teams, comprised of a Spotter and an actual Sniper.

-Changes to Elite Armoured Doctrine: Panzer IV Auf. J call-in now calls in a Panzer Brigade command section comprised of 3 Panzer IV's - including a Panzerbefehlswagen IV - for 1200 MP and 150 Fuel. The HEAT Rounds ability changed to Panzergranate 40 Rounds - which now grants a 40% increase to armour penetration instead of 30%.

-Panzer II 'Luchs' can now switch between firing AP and HEF-I rounds. AP rounds allow the 'Luchs' to quickly engage and destroy Armoured Cars and Halftracks (it can only reliably pen up to 20mm of armour, so going up against light tanks is not recommended); HEF-I rounds can decimate infantry squads and weapon teams with shrapnel.

-Players can now choose between fielding the Panzer II 'Luchs' and the SdKfz 234/2 as a Regimental Support option: Building one will lock out the other. The 'Luchs' has better all-round armour protection and can quickly shred light armor and infantry at medium range with its rapid fire cannon (depends on ammo loadout). The SdKfz 234/2 on the other hand is a bit faster and can fight off anything up to and including medium tanks at long range.

-SdKfz 251/17 can now switch between firing AP and HEF-I rounds. AP rounds allow the HT to quickly engage and destroy Armoured Cars and other Halftracks (it can only reliably pen up to 20mm of armour, so going up against light tanks is not recommended); HEF-I rounds can decimate infantry squads and weapon teams with shrapnel.

-Updated the call-in Flakpanzer Ostwind to match that of Ostheer's Ostwind.


Designer Notes
---------------

*With this Doctrine / Commander, I wanted to represent in part one of the most famous German regular army divisions to serve on the Eastern Front: Panzergrenadier Division "Grossdeutschland". A unit whose level of training, quality of equipment, and esprit de corps was arguably on par with Waffen-SS units such as "Das Reich" & "Wiking", "GD" was frequently deployed to counter various Soviet offensive operations from late 1943 onwards, earning the nickname "Hitler's Fire Brigade".

**Most Panzer II Ausf. L's saw action on the Eastern Front while a rather small number saw service with a couple of Panzer Divisions in the West.

Global
------

-Fine tuned some turret speeds.

-Removed super accuracy from snipers / Marksmen / Sharpshooters. Frankly it makes them boring and a bit OP. Instead they now have a reasonable chance of missing.

-Reduced tank gun accuracy vs AT guns and light artilery pieces by 50%.


Americans
---------

-Decreased population count for the M7B1 Priest to 5 with a corresponding change to its vehicle crew squad.

-Decreased max movement speed for the M7B1 Priest to 5.5 from 6.5.*

-Improved weapon behavior for the M7B1 Priest's 105mm Howitzer when manually targeting enemies.

-Improved frontal armour of all M4A3 Sherman variants to 93 from 72.**

-Standardized ranges for 75mm Pack Howitzer abilities at 175m.


Germans (Wehr)
--------------

-Flakpanzer IV 'Ostwind' can now switch between using AP and APHE rounds. APHE rounds are effective vs infantry and light vehicles with decent AoE, while AP rounds are only useful vs light tanks and the thinner sides of medium tanks.

-Improved frontal armour of PzKpfw M4 748(a) / Beutepanzer "Sherman" to 93 from 72.**

-Increased Stuka Dive Bomb strike recharge time to 60 seconds.

-Raised vet level requirements for all Panzer-Zerstörer Trupp.

-Updated Panzer IV's to use the newer model used by the OKW Panzer IV.


Soviets
-------

-Improved frontal armour of M4C Sherman to 93 from 72.**


Germans (OKW)
------------

-Raised vet level requirements for all Panzer-Zerstörer Trupp.


Designer Notes
---------------

*Although Priests weighed less than the M4 Sherman, they appeared to have used a less powerful engine with a restricted top speed.

**Thank better data on frontal armour thicknesses and angles. These numbers represent not the actual thickness, but rather Line of Sight thickness afforded by angled armour plate. The actual thickness of a regular M4A3's frontal armour plate is only 64mm, but it's angled at 47 degrees from vertical, thus presenting more thickness and resistance for an AP round to ovecome.

Global
------

-Tank guns now have a minimum range of 2-5m (more for some weapons due to blast radius). This means that tanks can't fire at targets within that range.

-Tooltip tweaks and fixes.


Americans
---------

-M7 Priest may now auto-target enemies with the 105mm Howitzer (line of sight attack). The Priest still retains its barrage abilities.

-Rangers can now employ Satchel Charges against targets, replacing the limited demo charge ability.


Germans (OKW)
------------

-Fixed a reload time discrepancy between the KT's AP and HE rounds.

Global
------

-All medium and heavy tank wrecks should now be passable / crushable only by dozer-equipped vehicles.

-All wrecked AT guns should now be passable / crushable only by tanks.

-Tooltip tweaks and fixes.

-Tweaked blast area sizes for AP rounds - They are now based on caliber. IE: a 75mm AP round has a radius of .75 meters.


Americans
---------

-Adding a top gunner to a tank now increases the vehicle's sight range to match that of infantry.


Germans (Wehr)
--------------

-Adding a top gunner to a tank now increases the vehicle's sight range to match that of infantry.

-Corrected some references to default weapon files.


Soviets
-------

-Adding a top gunner to a tank now increases the vehicle's sight range to match that of infantry.

-Corrected some references to default weapon files.


Germans (OKW)
------------

-Corrected some references to default weapon files.

Global
------

-All Platoon HQ squads now gain veterancy from nearby squads.

-Demolition Charges for Engineer / Pioneer teams are no longer XP locked.

-Most tanks should now have the ability to switch between using armour piercing and high explosive rounds (where appropriate).

-Reduced sight of enclosed vehicles to 30m (for reference, Infantry can see out to 35m).

-Tweaked penetration of blast radius of HE shells to weaken better over the range of the blast.


Americans
---------

-Reduced aim times for SMG's to match those of other factions.

-Removed default code from SMG's that was shortening burst lengths.

-The Platoon HQ Section now gains a Marksman armed with an M1C Garand rifle. The M1C is treated as being a Sniper Rifle, being able to kill with a single accurate shot.

-The Company HQ Section (Captain's squad) now gains a Marksman armed with an M1C Garand rifle. The M1C is treated as being a Sniper Rifle, being able to kill with a single accurate shot.


Germans (Wehr)
--------------

-Fixed a bug where the Panther wasn't shooting out to intended max range.

-Reduced accuracy of le IG18 vs Infantry.


Soviets
-------

-Engineer Squads now capped at 3 (oversight on my part).

-Increased the cooldown for the ISU-152's ammo switching ability to match the reload time for the howitzer itself (30 seconds).


Germans (OKW)
------------

-Fixed a bug where the Panther wasn't shooting out to intended max range.

Germans (Wehr)
--------------

-Snipers no longer require a Company building.


Soviets
-------

-Snipers no longer require a Company building.


Germans (OKW)
------------

-Sniper available from HQ. Note: No unit speech. Known issue.



Note: The U.S. Army's policy with regard to fielding snipers / marksmen is hard to figure out, hence the they don't get one. I'll see about including a sharpshooter for HQ teams or something in the future.

Global
------

-Increased defensive bonus for trenches by 25%.

-Reduced HP for Haltracks.


Germans (Wehr)
--------------

-Ostruppen now have a 50% chance of spawning with either an lMG34 or a DP1928. Note: they will ALWAYS get a light machine gun - just a question of which one.

-Reduced accuracy of 7.5cm PaK 40 slightly.

-Reduced accuracy of 8.8cm PaK 43 slightly.

-Reduced the target size of the Kubelwagen by 50% (makes it harder to hit with tank guns)

-SdKfz 234/2 'Puma' can now switch between using AP and HE rounds.


Soviets
-------

-45mm M-42 Anti-tank Gun reload time reduced to 2.5 - 3.5 seconds. In addition, the gun crew can now switch between firing AP and short range Canister rounds (for use against attacking infantry).

-Fixed a bug where the 45mm M-42 AT gun cost far less and took less time to build than it should have. Should be 217 MP.


Germans (OKW)
------------

-Reduced accuracy of 7.5cm PaK 40 slightly.

-Reduced accuracy of 8.8cm PaK 43 slightly.

-Reduced the target size of the Kubelwagen by 50% (makes it harder to hit with tank guns)

-SdKfz 234/2 'Puma' can now switch between using AP and HE rounds.

Global
------

-Fixed a bug where the SdKfz 234/2 Puma's gun did no damage.

This is a random glitch that pops up with the mod tools at times, where some weapons will no longer do damage, so my apologies for the inconvenience.

Global
------

-Overhauled tank HP a bit to make AT guns a bit more potent and tank combat a bit more interesting. In particular, this makes first round hits from Jagdtigers, IS-2's and ISU-122's / ISU-152's far more dangerous. Let me know how it works out.

-Slight tweaks to mortars (should miss a little bit more when fire into fog of war). In addition, they no longer receive a 25% bonus to hit when firing on targets in open terrain (old vCoH2 code).

-Trenches now confer a bit more damage resistance to any occupants (25% damage reduction). Might need some fine tuning so let me know in the Suggestions area.


Americans
---------

-Added M4A3(105) Sherman WITH mounted dozer blade as a Divisional Support option (capped at one vehicle).*


Germans (Wehr)
--------------

-SdKfz 184 'Elefant' now capped at 4 vehicles.



*Ffixed that bug where it wouldn't actually build when you clicked on it in the build menu. Note: The M4A3(105) Shermans available as call-in's for the Armoured Company Doctrine will remain as they are - without dozer blades.