I wanted to post a thread like this when I got some time next week, so thank you Shab for talking about it. It can be tough to break the ice on a conversation like this, so it's great that you bring it up. I'll share my opinion on the stuff you mentioned.
Repairs:
I feel like the switch from vehicle-based self-repair (Repair Kits) to a more limited approach (Repair Engineers) was an excellent direction for the mod to take; not because I think Repair Engineers are a particularly well implemented, but simply because it requires a little more involvement on the player's behalf, and not every player decides that they have to invest resources into repairs anymore.
That is a good game mechanic: one that some players see as an opportune investment, while others decide that they can forego it and still run an viable company.
I feel like vehicle repairs can actually be a very interesting and meaningful game mechanic, but that methods of repairing vehicles in this mod's past have usually not worked out very well, so I'm cautiously optimistic.
Officers:
Officers need a complete rethink. The aura buffs they provide have never been particularly fun or interesting to play either with or against, I find. Heck, I think that officers and sergeants in Dawn of War are more interesting that what's currently implemented in EiR. There are so many stats attributed to each unit in the game that can be tinkered with in interesting ways (for example, I think that Scatter Angle is a woefully underappreciated and underutilized weapon stat), so I'm sad to see officers that have very boring modifiers like +X% damage, or -X% received accuracy (though I find this to be true of many unit abilities, not just officer aura buffs).
Their off map barrages are patently broken and unfun, but that's been true of just about all off map barrages throughout EiR's existence.
Tanks vs. ATGs:
Tanks vs atgs:
I believe some modifiers (Hicks your call about numbers) should be added so tanks could not park in front of atg/pak and kill it. Now we have multiple repairs for 60muni (100? pop?) and its more than a good trade to park in front of atg/pak whom cost almost 3 times more and get out after killing it.
The issue here isn't that certain AT guns or vehicles need special modifiers on them, it's that support squad sizes are woefully inadequate. Three-man support teams is a vCoH design decision that simply does not work in EiR. While CoH2 is by no means a masterpiece of game design, I think one of the greatest lessons we can learn from it is that larger squad sizes (but more equal individual soldiers) makes for more varied and interesting gameplay. Four man engineering squads (that can actually contribute in a meaningful capacity, unlike vCoH's pathetic two- and three-man engineering squads with gimped weapons), six-man weapon teams (that aren't immediately invalidated by a single sniper or grenade), and a multi-dimensional cast of units (for example, the 76mm ZiS field gun's ability to fire a middling HE barrage) all make for a much more involved experience, relative to vCoH.
LW meta game:
Infantry meta game:
I like the changes that have been made to heavy vehicles recently. The removal of Repair Kits has had a positive impact on the game, and the sight/speed reductions has made properly utilizing armor a more involved process, but not at all a hassle. It's great to see the community and dev team come together to solve a problem, and I hope that we've learned our lesson here: that relatively small, appropriately applied changes (in this case, a 10% reduction in vehicle speed, and 7% reduction in vision range) can have a hugely beneficial impact on gameplay.
Inf/LV meta and unit design is such a fundamental thing to EiR that they definitely deserve a post all of their own to explore. But I do hope that eventually they will be examined and improved in the same subtle-yet-effective manner which tanks have been treated to.
