From radio chatter some "adjustments" will be made to the Ostwind in the next day or so - rumor has it'll be changed so machine guns will be able to kill it [possibly just from above?] Sure hope so! But based on my two experiences Sunday night 9/10/00 [below], there is more to consider!
1. Chased an Ostwind down hill E of A17 in a Panzer Tank - hit him where the turret & hull meet 3x with AP at less than 75yds & he finally lost a tread. [Then I rolled over & died trying to turn while moving too fast downhill- LOL] Think that's weird? The next one's even better!
2. Drove a Panzer from v51 & trashed everything at v55. As I was leaving a Ostwind spawned in the VH. We stopped no more than 20-30 yards apart & while facing the Ostwind's rearend, I fired 9-10 AP rounds point blank into him - 4-5 went into the turret or turret/hull joint, 1 at the muffler area & another at his tread & I even tried firing a couple off the ground between the treads trying to ricochet a round into his belly. The Ostwind never fired a shot [thinking it futile?] - I was given the kill, but in truth the Ostwind driver just ended his mission & left!
......Before I could clear the area however he returned with a buddy & I found myself toe-to-toe with 2 Ostwinds. Only had 7-8 smoke shells left to defend myself - so I depressed the gun muzzle as far as it would go & fired all of them at the ground between us to totally obscure the area, then speed shifted thru 6 gears & beat a hasty retreat. Once I got 300-400 yds out however, one of the Ostwinds [finally] started firing at me. And even though the closest rounds fell 50-75 yds short I was hit 3-4 times by what sounded like ricocheting shell fragments - my Panzer was disabled with a broken right tread, had to be abandoned & the Ostwind was awarded a kill.
Really believe the Ostwind can eventually be a great addition to the AH hardware inventory, but certainly not in it's present form, [even tho the Reich would have been proud to have such a Ubber machine] Since reality hasen't met expectations, I have one request before changes are made - please don't just jump in with a quick/simple fix & take the time to give some additional thought on how the Ostwind has interelated with the rest of the equipment inventory as well as it's effect on game balance & play.
