I think most experienced players unanimously agree: the Fedorov Avtomat is the best Assault Rifle in the game by a large margin. With an upgraded damage of 13.9, controllable recoil and dispersion and a respectable 25 round magazine, it’s arguably comparable in power to the Select-Fires that occupy the pinnacle options for Riflemen of all nations. In comparison to each-other, these rifles have never been as well balanced as they are now (they can all one-shot the enemies they face, have ~20 round magazine capacity, and can be controlled at full-auto with practice). However, this means that Assault Rifles and SMGs at the same BR are heavily outclassed, leaving little choice for meta play outside Rifleman squad spam.
The goal for this post is to buff the other BR 5 Assault Rifles to parity with the Fedorov Avtomat using historical reference and balancing logic.
Let’s start with the best argument I can think of from a ballistics perspective: The Fedorov Avtomat, StG 44 and AS-44 have comparable bullet mass and muzzle velocity, despite the 6.5x50mm Arisaka cartridge being considered as a “full-power” cartridge, while the 7.92x33mm Kurz and 7.62x41mm M43 are “intermediate-power” cartridges. Here’s a breakdown of all of the intermediate cartridges in the game, compared to the Fedorov Avtomat and Type Hei Automatic (the gun that caused the Fedorov’s damage to be buffed):
Fedorov Avtomat:
6.5x50mm Arisaka - 9g Bullet Mass, 660m/s Muzzle Velocity
Type Hei Automatic:
6.5x50mm Arisaka - 9g Bullet Mass, 725-744m/s Muzzle Velocity
AS-44:
7.62x41mm M43 - 7.9g Bullet Mass, 710m/s Muzzle Velocity
StG 44:
7.92x33mm Kurz - 8g Bullet Mass, 705m/s Muzzle Velocity
MkB 35/III:
7.75x40.5 GECO - 9.5g Bullet Mass, 705m/s Muzzle Velocity
MkB 42(M):
7x39.1mm DWM - 6.5g Bullet Mass, 960m/s Muzzle Velocity
Hyde 1944:
.30 Carbine - 7g Bullet Mass, 610m/s Muzzle Velocity
With exception to the MkB 42(M), all of these bullets perform similarly within close range (velocities will differ at longer ranges depending on ballistic factors). With this in mind, I would argue all of these weapons should deal more damage, using the Fedorov as the baseline. Here’s my general proposals for damage, but they could easily change:
M2 Carbine/Hyde 1944:
13.6 Upgraded Damage
MkB 42(W), MkB 42(H), MP.43/1, StG 44, StG 45(M), Horn StG etc:
13.9 Upgraded Damage
AS-44 Models 4 and 5, AT-44:
13.9 Upgraded Damage
MkB 35/III:
14.0 Upgraded Damage
MkB 42(M):
14.5 Upgraded Damage
I would even consider changing the MkB 42(M) to a BR 5 Select-Fire if this was implemented. All in all, these weapons are all capable of one-shotting enemies with vitality OR body armor (not both) at close range, meaning they can compete with Select-Fires at this distance. However, as they currently stand, they would have less cyclic rate (or for the Hyde 1944, near-immediate 2-taps at range, likely SMG levels of damage beyond 100m) as a downside to their competitors, not to mention a limit of only 4 Assaulters in an Assaulter squad.
Finally, I would like to see these weapons have their rates of fire adjusted, to fit their historical levels. If they aren’t listed here, it means they are currently correct and need no adjustment:
MkB 42(H), MP.43/1, StG 44: 500-650RPM → 540 RPM (just folder them all tbh)
MkB 42(W): 500RPM → 600 RPM (Possibly add it to the Germany tech tree as a counterpart to the Fedorov)
AS-44 Models 4 and 5: 660 RPM → 520 RPM
Sources:
German Bundesarchiv
Sturmgewehr! From Firepower to Striking Power
АК-47. История создания и принятия на вооружение Советской армии
Fedorov M1928 Handbook
“Type Hei Automatic” weapon trial:
https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/listPhoto?LANG=eng&BID=F2006090102524950468&ID=M2006090102525450541&REFCODE=C01007114600
A huge thanks to “DELAVR” for sharing some of his sources with me.
