I'm going to leave my analysis here, having taken part in fights both as Civil Protection and as a high-tier equipped rebel. I'm not going to propose any change since I have no idea how this could be balanced, although I will express whether I think
@Simman102 proposal is fair or not.
Let me start by talking about my rebel experience.
When it comes to loadout:
I mainly judge based upon what
@kifer and I have, which at this time I can say are 2 SKS', one AK-103, an M40 (which I carry on me at all times) and a couple of MP7s.
On my character I go for the classic
MP7 + trenchcoat build, which I consider to be a standard balanced loadout. I never use anything beyond that due to the fact that on this map in particular it's almost always close-quarters combat, meaning the probability of death is high and I do not want to lose any serious weaponry. As for my M40 (sniper-rifle), it's hardly ever used. The only instances in which I use it is bridge fight, but lately bridge fighting has included OTA players too and fragging them would require me to take an headshot and I'm not exactly that good (especially with the low FPS I get around the bridge area).
My only experience against a Combine sniper on C24 has been exactly on the bridge, although I could not really do anything since they had thermals and a companion who kept spamming smokes. There was no way for me to counter it, so I gave up and went back to my MP7.
As for how I've performed with the previously mentioned build:
To my experience,
every fight against Civil Protection in close-quarters has on the majority concluded with a rebel victory, mostly because
we outnumber them.
The +30 armour advantage has yet to come into clutch in my case: generally if I die it's usually because I'm caught off guard at an uncovered angle and that additional bullet required to take me down has never really made the difference. I've fought with 100hp 100 armour too and when I compare it to the 100 hp 130 armour loadout it's always 4-5 bullets that take me down. This said I'm not going to reject the possibility of there ever being a situation of it turning out to be great, but I can say that has hardly ever happened (and I think I speak for every trenchcoat rebel in here).
Upon seeing my Civil Protection opponent I consider MP5k and MP7 to be on the same level IN close-quarters combat - yes MP7 does have a slightly stronger damage but the MP5k compensates for it's high rate of fire which is scary and keeps me behind cover.
Pistol cops are a joke. They're not even good at range, oddly.
I pretty much concluded that if there ever is a 5vs5 fight between Civil Protection and rebels all armed with MP7s, the winner is mostly the defending or the more coordinated team. Mass charge tactics don't really tend to work, unless you are OTA.
However I should add, there are times in which there are a few rebels ending up against large Civil Protection numbers. While they still do have a chance, that mostly concludes in a Civil Protection victory because of their grappling hooks, therefore you end up having to worry about many flank points (in the case of apartments) or a well-performed charge (in the case of sewers/bunker).
As for long-range fighting against Civil Protection, the team with
the most MP7s tends to win for they are more accurate.
On the other hand,
every fight against OTA in close-quarters has on the majority concluded with an OTA victory, even if we outnumber them, due to their
high HP and armour.
Going up against OTA, you understand why that +30 armour is necessary. Regardless, as said above, it does not really make a big difference. OTA start from a minimum of 120hp 120armour (I could actually be wrong, correct me if so please) and their weaponry begins from MP7s and go beyond. The only case in which we have had a chance to win is if we're at a chokepoint and OTA stupidly decides to mass-charge in unorganised, but even then they have the ability to be extremely deadly since they can eat many bullets. By the time you take down one, the other one behind has immediately replaced them and WILL fucking kill you, unless you have somebody behind you providing additional cover.
As for long-range fighting against OTA, it is
almost always a Combine victory. Seriously, their weapons are now comparable to ours and I ain't taking out my M40 to then be accurately killed from a lucky 100 meters spray. There have been a few occasions in which OTA lost, but that's because there are times in which you catch a few stranded soldiers away from their main team (wtf).
In summary: rebel beat CP, but rebel only beat OTA if this one mass-charges. The only way for rebel to beat OTA is to have big numbers.
As for my CP experience (I'll keep it short since this is too long already + most has already been covered above):
There have been very few occasions in which I survived a fight. I'm just a 50, therefore I can only really be a menace in close-quarters combat. Going up against rebels is almost always a lost fight and it does feel kind of fucking heavy at times.
But at the same time, if I was buffed (in this case, as you suggested, faster running) I feel like it could be really overkill along with OTA support. Then at that moment you'd start to see loads of rebels complaining.
In summary: I hardly ever beat rebel.
To conclude the entire analysis:
CPs sure do lose a lot to rebels, but maybe it's meant to be that way.
Employing extremely smart tactics against rebels has always been efficient and maybe that is where your reward should come from. A mere cop should not expect victory against an armed insurgent, because when the artillery comes the armed insurgent really has nowhere left to go. And that's when they start to panic.
Simply put and without any dumbass metaphors, as a rebel I am not afraid of going against Civil Protection, but when OTA shows up I start shitting myself. And if I had to pair it up with fast-moving CPs, then I might aswell just lock myself in my closet and cry.
EDIT: OTA start from 120/120, not 125/125. Thanks
@Pyromaniac
