Finally!
Here comes the long awaited balance patch that tries to address the issue with "artillery blobs" being too powerful. There has been some debate in the beta testers group over the nature of the various remedies and how far they should go. Several beta matches have now been played using most of these changes, with good results.
Entrenched units 15% extra armor vs Grenade
Defending units (whether it's Artillery or any other land unit type) will hold out from incoming Grenade attacks (Artillery/Destroyer/Missile Ship/Cruiser) for much longer. Static, digged-in coastal Artillery defense will pose a serious threshold to enemy Cruisers. Artillery/SAM-blobs will advance slower against prepared defenders.
Entrenched units weapon range buff +0.2 (absolute)
Increases the chance of neighbouring comrades being within range of an enemy. Increases the probability of multiple entrenched Artillery being within range of free-moving, engaging enemy Artillery.
Infantry speed buff 3.7 ==> 3.9 (5.4%)
It's hard to see any drawbacks with a faster moving Infantry: More agile anti-Tank/anti-Commando response, faster territory cap, general feel of the game speed as being faster, higher chance of outpacing kiting SAMs, and last but not least, higher survivability when assaulting Artillery/SAM blobs.
Hellfire and Maverick damage nerf vs Riflemen -20%
The Hellfire (Helicopter) and Maverick (Striker) weapons gets a target-exclusive nerf vs Riflemen. Takes away some of the Strikers and Helicopter squadrons capability to act as a "cleanup party" vs stray Riflemen without SAM protection. Indirectly buffs the Bomber. Also note: Heli/Striker Cannon performance vs Riflemen is NOT modified but stays the same.
SAM/MissileShip Missile range buff 8.0 ==> 9.0 (12.5%)
Increases the survivability of SAM "staying in the back". Remember the Missile only fires every 4th second, so it's the "weak" weapon that gets the buff, not the Cannon.
Artillery Grenade VS Land nerf 3.6 ==> 3.4 (-5.5%)
The simple solution to nerfing the blob, as it affects all artillery units participating in the blob.
Helicopter HP buff 120 ==> 125
Compensation for 5 above.
Air units energy consumption nerf 8,3% ==> 10% of production cost
Air units in general have been too energy efficient in relation to their great speed. They now consume 10% more energy per minute (in terms of production cost) as compared to 8.3% for all other energy consuming units.
Interceptor airbase taxiing speed buff 0.6 ==> 1.2 (100%)
Faster response time for Interceptor take-offs.
Interceptor Cannon VS Surface damage buff 9 ==> 10
Improving versatility.