I found the best way to learn was to play some of the included scenarios against the AI that are “Small” or “Very Small”.
You get a fairly balanced force that way to play around with and the small games are quite fun too. You should play each different side as well. You also get to see some units you may not necessarily pick in a random match.
Some basic tips:
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Unsupported Tanks advancing out on their own = dead (Particularly the later in the War it is - regular infantry squads slowly get more and better short range anti tank weapons, especially the Germans)
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Hold your fire - Everything has limited ammo, so in many cases you are better off holding fire until the enemy is within your effective range. This is more for rifle squads than stuff that is supposed to engage at a decent distance
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Similar to the above, once you start shooting the enemy knows where you are. So do his artillery observers :-) So if you are a particularly “juicy” target like a gun or machine gun with a particularly commanding position, prepare for incoming artillery fire
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Stuff should advance supported - eg 1 rifle squad advances, supported by 1 -2 shooting to keep the enemies head down (pinned)
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Artillery is fun, but one well placed smoke barrage can “neutralise” many more emplaced defenders as you advance than high explosives ever could. Use smaller, less expensive artillery for this (76mm - 81mm ish) as they have more ammo. Things dont really start to go “boom” until the artillery gets to 105mm or greater size.
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There is nothing more satisfying than a very large artillery round violently disintegrating a large building that housed several enemy squads. Except possibly setting it exceedingly on fire with a flamethrower tank.
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The specialised infantry squads are great fun when engaging in their speciality - eg. SMG squads ambushing someone at short range :-). One of my proudest moments was pulling off a smoke and artillery covered advance / rush assault with German Panzergrenadiers mounted into halftracks against an enemy holding a line outside a village. The panzergrenadiers dismounted and promptly rolled the enemy line in short fashion.
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Allied “Vanilla” infantry are usually pretty boring, and have significantly less fire power compared to the Germans. This goes double for Russian conscripts
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Make at least one custom scenario where your team consists of 4 -5 artillery observers with VERY large guns (and extra ammo), hiding in the top floor of a building right atop an unscaleable cliff. Overlooking an enemy infantry battalion (or two) in open ground, with no cover at all… :-) Great way to see how the various artillery pieces work (rockets vs guns vs mortars etc).
The best place for more advice is Battlefront’s tips & Tricks forum:
http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=forum;f=7
Also check the “Useful Posts” thread in that forum:
http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=001648