Company of Heroes Nazi Strats?

OK, ignoring the nazophilia oozing all over this thread, about the only German doctrine line I do poorly with is Defensive.

Blitz has three highlights. First highlight is right out of the gate: Assault Grenades. For 50 munis all your infantry can launch a supergrenade attack. Unlike ordinary grenade strikes, the infantry will follow the unit targeted and launch an array of about 6 grenades. Will totally ruin an AT gun’s day, and can intercept a BAR-firing allied inf squad. Second highlight is Stormtroopers. Cloaked grenadiers, basically. Cloak them and walk them behind fortifications/AT guns, then cut loose with an assault grenade attack. Third highlight is the Tiger->Resource Blitz->Tiger combo to get 2 Tigers out on the field in rapid succession. It’ll shut down your resources for a few minutes, but, hey, you have two tigers.

Terror isn’t as cut and dried as Blitz but there are some interesting strats there as well. One of the best is to get about 4 or 5 Grenadier squads with Panzershrecks, supported by a halftrack for reinforcing, and then when those squads run into opposition (especially armored) cut loose with Inspired Assault, which turns your grenadiers into autofiring monstrosities. I have killed a Pershing this way. With Grenadier squads. It surprised my opponent, too. Once you give your Grenadiers veterancy, they become REALLY hard to kill.

Always Always Always micro your MP40 Volks to be right on top of enemy infantry. By default they will run for cover, and MP40s at point blank range will tear apart Allied infantry. Allied infantry (especially with BARs) will tear YOU up at range. You want to be up close.

Once the Allies get a lot of armor out you’ll want to switch to Grenadiers/Stormtroopers, Volks don’t really hold up in the end game. Knights Cross are monstrosities for anti-infantry but they don’t have any anti-armor capability.

Wait, so I’m not supposed to call them Nazis as if to avoid the perceived slight of acknowledging I’m playing a video game where I’m a Nazi, the opposite of such denial being nazophilia? I said Nazi so much because it was funny. I didn’t realize you guys self justify what you think to be gravely disrespectful (playing the nazi side in WW2 games) by calling them the not-allies. Sorry.

All the advice is great. One question, will the Grenadiers fire the Panzershrecks from a halftrack? Does that make for a pretty decent anti-tank defense, or should I just pony up for stugs?

Actually, you’re going to want to start calling them the Wehrmacht, so as not to confuse them with the Panzer Elite once the expansion is released.

  • Alan

I thought the “N to the A to the Z” stuff was a bit much, personally, but only really insane people are nazophiles. Trust me, I’ve been a board wargamer, I’ve met the really insane people. At any rate I don’t think I’m playing Nazis or Germans when I play, I think more that I am ripping apart the units owned by Phil down the hall with my lovingly placed MG nests.

Grenadiers won’t fire Panzershrecks from the halftrack, but they will from buildings, so if you see a quad-mount halftrack or a Pershing, hole up in the nearest building and snipe from the windows.

The best antitank units in the game are anti-tank guns. Of course some advanced planning is required, but they are the absolute most efficient at killing armor. If you’re on the offense, skip StuGs and go for Panzer IVs (StuGs got nerfed massively a couple of patches back and aren’t as cost efficient as they used to be). If you can’t afford Panzer IVs, that is an excellent sign that you should be building AT guns, because your opponent CAN afford tanks and they are headed for you.

If you wanna think of it as parody of those insane people, fine, I just thought it was a plain hilarious way to ask. I know a guy who got a swastika tattooed on the back of his neck because of german heritage and all that crap.

The best antitank units in the game are anti-tank guns. Of course some advanced planning is required, but they are the absolute most efficient at killing armor.

Yeah, I’ve been working harder at setting up choke points. The computer does some really shady shit with messing up my guns by putting their anti-tank guns on odd angles and blowing mine up. Is that the kind of stuff I’m often going to find in multiplayer?

I wrote the Tier 3 rush guide linked below. However, there have been several patches and rebalances since it first came out and the whole thing might be worthless now. Still, it helped me defeat some of the highest ranked allied players of the day. Also, I’ve linked to gamereplays.org Axis strategy section, which should offer you more recent strategies and general tactics.

Tier 3 rush: http://www.gamereplays.org/community/index.php?showtopic=142243

Axis Strategy Index: http://www.gamereplays.org/community/index.php?showtopic=189621

Yeah, Tier 3 rushing is kinda outdated now that Pumas and StuGs both got nerfed into goo. Most likely due to Tier 3 rushing!

Do you really want to try to race a barely-armored halftrack around to the back of the tank so your soldiers can plink at it with their pixy stix? Get the StuGs. They’re not that expensive, and if you handle their facing carefully and repair them when necessary, they’re pretty survivable. The “self-propelled gun” description is an excellent explanation of their proper use: a StuG is an AT gun, except that it moves faster and is a hard target. Keep dangerous infantry away from them and don’t let anything fuck them in the ass, and they will put solid shots into any situation. Not only do they kill vehicles, but they’re also a relatively early-game wrecking crew for buildings. Like regular AT guns, they’re even sometimes useful for putting distant infantry under fire.

I think Defensive is pretty neat, although bear in mind that I have been playing far less CoH lately than I would like, and I have not extensively used the Defensive doctrines. The super-bunkers encourage you to establish strongpoints and defensive lines. I like to have a “no man’s land” of claimed points in range of my defenses if possible. These points exist as lures for my opponent. They go in there, and all of my defenses can hit them. I may drop a Registered Artillery strike on them if necessary – it’s cheap, fast, and powerful, possibly the best artillery strike in the game (because there’s almost no warning; the Allies hear the shells falling and all of a sudden they’ve lost three squads).

Depending on the game type, this may be all you need to do to win. If you can hold a line that lets you secure enough victory points, you’re home free. For other victory conditions, the line can still be useful by giving you a layer of defenses that you can fall back to for repair, reinforcement, and fire support.

The Defensive 88 is powerful, but the investment of resources is hard for me to justify given its vulnerability. Once your opponent knows where it is, he’ll hit it with any artillery strike at his disposal. This is true of defensive emplacements in general, but bunkers can shelter infantry from artillery, and the infantry can then come out and repair the bunkers. The 88 may be worth it against an Airborne player, since it can fight back against airstrikes. Advance Warning, Registered Artillery, and base MGs also make life difficult for Airbornes attempting paratrooper infiltration.

I always forget to use For the Fatherland, or lack the munitions, or wish to keep the munitions for something else. I don’t know how effective it is, or how much I’m missing out. When I remember to activate it, it’s usually in a situation where I have overwhelming firepower anyway and kick myself for wasting the resources later. (One squad of Rangers is trying to cap a point in front of three bunkers, half my infantry, and a StuG! AAAAAHH NEIN!)

I typically spend points as follows: For the Fatherland (1), Super Bunkers (2) (also gives base MGs), Advance Warning (1), Registered Artillery (2). This is, admittedly, pretty rigid, but I want super bunkers as fast as possible. Reinforcement at bunkers is the wind beneath my wings. I may put off Registered Artillery or even Advance Warning for the 88 in unusual situations (such as having a really great spot for one, or knowing the enemy has gone Airborne).

If you don’t make Rocket Artillery the last thing on the tree, be sure to have a good reason to go for it. If the enemy has Infantry, you’ll want Rocket Artillery soon to counter his Howitzers when necessary. (I think Infantry is the hardest tree for Defensive to fight. Lots of artillery vs. fixed positions.) If you can infiltrate a sniper to kill the Howitzer’s crew, that’s cool too, but Rocket Artillery will let you reach that crap in the back and touch it fairly hard. Rocket Artillery can also support an attack. If you have a lot of Munitions to get rid of, you can shell his base repeatedly, which is at worst a nuisance and at best a building-killer. It’s no V-2, though.

I should stress again that my thoughts are not authoritative and I should really be playing more CoH.

Edit: They nerfed StuGs? Shit.

not so much nerfed directly (although Pershings get bonus damage vs them now) as made them more expensive to build, which kind of defeats the purpose of Tier 3 rushing. They’re good to pop out 1 as a counter to early Allied riflespam, but other Axis tanks are better in every way and not much more expensive.

Stugs become a lot more survivable with 1 point of veterency. With 2 points, they get a mounted machine gun that supresses infantry.

A higher price will really hurt them for me, though, since it makes them less viable as “deluxe AT guns.” Oh well, AT guns aren’t that bad. German AT guns can cloak!

Speaking of cloaked AT guns, anyone else noticed the cloaked AT guns of the Axis sometimes don’t shoot? Sometimes things will be in range and I have to order them to shoot. And no, the hold fire icon is not clicked.

I tend to use the Defensive doctrine and try to get those 88’s as quickly as I can. They’re only 400 manpower resources and can really put a chink into allied armor.

Then, to back that up, I try to get crack/elite snipers (the ones who can take 2 shots at a time). It’s a pretty potent combination, particularly against airborne which I tend to think is the best allied doctrine (and best overall as well).

Throw the Jew down the well?

Really? I have a hard time with anything but Infantry, but that’s probably more because I suck. I find Rangers a lot more effective than Paratroopers, but air-dropping AT guns is handy.

When playing the Allies I’m almost exclusively Infantry. Faster production, Rangers and the super duper air strike on the other side of the tree really make it useful.

For axis, in the early game volks with the gun upgrade will beat allied infantry as long as they don’t have the gun upgrade(sorry I don’t remember the exact names). In order to stand a chance you need to either have a HMG traveling with them or get to tier 2. The upgrades really do make a difference and rank 3 infantry upgraded will beat allied infantry any time. The officer is a must have unit even if it’s just for the increased production ability, or sending him out to use his powers. If your going to focus on tanks then getting at least rank2 for the already mentioned stug upgrade is important.

I’ve found myself liking blitzkreg more as the stormtroopers with their enhanced grenade can make a huge difference in battle. One strategy I’ve heard but haven’t confirmed it , is that 2 grenader or stormtrooper troops that having 1 panzershrek upgrade for each rather then 2 for one is better.
I think the ostwend is still a bit weak and I don’t know how effective it would be now.

I think I built and officer once, a long time ago. I assume I’m missing out on something not using them…? And if so, what should I be doing with them?

Officers give you a mini-terror tree. They can call down artillery strikes and force retreat infantry units.

They kind of do their own thing.

They have forced retreat, which is like Propoganda from the terror tree, except it only targets one squad now, I think. It’s good for turning the tide of a close battle or saving a point before it can be decapped in a close game.

Their artillery, which I believe is called a registered mortar strike(?), is very similar to the registered artillery you can get in the defensive tree. It is really concentrated, does a good bit of damage, and comes down fast. It can appreciably hurt tanks and will kill pretty much any infantry that’s caught in it.

They also can sit in your base and speed up tank production. It can take an eternity to crank out a Panther, but if you attach the officer to your tank depot, it becomes a lot more reasonable.