This applies to any game.
-Drink liquids, take breaks. Even if it's just 5 minutes. Fatigue is a factor, specially if you get out of +hour long matches.
-If you are prone to get titled, close the game after a heavy loss. Play/watch something else and then return. If you commonly found yourself wasting time writing in chat anything outside of glhf and gg or quick words to strategize/inform something during the game, you generally are wasting your micro.
Note: i found the ping system in the game really lackluster and this is something i would love seeing improved in future games. A mouse wheel chat commands with things like retreat, attack, defend, danger mine, etc.
-Number 1 rule when playing with randoms. You are also a random. Play for the sake of the game, not for ranks. Know that some games are unwinnable.
-Leave your ego at the door. Blame yourself first and watch your replays before going to forums/reddit/yt to complain about. If your goal is to improve, you will get more out of watching what you did wrong than writing essays.
TL;DR: psychology and fatigue. Some people are good but self sabotage themselves.
RTS:
-This is something i rescue from SC2, the first RTS that i tried to improve in.
While CoH2 requires way less in terms of micro/APM due to the fact that economy/tech/unit production is simplified it still a good practice to have a certain mental list of things to check for every so often.
For example: Minimap > Economy > Unit production > Tech > Minimap > Unit orders > Repeat.
For CoH2 it could be simplified by checking minimap/tactical map, unit bars in the top, giving orders, reinforcing, checking resources (only float resources with a goal in mind) and time (yes time. It gives you a good idea whether you are ahead/behind in preparation for certain units).
When the game gets to hectic parts, it's easy to lose focus on this things. So making it something which almost happens subconsciously makes everything else easier.
For some, having a "beep" sound every so often helps them as a reminder.
-CoH has tactical map and while this is better once you get used to it (tact map provides exclusive information) you can play just with minimap. Either is fine. None of them is not. People who play only with what they can see in their FoV losses perspective of the whole map (like not attacking a side of the map which has been empty for so long).
TL;DR: start with a good foundation in RTS 101. Minimap and having a set of actions you should check for.
COH2:
-Download and read how to setup Autohotkey. Set hotkeys to grid.
-Pro's KNOWS all factions. You don't need to necessarily play all factions, though it can give you insight on it's weakness.
While knowing to play more factions gives you more adaptability to play the strongest ones in each patch, you can do fine by just knowing how to play 2 factions, one for each side.
-Mine wins games. Don't lose squads.
-Watch high level replays. Learn what's meta. Learn unit timing.
-Know your limits. It might be fancier to play with super combined arms and sniper micro. Sometimes, simple is better.
This also applies to playing meta vs non meta.
-I'll say it again, unless you have some goal in mind, floating resources is a good way to throwing a game.
If you float fuel and you are low in mp, you have a bad unit composition.
If you float muni and you are losing engagements, you are not using your abilities. And no, wasting it in an offmap that doesn't accomplish anything, is not good resource expenditure.
-VPs are also a resource. Unless you play tournaments, winning with 1 or 500 is the same.
-Learn when to soft retreat (even before a fight starts) and learn to retreat early (don't fight unfavourable trades unless you are delaying with some purpose).
-Load up a custom game and check/learn the maps. Buildings have different amount ofhouseswindows for a reason.
your advice was very helpful!
Relic Entertainment
cblanco ★ 
보드카 중대 
VonManteuffel 
Heartless Jäger 
