Counter to the FHT 1v1

Literally every game i play i see a FHT. Almost seems like a no brainer. But the Problem with this is that it forces me to go Guards when in a 1v1. Therefore i have to choose a doctrine and lose a bit of my flexibility because of one single unit. Im afraid that i cant use other doctrines without Guards, because i'll just get roflstomped. Shocks arent viable at all in a 1v1. My Opponent always goes for 1 or 2 MG's, supports with Grens and, boom, FHT. And insta vetted Pgrens if youre unlucky, because Germans are allowed to buy vet instantly. My Go - To Strat is usually the Sniper as my 2nd unit, supported by 3 Cons and 1 Guard. I usually can bleed my opponent so the FHT isnt that much of a hassle. But on maps like Kholodny etc the only viable way to go with Soviets seems to be 4 Cons rightaway. The amount of hedges and sight - blockers doesnt encourage T1 or early T2 play. And no, i dont like to use clown cars.

I am really struggling with this "Hide behind my MG's, support with Grens, get a FHT, insta vet my PGrens and geegee" strat on some maps.

Any Advice?

the way i counter the FHT is first, try to cut off the munitions of ostheer in the early game, many people like to cut off ostheer fuel, but in early game, cutting off munitions offers bigger advantage. Then i usually get a field gun at around 6-7 minutes of the game.
For example :
Cons,maxim,cons,cons,shocks, field gun.
or cons cons cons cons maxim field gun.
if you go T1 then you are almost forced to go gaurds, altho 2 at grenades will usually spell death for the FHT, a well placed mine will always do the trick.
If you really want to counter that FHT , the defensive doc does it really well because of the 45 mm at gun.

One At grenade will cripple it.

One or two more will kill it.

This accomplishes two things:

It shows the opponent you are not afraid of it.

It shows you you are not afraid of it



It is dangerous but it is no KV8

I played Guards a lot when I first started, but the only to break dependence on them is to learn to do without

As van Voort said, at nades can do the job. Don't send your cons in one at a time but set up a big push with flanking cons or wait till your opponent overextends with his FHT. It really doesn't take much to take it out. If you opponent is really carefull with it (then it also has less of an impact) you can also use an ATG, not necessarily to kill it, but to keep the FHT from pushing you completely off the map while you wait for any T3 vehicle or rush for an SU 76.

Also, if you notice your opponent doesn't get LMG42's and doesn't use a lot of riflenades you can expect a fast FHT. Try to surprise him by going for preemptive atnades and plant some cleverly placed mines (watch your muni so you can always throw two atnades)

Well I have also struggled a lot with mg42 into fast FHT.

I started going 3 cons tier2 instant field gun, no molotv or at nade and using my early munitions on arty ability to clear or force retreat the mg42.

I then get a maxim and the at\molotov upgrades this way you have early AT without having to rely on guards, you can go shocks to fight pgs or just get more cons with ppsh.
If you like you can also rush for t\70 instead of getting the cons upgrades but I feel its always better to get those to protect the field gun's flanks and you will need the upgrades in the late game specially the at nades

IMO, the short answer is to know its coming . Radio intercept is a hell of a drug.

My second bit of advice is that if you're not prepared for it, soft retreat all your stuff and scatter it to different corners of the map (same advice goes for an ostwind by the way). I see way too many players just throw their conscripts at a FHT piecemeal and lose the game right then and there. Don't fight it until you're ready. That said I totally agree with the previous advice..

- Throw 2-3 squads at once (from different directions) with AT nades
- Mines

AT nades are an incredible soft counter. Even if you are unable to finish it off, it has to limp awau and repair, so long as you always have cons on hand to damage its engines, its a lot less of a threat.

These days the best way to use the FHT is keeping it back and almost using it like an MG, to counter push when they try flank you. Its harder to deal with then.

One At grenade will cripple it.

One or two more will kill it.

This accomplishes two things:

It shows the opponent you are not afraid of it.

It shows you you are not afraid of it



It is dangerous but it is no KV8

totally agree here, I nade it with scripts then run about capping elsewhere until I get a Zis or get to close in on it from a couple of different angles with my main con force then nade it to death.

I find guards horrible to use.

I go 5-6 cons, then shocks tier 2 couple Zis, ignore tier 3 and 4 and then go KV then IS2 generally.

Well I have also struggled a lot with mg42 into fast FHT.

I started going 3 cons tier2 instant field gun, no molotv or at nade and using my early munitions on arty ability to clear or force retreat the mg42.

I then get a maxim and the at\molotov upgrades this way you have early AT without having to rely on guards, you can go shocks to fight pgs or just get more cons with ppsh.
If you like you can also rush for t\70 instead of getting the cons upgrades but I feel its always better to get those to protect the field gun's flanks and you will need the upgrades in the late game specially the at nades

If you're waiting till you can use some arty before you clear the MG then you're going to lose far too much map control. You really have to try and work on your flanks, then use that muni's to get some AT nades going, and save the MP you spend on that Pak on another earlier squad of Cons/a support weapon and get the pak a little later, which will mean you'll have more capping power and hopefully be able to take more territory to delay that FHT.

Just my opinion.

mines .... if you take a VP or fuel point lay mines in front in the direction you expect them to approach. Place a munitions cache down ASAP on a point near your base to help keep the mines coming. Get AT grenades as soon as you can.
One of my last battles I held the fuel point early but took a beating. My engineers were close by and dropped a mine out in front. Sure enough a HT comes up clear the point ... boom! I could almost hear the German player ... WTF!!