Ostheer vs USF

I feel that currently Ostheer are at a very big disadvantage vs USF (my experience comes mostly from 2v2s). The first engagement looks something like 2-3 riflemen and a rear echelon troop versus 2 grens, an MG and pioneers, or equivalent, which is for me near impossible to overcome. The price difference between riflemen and grenadiers is not really felt in the early game.

Sniper helps immensely, but the loss of map control that getting one costs generally makes me lose once a decently microed AA halftrack comes out.

What are your impressions? Do you think it's a balance issue, and if not, could you offer some advice?

I've played in a bunch of 1v1 matches as the Ostheer versus US forces now (everyone seems to be playing the US), and I've only begun to win engagements after a lengthy losing streak.

I like to open with an Assault Grenadier, followed by a Grenadier, then an MG42. The Assault Grenadier and Grenadier support one another in the early game, with the MG42 always being close by for when it's needed. The Grenadier caps, the Assault Grenadier hangs back, and when a Rifleman or two closes in, I rush in on the flank with the Assault Grenadier and pin them if necessary with the MG42.

I'm not the greatest player, but I've felt like playing early game versus the US forces as Ostheer requires so much more attention and combined arms tactics than against the Soviets. That's not really a bad thing, it just makes for some really tough matches (at least for me).

Edit: I forgot to add that the Assault Grenadier eats up any volley firing Rear Echelons, as they're usually focused on the Grenadier.

i suppose keeping ur forces together and holding ground would be the best. 2x mg42 is quite brutal against riflespam. grenadiers seem to match rifles at range, but only at range, they dont stand a chance close up though.

mg42 must pin rifles down or rifles will get close and beat ur grenadiers, so probably the same fighting concept applies, focus fire, fire from cover and make sure mg42 pins something down.

once the game drags a little longer, the mp difference will start to show and then all you need to do is prepare for the fast HT or a pack howitzer.

what is your build order? i almost always win the first engagement in 2v2s with those exact units. i build gren, mg, gren. its very important you get in close with your pioneers. rifles will beat your grens, but pios are stronger than rear echelon troops if you can get in close. just make sure youre ready to avoid volley fire by either getting out of sight or garrisoning a building. as long as your pio and gren hold on long enough for the mg to get set up, you should have won the fight.

i also typically go for a fast tier 2 right after my 2nd gren so i can have rifle nades. this only works against people who arent watching their units though. against better players, the munitions are better spent on lmgs. a fast scout car is also very effective against rifles since they need vet 1 to nade it.

I think it's a very chancy match up, but one which can be skewed to Wehrmacht favour if he plays his cards right.

What USF is going to build is extremely predictable. The 3 Rifle-> Fast Halftrack is pretty much the meta build right now. What this means for you is that you know from the start what you need to shut down.

Well place HMGs will fuck USF really hard in the early game, because 9/10 times they wont have Grenades upgraded as they want those Rifles out fast. Which means they can't smoke you or grenade you and are entirely dependent on flanks.

In the same vein, getting in buildings will screw them up.

So your choice is to either go all in and play aggressively with a lot of early game(2x HMG, 2 Grenadiers, fast Scout Car), or to play a much more attrition based game style(Say 3x Grens to match his Rifles) and focus on getting out an Ostwind, which will force AT investment from him, and should be capable of taking out their halftrack.

It really depends on how fast he really wants that Halftrack out. If he wants to make a b-line for it then he'll forgo grenades, BARs and Medic Truck and just rush out a Lieutenant. That will leave him open to some early game punishment and you could capitalize on that.

If he's willing to focus more on the early game, seizing map control and relying on that to compensate for his expenditures, he'll at the very least get Grenades and a Med Truck.

This, of course, can vary by Doctrine. For example Armoured Doctrine will probably mean you see 1 or 2 Assault Engineers, which are essentially Sturmpios Lite. You could also see Pathfinders with the Airborne doctrine, which can beat Grenadiers depending on cover, and if they're Infantry they wont bother buying BARs as they'll get M1919s doctrinal anyways.

So, there's a few possibilities for you to consider.

I couldn't really tell you for sure how to counter it, as I generally play USF and the only time I've lost to Wehrmacht is through blunders, and the one time I got out-played and an early Ostwind dominated me. The rest of my games are against OKW.

Thank you all.

I usually go Gren, MG, Gren, Gren/Sniper and I just feel that the slightest mistake can force a mass retreat which I find very hard to recover from.
I haven't bothered with Assault Grens yet (I prefer finding a build whose very early game is independent of commander choice if possible), but I'll try that too.

But if that build is good enough and people are having success with it, I guess I'll work on my micro and tactical play.

Thanks again.

Also, a mortar works well on US infantry blobs

Finding it really hard to do anything vs american inf, they just seem to keep coming, no matter how many retreats or even squad wipes I get i still seem to lose early game its extremely frustrating trying to play wer in 1v1 right now, also no new wer commanders with WFA not very fun.

I need to play some better American players, but I'm finding an early sniper to be very useful in this match up.