1v1 Theory: Hard and Fast against OKW

Alright this is a work in progress BO, but hear me out because this BO is designed to capitalize on the overall strengths of the USA vs the overall weaknesses of the OKW. It's a partial adaption of my Red Army theory (or rather, since I'm a USF player foremost, my Red Army Strategy is an adaption of my USA one)

So first, some faction profile for context:

The USF, unlike the Red Army, is not a well rounded army that can fight at every level. But it is very flexible and very adaptable. The problem is it's too flexible. It can't stick to a single strategy that builds as the game progresses. However, by keeping both himself and his OKW opponent off guard with hard, aggressive, early gameplay, the USF player can force the battle into a chaotic nightmare where the USF flexibility shines. Late game he will get rolled all things equal and even many things not evil. If the OKW player is pumping out tanks, it better meet a wall of Jacksons (that will just get walking stukaed anyway so it's still gg). But in the early game, he's the bulldozer.

The OKW are the exact opposite. They are rigid and stoic. Imaginative but not versatile. Every move can be predicted, relative to other factions, but because their units are so specialized and powerful, that doesn't give you an advantage. Their late game will beat you for sure, all things equal, but we're gonna fight the tiger while it's still a cub. The OKW early game just sucks.

Sturms are good, but not a main unit. The OKW don't have a staple infantry unit, like rifles, grens, or conscripts. Volks scale poorly into the late game. Sturms are too expensive. Falschirms are doctrinal at 3 CP and too expensive and fragile. Panzerfusies are the closest thing they have, but they are still 2 CP and doctrinal. The kubelwagen is hard countered by the clown car and the raktenwerfer just isn't good. No one gets it because it's good AT. They get it because it's the only AT. So forcing them to get it, instead of a useful infantry unit, is a really good idea.

Here we go. We're bind up the OKW in the early game and leave him stunted, leave him in a position where he's bleeding manpower and is forced to react to an ever changing position. We can't let him be stoic and setup, but it's not hard for us to do that anyway.

There are 2 different methods to do this

3 rifles
ambulance
LT
AA HT (or m20 depending on situation but I like to save for M15, also be warned incoming nerf for the M15)
50 cal

This first setup hits the ground running but I think it eventually bleeds out. The HT isn't /that/ good after a little while and you'll have to get shermans and end the game forcefully or take your chances with Jacksons vs OKW late game. A dicey proposition in my opinion.

A safer alternative is to go

4 rifles
ambulance
Captain
Stuart
57mm (you need it as a backup)

The Stuart is equal to the puma (with shell shock) and superior to the flaktrack. It's a great addition. The captain squad sucks imo, but he can soak very well, draw fire, and free zooks. This strat demands infantry company (of the original 3, maybe the DLC 3 not but I haven't used em). The reason is it's impossible to keep the battle fluid forever and while going LT tries to (and maybe it's good sometimes), going captain is the safer option and leads to the lines settling. Airborne isn't effective there at all. Armor is meh. M10s suck anyway. The 105 sherman is great but unless you can deny fuel (which you can but you have to play that strategy from the get go and it can be dicey), his tanks should kick your ass. Armor goes well with a LT and Captain strategy, and forgoes the major. Infantry also has the MHT and the Priest (more on that later)

Mg34s are going to be the bane of our strategy, but remember it commits the OKW player to 2 of 6 doctrines. Mind you being forced into Luftwaffe isn't the worst thing ever (it is the strongest doctrine after all) but it does limit them.

Mg34s will be dealt with in several ways. The best is probably a Mech company clown car. But we can't wait for a magic drop. So, first is good ole fashion flanking. MG34 is the counter, but it's not a hard counter. It brings the OKW to a position where it's a fair fight. We gotta out fight him and that means flank. Nades are good here but USF nades are UP. I'd say get em. MHT is good if you have the fuel. OKW has no mortar but they have that infantry howie. Beware of it. It will beat your MHT. The priest of course has the last laugh. But hopefully the priest is bringing the death blow down because the game is naturally in his favor at that point all things equal.


Anyways, as the early game fighting progresses, it's time to change up tactics possible. If he decides to commit to the early game, he'll stop your momentum, at the cost of his teching momentum. Punish him. You want an early game fight. Veteran volks means veteran rifles. Volks suck. If he didn't go Luftwaffe for MG34, he has to go for the Panzerfusiliers. They're good yeah, but they're not his mainline infantry. He'll be fighting with a combination of volks and fusies, not just fusies, and he'll have no effective suppression unit. Sturmpios will have to be used in attritional infantry warfare and they are expensive to replace. Overwhelm him. Perhaps even go for a 5th rifle squad. Under these circumstances, airborne is VERY effective. The battle is fluid and teching is stalled. This is your fight and have fun with it.


If he goes Battlegroup (T2 or T1, please tell me), get ready for an early game fight. His arty will take a toll on you. Try to stay away from the truck. Ideally, don't even let him get the damned thing in a good place in the first place. Keep him under pressure so he can't build it, or at least force him to build it in an awkward place.

If he goes Mechanized (T3 or T2?), he's made the wrong choice I believe. The flaktrack or puma will come out around the same time as the captain, stuart, and 57mm. As you can see, it quickly builds into vehicles dying. He needs artillery and stukas are too expensive at this point. Try to take his vehicles out. If you went LT, it's gonna be trickier. You need 50 cals and m15s, followed by a fast sherman. It ain't impossible, but he hard countered you tech wise.

A puma is more and less nasty. Stay near the captain and the 57 with the stuart, but don't be afraid to try to take the puma out. If you force him to get shreks and a raktenwerfer, that's good. The raktenwerfer is a sucky unit that OKW sometimes has to get because it's the only good AT. Make him get it. It get's in the way. It's a bother. It's an arty magnet. Shreks are going to weaken the AI (anti infantry) of his volks and cost 90 ammo a piece. 2 shreks is 3 30 cals. You're winning this.

Infantry Company is good for Captain-Major. Ideally if you bring out the major, it's to bring up shermans to end the game. If you're in a position of strength and just can't finish him (60/40 map split or something), which I suspect will be common for Expert players, then it is totally okay to bring out Jacksons to fight his armor. A jackson and an m8 will handle him late game IF he is playing down on resources.

Airborne is good with any sort of extended early game. A fluid, dynamic battle is perfect for airborne. Paratroopers can fire their 30 cals on the move, or their Thompsons can go toe to toe with OKW automatic weapons. Pathfinders I've found to be mediocre but good scouts.

Armor is good for LT-CPT because it replaces the m8/sherman with the bulldozer and the m36 with the m10. But be warned it's a weak replacement, meant as a stopgag to get you by. You should not fight tank to tank with him or you'll gg. If you can play good fuel denial though, the 105 shermans will, ahem, bulldoze the OKW.

The captain doesn't suck, keep it close to your stuart and the combo will destroy a puma/flaktrack without it even firing a shot or moving. He's also amazing when you need a quick sherman, retreat him and use the E ability to call in armor in like 15 seconds.

They're AI capability isn't the best but those grease guns can do damage if you position close to corners you think the enemy will come around.

Airborne is also amazing with T3 strat, drop in a .50 after your ambulance and before captain(you shouldn't be expecting armor if you have good troop preservation) and use the .50 to lock down a fuel with maybe a supporting riflemen or RE/fighting emplacement(grenade launchers), use the remainder of your squads to start harassing.

This will force the OKW to have to get a light vehicle if they want to push your .50 off the fuel point, which going T3 is exactly what you want. Keep your captain/stuart combo between your locked down fuel and middle point, once the armor comes blitz the stuart with the captain right behind, dead german armor.

If you are confident that you just killed the only armor on the field, send your stuart for fuel point scouting, find them and leave them alone, just kinda go for a joy ride to mess up their roaming squads. From their you should have MP and the unlock for paratroops which with 1919's decimate all OKW except for the ubersoldate. drop them on any fuel points you saw and demo charge it, retreat and grab 1919's on the way back to the front. Support these with riflemen/smoke nades and they can take out any bunkered down points with ease.

from their you should be owning. Properly micro'ed captain/stuart combo can save you the MP cost of the 57mm till later when you are expecting a panther. I'd only go 57mm if he has spent no fuel and you need that vet'ed AT gun. But even a stuart/captain/riflemen combo can mess up a panther badly. Same tactic as a light armor but use the riflemen smoke for your stuart's retreat as your stuart is stun/blinding then follow up with an AT nade. You probably won't kill it but it will be out of action for a few minutes, hopefully long enough for a Jackson to come out.

I don't think a good OKW player will just let you kill his puma, hence I get the 57.

I agree getting T2 as OKW is the most stable and the ISG is a very good unit to have. T3 is a little less useful other than to chase down vehicles, but like you say the USA quickly have the relevant counters to a puma, so it has to play safe.

If OKW goes hard T2 (probably into T4), its a good idea to get some early tanks and harrass the crap out of all his flanks.. its difficult to protect anything away from the trucks without a puma. He might try save for a panther, but it comes late and isnt much help vs all your inf, ussually he will get a Jagd, which cant really control the flanks easily.

I think mech company is the best with this strat. I picked up all 3 companies on sale and the clown cars make for an insane early game. The middle game is nice too with the halftracks reinforcing and the 155mm arty can bring down hell. Hopefully you won't have to endure the late game.

Recon is interesting but poor for 1v1 I think. The M8 is quite effective and a good counter to the flaktrack (I think) but the puma counters it and it's not so durable against shreks. I&R pathfinders aren't the best for 1v1. They don't add much to an ammo heavy faction. The sight boost is appreciated. Recon can be gotten from the major but it is appreciated too. The paratrooper call in might be too late though.

Rifle company is never the wrong choice. The best? I'm not sure. The flamers are meh but useful against buildings. They allow you to forgo grenades (if you dare). The Easy 8 makes the company and the faction complete. 2 are effective tiger hunters. It can shoot effectively on the move too. Flares are neat. Vet rifles scale into the late game better but make their effects known everywhere. I can't figure out effective WP smoke usage but it might be there for a good attack if you drop it on the defenders positions.