Sturmtiger

I should clarify first, I play 1v1 exclusively (only because I find it hard to co-ordinate time for team-mates and always prefer single player multiplayer).

So, the Sturmtiger. Does anyone find this unit useful? I've tried building it a few times early on, but find that I'm almost always better off waiting a little bit longer and getting a Panther or some other unit instead.

It just seems like the surprisingly short range, super slow firing time and super vulnerability to reload makes it very... unusual and I can't find a real good opportunity to use it unless I'm winning and can afford a parade vehicle.

I watched a replay recently where Cruzz was able to force retreats with it, just by it's presence, which is very handy, but at the same time, it just seems like I would be better off with a Walking Stuka if the enemy is heavy infantry/sedentary (since it's longer range and harder to see coming) or a Panther for general usage.

Infantry can almost always retreat before the shell hits, and vehicles unless they are super duper engine damaged won't get hit by it either. So how do you guys use it, if at all?

Back in WFA alpha it was conceivable to rush for a Sturmtiger while relying on volks and obers alone, not really doable anymore though now that OKW infantry has been nerfed and the teiring costs made more expensive.

I hardly use it, but I suppose it can still be useful in certain situations late game just as a pure battering ram. I would imagine a stuka being more effective for wiping out ZiS/Maxim spam but I think a sturmtiger gives you much better blob control since it's harder to dodge (sometimes just aiming the gun and cancelling is enough to force a mass retreat).

you can actually use the fire ability and target squads with it, instead of just shooting at the ground. this will allow the sturmtiger to track their movement WHILE aiming and deal a more precise shot.

you can actually use the fire ability and target squads with it, instead of just shooting at the ground. this will allow the sturmtiger to track their movement WHILE aiming and deal a more precise shot.

Did not know this, will have to try.

Yeah!! Its def useful.

Its easier to hit with than a stuka, and deals much better damage to vehicles.

Use something to scout the FoW and use it at its max range to make it more of a surprise.

I love the fact it can hit HARD, yet is pretty durable. OKW is good at defending, so you can always have a nice spot for it to fall back to and reload.

This unit is soo good at destorying whole units, regularly.

The Sturmtiger suffers from the players not knowing how to use it. People assumed you had to target ground with it and deemed it useless because of how hard it is to hit a moving target that way.

But the truth is, the Sturmtiger rocks. Like LemonJuice explaned, the sturmtiger can track its target all the way up to the point where it fires his fast flying rocket.

The range on the sturmtiger is also not bad at all. It actually has more range than non-scouting units have sight. So if you are fighting some squads at long range with your infantry, you can fire from behind your infantry, outside of enemy line of sight, to surprise-wipe an enemy squad. It can also track and fire through line of sight-blocking bushes if you have a spotter on the other side.

The Sturmtigers rocket does a whopping 640 damage. This is enough damage to insta-kill all USF tanks except the bulldozer Sherman (which will have 80hp left). It is also enough to insta-kill all soviet non-doctrinal tanks. Support weapons like AT guns, maxims, mortars etc are also completely destroyed if the rocket lands anywhere near the weapon itself.

Best of all, the firing animation can be cancelled. So if the enemy does notice the sturmtigers presence, you can stop the firing animation and aim at something else.

Thanks so much for the replies guys, I swear I had no idea you could target an enemy like normal with the Sturmtiger. I'm almost certain I tried doing that at one point and it didn't work, has it possibly changed in a patch at some point? Maybe I just didn't realise.

I think I'm going to have to play around with this unit a lot more, I haven't been able to touch the game for nearly a week, so I'll have a binge this weekend and try out the Sturmtiger for a few matches.

Does anyone use it in conjunction with the IR scanner? It seems like that would be a good combination to get max range. Although I believe that you can't target units via IR scanner sight?

Just had an extremely fun game with the Sturmtiger.

http://www.coh2.org/replay/22342/stalingrad-sturmtiger

Used the 'click on target instead of ground' thing here. Didn't make a huge impact though, as there wasn't much space to maneuver.

Still I don't think there was a single other unit that could've filled the niche that the Sturm did this match. It pretty much countered anything he could've fielded.

If I get it, it's usually after a Panther. This is rare as most games don't last long enough for this. So it's usually only in close games where the VPs are getting traded back and forth.

That being said, if I've managed to keep my infantry based AT alive and have a Panther out, I'll get a Sturmtiger. I find it more useful against USF as I'm not terribly worried about their late game armor. I'll use it against Soviets if I just managed to take out some of their armor and am confident I won't be seeing any more for a while.

It's great for late game saves where you just can't afford to give away a VP as I did in this game:

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  jmarks2001

  SturmTiger Saves the Day

  by: jmarks2001 map: La Gleize Breakout

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Does anyone use it in conjunction with the IR scanner? It seems like that would be a good combination to get max range. Although I believe that you can't target units via IR scanner sight?

That is correct, the IR scanner does not allow for direct targeting of units. However, it's still not a bad combination if you can afford it. The Sturmtiger out-ranges normal line of sight. So if you spot something that does not move, like a stationary support weapon, a squad capping a point, or a stationary tank, you can reduce them to a pile of smoking dust without them even seeing your Sturmtiger.

That is correct, the IR scanner does not allow for direct targeting of units. However, it's still not a bad combination if you can afford it. The Sturmtiger out-ranges normal line of sight. So if you spot something that does not move, like a stationary support weapon, a squad capping a point, or a stationary tank, you can reduce them to a pile of smoking dust without them even seeing your Sturmtiger.

Good to know, I've been wondering about that. I've used the Sturmtiger mostly in larger team games as a crowd control, reactionary unit to punish blobbers. I've one-shot a few tanks before (Jacksons, Shermans, M8 Scott) and have always wondered why they didn't move out of the way, but I guess they can't even see me

I had a play around with it last night to horrible effect, haha.
I think it was a bad combination of being out of practice in general and not being familiar with the unit, but I definitely see potential in it. I think it's probably not a great idea for me to get it as the first heavy armour unit (I think I'd still go the command panther first), but I can see myself calling it in afterwards or in certain matches.

I did find the 'right click attack' option to be a bit finnicky though. I tried to get it to attack some riflemen and it seemed to refuse to actually launch the rocket. Most likely it was because they were scrambling about and throwing off it's arc, but I did notice it being very particular in that firing mode.

I did find the 'right click attack' option to be a bit finnicky though. I tried to get it to attack some riflemen and it seemed to refuse to actually launch the rocket. Most likely it was because they were scrambling about and throwing off it's arc, but I did notice it being very particular in that firing mode.

You don't right-click to fire the rocket at a unit like you would do with any other unit where right is move/attack.
You select the sturmtiger, hit 'R' (or 'Z' if you are using grit-hotkeys) to select the firing ability, and you left-click on an enemy model. The rocket is an 'ability' that does not auto-fire when you right-click an enemy unit. For the Sturmtiger right-click is movement only.

Edit: So just to be clear, you always left-click to fire the rocket. Left-click on an enemy model and it will track, left-click on the ground and it will not track.

You don't right-click to fire the rocket at a unit like you would do with any other unit where right is move/attack.
You select the sturmtiger, hit 'R' (or 'Z' if you are using grit-hotkeys) to select the firing ability, and you left-click on an enemy model. The rocket is an 'ability' that does not auto-fire when you right-click an enemy unit. For the Sturmtiger right-click is movement only.

Edit: So just to be clear, you always left-click to fire the rocket. Left-click on an enemy model and it will track, left-click on the ground and it will not track.

Was just testing this vs AI. If you R > left-click on the enemy unit, it'll actually start the shooting animation when they're in range and rotate in place tracking it as they move up until it's ready to release the rocket. Good stuff and I can see that being very useful when trying to hit a vehicle.

One caveat is it does tend to focus on the closest unit model, so your rocket may not land in the middle of that unit. If facing a blob, it's best to choose a unit fairly in the center of that blob or manually attack the ground to net more kills.

You don't right-click to fire the rocket at a unit like you would do with any other unit where right is move/attack.
You select the sturmtiger, hit 'R' (or 'Z' if you are using grit-hotkeys) to select the firing ability, and you left-click on an enemy model. The rocket is an 'ability' that does not auto-fire when you right-click an enemy unit. For the Sturmtiger right-click is movement only.

Edit: So just to be clear, you always left-click to fire the rocket. Left-click on an enemy model and it will track, left-click on the ground and it will not track.

Ohhhhhhhhh, now I understand! I thought the game was spazzing out or something.

Okay, I had no idea I could that, but I'll give it another shot next time I play, thanks!

Today I saw a crazy teammate-dude drive up his sturmtiger and score a massive hit in the side of an IS-2 and then backup to reload totally unharmed. LOL xD

I would also like to add that the rocket has 50% deflection damage modifier, so even when not penetrating is does 320 damage + stun (4 or 5s i think) which is also pretty useful. Fyi it has 150 pen.

I also think it is a quite underrated unit. It stats speak for itself. Might be cause it is a little harder to use and needs more babysitting than some other units.

Regards
ace

you can actually use the fire ability and target squads with it, instead of just shooting at the ground. this will allow the sturmtiger to track their movement WHILE aiming and deal a more precise shot.

WTF how did I not notice.Ive been using the sturmtiger every axis team game I play lately,such a funny unit

WTF how did I not notice.Ive been using the sturmtiger every axis team game I play lately,such a funny unit

The information provided about the sturmtiger tracking is out-of-date- it can now only target the ground. Definitely don't find it as useful as it was before, with the shorter range and no lock-on.

The lock on used to be the best part as even if a tank rushed you if the aim had started it's still fire.