Ost Sniper Tactics With Videos

I thought it may be helpful to others to share some thoughts of mine on my admittedly favorite unit in the game, the sharpshooter, which has received an indirect buff in the new patch, so it seemed like an apt time to throw something up. In the Beta, I found the snipers performance had increased, due to the cover changes. I'll expand upon this shortly.

Taken from the COH2 German Unit Guide, the Ostheer sniper is a "Single sniper who kills in one shot from long range. Will camouflage while in cover. Useful for taking out weapon teams and supporting infantry. Fires faster and camouflages quicker than the Soviet sniper. Very fragile and must be kept safe.

Production cost: 360 manpower
Population cap: 9"



Against USF, going early sniper is not a great idea. It is a mid game unit due to the USF access to an early vehicle and free officer unit as part of their tech. You can't hold the territory vs early USF with a sniper, simple as. You need a solid t1 force of 4 or 5 units and a PAK or 222 before getting a sniper.

Vs the Soviets, you should check their base early on to see if they are going T1. If so, don't risk an early sniper due to the risk of an early vehicle. A handy way of checking a soviets players tech choice is described by Ciez here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcAboXwR7s0&t=1m5s. Even still, I suggest you start with a more traditional 4-5 unit tier one, tech and then get a sniper.

The reason for this, is that going an early sniper means you naturally sacrifice territory, and in COH2, even the territory points provide both forms of resources, roughly 1 munition point is worth 3 manpower, and 1 fuel is worth 5 manpower as I understand it. Thus going a sold t1 is the norm for most people. , the manpower drain a sniper causes is imo not worth the map you sacrifice early on and the vulnerability of your build to an early light vehicle.



Nothing too complicated, control group him to a hotkey, keep'em at the back and use cover, blast away at units not in buildings preferably and watch your flanks using your front-line squads. I like to shoot and scoot from cover to cover if your opponent is advancing on your position as the Ostheer sniper is effectively a gren with camo, so vulnerable to getting killed by pretty much anything. It ain't rocket science for sure. One thing to keep in mind, is that in COH2, the sniper when selected will have a shooting range radius on the screen which is very helpful. A handy trick is that you can effectively select a modal to kill on HMG squads by staying at max range so only the gunner is in your range radius as they are always at the front of the squad. Will pretty much nullify a HMG if you micro the situation correctly.

The difference between the Ostheer sniper and Soviet imo is that the Ostheer one has better offensive abilities and gains his defensive protections through vet (better cloak), whilst the Soviets get a out of jail card with sprint at vet 1.

The big change this patch that buffs the Ostheer sniper, is the cover mechanic change, meaning units are clumping up better into cover. The sniper has a perfect counter to units in cover that can't be dodged. His vet 1 ability, Incendiary shot, costs 45 munitions, guarantees one kill and causes AOE damage, whilst also stunning the enemy squad for a few seconds. Additionally it ignores the snipers cooldown after a shot, so can be used directly after you fire a normal shot.

You can use this underused ability offensively, or defensively to gain vet fast, and a vetted Ostheer Sniper is a high micro, high reward unit.



Simple, use it like a rifle nade that costs 15 munitions more, but can't be dodged and stuns the enemy. I.e. target clumped up units, which most commonly occurs when a squad enters cover. If two enemy squads are close together, pick a modal in the midst of them both. Really juicy targets especially, are squads carrying a flamer, as you get a chance of taking the flamer out and causing additional damage/squad wipes. Enemy sniper squads clearly are a prime target as well.

See an example here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2bHZQ2hGE0&t=22m39s



Again, nothing too complicated here, use it on an opponents key squad/flanker to take them out of action for a few seconds, giving you time to respond/retreat. Additionally, one that is relatively unknown, is that the incendiary shot causes some damage to light vehicles, it will take about 25% the health of an M3 for example. Rare enough that you will ever use it vs one, but worth noting anyways as a tool in your box of tricks.

See example of using the incendiary shot defensively here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2bHZQ2hGE0&t=18m3s



I hope this thread is a wee bit helpful and encouraging for other players to give the Ostheer sniper a 2nd shot, I firmly believe that with the new cover mechanics this patch, he has become more effective and is worth the micro hassle for the rewards you get. The sniper is a strong support unit and I have used him against numerous good opponents in the beta for the last week. Yes it is frustrating how fragile he is and how much cotton wool protection you have to provide, but he can fulfill a role to support your front line units (Grens/PGrens/Ostruppen etc) and cause economic damage to your opponent if well handled.

Thanks for reading

Bryan you sexy flower

Dat quality IE expertise!

Not to be confused with this lot who stole our flag CI

how to i kill an idividual model? do i have to hold fire and a- attack the the model?

Killing an individual modal only really works against HMG squads due to the machine gunner positioning at the front of a unit, you simply stay at max range, so he is the only modal of that unit in your firing range. The sniper has a handy firing range circle that shows you his max range when selected.

Note, due to the snipers line of sight, you'll need a spotter or LOS of some form as the Sniper has less LOS then he does range of fire.