Close Air Support Help.

Hey guys iv been having major problems with CAS, its getting to the point where i may as well quit the game rather than fight it. Iv heard some people say that getting large amounts of in direct fire works, but i can't seem to find a good way to make that work as USF. Does anyone have any good tips for fighting it or maybe strats that worked for them.

It can be tough but you have several options. Airborne is a solid doctrine choice because without paratroopers your infantry are going to get out-traded hard by lmg grens. Infantry is also good for the m1919s and the priest. M8s are your best friend here. They'll deal with infantry and support weapons effectively as long as you're vigilant and keep them out of trouble. Maybe pick up a pack howitzer for some more indirect firepower. That's really the key. If you can keep on top of your micro you can dodge air attacks without too much trouble and bleed your enemy well enough to stay in the game. That's my best advice.

I found that t2 t4 + Guards Motor works for me.
You have early game advantage. Use it to drain VPs as much as possible. Get maxim or two to protect VP/cutoffs/Fuel points. Tech to T4 and get a Katty. Remember to keep moving it around after fired salvo as well as when you see enemy recon plane.

Get guards to keep blobs at bay so you can aim with the Katty.

Get t34/85s and use them to harass flanks and destroy caches but avoid shreck blob. Veted shrecks will 1 shot your tanks.

He said as USF

@ OP,against the DOCTRINE close air support just play really good with AA halftrack,50 cal,and scott. and buy plenty of scotts and 50 cals since you dont have to worry about tanks or vehicles..Make sure you crush with your shermans and keep them on HE. If you let him get a tank with him converting muni you should rightfully lose im afraid.

Just invest into as much anti infantry as he invests into spamming LMGs and whatnot and you should be fine. There is no secret way of handling this doctrine as USF,you simply have to be better than he is with your suppression options and tanks.

Try to wipe squads whenever you can. Its like playing against OKW but with no KT or panther to deal with.

dont bother upgrading your rifles with bars. you wont be able to out scale his infantry with weapon upgrades. Play REALLY good with your vehicles,try not to lose them, and you'll bleed him out of infantry eventually.

In teamgames however this doctrine is horribly unbalanced unless you have a soviet with you,and I dont have advice for that.
**But sturmtiger does**


DOUBLE EDIT!: Dont blob and the MG strafe is meh, and DODGE the ANTI TANK STRAFE!!When you see a recon pass MOVE EVERY UNIT YOU HAVE

Cheers for the responses guys, i feel like i gave up with the Scott when fighting against CAS but that was more cause i was getting burnt out with the match up and RNG, I'l make sure to go back to using more Sherman's and Scott's. I must say i didn't think about using the 50 cal i would have thought with the large amount of munitions going around the rifle nade happy grens would just wipe it but i can try using it again.

@Gaddafi Thanks for the soviet help i do tend to play them in 2v2, USF is more my 1v1 faction at the moment. Iv been using Guard coordination tactics against CAS in two's a lot more, it seems to do fairly well but it's a long wait to get it out so it might well be time to go back to the 85's as you said. There's only so many IS2 i can make before i never want to see another one in my life so anything to avoid shock front-line tactics.

Just a side thought would going Armor company help, the bulldozer Sherman while random can do some major damage to the gren blobs that and demo charges might help.

Cheers for the responses guys, i feel like i gave up with the Scott when fighting against CAS but that was more cause i was getting burnt out with the match up and RNG, I'l make sure to go back to using more Sherman's and Scott's. I must say i didn't think about using the 50 cal i would have thought with the large amount of munitions going around the rifle nade happy grens would just wipe it but i can try using it again.

@Gaddafi Thanks for the soviet help i do tend to play them in 2v2, USF is more my 1v1 faction at the moment. Iv been using Guard coordination tactics against CAS in two's a lot more, it seems to do fairly well but it's a long wait to get it out so it might well be time to go back to the 85's as you said. There's only so many IS2 i can make before i never want to see another one in my life so anything to avoid shock front-line tactics.

Just a side thought would going Armor company help, the bulldozer Sherman while random can do some major damage to the gren blobs that and demo charges might help.

Armor company IS good actually, and might be your best bet if the other commanders don't suffice.
It's your own preference with commander choice. However which way you like to take care of enemy infantry, it'll work. Just focus on anti infantry and skimp on AT.


A 50 cal will do more for you than another rifle squad will.

if you do armor company go 3 rifle >1 engineer >LT >AA HT >captain> call in spam

4 rifles Greyhounds>Shermans can work too.

I have been playing too much Soviets lately so I wrote down my first thoughts.

The initial play-style should not change much with USF. Use early game advantage to out cap the opposition to death (2 RE, 3 rifles) and drain VPs. You want to have at least some AT to counter possible light vehicles and med/reinforce bunkers so I usually go Captain. If the opposition techs to T3, get at gun to counter P4 or Ostwind. Get Major and 3 or 4 Scotts. Those things rekt blobbz hard if used properly. If you pick Infantry doc, use M1919 to hold the line, while your Scotts engage from behind. Spread Scotts as much as possible so you don't lose much if you get hit by AT strafe. It's ok to keep rebuilding scotts if you lose them, they are cheap.

Iv been trying to use the advice in this thread and now all the Ost players i come up against are using Mechanised again which i know how to deal with already lol.

If you're units are very tight / youre blobbing. Grab captain and use "on me!" to break the suppression. I'd also go infantry in this case so your infantry can beat the lmg grens easily.

If you're spliting units and capping all over the place grab lt and get either get a quad or rush to HE shermans/scotts.

also OP if you haven't already I highly recommend subscribing to and watching the Daily Propagandacast and checking to see if there is a game being featured that matches your problem.

Yesterday's game featured USF vs Ostheer close air support.

Cheers @Cookie I'll give it a watch later tonight.

I agree with Cookies in that Armored Company, a weaker choice generally, does pretty well against CAS play because the Bulldozer Sherman is a better anti-infantry tank than the normal Sherman. More armor, more HP, and it actually does have indirect fire! Use Attack Ground to attack over buildings and the like with it. This won't work with very tall buildings but most hedgerows and buildings can be fired over. On a map like Stalingrad they can be invaluable against an entrenched Pak40 force.

It always confuses me to see players spam Shermans against this strategy as well. It basically demands Pak40s and Teller mines to beat tanks late game. Use the M8A1 Scott and pound those poisitons into dust. Forward spotters are crucial though as the basic attack range of the M8A1 and the Pak40 are the same - 60. Pak40 kills M8A1s in two shots so don't play around with them.

The barrage ability of the M8A1 has greater range, 80, so use that to siege Paks when you know where they are. Spam those things if you have to. They counter basically anything infantry in great enough numbers and with great enough care.

Also kill Paks. Every time you de-crew one make a concerted effort to destroy the gun. Once again M8A1s can really help here because you can just bombard it into dust from a safe range.