Pin planes

I mostly play sov in 2v2 with a mate playing USF.
During mid game I will have build 2 paks to deal with light vehicles and an mg to protect them. Additional infantry may be around as well. The units aren't clumped together for fear of Stuka.
At some point a plane will come in and pin everything, followed up by a horde of infantry. Since everything is pinned red I will have retreat everything that can move, leaving the paks by themselves. At times I will loose the mg as well as it doesn't pack-up fast enough.

While this is a very good and valid strategy, I ask what to do about it? M5 Quad will engage the plane but not shoot it down quick enough, so all inf units are still pinned.

I guess one answer could be to move around more. However on a 2v2 there is usually not enough space (barring Vaux) as all these support weapons need a lot of space to not be clumped up.

This situation doesn't occur too often but it's a frustrating one nonetheless as it pretty much negates anything Sov can do mid game. If the opponents end up stealing the paks and have medium armor, its pretty much gg.

Pin planes are flat out broken in my opinion. They should redesign the ability to strafe a target box and cause suppression and damage in that area, like the strafe from vCOH US Airborne.
Simply pinning all infantry units across half the map is dumb.

You've already analyzed this to its conclusion.

Thankfully the area that gets pinned is relatively small and there is a rather long warning. Also keep in mind - thanks to incremental suppression (more units, means more suppression across larger area) the area becomes exasperated when you have units closer together. Also it sounds like you're waiting to be hit by the ability rather then just retreating the units in the red smoke that aren't able to dodge sooner, this saves manpower.

This makes the german CAS strafe a blob control tool, and is mitigated by either actively dodging it or keeping troops separate (so only one or two squads get strafed). Additionally, you can force him to use it defensively by creating pressure using your 983423904732 soviet units. Also, if he's spamming the ability - that means he's burning man power on munitions drops and you now can push through his lines with superior numbers.

Overall, its a powerful ability - but easily mitigated by keeping troops *not clumped up* or moving out of the way (typically diagonally from the red smoke). I wouldn't build a half track to counter it. Force him to use it in un-ideal situations by creating pressure, or feinting on an exposed flank.

Honestly when facing this doctrine, I just build some katushas (so he burns muni on recon and AT strafes, by moving), and use limited team weapons.

Also, soviets have a pin plane too! You could use it the same effect.

You've already analyzed this to its conclusion.

Thankfully the area that gets pinned is relatively small and there is a rather long warning. Also keep in mind - thanks to incremental suppression (more units, means more suppression across larger area) the area becomes exasperated when you have units closer together. Also it sounds like you're waiting to be hit by the ability rather then just retreating the units in the red smoke that aren't able to dodge sooner, this saves manpower.

This makes the german CAS strafe a blob control tool, and is mitigated by either actively dodging it or keeping troops separate (so only one or two squads get strafed). Additionally, you can force him to use it defensively by creating pressure using your 983423904732 soviet units. Also, if he's spamming the ability - that means he's burning man power on munitions drops and you now can push through his lines with superior numbers.

Overall, its a powerful ability - but easily mitigated by keeping troops *not clumped up* or moving out of the way (typically diagonally from the red smoke). I wouldn't build a half track to counter it. Force him to use it in un-ideal situations by creating pressure, or feinting on an exposed flank.

Honestly when facing this doctrine, I just build some katushas (so he burns muni on recon and AT strafes, by moving), and use limited team weapons.

Also, soviets have a pin plane too! You could use it the same effect.

Ok, thanks. I did not know that the area gets exasperated.

Yes I do not always react immediately due to being busy somewhere else and only average skill level. Also when used for the first time I'm not sure which type of call-in it is - there are too many ostheer commanders ;-)

Soviets have a pin plane at 10(?) or 12 cp. At that point in time there are tanks around that will protect the support weapons sufficiently. So basically the ability is too late.

Soviets have a pin plane at 10(?) or 12 cp. At that point in time there are tanks around that will protect the support weapons sufficiently. So basically the ability is too late.

Yeah it does come late, but its more powerful then the strafe from CAS In my opinion. It's best to use the plane off map abilities as a force multiplier during an offensive, or defensively to help break an assault (preferably offensively though). When used during an active engagement, its unlikely to be shot down unless the wehrmacht player is deliberately keeping an AA unit in reserve such as a scout car or Ostwind. Also those tanks can't shoot down the plane unless they have a MG gunner upgrade. In my experience, that loiter sturmovik often wipes team weapons on its first pass and then hunts down others in the area with a vengeance. I often choose sturmovik commanders when I find my opponent lacks AA, and man do they suffer.

Also a note on the suppression mechanic, this applies to all suppression things and infantry units. This is why you see your entire blob gets supressed by the first couple bullets of an MG burst when they are bunched together. While when separated, it might take two maxim or vicker volleys to suppress.

I seriously never hit anything with this ability. The time from smoke drop to the plane hitting has allowed my enemy to just move away almost every time. I think I'm just bad at this game, lol.