Having trouble settling into Allied faction

hello all. Im now a level 50 i think, yet i cant find a way to play allies very well, in particular, ukf and soviet. usf is fine.. he other two require something much more...

the soviets i want to like, but i cant get them working. going t1 2 3 and 4 sounds excessive, i could skip t1, although thats where the soviets can shine early game.

they also have no forward reinforcment point. I heard the m5 used to be able to reinforce.. but not anymore. Also no retreat point. i feel like playig withoit one completely throws things off compared to other factions.

also their anti armor completely sucks. usf and ukf get great tank hunters, to me the su85 is almost unusable. it gets flanked so easily. its so slow, and its pathing sucks. i can barely use he thing. their doctrines dont help at all much, except for the t34/85 in guard mortar.

the soviets in general feel very weak, im not the best player, but as soon as i swith to another faction its night and day.

UKF- i do enjoy ukf, however they are sooo weak early game. your constantly starved for reasources. im told not to build any defensive placements just to save. you literally cannot afford to loose 1 squad with these guys.

USF- these guys pretty much have the following covered. good anti tank, forward retreat and reinforcment points. i guess im not crazy about them because the main strat is to blob, which i find kind of boring.

i know i sound highly critical and narrow minded, this is just my general perspective. ukf is so reasource fucked. and soviets, how do i make them into a formidable force? i want to feel like i can dish out some damage. im mainly aski g for build orders and basic strats. like a simple 'how to' have success with these dactions, because certain things just dont work. no replays for u yet. thanks for any advice!

Please let us know which game modes you play.

regular VP game, 3v3 and 4v4 both expert ai or people.

Soviet t1 is bad, except for snipers. Not worth getting.

Cons and maxims are your bread and butter until you get some doctrinal call in infantry.

The halftrack can still reinforce, just not when you upgrade it to the AA gun.

SU-85 is decent to start, but once you get veterancy on it it becomes one of the best in the game.

thats very helpful.
i diddnt find any description aboit the m5 reinforcing, good to know. that changes things. i assume its standard protocal to get a halftrack then just for reinforcing?

yeah its unfortunate but t1 does suck for sov, in general that is. im goin to skip it.

guess i just have to learn to use he su85... cause i hate that thing.

ill try these hings tonight

As both Brits and Soviets, you need to decide what your role will be in the battle. You can't be the jack-of-all-trades that USF are.

Brit Infantry Sections specialise in defence, getting a buff to their rate of fire when in green cover, and having nece dps at long range (particularly when upgraded with Bren LMGs). The work best setting up defensive positions behind the main line for your allies to fall back to. BUT they CAN be used offensively. Commandos, the AEC, the Cromwell and Hammer Tactics / Comets all work well on the offense.

With Soviets, the current meta is MG spam. Three MGs are common in top 1v1 matches, from watching the ESL tourneys. HOWEVER, I do believe there is a place for T1, particularly if you are struggling to lock down fuel. The Sniper team has an inherent advantage over Ostheer snipers, in having two men, and Penal Squads do more DPS than Conscripts, plus can be upgraded with flamers.

I recently faced sniper+Guard spam from a SU player, and it was super effective.

Also the SU-85 is a very good tank-destroyer, particularly when it vets up, as it gets increased rate of fire. If you want something with a turret than can do similar damage, and is also effective against infantry, try an IS-2.

Soviet t1 is bad, except for snipers. Not worth getting.

where did it go wrong for the Penals NotLikeThis

While you are right about T1 being kind of meh, you ought to reconsider the SU-85. Try these things and your su-85 play will improve:

If you worry about it being chased down by panthers and the like just plant mines around where you like to keep it. Also, you really should have either a T70 or mortar team near it, so you can use the Recon mode to scout for targets, or flares to spot as well. The T70 can protect the SU-85 from infantry and the mortar can take out AT guns as well.

Basically what I'm saying is combined arms is key as the Soviets, you can't just rely on Riflemen and armor like the USF. If your having trouble killing medium armor as Soviets, I'd recommend you get Guards troops and maxims along with Conscripts and SU-76 and su-85. Maxims pin down enemy troops and protect Guards, Guards use "button" ability from DP-28 package to immobilize tank, SU-76 or SU-85 fires at front of tank while Conscripts use Oorah! to flank around the back of tank and throw AT nades at rear armor.

Another Soviet advantage is ability to wipe squad compared to USF; USF must chase retreating units to wipe, but Soviets wipe mainly with demo charges and mines. Plant mines in the doorways of buildings and where you think he will try and flank you, and plant demo charges on points you think he will try and capture; you can wipe an entire infantry squad with one demo. If you don't know when to detonate a demo, you can use the vet 1 ability of Cons, Shock, and Guards to lay a small flare mine on the demo while your engineers lay the demo. When the flare mine goes off the game tells you, and if you quickly react you can wipe the squad.

I realize that's a lot of text, but I'm trying to stress that the Soviets played properly with combined arms is flat out the best faction ingame, but is also the most challenging.

Also for the Soviets, Commander choice is really important and how that synergizes with your build

I won't repeat what I put in the guide but see here:

http://www.coh2.org/guides/43308/red-army-101-common-commanders