Survive in 1v1 as soviet

I have some huge survivability problem with soviets.
As we all know the current meta is just to hold fuel and keep as much units as you can alive until you can get a T70 out.
That's the only way to win as soviet currently, rarely will a ZiS help you against the axis light vehicles, since it's hard as f*** to micro them in early game.

However, even if it is possible, the problem I have as I said is just to hold of enough time to fuel, or resource point to have even a chance to field a ZiS/Light tank and counter any light tank you have, then capture their own fuel, if I can.

Agressivity doesn't work anymore with soviets because conscripts are ass, this is why so much people are doing either 2 maxims, or Penals.

How do you guys do it? How do you hold enough time against all that blob for instance? Being offensive enough, against players who know their shit and will be annoying the shit out of your brain trying to cut off your point or fuel?

I understand soviets are an offensive faction, but all their units lose in almost every match-up, if I do conscripts in early game, even if I put 2 cons against one sturms, what's going to make it impossible for him to just blob and get in my fuel with his volks? Cons will lose all the time, and while I'm wasting time fighting for my own fuel, his capturing his with a kubel, that one cons squad alone isn't able to kill without losing like 5 models.
And I need to capture both fuel points or cut his fuel so that he doesn't start building more than one luchs/222 (which is a pain in the ass).


DISCLAIMER: This thread is only adressed to 1v1 players above rank 300.
Please do not post here to GIVE ADVICE if: you're a compstomper, if you play 4v4 or 3v3 or if you're still in the kids pool below rank 400.

I hope you understand that I'm not trying to be a rude ass, I just want serious help, something that's worth the time to read and effort to try, even if you think that you are able to do it at your level, to counter this issue I have with soviets, below 300 in the ladder, players are all braindead and stupid, with retarded strat such as building multiple sturmpioneers in early game because they have schreks... so there is no real achievement for you there.

Post a replay so we see what you do wrong. And against which faction you have the most problems?

If you're having trouble getting to the mid game try out some alternative openings. T1 start is good now however you will often need guards when using it, also make sure you get conscripts as well as penals and make medics a priority. Conspam works quite well against Ost players as you have more squads and excellent capping ability, plus it is quite flexible because you can transition to t2 units whenever you want. T2 start can be good as well, when doing it I sometimes send my engis out to cap a point or two, then bring them back to build the structure, this way you aren't waiting around for MP with only 1 unit out capping.

Conscripts aren't superstars but they aren't 'ass' either, 'oorah' is an extremely useful ability and one of those things noobs neglect but good players use all the time.

The thing with the luchs rush is it's predictable, if you haven't seen anything other than t0 units by the 6 minute mark it's time to start preparing for it. Luchs can be deadly if you're not careful but it doesn't do that much damage against units in cover, especially at long range so use that to your advantage. Zis is still good against luchs, one hit is enough to force it away and buy time til your hard counter. A Zis hit combined with a mine strike and some nearby conscripts can get the kill.

Finally it's not a matter of 't70 or nothing', yeah the t70 is great but if you don't get it early enough you may be better off going for SU-76 instead. SU-76 is useful the whole game and doesn't leave you exposed to a cheeky panzer, whereas T-70 will inevitably die at some point.

Cons are ok vs ost but I wouldn't bother with them vs okw.

Make an extra combat engineer for extra capping at the start and build your tech straight away is what I suggest. Building tech will slow your start but otherwise you will have a hard time winning engagements.

Go 2-3 maxims/penals, maybe an M3 if they have a kubel and adapt from there. If going penals you will need guards or AT partisans to keep light vehicles at bay till you get out your t70.

On maps like semiosky where munitions are hard to get in the early game don't go t1 cause you wont get your flamethower early enough.

Conscripts aren't superstars but they aren't 'ass' either, 'oorah' is an extremely useful ability and one of those things noobs neglect but good players use all the time.

Conscripts are "ass". Once the enemy infantry gets their upgrades and some vet, they are pretty much just mobile AT grenades, Molotovs and Sandbag builders. And the Molotovs not so much, because the prolonged animation costs you even more models. The need to light the bottle is unhistorical anyway, as most Soviet Molotovs were made to catch fire upon impact by a chemical reaction. The "Ooooraaah!" is great, but only if you catch the enemy out of position, and their crappiness in combat often prevents you from using that speed properly. They probably will not chase down an MG despite flanking it. As far as combat capabilities are concerned, they are terrible. Even after vet 2, the accuracy is still desperate. Late game, I came to think of them more as engineers than infantry, because they mostly use their abilities instead of their rifles, or simply get thrown in the capture points because they are cheap and relatively durable. They can even repair with the right commanders. And frankly, these are the only ones who justify having a huge Conscript force later on. It is all right though, since you have plenty of other choices for late game front line infantry, preferably Guards or Penals.

You can merge your cons with your elite troops late game.They also a very strong early game unit.And if you give them ppush they will become really strong.
Merge also give you ability to basicly rainforce in combat with no delay.Imagin if your shock troop are down to three men if you use this ability they will suddenly become six men and have full fire power again.

If you want to know i use name no sacrifice no victory.Now my soviet rank is 1vs1 is 380 4vs4 is 62

You can merge your cons with your elite troops late game.They also a very strong early game unit.And if you give them ppush they will become really strong.
Merge also give you ability to basicly rainforce in combat with no delay.Imagin if your shock troop are down to three men if you use this ability they will suddenly become six men and have full fire power again.

If you want to know i use name no sacrifice no victory.Now my soviet rank is 1vs1 is 380 4vs4 is 62

True, but those models you merged into the elite infantry are still just Conscripts with different weapons. They are as crap as ever. It is the most punishing with the Shock Troops. If you merge you Cons into a 3 man squad of Shocks, you effectively get 3 Shocks and 3 PPSh Conscripts, who have neither the increased armor that Shocks get, nor the accuracy with the PPSh, so the full firepower is not actually achieved. It is not quite so punishing with Guards, but anyway, you are better off using Merge on weapon teams, because their combat capability is actually improved that way. I have never seen Merge used to reinforce elite infantry, even with the top players, and there is probably a reason for that. Not saying it is impossible to do, just saying that your elite infantry is your best. The point of going elite infantry is that you won´t be 100% dependent on Conscripts and mixing it with them will weaken it considerably in the long run.

Mind posting some replays? I'd love to help.

I too would be interested, I feel like I only really ever succeed with cheese (maxim spam or partisans), I would really like to play some different commanders and openings (non meta, which means I'll lose more) but I feel like my play suffers because of the lack of experimentation. Guess what I'm saying is I would like to see thoughts on soviets as a whole.