Dealing with Command Panthers

Yo, so I have a lot of trouble dealing with Command Panthers given that they need no tech and come early enough to stop mediums. I'm kinda miffed that even when I manage to dominate the early game OKW can just hold out and just call it in.

By this time 90% of the time I will have a Sherman and Jackson out. Pershing is hard countered by Mark Target so I don't bother with Heavy Cav anymore. Zooks have a hard time penetrating its armor. Jacksons depend on RNG to pen as Sherman need to hug the Panther to have any chance of penning. So what should I do in this situation?

Mines could help. Your best bet would be going a doctrine that has them, but if he doesn't go for mech hq you can probably also get an M20.

If you choose a doctrine it's a good idea to place mines in places that are least probable for infantry to go, so that you didn't reveal your doctrine choice too early. That way the chance of command panther going over it increases dramatically.

If you go for captian, you should also consider building one or two AT guns. They may look bad at first glance, but they have powerful abilities increasing range and penetration. Plus, command panther needs much more time to kill them than in case of jackson.

Another thing is that okw absolutely needs your tanks killed in order to win. If you manage to keep your tanks alive then the command panther is your opponent's resources thrown away. The same applies if you manage to kill it quickly, even with significant tank losses, if okw player just stalled for it, without the flak hq build, it will still be a good trade since he is not going to be able to call another one with as little resources.

Yo, so I have a lot of trouble dealing with Command Panthers given that they need no tech and come early enough to stop mediums. I'm kinda miffed that even when I manage to dominate the early game OKW can just hold out and just call it in.

By this time 90% of the time I will have a Sherman and Jackson out. Pershing is hard countered by Mark Target so I don't bother with Heavy Cav anymore. Zooks have a hard time penetrating its armor. Jacksons depend on RNG to pen as Sherman need to hug the Panther to have any chance of penning. So what should I do in this situation?

whenever i go command panther and the opp has tanks and tank destroyers its no problem really but if they also combine that with one or two AT guns then different story .. AT guns counter tanks ..

Good defence is the key. Remember that the command panther, like any panther is only good against tanks.

This means it can be only useful, when it can dive in and kill your shermans/jacsons/calliopes/pershing/whatever.

So, if you´re able to protect your tanks, then your will soft-counter his panther (this is more than enaught, you only need to zone him out of game, not directly kill it).

1-2 AT guns and a squad with 2 bazookas (echelons) is more than enaught.

Also jacson has 60 range whereas panther only 50. So if you can spot for panther with infantry and keep the jacson protect by an AT gun, you should be able to keep him at bay.

Once he overextends too much, you shouldn´t have problems finishing it with jacson from afar, while infantry and shermans screen enemy infantry for your

@OP I'd recommend you take a look at that "combined arms" guide for USF. Even if you don't follow it to the letter (a lot of times I would go for the AA Half Track over the M20 if I'm already ahead in the early game) it is still useful; having the double rear echelon, then equipping them with bazookas is super effective. Even if a Luchs comes out rather quick, it's possible to have 150+ muni saved and a vehicle from the LT tier out and upgrading to weapon racks for the zooks.

That being said, four bazookas is formidable even for a panther. 2-3 rifles with vet have the AT nade which will stop the panther from maneuvering well.

M20 mines or regular mines are good too; also, Armor company can lay mines and demo charges w/ Assault Engineers which I'll sometimes do (or M20 mine w/ Demo) Note that the demo charge gets like 400 extra damage when its detonated by something other than clicking the button, so I think it'll kill a full-health panther (at least the ostheer one; perhaps Cmd Panther has higher HP?)

Anyway, just get lots of AT but don't be dumb and put a zook on a rifleman and a BAR on the same squad; keep your rifles for fighting infantry (unless you have some elite infantry and want one rifle w/ zooks), support units (even captain if you're desperate) with zooks too.

I'd say have no more than two infantry squads w/ Bazookas at any given point in time w/ a max of 2 for each squad.

I'd recommend heavy cav still. Pershing statistically will win due to its higher pen and double tap but be respectful of the coordinated fire ability. The commander will also allow you to build the m5 mines on rifles which can aid in snaring the CP. Bonus points if your stuart is still alive and can use stun rounds to block vision.

I'd recommend heavy cav still. Pershing statistically will win due to its higher pen and double tap but be respectful of the coordinated fire ability. The commander will also allow you to build the m5 mines on rifles which can aid in snaring the CP. Bonus points if your stuart is still alive and can use stun rounds to block vision.

Honestly though, even if somebody insits that he has to counter the CP with vehicles, pershing is not the right choice. Its a single vehicle, so while marked all your armour recives additional damage. Compare it to M10 spam for example. You will loose one to mark target and maybe another one to normal fight but you can get the panther easily. The moment opponent uses mark target only ners one of your tanks, not all of them.

Honestly though, even if somebody insits that he has to counter the CP with vehicles, pershing is not the right choice. Its a single vehicle, so while marked all your armour recives additional damage. Compare it to M10 spam for example. You will loose one to mark target and maybe another one to normal fight but you can get the panther easily. The moment opponent uses mark target only ners one of your tanks, not all of them.

I'd agree since you can get 3 M10s for the price of a CP or persh.