How to Play The Late Game

I've noticed a recurring problem with my play is that I can't handle the late game. With small engagements with up to about four squads per side I tend to do pretty well and my light vehicle micro usually pays off. But once there are multiple tanks per side, too many squads to effectively micro at once, very low time to kill on squads and infantry suppression everywhere everything tends to collapse.

While I understand most of the solution is practice and experience I'm wondering if there are any general tips and advice people have for large late game engagements? It'd be greatly appreciated.

Do you have this problem with all factions?

As a USF player I certainly feel your pain, and it's simply a natural consequence of bigger and more dangerous threats being present on the battlefield, plus having a lot more to micro at once.

The easiest thing to do is incorporate more units that don't need quite as much fiddly micro into your build, like artillery or other indirect fire units.

Another thing that helps me is blobbing more. You won't win any style points for moving your whole army in a blob but it will be much easier to keep track of what you're doing. If you find that the squads you send to harass are vanishing without a trace, you can fight on fewer fronts to reduce the likelihood of that happening.

While it's tempting to send a squad off on their own to get a little extra territory, be realistic about how much attention you can pay to them and what you expect them to accomplish.

Tbh I often have the same problem. I find myself dominating my opponent for the early-mid game in most games in the 4 key areas.

1) squad and vehicle preservation
2) taking better engagements/mp attrition war
3) resource control/income
4) VPs

I'm constantly ahead in vehicles/tech/upgrades against my opponent, but once I reach 25 to 30mins or so things can go south easily. In fact, once Shermans/p4s are out the threat of lone-capping squads being wiped is very high. A moment of two of carelessness can lose you an upgraded max-vet squad, and as USF, drop some BARs for your enemy. I once gave my opponent a double-barred Vet 5 Volks.

Below are ways I try to minimise my late-game unraveling.

1) Remember to watch out for what your opponent has. If I know he has a vet 2 t70 sending lone squads to cap the side vps can be suicidal. Vetted Panzergrens are a unit that can melt solo squads really fast, as are Brit units who have the light Gammon bomb. Basically be wary if he has "super squad wiping" units

2) Put important units in control groups (snipers/vehicles)

3) Learn the retreat paths - on many maps there's certain danger spots where your squad will end up taking a suicidal/stupid retreat path

4) As mentioned by Romeo, limit the number of engagements. You can do this by focusing on defending/securing a key area first before making a push for another key area. You don't necessarily have to a-move with 5 squads, you can try to push for territory in pairs or small groups while keeping the larger force for defense or holding the middle.

5) Manage your army composition - in the late game, pop cap often becomes an issue. Infantry fights become less important, and most green cover will have been destroyed, so the combat dynamics change a lot. What won you the early game doesn't really work anymore. The late game transition to armour should be supplemented by by investments in indirect fire. Rocket artillery is really devastating, because it can dislodge or even decrew AT guns and hmgs, and wipe retreating squads. He needs to escape every single time you barrage, but you only need one moment of luck to take out his max vetted squads.

Having the wrong army composition will cause you to lose the late game. I've done it many times - I made the wrong late game strategic choices in army composition, and end up losing a game in which I had a commanding lead throughout.

Late game you obviously have more units on the field which makes it more diffecult to manage, not only because of the amount, but also the complexity.

To be honest most comes down to putting time in practicing your micro, but theres a few little tips that might help;

- Control groups
Using the number keys to assign units to a group can be very affective. Try to seperate units in logical groups, for example infantry on 1 and 2,Anti tank on 3, tanks on 4 etc.

- Use the tactical map (Numpad 0)
Tactical map is used by some players to give a quick and eays overview of the battlefield. You will see all units symbols with their according healthbar. It takes some practice but once you get the hang of it i'd say its a advantage.

- Read the game
The more you practice the better you will become on gamereading. This means you can predict what attack is going to happen and what moves your opponent will make. This gives you time to prepare for an engament before it happens, so less micro during the engament itself. This gives you some extra time to keep an eye on other squads fighting elsewhere.

- Watch the model spread and positioning, Lategame there will be more powerfull tanks on the field that are capable of 1 shotting squads in certain occasions. When you move a squad you can see dots on the groud giving an indication how they will position. If theres no proper heavy cover around, try to waypoint the models so they are spread a littlebit. This way a single mortar or tank shell wont damage or kill all members at once.

Best of luck