Sov. Counter to Flak HT

I've been struggling recently with OKW meta of Volks spam into Flak HT. For me the Flak HT is especially punishing on maps with brutal cut-offs (Kharkov, Langres) or prominent red cover (crossing) where units get insta pinned by it. I usually end up picking a commander with Guards and going T2 so I usually have counters readily available but against better players it sometimes isn't enough. I'm looking for ideas on best way to deal with it that I might not be thinking of. (Skipping AT gun and trying for a faster T70/Su76?)

Thanks in advance.

Theres no hard counter until you have a t34 you can actually go at it with. Getting 2 shots off with a ZiS is difficult given how long it takes to setup and fire its first shot its unlikely it'll ever die to just a zis. Ive tried at partisans commanders but its not worth it. Guards alone will never kill it.

You dont actually need to kill it though, if you play compact and have your at gun moving in range of your army you can just hit it once over and over. That means more micro for your opppnent and his sturm is repairing all the time instead of being useful elsewhere.

Best way to kill it pre being able to dive it with a tank is playing wide, make it so the okw player is watching more than 1 engagement so your ZiS has time to get its shots.

Another thing you can do is t2 builds with maxims, he has to play into you then which makes flak ht a lot harder to use. Just opens you up to a different way of losing usually though

The m42at gun is also 10x better than the zis at zoning the flak ht, does lock you into memey commanders though. Defensive Commander is always really good with t1 but you do need to get ahead with it

I think you already have the right strat to counter Flak HT.

Alternatively I found some Cons + M3+ 1-2 Dshk+ Mini AT gun(but only after you actually know the Flak HT is on the field) into T70 or even T34 (if you had way better fuel control over the game) to be pretty good.

Also, try to mine if your enemy doesn't have sweepers or no reason to expect u to mine. Mines win games! spamming mines also makes it harder to just sent the flaqht around on its own

It's very difficult to counter a Flak HT with Guards because suppression completely neuters them. I've seen VonIvan chase down Flak HTs with Guards or Penals in an M3 but I wouldn't call it a hard counter.

AT guns are your best bet until you get your own armour. They may not kill it but they can hold it off until you have a harder counter available.

As siddolio said. Just hit it once with the zis and he'll back off with it. If your opponet is stupid enough to let it sit on 160 HP then its easy pickings.

ZiS + mines are enough threat to buy you as much time as you need to get to t3 or even t4.

OKW will be slow to field decent AT outside raketens if they go for flakHT. They won't have a puma option to punish any of your t3 unit options.

Flakhts usually mean the next tech/fuel unit will be a p4, almost by necessity. I don't think I've seen people go medic then mech as OKW, like, at all. You can use that to your advantage.

ZiS + mines are enough threat to buy you as much time as you need to get to t3 or even t4.

OKW will be slow to field decent AT outside raketens if they go for flakHT. They won't have a puma option to punish any of your t3 unit options.

Flakhts usually mean the next tech/fuel unit will be a p4, almost by necessity. I don't think I've seen people go medic then mech as OKW, like, at all. You can use that to your advantage.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. For T3 do you think it's better to go for T70 as an all-rounder unit that can force off Flak or SU-76 that can help fend off P4 if my cut-off gets camped for longer than I like. I'm always kind of wary of getting stuck in T3 and being forced into SU76 spam (which I'm not particularly fond of). Is it worth keeping Shock Rifle or Armored Assault in my loadout to stall into an IS2 with if this happens?

For T3 do you think it's better to go for T70 as an all-rounder unit that can force off Flak or SU-76 that can help fend off P4 if my cut-off gets camped for longer than I like. I'm always kind of wary of getting stuck in T3 and being forced into SU76 spam (which I'm not particularly fond of). Is it worth keeping Shock Rifle or Armored Assault in my loadout to stall into an IS2 with if this happens?

I go t70 if I feel I have a slight fuel advantage OR if my opponent seems heavy on infantry. Otherwise I almost always get the su76. I think the 76 is more of an all-rounder, since it can fight any vehicle and barrage static targets, whereas the t70 is mostly focused on just infantry.

Of course the unit has hard counters. Even the early ones. The most obvious one is double zis. It is a hard counter but in 1v1 it's too expensive to actually perform.

The less obvious one is m3 with ptrs infantry inside. You can use cons, guards or penals, not much of a difference. Just rush the ht when it is not covered by AT, to be sure bring another AT squad on foot, he wont be able to supress it as focusing the m3 is his only chance to save flak. If he tries to retreat with smoke, dive through it, the flak is harmless on the move. Just beware not to get baited on a mine.

If the game is in later state and you already have t3, there are more good counters there. You can go for T-70, or the soviet halftrack. It works well both with ptrs inside and with AA mount, that has better dps than t70 against low armoured targets such as okw flak ht.

replay, due to the fact that it's to vague for one to truely answer what to do at the given situation.