Profile of steel

So, a few people asked me to make a simple guide for Ostheer since they are having trouble with this faction that has access to everything because of its linear tiering system.

The weaker players should gain something from this guide (at least that is what I think). I was rank 87 in 2v2 as Ostheer with my AT partner before but it's not that great now since a submarine cable for my Internet has been messed up and input lag has doubled.

Here's a cast by Romeo of me and my AT partner vs BreakingBrad and ItzDusty although I was playing a bit poorly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRbMQtuBzfQ&list=UUKmfxfyHrZeX6OHAg0lwjgw (Credit to Romeo for casting)
Early Game

Here's my general build order for 1v1.

(left to right, bottom to top)




Sometimes I go for a mortar or sniper instead of the 2nd MG42 for specific reasons which I will get into after this.

For 2v2 I go like this
(left to right, bottom to top)





Sometimes after mortar for specific reason


The reason I only get 2 grenadiere in 2v2 is to get early Leichte Mechanised Kompanie for the Pak to prepare against the USF M15A1 or Soviet M3A1 mayhem. The idea is that my teammate will get more grenadiere to handle the capping and enemy infantry while I will handle the MG42 and Pak 40 part. He will only get 1 MG42 usually.

Remember that the mortar is to wound the enemy while the Grenadiere and MG42 will finish the job.

So how do I make use of this build order?

Well, you send your first grenadiere to accompany your pioniere wherever they go. You want to win the first engagement so you can cause a bit of damage to the enemy's map control. That does not mean that your grenadiere will cap the same point as the pioniere. Send them to the next point or something. The 2nd grenadiere will depend on the mode you play. If 1v1 go to the opposite side of the map or you can send them with the original grenadiere & pioniere team earlier for more power in that side of the map but you will sacrifice a little bit of map control. In 2v2, you send them to join the grenadiere & pioniere team unless your teammate goes for early MG42/sniper. Early(1st-3rd) mortar makes ZERO sense to me and is quite useless since there's no one spotting for them.

I always send 2 squads together (2 grenadiere/grenadiere & pioniere/grenadiere & HMG42) to ensure that I win the fight even in 2v2 when I got to rank 87.

Skip this if you're not a total beginner to COH2

Here's how it's done.



First 2 squads will travel together, upon meeting the enemy, they will both go for the nearest cover (preferably full cover but half will do fine). Then one of the squad will advance under PROTECTION OF COVER. This applies when there is cover lying around. The beginners will say they do it but I know you're probably not since it's hard to think of using cover while fighting with so many things running in your head. The squad will eventually reach another position with cover that allows them to shoot from the enemy's flank. When the opponent is left with 3 men, the squad will close in to attempt a full squad kill (squad wipe).

At this point you should consider be getting Battle Phase 1 for Leichte Mechanised Kompanie

Early Game Part 2

So by now, you should have a Leichte Mechanised Kompanie. The first thing you want to get if you were fighting M3A1 scout cars or you're fighting the US army is this.



You will need it to fight the US army M15A1 AA halftrack which is this



If not, you can get these guys instead



My standard is this though



With these guys you definitely want to use them to flank and fight at mid range or put them behind the grenadiere which should have the LMG42 right now. You can also use the simple tactic I taught you just now . For this case, grenadiere with LMG42 will draw fire while panzergrenadere will advance under cover and flank.

When do I put up the hospital if I'm gonna spend the ammo for the LMG42?

I tend to get the hospital bunker after my 1st LMG42. Remember to put the hospital between your own and your teammate's base in 2v2. Be a considerate person.

Using this I will hold off the early vehicles and go for either a Panzer IV or straight to a tiger.

Oh, and remember to use mines. Especially tellermines in the mid game when the first T-34 might roll out.

Mid Game

By now, you would probably want to get a Panzer IV unless most of the map was in your opponent's hands in the first place in which case you should probably just be going for a tiger.

So you probably have Battle Phase 2 and Support Armour Korps. If you are a bit defensive then you should get a StuG 3 Ausf. G while aggresive players will benefit more with the Panzer IV. Remember to send your Panzer IV with the panzergrenadiere which you hopefully still have and not dead from a previous fight or mine. You can bring a pak with them as well along with some grenadiere support. If you have a mortar you probably should bring them to shell any MG or AT gun to prevent massive casualties.

Late Game

By now this should be your army composition

Grenadiere x2/4 according to mode and your decision
HMG42 x1/2 according to mode and your decision
Mortar x1 mainly 2v2 but possibly 1v1 as well
Panzergrenadiere x1 (recommended)
Pak 40 x2 (necessary)
Panzer IV/StuG 3 Ausf. G x1/2(if you think it's good for the situation)

You should consider getting a tiger tank if your commander has access to it to cause more damage for your opponents. If you are fighting ISU152 then you should get an elefant instead. If you cannot get an elefant because you already chose a different commander like something with tiger then you should get Battle Phase 3 and go for the Heavy Panzer Korps. You will need a Panther to fight the ISU152 instead.

Fun fact:
The panther that has superior effective front armour in real life than the tiger is reflected in game with the tiger having an armour value of 300 while the panther has a value of 320.

With that aside we will enter the section on how to counter specific strategies from your enemy.

Countering Specific Strategies

Special Rifle Command (USSR)

You will probably face the M3A1 scout car. Early on, it will be troublesome to fight. The best tip I can offer is to play a bit more defensively and if you know where his M3A1 scout car will appear, make use of the TrueSight system and use tall objects to hide grenadiere to panzerfaust it. If possible use 2 panzerfaust on the scout car to kill it instantly. If not possible then hope for an MG42 team to be watching nearby to help kill the scout car after a single panzerfaust. To fight the sniper, I will skip the 2nd MG crew and 4th grenadiere squad to get a SdKfz 221 scout car quickly. Sometimes I will sacrifice the upgunned scout car which is now called the SdKfz 222 to kill the retreating sniper in his own base.

Support Weapon Kampaneya (USSR)

You will inevitably face the Maxim and ZIS combo. To counter this you need this guy.



Pretty simple but what if you meet a spam of this?


Maxim spam, the bane of my life.

For this case, I prefer going for this guy instead.


This man is your best friend in countering the Maxim spam. Trust me.

Maxim spammers will usually go to a ZIS spam after the maxim spam to stop the 222 scout car so a sniper will be better for the job.

What if I don't want to go for a sniper?

Then you do this


2 Mortars will perform very well

Warning: you have to micro your sniper a lot if you want him to be effective. A poorly microed sniper is as effective as a pioniere squad against a bunch of conscripts. If you're bad at micro, go for 2 mortars instead. A well microed sniper can cause a massive manpower bleed. My personal best with the sniper is 47 kills.

Against the M15A1 AA halftrack (US Army)



You should have a Pak 40 by now to counter it. If you don't have it then it will be a real problem. If you have a 222 scout car then you're gonna have to micro it to stay in front of the M15A1 AA halftrack even when it's turning. Very hard but if done successfully it's worth it. Here are your choices to counter this guy.

1. Pak 40 (hands down the single best way to counter the M15A1 AA halftrack)
2. Triple panzerfaust (If you're lucky enough that your opponent made a mistake or you ambushed him)
3. Vet 1 HMG42 AP incendiary
4. SdKfz 222 scout car

You should definitely get a Pak 40 AT gun in any case.

Against the early Stuart Light tank (US Army)



Again Pak 40 will be what you need. You only have 2 real choices against this guy

1. Pak 40 (recommended)
2. Triple panzerfaust (emergency)

Shock troops (USSR)



This is my favourite. Shock troops are so easy to counter for me. 2 HMG42 will usually kill them at a rapid rate. The real problem might start if the guy decides to get 3 shock troops when you're unprepared for it. For this a bunker MG42 or S-Mine will be useful. If they smoke your HMG's field of view, reposition them quickly further behind. Better players will obviously know what you're doing behind the smoke. A panzergrenadiere will come in handy as well. I find these 2 units form the best combo to fight shock troops.



HMG42 behind, panzergrenadiere in front. Should be possible to stop any form of shock troops attack if you have these 2. If not, get a bunker or S-Mine.

Guards (USSR)



Guards will deny you from using light vehicles like scout cars and halftracks aggresively unless he hides them in a corner somewhere. To fight these guys, I find that HMG42 with LMG42 grenadiere works very well. You can also get panzergrenadiere to help fight these guys.

Good luck with playing Ostheer and I hope this guide is helpful to you. PM me or leave a comment below for any questions and if you got any good tips I might edit in the new tip into the 1st post.

Remember, you got to go practise online against other players if you want to get better and be polite to your opponents. It's still a game not a real war. I don't think anybody wants the game's community to look worse than its current state.

"It's only game. Why you have to be mad?" - Ilya Bryzgalov

Good luck Hans . Have fun over there. You got a girl already? If not, get one there. You won't regret it.

Let's not derail this thread guys. The thread was about soviet and not volks/grens.

Dont forget about the Soviet Mortar and the ZIS gun.

Just for the lols if you want to kill a T70 with the PAK it has to stand around 3 sec in the arc. If you want to kill the luchs with a ZIS it has to stand around 9 sec in its arc. Assuming every shot hits the target

Compare the Mortars you get a 7.5 reloud to a 2.4 reloud.

I know Soviet support weapons are more durable but does it realy need such a difference in the dmg to compensate?

To kill t70 with pak you need around 5 seconds. Pretty short. To kill luchs you need 12-14 seconds. That is ridiculously long.

I think soviets are doomed to remain a weird faction that relies on HMG spam and sniper spam and stuff like that.

Peter Qumsieh stated in a stream recently that he feels conscripts are currently in a good place so any changes on that account are unlikely, at least I think.

Probably best to just wait for mods for a different take on the faction.

If I get around to it, and if they get around to making mod tools, I want to make a "CoH2: 1944" edition that just adjusts the game to center more around one particular year. So cons get replaced by some sort of soviet riflemen unit, T34-85 is non-doc, replace maxim with a normal HMG, make soviet tiers work like OH tiers, etc. Change up the commanders so that there are only 3-6 for each faction. Well, it's a dream at least.

Sdouns like a nice mod actually.