Because of a certain streamer, I see Advanced Emplacements being used much more frequently in 1v1 automatch. I doubted its effectiveness at first, but it can actually be very strong if executed well, especially on maps where a single Bofors can cover 1 VP and 1 Fuel or 2 VP's. Langreskaya and Angoville are good examples of this. The Advanced Emplacement build this guide is meant for typically combines atleast 1 Bofors, a Mortar Pit and Forward Repair Assembly with trench spam, a Vickers and an AT gun wall, followed up with tanks. You can identify your opponent going Sim City early on if you pay attention to the following red flags:
- The enemy has the Advanced Emplacements doctrine.
- The enemy has emplacement bulletins.
- The map you're playing on works well with Sim City.
- Your opponent isn't pushing as hard as he can.
- He keeps his main force around the center.
- There's no AEC on the field around the 6-7 minute mark.
- You feel you have more units on the field than your opponent.
- You see Tommies making trenches in suspicious areas than could later be covered by a Bofors.
This guide focuses on OKW, which has a harder time dealing with emplacements and trenches, because of the lack of reliable tools like snipers, flame units, 60 range AT-guns and reinforce halftracks, among other things. The guide is mostly meant for 1v1. When well-executed, it should counter Advanced Emplacements when up against a lower or equally skilled player, while giving a fighting chance against higher skilled opponents.
Basic army composition
1 Sturmpio. Optionally upgrade them with a shreck, this saves manpower instead of going for another Raketen. Sim City players don't tend to build mines early on, because they need to spend their munitions on fortifying the emplacements and buying slot weapons to maximize their defense. Get them in a nearby garrison or trench once the Bofors braces, to help kill it. Can help harassing the flanks if you prefer not upgrading the Schreck.
3 Volks. You only get 3, because they don't trade well with units in trenches and have to waste munitions on flame nades. Save your resources until you get 1 CP for Jaegers. Use the Volks to harrass the flanks, recrew team weapons and throw flame nades when needed. Don't prioritize STG's over G43's, flame nades or Goliaths.
2-3+ Raketens. Get these as soon as you see an emplacement being set up. 2+ Raketens combined with 1+ Jaegers for sight is a really effective combination to deal with emplacements. Place them manually to stay out of the (attack ground) range of the Bofors. They will slightly outrange it. A good guideline is having the third arrow of the arc touch the 40mm gun inside the emplacement. Reposition them immediately if the enemy uses the suppressive barrage on the Bofors, which has a long cooldown. They can also be used to destroy trenches, but make sure they are ungarrisoned, because they have very low accuracy against garrisoned trenches.
2-3 Light Jaegers. Can scout for the Raketens because of their long sight range and trade somewhat favorably with Tommies in trenches if you soften them up with a LEIG and/or use FTFL.
1 HMG. Get an MG if you think your opponent might counterattack your Raketens. Use it conservatively at first, then place it more aggressively after the biggest threats are down or forced away, to solidify your advantage.
1 LEIG. Put it on hold fire and use the barrage ability to soften up enemy units in trenches. This way the Jaegers can easily take them out with their crit bonus. Always give a shift-move command to avoid the counterbarrage and mortars your opponent might use against it. You can use the smoke barrage to counter the Vickers. The Leig can also work as spotting unit if you tell it to attack ground an emplacement. Every time a Leig shot hits, the emplacement gets revealed through the fog of war, allowing your Raketens to shoot on it without requiring attack ground. Note that the Leig is not good as main damage source, because repair automatrons will nullify its low dps. I strongly prefer multiple Raketens over multiple LEIG's when facing emplacements, which can't be counterbatteried and can counter any tank follow-up.
Schwerer The Panther is great against any tank the British can field. It can survive almost any engagement with superior armor, HP and speed. In addition, it can serve as screening vehicle for your pak wall. The JP4 can also work if you favor a more cautious approach of taking shots at a distance. The P4 doesn't really cut it as a breakthrough tank against Sim City and gets countered by the Firefly/Comet/Churchill, only get it if you softened up your opponent's defenses. You don't really want Obers, because Jaegers are more efficient against Tommies in green cover. If your opponent is really going hard on the AT, stall for a King Tiger which can soak all that damage up.
Overwatch doctrine abilities (early-late game counter).
I feel this is the superior doctrine against Sim City throughout the match. Jaegers solve both the sight problem and the trench problem. Scavenge could also work as Jaeger doctrine, but the infiltration nades, Ostwind and howi are generally less useful than the abilities on Overwatch.
Goliath. Instakills any non-braced emplacement and does great damage to braced emplacements (40% to 80%). Bait a brace on the Bofors, then advance the Goliath with the cover of smoke from the LEIG. Often the enemy has no way to react outside of attack grounding with PIAT's or AT guns, which are unlikely to hit. It's worth the risk if you're able to pull it off.
For the Fatherland. Reduces received accuracy by 35% in friendly territory. Great when fighting against trenches near the frontline or when defending. Improves your numerical advantage even further.
LeFH. IMO unreliable because of counterbarrage and precision barrage. It's better to get a second LEIG if you need more indirect.
Sector Assault. Great ability that forces the enemy to spread out or risk losing everything.
Alternative doctrines
Feuerstorm (early game counter). Probably the second-best doctrine to fight Sim City. Requires a different, riskier approach compared to Jaegers. Upgrade a few Volks with MP40's to throw smoke nades on trenches, then attack ground the trenches with flamer Sturms to force the enemy out and take them for yourself. Use the LEIG incendiary barrage on trenches and emplacements. The reinforcing halftrack is an option. The flame Hetzer is probably OKW's strongest unit against trenches (destroys them in 2 bursts). The off-map Stuka barrage is decent. Mind that you need an alternative way to scout if you want to use the Raketens effectively, so use a cloaked raketen, Kubel or maybe a Puma (if you go Opel Blitz with T2) to scout.
Fortifications (late game counter). The safest, most hassle-free way of dealing with Sim City. Avoid attacking the Sim City until you unlock zeroing arty, which will kill everything in its circle. Mind that you need an Infrared Halftrack or other unit to spot for zeroing arty. Your opponent will most likely avoid going Advanced Emplacements if he sees this commander in your loadout, simply because of this ability. The PAK43 can help sniping the emplacements/tanks, altho it's easily countered by arty flares or the precision barrage off-map. S-mines, flaks and bunkers can protect your territory that's outside of mortar range.
Elite armor (mid-late game counter). Sim City players are generally passive, so get a 223 on your fuel point to farm extra fuel. Avoid attacking the Sim City like with Fortifications, rush to tanks and give them Panzer Commanders to obliterate the Sim City with armor superiority and multiple 80 muni arty strikes. HEAT shells will make your tanks even stronger against enemy emplacements and tanks. Emergency repairs further increase your vehicle pressure. I don't recommend the Sturmtiger.
Other doctrines. IMO not as effective as aforementioned doctrines, but could work well in team games or if it fits your particular playstyle. You could use Breakthrough for Pfussie flares, force retreat squads/HMG with sturmoffizier, the assault artillery (mediocre against Sim City) and the late-great Jagdtiger (almost uncounterable with Advanced Emplacements). Spec Ops has off-map flares and Command Panther, which can be useful, and anti-cover STG's for Obers. The infiltration nades also do decent damage against emplacements. Luftwaffe is arguably the worst option and doesn't offer much against emplacements, outside of smoke bombs and Valiant Assault.
Tips
Harass the flanks. Because of the emplacements, your opponent has less squads on the field than you, so he can barely miss any if you're pressuring the center in the meantime. Make sure your retreat path is not covered by the Bofors.
Go for the Forward Assembly('s) if you can. This is the most expensive manpower building the enemy has (400 mp) and by far the easiest to destroy, taking just 3 AT gun shots. Destroying it will indirectly weaken all the other emplacements and reduce the staying power of his infantry. Try to flank with tanks or Raketens to take it down. 2-3 LEIG barrages can also finish the job.
Use the trenches against the enemy. These, covered by the Bofors/mortars, will probably be your greatest obstacle and are huge force multipliers for the enemy, so getting your own squads in it will greatly reduce the defensive strength of the enemy. The Bofors is weak against trenches (needs about 3 magazines to destroy one), so prioritize getting a Sturmpioneer with Shrecks in it if there's an opportunity. Once the area is safe, get an HMG in. Sim City players can't deal with an HMG outside of their emplacements or a flame carrier.
Place the T1 Med Truck nearby. You need a way to deal constant pressure, so being able to reinforce on the field will help greatly. The Sim City player has a Forward Assembly and medkits to replenish, so you would be at a big disadvantage if you can't replenish yourself. Place it somewhere safe where observation Tommies (60 sight) can't see it. T1 is also required for getting the LEIG and saves muni on healing. You could also get a Flak HT for defensive use, altho I'd advise getting an extra HMG instead, to avoid slowing down tank production. The role of the Infrared Halftrack is mostly covered by the Jaegers, but remains an option.
I'm not a fan of T2 against Sim City. The Puma only has little wiggle room to damage the Bofors if the enemy has an AT gun nearby. The Stuka Zu Fuss barely makes a dent against emplacements (altho it can bait a brace and deal with the Vickers and AT gun wall). The Luchs is only useful on the flanks.
Play smart.
- Only attack when you have numerical superiority and are confident to take out the emplacement in a single attack. Reckless aggressiveness with too few units will be punished by the Bofors and the mortars.
- You want to be able to retake a Raketen if it dies, so keep some healthy squads in the vicinity (not too close, wait for the mortar barrage to end if you can).
- Scout for the Raketens instead of using attack ground, this will be much more effective so mortars aren't able to do much damage against them.
- Stop enemy counterattacks by most of your forces and an HMG near your Raketens.
- Flank the emplacements if there's the possibility, head-on attacks will bleed you out. If you have to attack head-on, then spread out to reduce the effectiveness of the emplacements.
- Keep moving around with your team weapons.
- Be extremely careful around the Bofors. Lone squads get annihiliated instantly by it. Don't forget your opponent can use attack ground to nullify smoke and shot blockers.
- Avoid losing unnecessary manpower. Only attack trenches if you have a numerical advantage or can throw an incendiary grenade on it.
If all else fails: baserush
Altho an equally or higher skilled player will likely be prepared for a baserush, a Sim City player has a large amount of pop cap locked up in emplacements. Your army will probably be bigger than his and win in a straight-up engagement. Destroy the MG bunkers with tanks/Raketens and rush your army in. Make sure to keep some units behind to avoid wipes on the retreat. The British base is arguably the easiest to destroy. Target either the Platoon Command post or Company Command post first to stop the enemy from making additional PIAT Sappers and AT guns or tanks. Be aware of mines and your enemy abusing ghost trenches to prevent your vehicle from pathing out of the base. If the enemy has a 17 Pounder, he probably made sure it covers his base as well.
Additional resources
While outdated, Hans' Tip of the Week video on this topic has many useful ideas in it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkVxsYNab0s
https://www.coh2.org/topic/84986/brit-cancer-emplacements-regiment/page/3#post_id718097
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