On the mid to lower level encirclement doctrine is in my opinion absolutely valid. You essentially play Ostheer without a doctrine until you reach 12 CP (which will teach you a thing or two as well). Then you unleash the beast.
You should not abandon the doctrine, because it is so so so much fun when it works. Players are not used to see it. They get completely caught off guard. I just bought the commander recently after I saw Stormless using it and in several games close the pocket sealed the deal. It was especially hilarious because I was able to use it against cancer brits players twice. EVERYTHING gets leveled.
Higher up it may not be valid. But down here where I am it works and god is it fun when the enemy gets hit by gods wrath. Play for fun. Just my two cents.
Don't forget to use the Stormtroopers though. With StG44s and Tactical Advance, Stormtroopers are a beast! Don't play without a doctrine (Especially if your commander choice has Stormtroopers). And to restate my old statement, actually it's not that hard to get 200 MU in the match as Ostheer. You will at least get 1 chance to use the Close the Pocket (I got to use it twice, but just lucky I guess), but trust me, when you know where they are, it's just so satisfy. |
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First time using it in 2v2... Double time calling in Close the Pocket in that match ... But damn that thing is strong!! ... Praise it, man! Praise it!!
EDIT: Oh yeah, and the Stormtroopers too! Praise them with the glorious Tactical Advance! Plenty squad wipes, plenty of times holding them back (1 squad got 39 kills... feels good man) |
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So I have seen 2 types of people when it comes to using Stormtroopers:
1. They use it so perfectly, so good. Achieving squad wipes, being the most AI assess and make Allies suffer whenever they don't pay attention to their units.
And then 2. They throw the squad to die in many worst ways as possible, achieve literally nothing beside from wasting 340 MP and 100 MU (or 75 MU).
Now since I have both Encirclement Doctrine and Elite Troop Doctrine which both provide Stormtroopers, I'm wondering when and how should I use them? What kind of maps would suit them most? How should I use them so I can take advantage of their strengths?
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We all complained about how ridiculously powerful the duel-M1919-equipped Rifleman blobs can get, and here we are, telling players new to USF to do the exact same thing we all despise. We create our demons, didn't we? (No offense to EYFYHS)
Anyways, back to the topic: They're right. Since you play 3v3+, it won't be that hard to get 3 Vet 3 Rifleman squads with duel-equipped M1919s and just steam roll any Axis infantry squads. |
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The only thing I would suggest is that be extremely aggressive early game as Axis. And by aggressive , I mean "throwing everything you have early game at them and pray you wipe a squad or take down USF mortar and manage to hold most of the map for a certain amount of time" kind of aggression. That's the only way to win the Allies right now! Basically we are literally Germans doing the Blitzkrieg tactic here! Through my experience, the longer the game lasts, the higher chance you gonna lose. Allies stuffs (USF/UKF) got stronger by minutes and they get very strong when they manage to get a tank + duel-equipped weapons (Not Soviet though, and I think the only balance match-up now is still Sov-Ost, the others are just bad!).
If you play Ostheer, I think the Ostruppen Doctrine would help a lot since you don't have to worry too much about MP bleed (6-man durable squad with 16 MP/model needed to reinforce). 3 Ostruppens + 2 Panzergrens would ensure your foothold against Allies infantries (I see high level players do this, but haven't try out on my own since I don't have the Ostruppen Doctrine). |
Ostheer repairs more slowly than Sturmpioniere without the upgrade, how the fuck does that faction manage to survive?
Uhm... they don't 
Most Ostheer players get 2 Pioneers since they only cost 200 MP each (100 MP less than Sturmpioneer) and Pioneer only have to worry about building/fixing stuff and occasionally deal with occupied building with flamethrower. They don't have to fulfill the extra role of being mobile AT unit (Ostheer got Panzergrenadiers) and they are not really that good of a combat unit.
Sturmpioneer right now is carrying to many roles. This needs to get a look at, but adding an entire new unit to fulfill the mobile AT role would be the last solution, consider the fact that Relic literally leave us now |
the main guestion is u wanna pick this doc instead of which doctrines? and why?
lightning doc,mobile defnse,jaeger armo,mech...
That's the thing! This commander only 1 very good utility is the "Close the pocket" while other abilities' purposes are to help you utilize this almighty strike. Meanwhile, other commanders can give you many good utilities across the length of the map, can still give you good off-map abilities and some can even give you utilities that act as crutches in case you fall behind. It's like choosing either only punch your enemy once extreme hard at the end of a boxing match or punch him mutiple times (like all boxers) so he don't have time to react or rest.
Even though, it's hard to deny how powerful this ability is. Yeah you would say they will retreat when the "Close the pocket" is activate. However, considered the fact that 85% of players who play team games don't even use the minimap anyways. Add to this, many just blob and retreat, rinse and repeat while eating ice-cream and literally play with one hand, it would not be surprise if you witness at least 1 entire USF blob die when the ability is activate. Then again, it depends on can you survive until the ability can be used. |
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Grenadier (Being the best versatile unit before the WFA that can provide good AI power and can stall armours with faust) and the Sturm Offizier (The aura is quite good but the Mark Target, if use properly, is a beast).
I really like to try how a Sturm Offizier works around 2 - 3 Grenadiers, but sadly, they are from different factions. |
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To all players out there, both Ost and OKW, please just don't go Arty in 2v2. It could work, yeah, but for the love of god, without tanks and infantries, you will die and cost your teammate and yourself the game, like the OKW dude in this game. |
Stormless already wrote a guide about how to use Encirclement Doctrine in the Ostheer guide section: https://www.coh2.org/guides/36516/stormless-s-encirclement-guide . He did mention 3 2v2 maps that suit the tactic but honestly, in my humble opinion, to actually pull off the almighty "close the pocket" would require you to have an enormous amount of MU. This commander is so heavily MU dependent that i'm afraid in 2v2, without fuel caches, Allies armour would steam roll you before you even have enough MU to use the commander to his upmost (You can save a crap load of MU by not upgrading any troops but in 2v2, that would basically mean suicide).
It could work in 2v2 though (I just got the commander through loot crate, haven't try it out) , but you'll rely heavily on your teammate to help you out until that one specific moment where you can destroy everything. In 1v1, just no. I don't play 1v1, but from what I saw, no one really go this for the "Close the pocket", probably just for Stormtroopers like you said along with the Sprint (The commander was meant to be use in team games anyways) |
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