Profile of Corp.Shephard

Let me give you some advice on Lieutenant play as well.

It sounds like you've stumbled upon something similar yourself over time but I base mine off of my Recon Support Guide.

The thing is Recon Support as a doctrine is underwhelming. You really have to squeeze value out of the Greyhound to get anything out of it and the Greyhound is just okay.

These days I have been playing Rifle Company and Airborne Company instead.

My basic LT build:

• Riflemen
  
• Riflemen
  
• Rear Echelon and Fuel Cache or Veteran Riflemen (Airborne vs Rifle Company)
  
• Lieutenant
  
• .50 Cal HMG
  
• Ambulance
  
• Bazooka Research
  
• Either Rear Echelon Squad or LMG Paratrooper squad (Rifle vs Airborne)
  
• Major
  
• M8A1
  
• Sometimes a second HMG
  
• M8A1
  
• Spam 'Easy Eights' or Sherman + Jackson if Airborne.
  

That's a little confusing because it has two Companies baked into it but the basic idea is this.

Early game your Rear Echelons provide solid light AT. Your LT, .50 Caliber HMG and Paratroopers/Veteran Riflemen provides good anti-infantry. Your Riflemen can help with either task.

You spend ~65 fuel before you get your Major so your M8A1s come out extremely early; it's not uncommon to get them before the 11th minute. This is really good timing as the M8A1 direct fire is just sort of overpowered. Screen the enemy lines with infantry and then let the M8A1 turn each fight. The speed of your M8A1 means that the enemy has no chance of really having anything other than a Puma out. That's fine though. Your Rear Echelon squads should stick to the M8A1 like glue and scare away tank hunter predators and keep it healthy.

The key to fighting blobs is the .50 Caliber HMG and the M8A1. .50 Caliber is a monster even with the "nerf" it got when they fixed that bug. It suppresses, it slices, it dices. It's quite fragile though so keep your LT and Paratroopers near it so they can leverage their high damage weapons to protect it from flanks.

I like to grab a second M8A1. Many enemies see armored units and say "shit, we need a Pak40". With two M8A1s though you can easily punish blobs and support weapons alike. This can feel dangerous though because Axis armor is scary! However Bazookas are often underestimated. You can always grab more Bazookas. Sometimes it's wise to grab them on your Riflemen too.

Your late game strategy will diverge depending on your doctrine.

I have just been experimenting with Rifle Company and I've been pleased. The 'Easy Eight' remains super strong. That being said if you're particularly afraid of heavy armor then go Airborne. Late game you can store munitions for the P-47. It's such a good anti-tank call-in that it makes the doctrine. The key is to throw down the strafing run when he commits with his tanks. The P-47 will do the most damage then. Airborne also has air-dropped AT guns so you can shore up the defense of your M8A1s if you feel uncomfortable.

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  14

  VS

  Corp.Shephard cohbros/ Ohme

  Dr.destynova Sagwa

  Big Boys 2v2 - Top 2v2 Players

  by: Ohme map: Semoskiy Winter

  18

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Here's a replay of the Airborne side of things in action. I make mistakes but you can basically see that if you keep your rushed M8A1s alive they will win you the game against the blobs. Note how well the M8A1s crush enemy trucks when you get 2-3 of them. Going on the aggressive and knocking out the enemy's field position before they get heavy armor can really help.

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  0

  VS

  Corp.Shephard Votzenhorst

  I Feel Pretty / /( . Y . )\ \

  Rifle Company LT Build

  by: Corp.Shephard map: Vaux Farmlands

  2

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Here's a Rifle Company version. This game is more "pristine": I feel like I made the right choices and kept on top of my micro fairy well. It's x2 USF vs x2 OKW but there's plenty of infantry blobs so you can see how well they get handled. It was my first attempt at the Rife Company version of this build I am pretty pleased with it.

I don't get the Fuel Cache early with Rifle Company (which sort of slows down the M8A1s) but you can see that the three Rifles + Vet means that with good micro and decision making you can win any fight early.

... this game made me think "Yeah, wow, M8A1s are OP".

A replay would be good.

I would actually suggest the opposite of Hans advice for the vast majority of maps.

The Allies have the edge in the early game. The burden of early game teamwork tends to be on the Axis in my opinion. Riflemen beat other infantry 1v1. Contest as many resources as you possibly can in the first few minutes.

There are exceptions of course.
Semosisky:
Team up on the middle initially and use the buildings to claim good fights. Riflemen are silly good when garrisoned and the Axis will struggle to push them out. Take the first battles by exploiting garrisons and then expand your resources from there. Always keep some infantry in the town to keep the enemy bottled up.
Minsk Pocket:
The unique fuel situation requires a unique response generally. You don't want to both blob up in the middle as one MG shuts you down. Instead try to fill all three "lanes" of Minsk with troops and advance to their fuel from all sides. Have a Rear Echelon squad clean up map control behind you.

These are the two that spring to mind immediately.

I've actually been doing a similar strategy to your own lately. Maybe I can whip up some commentary over my game in the hopes that you might see a different way of doing things.

edit: Sadly I cannot seem to get my OBS to work right now.

Not all trucks have the same hit points.

The Flak Truck has less health than the Medical and Repair trucks for instance.

The map that you are playing on can make a huge difference for your strategy. I would cater your commander choice around the map most of the time.

"In Before the Blitz" is pretty good on open maps where the Stuart has more room to operate in. The P-47 Strafing Run can struggle on maps with large buildings because it will hit the buildings instead of tanks. Pathfinders naturally work a little bit better on open where their large sight range pays off and they can keep enemies at long range easier.

Rifle Company can succeed in urban fights a bit more. You get access to flamethrowers which can help with mid-game garrision clearing. M20 Utility Car is not better in urban fights but its mines are easier to plant when enemies have to come down roads and alleyways. The Pack Howitzer is really good in an urban fight (just look at the game above where the enemy is cramped in the streets and taking constant barrage fire). Finally the superior armor of the Sherman 'Easy Eight' allows it to enter dangerous urban areas without getting smashed by Panzershcrecks and other AT weapons that excel in those areas.

Making the right selection for the map can really pay off. I lost a match on Rzhev a little while ago because I went Rifle Company. The chokepoints and ice stopped my 'Easy Eights' from really doing any good. The wide open map made my choice to skip a Major painful: no forward retreat point. My Pack Howitzers were torn apart by Walking Stukas so I couldn't fight the long-range battle.

Had I played Airborne I could have gotten my indirect fire from M8A1s and bombarded the enemy easier and safer. Their heavy armor would have died to the P-47 far easier. My infantry would have excelled in the open terrain because I would have had long range specialists like LMG Paratroopers and Pathfinders.

You can get one of these out almost gamebreakingly early if you really go for it.

I get one out in 10-11 minutes in this replay.

My opinion mirrors Cruzz's opinion to a degree. It's an incredible piece of light armor that offers good fire support when used just out of range of the enemy and using its direct fire.

It's probably a little too strong as a direct unit.

For indirect fire it's pretty iffy. Long barrage cooldown. Bad splash for the travel time of indirect fire. Utterly garbage range! What use is an indirect fire unit that cannot counter Pak40s? The Pak40 has the same range as the M8A1 and two-shots it.

Heaven forbid they get a Pak43 or Jagdtiger which outrange the M8A1. This unit's range is so terrible that it cannot even function as a counter to the Pak43. An artillery unit can't defeat a static emplacement without flanking! The M8A1's normal range is 60. Barrage range is 80. That's the same as the Pak43 and 5 shorter than a Jagdtiger. A pitiful state of affairs.

Its fragility is a huge issue as well. 240 health means that Jagdtigers, Elefants, King Tigers and Pak43s will one-shot the M8A1. No mistakes allowed. It's very brutal.