1.
a) Grenadiers are your main tool to use early game. Vs conscripts in equal numbers they come on top if you know how to use them (exception is hit the dirt). They are the best unit to take you to mid game in terms of mobility fighting power relative to manpower initial cost and reinforce price. Also you'll be able to respond to whatever your opponent is throwing at you.
b) Never get an mg 42 very early. You need to keep at leas 2 gren squads to protect it one to scout in front , the other one to scout flanks. Never keep your mg42 set up if he's not close to an engagement and make it a part of a roaming party. You can even dodge molotovs if you control properly and have scouting units protecting it. You should not lose mg to m3 + flames. You can hear the sound of the motor from m3, and you can make a quick call: if you think you can hold the line , do it carefully otherwise just retreat.
c) no comment here. it's just bad
d) german snipers are good late game. early game it has no use. stay off the traveled routes, there are lots of forests and other objects you can use as cover to scout enemy position. Keep him far enough from your main army so it will not get hit by katy or any other kind of arty. You'll feel the power of the german sniper when fighting high vet troops.
2. No point in wasting more time on this, my brain hurts (this screams for a rework)
3. First of all you don't need to over invest munitions in gren squads just so you can "beat" conscripts earlygame, you just need to hold your ground. You need to use the grens to soak damage from the enemy and flank with PG (DO NOT EVER LEAD THE CHARGE WITH PG SQUADS- they are too important to lose them early, and just sacrificing them will create a big whole in your manpower as they take 45 per man to reinforce). Shreks are awesome, if the squad is at least vet 2, and again you use them to flank vehicles. Also don't just train pg blindly. Use them only if you need them. And that is versus basic conscripts openings (2+). Useless vs sniper + m3 etc.
4.
a)+b)+c) Never go Ostwind as your first vehicle. You don't need Shreks to deal with rus armor. What you need to be doing is hold at least an equal number of fuel points as the enemy. This means the first 10-12 minutes. If you see early t70 it's just great, it means no t4 and will probably be followed up by a t34 or more. Now you know what's coming, you can prepare yourself. Your p4 will arrive 2-3 minutes after t70 an before his t34 comes to play. Use it wisely, if he's dead before the 2nd one is out you're dead anyways.
d) Don't upgrade sc unless you see shock troops. Even if you can keep it safe from at nades, guards will murder it.
e) Paks come in play if you're fighting t34s. keep it relatively close to your p4s. It's crucial after you get 2 p4 to have a pack when fighting similar numbers of t34s. If he's able to outnumber you he'll be more aggressive and will try to ram you. Try to faust if you can, Engine damage = no ram. Keep the p4 with vet 1 in front, ready to blitz and retreat(btw you don't want to be standing still, always use move in reverse). If he sees you reversing he will most likely push, if you lure him into a position where you can flank him with the pack and 1 squad of grens for a faust you'll see the result.
You make very good points, but remember when we play coh2 we go to war. War is not fun, it's putting your abilities to command your armies at test. Clever use of tactics, setting up traps, flanking, etc. will require a lot of imagination and creativity. First it's a moral battle with yourself.
For example:
If you see a sniper inside a m3 and you can only think
you're going to lose a lot of men trying to get rid of it and will probably cost you the game, you should also be thinking about:
1. sniper + scout car= 640 manpower (counting the cost for rifle building w/e it's called)
640 manpower = almost 3 conscript squads
2. he needs to use it in combination with other conscripts and guards/shock troops to keep the scout car alive enough for that combo to pay for it's investment
3.You can't win straight on engagements but he can't be everywhere at once, harass different points on the map, you need to keep him on the move and avoid combat until you get to t3 (if you skip t2 you'll have p4 before he can get t34 considering you're not investing any fuel in ht/sc).
here's an example:
http://www.coh2.org/replays/4280/fighting-against-the-sniper-inside-a-scoutcar
I had a lot of mistakes just because he was picking away at my forces and the fact that it was impossible to deal with the sniper car. It's exhausting demoralizing and full of frustrations, just like a real war.