Profile of CieZ

M36 Jacksons are a 60 range, highly mobile, turreted tank destroyer that do 240 damage per shot (Jp4, Su85 only do 160). It out-ranges everything OKW have except for the Jagdtiger/Jp4 (but honestly you'll never be able to field a JT in a legit 1v1). It out-DPS's the Jp4 by a lot, and can self repair meaning you can easily "attrition" it off the field. They're also in the same tier as the normal Sherman and the M8A1, making them a lot more viable to field as compared to Su85s (which are utter trash in 1v1) and Panthers (too expensive to get to in 1v1).

I feel like I'm rambling, maybe putting it in list form will be better.

The M36 Jackson has 60 range. #Winning
It has a turret.
It does 240 damage per shot.
It is more mobile than any other TD (maybe the Panther is slightly more mobile? But we already know Panthers are terrible for their cost.)
It is located in a great place in terms of tech (unlike the SU85 and the Panther).
It can repair itself.

I just don't see how you can lose M36 Jacksons to anything other than a JT or Elefant - which never show up in 1v1s. Pak43 would be a big issue I guess (I do love me some PaK43s). You can out maneuver schrecks and AT guns, you out-range the P4, Stug, Ostwind, Puma, KT, Tiger, Panther, Bruumbar.

They're super mobile, unflankable tank killing machines that self repair and throw out 240 damage per shot... not really sure what else you could want from your TD. The health is somewhat irrelevant because you have so much mobility and repair power.

Yeah the USF At gun needs vet 1 to get 70 range but it has the best arc of fire and takes all of 1 or 2 shots at a medium tank (with a fast rate of fire) to achieve this. I still consider the PaK 40 to be the best AT gun in the game, but the USF 57mm is damn impressive for how cheap it is. Probably slightly worse than the ZiS but definitely better than the Raketen.

I've yet to see an OKW have a hard time fielding a panther unless they lose the early game terribly. I think personally most German players can't drive there tanks or use insufficient protection with them. Let me get about 4 easy 8's with 1 regular early sherman wich is easily done with my rifle commander pz4 don't stand a chance and either does a panther or king tiger or multiples of any if they can't drive them right or protect with shrek blobs. Panther is probably the best tank overall in the game so I don't see what people are talking about when its used right.

Funny.

The Panther is FAR from the best overall tank in the game.

First of all, it is a dedicated tank destroyer, so I'm not sure how you can classify it as an "overall" tank. The main gun of the Panther is absolutely worthless against infantry. Luckily you can mount on MG on it but it still essentially tickles infantry. The main problem with this scenario is even if you flank an AT gun, it is going to take your Panther about 3 minutes to actually de-crew it.

Secondly, the Panther costs an absurd amount for both Ostheer and OKW when you take into account the tech costs on top of a whopping 175 fuel. Sure a few other tanks cost more than 175 but they are all doctrinal - you can call them in without having to pay for extremely expensive tech. On top of that they're miles better than the Panther.

The Panther struggles against T34/76 and T34/85 because of its bad accuracy, and is absolutely helpless when those tanks are backed up by AT guns. If you want to counter T34s just get Stugs. They're cheap, they can actually kill infantry, they have more DPS than the Panther as well as an overpowered vet 1 ability - not to mention the fact that they vet faster and (assuming an even game) you will always have a numerical advantage. It's beyond awful against the M36 Jackson - which outranges it and has amazing mobility plus a whopping 240 damage a shot... Oh and the Jackson is CHEAPER, and the crew can repair the tank - meaning your Jackson is going to have about double the field time as a Panther.

The only unit the Panther is remotely good against is the SU85. Too bad that AT guns are better counters to SU85s, while being about 10x cheaper. Oh and the SU85 is awful anyways. So grats, your Panther gets to soft counter an already terrible tank.

Long story short - the Panther and the Su85 both really need some love. They're both essentially unusable in high level play.

I like not having the easy access to engine damage, it makes light vehicle play stronger and forces more combined arms since your infantry can't carry you straight to tanks. They really need to make the animations a bit more obvious though, maybe I'm just blind but I have such a hard time noticing the fusilier and rifleman at nades.

@Barton - this strat was meant to be an alternative to the Lt + M15. I agree that Lt + M15 is the best opener, but it also gets old doing it game after game after game. Plus everyone with some sense of balance knows that the M15 is, still, grossly overpowered and will be nerfed in the future - meaning exploring other builds now can be beneficial down the road - getting ahead of the meta so to speak.

@symbol - If the OKW player has 2-3 shrecked up Volks running around, or if they have 2 Raketens around it might be worth getting the M8A1 over the Sherman. In my experience the Sherman has more raw firepower (a lot of this comes from the mounted MG) and is really good at chasing around their elite infantry (Fallshirms/Obers). M8A1 is stronger if you need indirect fire - if they're playing very campy. Sherman HE shells are REALLY strong against garrisons, so keep that in mind as well.

Hey guys, been working on a new strat over the past few days. I wanted to find a viable strat that did not involve the M15 AA (we all know that thing is getting nerfed more soon). Additionally I wanted to capitalize on the fact that probably 95%+ of OKW players (including myself) always assume that an M15 is going to hit the field, and open with a Puma or 251 Flak. This build hard-counters the Puma opener as well as the 251 Flak opener, and is able to put a lot of mid-game MP bleed on the OKW with Paratroopers + Shermans.

General build order:
Rifle, Rifle, Rear Echelon(can be 3rd rifle instead), Ambulance, Pathfinders, Capt, AT Gun, Paratroopers/BARs (depending on CP/fuel/muni), Major, Sherman (or M8A1).

Pros:
*Completely hard counters mech HQ openers from OKW.
*Plenty of AT firepower (normally something USF lacks until Jacksons)
*Faster Sherman/M8 than a Lieut + M15 opener.
*Pathfinders/Paratroopers are awesome.

Cons:
*Not as much early brute force as an M15 - your infantry micro needs to be pretty solid.
*Weak against Ostheer - Captain doesn't give you much of anything helpful against MG42s, I would not recommend this build against Ostheer. You really need that M15 or M20 to push MGs off the map.
*Potentially weaker against healing truck openers. Capt is a great support unit, and really strong against light vehicles but simply lacks the firepower that comes with a Lieut. Furthermore his thompson spreads damage evenly over a squad (making a great combo with pathfinders) but this damage can be easily healed once the medics are out.