snip
-You don't need to pin a troop to make it combat ineffective.
-First case, you just need to suppress them both. If they throw smoke you have to move back. If 2 rifles aproach from different directions and your MG is alone, it's deserved to be pushed. Yellow cover is bad for MG cause they make them bunch up. Green cover (with the next patch) or nothing is better.
-You don't wait till you hear grenade! This applies to all MGs.
-For your second case, i beg to see a replay as i failed to see how double interlapping MG42 can't stop a blob (i guess 4-5 rifles). Smoke was used? On me! by a Cpt ?
OP: hotkeys + automatize actions. Anything that reduce your attention and frees you APM will be good.
1-If you don't use control groups, start by using 2 or 3 and then slowly add up. You want to mantain certain personal order on what number has what kind of troops. This will help you with the control and positioning of your army, as you don't need to scroll to the unit itself in order to give an order.
2-Utilize hotkeys all the time. You shouldn't be clicking the icons on the lower right bar. USE GRID HOTKEY. Similar abilities tend to be in the same places, so it's "easy" to access to them between units and factions. This is the difference between a dead tank and one which escapes using smoke/blitz.
3-Shift command orders. Specially useful for artillery. Shift + Barrage + click to go behind your lines.