Profile of Gbpirate

Hi coh2.org members, I just wanted to take this time to write a bit about my USF strategies in competitive 1v1. Feel free to disagree and/or add constructive criticism below, or the typical "L2P noob" comments as well.

Let's start with the build order:

I have two starting build orders, one of which I (think I borrowed from an Imperial Dane cast) think can be useful.
1) RE, Rifle, Fuel Cache, Rifle, LT, M20.
-This build order allows you to start producing your M20 before the four minute mark, as well as get extra fuel income to speed teching; best of all, the fuel rate in the early game is worth more than the fuel rate in late game (kind of like money in a bank).
-This build order sacrifices some early game capping power (no 3rd rifle squad), but, depending on your opponent, could save you manpower (less mp drain due to 1 less squad, reflected in a higher mp income and no reinforcements).
2) RE, Rifle, Rifle, Rifle, LT, M20.
-Solid build order; provides good capping power early game. Potential for lots of anti-infantry power (BARs, m1919s).

Note:
-I always build RE first because of their low mp cost and quick deployment time; it allows more territory to be captured quicker.
-After getting my M20, I devote much of my munitions to M20 mines. Roads, crossroads, bridges; any well-traveled place is good for M20 mines. They can literally be game changing.


In the mid game, I change up my strats based on which faction I am fighting against, although doctrine choices generally remain the same.

OKW:
Ambulance, Captain, Grenades (AT gun)

-What this allows you to do is counter both the Med truck and the Mechanized truck. However, the Mechanized truck is the biggest danger, due to the high amount of infantry and lack of AT after ten minutes.
-With the OKW's lower fuel income plus your map dominance early game (or at least take a healthier portion of it), your captain comes out around the same time as the puma, hopefully later. The puma only has the ambulance and M20 to kill (but it can still tear up infantry), so three zooks (from M20 crew, Capt.) is usually enough to take it out, or at least chase it away (which isn't great, because it gains vet).
-Flak HT requires a 57mm, or some awesome combination of smoke, riflemen AT nades, and zooks to kill.
-Luchs is essentially in the same boat, although this will not appear with a mechanized HQ truck (unless if the OKW player really fucked up).
Note: If your opponent decided to go with the med truck, the captain tech is not needed; back-teching late game may be necessary for AT guns.

Wehracht:
Same mid game play when fighting OKW's T2 med truck; skip right to Major, but purchase grenades and an ambulance. (Unless you're fighting mechanized assault and facing Stug III Es; then get captain. an M20 will kill a Stug E).

Importance of the mid game:

This can make or break the 1v1 as a whole, or just continue on with the stalemate. Munitions are extremely important to this playstyle; it requires M20 mines and equip-able weapons. Therefore, it is imperative that both munition points are controlled, and/or a munitions cache is constructed. As always, fuel is important, but what's more important is killing enemy squads and causing a manpower shortage.

There principal way of causing this mp shortage is to get BARs or M1919s on your riflemen, and keeping them at mid-long range.

Against Wehrmacht, your biggest threats are Mechanized Assault, Elite Troops, and Spearhead doctrines. They can turn the mid game around rather easily if you are careless.

Against OKW, any doctrine with elite infantry can be dangerous; Panzer Fusiliers have increased sight and G43s are pretty swell; Fallschirmjagers can appear out of any fucking house, and Jaeger Infantry can do about the same thing. Beware.

As for doctrine choices, I prefer to stick with Infantry Doctrine or Airborne.

Airborne can be especially helpful if you want to either skip captain (AT gun drop) or if you went for the fast M20 (acts as your third rifle squad). Also, P47s destroy. The .50 cal is rather useless; it's available in the LT tier for the same cost, and with a crew. Pathfinders are pretty good, especially with double BARs and their extra sight. They can also help replace that rifle squad early game, although they are not nearly as powerful as a rifle or airborne squad.

Infantry doctrine can be great, especially if you've got a lot of munitions.
M1919s cost 70 mu each (ten more than BARs), but are damn worth the dps. The mortar half track can always be called in if you've got a high fuel income and a lot of volksgrenadiers camping at a medic truck. Sandbags are always useful, and the adorable little mines, when placed in groups, can wreck vehicles; use them in conjunction with M20 mines for a jolly good time. Time on Target costs a lot, but can help seal the deal on a wounded HQ truck, or an immobilized heavy vehicle. The Priest is really icing on the cake you only buy if you're going to win or if you just killed your opponent's first panther thirty seconds after it hit the field (in OKW's case).

Another viable option is recon support. The M8 Greyhound is the shining star in the doctrine; if you get one or two of them after your M20 without the intention of getting captain, you're pretty well set. If you're lucky, you will wipe squads and your opponent will rage quit. If you're unlucky, the puma kills your M8s and M20 and you struggle on.

The late game:
The late game is such a broad, random area. Jacksons are good, keeping your vetted infantry alive is good, using your double or triple vet M20 to scout is good. Be smart. Try not to lose squads.


Thanks for reading guys.

So much helpfulness! Thanks all.
It seems most of the strange crits are ability specific... not sure why it's coded like that, but eh, that's no big deal.

I am interested in playing in the 1v1 tournament.
Rawr!

From my experience in battle and form reading this thread and other threads on coh2.org, I have come to the following conclusions:
Ostheer have the weakest opening in 1v1s. The ubiquity of a USF player's access to smoke negates the effectiveness of the MG42, thus leaving the Grens helpless manpower bleeders.
The fast M20 allows a USF player to solidify their map control and/or cut off an OST player's resources.
The Ostheer player relies on munitions early and mid game to defend against light vehicles.
The USF have no way of effectively dealing with hordes of heavy armor.
The Soviet call-in meta is extremely powerful.
No fuel or tech requirements for call-ins mean they can be procured relatively fast and easily replaced (in terms of fuel)
The way the infantry function for the Soviets reinforces the call-in meta; more CP experience is gained when squads/models are killed

CPs: I once played a 4v4 with some friends and, after annihilating blobs of infantry from all four players - with significant losses to our own forces, preventing us from exploiting their weak strength - The USF players had enough CPs for P47s. I had 8 CPs when the P47s came... they require 12 CPs. I don't think they could all build enough caches to get 12ish CPs when I and my allies had around 8.

I don't play as OKW very often, but, when fighting as them, I have noticed a huge surplus of manpower after 1-2 Sturmpios, 3-4 volks, and maybe one or two Fusiliers or Falls.
When fighting against OKW, Obersoldaten are deadly to anything. Volks with Shrecks covering for them make everything even more painful.

I think it's charged per sector? So, 15 muni per sector placed. But you need 60 muni to begin construction of even one sector. You can order your pio to stop building after the sectors you want are done, or use objects to block certain sectors from being produced.
It can be easily spammable in cramped areas if you're placing 1-2 sectors at a time.