Company of Heroes

Cost: 2 CP, 375 MP (upon call-in)
Recharge: 30 Seconds

Ability Description: When activated this will bring a squad of Stormtrooper infantry from an off-map point. Stormtroopers are similar to Grenadiers but have more health, take up more population cap, have higher upkeep cost, and take longer to reinforce. The trade off is that Stormtroopers come with the amazing ability to cloak themselves just like snipers and that is what makes them such a great assault unit.

Stormtroopers also have an option to upgrade themselves with Panzerschrecks or with Sturmgewehr44 assault rifles. Each cost 75 munitions and give you one weapon upgrade per purchase (with a max of 2 per squad). However, to get access to those upgardes you need to have Tier 2 for Panzerschrecks and Tier 3 researched to have access for StG44s. In addition, the Tier 3 tech provides all Stormtrooper squads with the bundled nade ability.



Precise Use of Weapons

• Panzerschrecks - These anti-vehicle weapons tend to miss often at long range so you should try to get as close as you can to an enemy vehicle or tank while cloaked before unleashing a volley. Usually having double-panzerschrecks on a single grenadier squad isn't recommended, especially because that increases the drop rate of the weapon, but with Stormtroopers it might be a good solution. This is because when attacking with two separate Stormtrooper squads both having one panzerschreck it will be more difficult to handle as the troops are more spread out. They will be easier to detect and it will also be harder to get both those squads close enough to same target. A single Storms squad with double-panzerschrecks works wonders versus British emplacements and is more efficient than spreading out the upgrades.
  
• Sturmgewehr44 - The StG44 is a great anti-infantry weapon at close range so you should use them with same principle as panzerschrecks: get as close to enemy infantry as you can. Having only one StG44 is usually enough to stand against flamers and even BARed rifles when properly used, but know that against Rangers with Thompson-rifles, they are going to lose. StG44s are great versus units with limited anti-infantry, like paratroopers. A unit with double StG44-package can kill huge masses of paratroopers, British tommy squads, or unupgraded riflemen. Still, even if the squad has double StG44s, you'll have to buy veterancy level 2 against a heavy anti-infantry unit like commandos.
  
• Bundled Grenade - Using a bundled nade costs 50 munitions and that isn't an amount of munitions you want to go for a waste. As usual, you should try to get close to enemy cloaked and get him off-guard by throwing a bundled nade right in the middle of his infantry. He'll never see it coming! Bundled grenades usually annihilates all men within the immediate radius of the blast. This is great against players who bunch up their infantry together.
  
  How to Use & Not Use Stormtroopers
  
• Stormtroopers best ability is to sneak behind enemy lines by cloaking. While doing this, make sure you don't accidentally get too close to enemy units, this will reveal your squad. They will get focused fired on very fast, forcing you to retreat, and then you'll have to wait a quite long time reinforcing them.
  
• Usually Stormtroopers without any weapon upgrades don't make a good assault unit. Use vanilla Stormtroopers in cover on long range battles if you don't have any weapon upgrades or munitions for bundled nades. Another thing you can do is to cap some territory with these unupgraded Storms as they come with the same increased capping rate value as grenadiers and riflemen (1.5x rate). Using an upgraded Storms squad for this purpose is not recommended however. They'll be vulnerable to draw enemy artillery and the squad may die in a single artillery shell in the blink of an eye if you aren't watching. This will be well worth it for your opponent considering the amount of resources you would of invested into those upgrades.
  
• Usually Stormtroopers work the best with T3 or T4 teching because those tiers lack infantry support. With Storms, you can compensate for that and have a very powerful army of combined arms. Storms are excellent at sneaking behind enemy lines and killing enemy AT guns, letting your vehicles reign over the battlefield. Now, while using Storms as a support unit for T3 or T4, you have to be very careful not to drop any panzerschrecks for your enemy because T3 and T4 are very vehicle/tank heavy and panzerschrecks are much more deadly in Allied hands.
  
• Storms are a decent counter to an early m8 as well and if you are skipping the T2 Kreigs Barracks, panzerschrecked storms will be your only AT for a while (along with volksgrenadiers' panzerfausts).
  
• Be aware that dead Storms give a lot of experience points to enemy's units. Facing vet3 riflemen with BARs or a vetted British lieutenant with tommies is not a pleasant experience.
  
• Remember to de-cloak your storms before retreating or they will flee with reduced speed.

What Can Disrupt Your Sneak Attacks

• Mines - If your Stormtrooper squad hits a mine it'll not only take damage and get suppressed/pinned, but also disable your cloak, revealing the Storms location to your enemy. Use nebelwerfer fire on areas where you suspect as a hit from a nebel barrage will destroy a mine.
  
• Barbed Wire - There may be barbed wire preventing some paths that you might want to use for sneak attacking. If there is not much enemy AT near, try to crush the wire using puma or such. Otherwise, you'll have to use pioneers to cut the wire but don't try to shoot the wire with your storms because it will surely reveal your plans to the enemy forcing you to retreat and he will just replace the wire.
  
• Tank Crush - Before you even notice, your enemy may drive over your storms by accident so watch out. It's harder for cloaked storms to avoid tanks because of the reduced movement speed while cloaked. Be especially wary of M10's and the flank speed of Cromwell's.
  
• Infantry - Don't get too close to enemy infantry or it will decloak you. Also, dead bodies will reveal your Storms.