Company of Heroes

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This strat goes for the throat of the typical American player, and works rather nicely against the British as well. Since the vast majority of Wehrmacht players these days bunker down for T2 Defensive or T2 Terror, this strat is designed to mimic that opening, and then make a decisive and sharp counter attack. Additionally, this strat is designed for the next patch, but put to work now.

Med Bunker!

Versus the Americans

The standard build order is Volksgrenadiers, Machine Gun, Volksgrenadiers, Machine Gun, Sniper, Sniper. Since this is a T3 strat, the extended T1 is necessary to maintain a good fuel flow and map control. Your objective at this point is to gain and hold a steady fuel income. Keep Machine Guns moving at all times and use wire to eliminate flanking options. Also, use your Machine Guns to suppress as many Riflemen as you can, letting the Volksgrenadiers deal the damage. In the next patch, MP40's are receiving a nice buff, so feel free to upgrade to them.

Before the snipers come out, you will most likely get overrun by Riflemen, just like 4ES gets run off the field early. This is due to the fact that your snipers are a rather large manpower investment, and will mean that for each sniper you build, he could have another Riflemen squad on the field. It's a game of a lot vs a little during this part of the strat, but with good micro, it pays off. Upon the arrival of your dual Snipers, the thorn in the side of the American player becomes evident, and this time you will force capping Riflemen or suppressed squads from your Machine Guns to either get out, or suffer major losses.

Of course if you see a Weapon Support Center opening, then grab a bike and sniper as soon as possible. Make sure you have Volksgrenadiers near your snipers at all times in case you need a panzerfaust for that pesky jeep. Another good practice is to put a mine near the retreat path of your sniper so that when a jeep gives chase, it will soon meet its maker.

At this point, the Americans response will most likely be:

1. Rifle Upgrades or
2. Get Weapon Support Center for a counter sniper.

With the Med Bunker and dual Machine Guns/Volksgrenadiers, your build looks totally like a typical T2 strat to the American. Therefore, Weapon Support Center + BAR's + Grenades is very common, but now it plays right into your hands. Be prepared for this, and use your snipers a bit more cautiously if you see a Weapon Support Center unit come out (counter snipers may be lurking).

Naturally, you would wonder what to do against a fast M8, right? Storms are only 2CP, and with Snipers on the field, you should have Storms in time for the M8. Your T3 also wont be far behind. Use Panzerfausts and Panzerschrecks to deal with the M8, and if you happen to catch him on a well placed mine, it's lights out for that Greyhound.

Versus the British

Against British, you need to be rather conservative until the Snipers come out. Use your Volksgrenadiers wisely, don't engage a 1v1 battle with Tommies, unless you have superior cover. Use Panzerfausts for any Bren Carriers. Once the snipers are out, his Tommies will be near useless. With Machine Guns for suppression, Volksgrenadiers for panzerfausts and small arms, and snipers to take them down two at a time, it gets much easier. Your biggest enemy is the Bren Carrier and the Recon Squad due to their sniping ability. Play smart, use mines and wire, and keep those snipers well guarded.

British will likely go for a Stuart at this point to break your line. Panzerfausts + mines are your friend.

Versus the Americans

If you see either BAR's or Weapon Support Center units, a Puma will be the first thing you should build. If you see neither of these, you can either get an upgunned Puma, or a StuG out first, as you are likely to see an M8 soon. StuGs are getting a much needed buff in the next patch, so get used to using them! If he goes M8 heavy, get out a double panzerschrecked Storm squad as soon as possible. If you see no rifle upgrades and no motor pool units, a fast Tank Depot may be coming, and I would recommend two panzerschrecked Storm squads.

The natural counter to Pumas if the American has been caught off guard are Rangers. Hopefully, you have kept those snipers alive at this point, because with each volley of your snipers, Rangers loose effectiveness very quickly. Two men have Bazookas, and 4 have Thompsons if he upgraded them. So, with two shots from snipers, you effectively just drained 1/2 of his anti-infantry ability. With the next volley of sniper shots, you just rendered him useless with only 2 guys holding Bazookas. Not only is this a HUGE manpower drain on him, but not having to constantly clash hordes of Grenadiers against hordes of Riflemen means you have plenty of manpower to work with to get to T4.

If he went for Airborne, that's even better. Snipers will make very quick work of an air dropped anti-tank gun. If he is good with his anti-tank guns and attempts an anti-tank gun creep, a Nebelwerfer is the perfect tool to put a stop to it.

At this point, if he is still in the game, he may be teching to a Tank Depot. If you see no MP units, its a safe assumption you will need some more reliable anti-tank weaponry than a StuG or Puma. Stormtroopers will fill this gap perfectly.

Versus the British

Against British, I recommend one upgunned puma and one regular, followed by a StuG if you see a Churchill. Otherwise, get at least one squad of panzerschrecked Storms. Commandos will not be as big of an issue with two snipers around. Two snipers are the anti-elite infantry to this midgame. If he puts Vickers or other emplacements all over the place, a StuH is a great tool. Tech to T4 as soon as you have the fuel and at least some panzerschrecks out on the field.





At this point, you must ask yourself, "what is the other player doing?" Are there Shermans on the field, or is he using mostly infantry and motorpool units? Is there already a Cromwell on the field?

Shermans or Cromwell mean go Panther first. Keep your snipers around to pick off over-repair Sappers.


Motorpool + Infantry or Tommy/Commando/Emplacement spam means go Ostwind first. Knights Cross Holders are also great against Tommies, but kinda suck against Americans with BAR's or Rangers.


The units to follow are really more of a stop gap until your beautiful Tiger comes rolling out. I would lean more towards Panzer IV's against Americans and Panthers against British. Mix Ostwinds and Knights Cross Holders in for flavor.


This is also the time where you should be vetting up.

Veterancy

Because this strat is fuel heavy and focuses on vehicles, veterancy should be rolling out only after your T4 has hit the field and you have extra manpower and fuel to burn. Vet 1 for tanks is an outstanding investment, and would be my first choice with this strat. Storms and Volksgrenadiers are really not your fighting force in this type of game, so infantry vet is secondary. If you are lucky, your med bunker may have gotten you a few free Grenadiers though, so feel free to get some vet if you feel like you need to. If your machine guns and snipers are still alive, support vet is not a bad idea either.

If you have managed to keep your support infantry alive through this game, it becomes very difficult at this point for the opponent. The only real thing to worry about are strafing runs or artillery. Lucky for us, this strat is designed for the next generation, when strafing runs are only a suppression tool.

Closing Words

This guide is very flexible for the most part, as you will find in several of my replays I must take this strat as a starting point and fit it to the game I'm in. Company of Heroes is all about adaptation, and if you get stuck in the mindset of "I must build this unit at this time," you will limit yourself to how far you can go. Sometimes, for example, a bike can really help early. With this strat, I think throwing in some variation is never a bad thing. In one of the games, I used an Officer, and I really enjoyed the hell out of it, so don't be afraid to have some fun with it. In conclusion, this strat is designed to be as powerful as possible in the upcoming patch, while being a heck of a lot of fun to play in any patch.

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