Company of Heroes

[Ford Prefect]

A couple of my friends, as well as myself, have recently gotten into Company of Heroes. As far of RTS games go it's fast paced, fun and exciting. It's good for a laugh, which means that it is going to be the primary game we play at our next big LAN at the end of the month.

Denizens of SDN have been playing this game for longer than I have known that it existed, so undoubtedly you have found things that have worked best for you. This thread is thusly dedicated to tricks and strategies and general what have you regarding COH, particular Opposing Forces, of which I have no experience. I'd like to know what it brings to the table.

[Hotfoot]

Tons of cool shit. Brits dig in like fucking mad and finally bring awesome tanks to the allied side. Panzer Elite, meanwhile, are a rolling force of infantry that can steamroll people once they get a sufficient mass going with double-AT efforts.

Sadly, I don't play many games vs. real humans, as I prefer bot matches with friends.

[Master of Cards]

You will learn to hate 88s and that big TD the Elite have.

[The Jester]

Go to gamereplays.org and look at their CoH section, particularly the replays. ZeroCrack and KodaChrome have posted first person videos which are good to watch though you may have some difficulty in finding them.

[wautd]

Tales of Heroes (http://www.gamefire.com/content/blogsection/6/65/) is a good 'un as well if you like watching replays. Especially King of the 88 is a must see replay

[Lonestar]

You will learn to hate 88s and that big TD the Elite have.

The Jagdpanther? Or the Marder?

I actually don't care much for the British/Commonwealth faction, it's my least favorite of the 4.

[Hotfoot]

You will learn to hate 88s and that big TD the Elite have.

The Jagdpanther? Or the Marder?

I actually don't care much for the British/Commonwealth faction, it's my least favorite of the 4.

British tanks are beastly, and what they can do with artillery? Oh, it sets my heart alight.

Okay, so their infantry sucks late game, but early on their recon elements are a great defense against the early wermacht sniper, and bren gun teams are great for really fucking with armor.

For the life of me, I can't manage to figure out the dynamic of royal commandos. I mean, I'm sure they're good for something other than faking out your enemies...I guess.

[Slacker]

I haven't played Opposing Forces yet, but I'm working my way through the first campaign and have played quite a bit of head-to-head and co-op versus the computer at my local gaming store. Great game, real fun to play.

[wautd]

For multiplayer, Europe In Ruins is a fun mod. A bitch to get a game going, but I prefer the system more than the stock version

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Denizens of SDN have been playing this game for longer than I have known that it existed, so undoubtedly you have found things that have worked best for you. This thread is thusly dedicated to tricks and strategies and general what have you regarding COH, particular Opposing Forces, of which I have no experience. I'd like to know what it brings to the table.

If your playstyle is totally based around the simple Wehrmacht/USA matchup, you're going to have to do serious rethinking when the Panzer Elite/British come into play. One of my friends is pretty good at the game, but has a lot of difficulty adapting to new and changing battlefields. I saw firsthand how frustrated he got when his old strategies were rendered ineffective - don't let it happen to you! Forget all your existing plans and forge new ones or else you'll be in for a world of pain.

US:

• Armor is of limited usefulness. Using the Armor Doctrine requires very coordinated team play - it can work, but it's at a severe disadvantage against Panzer Elite anti-armor. Concentrate on your infantry with either a heavy infantry all-out assault to counteract the Panzergrenadier swarms using Rangers and BARs, or depend on light infantry and maneuver with Airborne. Remember that Airborne can't handle a stand-up fight like Riflemen and Rangers can, their piddly M1 carbines aren't front-line weapons. A lot of people fall into the trap of assuming Airborne are "elite" replacements for Riflemen - they're special forces, not heavy infantry.
• Stickybombs and BARs - must-have upgrades! BARs hold back the hordes of Panzergrenadiers and stickybombs are needed against the PE's early vehicles.
• Support weapons. Machinegun teams play an even more vital role, but it's imperative they're used properly. Properly-played PE (which isn't terribly common) can out-maneuver emplaced MGs with trivial ease, so be prudent when deploying and using them. Most PE players are tools however, and you'll need lots of firepower pointed downrange to suppress the tides of PzGrenadiers. I've seen a lot of US players try to spam snipers to exploit PzGs' low squad numbers, but don't fall into that trap. One or even two snipers can be extremely effective if used correctly and in moderation. More than that is just being foolish. And don't forget to get some anti-tank capability if your early anti-infantry efforts prove to be effective - your enemy will realize you're beating him and try a different tack, i.e., tanks!

Wehrmacht:

• The old Volks, MG42, Pioneers --> StuGs! one-two gameplan is no longer the Wehrmacht's sacred writ. Don't expect it to do anything to the Brits other than give them cannon fodder. Machineguns will be less effective against Brits, especially once they're dug in. If they're building lots of trenches, immediately go for your Grenadiers - one grenade devastates any squad caught in a trench with it. The halftracks will also be very useful, allowing you to perform ghetto-PE maneuver tactics around the British defensive lines. Forget mortars, though - I see people try to throw them at British mortars only to fail every time. Concentrate on your maneuver warfare, not slugging it out with artillery.
• However, there is something to be said for Walking Stukas and Nebelwerfers. It may not look like it from your end, but barrages from these cause no end of frustration for a Brit player, and frustrated enemies make mistakes. Just don't go overboard. One or two is plenty to keep your enemy on his toes while still having the resources to build an assault force.
• The Panther is much better than it used to be. It has the range to match Fireflies now, so if you need a heavy tank, this bad boy is it. Just be mindful of large numbers of the cheaper Firefly and the extremely dangerous 17 Pdr emplacements. Take them out with artillery and infantry AT first!
• Don't rely on the Tiger like you could in vanilla CoH. You can't have two out anymore and it's overshadowed by some of the really nasty stuff now in the game. It's still a solid heavy tank though, so if you need an armored spearhead, talk to the Tiger. The Koenigstiger is a real beast though, but remember you only get one, once.

[Ford Prefect]

That's really interesting stuff Gaius, thanks. I've heard that my friends are having problems with OF, which means that they've only had the oppurtunity to practice with vanilla. I'll take any advantage in order to make up for my genrally abysmal multiplayer ability.

[Pint0 Xtreme]

One of my favorite moments was triggering the explosives on a bridge that my enemy's King Tiger happened to be rolling past.

[The Jester]

[*]Support weapons. Machinegun teams play an even more vital role, but it's imperative they're used properly.

.30 cals and Mortars suffer serious penalties against PE and are not worth the resources. Top players will not build them at all when facing PE.

I've seen a lot of US players try to spam snipers to exploit PzGs' low squad numbers, but don't fall into that trap. One or even two snipers can be extremely effective if used correctly and in moderation.

Snipers should always operate in tandem with Riflesquads, sitting behind the Riflesquad and making it very difficult for the PE player to get at them. It's not uncommon for a Sniper to rack up 40 kills over the course of a game. Note that it works best to go for Motor Pool (for M8's) before getting the Weapon Support Centre and then back-teching.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

.30 cals and Mortars suffer serious penalties against PE and are not worth the resources. Top players will not build them at all when facing PE.

Bollocks to that. Mortars I agree are worthless against the PE, but just because the OF infantry have some stupid bonuses against the vanilla ones doesn't totally invalidate MGs. .30 cals have AP bullets which are disgustingly effective against halftracks, and they're your only source of suppression until you get BARs (which still take a lot of volume of fire/munitions to achieve the same effect as one MG). Incendiaries aren't as effective as frags, so stick 'em in a building somewhere and watch the yellow blinking pop up.

Obviously this is less effective mid to late game, but you should have BARs and Rangers et al by then anyway.

[The Jester]

Point me to one American Vs. PE 1V1 replay involving a top player using a .30 cal to good effect.

EDIT: I would like to add that since .30 cals need to be deployed in order to be effective and have very poor mobility, this weakness will tend to be exploited by a good PE player who will simply avoid putting his light armour in harm's way.

[Pint0 Xtreme]

Point me to one American Vs. PE 1V1 replay involving a top player using a .30 cal to good effect.

EDIT: I would like to add that since .30 cals need to be deployed in order to be effective and have very poor mobility, this weakness will tend to be exploited by a good PE player who will simply avoid putting his light armour in harm's way.

The design of some maps gives the .30 cals better use than other maps. Any kind of suppression helps fighting the infamous "PE Blob" of infantry.