Pioneers This unit was upgraded recently, and at close ranges will be able to outright beat Conscripts and Engineers without any issue, when going 1v1. 1 of them should suffice, but there is little punishment for getting 2 of them. Pioneers are the new Assault Grenadier, non-doctrinal and cheaper to reinforce/purchase, but lacking the largely useless grenade.
The S-Mine Field has been updated, for 60 munitions you can plant a field of hurt, also deploys much faster than before.
I recommend a single Teller AT Mine at a choke point near your base, preferrably towards the middle of the map when you can afford it, as they do not trigger on Infantry you can bank on this investment for the later-game without fear.


Grenadiers This unit is still excellent, able to Snare vehicles up to the T-34 with a single Faust with 100% chance of success, it outshines the AT-Grenades of the Soviets due to its 40 AP advantage. Fausts have 140 AP, AT Grenades a measly 100.
The LMG42 is stupidly good as well, but the vanilla Grenadiers will still beat Conscripts if you keep at long range, and use heavy cover. Note, by "beat" I mean absolutely crush with little damage taken, of course well-micro'd Grenadiers can still fight at closer ranges, especially with the LMG42 upgrade. The point here being, that Grenadiers are superior to Conscripts in every way, while you are fighting Cover vs Cover. Out of Cover and at Medium-to-Close Ranges, the superior amount of rifles from the Conscripts will be able to turn the tide against you.

Mortar This unit outdoes the Soviet mortars at lower level, boasting superior rate of fire and accuracy over its Soviet counterpart. Beware - Soviet Veterancy 1 Mortars have the "Precision Strike" ability which for 30 Munitions has a high chance of completely decrewing your GrW 38 mortar.

MG 42 Needless to say the vastly superior firing arc of this unit comes in handy when holding corner points (Those pesky-to-hold Fuel Points for example) and it will suppress a squad of infantry at its maximum range with a single burst. Insanely annoying for a Soviet to deal with.
Vet 1 Ability "Incendiary Barrage" should be used against infantry, M3s, M5 Halftracks, and perhaps T-70s; but take care, they do not die easily.

Sniper Good to get vs early Shocks or Guards, but over all I feel this unit is more gimmicky than actually useful. Yes, well-micro'd it is very effective, but 360 manpower for 1 model is a steep price.


Panzer Grenadiers Hands down your best offensive infantry. Non-doctrinal, can take on anything including Shocks at even odds; but here are the advantages of this unit:
First, 100% accuracy while moving; perfect for taking out retreating units, as well as charging into set-up teams
Second, they're tough for their cost, but you must keep them at Medium-to-Close Ranges to take advantage of their STG-44s.
Bundle Grenade is rarely useful, don't use it unless you feel pressed, or if you're taking on Shocks.

221/222 Scout Car With the 55 Munition 2cm auto-cannon upgrade, this unit will be able to take on most light vehicles apart from the T-70, which will still out-perform in a 1v1. However, the 2cm can also fire at aircraft which is a welcome bonus, and the MG34+2cm combination renders it very potent versus infantry such as Shocks and Snipers. Will still die to 2 AT Grenades.

SdKfz 251 Halftrack A hugely advantageous unit. Unlike the Soviet Halftrack which is T3, this unit can be deployed -very- early, and will effectively be able to win you the game if you can use its reinforcement ability to your advantage. Reinforce at the 5 minute mark + Rifle Grenade spam will make you a nightmare to deal with.

Mortars do NOT do damage vs tanks. ANY Tanks. The T-70 in CoH2 is classified as a "Light Vehicle" like the German Scout Car. Historically, the two were very similar in terms of armor.
Grenadiers are NOT resistant to Suppression.
CoH2 does not feature "Headshots" in any way, shape, or form.

Engineers This unit lacks an offensive role now, save for a Flamethrower in M3 as before.
Pioneers were essentially upgraded, leaving the Engineers behind to a point that this unit is now nigh useless in combat unless used in a purely supportive or diversionary role.
The trade of the Engineer, as always, is planting mines, barbed wire and building your structures, repairing your vehicles. Apart from this, they have little to offer.

Conscripts Conscripts will be inferior to Grenadiers for a few reasons, and therefore should be relied upon as a screening force for your more important units, as well as for AT grenades and Merging, or capturing the map (of course).
These reasons are: They tend to not be as accurate as Grenadiers, meaning that in a cover-to-cover combat the Conscripts will start losing models much quicker than Grenadiers.

In addition, the Grenadier's inexpensive Rifle Grenade rips apart most Soviet squads with ease, where as the Molotov is purely an RNG weapon where you pray that it takes out a model on a hit, which it often does not. Other times, the Molotov can randomly wipe a squad. Rarely.

T1

Penal Batallion This is your new tete-a-tete go-to unit versus Grenadiers, Assault Grenadiers, and even Panzer Grenadiers if you keep them at bay. Note that they need to get close to do their business, apart from the Panzer Grenadiers whom you will have to stay away from until they're sufficiently softened.
Satchel Charges are your immediate counter to Bunkers.

M3 Scout Car Synergizes best with Penals, recommended for countering Bunkers as well as getting a Satchel Charge in good position against a blob (Preferrably a static, defensive blob)
Be careful not to get the M3 into Faust range, or it will be taken out easily with 1-2 Fausts.
Faust range is 25, or about 4-5 car-lengths.

Snipers This 2-man squad can no longer garrison the M3, which is a mixed blessing.
On the one hand, you can no longer cheese your way to bleeding models with a mobile sniping platform.
On the other, a German player will often stumble about trying to make their choice: M3? Sniper. M3? Sniper. This can buy you valuable time to spread your units around the map on recon and decap duty.

T2

Maxim HMG Largely useless under most tactics, unless you're planning on rushing Soviet Industry or other such early tank rushes. Yes, it has some uses, but due to the pathing causing your units to stack up like morons, a single Rifle Grenade can take out 5 models on regular occasion.

PM-82mm Mortar 1 of these is a liability not guaranteed to do much. Now, 2 of them, and you can actually do some real damage. Coupled with accuracy bulletins, a double-con double-mortar opening is one of my favorites, and I trust it will serve you well.
Precision Strike essentially wrecks German setup teams - it comes out of nowhere and kills everything in the red-circle radius. Well-aimed, it will simply take out Mortars and MGs, especially when used in coordination with a push where the German player is thinking "Must. Kill. Conscripts. Wait where'd my MG go?"

ZiS Field Gun Another Crical-Mass unit. 1 of them is good to get after you're secure in your resource income, inorder to fend off early Scout Cars, 2 of them is required versus tanks - make sure to spread these things out so as to not allow the Pz IV blitzing flank them.
Make good use of your Engineer's mines, and always have an escape route planned out. The German units are much more "Consistent" than Soviets', so keep that in mind.
The Artillery Barrage is largely useless, instead invest your munitions on the Vet 1 Spotting ability, Precision Strikes, Oorah and Mines.

You may or may not be aware of the following:

1. Scout Cars now can take a Pak-40 or ZiS Field Gun hit and survive (if the AT gun is vet 0)
2. T-70s die to a single AT Mine
3. Panzerfausts have a Penetration of 140 - AT Grenades have 100.
4. When using any Infantry ability, the closest model instigates. This means that German infantry have a slight advantage, as they spread out in a "Claw" while moving, whereas Soviets form a "Spearhead." This is purely based on my observations of the last 1300 hours or so.
5. AT Guns, Mortars and HMG teams take Bonus Damage from all sources.
6. Conscripts can Merge with any unit apart from Sniper to save Manpower cost.
7. Accuracy works like this: % x Size = Chance to hit, if Miss, Scatter taken into account to account for where the projectile lands.
So, 3% Accuracy on AT Gun would result in +45% chance to hit a Panzer IV, a Size 15 target.
8. Stun works like this: Penetrate? If yes, no chance to Stun. If No, calculate % chance and do RNG.
9. Target Weakpoint ability on the Tiger Ace, StuG and Pak-40 has a 100% Chance to penetrate all armor, including IS-2 and Tigers. They will do full ability damage AND stun.
10. Suppression/Penetration degrade slowly while in Combat, and fully if out of combat.
What this means is this: MG42 suppresses your conscripts, retreats, but a Grenadier shows up and starts shooting at your Conscripts, Conscripts will stay suppressed much longer than if the Grenadiers were not there.
11. Infantry that is Pinned can be driven over by tanks.
12. All tanks except the T-70 can Crush infantry as mentioned above.
13. German Mortar accuracy is so high, that if you try to use the Intel Bulletins to buff it, it will bug and the shots will not follow any logic at all.
14. Armor Penetration works like this:
Armor Penetration / Armor Value = chance to penetrate.
IS-2 has 320 armor, Panzerfaust has 140 Penetration. Panzerfaust from the front has a 43.75% chance to penetrate, AT Grenade at the same situation only has a 31.25% chance.
15. Garrisons are nearly useless, Heavy Cover outperforms buildings, and automatic weapons rip apart garrisoned infantry.
16. Infantry have a Size of 1. 3% accuracy means 3% chance to hit. Not a huge deal.
17. Most Intel Bulletins are garbage.

(skippable if you're winning in fuel)

StuG More like a Pak on wheels except with worse survivability due to lacking armor. A very "Fun" unit to use, but only really useful if you're going against early T34s and expecting an IS-2 later down the line. Vet 1 StuGs -will- be able to take on IS-2s with the Target Weakpoint ability.
The MG42 Coaxial Mounted machinegun on this tank is bugged and will not fire at aircraft, despite the description. It's been broken for months.

Ostwind No real description required. Wrecks infantry, light vehicles and aircraft. A safe bet to get if you already are fielding a Pz IV.

Panzer IV The bread-and-butter tank of the Ostheer. At Vet 2, it can take on IS-2s provided it can retreat after dealing damage - it will out-shoot and out-tank an IS-2 at Vet 2 for a moment, but will not be able to completely solo it. Blitzkrieg ability makes this tank so survivable, you might as well call it the "Box"
The MG42s are largely for show on this tank, except for the Hull-mounted which does exceptional damage, and the Coaxial does at least some damage to aircraft. This tank is mostly for Field Presence, doing damage and giving line of sight for your infantry to make the most of the field.

T4

Panther Best Non-Doctrinal tank available, will take on IS-2s with some success, and will crush ISU-152s once Vet 1 due to Blitzkrieg. Simply merry-go-round around enemy tanks with this stupid speed ability, and you're golden.

Panzerwerfer The best artillery piece in the game for the following reasons:
1. It can fire and forget, and be repositioned before the first rockets hit the field - unlike the Katyusha that remains stationary and takes a moment between volleys to admire the smoke trails.
2. It has better field saturation than the Katyusha, due to all the ordnance hitting the ground at the same time. If the Katyusha is a Pump-Action shotgun(wielded by a drunk), the Panzerwerfer is a sawed off beast.

Brummbar Not that great of a tank, honestly. Great for destroying ice, garrisons, as well as causing shocking amounts of RNG crits that can ruin a Soviet's day, but if you're using a Brummbar chances are the game is already well in your favor.

So.
German Tanks.
Fun.

The sad state of the game is, that the Soviet T3 and T4 cannot sufficiently fulfill their roles without T1 or T2 support. Where German tanks get Blitzkrieg, or as we like to call it the "Oh sh*t button" which allows them to get out of their own mistakes, Soviets just.. Don't.

T34/76 This is your Ramming unit, plain and simple. It will take a Flank Ram to take out a Panther, Elefant or Tiger, though in the case of Elefants and Tigers I would recommend a Rear Ram. Yes, I know. Not easy. It is however the only way you can see use from the T34/76.

M5 Halftrack Your reinforcement point, and your only source of Non-Doctrinal Anti Air. I suggest getting the 3% accuracy bulletin, I've had good experiences with it shooting planes. However, be warned. This is the sound of an Ostwind shooting down planes:
"Tunk. Tunk. Tunk. NYAUUUUuuuuuu.... *crash*"
This is the sound of your trusty Quad Mount shooting down a plane:
"PARARARARARARARARA Nyauuuu PARARARARARARARARA Nyauuuu PARARARARARARARA Nyauuuu PARARARARARA NyauuUUUuuu *crash*"
It's tough, and one reason I don't recommend using Howitzers as Soviets, due to the amount of bullsh*t like Scout Plane + Stuka combination that can insta-kill your emplacements.

T-70 Useful in the first engagements, quickly relegated to "flanker" and "harassment" duties, as the actual tanks will 2-shot it. I recommand using it for the Recon ability, and to spring traps with T-34's. A Ram from a T-34 will allow your T-70 to kill a Pz IV, given infantry support. It can be worth it.


SU-85 Out-classed by the Vet 1 Blizing Panzer, and lacking a useful ability like the Target Weakpoint, this tank is now nigh useless unless deployed early on versus un-vetted panzers. It will quickly lose its advantage of range and penetration, however, and its role as an Anti-Tank unit becomes marginalized once Heavy Tanks hit the field. Effectively hard-countered by Elefants and Tigers.
Has the ability to get Cone Vision which lets it see farther afield, useful for recon and field awareness, but renders the SU-85 slower to operate which can be hazardous.
Has 150 Front Armor

SU-76 Good against Light Vehicles, unable to take on Ostwind unless ambushing. Free Barrage ability, 'nuff said.
Poor armor.

Katyusha With Precision Strike this unit can decrew Howitzers and crush Panzerwerfers and Mortar Halftracks. An ambush artillery piece to add firepower to your push, or your defense. Poor unit to use to instigate an attack, should be used to support more so than attempt to cause actual damage.

Shock Troops
Good versus: Infantry, Support Weapons
Utility: Close Range Static, do not move this squad around in an engagement as they are inaccurate unless stationary. Can be merged with by Conscripts for cheaper PPSh units on the field (merging units do not gain the armor value). Grenade at 30 munitions is affordable and very effective. Smoke grenade has little use.
Countered by: Flamethrowers, Rifle Grenades, Mortars, Scout Car 2cm, Ostwind, well-microed
On-Par with: Panzer Grenadiers

Guards Rifles
Good versus: Early Light Vehicles, Grenadiers (when upgraded with DP)
Utility: Button (stun) on vehicles renders them easier to target and destroy, grenade is highly effective.
Countered by: Panzer Grenadiers, Pioneers (with good micro), Mortar, MG42, LMG42 Grenadiers.

T-34/85
Contrary to popular belief, not that much better versus tanks, in fact they are better versus infantry than the T-34/76s due to the increased accuracy.
Have somewhere in the range of 5% better chance to penetrate Tigers from the Front.
Yes. 5%. That's literally it. This slight increase is offset by their tedious reload time.

ISU-152
Anti-Garrison, Anti-Building, Anti-Setup
Abhorable armor, will lose to a Blitzing Pz IV and even the frontal armor can be penetrated by a StuG.
Expensive.

IS-2
Counters Tigers reasonably, but requires constant support, and due to the price is much harder to replace than a Tiger.
Utility: Counter Garrison/Building/Light Tank/Medium Tank (apart from Panther) / Infantry
Countered by: Tiger, Elefant, large amounts of AT.

Assault Grenadiers
Not as useful as before, their role has been taken by the Pioneers which are non-doctrinal.
Decent vs. Conscripts and even Shocks once you have enough of them on the field.
Horrid to replace and reinforce, grenade is obvious as your entire squad just stands there going "Derp" for a moment, while your opponent realizes what you're doing.
Countered by: Mortar, Maxim, Sniper, Penal Batallion, Shock Troops

Elefant
Best armor value (400) in game.
Best Armor Penetration on a tank (150?), in game.
Best Range (150) in game.
The traditional Elefant commander comes with Scout Plane + Stuka Bomb. It Hard-Counters Howitzers, which happen to be the Elefants only real counter apart from desperate T-34 + AT rushes from flanks.
Utility: Beats every tank in game one-on-one
Countered by: Combined Arms. T34s, Guards, AT Guns, IS-2, KV-8s all at the same time, or Howitzers/B4 (which it counters with Scout Stuka)

Tiger
Very high armor, decent rate of fire, good scatter (means it is good vs. infantry), excellent veterancy abilities with Blitzkrieg for the "Oh I'm threatened? Best get out of here" moments.
Utility: Not an "attacker", should be used as a cork infront of your army pressure, do not use it alone, as it cannot fend off infantry like the IS-2.
Over-all better utility than the IS-2, due to it's (Tiger's) role being much better defined, so the other units can fill the gaps.
Countered by: Vetted IS-2, AT Guns, Mines, T-34 Ram.

Tiger Ace
A Vet 3 Tiger with Target Weakpoint and Blitzkrieg.
Utility: Used when you already have a field presence of 1-2 tanks and lots of infantry, this unit is the Hail Mary to crush the enemy with unrelenting force.
Drive in, Stun any enemy vehicle you want to kill, kill it, Blitz out. Rinse, repeat.
Costs 800 MP, 0 Fuel.
That's 80MP more than a Tiger, but instant Vet 3 -and- no fuel cost.
Insanely stupid.
Countered by: Your own mistakes more so than anything the enemy can throw at you.

Sad to say, but this game "runs out" of content and depth after the 15 minute marker.
Keep using the same units and hope that you are able to beat the enemy.

For Soviets, if you cannot break the German (i.e. take his fuel, wreck his economy, cause him to lose squads and vehicles) you will eventually get ground up by the Germans' superior consistency.

For Germans, just turtle it up with a few Mortars, LMG Grens, be patient on the one hand, and aggressive with your Panzer IVs, using their Blitz to get out of a bind.

I wish the game had more depth than this, it does not.

I neglected to mention units like Osttruppen because they're frankly out of fashion.
CoH2 is Pay to Win, and it is now a "Casual" game that doesn't even attempt to remain competitive.

CoH2 Tournaments get around 200 viewers on peak times, and the game itself never has more than 500 people on Matchmaking at a time.

If you're looking at CoH2 to be that Eastern Front themed WW2 RTS game that holds true to realism, you're looking in the wrong direction.

This game is for pixelbooms, funny matches, and consistent RNG where a molotov can kill a squad, or not do damage at all. Where an AT Gun can snipe a Sniper Team in 1 hit for no reason, where mortars are able to take out 3 models at a time from a 4 model squad because of luck, and where tank-on-tank combat is not about skill but sheer consistent coincidence.



Let's hope that The Western Fronts expansion changes things - I personally have no great faith for that.

Still, CoH2 is my go-to idle "bleh" RTS game, it is rather polished, doesn't crash on you, and having already bought every single DLC commander and all but 1 DLC packs including the Collector's Edition I'm somewhat "stuck" playing it.

I have my eye on other RTS titles coming up, but it will be months before they're ready to be played.

Hope you've gauged something from this Guide, I wrote it because most other Guides out there are either A. Outdated, B. Written by someone who gets an erection talking about WW2 stuff "OH em gee Grenz were elite troops" which have NOTHING to do with CoH2, or C. Factually flawed to the point of FUBAR.

I won't hold your hand, what this guide inholds is the game's current state. Love it or hate it, this is the truth.