As a whole, Germany's punch comes in its mid-late tier units. She has the fastest research times, allowing a German player to be able to quickly tech out heavy equipment from the start of the game. Her early-tier units are pretty mediocre, and the late units come at a cost.

Headquarters


This building is from where you can direct all your build orders, and use your ruses. The main HQ is very sturdy, and its loss by capture or destruction can be pretty psychologicaly devestating on the enemy. It generates $1 every 4 seconds just like the admin.

Supply Depot


This building is your standard unit of resource generation. It comes packed with around 250$ and sends 3 trucks to you, each containing $3 (which is split amongst the team, money is shared in RUSE) every 30 seconds. Standard amount at the start should be 3, and that's the minimum to get the German war machine rolling (though you can make it with 2). Destroying one means that not only does the enemy have to replace it, but their economy has staggered a bit. Priority in early game attacks.

Secondary Headquarters


This building funcions like a weaker HQ, still being able to collect trucks, deploy engineers, and use ruses. It usually serves two main functions:

To act as a reserve HQ incase the main one is taken, a lot of times a savior in the late and mid game. If you are sneaky, and lost your HQs, you can take an enemy secondary and bulid your own in friendly territory.

To act as an outpost, or a forward HQ, and thus decrease the distnace engineers and trucks have to go. This is the most common use of the secondary HQ, and is most frequently seen when players can't afford to haul their trucks from the HQ to the front.

Administrative Building (Admin)


This building is the fragile lifeblood of your entire game. Games are most often decided on who has the strongest economy and admins don't take up a lot of space and individually generate 1$ every 4 seconds as long as they stand. This means that if a player invests their money into building tons of admin in their base, then their revenue begins to build up. This is especially helpful to Germany, whose troops are generally more expensive than other factions. Start building these whenever your depots run low or you have a cash surplus.


Machinegun Nest


This is a seldom used position, as it is too fragile and specialized to be all that useful. Primarly, it is used to deter sneak attacks and hostile infantry patrols in your terriroty, although it's pretty inefficient at stopping mass infantry attacks.

Siegfried Blockhaus


This bunker, on the other hand, is very useful. It can withstand extreme punishment, and can stop an infantry steamroller in its tracks with its flamethrower. The AT gun has exceptional range (better than all anti-tank guns in the game) and a vey strong AP value. Blocks can be used to completely lock down a sector in the early game, and can really hold an enemy back for a while. However, they are vulnerable to artillery and airpower.

Kubelwagen



This is a pretty reduntant unit when you're playing with a fellow US player, as this is an exact copy of the Willys only twice as expensive. This can be a really good scout and infiltration car if you're going it alone, but I don't recommend you use this in any combat.

Sk.222



This is an excellent armored recon, as it is fairly fast, features decent armor that lets it survive early action, comes with a decent gun for fighting infantry, and comes at a decent price for armored recon. However, the 222 is incapable of fighting off mass infantry hordes, nor can it fight off the other more front-line armored recon in the game such as the Panhard. This is a great unit to use to support your armored or infantry formations.


Grenadier



I pretty much never use these in '45 These come with decent weapons allowing them to fend off all other light infantry, but get shreded by heavy infantry. The AT weapons are mediocre like all light/medium infantry. These are used more for quick response and patrol more than anything.

Sturmgrenadier



These are EXCELLENT infantry. I mean it. The research is super cheap at $25; they gain better HP, speed, and most importantly, stellar weapons. Their heavy weapons put them on par with most other heavy infantry, leaving them outclassed by only the Fallschrimjaegers, Legionnaires, and Gvardya. Their AT weapons are the best in the game, dealing immense firepower. Use Blitz + Fanat to make a tank collum's worst nightmare come to pass.

Panzer III



This tank is fairly useless past 3 minutes into the game unless you're playing '39. It's still mediocre at best in that case. The issue is its poor armament and armor, meaning it's outclassed by pretty much anything the other nations can spew out. Primarily I use this for patrol, to raid forward depots, and to combat infantry while supporting mine. Never use these in a direct role.


Panzer IV(or!)



This tank is actually one of the best mediums you can get for cost-befefit. It has a pretty good gun combining rate of fire, AP, and range. The armor is average for a medium tank, but this is made up by its lightning speed. Use it to outstrip enemy defenses, engage enemy medium tank pushes, and to raid bases. This falls out of use, however, when the enemy either puts up a moderate AT defense, or techs up the Heavy Tanks.

Panther



This thing is a IV on steroids. The research is pretty cheap, but the cost increment deters players from getting this over the Tiger, which has better firepower. If you can rush the Panther in the early game, however, you can really devestate your enemy. She maintains the speed of her predecessor, but gets one level of extra armor, and a cannon on par with the Tier I AT guns.


Tiger



She's big, she's slow, and she's most certainly tough. The Tiger is an expensive investment, costing a substantial 90$ to research and produce just one Tiger. However, when meeting the enemies of the early game, the Tiger can absolutely ruin someone's day. She boasts great armor, an excellent cannon for its tier, but is a slug on the battlefield. The Tiger is most often beaten by either advanced AT guns or tanks, or air. The Tiger is often sent out alone and expected to win against everything, but it really should by the spearhead of a combined-arms force. Infantry escort is extremely helpful, and air cover is a must. The Tiger, like the Panther, falls by the wayside when enemies research their advanced tank brawlers.

King Tiger



Bigger, badder, and somehow slightly faster than the original Tiger, the King Tiger is the ultimate tank that can come out of the armor base. She boasts the highest level of armor, and a cannon that can smash opposition at its tier. However, with great power comes a really ♥♥♥♥♥♥ speed and produciton cost. It's another 50$ to research this, and it costs the same to buy one. The King Tiger has a painfully slow buildtime, and when pitted against an enemy with equal or slightly greater economy, they can overwhelm the King Tiger with lesser equpiment. Nevertheless, the King Tiger is a great brawler tank that can be used to spearhead late-game assaults against pretty much any land foe. Remember to bring some AA and infantry along too...

Flak 20mm



Not really the most effective method to air-defense, as I find that it's a serious investment to protect yourself from air with these. Fortunately, they can be concealed in the woods, making them extremely efficient when massed. They are also pretty cheap, but I find the Bofors do the same job but in less numbers. When with a US player, let him do AA.

Flak 88mm



Excellent at AT, not so great at AA. This cannon can't be concealed in the woods, but has a very powerful gun that can instantly rout any aircraft (albeit, the rate of fire is so slow, and her health so low, that you shouldn't use this as your main air defense). However, she shines in the AT role. Her AT power is the same as the PAK-40, but has 50m extra range, meaning that she can outrange every tank gun in the game (!). Protect her with tank meatshields, however, as most anything can stun this and make her useless.


Haubitze 75mm



Pretty average light artillery that costs 50% more than the ♥♥♥ and French ones. I don't use this unless I need artillery to dislodge light enemy positions. When massed, they can bring a nice volley of fire upon close range positions. As with all artillery, watch out for enemy air and nearby enemy ground forces.

Haubitze 150mm



Seriously, this thing is utterly WORTHLESS. It's $50 to research, and another $50 to build an unarmored M40, or a Pushka close for $10 more. Honestly, if you have the cash to spare for this, you should just buy a protobase and build the jesus-cannon Morser. The few times you'd use these are when you're stuck in '42 era and have to use these (in which case the cannon is actually pretty decent), or when you're in no need for a protobase, and want something to smash light fortifications from a decent distance away.

StuG III



Don't underestimate this cool cat piece of equipment. For $25 you get a well armored vehicle that can lay waste to enemy infantry, concealed positions, and even the heaviest of fortifications. The StuG is pretty variable unit; you can use a group of 3-4 (the ideal amount you should have imo) to clear the woods of enemy AT and AA, decimate enemy infantry fortified or charging, support your own infantry movements, snipe key enemy bases, or, my favorite, stealth kill enemy depots. Watch out for enemy tanks, though, as this is powerless to stop pure steel. Keep them protected from both ground and air.

Sturmtiger



Not worth draining your money into the $50 research and the painfully slow $40 build time. A german player in a team should be building tanks. If you find yourself as a german player fighting city brawls, or finding heavy enemy fortifications and emplacements, then you can bring this to amazing use. The heavy armor allows the Sturm to withstand most attacks before reinforcements arrive. The heavy mortar can SMASH enemy positions, and even put a dent in tanks. The relatively cheap price of $40 allows you to deploy 5 and just wipe whole areas clean of light units. Though, the job of this is overshadowed by the allmighty Morser and the brutal Noobhammer.

Pak-36



Cheap. Dirt cheap. (ur mom cheap #rekt). That's what this AT gun is. Don't let the ingame description deter you, this will chew up light and medium tanks like nothing. The $5 price allows you to deploy these in swarms against enemy tanks, and to support your infantry. Unfortunately, what you pay for is what you get; the Pak-36 is easily overwhelmed by infantry, medium formations, artillery, and heavies.

Pak-40



Insanely cheap, fast research allows this to be deployed to face even early game threats. It acts like all other advanced AT guns in that it will shred anything that isn't an advanced heavy or super heavy, but can cause pains for even those when positioned in the forests. The one downside to this one is that the cheap research comes at the price of the base unit costing $5 more, and the $5 adds up when you spam these.

Marder Whatever Numeral

A unit so useless I forgot to take a picture of it.

A Pak-40 on a fragile chassis pretty much describes this. Sure the extra mobility is nice, but if you actually come around to using this, they can't fire on the move, and die to just about most hits. I'd much rather an AT gun be able to take and deal extra punishment from the woods than have a glass cannon. The $15 price is OK, but early game tank spam can be handled by the Pak-36.

Jagdpanther



After $40 for the base, and $75 for total research, you finally have access to the Jagdpanther. The gun stats are like all other Tier II Tank Destroyers, with 500m range, and 15 dmg against Class 5 armor. However, the Jagdpanther boasts decent armor (Class 4, not as good as the Ho Ri, but enough to deal with what its designed for). The armor does not degrade the speed of the vehicle like that on the Ho Ri and Su-100, but such speed is almost useless if the tanks your supporting go 4 km/h slower, and you can't fire on the move. So I look at this as a Su-100 that costs $5 more, but the Jagdpanther is a good alternative to the Tiger if a Germany wants to go budget.

Storch



A decent air recon that's pretty much just like everyone else's. Unfortunately, your bombers are sanic fast, and this recon more or less nullifies German AR234 bombing runs unless you bring huge swaths of them. The fact that you have to research this (at a cheap price, albiet) deters players from this as well. Not armed, but armament almost never matters on air recon.

Fallschrimjesus



Hands down the coolest, statistically best, and priciest infantry in the game. They have INSANE AT power, same as the dreaded Sturmgrenadier, and the same super weapons as the Legionnaire and Gvardiya. Literally a combination of the strong points between the Sturmgrenadiers and Gvardiya, and they can be air deployed. Sadly, though, they must be researched first, and a $15 price tag (typical for paratroopers) makes them unviable in infantry fights. Use them for infiltration and harrasement (like all paratroopers).


Ju-87



Magic little fighter bomber that punches far above its weight. The dive may seem like a weakness because it puts the plane in AA's line of fire for too long, but the dive both allows the Stuka to return home on a safe path if you came from said path, and to avoid anything behind the frontline. The $20 price tag is absolutely awesome because that means you can spam the balls out of the Stuka. Two kill Class 4 armor, meaning that the Stuka almost always is worth the same amount as the thing it kills, contrary to the Typhoon. However, that $20 price tag doesn't mean you can fight Spitfires. The speed is painfully slow, and the anti-air capability even worse.


ME-109



Way overpriced for what it does. The Zero goes faster, and even it is still cheaper. And, for some reason, the Spitfire mops the floor with this but still is cheaper. Think of it as a slower Zero for $5 more, hell this is a Yak-3 clone for $5 more. Yeah, pretty much useless for engagements against most air powers. Unless you are more or less unopposed (in the case that you are, you should spam Stuka and bomb enemy bases), upgrade to the 262.

ME-262



Statistically the best fighter in the game, and probably very well is. The 810 km/h speed is the fastest in the game, and a fast research time means that you can pull some amazing truck snipes off with this. Because Blitz is a multiplier, the blitzed speed on this thing is insane, and can easily outrun every piston fighter in the game. In air to air combat, this thing also beats every piston fighter in the game, save for the Shinden (but that's a plane for another time (;). Unfortunately, like most German units, its price is equally impressive, and 262s are going to be outbuilt by Spitfires, and thus you're going to lose in an air war against pretty much most Advanced Fighter factions in the game unless you have the economy to back yourself up. (Meaning that this is a great fighter to produce when you've built the cash and you've already got other stuff to help you out in the air war)


HE-111



Little faster than other light bombers, but otherwise like every other light bomber in the game: useless beyond minute 5.

AR-234 BLITZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ



The best late-game bomber in the game hands down, if you have the recon to back it. The Blitz isn't named for no reason, for it has 810 km/h speed, outrunning all piston fighters in the game, and keeping up with your 262s. The increased speed means that interceptors, reaction times, and enemy AA will have a hard time keeping up with you. However, the speed also means that the bombs won't do much damage due to the dispersion. It ultimately has the same power as the HE-111, but this dispersion also gives and advantage. The Blitz one shots Admins no matter what, meaning that the increased dispersion kills more admin in a line. Putting a blitz on the Blitz amplifies this. Thus you have the ultimate Admin killer. The price, unfortunately is as much as the airfield itself, and the loss of a single bomber, much more a bombing run, really is felt.

Puma



Very powerful and well armored recon unit that's hands down the best in the game. The extra armor allows it to survive artillery blasts typical of the late game, however it will get taken out by most late game AT weapons and will be stunned by arty barrages. The price tag is hefty, but well worth it because of how well it can support your armored forces and do perimeter recon. No research required too!

Noobhammer



I don't know about this unit: it does a lot of damage but it's too fragile to be used in the lategame where heavy artillery is all too prevalent. The rockets, when massed, will blow up infantry and thin-skinned vehicles but will fail to do much against heavy tanks which is a turn off. Not worth 40 points.

Wirbelwind



Hands down the best SPAA in the game. It has quad 20mm guns which can send a plane routing very quickly and does the highest damage possible to aircraft (tied with the more expensive Skink and the less armored Contrareo). It brings an excellent mix of mobility, armor, and firepower. However it is worth noting that at late stages of the game no amount of AA can stop the hordes of planes that tend to appear. You can only hope to take down enemy recon and absorb fighter bomber attacks.

Morser 210mm



This is basically your standard 2.4 km late game super artillery piece is used basically to either blast enemy bases and destroy all their admin or destroy anything lightly armored or not armored at all. It's more expensive than its american and soviet counterparts, but generally has higher accuracy allowing fewer guns to be used to destroy a targeted area. However, a disadvantage is that once you have 30+ guns, your targeted area is garaunteed to be obliterated and a higher spread is more desirable, such as the one on the Obice.

Maus

Never use this