Snipers are dead in CoH3

[Pottatow]

What is the general strat for using snipers in this game? In Coh1 and Coh2 snipers were the go to unit vs MG spam out ranging them and being able to pick them off with ease. Snipers were the staple unit for high level play, but in CoH3 snipers seem like a dead unit due to every faction getting some sort of light vehicle at base and being able to just run down the sniper. Even if you lose your jeep or bike sniper costs 360 mp while these counters cost 180 (straight up HALF). So whats the general idea for building a sniper in this version what do they actually counter anymore?

[GoDLeSS1]

I don't know what their place is in coh3, but in coh2 they were frustrating as hell to play against, so I don't miss them. I think the game is better and more enjoyable for it.

[TheSuit]

Snipers have little to no use in CoH 3.

But they can easily make them useful.

1. Give all Snipers Flares
2. Increase range by 2x
3. Reduce chance to hit to 50% Base Then \ 60 \ 65 \ 70%
4. Give sniper booby trap ( Flare Trap \ Explosive trap )

Now snipers become useful.

[Private twinkle toe 1010011]

Let's be honest here. Who on earth thinks sniper in CoH1 is well adjusted at all? Everyone sane think that it's too oppressive or stupid even on design. Like, come on, sniper MISSING A TARGET THAT SHOULD BE EASILY HIT[www.coh2.org]!?!? I refuse to acknowledge the praises of CoH1 because of sniper being the first intended reporting name for Tu-22. bullshot
If there's one problem with CoH3 snipers, it'd be RA of the unit. At 1.5, this is probably the highest among infantry. But that's it. Everything else is cupcake of problem.

[yapster]

I definitely prefer snipers not being that good compared to them being too good.
The only time I use them is when fighting against WM only in a team game. There's no early light vehicle to worry about, and combined with pathfinders you can spot mgs and snipe them safely. Just need to prepare for fast scout car which will inevitably come against good players.

[76561199241541439]

Snipers where nerfed into the ground after some individuals CRYED hard enough to the devs, these individuals are usually streamers like pax, havoc, dumais, orangepest, etc. You can also test real fast by asking them "do you like snipers?" and the response is gonna be "I hate them" thats why they got nerfed into the ground at release and since then they pretty much useless in terms of survavility.

[76561199241541439]

Originally posted by yapster:

I definitely prefer snipers not being that good compared to them being too good.
The only time I use them is when fighting against WM only in a team game. There's no early light vehicle to worry about, and combined with pathfinders you can spot mgs and snipe them safely. Just need to prepare for fast scout car which will inevitably come against good players.

Yeah right? meanwhile not only the usf sniper is superior in every way to the wher one, you also noticed that playing as wher the usf player can still spam whatever X op unit to counter the sniper while wher got ZERO till 5 minutes into the match at wich point a good usf player can easily have a halftrack at 4 4:30 wich renders that 221 useless and then on top of that the usf player can deploy the m3 75mm wich for whatever reasson cannot be spotted in the fog of war.

lmao

[PADDY MAIN S.A.S]

The Sniper if well used and good micro, and knowing when to retreat, can be a useful
addition to your infantry and a pain to the other faction you are fighting against.

The problem is micro. You need to have eyes on all units, take your attention away for a few seconds, and you have a lost unit.

Overall the sniper is a useful unit, but you need to pick the map for its use and also circumstances.

[Ｍａｔｅｚ]

Originally posted by TheSuit:

Snipers have little to no use in CoH 3.

But they can easily make them useful.

1. Give all Snipers Flares
2. Increase range by 2x
3. Reduce chance to hit to 50% Base Then \ 60 \ 65 \ 70%
4. Give sniper booby trap ( Flare Trap \ Explosive trap )

Now snipers become useful.

no more flares please
you cant counter them
flares are the most annoying thing for me in coh2 just after path/scott spam

[Pop]

Snipers in COH 1 are easy to hide and they can sneak into the enemy camp then call for offsite. In short they are the winning weapon. So much so that our small group outlaw their use for sneaking into enemy camps.

COH 2 and 3 seem to have a target on them that makes them almost impossible to hide.

[Demonic Spoon]

Snipers in coh3 are actually pretty good IMO. They're extremely micro intensive and die when rushed - I'd like to see their RA brought down a tad - but they got a pretty good buff awhile back (1.2 or 1.3) - They maintain camo for 4 seconds after entering cover. Combine that with the fact that CoH3 lacks detector units means you can keep them in a safe little corner on Hold Fire when not actively microing them, moving them from place to place without ever exiting camo. However, they need other units to spot for them and to screen for them.

A BO I liked, especially during the MG spam meta, was USF airborne
Take pathfinders

WSC -> Sniper -> HMG -> 2nd Pathfinders vs Wehr or
WSC -> Bazooka -> sniper -> HMG -> 2nd pathfinders vs DAK

Pathfinders + sniper will win you any early game infantry engagements. HMG deters rushing. Bazooka screens 250. Pathfinder spotting + sniper will clear out any HMGs with no risk. At 1 CP you can call down airborne to act as mainline.

[jehatchett]

probably too expensive and easy to kill. even the mgs can not hit a shot, and tanks miss every other shot on purpose.

[JimbonX]

Snipers are good at the start of the game. Mid and late game no.

[Slim]

Honestly, no clue how you're suppose to use a sniper with Wehr. The faction is entirely too manpower starved at the beginning because of the lack of good base units. And you'll have next to nothing to stop a light vehicle rushing him.

[spaghetti671]

in general the emphasis of light vehicles after early game means that a snipers best strength is immediately extinguished unless you kept a sizable fuel lead, and also kept him from just reconnecting his fuel. you dont really drain MP fast enough to make snipers worth it. that and it doesnt help that both axis and allies have something that can chase it ccan kill. where you have to consider the flak halftrack as a US sniper, makes it so you probably should use that MP to buy something else to help you stop the half track. and stuarts are probbaly going to chase a wehr sniper into base and destroy it

in general, i cant see a situation where the sniper pays back its cost in any meaningful way since it cant really spot for itself without risking geting shot since its spotting distance is lowr than its firing range by a tiny margin, they cant get an MG to leave a building without being shot at, and what they do manage to pick models off of isnt really costly unless its doctrinal infantry, and that relies o your opponent focusing on that, and you not screwing up at anymoment or else the sniper dies

[Demonic Spoon]

Against DAK/Wehr panzergrenadiers or Jaegers, a sniper needs to kill 12 models to make up its cost. It's 15.5 for Wehr grenadiers. If your opponent has any high-cost elites - like stoß or rangers - it becomes even easier to have the sniper pay for itself. 8 dead ranger models pays for a sniper and then some.

Those numbers are pretty achievable I think. Snipers also are deceptively cheaper than they look because, unlike a mainline squad or team weapon, they don't suffer bleed. A 260 mp rifleman squad will cost you way, way more than 260 mp over the course of the game (not even counting upkeep) whereas a sniper is only ever 340mp.

Even outside of cost effectiveness, though, a sniper is very oppressive; it forces your opponent to engage on your terms and often pushes them to do something risky. Sure, your sniper is vulnerable to being rushed by a LV, and maybe that leads to your sniper dying...but it also (depending on how well you support it) may lead to the LV dying and the sniper being perfectly fine.