How to Play as Panzer Elite

[Hauk11]

Hello. Almost every time i play as Panzer Elite, i lose the game, i really dont know how to play them correctly. The infantry are too small in numbers and they get killed very quickly. And the only tank they get is the Panzer IV Support Tank, and the Panther Battlegroup, but that is expensive and difficult to obtain. Witouth tanks my soldiers gets killed by all the enemy tanks, and the PE antitank vehicles are too weak to face the enemy vehicles.
And they have too meny upgrades, for example, the infantry starts empty, you have to upgrade the everything, what upgrades do you recomend i get first, or what upgrades never purchase?
And i never understand how the Funkwagen Vampire Halftrack and Bergetiger Repair Vehicle works.
And another problem i have with this faction, is that they cant play defensive, the only defenses are the Flaks and AA guns from Luftwaffe tactics. THat is a very big problem because, when i conquer a victory point i dont have anything to defend it and then the enemy comes and conquer it again.
Can someone please tell me the tactics to play correctly this faction?. Thanks.

[Maleven]

If you want to get better, you need to watch guides on youtube and text and doing what they tell you there, you need to make that effort. You don't need vampires and the only purpose of a bergetiger is you are using vehicles and the benefits of being able to revive vehicles for free outweighs the cost and opportunity cost of building it. Try building a single At halftrack and breaking enemy vehicle treads, then finishing them off with at troops, and bring it back to base with defensive operations to recharge the strategy.

Use scorched earth if they are using infantry, mining all of the points makes it a lot more inconvenient and time consuming to take all the points. Sectory artillery will neutralize any blobs. Use the disable ability to destroy the middle vp and use artillery and supressive fire from g55 troops to make it impossible for them to take it until they leave, i often win under 30 tickets by doing this.

[Hauk11]

Thanks for the tips, they was useful.

[Richartonio]

Originally posted by wilraul:

The infantry are too small in numbers and they get killed very quickly.

Panzer Grenadiers may be small in numbers, but they are very tough when compared to all other initial infantry. Only Tommies are tougher, and they cost 450 MP, compared to 255 of the Panzer Grenadiers. Play a couple of games with the US, try to kill the Panzer Grenadiers with Riflemen and see how it goes.

Of course, that doesn't mean that they are invincible. Stick to cover and always engage from long range, unless you have StG 44s.

Originally posted by wilraul:

And the only tank they get is the Panzer IV Support Tank, and the Panther Battlegroup, but that is expensive and difficult to obtain. Witouth tanks my soldiers gets killed by all the enemy tanks, and the PE antitank vehicles are too weak to face the enemy vehicles.

While the meme "Panzer Elite, so called because they have no Panzers" has been around since 2008, it doesn't mean that they are worthless. The anti tank vehicles of the Panzer Elite are weak, yes, but as a tradeoff they have very potent offensive capabilities.

The Sd.Kfz. 250/10 anti tank halftrack has the most powerful AT ability in the game: treadbreaker. You are meant to break the treads of the enemy vehicle, and then escape. It is not meant for direct combat against anything heavier than a halftrack.

The Marder III tank destroyer has very little armor and poor mobility but mounts the PaK 40 anti tank gun, with a range of 60 (normal sight radius is 35), good penetration and great damage. Siting the main gun (the ability) grants the Marder III +10% to the main gun's damage, +35% to the main gun's Penetration values, a 25% reduction in reload times for the main gun and +20 meters to sight-range.

The Panzer Grenadiers can throw AT grenades, although it doesn't work against moving vehicles.

The Tank Busters come equipped with the best infantry AT weapon in the game, the RPzB 54 "Panzerschreck". Loaded in a SdKfz 250/1 halftrack, they can pursue escaping light vehicles without worrying about taking casualties from main guns. Do watch out for Snipers and flamethrowers, though! They are deadly to infantry inside *open topped halftracks* (it doesn't apply to the Wehrmacht's hafltrack).

See, with all those tools at your disposal, you can take care of any enemy tank. Break the treads/engine of a vehicle, retreat the AT halftrack, bring in a Marder III and blow it to pieces. Or throw AT grenades at the immobilized vehicle. Or simply use the Tank Busters in a halftrack. And that is not considering the doctrinal options: 8,8 cm FlaK 36 AT/AA, Hetzer Tank Destroyers, Teller Mines, JagdPanther tank destroyer...

Originally posted by wilraul:

And they have too meny upgrades, for example, the infantry starts empty, you have to upgrade the everything, what upgrades do you recomend i get first, or what upgrades never purchase?

You are not meant to purchase every upgrad. Being subdivided into so many small upgrades means two things: you can tailor your infantry force to suit your exact needs, and the individual upgrades are rather cheap.

Here is a quick rundown of the abilities and when to use them:

Incendiary Grenades: useful against dug in infantry. Less powerful than regular grenades. Purchase against entrenched Brits, or big blobs of infantry.

AT Grenades: decent against immobile vehicles, GREAT against British emplacements. A few of these can wreck a 17 Pounder no problem. Tank Destroyer Tactics doubles the number of grenades thrown (for no extra cost!) Purchase against British emplacements if you don't have Panzerschrecks.

Defensive Operations: heals infantry and reduces recharge time of abilities. Useful in almost every match. It is still 30 Fuel that can slow your tech a lot. Avoid unnecesary damage.

Increased Squad Sizes: 4 man squads. Useful in most situations unless you are saving fuel for something; *mandatory* if facing Snipers.

Field Craft: increases capture rate. For comparison: Engineers capture at 100 speed, Riflemen at 150, Panzer Grenadiers at 75; the ability upgrades the speed from 75 to 125. Not really mandatory; Panzer Grenadiers are not supposed to capture, that is the job of the Schwimmwagen/Kettenkrad. Useful late in the game, when it is difficult for your vehicles to capture.

Gruop Zeal: are bonus for groups of infantry. Each soldier within the Group Zeal radius gains the following bonuses: about 1% damage reduction, about 1% extra Maximum Health and +0.01 regeneration per second. With this bonus, large groups of infantry become significantly more survivable, so using your infantry in concentrations becomes quite advisable. However, this is a double-edged sword, because a large group of infantry is also very vulnerable to artillery shelling and strafing runs. Purchase if you have a large infantry force.

Veteran Sargent: 25% less suppression received, 25% more Veterancy points. While not bad, it competes with a lot of other upgrades for Fuel. Consider it if you are getting supressed a lot.

Originally posted by wilraul:

And i never understand how the Funkwagen Vampire Halftrack and Bergetiger Repair Vehicle works.

The SdKfz 250/3 Funkwagen has two important abilities. When *set up* in an enemy sector, it diverts 50% of the supply income to you, ie you steal resources from the enemy (and also gains a 50% extra hit points) Additionally, about 50% of the income from other enemy sectors may be lost as well, depending on supply lines: if a sector is linked to the enemy's Headquarters through the sector where the Funkwagen has been set up, its income is cut by 50%. The other 50% is lost - it does not go to the Panzer Elite. Finally, the Panzer Elite gains a few Population Cap points while the effect is in place, while the enemy loses a certain significant percentage of their total Population Cap.

Finally, all enemy infantry units within 70 meters of the Funkwagen are shown on the Mini-Map and Tactical Map. This is superb to detect enemy movements, incoming flanks and, above all, Snipers! Note that the units will only be seen on the tactical map (hotkey "0" from the numpad) but not on the battlefield. You must use and indirect fire weapon (like a Hummel or a mortar) to target them.

The Bergetiger repairs vehicles, and repairs them very quickly. Panzer Grenadiers without Repair Upgrade repair very slowly. The Bergetiger can also recover a destroyed vehicle: simply right click on the wreck and it will start to performe repairs on. It is specially useful against one-off vehicles, because it means it can recover a lost JagdPanther or King Tiger (for your ally)

Originally posted by wilraul:

And another problem i have with this faction, is that they cant play defensive, the only defenses are the Flaks and AA guns from Luftwaffe tactics. THat is a very big problem because, when i conquer a victory point i dont have anything to defend it and then the enemy comes and conquer it again.

The Panzer Elite is not meant to be played defensively. Everything about it screams overwhelming offense: main combat infantry that can be deployed right from the start with no extra building required, all vehicles are fast, hard hitting and very mobile, infantry can repair vehicles in the field without the need for engineers, etc.

Originally posted by wilraul:

Can someone please tell me the tactics to play correctly this faction?. Thanks.

Probably the most common tactic is the 5 minute armored car, which is pretty potent if executed correctly against the US.

-Cap Fuel with the Kettenkrad
-Get around 4 Panzer Grenadiers
-Do not cap with them, go and pick a fight with the enemy, preferably near their fuel.
-When you have 75 Fuel, retreat and build either the Logistik Kompanie or the Kampfgruppe Kompanie (to unlock Tier II) and then the Panzer Jäger Kommand, and deploy a SdKfz 222 armored car and focus on killing infantry. Note: the armored car is deadly, but also very fragile. Keep it supported, do not get into sticky bomb range and always kite charging infantry.

For more PE strategies, visit this: https://www.gamereplays.org/companyofheroes/portals.php?&show=page&name=panzerelite_strategies

Just ask away any questions you have!

[Hauk11]

Thank you, the guide was very helpful and complete.

I have another questions
How to play victory point mode with this faction?
Since they are an offensive faction, i find impossible to win victory point with them.
How use correctly Flak Cannons and AA Guns?, every time i build them to defend the victory points, the enemy destroys them with mortars.
What are the most recommended tactics for playing citory point with Panzer Elite?
Thanks.

[Charcharodonto]

sadly enough flak and aa guns are crewed, so they are Always vunerable to mortars and sniper fire.

One way to mitigate this is to place them near a building you have captured with defensive operations active. This at least heals the crew so they are not chipped away unless directly killed.

The only options is to hunt down the mortars. Armored cars, infantry halftracks with STG infantry are quick enough to do this. Mortar halftrack can do some damage too, or even pepper the field with fire to create a deadzone for infantry/crews

In general however, the Wirbelwind is superior to the flak vierling emplacement, it is a vehicle, so not decrewed, vunerable only to antitank fire, and it can move and patrol.



for victory point, i would believe that to be mostly scorched earth, due to the ability to have sector artillery, artillery with the hummel, the ability to deny nearby capture points.


Luftwaffe either requires a lot of management to keep the emplacements alive vs snipers and mortars, or allies to cover some of the defense.

one note, luftwaffe has stealthing kettingkrads. use them to spot forwards to utilize the increased range of the Flak 88, it is the longest firing gun outside of artillery and 3 times the range of the sight of itself and most vehicles. and about 50% more then antitank guns.

[Hauk11]

Thank you for the help, it was was very helpful.


I have another question, how the Fallschirmjager infiltration works?, the game description says that they can appear in a building, but when i select a building they arrive running from off map near my base, how the infiltration works, or its bugged and dont work because of that?
And another question, whats the main purpose of Fallschirmjagers, can they become the main infantry unit replacing the other infantry, or they are just a support infantry that is dont meant to replace the others?
Thanks.

[Maleven]

you need to see the building to spawn in it, and fallschirmjager has low health, probably better off drawing fire to grenadiers first

[Hauk11]

Thanks for the tips.

[Arcamis]

Originally posted by TOXIC WSC TKER:

you need to see the building to spawn in it, and fallschirmjager has low health, probably better off drawing fire to grenadiers first

Erase any traces of reading this post as it is spectacular in the way how wrong it is.

Fallschirmjagers can be spawned at any house that is not occupied by someone else (units inside or made into a FHQ) and has four available garrison spots otherwise they will come from your home sector.

They are a main fighting unit, one of the strongest.

[Charcharodonto]

fallshirmjagers are infiltration infantry that once upgraded with the FG42 become one of the deadliest anti infantry units in the game, especially with offensive bonusses. With defensive bonusses they are one of the toughest. They also become stealthed in heavy cover, like walls or sandbags as long as they are stationary.

They don't benefit from group zeal, but are elite infantry.

Panzerfaust is a bit lackluster but usefull to ward off small and medium vehicles. and multiple fallshirm can be a danger to a tank. Also handy to take down a building quicker.

Incendiary grenade is a much longer burning grenade then the normal ones of the panzer grenadiers, usefull to deny a small area to the enemy or cause a lot of damage over time to a building. Throwing these around a base and using the panzer fausts can leave a base in shambles.


Their main purpose, to infiltrate behind enemy lines. And then open another front vs the enemy, either by attacking their backline during an ambush or enemy attack, or assault the enemy base while the enemy is preoccupied.

Also something to consider, if the enemy attacks full force, capture all the strategic sectors connecting his base towards his forward territories if the distance is great enough.

[Hauk11]

Thanks for explaining the Fallschirmjagers, it was very helpful, they seem to be a very good elite infantry unit.

And a curious thing about the game, why if the Fallschirmjagers are paratroopers there is not an option to paradrop them from a plane like the US Airborne?

[VVSMG]

Originally posted by wilraul:

Hello. Almost every time i play as Panzer Elite, i lose the game, i really dont know how to play them correctly. The infantry are too small in numbers and they get killed very quickly. And the only tank they get is the Panzer IV Support Tank, and the Panther Battlegroup, but that is expensive and difficult to obtain. Witouth tanks my soldiers gets killed by all the enemy tanks, and the PE antitank vehicles are too weak to face the enemy vehicles.
And they have too meny upgrades, for example, the infantry starts empty, you have to upgrade the everything, what upgrades do you recomend i get first, or what upgrades never purchase?
And i never understand how the Funkwagen Vampire Halftrack and Bergetiger Repair Vehicle works.
And another problem i have with this faction, is that they cant play defensive, the only defenses are the Flaks and AA guns from Luftwaffe tactics. THat is a very big problem because, when i conquer a victory point i dont have anything to defend it and then the enemy comes and conquer it again.
Can someone please tell me the tactics to play correctly this faction?. Thanks.

I can't believe the amount of incorrect information on this post, most of which is simply copied off of another website or some guide. I won't go into how to play PE correctly since there are just too many different ways based on any given situation. Instead I'll tell you how NOT to play PE. These are things if it happens you will increase your chances of losing. This is both from personal experience and seeing other players.

1 - Losing your kettenkrad in the early game. PE's early handicap comes their weak capturing speed. Losing your ketten in the first 5 minutes is the fastest way to a loss. You absolutely need to keep it alive and at full health. Stupid ways I've seen people lose to ketten includes, but is not limited to a)trading it off for a med/high point cap/decap b)not running away at the first sign of enemy and taking engine damage = death c) not using cloaking ability if it has it d) pushing enemy infantry and not paying attention that its getting focus fired down.

2 - Fighting infantry in green cover with armored cars or infantry halftrack. Your vehicles need to kill, not trade off with infantry. Every second you fight to a stalemate is another second for that M8 to come and push you off while their engineers decap your chit. DO NOT FIGHT INFANTRY IN GREEN COVER; move and fight somewhere else and let them come to you.

3 - Underestimating engineers. 2 American engineer can easily beat a PG. Even if you somehow win, you'll be heavily damaged and PE has no way to heal outside of defensive operations which you want to avoid. Damage to PG is just as good as killing the man.

4 - Not moving your infantry with your vehicles. There may be a rare time where you can rush your IV in and lock it down right on top of the enemies but you better be damn sure that they don't have stickies or other AT weapons. Vehicles moves significantly faster than infantry and are weak without infantry support.

5 - Not looking out for strafes after you see paratroopers. 90% of PE players blob, and one strafe run can basically end the game. If you see they went airborne don't blob your chit.

6 - Using tank busters as AT. There was a post above about panzershreks being the most powerful AT weapon in the game. They are....if you're wermacht. The grenadier panzershreck is NOT the same as the PE one. They have better accuracy and penetration. The LAHT is not good for anything outside of M8/Stuart. Shermans/Cromwells eat tank busters (even double shrek) with ease. Anything short of a mauder or possibly hetzer and you better back off. The only time you should use tank busters against tanks is in buildings.

7 - Thinking your troops are invincible inside a HT. They are not; snipers and flamers can still kill them. In fact snipers have a chance of killing 2 PG at once.

There are a lot more but these are the basic mistakes that too many PEs make.

[Hauk11]

Thank you for the information, it was very helpful. I will have that in mind when i play.

[Richartonio]

Originally posted by VVSMG:

6 - Using tank busters as AT. There was a post above about panzershreks being the most powerful AT weapon in the game. They are....if you're wermacht. The grenadier panzershreck is NOT the same as the PE one. They have better accuracy and penetration.

Hey, guy who wrote that here. You are correct, they are not exactly the same. PE Panzerschreck does 15 less damage (and have a penalty to British structures), but as far as I know, penetration and accuracy are identical. Furthermore, the PE can surpass the WM ones via Offensive Veterancy.

Originally posted by VVSMG:

Thinking your troops are invincible inside a HT. They are not; snipers and flamers can still kill them. In fact snipers have a chance of killing 2 PG at once.

Re-reading my paragraph I see that it is confusing. What I was trying to state is that halftrack will absorb vehicle fire (and I will happily trade a hafltrack for any tank). Flamethrowers absolutely wreck people inside a halftrack. I will edit that part.

[Richartonio]

Originally posted by wilraul:

Thank you, the guide was very helpful and complete.

I have another questions
How to play victory point mode with this faction?
Since they are an offensive faction, i find impossible to win victory point with them.
How use correctly Flak Cannons and AA Guns?, every time i build them to defend the victory points, the enemy destroys them with mortars.
What are the most recommended tactics for playing citory point with Panzer Elite?
Thanks.

If I understand you correctly, what you say it you can't reliably dig in, at least not to the level of the Wehrmacht or the Brits. But you don't need that to win; as long as you keep the upper hand and make the enemy bleed more manpower than you, you will consistently force him off the field and you can cap (and keep) 2 out of 3 VPs without much trouble.

Don't rely on Flakvierlings to hold your territory, at least not for now. They are rather expensive (they slow down your tech in the race for an armored car or Panzer IV or whatever) and fragile. Get more acquainted with the base units, and once you get a better "feel" of the game, consider deploying them but still remember that they are high risk units and you are probably better off spending your resources elsewhere.

If you do have either of the FlaK emplacements, do not recrew with Panzer Grenadiers if you can avoid it. You will lose an entire squad if you don't have Increased Squad Sizes, and if you do, you will still have to pay the hefty reinforcement cost. Use Luftwaffe Ground Forces instead (which you are guaranteed to have since you used them to deploy said AA guns)