How to Infantry?

[Mitzuriki]

First and foremost, there's so much choices when I open the squad tab,so much choices but i dont know whats the differences. I came from coh so I kept my mindset that no matter the infantry they'll die from 1 rifle shots or two.

I usually go for Aufklarer since they seem to always have MGs. I spread them out and keep them proned to defend points but they get wiped by eneny infantry standing,even in trenches they get killed rather easily. Any advice?

[Ale82]

It's totally dependent on what you prefer or fits best to what you feel you use or want most from your infantry. if in Dynamic campaign mode (you can also use this method to see the unit's stat before choosing the doctrine in other game mode etc, just have to bounce back and forth) Anyways, select a unit and then select one of its members and you will see all the following stats I will mention and more. There is also a library in the game you can use to research the individual units. Very different form COH and way more detailed in this regard FYI.

I like them to move fast so I look at their speed. you can find some with 1.0 who move fairly quick. To go with the fast movement if you can find a unit with high stamina that goes well with being faster. I also like them to not only have higher HP that you will find/see in higher teir units like 3+ through 5, but a higher number in regeneration/recovering rate for HP also - some units like GER Pioneers who are Tier 2 and are very good versatile units BTW have a 2.0 - 2.5 regeneration/recovery rate that helps a lot when out of aid kits and they self regenerate/recover over time, the more you level them up the higher that rate gets also so you can end up with a 3.0-4.0 regeneration rate at level 8 veterancy for example. They Become like mini Wolverines LOL. Can't just sit there and keep getting hit of course ...

Higher HP either to start off with or at a higher veterancy will determine and be a huge factor in their survival chance in say a trench after a grenade goes off inside or nearby or if they can take more than 2-3 shots of MG fire. However, they will get "one shot'ed" if they get hit with or receive way more damage than the HP they possess, for example with an AT rounds fired from an AA gun.

I feel that it is very important to have MG's, as many as I can have in the game. 2-3 depending on MG assistants per Squad. If you equip your MG Assist with the same or similar MG they will also resupply with MG ammo FYI. If you take the MGs from the Vehicles/tanks, when you resupply them on the deployment set up page the Vehicles and tanks will re-equip those MG's you took when you resupply them there on that page. That is one way to get more MG's in those squads. Same with AT weapons. Give Panzerfaust to other squad members before ending match and in that same page, when you resupply the Squad, that member that originally had it will get another one :)

These have some if not all the stuff I like and is important to me in my Infantry units and I really enjoy and have fun playing with as the GERs, the ones I highly recommend are; Sturmgrenadier Squad, Heavy Sturmgrenadier Squad (1944), Motorized Sturm Begleitgrenadier Squad (1944), Armored Pz.Sturmgrenadier Squad (1944), Blau Division Squad, Brandenburger Squad and Brandenburger Squad (1944).

My preferences, lots of long and med range weapons, can engage armor if need to with all, lots of fire power in regards to MGs and STG44s. Can take the time to move/add more weapons and versatility the way I detailed before here. Not a fan of the MPs due to how close you or the enemy have to be to start engaging or be effective. The less MPs I have the better and more use I get for those individual Soldiers. Idea there is to engage the enemy at a distance to keep them as far away as possible, further than grenade tossing distance. By the time they get close they will either be dead or hurt enough that one shot anywhere will kill that unit. Plus, If say the enemy unit has nothing but rifles and you have mostly MPs as in some units ... they will engage your unit and stay engaging form their max distance if you allow them to. That fight can become say 10 enemy rifles vs 5 of yours. you would have to try to maneuver with your Short range guys in order to win that batlle. Rather be able to engage as soon as I see the enemy and from a further distance to start delivering any damage that I possibly can, My units make quick work of those PPSHs etc :)

Lot longer than I intended but hope this helps a bit. Big fan of Infantry and use them a lot in the game :)

[Mitzuriki]

Do people use light flak weapons like 2cm flak cannons? Or are they a waste of manpower

[Saxhorn]

What gamemode are you discussing here? PvP? Conquest? Seems like Conquest.

I came from coh so I kept my mindset that no matter the infantry they'll die from 1 rifle shots or two.

Higher tier infantry are more like superman than humans. They get hit by bullets and explosions stand up and wander off like nothing happened.

I usually go for Aufklarer since they seem to always have MGs.

Aufklarer are scouts. They have 50 less health, 50 more stamina, see out to 120 metres (20 more then regular infantry) and have a wider arc of vision than regular infantry.

A screenshot will show the difference far better than words. Look at the SE corner of the minimap in this screenshot.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3417934642

A 'standard" tier two soldier has 200 health and 125 stamina. They see 100 metres.

Tier three get more health and other bonuses and tier 4 and 5 get even more 'buff' to their stats.

Panzergrenadier squads have two machine guns per squad. Regular infantry squads only get one machine gun per squad. This is historically correct. So if you want more MGs you want the motorised or mechanised squads.

To add to this confusion some troops are defensive and get additional health regeneration but move rather slowly whilst others like the Aufklarer move faster.

[Saxhorn]

Originally posted by Mitzuriki:

Do people use light flak weapons like 2cm flak cannons? Or are they a waste of manpower

AA guns are very good at destroying enemy infantry and light vehicles. Personally I prefer the 37mm/40mm to the 20mm/25mm.

[Mitzuriki]

Wow this game is so indepth,not just hardcore realism as they say. I'll keep that noted. So I assume some strat is to keep a few aufklarer at the front staying hidden and provide vision for your core or elite infantry and support weapons

[Phaiyah]

If multiplayer, you should position each man manually and shoot the machine gun in tactical direct control view. If vsing ai, you can just spread the squad in a line and prone on the ground.

Good weapon loadout is much more fun but none of that matters in the face of field guns, arty and vehicles. But panzerfausts and flamethrowers make a difference.

Vision is king in multiplayer. HP is king in singleplayer. HP lets your units survive longer which lets you keep spamming that medkit button. The ai will always shoot your men first if they are far enough in front of your big guns and vehicles (revealing their position). Multiplayer will stay hidden to ambush your high value units, so any extra vision helps.

[Lepidus Stupidius]

The Soviets might be a little easier to discern, since most of them have English names. They'll be called things like "Rifle Squad", or "Sapper Squad", rather than "Grenadiers" and "Pioners".

To answer your questions, there are many types of infantry. Anything named pioner/engineer/sapper is likely going to have explosives, "auflakers" are basically scouts(they are NOT good at fighting), and so on. Grenadiers are basically just infantry. Rifle squads will usually have MG's, and motorized ones almost always do.

Cover and positioning is crucial. One thing you must always keep in mind is the physical space, if there is a mound of dirt in front of one of your soldiers, they soldier simply cannot fire. Cover works by being a physical object that blocks physical projectiles. A sandbag works the same way it would work in real life, so if the enemy goes around the sandbag is useless. ALWAYS make sure your men can actually shoot clearly at the enemy, and make sure they have some cover. The only times your men should be relying on being prone for survival is when there is no hard cover available(smoke grenades can block enemy vision in this instances, allowing you to find cover)

Originally posted by Phaiyah:

If multiplayer, you should position each man manually and shoot the machine gun in tactical direct control view. If vsing ai, you can just spread the squad in a line and prone on the ground.

I disagree. DC'ing an MG all the time is very likely to result in tunnel vision, preventing one from controlling the rest of the battlefield, especially for a newer player.

Your point on AI is also very liable to go terribly wrong especially in conquest. Infantry being used effectively are very powerful.

[Phaiyah]

Originally posted by Lepidus Stupidius:

I disagree. DC'ing an MG all the time is very likely to result in tunnel vision, preventing one from controlling the rest of the battlefield, especially for a newer player.

Your point on AI is also very liable to go terribly wrong especially in conquest. Infantry being used effectively are very powerful.

In MP, you direct control the MG cuz u can just point and click (hold down) and it's laser accurate. It's the majority of the squad's power. The ai won't spray down like that .

For singleplayer, you are overcomplicating it. Just grab an elite squad (ie highest hp) and spread it in the widest line. Prone quite a big distance in front of your tanks (bait + vision).

Infantry are not "very powerful". Your tanks, arty, field guns and flaks are powerful.

Sandbags n trenches? Fk that. Prone in a line requires 0 micro. Just spam your medkits and your men won't die from anything that sandbags would've saved them from.

[Ale82]

Originally posted by Phaiyah:

Originally posted by Lepidus Stupidius:

I disagree. DC'ing an MG all the time is very likely to result in tunnel vision, preventing one from controlling the rest of the battlefield, especially for a newer player.

Your point on AI is also very liable to go terribly wrong especially in conquest. Infantry being used effectively are very powerful.

In MP, you direct control the MG cuz u can just point and click (hold down) and it's laser accurate. It's the majority of the squad's power. The ai won't spray down like that .

For singleplayer, you are overcomplicating it. Just grab an elite squad (ie highest hp) and spread it in the widest line. Prone quite a big distance in front of your tanks (bait + vision).

Infantry are not "very powerful". Your tanks, arty, field guns and flaks are powerful.

Sandbags n trenches? Fk that. Prone in a line requires 0 micro. Just spam your medkits and your men won't die from anything that sandbags would've saved them from.

When MG's are mounted yes, it's way more accurate and less spread even when you lean into it (hold trigger down). In direct control - FPS mode (E+T) using a MG that a Soldier is carrying ... different story, you have to shoot it in short burst because that thing climbs and spreads all over. Behaves different when just in direct control mode as somehow that spreads way less and stays in that "cone" of fire.

I like the way you think and play also. Pretty spot on with most of what your saying and suggesting.

You have to be smarter on how to use your infantry. I mostly use them to defend flanks or flank the enemy themselves, area denial so the enemy can't just move freely all over the map. They can also create chaos and distractions to the enemy so you can better maneuver on the enemy with more infantry or other units. when not contested by IDF, Armor or Vehicles they are good scouting, clearing and attacking other soft targets,

[Koto!]

Infantry is just really for vision and to avoid your other valuable units from getting swamp by enemy infantry. They die so your tanks won't die. That's pretty much it.

Get as much as you really need, ideally like 5-6 men per tank or weapon crew. Don't skimp out on them and get useless ones like the reserves. Spend some manpower and get like actual good men with accuracy/hp, but don't expect them to change the tide of war. It's too much micro and they die to bullets just the same.

[Phaiyah]

Originally posted by Ale82:

When MG's are mounted yes, it's way more accurate and less spread even when you lean into it (hold trigger down). In direct control - FPS mode (E+T) using a MG that a Soldier is carrying ... different story, you have to shoot it in short burst because that thing climbs and spreads all over. Behaves different when just in direct control mode as somehow that spreads way less and stays in that "cone" of fire.

Ahh, when you direct control your MG (not just for fun but for competitive edge), you must use them with tactical view not fps view (toggle with T).

In tactical view, you can point and click directly on the enemy unit... and hold down for really devastating mg fire. It's like, laser pointer accurate.

If you do it in FPS, yea... you ain't hitting anything.

[Ale82]

Originally posted by Phaiyah:

Originally posted by Ale82:

When MG's are mounted yes, it's way more accurate and less spread even when you lean into it (hold trigger down). In direct control - FPS mode (E+T) using a MG that a Soldier is carrying ... different story, you have to shoot it in short burst because that thing climbs and spreads all over. Behaves different when just in direct control mode as somehow that spreads way less and stays in that "cone" of fire.

Ahh, when you direct control your MG (not just for fun but for competitive edge), you must use them with tactical view not fps view (toggle with T).

In tactical view, you can point and click directly on the enemy unit... and hold down for really devastating mg fire. It's like, laser pointer accurate.

If you do it in FPS, yea... you ain't hitting anything.

Totally, 100% Tactical view (hotkey "E") is the way to go in your scenario and your statement about it being more accurate that way is true.

That climb and spread to a shoulder fired MG is insane and will not hit s hit in the game. Worst is when they are out of cover standing and MG is being fired from the hip LOL

[redriot77]

I always had a hard time to keep my infantry alive, but deploying a light field gun behind them (75mm) and cover the area with a heavy SMG (tripod or halftrack mounted) is improving their chance to survive.

[Ale82]

Originally posted by redriot77:

I always had a hard time to keep my infantry alive, but deploying a light field gun behind them (75mm) and cover the area with a heavy SMG (tripod or halftrack mounted) is improving their chance to survive.

I love and truly appreciate this type on play style. The Combined Arms and support approach. I do find myself playing this way a lot as it not only makes alot of sense but it is how they more than likely did it and still do it today due to lessons learned in all conflicts. Unfortunately, in this game, it gets to a point where this goes away and replaced by mostly armor or weapons systems on tracks or wheels to deal with everything and anything that comes out in mid to later stages of the game. Sadly, I don't bother much now with Tripod'd MGs, AT/Field guns, Artillery or Mortars much anymore. Start off with the best INF that I can with, have lots and lots of Engineers for when on the defense, some support like ammo and medics just in case and eventually it is all heavy tanks and one or 4 Sd.Kfz 7/1 (2cm) Heavy armored AA vehicle with that Quad mount! or something similar. But when I do play using combined arms and tactics I have lots of fun with that too till the AI starts to steam roll over everything LOL

[Rodingo]

For Dynamic Campaign:
I recommend keeping a few Snipers abreast and in between every two to three deployed riflemen squads. Preferred in some form of cover (barrels, low walls, ruined buildings) or concealment (bushes, prone, etc.). They are great at picking off that lone guy spotting your troops or even picking off crew from crew served weapons. Officers are also great for spotting for your own crew served weapons when you use their binoculars. Where ever possible, move your squads using bounding over-watch. Finally, don't be afraid/ashamed to get your squads to haul arse (double right click) back behind some type of cover when under overwhelming weapon fire. Don't just let them die in place if you can help it. That's when medics will become useful.

Ohh, and remember the hotkeys. The "ctrl" key is your friend when maneuvering infantry.