Get Stoned: A Complete Guide to Operation Stonewall

Operation Stonewall is daunting, and an entirely different ballgame to any other Game mode in CoH: ToV. Without any real tutorial, use this guide to be informed of what you can expect.

Preface

I have around 150 Stonewall wins, and about 15 Stonewall losses (not counting any before any stat resets). All those losses I can attribute to failures by teammates or the good old drop. I'm writing this guide because, seeing how no guide to this game-mode exists, it should be considered a tutorial on how to be a useful member of your team without being a burden or learning through trial and error.

I recommend you find an experienced player to carry you through your first game. Even if you follow this guide to its fullest extent, I cannot teach you the instinct, foresight or hindsight to be a competant Stonewall player.

I also recommend you do not play in groups of 4. This only increases the odds of someone dropping, and leaving your entire team at a disadvantage. Unlike other game modes, resources are divided based on the starting number of players, and a lost player is a signifcant number of resources lost.

Infantry

Stonewall will force you down two distinct paths; Infantry or Armor. Each has it's own strengths, but both have significant weaknesses.

For your first playthrough, I recommend going Infantry. Your choices from the start radically change depending on whether you are part of a team or going solo, but for the most part, you'll want a balance between cheap units, mobile units, and longer range units.

Engineers/Pioneers:
At 105/70 manpower for this unit respectively, do not lose this unit if you plan to repair anything, including your base. They come with the option to have flamethrowers, and while you'll scarcely use them recklessly, you might as well for the first wave. While Engineers have a small reinforce rate, Pioneers have a huge reinforce rate which is close to the cost of a basic unit. Do not be reckless with Pioneers or you will be losing precious manpower quickly.

Riflemen/Volksgrenadiers:
Cheap and highly expendable. Use these as early anti infantry units, or later to recrew support weapons. These guys will die extremely quickly, and the temptation is to blob them out of cover. Don't. Stick them behind cover and let the enemy come to you.

Rifleman several upgrades open to them. The most important is Sticky bombs, which will give you an option to damage vehicles. BARS are incredibly expensive, but will vastly improve their offensive output against Infantry, especially at close range, and allow them to scratch vehicles rear armor. Grenades are a waste of munitions, and can be skipped entirely.

Volksgrenadiers start with Panzerfaust, which can be your early anti vehicle option, though you can't rely on this for long. MP40s greatly increase their close combat potential against Infantry, but prevent you from picking up useful Recoiless Rifles and Bazookas.

Be careful when using any ability, as standing still is an open invitation to be shredded by your enemies.

Sniper:
One of the best infantry options in the game. With little effort, you can score an inhumane number of infantry kills. The American version can stealth and move better as he upgrades, while the German version can fire much faster to compensate for larger American squad sizes.

They are however, extremely fragile. Many players make the mistake of leading with snipers, or letting enemies get too close. Keep them far away with good sight lines, and use other units to spot for them. Their weapon range is further than their sight range, so let them shoot from beyond enemy range.

They are extremely useful at clearing Grenadiers and AT crews respectfully. If possible, flank the spawn point at range and use them to snipe infantry as they spawn, especially weapon crews. Don't get too aggressive with them, and don't fire into smoke.

Machine Gun:
The American MG is good for damaging and supressing enemy infantry and light vehicles at medium ranges. Use 1 or 2 with AP rounds to shred Pumas in the early game, but keep them in good cover or you'll be shredded even faster. Don't pop your AP rounds all at once, as the Puma usually backs off when you activate. Be patient and wait for it to return.

The German MG is good for supressing enemy infantry at range, and doing decent damage to jeeps. Keep them behind good cover and give them a good arc, and move in with your offensive units when the enemy infantry is surpressed.

Both MG's lose importance as the game progresses, but at 30 Manpower they are cheap enough to field without repurcussion. Use them to protect AT guns, and your AT guns will protect your MG.

Rangers/Grenadiers:
Often considered the End-game for Infantry. These are your Ant-Tank and Anti-Infantry options, but not without cost. You'll need munitions to round out their performance.

Rangers are the do everything unit. Most people will send dozens of them straight into a spawn, destroying a fair portion of the spawn, if not the entire spawn, before needing to retreat. Thompson SMG's make them extremely effective against Infantry at close range, while Bazookas do good damage if they manage to penetrate. You'll penetrate most vehicles, but for tanks you'll need to hit them from behind. Keep your Rangers in two units, and hit enemies from both sides, and from behind, to do good damage. You will however, get dozens if not hundreds of deaths, an offset of their low cost of 75 Manpower. They reinforce cheaply, but they cannot fight for extended periods. Sometimes you will drop Bazookas, in which you should pick them back up at the first opportunity. You may also consider keeping one unit without Thompsons to pick up Panzershreks, and be mindful not to send that unit up close.

Grenadiers are a far more defensive unit. They are more expensive, but get better and more versatile weapon choices. These are not meant to rush, but to fire from cover at enemies approaching. Each Grenadier requires 2 population cap, in which a single unit takes 8. Do not recrew support weapons with these guys, as it'll hurt you in the long run. Equip them with an MG42 and Panzershrek for rounded performance, or 2 Panzershreks to target enemy tanks. The first option is the more practical, while the second is better if your team lacks AT weapons.

Mortars:
Use with caution. Dangerous when used on the American side, especially if using Rangers aggressively. Useful when used on the Wehr side for clearing spawns and weapon crews before they become dangerous. Put them behind tall buildings and objects and keep them safe.

Armor

Stonewall will force you down two distinct paths; Infantry or Armor. Each has it's own strengths, but both have significant weaknesses.

Armor is not what you expect. Enemy AT weapons will shred your units faster than you expect, and your armored vehicles are usually inefficient at dispatching enemies.

The American side is not too Armor friendly. The Wehr side is more conducive however.

Jeep/Motorbike:
Don't build this. You get mobility in a game where firepower is more necessary.

Greyhound/Puma:
Good anti infantry options, and necessary anti vehicle options.

Upgrade your Greyhound to the max. Be careful with mines however; friendly fire is devastating, and placing mines too close to a spawn will trigger artillery. Park it behind heavy cover and let enemies come to you, and chase vehicle rear armor. These are fragile to AT, so be prepared to reverse out often. Don't repair in the middle of battle, as losing a repair unit is almost as bad as losing a Greyhound.

Puma you have choice. For the first wave, leave it with the 20mm gun to better tackle infantry. On wave 2, upgun it to 40mm to better tackle vehicles. These are more expensive than Greyhounds, so be additionally careful.

AT Gun/Stug:
The first powerful and economical options you'll get. Both cost low population cap.

The AT guns gives you a huge range to tackle enemy vehicles and tanks with. As the game progresses, better enemy armor will warrant you using AP rounds. 3 AT guns with AP rounds will make short work of any armor, including Pershings and Tigers. Support them well with Anti-Infantry options and they will serve you well. They are however, a large target for all Infantry, and enemy mortars and artillery. If you hear mortars and Nebels, wheel them back immediately. They can be recrewed cheaply, and you can even heal health and armor at the garage. Do so often.

Stugs are good all round tanks that you can make rather early. They will cream vehicles, and take their sweet time trying to shootdown infantry. Use them to draw enemy fire early on, and as defensive tanks later on. They are ineffective against later tanks, and are easily shot to pieces by AT guns, so as the game progresses, leave them room to reverse as necessary.

Tank Destroyer:
Americans get the M10 Tank Destroyer. It's more fragile than you think, and it's speed is unnecessary in this game mode. Prepare to repair it often, and try to use other units to give it line of sight, as it can fire slightly further than it's own sight range. Try not to move and shoot either, as it can trigger a fire glitch.

Sherman/Panzer4:
The second economical and powerful options you will get. They perform well against all enemies, though are still fragile enough when going toe to toe with other tanks.

The Sherman has several upgrade options, while the P4 gets upgraded through veterancy. Get the M1A1C as soon as possible, which will make all your Shermans much better against everything; penetrating tanks more often, and having a more devastating explosion against Infantry. Smoke Canisters are optional, and are good for preserving your Shermans. Use it carefully, as units shooting from smoke have their accuracy dropped too.

Pershing/Panther/Tiger
End-game. The Pershing and Tiger will both slaughter Infantry, whilst being equal only to each other. The Panther is your dedicated Anti-Tank Tank, and is good if you don't want to wait. The Pershing and Tiger will take much longer to repair, which you should keep in mind. Only strive for these with fewer players and while you have the bank.

Noteworthy Events

Each wave is a surprise, and knowing what's coming is important.

There are 16 waves, and the whole affair should take you exactly 1 hour, so prepare your time accordingly.

• Wave 1: Up to 4 Waves of Infantry. Number of waves is equal to the number of players. Get a solid line of Machine Guns, Snipers and Greyhounds/Pumas to cut them down. Don't get too close unless you want the artillery to give you light cover.
  
• Wave 2: Puma/Greyhound. Have someone use their Greyhound/Upgunned Puma to take it out, or have someone rush Rangers, AT Gun, or Stug. Use Riflemen with Sticky Bombs as a last resort.
  
• Wave 3 Onwards: Pumas will be upgunned, making Greyhounds dangerous to use. Rangers, AT guns or AP rounds from an MG is now necessary. Use Riflemen with Sticky Bombs if necessary.
  Also, Snipers may show up in some waves. Be careful with your own, use Greyhounds to hunt them down, or use more expendable Infantry to bait them out. They are far more accurate than yours and seem to have greater sight range, so be careful.
  
• First Double Wave: Stormtroopers, Panzershrek Grenadiers, and Sniper. Flamethrower Engineers, and Flamethrower Tanks on the German side, making vehicles extremely necessary on both entry points. Send one vehicle to each spawn to tackle each Flamethrower tank, as fire does extremely nasty things to your infantry.
  
• Following Wave: Stug/AT gun. Use Anti Tank to dispatch Stug; either have Rangers flank it, or an AT gun shoot it from afar. Be careful with Infantry, as all enemy tanks from now on can crush your infantry. On this wave, you should recieve a Supply Drop. If you need Munitions or Fuel (which is actually pretty unlikely) feel free to claim it. Some players use it to block the South corridor, which bottles up enemy tanks if done correctly.
  At gun is by itself, so use pretty much any infantry, especially Snipers, to take it down fast. Recrew it with Volks or Rifles quickly, and wheel it back to base.
  
• Second Double Wave: Stugs, Flamethrower Halftracks. Nothing is truly safe here, but focus on Halftracks if you have AT guns or Rangers, and focus on Stugs if you have the M10 Tank Destroyer.
  Riflemen and Airborne, followed by airdropped Airborne Recoilless Rifles and AT guns. Flamethrower Pioneers, MG guns, Snipers and MP40 Volks are useful here. Avoid using buildings, as satchel charges and grenades will do massive damage.
  
• Following Wave: Sherman/PanzerIV. A test of whether you have proper Anti-Tank measures, especially Anti-Tank Tanks.
  
• Following Waves: Some spawns will have Nebels and Mortars, so move in quick, or prepare to retreat your defensive units frequently.
  
• Third Double Wave: Panther and Ostwinds. Extremely deadly against Ranger spam, and deadly to everything actually. Use AT guns with AP rounds to shoot them afar while using a tank to hold them in place.
  Mixed Tank Destroyers, Flamethrower tanks, and AT guns. Try to balance what you send to each side, or wait until each spawns before responding.
  
• Following Wave: Pershing/Tiger. You will wish you had more AT guns.
  
• Following Waves: 2 Pershings/Tigers and assorted vehicles and tanks.
  
• Wave 16: 4 Spawn points. The first spawns a Tiger/Pershings. The second spawns an M10 Tank Destroyer/Panther. The third and fourth spawn an Anti-Tank infantry unit. Centralize your mobile forces, line up your AT guns and AT assets, and respond accordingly.

Do's and Don'ts.

A few additional pieces of advice.

• Do watch the map for attack notifications.
  
• Do try to co-ordinate for a more balance usage of Infantry and Armor.
  
• Do listen to your troops comments, especially if they mention incoming artillery strikes.
  
• Do warn teammates of impending smoke.
  
• Do warn teammates of your own off-map artillery use.
  
• Do inform allies of dropped weapons, especially Anti Tank weapons, especially if your allies are running Infantry squads.
  
• Do repair allied vehicles and bases if your repair units are idle.
  
• Do use attack move often to stop your units from overextending into additional enemies.
  
• Use AT guns and Snipers as the long range units they actually are.
  
• Do use cover.
  
• Do ask if other players want to use their Supply drops to block the South corridor. It is not necessary to win, and it is not guaranteed the enemy will spawn there. When doing so however, stagger the supply drops so you can more precisely slot them together to properly block tanks and vehicles. If most players are going close ranged infantry or tanks, blocking supplies may not be necessary and can be taken.

• Don't build MG nests, bunkers, Sandbags, Barbed Wire, or Mines until you have filled your Population cap. Mg Nests are expensive, and are almost the price of researching and producing an MG team. Sandbags and Barbed Wire cost Manpower and are easily crushed by vehicles.
  
• Don't build basic units and nothing else.
  
• Don't leave units too close to spawn points, as it will trigger artillery if that's the next spawn.
  
• Don't move your vehicle into combat if an ally is repairing it.
  
• Don't use mortars if an ally is using Rangers.
  
• Don't clog up narrow passageways.
  
• Don't force your allies to pick Armor or Infantry.
  
• Don't hold back and build something far down the tech tree when your team needs a unit soon or now.
  
• Don't join a Stonewall game thinking it'll take 15, 30 or 45 minutes. Because it will take 1 hour regardless how good you all are.
  
• Don't take other peoples supplies unless prompted, and in most cases don't take supplies being used to draw artillery fire or block the South Corridor.

2015 is an odd time to be posting a guide like this, but better now than never. Nonetheless, Good luck, and get Stoned.

[I've Been Better]

Here's an interesting strat I like to do as Wehr in Stonewall. This will only work for 1, maybe 2 teammates bc the others are needed for units. Spam volks because they are dirt cheap. Spam panzerfaust as AT, just pick up the supply drop and takeyour mates supply drops (they wont need it anyway). That gives you near infinite panzerfausts (also, salvage wrecks for more muni). Save all of your manpower for a Tiger. This is actually doable and suprisingly effective. Can get a very early tiger

[Gladeus-Ex-Machina]

@Ant Huh. Yeah, there is no fuel. Goofed on that.

[Fourmi]

Wait I thought fuel is completely absent in this gamemode? 5 year late comment, but still.

[Grimbart]

About the M10 "...as it can trigger a fire glitch"
We got several crahed stonewall games last time we played in 3 (4) man round.
Is there a connexion?

+ Good Guide, btw +

[Bicardi]

I have tried it, only ever won once or twice

[AveatorReborn]

I always like a good stone wall. Gave me a chance to relax after the third rifle flank on my mg. Great guide. I have played alot of stonewall back in the day, it was very fun working with people and learning the game mode. Everything I have ever learned is in this guide. Its that good.

[Noog]

lol. stonewall is way too easy imo

[BeeDub]

actually never played the mode, maybe ill have to check it out. Thanks for the great guide

[LeoKilo]

This definately needs more likes