How to be a Pro Heroic Player (Skirmish)

Overview

Tricks to Win any Skirmish map (Solo/ Coop) whether Vanilla / Mods on Highest Difficulty HEROIC. Recommended Walkthrough

Introduction

Having issues with Heroic difficultly, or just very unforgiving mods such as Valour / Robz?

Today I will show you the tips and tricks needed to help you win on any skirmish map especially on the games highest difficulty (Heroic). I’ve been looking into the games files, and messing around with Mowas2 mechanics to find the best possible way for you to win, and dominate your opponents online, and offline(Or going against the AI).

This guide will help you open yourself to a new way of beating unwinnable situations. Here are the following topics that i will cover for you:

1. Hedgehog Shielding (*MVP of the game*)
2. Sandbag Tank Shielding
3. Unretakeable MP / Flags
4. Overpower Mines, Explosive HE shells, Dynamite and Satchel
5. Craters Defense
6. Stealth Straits AT GUN / Tanks
7. Fast Veteran Unit
8. Out of bound shot (AP/HE/MG)
9. Penetration over Buildings (AP Only)
10. Snipe AT Gun / MG / Sniper with AP rounds
11. Infinite Ammo

Optional: (Works only in Mod)
11. Hardcore Defense, Hedgehog & Mine Field (Successfully Defense with lower casualties)

Incomplete guideline, will update along the way.

Follow all this tactics, I mention assure you will increase your teamwork ability and win the game easily.

Hedgehog Shielding

Hedgehog shielding is the main MVP of the game.
Place it properly, makes your take tanks invincible to any type of AP / HE damage including small arms fire. It can also use to protect any indirect battery piece such as mortar / artillery.

It may not work properly for Assault Guns such as Stug, Hetzer due to low clearance.

How does it work?

Panzer IV protected with hedgehog armor, render enemy AI unable to aim due to path issue. Even if they can shoot and hit the hedgehog, it will absorb the hits.

A Flak 37 (88) almost VETERAN as no Tank can close in engage it

Methods:
To make sure the hull the fully protected. Using hills elevation to increase height of the protection.
Do not put it too high as you need to destroy it with dynamite / AT grenade if obstructed, always start with low height first. Along the way, you get the right feel for each type of tank

How to place:
1. Click Hedgehog in Inventory
2. While in GEAR ICON. Hold SHIFT + Left Mouse CLICK the placement to multiply

(Recommended place left and right first, then center. So AI don’t miss one of them)

Out of Sync / Desync Issues
In COOP / MP Make sure place 1 Hedgehog by normal control first. While in Gear icon, Drag by holding right mouse button towards any direction to place only 1 hedgehog. Once Complete, then you can custom placement as above steps

Pros:

Good for Defense Map
Good for Preserving the tank you favor most until end of the game
Good for Indirect fire battery piece
Make AT gun such as 88 almost invincible to aim / destroy
Good for getting VETERAN Infantry tricks if you have them.

Cons:

Does not protect your tank 100% (factor such as elevation). However enemy tank will have hard time targeting your tank as they need to move very close to get a shot. If you focus on tanks, they won’t able to get beat on you
Does not work well in hardcore mods such as Valour / Robz. Unless you use TANK hedgehog (Will cover in future)
Tanks with higher / lower clearance may not worth unless hedgehogs are elevated properly
Larger HE round can destroy the hedgehog bunch together easily
Larger AP round can rip the hedgehog per shot
Take sometime to build. More micromanagement
Not always available
Out of sync your game if you do not place normally first.
Can’t aim at Infantry that is crawling / anything that is too low
Bear in mind to cover the tank, as infantry can hurl AT grenade at your. (In Mods, AT grenade pretty much useless, except AT Launcher)
Consideration :
Instead of using hedgehog, sometimes depending on the height of tank and elevation of hill. You can use sandbag to match the exact height of the gun. As Sandbag can block / absorb any AP round except HE / 40mil. I will cover in next section

Sandbag Shielding

Sandbag shielding are just like hedgehog shielding but at lower height coverage. It perform better in a tank ditch exposing only turret as target when hedgehog is too high or not available. Not only that, sandbag can be place on elevated hill base on calculation. As Sandbags actually overpowered in the game which can block any AP round except HE / 40 mil.

How does it work

Maltida with sandbag shielding, making it impossible to aim and target at the hull due to low silhouette. Achieve the best protection in the game.

Crusader having a low clearance, are protected with lower / crumbled sandbags by driving over it. (20mm/ 40mm can destroy the state of the sandbag easily).

Method Tank Ditch Shielding:

Use 2 infantry to build sandbags shielding at the front and sides.

Method Crumbled / Lowered Sandbags:

Drive over it with tank / any vehicles
To make sure the left side of the sandbags are too high, you must build the sandbag one of at a time. By 1 draging the left side, another 1 draging to right side to achieve center balance middle.

This is what happen if you do wrong if you build both sandbag at the same time with 2 infantry after you drive over it.

Method Elevated Sandbang Shielding:

Move tank into position and calculate the height of the sandbags needed. (Without the tank, it’s very hard to perfect the calculation)
Must view from enemy angle to see what are expose before complete your build
Use 2 infantry to build sandbags shielding at the front

This is how it looks from the side. Look’s not fully protected from this angle

From Enemy angle, look how low that Valentine is. Imagine you are the enemy team, having hard time engaging if that’s a King Tiger instead.

Pros:

Together with Tank ditch and Sandbag shielding. You will achieve the best results for specific tanks
Sandbags are available most of the time
Can mixed with hedgehog as combination protection
Good for achieving best silhouette when hedgehogs are too high
Sandbags can be lowered by driving over the sandbags making it crumble.
Good for engaging enemy tank in close range using APCR when your tank is outclassed.

Cons:

Not easy to calculate and build the height of the sandbags when your tank is not available.
Once you build to high / low you wasted per sandbag
Not good for side protection armor due to low height of the sandbags
Can’t aim at Infantry that is crawling / anything that is too low
Bear in mind to cover the tank, as infantry can hurl AT grenade at your. (In Mods, AT grenade pretty much useless, except AT Launcher)

Unretakeable MP / Flags

Unretakeable MP / Flags aka Camping MP are possible. This method is very useful for defense mission to get plentiful of MP and make game more interesting to play.

How does it work?

Enemy overrun the flag but unable to retake the flag because one infantry is still alive beside the flag

Requirement:

Require square of 4 Sandbags (To prevent mortar / indirect fire that land beside the hedgehog)
Require Hedgehog 3×3, or more for perfection (To prevent tank roll up on your infantry)
Optional: Sniper / Officer Ammo paradrop. (For stealth, incase no hedgehog provided)

How to build:
1. Place square of 4 sandbags with 4 infantry to be fast.

2. Assign 1 infantry inside the sandbags. Hold fire, remove weapons to prevent him turning around
3. Build 3×3 hedgehog around the sandbags

If there’s gap, build more until you notice you can only place Infantry backward against cover.

Optional:
4. Use Sniper to throw ammo smoke on top of the infantry
5. When overrun. Make sure don’t provoke the enemy

Consideration

In Map such as Bocage, Pomerania Etc, you do not have hedgehog. You can use Sandbags and build every corner of the Round sandbags to prevent Infantry hogging the cover and shoot your hidden infantry when they spot you. Remember to use Ammo drop to hide your unit, as tank cannot drive through the round sandbag in this map only.

Craters Defense

Every thought those craters, when you place a sandbag in front of it, it’s so effective when in cover. But it take’s time for tank to make those craters. So ever wonder how to make it fast by just using infantry?

Yes, it’s possible. By using a tank round in inventory, and explode it using a grenade. Mind blown eh?

Condition:
1. 76mm HE Above
2. Sandbag
3. 1x Grenade

Steps:
Grab 1 HE shell, in inventory

Drop HE Shell in the ground, and throw a nade.

Stay clear of blast radius, cause it’s friendly fire object

After craters are made, place sandbags in front of it. Not too deep and not too shallow

The final results should be like this

Pros:

Good for defending in any mission, including PVP
Resort to prone after sandbag down. 2nd Cover for Infantry incase sandbag destroyed
PIAT, Grenade Launcher are best for this type of cover
Can throw surprises grenade to enemy
MG stationery can be place to provide better cover

Cons:

The only cons is in PVP, the enemy will use it against you

Stealth Straits AT GUN / Tanks

Ever thought bout how to be stealth in tank / AT gun. As in the game, firing or not you still get compromise / spotted even so.There’s a way to do it

How does it work?

Chaffee uncrew in nearby bushes holding fire

Chaffee recrew the tank and engage 2 enemy tank from beside / behind.

Chaffee engage the second tank from behind. Achieving flawless victory

Method:

Uncrew and Hide your crew in bushes
Hold fire all time
Make sure your unit place at the corner of the map so you don’t get spotted by passing enemy infantry easily

Pros:

Good for mission that is scripted by triggers / no timer enemy reinforcement
Good for taking out heavier tank when your tank is outclass
In tank defense map, it’s good for spear head from behind as last tank standing.
Works on both AT gun / any tank

Cons:

Micro management, mostly likely you can only do it with 1 type of unit
Not suitable tactic when multiple enemy tanks are rolling at the same time.
Your crew might get spotted if you do something silly / enemy infantry passing by
Not suitable for heavy defense map
Not suitable stationing at middle of the map, unless you are professional at hiding your crew

Out of bound shot (AP/HE/MG)

Ever find out, your AP luckily destroy a tank that is beyond your distance. Yes it’s possible to make it happen with luck and skills.
You can even use this tactics in mods such as ROBZ such as Machinegun that is so devastating which can kill infantry with few shot only and they could not fire back at your especially when they are in defense position.

How does it work

In this Scenario, Ho-Ni 3 is engaging Sherman that is out of distance.

However the tree is still in range, shooting AP round through the tree penetrate and stream line the shot losing a bit of AP value in the progress

Sherman was hit by the AP round penetrate from the tree

Sherman effectively was destroyed. Ho-Ni 3 live another day to engage another tank

What weapons does it works with?

Direct fire AP / HE
Small fire arms & MG (Not useful in Vanilla but very useful in mods dealing high damage)
Bazooka / AT launcher
Infantry Killer 20mm, 40mm, .50cal

Method:
1. Tree
2. Human
3. Rocks
4. Destroy-able Buildings
5. Anything as long can penetrate / go over the objects even Hills

Consideration:

Anything with small rounds have hard time penetrating / counter with higher armor value. May not even penetrating at all
Sometimes it may take few shot to get accurate shot.
Sometime firing too accurate towards the object, hit the object that could not penetrate throughly. Hence you need to compensate the accuracy by moving the tank or changing ammo.

Pros:

Good for Tank destroyers / any vehicle lack of armor value to compensate for this tactics
Professional tactics that works on every mission even in PVP
Good for counter tank destroyers, due to tank destroyer have longer range than standard tank.

Cons:

Only works on direct fire, not for indirect battery piece
Does not work well when you get rushed /bliztkrieg
Sometimes take few shot to get accurate shot.
Sometime firing too accurate shot hit the object that could not penetrate.

Snipe AT Gun / MG / Sniper with AP rounds

Ever wondering HE sometime are not accurate taking down VIP target. Or HE have reduction of distance when taking out AT Gun. Fear not, use AP round to engage vital target at maximum distance while maintaining safe distance.

How does it work?

HE round unable to target AT gun at a distance including depleted accuracy

Notice how AP round able to reach the distance of the AT gun and more accuracy

AP hit the target, decrew and high chances kill the crew and damage the gun.

Method:
Any vehicle that fire AP round

Consideration:
When engaging AT gun, especially any vehicle. Make sure counter with identical similar caliber as larger round means they could outrange you by the time you get close. Example: Counter a Flak 37 (88) with 76mm is still acceptable. However countering a Flak 37 (88) with 57mm are asking someone send their tank to die. Despite the statement, AT gun vs AT gun is exceptionally due to stealthier and more cover to get close.

To make sure the crew doesn’t have time recrew the Gun. Always make sure the gun the damaged before closing in to engage with HE. By damaging it, shoot it with AP multiple times.

In mods such as Valour / Robz. AP does destroy AT gun without the use of HE. However this trick hardly work in the mods, due due most AT gun have further firing distance than standard gun tank. Unless you counter with same gun.

How to tell enemy AT gun is damaged?
The barrel not yet greyed in color