Tips to help YOU win more matches.

After having played many a game of Coh2, and closely studying the game, I wanted to provide some general tips and tricks to help other players.

Playing with randoms of all skill levels, I have noticed many common mistakes, or lack of game knowledge, even from those with 1000's of hours in the game.

The tips here will be a mix of those more general, and for help with 4v4 matches. If you try to apply some of the information in this guide, I am certain that you will win more matches and have a better time playing Coh2. This is intended to be structured as a kind of Coh2 Art of War.

• Triple Threat. Having 3 mainline infantry is a must for every match. Any fewer and you will struggle to hold a side, any more and you will notice the drain on manpower.

• Bring out AT early. Many newer players get caught off guard when they encounter a light vehicle, and are forced to mass retreat. To prevent this, I suggest getting an AT gun out there after the first few skirmishes. This is because a single gun will deter or get a cheeky kill on the vehicle, and help with heavy tanks later on. A single AT infantry unit will not be able to do much damage, and weakens your anti-infantry. AT Guns also cannot be suppressed by MGs, making them useful to push ahead to get an extra shot off.

• Under Pressure. Many players win a side, only to sit there and get pounded by mortars and other support weapons. If you suspect that your opponent has not retreated his support weapons, or left himself vulnerable, push him. It is also wise to try and de-cap his back-lines, which can get him to surrender. You can also use your engineers to run ahead and place mines to catch him off-guard.

• Tank Crush. Medium and Heavy tanks can crush infantry. While going at some speed, hit the unit at an angle and try to 'roundup' the models, micro-ing to run them over and maintain momentum. You can also come at infantry near a structure in such a way to crush them against a wall or building. It can be effective to sacrifice a T-34 to do this.

• Vehicle Verses Building. All vehicles can ram buildings, causing damage. You have to click as close to the wall as possible and the front of the vehicle will break into it. It is then best to reverse, and hit another section.

• Stealing before Healing. An effective strategy can be to steal your opponent's support weapons. Not only can this balance out or strengthen your army composition, but also cost your opponent lots of manpower. Try not to end up with 3 or 4 of his mortars though, otherwise it will ruin your pop-cap.

• Double Trouble. In Coh2, lots of units are much stronger in pairs, doubling their strength. This can be better than having one of each unit, which can be extremely micro-intensive. Only go above this in exceptional circumstances, or part of a specific build/strategy.

• Down but not out. Some matches are lost for silly reasons such as this. You think that your opponent is beat, and so relax, not bothering to make defences or reinforce troops. Then you get hit with his entire army, get crushed, either ending with you losing or another 20-30 minutes of game left. If you feel yourself winning, try to press the advantage. Try to make sure he can't come back, and help your teammates beat their opponents. If you feel that you are losing, take a step back and focus on building up your forces, think 'how can I win this game', and counter your opponents. Many a game seemed lost until your opponent blundered a tank rush and you win on VPs.

• Psychological Warfare. Winning a match is not always about completely annihilating the enemy, sometimes it is about making him feel that he has already lost. When you can fire artillery onto his base, or when you have four tanks while he has none, are good examples of this. Playing as though you have him beat can make him want to surrender. Seeing a tank rush in the back-lines is demoralising, even when otherwise they are winning. Being able to make a side seem impossible to take, with emplacements and support weapons can also make him think that the situation is hopeless. In reality, few situations are completely lost, but usually players will only continue if they feel like they have a decent army and enough VPs left to win. It is better to try and de-cap as much territory as possible as opposed to sending infantry all the way to his base, because your units can be forced back, while at a glance seeing the map turn red makes it appear as though the game is over. There is of course lots of nuance here but understanding the principle is what counts. Players tend to become more confident when in the late game they get together many tanks, focus these with many abilities and AT guns, and most players (especially axis) will give in.

• Trickling. By Trickling I mean when you have lost a side, and so send unit by unit forward, only to be instantly retreated. To capture a side requires multiple units and combined arms. This will include Infantry to take the positions, mortars to smoke and provide covering fire and MGs to suppress the enemy and hold the position. Make sure that unless your opponent is ill-prepared, you try to get these building blocks together and ready before you try and push. Time and manpower is wasted when you send a lone MG up with no support to get instantly retreated or wiped.

• Last on the point is a... Securing and draining the enemy's VPs is crucial for winning lots of matches. Players often don't realise at the beginning when their Points are being slowly drained until they have a couple hundred left, only to make a mad dash to secure them late into the match when it is usually too late. You will notice a stark contrast between games where beating the enemy back is the goal, or when VPs are the goal. If the game is a stalemate and draws into the late-game, then VPs almost always take centre-stage. To win, you need infantry. Many games have been lost because all one side has tanks, while the enemy has lots of infantry, and so can throw units onto the point to win, while the other sits there at max pop-cap driving around hoping to scare the other into submission.

• Pink Panther. The Pink Panther or Panther Rush is a tactic to counter enemy artillery/back-line vehicles. The Panther is fast and can take many hits, so is ideal for this task. If you feel that you are getting hit by many katyusha's or artillery, you can sacrifice a Panther by rushing through the front lines and hunting them down.

• As one door closes...When you have lost a side, and have suffered loses, it is best to move to mid and help your teammates. It is also wise to mine your flank as your opponent may well try to overwhelm you with a flanking manoeuvre.

• Mines, Mines, and Mines. It is usually a good investment to have your engineer equipped to deal with mines. You only need to spot them to disable them to your units, but they will still explode if attacked with explosives, or ran over with tanks. Placing Mines to cover flanks, in the opponent's back-lines, on retreat paths, etc, are all underused tactics in Coh2.

• AA all day. Just having one unit of Anti-Air is enough to counter most recon and commander abilities, which is essential in 4v4's.

• Quantity over Quality. In the late game, it is likely you have lost some of your earlier units. The temptation will be to only pump out expensive tanks and elite infantry. This is unwise if you have a poor composition, and will make it worse when you lose these units. Focus on having a strong base of 3 mainline infantry, an MG and Mortar, AT Guns etc. You must replace these, even if your opponent has high veterancy units. In some cases however you will be holding off to invest in a build which revolves around elite infantry.

• Toxicity. Perhaps the most important of all is toxicity. Trying to rile up your opponents and brag is immature and selfish, often distracting your teammates to read the chat, when you could be giving important information instead. It also makes you look stupid when you prematurely claim to have won, only to be crushed a few minutes later. Blaming teammates is also unproductive. Giving a 'GLHF' and 'GG' is what the best players do.