Profile of Mr.Smith

As Cookies suggested, the best strategy vs JT in 1v1 is to make sure it stays alive. As long as the JT stays at Vet0:
- It cannot hurt your infantry
- A KT cannot be called in
- The opponent is wasting 20 popcap on a unit with no use in the game.

If you must kill the JT (anything in 2v2 or above), you have the following options:
- PIAT blobs (3 volleys from 6 PIATs will kill the JT, even frontally).
- Firefly Tulips (because Tulips go through buildings, like Pak43 shots).
- Spamming smoke (Cromwell/Comet) to support your PIAT blob/advance towards the JT.
- (bigger modes) Bait it with a Crocodile (camp some VPs with the Crocodile, while you leave it behind a shotblocker. If the enemy wants the Croco dead, he has to expose the JT)

If you are having trouble vs OKW Elite infantry, consider getting Heavy Sappers (Anvil). As long as you do not give your sappers any additional weapons, they will win you the attrition war, by a wide margin. Heavy Sappers are the Osttruppen from Hell.

If you feel you are running out of popcap:
- start building some bunkers instead. They cost literally 0 popcap.
- Consider building ammo caches. Ostheer has the best offmap abilities in the game, by far, for the modes where popcap matters. Offmaps cost no popcap.

@OP You need to define who you are comparing Ostheer to, and what units you think Ostheer is at a disadvantage in (Except for Pioneers)?

Since, you aren't defining it, I'm going to go for a case-by-case analysis.

If I wanted to rate factions with respect to popcap from strongest to weakest, I would say it's:
- USF (with vehicle decrew)
- OKW
- OST
- Soviets
- UKF
- USF (without vehicle decrew)

USF
USF practically has no popcap limit. There is no use trying to compare to them. If USF couldn't decrew their vehicles, OST would have an advantage over them (read on)

Soviets
Yes, Conscripts and Combat Engineers cost a bit less popcap-per squad than Grenadiers and the like. However, for everything else, Ostheer beats Soviets in terms of popcap head on:

Fire Support:
- Soviet 6-man crews actually take on additional popcap.
- At the same time, OST has equal-or-far-better weapon teams to Soviets
- Katyusha costs exactly the same popcap as the Panzerwerfer, yet is notably inferior
- (and also better tools to punish pak-walling)

Tanks:
- Stug: 8 popcap
- Panzer4: 12 popcap
- T34: 10 popcap

Thus, Soviets can't be better than Ostheer in terms of popcap. Instead, it seems a lot like the opposite.

UKF

Infantry:
- Grenadiers and Tommies cost about the same popcap (Grens; 7, Tommies: 8)
- At the same time, Grenadiers are far more versatile than the Tommies. This allows you to save popcap from elsewhere

Utility:
- Healing costs popcap to deploy for the UKF.

Engineers:
- Sappers repair way faster than Pioneers. Their higher popcap cost (8 vs 6) really pays off.
- This is the only advantage UKF has over ostheer

Tanks:
- Panzer is superior to Cromwell, yet costs exactly the same popcap (Valentine also has 12 popcap)
- Panther: 16 popcap ... Comet/Churchill: 18 popcap
- 222: 5 popcap, Stug: 8 popcap ... AEC: 8 popcap

OKW

They do everything that Ostheer can do, but better (except for the Sniper and the Stug).

- PanzerIV/Panther cost exactly the same popcap as Ostheer versions, but are notably better.
- Schewer costs no popcap to deploy, yet requires a significant investment from the enemy to tear down.
- MG34 has the least popcap in the game, also despite being far superior to 50cal/Vickers, when vetted.

There is no need to delve into further details, because they should be obvious to everyone (Volks, Panzerfussiliers)

Lol, Elchino

OST
Ostheer On Life Support Doctrine (alternative name: German Arty Party Doctrine)
- Artillery Flare (OKW)
- LeFH18
- Command P4
- JU87 Loiter
- Stuka dive bomb

We felt that Stuka reconaissance pass made dive bombing patterns very predictable, and thus, boring. We hope that the addition of Artillery Flares to the Ostheer's arsenal will help maintain the fast-pacing of the game well into the end.

UKF
Mobile Defense Doctrine (aka Terminal Tactics Regiment)
- Rifle Grenade
Tommies will passively launch riflegrenades every 5 seconds, while they remain garrisoned in buildings.
- Logistics Support Glider
- Captain
The captain gives a -33% damage taken to all units in the occupied sector
- Kangaroo Carriers
Garrisoned PIAT teams will be able to accurately track enemy targets, while the carrier is on the move.
- Infiltration emplacements
Emplacements can now spawn out of ambient buildings.

actually the stug uses a different ability. it completely disable the main gun.

for 15 seconds

LOL. Now, that's something I didn't know

I knew that the ability was a bit OP, since it deals full damage (for the Stug-E that's double damage), unlike other disabling abilities. I usually attributed the inability to fire back due to elevation etc. Nope!

Brb, gotta buy the Mechanized Assault commander.

you can still shoot just need to move the tank

But it actually doesn't................it locks the turret

Play the game, try out the Stugs vet ability and try again

NO U. I actually just tried it, and Firesparks is correct.

It's a completely different critical from the UKF sniper one (which shares the same icon). The gun is completely disabled for 15 seconds. Even if you place your stug directly in front of the enemy gun, you can't be fired upon.

In retrospect, the 4-second stun shot seems like a milder version of this (at least you would need to waste a ton of munitions to chain-stun the enemy; unlike now).

Buff front armor of Churchill, reduce health to 800.

There are a ton of things on the field by the lategame that completely ignore armour. Thus a 800HP thing with 4 speed will be instantly deletable by:
- Paks (critical shot ignores armour)
- Stugs (critical shot ignores armour)-- Even Stug-E!!
- Elefants/JT/Pak43 (need I say no more?)
- Schreck deflection damage
- LeFH spam
- JU87 loiter (the higher the armour, the higher the chance for a ridiculous deflection critical)
- Sturmtiger (In fact, Sturmtiger will hardcounter a Churchill regardless of the HP, due to the ridiculous crits it gives to surviving tanks).

Plus, something with 4 speed is so trivially flank-able it will melt in under 5 seconds. That's not enough time to give glasscannons the opportunity to punish the enemy. (unless we are thinking of buffing Firefly RoF to Krupp-melting levels).

Firesparks has had the best proposal to date:

310 armour (panther)
1280 HP (King tiger)
Lower penetration
(perhaps) reduce/remove speed penalty with smoke screen
(keep price to a similar level)