PE counter for mass Strelky

Just wondering if anybody has a better way of dealing with vetted Strelky as PE. I tend to use Panzer Grenadiers with Group Zeal and MP44s but I find in the mid to late game once Strelky are in large numbers with ppsh in almost every confrontation I take heavy losses albeit inflicting heavy losses to, the problem is that if that keeps up for long my reinforcement cost wears me down eventually not being able to reinforce enough troops to deal with the increasing Strelky. To make matters even worse I am often engaged by Katyusha before I even make it to the Strelky. Moving a tank in to take down the Katyusha sees AT guns turned on my advancing armor and the Katyusha speeding away into the distance never taking any real damage.

Panzer inf tanks mow the Strelky down but they are always covered by AT guns which with their huge range means my tanks are kept at a distance forcing my Grenadiers to try and move through the Strelky pack to remove the AT threat which never ends well.

Also this is speaking from a perspective where I have owned 2/3 of the map all game not just owning 2 sectors and expecting a miracle.

Last edited March 13, 2011 at 9:09 AM by Monkeysphere

You have to inflict heavy losses in the earlier stages of the game to set yourself up for a good endgame. As PE, vet is your most powerful weapon since vet 3 defensive assault grens are barely scratched by strelky. ACs early on are very effective, when used right. Also, fallschirmjaeger are very effective from all ranges, so they are useful against charging PPSh strelky. Infantry halftracks are very effective early on but you will need to constantly repair them since conscripts had their penetration buffed. Scorched earth has good options like booby traps, sector and hummels to deal with late game blobs and to inflict a manpower drain on the enemy. Really, it's up to you. PE doesn't really have a shortage of anti-infantry options. It's really just getting yourself in a good position early with some good vet.

I hear what your saying but a few times now I have had total map control early on, my enemy controls maybe 2 or 3 sectors. Usually most of my PG are at Vet 1 when ppsh Strelky hit the field and it just goes south from there they keep pushing me back at every engagement and I lose a lot of ground sometimes losing a whole 4 man PG squad in a matter of seconds (5 PG squads MP44 vs 4 Strelky squads, I always use cover), usually by then I start to have some tanks rolling which is a help, It's not like I'm being steamrolled I just feel like there must be a better way. I am also finding that even triple vet the Strelky rip right through my PG making a late game advance very difficult.

I can probably give you better advice if you post a replay. It is difficult to give strategy advice when strategy completely depends on the situation.

I've also been having the same difficulties as Monkey has when playing PE.  Even if my Pgrens are all vet3 def Mp44 its no use.  Strelky with vet 1-2 vet can still beat vet3 Pgrens, not to mention Soviet global vet kicking in.

You just have to use MHT or AC support and hope he doesn't have an AT gun to hard counter those too.

Chancellor wrote:
You just have to use MHT or AC support and hope he doesn't have an AT gun to hard counter those too.

Lol. Hope, the ultimate weapon. ;)

Wirblewinds work pretty well.

Chancellor wrote:

You just have to use MHT or AC support and hope he doesn't have an AT gun to hard counter those too.

Good to know someone is having the same issue hard countering Strelky. Unfortunately I usually play against a friend of mine and he always has Strelky covered by AT guns and Katyusha and then tends to claw back along the map until I can get some heavy armor to start pushing back. Thankfully because of early map control that is usually not to far away.

Go T2-T3 for Armored cars and then Mortar HT. It should deal with blobs of infantry pretty well. Key is good micro, so repair (best use Luftwaffe ground forces) a lot and always be aware of your vehicles. It works good also in vanilla CoH PE, in EF PE is slightly buffed so it is even better. AC is good vs infantry, Mortar vs AT guns. Don't be too aggressive but also don't be too scared to use them. Focus on one part of the map only, inflict more damage than receive and you should be fine.

Due to heavy micro dependance PE is far most complicated to play so if you have problems to play it you have to train it more = play more. Also using of key shortcuts help too.

I concur with most advice here. Wirblewinds work extremely well if an infantry blob is caught out in the open and a MH just behind it will usually take the wind out of their sails.

I've been trying the AC as well lately and it works well early in the game but the first AT gun that catches it by surprise will usually punch a big hole in it.

My normal thing is getting a MH behind a building with some G43 grens in it as a forward point until I can call a Wirblewind and build a IHT with two squads of tank hunters. These can then usually advance further until tanks are encountered. I supplement this mobile "battle group" with a Marder at the earliest opportunity. It requires quite a bit of micro to work well but you've covered all the angles - high mobility, reasonable AT, moderate armour, (good) repair, (excellent) anti-infantry, and anti-air.

The most trouble is when the grens in the IHT have disembarked to fix the Wirblewind or Marder and get caught in a barrage. Very annoying, that...

I found the AC was the answer to my question, the supporting fire of the AC mid game is enough to give my PG an edge and early game it will inflict huge losses if used right. Loving it and Strelky problem solved, with the big losses early game the blob never appears in full force late game.

I know a lot of people are saying use Fallshcrim but I find them very weak against Strelky for some reason. Maybe not enough Vet into them because of the time it takes to call them in (3CP).

Falls are average troops in the open but in cover are incredible. Just sit in heavy cover with FG42s covering a road and strelky squads will melt.

AC + mortar HT its the obvious sollution.
This will force URSS micro on ATs to evade mortars and aim ac.

Monkeysphere wrote:
Just wondering if anybody has a better way of dealing with vetted Strelky as PE....Panzer inf tanks mow the Strelky down but

Kampf Gruppe tactics: Use all of your assets in combinations. The Strelky have little in the way of anti tank ability. Use your Rolling Bunker backed up by repair kets or PG or LW_grd The Tigers take an awefull licking and keep on ticking, especially if they are being constantly repaired. Watch out for mortars though. An AC_overdrive  on a hit a run strafe should probably take care of the mortars, but remember just strafe don't engage.