History VideoGame / CompanyOfHeroes

** The second game has become rather infamous for this among the playerbase, as it's a decade-old game with years worth of patches that has no official Wiki keeping track of all of them. Any information you look up online may be years or even a decade out of date, and even the official steam page lists outdated information (such as the much-lambasted "faction guide" chart that is hilariously off-meta). For instance, most online sources still state that the Sturm Offizier unit of OKW buff enemy soldiers if it use its forced retreat ability, but that has been altered in the latest patch to debuffing itself instead. Serealia, a popular user-made website listing all unit stats datamined from the game, hasn't been updated since 2021 and lacks changes from the final patch of the game. The closest thing to an official stat page you can find is the patchnotes, but then you have to go through the trouble of remembering which change is patched out by another change down the line.

** Oberkommando West: ''Balanced Ranger/Berserker''. Unlike the OST, OKW early and mid-game units generally cannot go toes to toes with the Allies, with the sole exception of the Sturmpioneer. Their mainline infantry, Volksgrenadier, is widely considered to be the worst of its kind due to being a MasterOfNone that lacks the cheapness of Conscripts and the late-game firepower of all other mainlines. In return, the faction get superior mobility and ambush potential, best exemplified in the Raketenwerfer [[note]]fast and can both camouflage and retreat, but isn't armored like other AT guns and go down pretty quickly[[/note]], the Puma[[note]]anti-tank light vehicle that can literally run circles around larger tanks and has a long range, but goes down after two shots[[/note]], the Flak Half-track [[note]]powerful anti-infantry light vehicle that can rapidly kill and suppress enemy squads, though it suffers from a lengthy setup time and requires good positioning, preferably where the enemy least expects it[[/note]], the Kübelwagen[[note]]is very fragile, but is extremely fast, deadly on the flanks and can rapidly capture points[[/note]], and Sturmpioneers[[note]]short-ranged, but will absolutely shred any infantry once they manage to close the distance. They are pretty much OKW's sole trump card in the early game and are practically required to give the middling Volksgrenadiers much needed backup[[/note]]. Their early game kit also tailors them toward a Berserker playstyle, as they can't build any form of non-doctrinal static defense nor early MG, forcing them to attack aggressively with their fragile Kübelwagen and Sturmpioneers to keep the enemy on the backfoot. Late-game OKW, on the other hand, transitions into ''Elitist Unit Specialist'' with the addition of powerful but expensive, specialized and manpower-intensive tanks that all have a role, plus a power long-ranged infantry unit that can't fight vehicle.
** United States Forces (''2''): Balanced Ranger Industrialist. USF units generally come with very high base stats, mobility, and self-sufficiency, though they pay for this with lesser staying power due to lacking long-ranged options. For instance, Riflemen are strong enough to trade blows with other factions' elites at close range, but getting there requires careful maneuvering lest half the squad dies. To aid them in their maneuvering, the USF has ample access to smoke grenades, which can shield their infantry both from enemy fire and [=MGs=] without the need for mortars. A major strength of the faction is their non-doctrinal ambulance, which allows for the mobile replenishment and healing of field units. This allows their units to recover everywhere without having to return to base, affording them a much greater range of movement. In terms of vehicles, the self-sufficiency theme of the USF is further emphasized with crews that can disembark to repair or capture territories. Said disembarkment mechanic, in addition to the Captain's production-boosting ability, also helps the USF to be an Industrialist faction, given that the crew only costs 4 population points while their tanks often cost 12, meaning that the player can simply remove the crew from a tank to lower their current population and gain both lowered upkeep and more pops to build tanks.

** Oberkommando West: ''Balanced Ranger/Berserker''. Unlike the OST, OKW early and mid-game units generally cannot go toes to toes with the Allies, with the sole exception of the Sturmpioneer. Their mainline infantry, Volksgrenadier, is widely considered to be the worst of its kind due to being a MasterOfNone that lacks the cheapness of Conscripts and the late-game firepower of all other mainlines. In return, the faction get superior mobility and ambush potential, best exemplified in the Raketenwerfer [[note]]fast and can both camouflage and retreat, but isn't armored like other AT guns and go down pretty quickly[[/note]], the Puma[[note]]anti-tank light vehicle that can literally run circles around larger tanks and has a long range, but goes down after two shots[[/note]], the Flak Half-track [[note]]powerful anti-infantry light vehicle that can rapidly kill and suppress enemy squads, though it suffers from a lengthy setup time and requires good positioning, preferably where the enemy least expects it[[/note]], the Kübelwagen[[note]]is very fragile, but is extremely fast, deadly on the flanks and can rapidly capture points[[/note]], and Sturmpioneers[[note]]short-ranged, but will absolutely shred any infantry once they manage to close the distance. They are pretty much OKW's sole trump card in the early game and are practically required to give the middling Volksgrenadiers much needed backup[[/note]]. Their early game kit also tailors them toward a Berserker playstyle, as they can't build any form of non-doctrinal static defense nor early MG, forcing them to attack aggressively with their fragile Kübelwagen and Sturmpioneers to keep the enemy on the backfoot. Late-game OKW, on the other hand, transitions into ''Elitist Unit Specialist'' with the addition of powerful but expensive, specialized and manpower-intensive tanks. The Panzer IV ausf. J has the heaviest armor out of all the mediums, but it's also the most expensive and slowest to come out, making it possible for the enemy to already have two tanks by the time one arrives. The Jadgpanzer and Panther are stronger than Pz.IV in a tank duel, but they can't fight infantry, relegating them to a purely anti-tank role. That being said, they fulfill two different niches of tank destroyer, with the former being a long-range tank sniper and the latter being a LightningBruiser that can perform quick dive behind enemy line to rapidly destroy vital targets (like Katyushas or damaged tanks). The Königstiger is a powerful all-rounder, but it's slow and has an average sight line, making it more suited for defense as it can't chase down retreating tanks to finish them off. Late-game OKW also gains access to Obersoldaten, which is a powerful long-range unit that lacks a snare, requiring it to be paired up with Volks to deter vehicles.
** United States Forces (''2''): Balanced Ranger Industrialist. USF units generally come with very high base stats, mobility, and self-sufficiency, though they pay for this with lower staying power due to a lack of long-ranged options. Riflemen are strong enough to trade blows with other factions' elites at close range, but to get there they need careful maneuvering lest half the squad dies. To aid them in their maneuvering, the USF has ample access to smoke grenades, which can shield their infantry both from enemy fire and [=MGs=] without the need for mortars. A major strength of the faction is their non-doctrinal ambulance, which allows for the mobile replenishment and healing of field units. This allows their units to recover everywhere without having to return to base, affording them a much greater range of movement. In terms of vehicles, the self-sufficiency theme of the USF is further emphasized with crews that can disembark to repair or capture territories. Said disembarkment mechanic, in addition to the Captain's production-boosting ability, also helps the USF to be an Industrialist faction, given that the crew only costs 4 population points while their tanks often cost 12, meaning that the player can simply remove the crew from a tank to lower their current population and gain both lowered upkeep and more pops to build tanks.

** Red Army (''2''): ''Technical Spammer'', with a tiny bit of Brute Generalist sprinkled in. Most of the Red Army's units are cheaper and/or larger but are individually weaker than their German counterparts. They make up for this with versatility, as many of them have special abilities that grant them additional roles. The best example of this is the humble conscripts, who are terrible in a straight-up fight, but they make up for this with a mountain of utilities, being an excellent anchoring squad that can quickly sprint toward vehicles to cripple them, being an excellent punisher of static defense with molotovs, and being a mobile reinforcement squad that can merge with other units to save them from getting wiped. However, the Red Army is not exclusively locked to being Technical, having a split tech tree that allows the player to choose between specializing in support weapon or special infantry first. Choosing support weapon further bolsters the Technical aspect of the faction, while going for special infantry transitions it into more of a Brute Generalist with the addition of the powerful Penal Battalion unit, which can beat most Axis non-elite infantry and even pose a threat to vehicles with PTRS upgrade at the cost of being much more expensive and less versatile. Regardless of the path chosen, the final two tiers of the factions are the same, bringing the faction back to Technical with vehicles that are generally weaker than their German counterparts but make up for it with meaningful special abilities (like the T-34 being able to ram and the SU-85 being able to self-spot).

** United States Forces (''2''): Balanced Ranger Industrialist. USF units generally come with very high base stats, mobility, and self-sufficiency, though they pay for this with lower staying power due to a lack of long-ranged options. Riflemen are strong enough to trade blows with other factions' elites at close range, but to get there they need careful maneuvering lest half the squad dies. To aid them in their maneuvering, the USF has ample access to smoke grenades, which can shield their infantry both from enemy fire and [=MGs=] without the need for mortars. A major strength of the faction is their non-doctrinal ambulance, which allows for the mobile replenishment and healing of field units. This allows their units to recover everywhere without having to return to base, affording them a much greater range of movement. In terms of vehicles, the self-sufficiency theme of the USF is further emphasized with crews that can disembark to repair or capture territories. Said disembarkment mechanic, in addition to the Captain's production-boosting ability, also help the USF to be an Industrialist faction, given that they cost only 4 population points while their tanks often cost 10 or more, meaning that the player can simply remove the crew from a tank to both temporarily lower the manpower upkeep and bypass the population limit, letting them spam way more tanks than other factions.

** United States Forces (''2''): Balanced Brute Industrialist. USF units generally come with very high base stats, mobility, and self-sufficiency, though they pay for this with their basic infantry not having much in ways of special abilities. Riflemen are strong enough to trade blows with other factions' elites at close range, but they lack the special gimmicks that other mainline infantry has (like Conscripts being able to reinforce other units or Grenadiers launching an instantly-detonating grenade). Their infantry force also doesn't need to rely much on fancy combined-arms trickery, considering that the basic Rear Echelon and all of the officer units have long-ranged smoke grenades toshield infantry from [=MGs=] without mortars, not to mention the ample access to bazookas making AT guns not as vital early on. A major strength of the faction is their non-doctrinal ambulance, which allows for the mobile replenishment and healing of field units. This means that as long as a unit isn't critically endangered, it can always be pulled back a short distance to recover before rejoining the fray, allowing the USF to send waves after waves of fresh troops at the battered enemy until they give ground. In terms of vehicles, the self-sufficiency theme of the USF is further emphasized with crews that can disembark to repair or capture territories. Said disembarkment mechanic also unintentionally cause the USF to be an Industrialist faction, given that they cost only 4 population points while their tanks often cost 10 or more, meaning that the player can simply remove the crew from a tank to both temporarily lower the manpower upkeep and bypass the population limit, letting them spam way more tanks than other factions.

** United States Forces (''2''): Balanced Brute. USF units generally come with very high base stats, mobility, and self-sufficiency, though they pay for this with their basic infantry not having much in ways of special abilities. Riflemen are strong enough to trade blows with other factions' elites at close range, but they lack the special gimmicks that other mainline infantry has (like Conscripts being able to reinforce other units or Grenadiers launching an instantly-detonating grenade). Their infantry force also doesn't need to rely much on fancy combined-arms trickery, considering that the basic Rear Echelon and all of the officer units have long-ranged smoke grenades that can shield infantry from [=MGs=] without mortars, not to mention the ample access to bazookas making AT guns not as vital early on. A major strength of the faction is their non-doctrinal ambulance, which allows for the mobile replenishment and healing of field units. This means that as long as a unit isn't critically endangered, it can always be pulled back a short distance to recover before rejoining the fray, allowing the USF to send waves after waves of fresh troops at the battered enemy until they give ground. In terms of vehicles, the self-sufficiency theme of the USF is further emphasized with crews that can disembark to repair or capture territories. Their tanks, like most of the roster, are generally lacking in the special gimmick department, which they compensate for with versatility or raw damage-boosting ability.

** United States Forces (''2''): Balanced Brute. USF units generally come with very high base stats, mobility, and self-sufficiency, though they pay for this with their basic infantry not having much in ways of special abilities. Riflemen are strong enough to trade blows with other factions' elites at close range, but they lack the special gimmicks that other mainline infantry has (like Conscripts being able to reinforce other units or Grenadiers launching an instantly-detonating grenade). Their infantry force also doesn't need to rely much on trickery, considering that the basic Rear Echelon and one of the required officer units have access to long-ranged smoke grenades that can shield infantry from MGs without mortars. A major strength of the faction is their non-doctrinal ambulance, which allows for the mobile replenishment and healing of field units. This means that as long as a unit isn't critically endangered, it can always be pulled back a short distance to recover before rejoining the fray, allowing the USF to timely send waves after waves of fresh troops at an enemy position until they give ground. In terms of vehicles, the self-sufficiency theme of the USF is further emphasized with crews that can disembark to repair or capture territories. Their tanks, like most of the roster, are generally lacking in the special gimmick department, which they compensate for with versatility or raw damage-boosting ability.

** United States Forces (''2''): Balanced Brute. The USF comes with extremely high base stats at the cost of their units generally not having much in the way of special abilities. Riflemen, their bog standard infantry, can trade blows with even the elites of other factions at close range, but they have no special gimmicks like a long-ranged grenade that detonates instantly or an ability to replenish other units. Further emphasizing the bruteness of the USF is their non-doctrinal ambulance, which allows for the replenishment and healing of units on the field without the need to retreat. This means that as long as a unit isn't critically endangered, it can always be pulled back a short distance to recover before rejoining the fray, whereas other factions trying the same would have to retreat it all the way back to the base and remove it from the fight entirely. This can create the impression that the USF has endless waves of meat to throw at the enemy, as Axis forces may maul two squads, only for them to come back fully healed not even a minute later. In other words, the USF in this game is better at [[WeHaveReserves attritional warfare]] than the Soviets.

** United States Forces (''2''): Balanced Brute. The USF comes with extremely high base stats at the cost of their units generally not having much in the way of special abilities. Riflemen, their bog standard infantry, can trade blows with even the elites of other factions, but they have no special gimmicks like a long-ranged grenade that detonates instantly or an ability to replenish other units. Further emphasizing the bruteness of the USF is their non-doctrinal ambulance, which allows for the replenishment and healing of units on the field without the need to retreat. This means that as long as a unit isn't critically endangered, it can always be pulled back a short distance to recover before rejoining the fray, whereas other factions trying the same would have to retreat it all the way back to the base and remove it from the fight entirely. This can create the impression that the USF has endless waves of meat to throw at the enemy, as Axis forces may maul two squads, only for them to come back fully healed not even a minute later. In other words, the USF in this game is better at [[WeHaveReserves attritional warfare]] than the Soviets.

** Wehrmacht Ostheer (''2''): ''Balanced Unit Specialist/Turtle''. With the addition of the USF and UKF, the Ostheer is no longer the Elitist faction it was back when it had only the Soviet to contend with. Their mainline infantry, Grenadier, are weaker but cheaper than the mainlines of the two Western Allied factions, making them Balanced in the current meta. Where they still shine are their excellent support weapons and vehicles, which are highly specialized and need to work in conjunction with each other. Grenadiers may not do much in an early-game fight, but they can defend the MG-42, which is bar none the best MG in the game and can force entire blobs to retreat thanks to its excellent suppression power. Bolstering the Grenadiers' lackluster pushing power is the 222 Armored Car, which can kill infantry and support weapons but is weak against other armored light vehicles, unlike the multi-purpose T-70 of the Soviet and the Stuart of the US, necessitating support from a Pak-43 or infantry with Panzershreck. Of all the stock Ostheer vehicles, only the Panzer IV can be said to be multi-purpose, as the Brummbär, Ostwind, Flame Halftrack, and Panzerwerfer are specialized against infantry while the Stug and Panther are specialized against other vehicles. The Ostheer also has elements of Turtle, as it's the only faction with non-doctrinal zero upkeep static defense, allowing a late-game Ostheer to convert excess munition into MG bunkers to guard resource points. Ostheer as a whole also specializes more towards defense than attack, given that it has only 4-man squads without doctrines and the MG-42 upgrade for Grenadiers require them to be stationary to fire, making the unit more suited for defending against incoming enemy attacks than leading attacks themselves.
** Red Army (''2''): ''Technical/Brute Spammer''. The Red Army flip flops between Brute and Technical, but if the player chooses to build the Support Weapon Kampaneya first instead of Special Rifle Command, then they can be played solidly as Technical for the early-mid game. During this time, most of their units are cheaper and/or larger but are individually weaker than their German counterparts. They make up for this with versatility, as many of them have special abilities that grant them additional roles. The best example of this is the humble conscripts, who are terrible in straight-up fights, but they make up for this with a mountain of utilities, being an excellent anti-tank squad that can quickly sprint toward vehicles to anchor them, being an excellent punisher of static defense with molotovs and being a mobile reinforcement squad that can merge with other units to save them from getting wiped. Another example is the Zis-3 field gun, which is weak but is both an anti-tank gun and an anti-infantry artillery piece, something no other AT gun in the game can boast. In yet another example, their mortars fire slower than the Ostheer mortar, but they make up for this with their scouting flare, doubling them as a potent recon unit. On the other hand, should the player commit to the [[DifficultButAwesome Brute path from the start]], they gain access to some powerful stock units that can brute force their way through everything. The premier example of this is the dreaded Penal Battalion, which is widely considered to be the best mainline infantry in the entire game, capable of both slaughtering Axis infantry and posing a threat to even the heaviest tanks with their PTRS upgrade. Another example is the even more feared [=M3A1=] Scout Car, or the "Clown Car" as the community put it, which can mount either flame thrower engineers to kill Axis weapon teams or the afforementioned PTRS penals to hunt Axis light vehicles. The faction's Brute playstyle is further bolstered in the late game, as Conscripts gain a 7th man upgrade and reinforcement discount that turns them into unwipeable masses of death that no longer lose direct fights and cost peanuts to reinforce, thus grinding the enemy down by attrition. In terms of tanks, the Red Army once again exhibits traits from both Technical and Brute. The T-34 is weak in direct combat against Axis mediums, but much like conscripts, they are a mobile anchoring unit that can ram enemy tanks to destroy their engine. The SU-85, meanwhile, is a self-spotting tank destroyer that needs no scouting unit to see and destroy Axis tanks, meaning that minimal micromanagement is required to make the unit good. The T-70 light tank likewise is the easiest light tank to use in the game, capable of killing both infantry and light vehicles with ease while evading AT thanks to its speed.

''Company of Heroes'' is a RealTimeStrategy PC game set on the Western Front of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. It was created by Relic Entertainment, the developers of the ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' series. Relic's next generation engine, dubbed Essence, was introduced with this game, succeeding the aging ''VideoGame/ImpossibleCreatures'' Engine used by ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar''. It was ported to the Platform/AppleMacintosh in May 2013 as ''Company of Heroes Complete: Campaign Edition'', which includes every campaign from the original and expansions, as well as skirmishes against the AI.

* DamageIsFire

* EasyLevelTrick: The "Mortain Counter Attack" mission in the "Invasion of Normandy" campaign requires you to hold at least three of four different capture points spread out across the map while the enemy attacks with waves of armor that will also crush your base if given a chance. In theory, some sort of balanced force rushing between each hot spot as needed might be able to pull it off. Or you can pick the Airborne Company and [[ItsRainingMen drop some paratroopers]] near each point. Aside from the 88s (which they can deal with by getting close and then throwing grenades/satchel charges), their recoilless rifles can handle the vehicles without too much difficulty and they don't need to retreat to base or have a halftrack/Field HQ nearby to replenish their losses. Drop two squads at each of the four locations, another pair at your base, and you've got a defensive force that will take considerable effort to dislodge. This primarily works because the enemy never seems to deploy heavy machine gun squads, the one hard counter to paratroops.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: The "Officer" hero, who provides bonuses to both AI creeps and friendly heroes around him while also being a decent combatant himself.

* GameMod: Most notably the [[http://easternfront.org Eastern Front]] mod, which adds the UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets to the first game.

** Hilariously, detonating too many Goliath tracked mines at once has been [[https://youtu.be/B_U7433wMuQ?t=743 known]] to crash the game, meaning that OKW players can quite literally win multiplayer matches by crashing their opponents' PCs to desktop.

''Company of Heroes'' is a RealTimeStrategy PC game set on the Western Front of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. It was created by Relic Entertainment, the developers of the ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' series. Relic's next generation engine, dubbed Essence, was introduced with this game, succeeding the aging ''VideoGame/ImpossibleCreatures'' Engine used by ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar''. It was ported to the UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh in May 2013 as ''Company of Heroes Complete: Campaign Edition'', which includes every campaign from the original and expansions, as well as skirmishes against the AI.

** The American faction in ''Ardennes Assault'' and ''Western Front Armies'' has "weapon racks" within its base to allow the player to give heavier weapons[[note]]BARs, Bazookas, or light machine guns[[/note]] to their infantry squads. Not only does equipping a squad cost resources, but the weapon racks either must be unlocked for units to access them or are simply usable only by specific companies within the faction.

* ContinuingIsPainful: If you lose a major engagement and have multiple units destroyed, the game may as well be over barring a genius maneuver. The way the series works is that resources are gained over time, so if you lose multiple units now, you will need time to get back to your former state while the enemy will grow stronger. Not to mention, veterancy in lost units is irrecoverable now matter how much resource you have, so your newly-rebuilt army will be inferior to that of the enemy, thus incurring even more losses and potentially repeating the cycle. It's for this reason that units like Sturmtiger and AVRE are widely hated, as they can instantly kill veteran units and put the opposing team on a net loss.

** British (''2''): ''Elitist Unit Specialist/Turtle'', much like in the first game, the British has a more defensive play-style. Their squads are small, expensive but powerful, doubly so in cover where they receive a significant buff. However, their mainline infantry unit—Infantry Section—uniquely lacks any sort of early AT or snare, forcing it to rely on Royal Engineers or the AEC armored car (neither of which are particularly good against infantry) to not get destroyed by vehicles. Moreover, their mainline also specializes solely toward long-range combat, losing to even Panzerfusiliers at close range, requiring backup from Royal Engineers should they ever need to close in. The Brits' reliance on cover and small squad size also mean that they can't carry out assaults very well, necessitating the support of light vehicles like the Universal Carrier to spearhead the attack. Moreover, since covers are so important to the Brits, Axis players tend to barbwire off anything they can use as cover, requiring Engineers or vehicles to remove these obstacles for them. The Brits are also clearly designed as a Turtle faction, having access to powerful emplacements like the Bofors cannon as well as the ability to brace them against damage, but in practice emplacements are so easily countered among high-level play that few make use of them.

** The Russian commissar squad includes a female medic, who wields a semi-automatic rifle and fights just as well as her male squadmates. In Soviet Russia, doctor kills you.

* ActionGirl: Russian sniper teams, pilots and vehicle crews may include woman in ''2'', with their own appropriate voice-over.

** Red Army (''2''): ''Technical/Brute Spammer''. The Red Army as flips flops between Brute and Technical, but if the player chooses to build the Support Weapon Kampaneya first instead of Special Rifle Command, then they can be played solidly as Technical for the early-mid game. During this time, most of their units are cheaper and/or larger but are individually weaker than their German counterparts. They make up for this with versatility, as many of them have special abilities that grant them additional roles. The best example of this is the humble conscripts, who are terrible in straight-up fights, but they make up for this with a mountain of utilities, being an excellent anti-tank squad that can quickly sprint toward vehicles to anchor them, being an excellent punisher of static defense with molotovs and being a mobile reinforcement squad that can merge with other units to save them from getting wiped. Another example is the Zis-3 field gun, which is weak but is both an anti-tank gun and an anti-infantry artillery piece, something no other AT gun in the game can boast. In yet another example, their mortars fire slower than the Ostheer mortar, but they make up for this with their scouting flare, doubling them as a potent recon unit. On the other hand, should the player commit to the [[DifficultButAwesome Brute path from the start]], they gain access to some powerful stock units that can brute force their way through everything. The premier example of this is the dreaded Penal Battalion, which is widely considered to be the best mainline infantry in the entire game, capable of both slaughtering Axis infantry and posing a threat to even the heaviest tanks with their PTRS upgrade. Another example is the even more feared [=M3A1=] Scout Car, or the "Clown Car" as the community put it, which can mount either flame thrower engineers to kill Axis weapon teams or the afforementioned PTRS penals to hunt Axis light vehicles. The faction's Brute playstyle is further bolstered in the late game, as Conscripts gain a 7th man upgrade and reinforcement discount that turns them into unwipeable masses of death that no longer lose direct fights and cost peanuts to reinforce, thus grinding the enemy down by attrition. In terms of tanks, the Red Army once again exhibits traits from both Technical and Brute. The T-34 is weak in direct combat against Axis mediums, but much like conscripts, they are a mobile anchoring unit that can ram enemy tanks to destroy their engine. The SU-85, meanwhile, is a self-spotting tank destroyer that needs no scouting unit to see and destroy Axis tanks, meaning that minimal micromanagement is required to make the unit good. The T-70 light tank likewise is the easiest light tank to use in the game, capable of killing both infantry and light vehicles with ease while evading AT thanks to its speed.

** Red Army (''2''): ''Technical/Brute Spammer''. The Red Army as a whole is Brute, but should the player chooses to build the Support Weapon Kampaneya first instead of Special Rifle Command, they can be played as Technical for the early-mid game. During this time, most of their units are cheaper and/or larger but are individually weaker than their German counterparts. They make up for this with versatility, as many of them have special abilities that grant them additional roles. The best example of this is the humble conscripts, who are terrible in straight-up fights, but they make up for this with a mountain of utilities, being an excellent anti-tank squad that can quickly sprint toward vehicles to anchor them, being an excellent punisher of static defense with molotovs and being a mobile reinforcement squad that can merge with other units to save them from getting wiped. Another example is the Zis-3 field gun, which is weak but is both an anti-tank gun and an anti-infantry artillery piece, something no other AT gun in the game can boast. In yet another example, their mortars fire slower than the Ostheer mortar, but they make up for this with their scouting flare, doubling them as a potent recon unit. On the other hand, should the player chooses to commit to the [[DifficultButAwesome Brute path from the start]], they gain access to some powerful stock units that can brute force their way through everything. The premier example of this is the dreaded Penal Battalion, which is widely considered to be the best mainline infantry in the entire game, capable of both slaughtering Axis infantry and posing a threat to even the heaviest tanks with their PTRS upgrade. Another example is the even more feared [=M3A1=] Scout Car, or the "Clown Car" as the community put it, which can mount either flame thrower engineers to kill Axis weapon teams or the afforementioned PTRS penals to hunt Axis light vehicles. The faction's Brute playstyle is further bolstered in the late game, as Conscripts gain a 7th man upgrade and reinforcement discount that turns them into unwipeable masses of death that no longer lose direct fights and cost peanuts to reinforce, thus grinding the enemy down by attrition.

** Wehrmacht Ostheer (''2''): ''Balanced Unit Specialist/Turtle''. With the addition of the USF and UKF, the Ostheer is no longer the Elitist faction it was back when it had only the Soviet to contend with. Their mainline infantry, Grenadier, are weaker but cheaper than the mainlines of the two Western Allied factions, making them Balanced in the current meta. Where they still shine are their excellent support weapons and vehicles, which are highly specialized and need to work in conjunction with each other. Grenadiers may not do much in an early-game fight, but they can defend the MG-42, which is bar none the best MG in the game and can force entire blobs to retreat thanks to its excellent suppression power. Bolstering the Grenadiers' lackluster pushing power is the 222 Armored Car, which can kill infantry and support weapons but is weak against other armored light vehicles, unlike the multi-purpose T-70 of the Soviet and the Stuart of the US, necessitating support from a Pak-43 or infantry with Panzershreck. Of all the stock Ostheer vehicles, only the Panzer IV can be said to be multi-purpose, as the Brummbär, Ostwind, Flame Halftrack, and Panzerwerfer are specialized against infantry while the Stug and Panther are specialized against other vehicles. The Ostheer also has elements of Turtle, as it's the only faction with non-doctrinal zero upkeep static defense, allowing a late-game Ostheer to convert excess munition into MG bunkers to guard resource points. Ostheer as a whole also specializes more towards defense than attack, given that it has only 4-man squads without doctrines and the MG-42 upgrade for Grenadiers require them to be stationary to fire, making the unit more suited for defending against incoming enemy attacks from covers than leading attacks.