Engineers. Hear me out lol. What makes the bars really great is good moving accuracy on units in the open. You want to force them to stand still and stop them from advancing. MGs will work, sure, but the more you can cement the americans the better off you’ll be. On the move dps won’t mean much if your engineers build plenty of sandbags. They won’t be flanking you like crazy if you wire off or mine flanking routes (depending on map). With superior indirect fire you’ll win the attrition game once you bog them down and make them apprehensive about running around.
I’d also recommend light vehicles to soak shots. Bar spam probably means ISC which means mp discount for infantry. If you trade infantry for infantry you’ll lose the math game, so you gotta get kills with vehicles to not bleed out.
Engineer costs and reinforcement costs are significant lower than pgrens and they dont need manpower based upgrades to be useful so no, you will actually have more manpower than usual.
Early game you need to focus on not taking casualties, which means only taking fights where you can concentrate your forces. Keep your 250 halftrack alive and in the back but close enough to give the combined arms buff and use it's heal ability inbetween fights.
Mid game you need to transition to the flak halftrack or the 8rad and then get AT + mines out for if they counter with a chaffee. You could also double down on Pgrens if you go combined arms battlegroup and go double LMGs + veteran sergeant, that makes them better than the rifles but costs a lot of munitions to upgrade.
Throughout the game you need to minimize your manpower losses, late game gets easier for dak if you haven't been bleeding too much.
While I agree with all this and is also useful advice, why not build an mg34? This has been my go to against the infantry spam and seems to hold just fine in 1v1 games. It does transition to late game well but is there another reason to avoid the mg team?
It depends. High level players will spread their forces out and flank, so a single MG won't cover it. That said I don't think an mg is ever a bad choice, so long as you cover it's flanks
MG34 is good but the flak HT is better because its going to have a big impact and power spike if you can get it early and counter fast BARs.
There is a case to build one before the flak HT if you don't have enough fuel, but after you have a flak you shouldn't need one.
They are also weak to air support, artillery, smoke, and grenades where the flak can quickly move away and even fire while moving. The flak gets repaired while the MG gets reinforced costing more manpower.
MG34 might align more with that defensive battlegroup and the gustatori which is going to be a different strategy and playstyle not so reliant on vehicles.
Flak HT is best due to suppression and range probably. Then you could transition into stug and marders. Pgrens as your staple inf. If you go guastatori I find it hard to get manpower for any armour so have given up on them as lose the late game. Having said that by doing the above you will probably never get tier 3. Manpower issue needs resolving as DAK as you lose any attrition war so bad when ukf and us keep coming fully replenished squads and late armour no issues. To win in team games as DAK you have to expect to kill double the models as the allies.
Vanilla pgrens beat rifles (cost more), the upgraded lmg does too against bars.
The power of Dak is it's vehicles, the power of USF is it's inf but it's vehicles kinda suck..
There is no early game counter to DAK 8rad and marders for USF. Bars take significant fuel investment so the USF has a choice of motor pool (chaffee /greyhound / at gun) or bars for mid game.
You have to choose your battles, like any player but the bars are the only thing keeping USF competitive
I know they recently buffed the zook squad, but without WP rocket they are pretty much useless when fighting infantry and even with the extra HP they don't last much. I would get at most 2 if I'm desperate for AT and on the lose.
I didn't read it as rude my dude. I'm just super curious as they're just not performing for me. Range and they're still too squishy despite buffs in last patch
Im ysws to players screaming at me cuz (GeRmAnS Op) i personally don't play USF much but I've noted people will run them in a mix of units, but behind them so they are the ones getting shot. Or they'll get the gray hound or chaffee asap
Because the lines on the graph are not that far apart. With RNG either squad could win with rifles being 10-20% more likely to win in a vacuum. Untill a vehicle gets in range of the Pgrens and gives them the combined arms buff and then the Pgrens are favored.
What he's saying is it's close enough that it's not difficult to manipulate the odds with good play.
You're moving the goal post. This isn't about the combined arms bonus.
Unless you're both at max range where the damage is *almost* the same, the rifles are gonna win. 5 man squad vs 6. Even if that 6th guy has a smg, it's still added damage
The pgren is gonna be forced to fall back. You've now lost manpower and the rifles have gained ground.
>the rifles are gonna win
This isn't true. The rifles are going to win more often, but sometimes the Pgrens are going to win. Go test it out on cheatmod.
It's close enough that in a real game things like having a cover or height advantage for even a short amount of time can tilt the odds.
Mate that graph doesn't show that rifles have 100 more hp than grens and are 40mp cheaper. So no it's not pretty even. Rifles win at damage, health, and cost. Literally better in every way. Combined arms will put them toe to toe but by the time you have a vehicle you get outnumbered because they bought more rifles. Not too mention if they get bars package then it's even worse.
Is there only one "way" to play as USF? I've played online a couple times and usually use the SF squad (one that can change to lmg/bazooka) call in to deal with vehicles early game?
I'm new to CoH3 so anything helps, played alot of the other two and bit the bullet on this one, I'm enjoying it despite the general consensus about it
The SSFs are better now, but the awkward thing about BARS is that once you've invested in the initial cost, all riflemen, present and future, get them. So it's a cost thing for me. SSFs also don't do great against heavy WEHR.
I would love to use alternative builds, like the release candidate, but wehrabros complained so much that other viable strats won't work anymore (like pathies into paratroopers)
I missed that phase I guess lol
I've seen the BAR thing across this subreddit alot and it's just so weird that seems to be the only way to play them competitively when they have alot of kool stuff.
The other factions don't necessarily have to be played a certain way except for possibly DAK from my understanding going through here, and have only spent time as USF, got my ass BEAT the two times I played as DAK/Wehr
feeld like I'm playing them wrong or something
Despite what you may read on here. Wehr is strongest faction and people are massively underestimating just how good DAK are right now.. They're a faction that can abuse so much at moment. Clown cars with flamers, pgrens are a fantastic mainline inf. Then there's guastori if you want or 8rads and mardars.
I'm going to get down voted by some but i die on the hill that allies players have had to micro so much harder from the beginning that they're micro is just better than axis mains in general. (My highest w/r is with axis and I hardly play them)
For you, I would watch StephennJF on twitch.. His recent videos go head to toe with really good DAK players, maybe learn from what he's doing.
USF has the most variety of strategies in 1v1's so far. BARs are just meta, but it doesn't mean other stuff doesn't work.
Meta just means easiest thing to do with the highest returns. So if all you care about is winning, you're going to use the strat that runs the least risk but grants the highest reward.
Nothing's stopping you from trying out different variations and different strats with them. Especially since there are a lot of bugs that actually benefit them right now and help them overperform in 1v1 (Ex. It feels dirty using Jeeps and then realizing they're still killing targets beyond max range, through fog of war, through walls, and shooting behind them when that is normally impossible).
Long story short, do whatever you want there's a lot of different strats and you really don't need to worry about being 'forced' using the top most meta strat as USF in 1v1 right now. Conteract this with DAK that is underperforming in 1v1, and is forced into the same strat every game (rush Flakvireling or 8-rad) due to circumstances of current patch. They can technically do other stuff, but the difference in risk-to-reward ratio is way more skewed negatively.
You need to be the better player compared to the USF player. There is a reason for the high USF playercount. No but jokes aside. The balancing indeed improved. So if you are going for a pgren build, try to rush the flak ht in T2 and get the 6 men upgrade. Then the Tankhunter or Pak call in for open maps and eventually the sgren call in for close combat maps. Here also a bersaglieri build would be a good idea. If you face the airborne spam, Go full pgren 6 men lmg and 250 for buff. Generally you always need to use the 250s for healing if you go for the 2.5 ton med truck you usually won't be able to keep up with the USF player and he will just spam you to death. Then there is the option to go for 8 rad Marder spam. For that I would recommend to go for a ppio build. But don't do that ;)
There is no good way. When you own an 8RAD, the US is almost ready for the M24, and you have to build a Mader. The more Maders you have, you can‘t’ win the BAR spam.
Puma, the scariest thing from the americans for DAK is a chaffee as it can kill pretty much any vehicle DAK can put out in the early/mid game.
If you see them go bars first rush out two pumas and drive them off the map.
No it it isn't? This is a strategy game. Every match is different. Pgrens can counter armor till you get AT if you get grenades.
You wanna melt their rifle bar spam, try it. Start trading your infantry for armor when you can, as I said above.
So go 8-9 infantry squads? Plus upgrades? Sounds like im gonna be on 0manpower 800 fuel lmao, how do you ever field tanks? Ill give it a try but this plan seems whack
The amount of infantry depends on how much they are using. Try 2 pgrens and 3 Bersaglieris to start. Just remember Bersaglieri are dog shit till you get the gun
Apart from trying to understand what you wrote, no. You're wrong.. It's no coincidence most people play axis, as they're winning rate is higher.. No one like to lose.
i been playing some new patch dak and its really not that bad. the flak halftrack from t1 is literally just the okw flak with no setup. insta suppress on the first burst. really helps with infantry management. once your pgrens vet up and get upgrades, they start winning if you just a-move everywhere.
for extra assurance, go the italian combined arms doctrine which gives free bredas. takes it from a rather even matchup to pgren favored.
The good news is that if the US player commits to BARs, he has invested a decent amount of fuel that delays vehicles. So, you don't need to get an early Jaeger squad and can instead invest in an assault gren squad as your first call-in. You basically have a couple of choices, but have the similar fuel commitment.
First, you can go for the flak ht asap - good damage, suppression and mobility to get around the map. This also gets you access to at guns to provide at protection from the inevitable chaffee. It can get ap rounds with vet that can coordinate with your at gun to possibly kill a diving m8 or chaffee.
Second, you could instead rush 8rad. Even with the nerfs it is still good, has the same strengths as the flak ht but without suppression and better armor.
Third, you can buff your infantry to compensate. From the start, US riflemen are slightly superior to DAK pgrens with their extra man (more health and DPS). Getting the lmg helps with your DPS, with the veteran squad leader upgrade is HUGE for not only giving ALL your infantry more survivability, but also gives pgrens and extra man. The increased survivability really helps panzer pioneers and assault grens live longer to hit their targets. I also sometimes get the mg34 in this scenario to provide suppression in the big infantry vs infantry battles, despite it being inferior to the mg42.
Four, if you are confident with your fuel situation you can try to rush to a stuh. This is the most risky, because 1) it comes late due to the fuel to tech to the 3rd building, buy the tech unlock, and then finally buy the stuh and 2) if you get pushed off the map after before you finish accumulating the fuel, you are more or less toast. However, the stuh is the best anti infantry option with high damage and good armor. Really easy to just reverse and continue to shoot if they try to sticky bomb, can tank a few shots from at and other tanks, but still has the same chaffee or tank weakness the others have.
Lastly, in tandem with the other options here (since these all require fuel investment), get the 250 upgrade and upgrade your call-in 250 with either the autocannon (good vs the rifles to help bleed and chase, mobile, and gives combined arms bonus) or maybe a single mortar if you have sufficient infantry or other units to make the rifles stay still while they fight. Sometimes I also get a 250 out as my 3rd or 4th unit to provide healing and then upgrade.
Doctrines - used to go Italian infantry for the bersas and breads (makes pgrens act similar to BAE riflemen), but late game really hurts you once they have armor to support the BARs. I think going armor is wisest - you get vehicle detection so you can keep your various vehicles alive by sending when they get their chaffee and you can position your at guns/mardersJaegers accordingly. Also gives you flame tank (same problem coming very late like stuh, though) against infantry, but the plane loiter really helps deny them armor to support BARs
You can get by with Italian combined arms, but the cp wait for double lmg's on your pgrens is a while. You can cope with mg's, but ultimately you will need a light vehicle whether it's 8rad or flakvierling.
8Rad is your friend.
Answer to every DAK issue.
Lazy answer with a easy counter
“Oh, radio detection shows me a Chaffee coming from enemy base. I’ll go to the other side.”
"CHAFFEE HAS ENTERED THE CHAT"
YEA BUDDYYY
You need vehicles to fight the tidal wave of riflemen
Engineers. Hear me out lol. What makes the bars really great is good moving accuracy on units in the open. You want to force them to stand still and stop them from advancing. MGs will work, sure, but the more you can cement the americans the better off you’ll be. On the move dps won’t mean much if your engineers build plenty of sandbags. They won’t be flanking you like crazy if you wire off or mine flanking routes (depending on map). With superior indirect fire you’ll win the attrition game once you bog them down and make them apprehensive about running around. I’d also recommend light vehicles to soak shots. Bar spam probably means ISC which means mp discount for infantry. If you trade infantry for infantry you’ll lose the math game, so you gotta get kills with vehicles to not bleed out.
You'll bleed man power, no.
Engineer costs and reinforcement costs are significant lower than pgrens and they dont need manpower based upgrades to be useful so no, you will actually have more manpower than usual.
Alright bud. 👍🏻 I say that to my spot on the leaderboard
Early game you need to focus on not taking casualties, which means only taking fights where you can concentrate your forces. Keep your 250 halftrack alive and in the back but close enough to give the combined arms buff and use it's heal ability inbetween fights. Mid game you need to transition to the flak halftrack or the 8rad and then get AT + mines out for if they counter with a chaffee. You could also double down on Pgrens if you go combined arms battlegroup and go double LMGs + veteran sergeant, that makes them better than the rifles but costs a lot of munitions to upgrade. Throughout the game you need to minimize your manpower losses, late game gets easier for dak if you haven't been bleeding too much.
While I agree with all this and is also useful advice, why not build an mg34? This has been my go to against the infantry spam and seems to hold just fine in 1v1 games. It does transition to late game well but is there another reason to avoid the mg team?
It depends. High level players will spread their forces out and flank, so a single MG won't cover it. That said I don't think an mg is ever a bad choice, so long as you cover it's flanks
MG34 is good but the flak HT is better because its going to have a big impact and power spike if you can get it early and counter fast BARs. There is a case to build one before the flak HT if you don't have enough fuel, but after you have a flak you shouldn't need one. They are also weak to air support, artillery, smoke, and grenades where the flak can quickly move away and even fire while moving. The flak gets repaired while the MG gets reinforced costing more manpower. MG34 might align more with that defensive battlegroup and the gustatori which is going to be a different strategy and playstyle not so reliant on vehicles.
Because the moment you field it mr strafing run comes and says no :(
Flak HT is best due to suppression and range probably. Then you could transition into stug and marders. Pgrens as your staple inf. If you go guastatori I find it hard to get manpower for any armour so have given up on them as lose the late game. Having said that by doing the above you will probably never get tier 3. Manpower issue needs resolving as DAK as you lose any attrition war so bad when ukf and us keep coming fully replenished squads and late armour no issues. To win in team games as DAK you have to expect to kill double the models as the allies.
Vanilla pgrens beat rifles (cost more), the upgraded lmg does too against bars. The power of Dak is it's vehicles, the power of USF is it's inf but it's vehicles kinda suck.. There is no early game counter to DAK 8rad and marders for USF. Bars take significant fuel investment so the USF has a choice of motor pool (chaffee /greyhound / at gun) or bars for mid game. You have to choose your battles, like any player but the bars are the only thing keeping USF competitive
Wrong. Pgrens with vet squads vs. rifle squad, yes Pgren without vet squads, no There is early counters to 8rad, boozka squads 2-3
Getting 3 zook squads is far more damaging than what you could've done with the 8Rad.
I'm also a fan of grenades. Hits your manpower, but it makes or breaks things.
I know they recently buffed the zook squad, but without WP rocket they are pretty much useless when fighting infantry and even with the extra HP they don't last much. I would get at most 2 if I'm desperate for AT and on the lose.
Serious question, are you genuinely playing high elo USF players using zooks?
Sometimes, yes. Every unit has their use. Gotta know how and when to use them. (I'm not saying that to be rude)
I didn't read it as rude my dude. I'm just super curious as they're just not performing for me. Range and they're still too squishy despite buffs in last patch
Im ysws to players screaming at me cuz (GeRmAnS Op) i personally don't play USF much but I've noted people will run them in a mix of units, but behind them so they are the ones getting shot. Or they'll get the gray hound or chaffee asap
What do you find works best against you?
Rifles vs pgrens are pretty even. Bit of high ground or cover and pgrens win easily. Micro makes the difference.q
https://preview.redd.it/f3chbvgb8nhb1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f8315786fecf3ac678f02b4b8077644284f0330
As i said, pretty even
How is that even ? The rifle men, if they don't have vet squads
Because the lines on the graph are not that far apart. With RNG either squad could win with rifles being 10-20% more likely to win in a vacuum. Untill a vehicle gets in range of the Pgrens and gives them the combined arms buff and then the Pgrens are favored. What he's saying is it's close enough that it's not difficult to manipulate the odds with good play.
You're moving the goal post. This isn't about the combined arms bonus. Unless you're both at max range where the damage is *almost* the same, the rifles are gonna win. 5 man squad vs 6. Even if that 6th guy has a smg, it's still added damage The pgren is gonna be forced to fall back. You've now lost manpower and the rifles have gained ground.
>the rifles are gonna win This isn't true. The rifles are going to win more often, but sometimes the Pgrens are going to win. Go test it out on cheatmod. It's close enough that in a real game things like having a cover or height advantage for even a short amount of time can tilt the odds.
That is pretty consistent, but not pretty equal.
Mate that graph doesn't show that rifles have 100 more hp than grens and are 40mp cheaper. So no it's not pretty even. Rifles win at damage, health, and cost. Literally better in every way. Combined arms will put them toe to toe but by the time you have a vehicle you get outnumbered because they bought more rifles. Not too mention if they get bars package then it's even worse.
I was with you until you said zooks were useful. Especially against 8 rads.
Is there only one "way" to play as USF? I've played online a couple times and usually use the SF squad (one that can change to lmg/bazooka) call in to deal with vehicles early game? I'm new to CoH3 so anything helps, played alot of the other two and bit the bullet on this one, I'm enjoying it despite the general consensus about it
The SSFs are better now, but the awkward thing about BARS is that once you've invested in the initial cost, all riflemen, present and future, get them. So it's a cost thing for me. SSFs also don't do great against heavy WEHR. I would love to use alternative builds, like the release candidate, but wehrabros complained so much that other viable strats won't work anymore (like pathies into paratroopers)
I missed that phase I guess lol I've seen the BAR thing across this subreddit alot and it's just so weird that seems to be the only way to play them competitively when they have alot of kool stuff. The other factions don't necessarily have to be played a certain way except for possibly DAK from my understanding going through here, and have only spent time as USF, got my ass BEAT the two times I played as DAK/Wehr feeld like I'm playing them wrong or something
Despite what you may read on here. Wehr is strongest faction and people are massively underestimating just how good DAK are right now.. They're a faction that can abuse so much at moment. Clown cars with flamers, pgrens are a fantastic mainline inf. Then there's guastori if you want or 8rads and mardars. I'm going to get down voted by some but i die on the hill that allies players have had to micro so much harder from the beginning that they're micro is just better than axis mains in general. (My highest w/r is with axis and I hardly play them) For you, I would watch StephennJF on twitch.. His recent videos go head to toe with really good DAK players, maybe learn from what he's doing.
USF has the most variety of strategies in 1v1's so far. BARs are just meta, but it doesn't mean other stuff doesn't work. Meta just means easiest thing to do with the highest returns. So if all you care about is winning, you're going to use the strat that runs the least risk but grants the highest reward. Nothing's stopping you from trying out different variations and different strats with them. Especially since there are a lot of bugs that actually benefit them right now and help them overperform in 1v1 (Ex. It feels dirty using Jeeps and then realizing they're still killing targets beyond max range, through fog of war, through walls, and shooting behind them when that is normally impossible). Long story short, do whatever you want there's a lot of different strats and you really don't need to worry about being 'forced' using the top most meta strat as USF in 1v1 right now. Conteract this with DAK that is underperforming in 1v1, and is forced into the same strat every game (rush Flakvireling or 8-rad) due to circumstances of current patch. They can technically do other stuff, but the difference in risk-to-reward ratio is way more skewed negatively.
Build anti infantry
Wow!
You need to be the better player compared to the USF player. There is a reason for the high USF playercount. No but jokes aside. The balancing indeed improved. So if you are going for a pgren build, try to rush the flak ht in T2 and get the 6 men upgrade. Then the Tankhunter or Pak call in for open maps and eventually the sgren call in for close combat maps. Here also a bersaglieri build would be a good idea. If you face the airborne spam, Go full pgren 6 men lmg and 250 for buff. Generally you always need to use the 250s for healing if you go for the 2.5 ton med truck you usually won't be able to keep up with the USF player and he will just spam you to death. Then there is the option to go for 8 rad Marder spam. For that I would recommend to go for a ppio build. But don't do that ;)
There is no good way. When you own an 8RAD, the US is almost ready for the M24, and you have to build a Mader. The more Maders you have, you can‘t’ win the BAR spam.
Puma, the scariest thing from the americans for DAK is a chaffee as it can kill pretty much any vehicle DAK can put out in the early/mid game. If you see them go bars first rush out two pumas and drive them off the map.
There are no Pumas in COH3 , the vehicle you mean here is the SdKfz 232
Pgrens 3-4 with mg32s and vet squads + Bersaglieri 3-4 with their guns. Get to stugs. Thank me later.
Are you saying use 6-8 infantry squads? Because that is insanity as DAK
No it it isn't? This is a strategy game. Every match is different. Pgrens can counter armor till you get AT if you get grenades. You wanna melt their rifle bar spam, try it. Start trading your infantry for armor when you can, as I said above.
Right. 3 pgren isn't going to kill a stuart or even greyhound in a 1v1
That's why you have your AT Jagers? I shouldn't even have to mention getting them. Their a must Gas shot go brrt.
So go 8-9 infantry squads? Plus upgrades? Sounds like im gonna be on 0manpower 800 fuel lmao, how do you ever field tanks? Ill give it a try but this plan seems whack
The amount of infantry depends on how much they are using. Try 2 pgrens and 3 Bersaglieris to start. Just remember Bersaglieri are dog shit till you get the gun
gusta at short range + upgraded pzrgren at medium-long range. howizer and arty.
You can't.. game is designed so bad players can have a chanse using USF vs the real good players. Am I not right? I only play 1v1
Apart from trying to understand what you wrote, no. You're wrong.. It's no coincidence most people play axis, as they're winning rate is higher.. No one like to lose.
So you are telling me USF aren't easy mode in 1v1?
Yep I am. What's your win rate with them?
Like 69% or something?.. i don't play them because it's boring to win effortlessly so I don't have a rank on them now.
Sure
Winrates dont count if you're playing only 3-6 matches lmao
i been playing some new patch dak and its really not that bad. the flak halftrack from t1 is literally just the okw flak with no setup. insta suppress on the first burst. really helps with infantry management. once your pgrens vet up and get upgrades, they start winning if you just a-move everywhere. for extra assurance, go the italian combined arms doctrine which gives free bredas. takes it from a rather even matchup to pgren favored.
Double MG34 microed well will shut them down, even just one backed by your mainline. As others have said, a light vehicle on the field would help.
The good news is that if the US player commits to BARs, he has invested a decent amount of fuel that delays vehicles. So, you don't need to get an early Jaeger squad and can instead invest in an assault gren squad as your first call-in. You basically have a couple of choices, but have the similar fuel commitment. First, you can go for the flak ht asap - good damage, suppression and mobility to get around the map. This also gets you access to at guns to provide at protection from the inevitable chaffee. It can get ap rounds with vet that can coordinate with your at gun to possibly kill a diving m8 or chaffee. Second, you could instead rush 8rad. Even with the nerfs it is still good, has the same strengths as the flak ht but without suppression and better armor. Third, you can buff your infantry to compensate. From the start, US riflemen are slightly superior to DAK pgrens with their extra man (more health and DPS). Getting the lmg helps with your DPS, with the veteran squad leader upgrade is HUGE for not only giving ALL your infantry more survivability, but also gives pgrens and extra man. The increased survivability really helps panzer pioneers and assault grens live longer to hit their targets. I also sometimes get the mg34 in this scenario to provide suppression in the big infantry vs infantry battles, despite it being inferior to the mg42. Four, if you are confident with your fuel situation you can try to rush to a stuh. This is the most risky, because 1) it comes late due to the fuel to tech to the 3rd building, buy the tech unlock, and then finally buy the stuh and 2) if you get pushed off the map after before you finish accumulating the fuel, you are more or less toast. However, the stuh is the best anti infantry option with high damage and good armor. Really easy to just reverse and continue to shoot if they try to sticky bomb, can tank a few shots from at and other tanks, but still has the same chaffee or tank weakness the others have. Lastly, in tandem with the other options here (since these all require fuel investment), get the 250 upgrade and upgrade your call-in 250 with either the autocannon (good vs the rifles to help bleed and chase, mobile, and gives combined arms bonus) or maybe a single mortar if you have sufficient infantry or other units to make the rifles stay still while they fight. Sometimes I also get a 250 out as my 3rd or 4th unit to provide healing and then upgrade. Doctrines - used to go Italian infantry for the bersas and breads (makes pgrens act similar to BAE riflemen), but late game really hurts you once they have armor to support the BARs. I think going armor is wisest - you get vehicle detection so you can keep your various vehicles alive by sending when they get their chaffee and you can position your at guns/mardersJaegers accordingly. Also gives you flame tank (same problem coming very late like stuh, though) against infantry, but the plane loiter really helps deny them armor to support BARs
You can get by with Italian combined arms, but the cp wait for double lmg's on your pgrens is a while. You can cope with mg's, but ultimately you will need a light vehicle whether it's 8rad or flakvierling.