[TIPS] Company of Heroes 2: Soviet Unit Tactics and Overview

You might also be interested in viewing my beginner's guide to playing as the Russians or a list of all my COH2 guides.

Looking for the Russian Commander overview instead?  Check it out here.

Regimental Field Headquarters (200 MP, 40 fuel)

• Conscripts (240 MP, 6 supply)
• Your starting infantry, these guys are no match for their German equivalent (Grenadiers) but make up for it by being cheap.  Use them to capture and flank the enemy, but avoid straight fights unless you have a squad or equipment advantage.
• Note that the large squad size (6) means that you can safely take advantage of grabbing abandoned vehicles and weapons compared to your opponent's grenadiers (which only have 4 men).  Typically weapon crews are 3 men, which leaves you with 3 left after taking one.
• Abilities:
• Merge: Bring the target squad up to full strength by using Conscripts.  This is useful for reinforcing weapon or other higher-level infantry squads in the field.
• Throw Molotov Cocktail (unlocked at the RFHQ for 125 MP, 25 Fuel): Primarily used against infantry in buildings or clumped behind cover.  Does very little initial damage, but can easily kill men who don't move if they stay put.  Costs 15 munitions to use.
• Oorah (costs 5 munitions, lasts 10 seconds, 40s cooldown): A 10 second buff that "improves combat effectiveness" and significantly improves speed.  The speed bonus is critical, allowing you to flank or charge quickly.  It only costs 5 munitions to use, so don't be afraid to pop it whenever you think you might need it.  It can't be used while being suppressed or pinned.
• RPG-43 Anti-Tank Grenade (unlocked at the RFHQ for 125 MP, 25 Fuel): A short-range infantry targeted AT grenade.  Don't worry about it missing, it "seeks" its target after being used.  Does okay damage but you'll need quite a few uses to kill most targets.  Takes about 3 uses to kill light vehicles, 5 to kill medium tanks and ~8 to kill heavy tanks.  Costs 35 munitions to use so be aware of your supply.  It's much more cost effective to get your own tanks, or AT infantry or AT guns out instead of relying on this.
• Trip Wire Flares (10 munitions, requires Veteran)
• Plants a small anti-personnel mine that also triggers a flare when detonated, revealing enemy infantry.  Area reveal lasts 8 seconds.
• Combat Engineer Squad (240 MP, 6 supply)
• The utility troops of your army, you'll almost always want at least two of them around.
• Can be upgraded with a flamethrower (60 munitions) or a Hazard Removal Package (30 munitions).
• The flamethrower is one of the best anti-infantry weapons in the game.  It toasts enemy infantry, especially in cover, and can wipe out squads in buildings in seconds.  Against infantry in the open field it's not quite as good, but still very powerful.  Just don't lose the squad.
• The HRP replaces the weapon of one of your squad members, but allows them to automatically see and dispose of mines and allows them to cut barbed wire.  Relatively uncommon that you will get this, but if you need it, you'll be glad to have the option available.
• Abilities:
• Production Buildings: Builds your higher tech structures.  You pretty much only want at most one of each building type (this isn't Starcraft, people).
• Field Defenses:  Allows you to lay mines (30 munitions), barbed wire (free) and fire pits (100 manpower).  Mines are great against infantry and vehicles, barbed wire restricts infantry movement and fire pits are (kinda) useful on snow maps.  Note that the fairly high cost of fire pits means you should definitely not spam them.  Fire pits also can't be built when a blizzard is in progress.
• Repair: Repairs vehicles, structures or bridges.  You'll most often be using this against vehicles but don't ignore it's ability to repair key chokepoint buildings in the field.
• Wire Cutters (unlocked with the Hazard Removal Package upgrade): Cuts barbed wire.  Takes increased damage while doing so.  Not advisable to use when under fire.  Free to use.
• Plant Demolition Charge (90 munitions): Kind of an interesting ability, it's like a very powerful remote controlled mine.  You can use it to blow enemies units up, trap buildings, destroy ice, or even destroy the enemy HQ with some halftrack usage.  Takes a while to plant the charge, so plan accordingly.  Costs a whopping 90 munitions to use.
• Trip Wire Flares (10 munitions, requires Veteran)
• Plants a small anti-personnel mine that also triggers a flare when detonated, revealing enemy infantry.  Area reveal lasts 8 seconds.

The Regimental Field Headquarters is the primary command structure, producing two of the core infantry units.  Losing the RFHQ is detrimental to success on the battlefield.
This is your starting building, and is also the retreat/reinforce point for your squads.  Make sure that this doesn't die, as if it does, your manpower income will be significantly reduced.



Special Rifle Command (240 MP, 50 fuel)

• Scout Sniper Squad (360 MP, 9 supply)
• A two man sniper squad.  Not nearly as damaging or accurate individually as the German sniper, and it's not uncommon for them to not kill a man after landing a hit.  However, your chance of them surviving is significantly higher since you only need one of them to reinforce.
• Primarily used to kill weapon crews and to end long distance stalemates.  Doesn't do enough damage to prevent any opposing infantry squad from just rushing him, so you need to cover him (an MG works nicely).
• Note that his range is longer than his vision, so scout ahead with an expendable unit to allow him to maximize his range.
• Abilities:
• Flare (60 munitions, lasts 35 seconds)
• Launches a parachute from the sky that reveals the target area after a few seconds.
• Hold Fire (Toggleable)
• Sprint (6 munitions, lasts 10 seconds, requires Veteran)
• The sniper squad moves significantly faster.
• M3A1 Light Scout Car (80 MP, 20 fuel, 2 supply)
• Can carry one squad in it, which can also fire at the same time.
• Note that it cannot reinforce squads, unlike the halftrack (though both are able to carry infantry).
• Very commonly used with a flamer engineer to kill machine gun teams, or a sniper to kite enemy grenadier squads.
• Abilities:
• Overdrive (requires Veteran)
• Vehicle will move faster for 20 seconds.  Harder to hit when overdrive is in effect.
• Penal Battalion (360 MP, 9 supply)
• Good close combat infantry with decent durability.  A step up from Conscripts.
• Upgrades:
• ROKS-3 Flamethrower (60 munitions)
• Adds a powerful flamethrower to the squad, improving anti-infantry damage.
• Abilities:
• Throw Satchel Charge
• Throws a very powerful explosive satchel that takes five seconds to detonate. Effective against all targets that are dumb enough to stand still, or can't move away (e.g. buildings).
• Trip Wire Flares (10 munitions, requires Veteran)
• Plants a small anti-personnel mine that also triggers a flare when detonated, revealing enemy infantry.  Area reveal lasts 8 seconds.

Support Weapon Kampaneya (275 MP, 90 fuel)

• M1910 Maxim Heavy Machine Gun (240 MP, 6 supply)
• Provides excellent suppression and damage, able to pin off a chokepoint on its own from enemy infantry.
• Significantly lower "cone of fire" than the German MG42 HMG team, meaning that you have a lower margin of error when it comes to flanking.
• Since it's wheeled and not carried over the shoulder like the German MG, it deploys and undeploys MUCH faster.
• The larger crew size makes it much less likely to be captured by the enemy compared to the German MG, while also making it a bit better at close combat with flankers.
• PM-41 82mm Mortar Squad (240 MP, 6 supply)
• Fires mortar rounds into the enemy.  Useful to clear the enemy out of a defensive position or building.  Also useful against suppressed infantry.  Can fire smoke rounds to cover your advance (or retreat).
• Abilities:
• Mortar Barrage
• Fires four shells in quick succession to the target area.  Useful when you know the enemy will stay put.
• Fire Smoke Barrage
• Fires three smoke shells at the target, blocking line of sight.
• Hold Fire
• Precision Strike (30 munitions, requires Veteran)
• Fires a single shell very accurately at the targeted posiiton.
• ZiS-3 76mm Divisional Field Gun (360 MP, 9 supply)
• Long range anti-tank gun that also can be used to bombard infantry.
• Abilities:
• Light Artillery Barrage (60 munitions)
• Fires six explosive rounds good against infantry and light vehicles.  Range is equal to the AT gun's normal range.
• Tracking (20 munitions, unlocked at Vet 1)
• Significantly increases sight radius and can now track infantry through the fog of war on the minimap.
• Anti-Tank Gun Ambush Tactics (Toggleable)
• AT gun moves slower, but is now invisible unless firing or when enemy units get close.

Mechanized Armor Kampaneya (275 MP, 90 fuel)

• M5 Halftrack Transport (120 MP, 30 fuel, 3 supply)
• Carries up to two squads and allows reinforcing from it.  Useful for flanking attacks or reinforcing in the field after a big battle.
• Upgrades:
• Anti-air Package "Meat Chopper" (90 munitions)
• Upgrades the halftrack with 4 .50 cal machine guns.  Provides good long-range damage against infantry.  Removes ability to carry infantry.
• Abilities
• Overdrive (requires Veteran)
• Vehicle will move faster for 20 seconds.  Harder to hit when overdrive is in effect.
• T-70 Light Tank (160 MP, 55 fuel, 5 supply)
• A surprisingly effective, fast tank.  It's main gun is fairly accurate against infantry, allowing it to snipe men off who don't have AT weapons.  It can easily beat out most light vehicles, though the upgunned German Scout Car can give it a run for its money.
• Abilities:
• Recon Mode (Toggleable)
• Increases vehicle sight radius, but disables the main gun.  Useful for scouting ahead for your long range weapons (like tank destroyers, AT guns, snipers or machine guns).
• Crew Repair (60 munitions, lasts 15 seconds)
• Crew will stop firing and repair the vehicle.
• Secure Mode (Toggleable, requires Veteran)
• Allows the tank to capture points but disables its weapons.
• T-34/76 Medium Tank (240 MP, 95 fuel, 7 supply)
• The mainstay of the Soviet Army, the T-34 is a strong medium tank.  With good armor, anti-tank and anti-infantry capabilities, it serves a jack-of-all trades role.  It can trade shots with Stugs and Panzer IVs, but don't expect even several of them to beat a Panther in a fair fight.
• However, T-34s have the most infamous ability in the game:  Ram.  It damages your enemy's main gun and their engine, rendering them unable to fire and impairing their movement until they're repaired.  However, it will do the same to your ramming tank, and usually immobilizes your vehicle as well.  Extremely useful when you will win the infantry battle or if your tanks outnumber theirs.
• Abilities:
• Ramming Maneuver
• Rams an enemy vehicle, disabling their main weapon and damaging the engine.  Also does the same to your T34.
• Secure Mode (Toggleable, requires Veteran)
• Allows the tank to capture points but disables its weapons.
• T-34/85 Medium Tank (unlocked through a Doctrine ability)
• Same as the T-34/76, but with improved armor penetration of its main cannon.

Tankoviy Battalion Command

• BM-13 Katyusha Rocket Truck (360 MP, 85 fuel, 9 supply)
• Mobile vehicle with only a cooldown (but free) artillery barrage ability as a weapon.  Useful for suppressing and injuring enemy groupings, though the default barrage has a large enough area that you can't expect to get too many kills.  Not great against buildings until Concentrated Barrage is unlocked for the same reason.
• Abilities:
• 132mm Rocket Barrage (75 second cooldown)
• Fires 16 rockets that do decent damage against infantry and also cause suppression.  Note that firing all the rockets takes about 20 seconds, during which the cooldown will tick.
• Concentrated Barrage (60 munitions, unlocked at Vet 1)
• Fires the same barrage into an area half the size, significantly increasing the lethality against infantry in that area.
• SU-76M Assault Gun (160 MP, 55 fuel, 6 supply)
• Decent long-range mobile anti-tank gun.  Main weapon is awful against infantry.
• Light armor, so it's vulnerable to small arms fire and can be killed that way.  Also, dies in only a few shots to tanks that can get into range of it.
• Its barrage ability is quite good at killing infantry that aren't moving due to capturing or suppression.  It is also free to use, which makes it even better.
• Abilities:
• Light Artillery Barrage (60s cooldown)
• Fires 6 rounds that are devastating against infantry in the open field or in buildings.
• Can collide into trees/etc. along the way as it fires in a fairly low arc.
• Tracking (20 munitions, unlocked at Vet 1)
• Significantly increases sight radius and can now track infantry through the fog of war on the minimap.
• SU-85 Medium Tank Destroyer (320 MP, 115 fuel, 8 supply)
• A good long-range tank destroyer with decent armor.   Has a fixed turret (cannot rotate).
• Abilities:
• Focused Sight
• Sacrifices vision to the sides in exchange for a much longer forward sight range.  Can be combined with Tracking for ridiculous forward vision.
• Tracking (20 munitions, requires Veteran, lasts 20 seconds)
• Significantly increases sight radius.  Infantry can be seen through the fog of war.

This building is excellent when you're facing an entrenched enemy.  This could be because you've either fought to a stalemate in the open field, or you've been pushed back and are trying to get back into the game. The artillery capabilities are excellent, especially against infantry, and you can force your opponent to come at you or risk significant attrition every minute as your barrages come off cooldown.

The weakness of the TBC units are against faster, mobile armies.  Close-combat infantry and larger numbers of mobile light/medium armor can render a lot of your strengths useless.

Called in from Off Map

• KV-8 Heavy Flamethrower Tank (360 MP, 135 fuel, unlocked through Command ability)
• Roughly equivalent to the health and armor of the T-34, but has the ability to toggle between a powerful anti-infantry flamethrower and the normal main gun.
• The flamer is very powerful and the KV-8 can beat even panzerschek equipped infantry as long as it's at full health and not flanked.
• The main gun is only "okay".  While the firepower is nothing to scoff it, it will not be an easy fight against a Panzer IV and will barely scratch a Panther (or stronger!). 
• IS-2 Heavy Tank (680 MP, 300 fuel, unlocked through Command ability)
• Basically the T-34 with more health, armor and gun penetration.  Its high health and versatile main gun (useful against infantry and armor) makes it the focus of a battle.  Note that while tough, it won't beat a dedicated anti-tank force.
• Easily the match of a Panzer IV, it will struggle to defeat a Panther without some other advantage.
• Upgrades:
• DShK 38 12.7mm Heavy Machine gun (30 munitions)
• Adds another anti-infantry weapon to the tank.  Also targets aircraft.
• Abilities:
• Secure Mode (Toggleable, requires Veteran)
• Allows the tank to capture points but disables its weapons.
• Guards Rifle Infantry (360 MP, 9 supply: unlocked through Command abilities)
• Elite Russian infantry that come with PTRS anti-tank rifles.  They're a good source of emergency anti-tank power if you find yourself surprised by a flammenwerfer halftrack or a very quick flakpanzer.
• Anti-infantry capabilities are comparable to Conscripts due to losing firepower with their PTRS rifles.
• The PTRS rifles will defeat light vehicles but won't do much to German frontal tank armor.  Should be used as a supporting AT role, not your primary damage dealer.
• Note that they don't generate suppression and can still be suppressed themselves.  Also vulnerable to elite close-combat infantry up close.
• Abilities:
• RGD-33 Framentation Grenade (45 munitions)
• This is an excellent grenade that will wipe out most infantry in the blast radius.
• Upgrade with 2 DP Light Machine Guns (60 munitions)
• Improves your ability to fight infantry.  Tooltip says that each LMG provides 3x the firepower of a normal infantry rifle.
• Also unlocks the "Button Vehicle" ability.
• Button Vehicle (40 munitions, unlocked when squad is upgraded with DP LMGs)
• Blinds the target vehicle and reduces their movement speed and rate of fire.
• If it's a tank on its own, this will make it stop shooting altogether since it can't see.  If other infantry are nearby to spot for it, it will still fire, albeit slowly.
• Shock Troops (460 MP, 9 supply: unlocked through Command abilities)
• The close-combat equivalent of the Guards, these guys are best when you can get up close and use their automatic weapons to the best extent.  Unlike in previous patches, these now come with their PPsH SMG upgrade, making them especially deadly.
• Abilities:
• RG-42 Anti-Personnel Grenade (30 munitions)
• A strong anti-infantry grenade.  Expect good damage against non-veteran infantry.
• RGD-1 Smoke Grenade (15 munitions, 30 second cooldown, lasts 30 seconds)
• Tosses a smoke grenade that instantly pops up a cloud of smoke at the destination.  Good for blocking line of sight of MGs, allowing you to rush at them to toss RG-42s.
• Trip Wire Flares (10 munitions, requires Veteran)
• Plants a small anti-personnel mine that also triggers a flare when detonated, revealing enemy infantry.  Area reveal lasts 8 seconds.