Skirmishes-Whats the trick?

[gbknight]

OK experts, here is my situation:
COH is excellent! I made it through the entire game at standard level, and am now tackling the skirmishes. Problem is, no matter how I try, these are tough to beat! I am trying from the 2 player skirms first, and keep getting my clock cleaned! What is the best approach?

[eigs]

I am no expert - it took me 43 goes against EASY before I beat it. With lots of practice I can now beat hard easily though I still can't be confident against expert. Watch replays - there are lots available, of the top players. I have learned a lot from doing that.

[Sn1p3r20Xp]

you have to realize this, what's the best counter to what the ai does and what they do is maphack and spam pioneers/engineers till they get the counter to what you're doing.

The best way i find to beating the AI is to set up MGs at their base entrance i mean spam it hard to where there is no way they can get past them without vehicles. Use the engineers/pioneers to capture points behind the MGs so they can't get the resources too quickly. The AI will just simply throw units into them until the get a vehicle or a mortar, which by then, you should have some of your own which would counter them.

On 2v2s, the allied AI loves to spam AT guns once they get a motorpool. The way to counter this is to spam snipers, or if there's a lot of jeeps around still, use MP40 volks rushing the at guns.
The Axis AI is very random, sometimes it goes for a kriegs barracks, but most of the time it tries to get a stug out fast so he can overrun you with armor hopefully before you have tanks/vehicles of your own. Sticky bombs win the game here.

[AirAssault101]

It's all about real world tactics, flank flank flank. The US Army's docrine rule is the 3 to 1 rule, make sure we have 3 guys to every one of thier guys to successfully attack; lest it's an ambush-no one gets out of a kill zone.

If one squad of pioneers attacks you, send an infantry squad or engineers right against them, Then take another inf squad around and hit them from the side (flank). If its a stug that ails you, send a heavy vehicle, prefferably a sherman, against it and send another, or inf w/ stickies, around to flank to get rear armor hit to flash above the stug.

Once you can build 105's make a fire base in your main or close to it. Look at where thier max range is and control this entire area. Then build more on the outsides of that once you have that area nailed down. Ensure all fields of fire interlock.

One trick w/ 105's to maximize a barrage is to select all of them but dont hit the barrage with all selected. Click one gun from the pool and target it at an area, then click the next gun and place its target next too the previous, do this with 4-5 guns and it will cover your entire screen with explosions. Escaping axis troops can run out of the impact zone of one gun quickly, but when they have to run through 4, they won't make it.

A trainer helps with this type of combat to take off the population cap, thats all I use them for, pop caps are ghey.

[AirAssault101]

Oh yeah, hold choke points. If you have bridges on the map, rig them with demo but dont blow them unless you have to, or blow them and control where the enemy comes. Gives you time to build up if they can't get to you. Land crossings that cannot be destroyed can be fortified with mines, sandbags, wire, MG nests, and AT guns. Again, make sure the fields of fire intersect so they hit on two sides. Hooah.

[-=[Ranek]=-]

Okay aside from the insanity of some of the people above.
the best way I find is high resources then at the start just tech like theres no tomorrow so with axis research all the phases until you can get a panther, or with the allies get a sherman, by the time you have this you should be able to see where the fighting is mainly taking place on most maps this will be a small corridor where lots of things are dying, build AT guns just out of the range of the fighting so that if the enemy do get nearer they will have to fight there way up this corridor against AT guns machine guns etc, that secures your defence.

Now with your panthers, Panzers, Shermans or what ever go around this corridor where there isn't as much fighting and flank the main fight trapping there units between your tanks and your AT and machine gun defense. this should kill of there main army then you should be able to advance with relative ease into there base and destroy them.

[gbknight]

Thanks for the response everyone!