Riflemen
From RelicWiki
This article refers to an infantry squad from the game Company of Heroes
The rifleman squad is the backbone of the Allied faction in Company of Heroes. The riflemen squad is a jack of all trades; with the proper upgrades, they are effective against nearly everything in the game. A riflemen squad consists of 6 men, the sergeant, with a M1 carbine, and usually a radioman with a carbine. The 4 other men carry M1 Garands.
Uses
The riflemen squad by themselves aren't one of the most powerful squads in the game. Without upgrades, they are only useful for roving anti-infantry against weaker squad types, such as Pioneers. However, with the proper upgrades, they are a squad to be feared. Keep in mind that all the upgrades - purchased in the barracks - cost a lot of fuel. Getting all these upgrades early on will delay getting heavy vehicles.
Grenades are useful for killing infantry, particularly those in buildings. It is possible for your opponent to move their squad out of the blast radius, though, so this doesn't always work. Grenades are also highly effective against weapon teams, such as MG teams, AT guns, Flak 88s, or nebels.
The Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) is the ultimate in anti-infantry weaponry. At a cost of 40 ammo, this ability allows you to "suppress" enemy infantry for 15 seconds, pinning them, and disabling special abilities. This ability can effect multiple enemy squads at once, temporarily rendering them completely ineffective. If they don't retreat, a quick follow-up grenade can make short work work of enemy squads. The cooldown is also very low - a mere five seconds after usage.
The sticky bomb is an anti-armor ability that has a good chance of damaging the engine. Even against a powerful tank - like a Tiger - that they can't damage well, a damaged engine can still prove very useful. Against light armor, such as Stugs and Pumas, the sticky bomb is a very effective weapon. It only takes a few bombs to destroy them, and it will often cripple them, making it difficult to retreat.
Counters
Watch encounters with riflemen carefully, and make sure to micro your troops away from their grenades. If you're quick, you can move away from a grenade, or exit a building before the grenade goes off.
Once the riflemen get BARs, it can become difficult - if not impossible - to counter them with your own infantry. Keep in mind that using suppression has a has a high ammo cost. Cut their ammo supply, and they can't keep suppressing you. Retreat as soon as your troops are suppressed, unless you want to lose them. If you think they may also try and 'nade you, wait till they throw the grenade before retreating to maximize their ammo loss. MG teams in buildings at choke points can severely limit riflemen movement. The riflemen can't suppress anything in a building, and if the MG team is pinning them, they can't get close enough to throw a grenade, either. Put these MG teams at choke points and near ammo dumps. If they can't move, and can't supply their riflemen with ammo, their advantage becomes useless. Suppression can be a blessing in disguise: if they spend all their ammo on your infantry using suppression, it means that they will have that much less ammo to use on sticky grenades when your armor rolls out.
Keep your vehicles away from the riflemen, and the sticky bombs become less of a problem. Sticky bombs never miss, but have a short range. Pumas can easily keep out of range of riflemen, and with a bit of micro, Stugs can fire while in reverse - and they reverse faster than riflemen can run. Keep the riflemen in your firing range, but not within sticky range. It takes a lot of micro, but it's better than losing your vehicles. Retreat your vehicles if they take damage and keep them repaired. If they expend ammo on a sticky bomb and your vehicle manages to escape and get repaired, the ammo is wasted.
Ammo, not fuel, is the riflemen player's life force. They need ammo to use their riflemen abilities, and eventually the calliope barrage (assuming they go armor, which is likely). Cut off their ammo, and you severely hamper their offensive capabilities.
Registered artillery and Propaganda are some effective abilities you can use against riflemen. If you have the ammo to spare, RA makes it very difficult for them to capture points with riflemen. Propaganda is a lifesaver against clumped masses of riflemen - and it's just plain evil on huge maps.
