The Lewkus Review -

Blitzkrieg Commander
By lewkus
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Contents

Commander Abilities: ..................................................................................................................... 2

MP Blitz: ...................................................................................................................................... 2

Flares: .......................................................................................................................................... 3

Infantry Pillage: ........................................................................................................................... 4

Assault Reinforcements: ............................................................................................................. 4

Heavy Armor Support:................................................................................................................. 6

Inspired Assault: .......................................................................................................................... 6

Rocket Barrage: ........................................................................................................................... 7

Stormtroopers: ............................................................................................................................ 7

Heroes: ............................................................................................................................................ 8

T1 Standard units and army items ................................................................................................ 10

T2 Standard units and army items ................................................................................................ 11

T3 Standard units and army items ................................................................................................ 11

T4 Standard units and army items ................................................................................................ 12

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Note: This guide is current. Works perfectly with Operation Menace, takes into consideration

the changes from this patch onwards. If you like the guide, please +1 it.

With over 300 games and more than 200 wins with my Blitzkrieg Commander I thought I'd

share you with (like others have) my experiences with this commander. I mainly play 4v4s so

most of my gameplay is focused on 4v4 games.

Commander Abilities:

MP Blitz:

This is the first ability you should get. Nothing even slightly compares to this in terms of

usefulness. As soon as you get to level 12-13 max it out as your first ability. Reasons: it gives

you an economy that boosts your manpower and fuel to superior levels than your opponent.

This allows you to quickly out-tech him, allowing you to throw tanks against his infantry after

about 8-10mins.

Costs: 150 ammo (requires 37.5 ammo per min)

Provides: 1000 manpower, 150 fuels (boosts your mp rate to around 333 mp/pm, fuel 40pm)

MP Income doesn't fall prey to repair penalties and population upkeep penalties

At 333 mp/40 fuel (with immediate upfront costs) after Command Pt Level 4, this ability can be

used constantly and effectively for the remainder of the game, reducing your ammo income by

37.5.
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To keep this income rate going, you'd need 7-8 low ammo points, or two high ammo + 1 low,

which depending on the map is fairly feasible, if not can use OPs to increase ammo production.

The problem with using this ability heavily though, means that you must employ a VERY ammo-

light strategy, more on this later.

Flares:

This ability should be your next ability to choose. At 30 ammo and with ZERO points needed to

make it effective, it is a great ability to have that helps you counter against snipers and can be

easily used with MP Blitz because it doesn't really cost that much. Flares can be used to scout

an area before advancing, gathering valuable intel on what your opponent is fielding. To expose

a sniper and other camo units, making it much more vulnerable to the infantry it may be

targeting.

Tactically throw your flares inside buildings to conceal your use of flares, also i moderately

argue against using the accuracy upgrades because it shows the red shield above units, so your

opponent knows you have exposed him.

Flares upgraded can give a very wide area, and 45 sec duration, making it possible to have an

area constantly exposed if 6 pts are invested into both cooldown and duration. This makes is

very effective and always available. Using flares and playing with other axis commanders makes

you ITCH for the flares ability. This ability is one of Blitz's vital and strongest abilities if used

effectively.
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Infantry Pillage:

This should be your next ability to FULLY upgrade. It helps you immensely when trying to

maintain constant use of MP Blitz and at 0 CP 1 CP for ZERO cost, you can begin your gathering

of ammo and extra mp almost immediately. It is not a bad ability at keeping your troops alive

just that *little* bit longer with the healing invigoration that happens once you make some kills.

Especially useful for HMGs and Volks and later for Grens. Even a lone pio squad can use it to

easily beat an engie squad. The trick is to train yourself to use this ability when it's needed and

balance your attacks to fit outside the cooldown window so you get the maximum effect. Again

this is a vital ability for Blitzkrieg players and can be used throughout the entire game many

many times making it extremely useful.

Assault Reinforcements:

This ability is very under used and rightly so, it's both expensive and comes in at 5 cp, bit late to

be used as most likely already tanks, bars, rangers etc... all manner of units which can destroy

the units which Assault Reinforcements gives. HOWEVER, it can be used to quickly get a large

amount of anti-infantry units onto the field, especially used to fill Blitz commander's lack of

defensive and back-teching options that Defensive Commanders have. It's perfect to use when

you have little-no infantry units that are available to capture territory and also to hold this

territory. Blitz commander has great abilities that can QUICKLY advance and overwhelm an

opponent, but very little in the way of keeping these territories. Terror uses forced retreat,

Defensive uses RA. Blitz can use Assault Reinforce late in the game to get:

HMGs, put behind lines to defend critical points from ninja caps
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Flamer pios, for repairing tanks and *saving* ammo by getting free flamethrowers.

Grenadiers, a single shrek makes this unit pretty effective to support mass tanks, can hold back

and cap.

Remove motorcycles and volks

The rest are fairly useless, occasionally I’ve used/seen Goliaths used well but as a disposable

unit that can't cap, you can't keep it has some drawbacks. The other units are either not worth

the pts or just don't really fit well at the time for when this ability is used. The vehicles can't cap

so they aren't really much use to you this stage of the game

Best thing about this ability is getting some flamers, grens and hmgs instantly - this whole team

can hold its own, especially if you are using your tanks to hold off allied heavy armor. For the

manpower cost of less than two stormtroopers, you could effectively have 3 x grens, or 8 x

flamers, 3 x hmgs or some other random mix - all which receive vet bonuses you may have

purchased. I find that this offmap ability to be quite useful when floating just a little bit of

manpower (easy to do especially after a mp blitz). Also it's possible to change things up and

focus heavily on T1 & T2 and use this ability to really strengthen your army. It's best not to put

too many points into this as the variety of units can ruin its use - making it a great 4th ability to

have

5th and final ability. No idea. (EDIT: Currently I am using Inspired Assault) I find no matter what

I choose I never seem to use it. Here are the choices and why.
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Heavy Armor Support:

Why I don't use it: I feel that this call in tree could be better designed. At 7cp and 1000+ mp for

the Tiger, it is not very useful when compared with how many regular tanks you could train up

much earlier in the game, adding vet later to strengthen. Tigers are vulnerable to stickybombs,

have hardly any armor with no vet capabilities and die easily to well-placed artillery. They may

be useful more in 1v1 games; however I highly recommend avoiding this ability. Since using MP

Blitz you can generate insanely high amounts of fuel, you might as well make use of this and

train regular vetted tanks. A Tiger can't kill a field repairing Pershing and it's so slow to move

around, takes ages to heal. I'd rather have 3-4 Stugs/Ostwinds mix or a Panther depending on

what commander I’m facing.

Inspired Assault:
Why I don't use it: Like many others have stated, it simply just costs too many points to be

useful. You NEED 12 pts in it and you'd be crazy to waste HALF an MP Blitz on this. The

suppression immunity is laughable because you just get suppressed again, and its duration is

too short. This ability is absolutely pathetic and the only time I’ve seen it used well is with

several snipers which can take down a large amount of infantry in a short amount of time. Since

Blitz has flares, counter sniping without a sniper is much easier so there is really no need to

waste manpower on more than one sniper, ever.

EDIT: I have made this my 5th ability and it has a minor use, to charge past an mg nest or to

slightly (desperately) increase a small squad of infantry's firepower (especially useful against

BAR suppression) if floating a reasonable (disposable) amount of ammo.

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Rocket Barrage:
Why I don't use it: It costs TOO MUCH. 210 ammo! Plus you have to have revealed territory to

use it, this means having to use flares as well if you are going for a long range attack with it.

Close range - expect collateral damage. For 210 ammo, you have to be extremely lucky to make

this ability worthwhile. A FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR better alternative is a stuka. Blitz commander

can fast tech to T4, so getting the stuka upgrade shouldn't be a problem. Plus spending 220

mp/20 fuel on a halftrack is chump change for a one time investment of 175 ammo for FREE

UNLIMITED, NO WARNING SMOKE, quiet, barrages that you can target in fog as well. Great for

targeting mortars, hmgs and at guns that may be denying your tanks from advancing. It is fairly

easy to keep your halftrack alive and behind enemy lines and MUCH easier to avoid stuka

friendly fire than Rocket Barrage friendly fire - which surprises team mates and forces

stalemates on territory. Plus the obvious fact that ramming MP Blitz button every chance you

gets means it might be ONCE in an entire game that you use this ability. Better off making a 175

ammo investment into a stuka. Essential to hotkey him and targeting into fog will also save you

30 ammo gathering intel as well, as you can get a rough idea what's there by firing it.

Stormtroopers:
Why I don't use it: aaah the once mighty Stormtroopers. They simply don't have a suitable fit

within my standard army. At 400 mp, they are expensive to get and even more expensive to

lose. Time and time again, I find these units dying or forced to retreat well before they have

paid for their use. Their mp44s are weak against infantry blobs compared with the Grenadiers

LMG which can suppress (after a while) and while their shrek is cheaper to buy than Grens, they

rarely survive an encounter with m10s (which crush) and Shermans (which gun down) ST before

they fire off sufficient shreks to warrant the extra manpower cost. They also don't get vet and I
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find the cloaking ability useless. I'd much rather pack a gren squad w/ shrek into a half track to

flank an mg nest and Allies rarely have hmgs placed out in the open to sneak behind and kill.

My direct alternative to using ST is Assault Reinforcements and Prepared Grenadiers (which get

free shrek/lmg, saving munitions!).

Over the duration of the game comparison:

Cost of 3 x ST squads with mp44s/shreks = 1200mp, 252 ammo

Cost of Prep Grens + Assault Reinforcements (3 x Grens w/ single shreks) = 1140mp 225 ammo

So there you have it. My current 5th commander ability is ST, but I haven't used them at all

since I started using Assault Reinforcements. EDIT: Currently using Inspired Assault as breaking

suppression can be *sometimes* useful and since I got it I've definitely used it more than my

other 5th abilities.

Heroes:
There are a few essential heroes for blitz commander to make useful in this strategy, most of

these try to balance a munitions light gameplay.

Construction pios - these babies are fast with sprint, they can wire off an area fast and

compliment fast tech by building your buildings faster than other pio squads. They are cheap at

120 and can easily evade and cap very quickly. Quicker I think than Field Pios simply because

they can sprint from point to point. If you need a bunker up quick, these guys can do it for you.

They also don't receive extra damage penalties that normal pio squads receive while building or

repairing, making them slightly tougher in certain common instances. I find I use these more
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than Berger Pios and since the Faust got upgraded, it's not as necessary to have T0 AT. And

while Const Pio mines cost 25 muni compared to Berg's 20, they build them faster which means

you can get that crucial mine down that little bit quicker.

Accomplished Motorcycle - this is probably the MOST useful T1 hero Axis has. Just simply

because it costs 40mp less, you never really need more than one motorcycle at the time, you

don't use vehicle vet early so there is really no drawbacks to using and reusing this +20% health

motorcycle that will survive a tad bit more when under fire. This makes him a more durable

anti-sniper counter, especially with flare - he compliments a HMG and provides sight for him

and flanking defense.

Fatherland HMG - while slower to build than regular HMGs, he can move fast and has good

accuracy and exceptional range. Useful for defending wide gaping terrain and quick to move

into position, a good second HMG squad, never first.

Prepared Grens - for reasons mentioned above, they provide a weak anti-tank and anti-infantry

that can ward off an m8 and mince a jeep. They also have reasonably long range grenades

which can help clear buildings or blobs. This hero, while 80mp more expensive than regular

grens and weaker when compared to vet 2-3 Grens, helps to supplement the ammo light

gameplay, saving 150 ammo on it's useful LMG and shrek in the T2 period

Blitz AT gun - depending on if I decide to invest into support unit vet or get more than one pak,

this hero may or may not be worthwhile. However he is a little bit cheaper at 270mp and is a

resilient single pak to get and compliments your AT abilities very well.
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Superintendent Officer - OMG BEST hero for blitz, this dude speeds up your build time like

crazy, not sure exactly on the figure but I think it's about 2.5x more effective, making stugs fly

out in 20sec instead of 50sec. He can also slowly heal damaged buildings and force retreat

pesky airborne base drops. The supervise ability gives so much strength to Blitz gameplay

allowing for mp blitz funds to be spent in less than a min, allowing for tanks to roll out much

faster.

Enhanced Ostwind - A good single ostwind, when vet 3 is probably far off. Good if teching

straight to T4 to deal with infantry and mg nest spam. Great for kiting expensive AT infantry

such as rangers/airborne.

Accomplished Panther - Another hero useful in occasional situations. Good for getting rid of

tank traps and hedgerows. Useful if vet 3 is far off.

T1 Standard units and army items

HMG: build immediately and get in to an area of denial fast, stuff this up and you will probably

lose the game, follow up immediately with an accomp motorcycle to ward off snipers and to

help with flanking engies/rifles. Use the -15% received damage purple drop. The rest of the

army items are fairly useless, extra damage *might* be useful if in a map with lots of buildings,

firing from one building to the other. Received damage will just help HMGs survive a little

longer, perhaps against a surprise grenade, flamer or mortar.

Volks: get some Volks out if trying to cover wider areas and cap enemy territory, use wire and

sandbags to support your hmg and deny flanks. All army items are useful here, as volks are a
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critical and common unit. +9% accuracy, -30% cheaper reinforcements (very efficient when

reclaiming hmg/mortar/at guns and stop general mp drain from combat), and +24% health

T2 Standard units and army items

Pak, as soon as you get T2, build a pak and get it in a decent position. It's cloak and AT abilities

will give the impression that a single pak could be more, making just a single pak useful where

ammo for mines may be saved up for mp blitz instead. An allied commander will think twice

before rushing a single m8 or a few tanks into an area he's seen a Pak. Move it around and fire

it from different places to give off the impression you have more of these than you do.

Halftrack, an essential mobile FHQ to reinforce, detect snipers (if your bike dies) and to rush

behind mg nests with troops. Great support unit for volks and prepared grens, adds strength to

your lack of mass infantry due to fast teching. +16% health is useful if you are a low level

commander

T3 Standard units and army items

StuGs: It's a pain that the 45 second time for the hero officer wasn't reduced to 25 sec as

regular officers were, but I figure the extra 20sec is recouped after two stugs or so. So once you

got your supervising officer, pump out two of these babies and give them vet 1 as soon as you

can. On the field early, they support your weak infantry slightly (especially since they are only

really vulnerable to stickies, which it's possible that your opponent doesn't have yet!) GREAT to

counter WSC start, as these things beat all WSC units, m8s and halftracks. Having two means

you can easily take on a Sherman or two m10s (if supported behind by your pak and prep

grens). These guys have some GREAT army items. There is +20% weapon range, +20% sight,
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+10% armor piercing and +20% speed. Combined, these army items are wonderful and can

greatly improve the StuG's crappy turning speed, allowing for more hits at long range if being

rushed by m10s. Wonderful at chasing shermans and avoiding Artillery, they have strong frontal

armor, so keep them facing forward and spread out, tough to micro but placed well can take

out tanks and suppress infantry before being overwhelmed. Make use of the shift click behind

to back them up quickly. They are CHEAP as well and more mp efficient than a panther. StuGs

also only use 4 population so they can be amassed in larger numbers. Normally an axis

commander would be severely penalized with upkeep for doing so, but using MP Blitz negates

this penalty completely, allowing for a constant streams of 3 x stugs every 4mins if you wish.

T4 Standard units and army items

Ostwind: Depending on how the game is going, it may be better to go Anti Infantry tank first

before backteching to T3 to get StuGs. Getting 2-3 of these will decimate infantry blobs and are

great for rushing through an area and kiting AT infantry. They can disable an AT gun quick and

run off and allow for StuGs to advance more safely. Be careful of getting addicted to them,

because they are completely useless against anything tougher than an m8. Stugs + Ostwinds

make for a great economic use of MP Blitz. It's possible to amass and spread your forces out

thin for defense, or rush with a group and do some heavy damage. Ostwind army items +20%

sight is useful to help with kiting, and +60% acceleration slightly useful to avoid arty and run

away from tanks.

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Panther or P4: Panther for Pershings/Tank, P4 for AT guns/Garrisoned troops. Otherwise avoid

and build cheaper StuGs, or a hero Panther instead. P4 Skirts, +16% health and +20% speed are

pretty decent low level army items

Stuka upgrade: upgrade your halftrack and use for weak, persistent and free arty - explained

above.

Most of these units and heroes are munition light, allowing for a much larger force to be

fielded. A single repair bunker can be great to build with your construction pios to help keep

your tanks healed within a heavily attacked area without suffering a lot of mp damage if you

lose your pios - fiddling with retreat, reinforce and repair etc. and is pretty cheap for 150mp

and 50 ammo. Frees up your other pio units to salvage wrecks, place wire and tank traps, cap

points etc. The bunker is also great for providing heavy cover in open areas for your infantry

also.

With rapid deployment of tanks, it's possible to take your opponent by surprise and scare the

crap out of them. It also allows for much more aggressive gameplay, pushing forward and

shrugging off losses. I particularly like the +10% armor penetration army unit for StuGs.

Opponents frequently underestimate how much damage their Sherman can sustain, with StuGs

punching very heavily and much closer to 100% of the time than without it. Dead StuGs pay for

themselves in munitions if you can salvage them, allowing you to continue your continuous

cycle of MP Blitz.

The biggest weakness for Blitz Commander is early game. Getting to 4cp can take much longer

than normal if you aren't getting enough kills. It's also a nightmare if you lose your initial
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territory and get pushed back by poor gameplay on your part or exceptionally good or

unexpected tactics early on by your opponent. However if you can hold (or your team mates

can hold) the early game long enough for StuGs or Ostwinds to hit the field, the battle begins to

tip in your favor. The most important thing to do in the late game stages is to scout to see what

you are up against, don't rush an area if you don't know what is there first. Keep at least SOME

infantry for capping, use Assault Reinforcements to make a late game infantry push to help cap

and defend your areas instead of more and more tanks.

Blitz aim is to break the lines, push 3-4 tanks through enemy lines and instead of heading for

base, run through and knock out mg nests, observation posts, lone engineers and AT guns

pointing the wrong way or scrambling to get into a better position. This throws allies into chaos,

requiring them to react by getting AT guns, teching to tanks as well to stand a chance. Try not

to lose any tanks, and if you are expecting to lose one - put him on a direct route back to safe

grounds for salvaging the munitions. Use this time to send a single ostwind or your infantry

forces into your desired area to take down what you really wanted to take, it might be a

resource point, a vp, a fhq, a mg nest or just a mass of infantry you will force retreat. Keep your

infantry out of combat as much as possible; they are more valuable to you for capping. Use

your stuka to clear out hmgs and bars which would otherwise eat up your weak infantry. Use

volks + halftrack to strengthen your own army by claiming dead AT guns and hmgs.

But anyways, that's how I play as Blitz. When playing 4v4's I normally have a gameplay style

that differs to other Blitz players who use a lot of Tigers and Rocket Barrage. I find this also

important because it helps to diversify our tactics. I hope you made it to the end and maybe
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learnt something fresh to try with the Blitzkrieg Commander. Hope it helps new players grasp

how to upgrade their commander tree too.

Last Edited On: Nov 10 2010 12:34 AM UTC (56 days ago)