The Meta-game

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[Smokaz]

The changes in the Meta-game


What is the metagame? What is the matrix? The matrix was a movie, the metagame however is something entirely else. For newer players its nice to learn about it, because if you dont know the term you are unlikely to actively try to observe it.


1. Definition
One short and easy definition of the metagame: "the game about the game". You know what happens when unit x meets unit y inside the game, but this is not the metagame. Thats just the regular game playing out. The metagame is a relative subjective understanding of what type of units the opposing players will lean heavily towards and what type of counters they will attempt to use against you. In one way the metagame plays out before the actual game: its effects are felt ingame while tanks and infantry are shooting each other, but the decisions that led to this point have already been taken when the ingame timer starts.

2. What happens ingame -> Forms a metagame impression
Let's say over a period of 5 eirr games all the american players you meet are using RR's or zooks supported by 75mm shermans. This "combo" makes up a varying majority of the games you have encountered.  2 observations about the metagame can be derived from this, depending on how much you generalize:

(General Metagame Observation)
- American players are using infantry handheld AT to counter your armor, and their armor to counter your inf
- American Airborne players are using RR's to counter tanks and paks, and their shermans to counter infantry and support weapons

Let's assume you encounter more variations, more specific ones:
- AB player is using a mix of bar airborne and rrs
- Ab player is using a mix of 75mm and 76mm's
- AB player is buying grenades, but not satchels

From a general metagame perspective, you would then conclude:
- If I'm going to beat him by brute force, I need something that can resist damage from and deal damage to both his unit types (Sherman tank armor and airborne type of infantry (High health, good armor, large squad)
- Knowing what units perform/counters another unit becomes important then to picking what units to field in your company,
- Perhaps also how your Scissor vs Paper unit performs under attack from the second part of the combo (people are always using some form of AI/AT combo, for instance) is important

3. How it generally goes
If you keep encountering certain builds, it builds a impression in you that this is popular and that is good/hard to counter. If you keep losing to the same stuff, you probably need to adapt to the metagame.

Encountering the 75mm / RR builds, the wehrmacht player might respond like this:

- Fielding several Pumas in his company since both RR's and 75mm are mediocre at hitting the puma and it can deter airborne effectively
- Field paks that neither airborne or shermans can match the range of
- Field assault nade squads that are less vulnerable to being sniped by shermans and losing their power
- Run around with mp44 storms that shermans cant target unless you decloak them and a Panther

The airborne players run into the wehrmacht adapation a few games, and have a much harder time. In return they adapt. Again:

Observation: American player notices that a lot of wehrmacht are running pumas against because a lot of airborne players are favoring a 75mm/RR strat

Reaction:He starts replacing part of his sherman force with a few hellcats who kill pumas very effectively

Observation: American player notices a lot of wehrmacht are favoring a mp44/panther build against his RR/Sherman

Reaction: American player adds a 57mm and a few rifles and jeeps to his company composition, giving the panther less targets, allowing the rifles to shield the airborne and the jeep to detect ambushing storms etc

And thus it continues. Wehrmacht player notices that american player has no satchels, demos or mortars. Fields more bunkers who can take a few RR and sherman shots and protects a mg42 inside to cover a pak.

American notices a lot of bunkers in the last games, adds a satchel.

4.  Closing notes

This is the metagame. Holes in your strat being opened and closed based on what the other side is doing and how you change your company. If something is popular, there is a period of time before the other side reacts and changes their companies to be better suited, and then again a period again before they adaption is adapted to. The metagame is a scene of changes where everyone is trying to field the best variation of their general strat to meet what they think the enemy is bringing.

Very obvious changes can be stuff like:

One faction switching from munitions based to fuel based AT, aka wehrmacht going heavier on stugs to deal with armor/light armor effective against their infantry based anti tank, spending less on infantry based AT. Americans switching between their tank destroyers for AT support and using their infantry teams. PE switching between clown cars/panthers.

The metagame is available for everyone. Casual players can ask their more diehard friends whats going on atm. Players that get in 6-10 games a week probably notices what seems to be popular. Doctrines also suggest a more narrow range of strategies. Knowing you are going up against airborne will prompt most players to buy some AC's / Pumas if their company is very weak to airborne.

Metagame will also affect doctrine picks. Its not uncommon for players to level up entire new companies if they see that their current ones are particulary weak. One day that armor player is bowing down to your Jagdpanther, the next day he's back with a Tank Reaper company with mass rifles supporting it. The presence of a lot of heroic armor/elite armor wehrmacht units will over time increase the amounts of flamer heavy companies from americans and royal engineers.

[Lai]

I'll sticky it for you, Smoker.

Could add more bolded text and body text (usually people have plenty of body text a few examples. There's more to the topic though imo, like favored maps.

As a side note, covering the big trends to a while back might be interesting (I like my EIR History Book). No need update it all the time (can't give it all away)

[Smokaz]

Agreed, added some formatting just now. I will fix it up more later.  As you can see yourself most of the strategy forum stickies are a longer post about a certain part of the game, followed by free discussion.

The "Warmap" and attack and defend are also important parts of the metagame, aka if you know you will be defending/attacking on RTC this calls for a different setup than say Crossroads R mode. Examples could be going heavy on support weapons knowing you are defending on a narrow map, and going heavier on mobile weapons if you are facing a large map like crossroads.

[Sach]

The meta game. AKA - 'What shall we spam this month?'

[DarkSoldierX]

Post should include, their is multiple varations of metagame for the doctrines sometimes, and a few people dont follow the metagame at all. Those are likely to loose but sometimes are hard to play against.

[Smokaz]

Post should include, their is multiple varations of metagame for the doctrines sometimes, and a few people dont follow the metagame at all. Those are likely to loose but sometimes are hard to play against.

Likely to loose, but sometimes hard to play against?

[DarkSoldierX]

Post should include, their is multiple varations of metagame for the doctrines sometimes, and a few people dont follow the metagame at all. Those are likely to loose but sometimes are hard to play against.

Likely to loose, but sometimes hard to play against?

Like some sort of shit company, like nebel spam. They are likely to loose unless heavily supported in a 4v4, which become hard to fight in such a situation

[NightRain]

Kids

stfu

take it outside this thread

mod clean pl0x

[Killer344]

Listen to NightRain, it seems he knows.

[Masacree]

The irony, of course, is that all of these "stfu kids you're spamming the thread posts" are as many as our posts, and far more spammy/useless.

[BigDick]

the metagame is something u said smokaz, but to tell the newbs spamming pumas when meta game switch to more airborne companies is just bad gameplay in eirr

in omg with all the assault airbornes running arround u may have a point but a puma isnt a good counter to RR airbornes

if u use a puma blob of 3 against 1 RR squad it may be a reasonable counter but who ever tries to counter a massiv anti vehcile infantry unit with vehicles (even if scatter causes some shoots passing through doing no damage) using vehicles doesn't know much about adjusting his metagame

[Groundfire]

until you have to hide your airborne inside your own mortar smoke to save them from the pumas, you have no idea how good 3 Pumas can be at taking out airborne call ins.

[BigDick]

i use massive amounts of pumas myself in omg mod
and i use an airborne company in omg mod too

yes i think i have an idea that pumas can take out airbornes but also that RRs are still a serious thread for them especially when using cover

and if u ask me i wouldn't try to counter RR abs using pumas cause its always the case that i pray "please go through" cause when they hit puma is half health

it is just like fighting nun upgunned Shermans using PIVs u may win but u will not go out of the fight without losses

[gamesguy2]

Things like puma phase through will be looked into when doctrines are implemented.

[Smokaz]

RR's arent good counters to puma non-doctrinally, doctrinally you can go blitz and get the 10% health buff, vet 1 for defensive buff and the yellow crater cover damage reduction and the Puma will just eat RRs alive.

[slyguy7447]

In terms of articles for newer players i think metagaming is going a bit far.  I would think a series of short articles on dealing with particularly troublesome units (e.g. well micro'd snipers, 88's on open maps, even just dealing with 4+ squad infantry blobs can be seemingly impossible for new players) would be a better place to start, or articles on unit synergies within factions and doctrines with a view towards effective combined arms play.  I have no doubt the unit spammers among the community enjoy playing that way, but imo newer players should be guided towards combined arms rather than spam'n'blob.

[Lai]

To solve a unit situational problem you don't need to look further than vanilla CoH.

You generally need more muscle behind your game to win with combined arms than with gimmickry. For newbs to snatch enough wins to stay around, I'd say roll the dice with a weighted company and hope it works out. Take me (who's more combarms oriented than most) as an opponent for example, if you're newer and going combined arms against my combined arms your chances are dismal. If you focus heavily in one area there's still hope. Anyways, this is more about what to expect. How to use that info is up to each and everyone.

[Sach]

Things like puma phase through will be looked into when doctrines are implemented.

why?

[deadbolt]

Things like puma phase through will be looked into when doctrines are implemented.

why?

i know that vet 3 puma needs fixin vs at guns, why does it insta gib any at gun in its sight? i cant even see them half the time with their retarded range and they just own my shit.

[Mysthalin]

Things like puma phase through will be looked into when doctrines are implemented.

why?

Don't worry, unless we get someone proficient at modelling and especially clipping models it's not going to happen ^^.