welshy wrote:Tier 1 is always brilliant for me but everything falls apart in Tier 2. I always seem to be outgunned and out muscled.
Don't feel too bad about this, that is just intrinsic to the IG design.
However, the fact that you have a build order which is so specific means you are pigeon-holing yourself into one mode of play rather than thinking about what your opponents are fielding and trying to adapt against that. I cringe trying to imagine you playing without the use of spotters, they are probably the greatest thing the mod has brought to DOWII.
I would suggest you avoid training ogryns. There are some situations where you absolutely need a melee unit that can hold its own and they will fulfill that role, but at the moment they are overpriced for what they provide. Instead, consider stormtroopers - the AV kit makes them good for hunting down pesky manticores or bringing down walkers like dreadnoughts or bloodcrushers (when supported by a HWT with las/autocannon). The assault kit gives them a grenade and a pretty solid long-range attack. Don't use ST as just another frontline troop, GM will out-perform them in that way. Use their long range to harass enemy units while avoiding straight up fights, infiltrate and drop a grenade at a sensitive spot, or just use them as a cheap, versatile point capturing squad. A squad of infiltrating STs with meltaguns can ruin someones day when his army is halfway across the map and they start gunning down generators.
The Chimera is a great pick in most instances; however, consider a manticore too. If you are facing an enemy who uses large blobs or has entrenched himself on a critical point, a manticore can ruin his day and cause significant bleed (at the very least cause a mass retreat).
Leman Russes at T3 are the universal good choice, although, with all the shameless terminator spam nowadays, consider Kasrkins. The Leman russ plasma gun can inflict pretty serious pain on them, but if the terminators corner your tank in melee you can kiss it goodbye. I haven't used Kasrkins all that much, but with plasma guns they do very good damage to terminators. Also, unlike stormtroopers, they are actually quite strong troops in a frontline firefight. They have great HP and high DPS.
EDIT - also, consider getting the sentinel first. I use it to destroy cover on the enemies side of the map and to rush their units as they capture a point early on. Just the sight of a sentinel can cause someone to abandon a point, negatively affecting their economy.