Company of Heroes 2 Takes World War II to the Eastern Front

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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Company of Heroes 2 Takes World War II to the Eastern Front

The most dangerous commander of all is General Winter.

Relic's 2006 WW2 RTS Company of Heroes is widely considered [http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/company-of-heroes] one of the best strategy games ever created, as a World War II spinoff of the developer's popular Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War games. Given the game's acclaim, it isn't very surprising to learn that a sequel is now officially on its way - though that doesn't make it any less exciting.

The news broke today when one NeoGAF user [http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=472681]'s copy of next month's PC Gamer magazine arrived early. On the cover was a Russian officer in the middle of a bloody winter battle, snazzy fur cap on his head and pistol in his hand - because whereas the first Company of Heroes dealt primarily with the Allies-Axis confrontation on the Western Front (you know, D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, and every American movie ever made about the European campaign) the sequel will be moving to the East.

The vast majority of the Company of Heroes 2 campaign will put the player in the shoes of the Russian Red Army as they try to defend against Hitler's inexorable invasion force before turning the tide and pushing the Nazis all the way back to Berlin (whoops, spoilers). Naturally, the slightly-chilly Russian weather will play a role in the game as it did in real life, with the abundant snow slowing down troop and tank movement but providing cover from gunfire in battle.

In case you're wondering what's so important about WW2's Eastern Front - understandable, given that most of our readers are located in countries whose participation in the war was along the Western Front, and whose mass media (also understandably) focuses on those events - allow me to educate you.

The Battle of Stalingrad [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Front_(World_War_II)] remains one of the bloodiest battles in all of human history, and marks perhaps the single biggest turning point of WW2 as the Russians repelled the Nazi advance and began to go on the offensive.

All in all, the scale of operations on the Eastern Front was four times the size of the battles on the Western Front, and featured some truly incredible moments of badassery, like a single squad of Russian soldiers holding off the Nazi army from a lone apartment building for two whole months [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavlov%27s_House]. So yes, the Eastern Front should make one hell of an RTS if Relic is up to the task, and judging by the first Company of Heroes I can't think of any reason to assume otherwise.

The game is currently scheduled for a 2013 release, and if you'd like to learn more, then pick up this coming month's PC Gamer for the full reveal.

Source: NeoGAF [http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=472681]

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Hattingston

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Jan 22, 2012
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Well, suppose that it could be neat, would prefer that Relic focused on Dawn of War 3 though. Always preferred Dawn of War series to Company of Heroes, but CoH is by no means a poor game.
 

Furioso

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Jun 16, 2009
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Didn't even have to mention Eastern Front to get me sold on a new CoH, but the Eastern Front never gets enough attention, so I'll be waiting with baited breath
 

wooty

Vi Britannia
Aug 1, 2009
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Brilliant, so hours were poured into CoH in the past, so many hours shall be poured into it again.

I'll be watching this ones career with great interest.
 

Tony2077

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Dec 19, 2007
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cool I've been waiting for a sequel or another expansion for this series. isn't this series published by THQ
 

Blind Sight

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Fingers crossed for another expansion pack with a German campaign, Relic did a damn good job presenting the Germans as human beings rather then the insane demons typically presented in Second World War games.
 

Kargathia

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Furioso said:
Didn't even have to mention Eastern Front to get me sold on a new CoH, but the Eastern Front never gets enough attention, so I'll be waiting with baited breath
Second that. I for one am rather disturbed by just how much countless video games and movies over the years have taught me about the Normandy campaign. Any change is much appreciated.
 

Quazimofo

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Aug 30, 2010
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Blind Sight said:
Fingers crossed for another expansion pack with a German campaign, Relic did a damn good job presenting the Germans as human beings rather then the insane demons typically presented in Second World War games.
yes, truly company of heroes was a great game, portraying every single character as exactly that, and not just a monster.

my favorite mission in all of the games is the evacuation from trun (near the end of the battle of the bulge, the final battle in which the allies managed to surround the german offensive.. but not before a small group of heroes held the line so their comrades can escape)

i felt kinda bad on how many vehicles i had to comission to hold my defenses together (seriously, their use of artillery was just silly), but once i had my guys in a good system of some luftwaffe keeping anti infantry and tiger tanks repaired, it really made me feel like a hero holding out to the last man so the others could escape.
because the holocaust was arguably the worst part of the war, but that doesnt mean every german soldier was a xenophobic murderous prick. they were people, saints and sinners, and their heroes deserve respect.
 

toomuchnothing

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Jul 5, 2010
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John Funk said:
and featured some truly incredible moments of badassery, like a single squad of Russian soldiers holding off the Nazi army from a lone apartment building for two whole months [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavlov%27s_House].
I always preferred Cracked's colorful yet brief description [http://www.cracked.com/article_18550_5-true-war-stories-that-put-every-action-movie-to-shame.html] of that event.

OT: good to see THQ's financial troubles haven't snuffed this series out (yet).
 

Albino Boo

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Jun 14, 2010
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Furioso said:
Didn't even have to mention Eastern Front to get me sold on a new CoH, but the Eastern Front never gets enough attention, so I'll be waiting with baited breath

While you are waiting here's a few games with on the eastern front.
http://matrixgames.com/products/335/details/Close.Combat.-.Cross.of.Iron (the same basic idea as company of heroes, this is an updated version of games from about 2000)

http://www.matrixgames.com/products/399/details/Panzer.Corps.
turn based hex map game, its a remake of the older panzer general games for the 90s


http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/panzer_general_2/

What the panzer corps was based on
 

Ushiromiya Battler

Oddly satisfied
Feb 7, 2010
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Finally! I've been waiting for so long for this!
My favourite RTS gets a sequel.
I'll be buying this the day it comes out.

And the Eastern Front, yes! I always preferred the Russian campaigns of the CoD games.
I'm so damn excited now!
 

Mad Hamish

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Mar 14, 2011
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DVS BSTrD said:
I guess we stupid, fat Americans are just Kursked with a poor knowledge of geography
That was terrible. Although me saying this is probably just encouragement.
 

Ldude893

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Apr 2, 2010
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I'm very excited because there's another Company of Heroes coming out, and I'm also mildly disappointed because there's ALREADY AN EXCELLENT EASTERN FRONT MOD FOR COMPANY OF HEROES. [http://www.easternfront.org/]

Ah well. They better do the impossible and make this beyond standards.
 

Nouw

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Mar 18, 2009
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Finally! Relic is finally starting its return to the traditional RTS we know and love. Expect good things THQ.
 

somonels

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Oct 12, 2010
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This ... might not end well in eastern europe. I wonder how desperate THQ is to appeal to the russian market.
 

octafish

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Apr 23, 2010
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Well, while mostly unrelated I now have Nuclear Winter's theme from Freedom Force stuck in my head...and that is no bad thing.

So I guess we'll have to wait until CoH 3 for the heavy hitters of WW2 to be brought out? Namely Ming the Merciless V Erwin Rommel. Come on, the Eastern Front gets a lot more play than Africa.