Monte Carlo

Some replays are starting to trickle out... http://www.youtube.com/user/Propagandacast Plus some Beta keys... Just 'like' the FB page... https://www.facebook.com/companyofheroes

Oh, and using the T-34 to head-butt German armour and break their guns is priceless. Soviets don't really Zerg-rush but they need combined arms to defeat armour. What I mean is you cripple the German tank with other tanks then the coup de grace is with AT guns and AT infantry. I took out a Tiger that killed two T-34s and three infantry squads. Finally slew the beast with a satchel charge.

Pretty cool. But then again I love CoH1's graphics. I've got it ramped up to maximum for everything and it's purdy. I think you'd like the weather effects, the blizzards are very atmospheric I had to put a woolly hat on. As for other observations --- I agree with Drowsy that they have resorted to one concept of the theatre, which in Multiplayer I would suggest is Kursk - Berlin (i.e. later war tactics) will be interesting to see what's occurring in the campaign... So for LordCrash the campaign is a totally different data set from MP. So you might see very different units and mechanics in single-player. Agiel: You can get 88s in this game as a Commander ability and move the suckers around, too. There is a very fair split between on and off-map arty.

Hi, Relic / Sega have lifted the NDA restrictions on discussion only, so sadly I can't post screenies or anything. I've been playing in the Beta for almost ten days and thought I'd share some thoughts with those of you who enjoyed the original game and are thinking about perhaps picking up this one. CoH2 is all about the Russian Front. It has rousing choral music that sounds like the Red Army choir, blizzards that kill your troops if you can't make it to sources of fire and deep snow that can bog down vehicles. Oh, and iced-over lakes that you can blow up, sinking any units attempting to cross it. It also tries to capture the meat-grinder character of the theatre, which has led to some controversial gameplay changes. Hardcore fans are slightly concerned, but speaking as one of them myself, I am adapting the more I play. And, bejaysus, there is a lot of Arty in CoH2. If you like dropping inordinate amounts of indirect fire on your enemy and blowing them into paste, then you'll enjoy this game. It was identified immediately as OP (on the Beta forum it quickly became dubbed 'Company of Mortars') and I think is having some timely nerfs applied. Anita whatshername would approve of the heroic depiction of Kommunist sniper-chicks in CoH2 nyhow, here is the meat and potatoes... Eye-Candy TBH it doesn't look like we've had seven years of progress from the original. Having said that the first game still looks great. Blizzard / weather effects are excellent. Unit models are good, some of the new units are great (Katyusha rocket trucks, SturmPanzers etc). The Soviet sniper teams come in a boy / girl combo but my favourite unit is the T-70 tank, a crazy lightly-armoured Dalek of a unit with a female commander who can pop out of the turret to increase line of sight. There are also scout cars and halfies you can load snipers and flamethrower units into for even more mayhem and incinerated Fascists. The GUI is frickin horrible and we all want it changed: too busy, clumsy and distracting. Here is an NDA-free example that has already been released... The resource stats are to the right (not shown here) and are horizontal. I hate it. I think given the barrage of nerdrage Relic might tweak it. Big battles (3 v 3 & 4 v 4) look utterly brilliant - swarms of armour rolling across arty-strafed battlefields. I would prefer the camera to let me pan out a bit more, again a common complaint on the Beta forums. Ear-Candy CoH2 has the best sound I've ever heard in a computer wargame. All of the historic weapons were fired for real and recorded. The armour clanks and groans as it trundles onto the battlefield. The music is solid and rousing, although will never surpass the genius of the original. The soldier chatter is, as usual for a CoH title (one German AT gunner is moaning about dragging the gun, the other reminds him that's because they ate all the horses). Gameplay We have seen nothing of the official campaign, only multiplayer so please bear that in mind. Faster than CoH1. Much faster. Tanks roll out quicker, units cannot build the static defences prevalent in CoH1 (no concrete bunkers or zombie grens or tank traps) so it is a game of fire-and- manoeuvre. This has led to allegations of the "Command and Conquer" style dumbing down of the franchise, but TBH this is a tad harsh (although I wish they'd slow the pace down a bit, it's very frenetic for an old fart like me). A primordial meta is developing that might put this into context. The Soviets play a little bit like Amis from CoH1 but the Germans have devastating late game armour (most 3 v 3s and 4 v 4s have StuGs running around by the twelve / thirteen minute mark, they are very cheap to build and get spammed). A critical hit system against vehicles allows for all sorts of mayhem (stunned crews / damage to vision blocks / engines / weapons). Swarming suicidal Soviet penal troops armed with satchel charges onto crippled Nazi armour is a totally do-able tactic in this game and is very Eastern-Frontish in feel. The VP / resource system has changed too. You can now build resource OPs on any point and choose which resource to boost (Fuel or Munis). This makes cut-offs less of an acute problem, which changes the meta completely. There is an interesting roster of units and 'Commanders' (who you can customise, I'm slightly underwhelmed as you have to take their abilities in order, unlike CoH where there were skill trees). The Russians have penal troops, cannon fodder conscripts, elite Guards infantry (wearing capes!), metal-armoured close combat infantry with SMGs, all sorts of tank destroyers etc. Germans have less infantry varieties (one squad is rifles / MG42 with upgrade the other MP44 / Panzerschreck with upgrades) but shed-loads of armour and vehicles. Conclusion It's... different but still CoH. It will take a lot of getting used to. It's as if a diehard BG fan had opened up NeverWinter Nights and discovered that it didn't suck donkey balls. If you want a fast-paced but tactically deep WW2 RTS game that is less fussy than Men of War but more gritty than something involving hex-squares and men with beards, then you really might like this. Feel free to ask questions! Cheers MC

Drowsy is just being too kool for skool, had he read the actual pitch for the KS he'd see that what's been delivered is exactly what was proposed.

Torment fans would buy a rogue-like sequel. Dude, as long as you can get lots of text in there, Torment fans will be happy.

To all the folks making suggestions regarding shadows / texture / opacity... Remember that Sawyer mentioned that this was running on an entirely average desktop PC. Although the specs of that PC would be interesting to see, I am taking Sawyer's word for it. For that reason alone think that what was presented (PRE-ALPHA) is exceptional. Of course, my computer could run the death star but in my munificence I care about the people with lesser rigs.

Well good luck running your re-education camp. Because this is crazy. I can explain why your logic is flawed for you, but I can't understand it for you.

Rostere I've loved your posts to bits for years, but is a bit of bone-headed sexism (get back into the kitchen) *really* as bad as a reference to ethnic cleansing and / or genocide (get back into the ghetto)? Really? This is the problem with political correctness: it is too proscriptive and has a tendency to become dogmatic. It also tends to ignore context (I was once told to 'consider my audience' when choosing what language to use, and of course this is true). If this board becomes a po-faced, sanctimonious haven of thought police then that would be a shame. And after all, we've tolerated haters like Oby and LoF for years, haven't we?

Those character models have a ToEE vibe about them, which is good because I really liked those. And long scimitar / sabre style swords! I was especially impressed with the scale, it looks like the maps will be big. That warrior looks tiny at the foot of the giant temple.

That was impressive and I am happy. Does anyone else remember the wailing and gnashing of teeth when Obsidian announced they were using Unity?

My posts were just as awesome nine years ago. My consistency pleases me.

Bollocks. Thatcher was a passionate believer in liberty. She despised dictatorships of any stripe. She helped negotiate the end of the Cold War and brought down a tyranny in Argentina. That she had flaws is a matter of record, but your assertion there is epic in it's inacuraccy and offensive to the woman's reputation. Please, as this is the internet, provide some evidence for Thatcher's alleged support for totalitarianism.

^ To reiterate, it's not like I've got a problem with female gamers. Am just deeply suspicious of shouty, faintly patronising manifesto pieces like that. I like women. I'm married to one.

I used to like Rock, Paper, Shotgun. But that bit of comments closed, smug, White-Knighting plus easily the most pretentious piece of pseudo-intellectual BS (the Bioshock Infinite review) has kinda put me off it. Although the dude who writes Flarepath is awesome.

^ Thanks for the selective quoting, where I said "Some of..." Knob.

Every whine and piece of childish vitriol just reinforces how much she eviscerated the Left. Good. I am old enough to remember the three day week, electricity cuts, unburied bodies and no bread in the shops in the 1970's under the Socialist grip of the Labour Government, who couldn't do anything without the agreement of the Trades Unions. Besides, some of the most egregious bull**** about Margaret Thatcher is from kids who probably don't even remember her time in office. This is the woman who recognised Gorbachov as a man the West could do business with. Some of the intellectual pygmies attacking her legacy are beneath contempt. RIP Baroness Thatcher.

Walked das hund. Wrote a bit. Played CoH2 beta. Got to help a new person learn some tactics and gifted him a win. Made dinner for my family. Had a glass of wine. Don't know if Sundays get much better than that, but I was happy enough.

End of Watch: refreshing, interesting, different.

Add me if you like, i'm AirfixPanzer on steam. Am currently level 6 as Ostheer, getting pwned by soviet infantry spam :/

If this woman is the best that the Feminist Blitzkrieg can offer then old grognards like me can sleep easy. Although I would IP ban, identify and humiliate the idiots who have threatened / bullied / been vile to her. Or is that White Knight sexism? I don't know, I find this stuff confusing nowadays. Oh, and she looks hawt in those glasses. Am I allowed to say that?

I take your point, but srlsy, tabletop wargaming is doing quite nicely, thankyouverymuch. It's niche, for sure, but it's in rude health.

I am in the closed Beta for Company of Heroes 2 as of tomorrow. That is all.

Great. Another morale vampire.

I want my fur-clad barbarian to wear the plumed hat. That would rock.