Company of Heroes 2 closed Beta

[Monte Carlo]

A friend of mine had a grandfather who fought at Stalingrad. He was an Italian, an Alpini in the Julia Division. He walked home to Italy, via Dresden. The Germans forced him into a salvage crew after the fire-bombing.

 

He doesn't have the nickname 'Lucky.'

 

Anyhow, another CoH2 pic of my adventures... never ever ever face off an ISU-52 assault gun with a flimsy halfie full of riflemen.

 

[IndiraLightfoot]

I'm playing the theatre of war-scenarios like crazy now, and here's a shot from my favourite so far - the Tatsinskaya Raid:

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An eager row of tanks before an assault worthy of the history books.

Edited February 21, 2014 by IndiraLightfoot

[Bester]

Oh god. The level of historical ignorance in this thread. Why do you even live like this, let alone post.

[Monte Carlo]

Huh?

[IndiraLightfoot]

After a weekend of pretty heavy theatre of war-playing on my behalf, I thought I would share some reflections on COH2 (once again, mind you: I had never played a RTS-game before, and thus not COH1). Actually, it's more or less all praise.

I'm surprised to find that COH2 has the same "one more turn"-addiction that the Civilization series has. You just want to try yet another scenario or have a go in a new match. And even more surprising, even if you play the same scenario or the same maps, each and every playthrough feels quite new and fresh. This is another thing COH2 has in common with good 4X-games, like Civ. And finally, the absolutely best thing with COH2: Losing a game, or failing a mission, actually feels rewarding. There aren't many games I've played in my life where this is true. Losing and learning feels like a true privilege in COH2. In many theatre of war-scenarios, I deliberately (and sometimes non-deliberately, as it all was so darn exciting) disregarded the save button, and it felt perfectly fine. That, in itself, is a fantastic achievement of Relic. And while the learning curve for me in this game is steep, the "fun and excitement"-rewards you reap as you slowly starting to get the hang of things are just immense and lingering. After a special scenario, say, the Tiger Ace challenge, and when you finally get it all right and succeeds (in my case, a very close call), I keep thinking of that match. I go to sleep and have an aftermath, or should I say "after-match" in my head, going through all my decisions and the turn of events.

 

For every micro-decision you make in COH2, you always sacrifice something else. Always! That, I reckon, is pure genius! And I can recommend this game to anyone who wants very varied and very real challenges (with thin slices of random disturbances, results and contingencies to deal with). It's a true treat!

Edited February 24, 2014 by IndiraLightfoot

[IndiraLightfoot]

Heh, I just must share this. I just finished my second 2 on 2 match since I restarted my COH2 adventure. The game went on for a good half an hour, and we were behind 200 points. Then, when I started get those Panzer IVs out, things began to turn, and in the end, me and my teammate managed to win with just 3 victory score points left on the clock. We overtook the Russian team on the last little bit of the home stretch. It was a fantastic feeling to pull that off. The stars (victory points on the map) shifted quite a bit at the end. I still suck pretty bad, but I and another guy on the other team were the "noobs". The other two were almost twice as effective as us. Still, the game was extremely exciting!!

[Monte Carlo]

Yeah, a to-the-line victory with the VPs ticking down is always sweet.

 

I've still to beat the Tiger Ace challenge! :[

[IndiraLightfoot]

The Tiger Ace challenge took me three tries. I began using saves in the last one. In all of them, the real hurdle was how to take out those three IS2-tanks (?) at the end. You need to save up points in order to use the 30 s self-repair function. Also, make sure you separate them a bit, so that one of those tanks gets on its own, then blitz in, speed in circles a short while and gun it. Then retreat if needed. Unfortunately, the blitz function eats up the same points that lets you self-repair. In my last try, I lured the three Soviet tanks into my train station trap. that parked train there is perfect for forcing them to line up, and you get protection from it. I shot a bit, then backed away, out of sight. Then I used the parachute flare to spy on where they were going, and always nagged at the loner. In the end, my Tiger was victorious!

[IndiraLightfoot]

A small and seemingly unassuming patch went live yesterday, but it was a pretty big one, for instance:

-A lot of overall changes to AI combat, which literally makes it smarter

-Facing cones for unit dots on mini-map

-The action of dragging the in-game facing cones of bunkers, machine guns, etc. has become easier and smoother

-A few changes have made load times faster

 

Great!

[IndiraLightfoot]

I had the honour to play with Monte Carlo today, as I sorely needed help beating a co-op scenario, the Khalach Pincer. It went well, mostly thanks to the true MC around here! (Not me, not MCA, who could that be?)

 

Here are two screenies:

First one as I approach the final bridge that needs to be taken -this is my medium tank storm...

 

 

And here we have the bridge, or what's left of it, two seconds before final victory:

 

Heaps of thanks for a good time, MC!

[Monte Carlo]

Yeah, by the end of the game I had four squads of maximum vet Shock Troopers, which are pretty much unstoppable. This one stole a panzerschrek, too

 

Thanks Indira GG!

 

[Calax]

I'd be in (if I still have it installed, may have removed it for the Elder Scrolls Beta I thought I was able to get into before my power supply screamed and died in terror) for a 3 man crew to play something.

[Nepenthe]

I had the honour to play with Monte Carlo today, as I sorely needed help beating a co-op scenario, the Khalach Pincer. It went well, mostly thanks to the true MC around here! (Not me, not MCA, who could that be?)

 

I thought verbal fellatio was against the forum rules!

[IndiraLightfoot]

 

 

 

I thought verbal fellatio was against the forum rules!

 

Not if you suck it all up right.

Edited March 17, 2014 by IndiraLightfoot

[Monte Carlo]

I'd be in (if I still have it installed, may have removed it for the Elder Scrolls Beta I thought I was able to get into before my power supply screamed and died in terror) for a 3 man crew to play something.

 

We can do some 3 v 3 stomps or ToW if you like.

[Monte Carlo]

 

I had the honour to play with Monte Carlo today, as I sorely needed help beating a co-op scenario, the Khalach Pincer. It went well, mostly thanks to the true MC around here! (Not me, not MCA, who could that be?)

 

I thought verbal fellatio was against the forum rules!

 

 

Lowering the tone as usual, Nep.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Well, farewell life, hello gaming!

 

Not only did RoS drop like a bomb recently. Now, Relic gives us their March Deployment, overhauling the gameplay of COH2 extensively, emphasizing unit cover, weapons range, prolonging the early game, making light vehicle and unit tactics much more important. Here's Greg Wilson explaining all the goodness:

http://steamcommunity.com/games/231430/announcements/detail/1801744861721542072

[IndiraLightfoot]

PCGamer just announced a stand-alone expansion for COH2 - the Western Fronts. This will be very exciting, indeed! :D

 

_{Tom Senior at}

_{17:42 on 28 March 2014}

 

_{Company of Heroes 2 is returning to the setting of Company of Heroes 1 with The Western Front Armies, a standalone expansion that's coming out in June for $20. It includes two armies: the US forces and the German Oberkommando and eight new multiplayer maps set in the green, unfrozen lands of the Western Front. There are no single player missions or Theater of war Scenarios mentioned, so it looks like an expansion designed to feed the multiplayer scene, which has been quietly warring away since launch last year.}

_{Though Western Front Armies is standalone, it'll share a multiplayer pool with Company of Heroes 2, which means whatever combination of the two you own, you can be automatched onto any of the 31 maps alongside any army. Buying the original game or the expansion will make their included armies playable, and let you create custom games with the included maps. Sega also note that the armies will be available separately for $12.99 each.}

_{There's also mention of a "new progression system" that will let you unlock "unique content" that'll let players "dive deeper into the tactical and strategic aspects of the game". I don't know what that means, but it might have something to do with the tiny unit upgrades and skins you can unlock with the current experience system.}

_{Here are a few shots from the Xpack. Shermans! Paratroopers! I'm having happy flashbacks to the first game.}

Edited March 28, 2014 by IndiraLightfoot

[Monte Carlo]

Indira and Calax (and anybody else) let me know when you are up for some MP against the 'puter and I'll put a gonzo 4 v 4 together. Check out some of the Steam workshop maps too, mebbe we can all download one of the massive, crazier ones.

[Walsingham]

So will you be able to play Russkis versus Yanks in the ruins of Berlin?

[Monte Carlo]

Apparently so, an interesting counterfactual. You only need to buy one of the new factions to get into multiplayer, so I see a massive spike in new blood in CoH2.

[Monte Carlo]

HEy, Relic are shouting out for Alpha Testers for Western Fronts. I've applied...

 

http://blogs.companyofheroes.com/2014/05/01/help-us-test-company-of-heroes-2-the-western-front-armies/

[IndiraLightfoot]

Thanks for the heads-up! Now I have applied as well.

[IndiraLightfoot]

I have played a few more theatre of war and campaign missions on harder difficulties as of late, just to try out the Elbe Update changes, and the game has indeed improved quite a bit from where I'm standing. Relic have slowed down the openings of the game, making the infantry, the clown cars and the half-tracks, etc, a much longer tactical affair. Also, they have improved the importance of taking cover and they've taken into account the distance from which you're units are firing - all of this makes unit placement much more rewarding, albeit micro-management-heavy. I always did like that first phase more, and it turns out that it really works. Thank you, Relic!

 

As for other news on COH2 Western Fronts, well, let's just say Monte is helping Relic out in that department as I type this. I'll let him fill you in on that laterz.

[IndiraLightfoot]

I finally did it!!!

 

There is this holy grail of achievements in Company of Heroes 2, at least after a certain patch in September last year. It's in a theatre of war pack called Case Blue. As the Germans in this scenario, your mission is to defeat an absurdly large force of Soviet partisans that call in tanks, flamethrower infantry and machine gun trucks. And you, well, have nothing at the beginning but an engineer and some basic resources. For each patch, this mission has stacked this mission in the favour so extremely that being wiped out after 15-20 minutes is a given. And you will get overrun and won't even be near a victory. I've been trying my hand at this scenario for months this year. My total matches and losses stacked up to 20, when I now, today, finally scraped up a very close victory. The huge rush of adrenaline and the huge joy of finally beating this mission (and this is Conscript level, mind you - Captain and General levels are basically impossible since Sep 2013) is greater than great!! It's well up there when games used to be really difficult, and I still was young and elated over beating a game after like half a year or a year of hard trying and lots of failed attempts and regrouping and new tactics devised.

Just wow!!

 

Here's my shiny and most well-deserved medal! For once, an achievement was indeed an achievement.

As you can see, you need to be much better than the AI to even stand a chance in this mission.

Still, one faulty move on my behalf - just one - and the Ai would have snatched the victory from my hands yet again.

Look hard at this screen, coz there ain't many people that have seen what lies beyond the victory screen here!