Re: Company of Heroes

**Snail88** · 09-08-2006, 09:35 PM

exactly....its like ok who can build the fastest wins....which is why i play singleplayer. I can play at my own pace.

**Shiner** · 09-08-2006, 11:20 PM

I haven't been a big RTS guys since the original command and conquer or starcraft.. but this game has real promise. Downloaded the beta and just playing the tutorial was fun. I think like Snail I'm more interested in RTS as singleplayer and not stressing out in MP to see who can click the fastest.

**aculle01** · 09-09-2006, 01:15 AM

Just preordered the game from amazon.com so I can skip the 6.75 sales tax here in Escambia County, FL and will still have it by Wednesady for free thanks to the Amazon Prime ($80 annual fee gets you "free" Two day shipping on everything, even >$5 books) 3 month free trial.

**TychoCelchuuu** · 09-09-2006, 01:32 PM

Does two day shipping work even if the game doesn't come out by Wednesday? That seems like a pretty good deal.

**aculle01** · 09-09-2006, 02:05 PM

the game is coming out on the 11th

**Santa** · 09-09-2006, 07:26 PM

Pretty sweet game, really loved the carentan campaign map. The skirmish map i played on easy at first and won, although i lost a lot of guys. Second time through i learned how to get the AT guns quicker and i set up much better killzones, and only lost 8 people in the entire match. "Easy" difficulty is definatly harder than most other games, but its still very doable once you get the game mechanics down.

I love how you ONLY lose points if the enemy has more control points than you. This means that if you go down by 400 and finally get enough control points, if you defend the rest of the round you can win. Theres no point in the battle where you can safely say "There is no way he can beat me".

**Santa** · 09-10-2006, 02:50 AM

Heres a cool screenie. I was on Hard and funneled all of their armor and infantry into a large killzone, with 4 light artillerys, 4 MG nests, and various rifleman and rangers covering the rest. Also had a howitzer in the back firing whenever i saw their 88 was firing at me. Near the end i flanked them with reinforcements and they basically got surrounded between 2 hills. Anyway, heres the screenie of all the destruction:

[IMG]

[/IMG]

**gunjunkie** · 09-11-2006, 05:00 PM

I'm loving this game, especially the MP. I am a fan of other online RTS, but most of those do devolve to how precisely you can click through a set of build trees and mass a particular "uber" unit. To win in CoH MP you still need skills ("micro", as teh_pwnerer would say) but this is minimized by fact you can use things like engagement range, suppression and static defenses to your advantage. Combined arms in this game > all, so most of the gamey rush style tactics (the classic zergling rush, giving that kind of strat its name) are doomed to failure once you learn which unots do well in support of the others.

Unlike a lot of games, no units become obsolete once you progress up the tech tree. Even the lowly Volks Grenadier is still the best close assault infantry in the game with the MP40 upgrade. The US Rifleman squad is still able to compete late game. Real world tactics like kill zones (re-enforced with wire and tank traps and mines), fix and flank maneuvering (suppression is very effective in this game) and skirmishing harrasment work well and make this a much less gamey experience than it could have been.

To illustrate the point, I had an awesome game last night on the St. Hillare map (2v2 MP, has a ridge with train tracks running down the middle and an industrial town on the one side, open marshy ground on the other). I was allied and responsible for holding the ridge, while my pickup partner was going to hold the town. The ridge is usually a meat grinder, with very open terrain leading to it and not much cover on the top. We were playing two pretty good german players (Rank 3) who I knew would try to rush us with tanks. I built a couple of engineer squads, a squad of riflemen, gave them BARs and Stickybombs, built a sniper, a mortar team and an MG team. Then I built the Motor Pool and built an M8 and an AT gun. I positioned all the infantry on the ridge, and build a set of tank obsticals with wire and mines, and sandbags for my forces to take cover behind. All the while, the enemy was trying to advance over open ground with Grenadiers and Pioneers, but my sniper and MG team kept them at bay. Finally, the moment arrived when 2 Panzers pushed at the ridge.

(thanks for reading that lot, it gives context to the real point)

Using cover from a barrage of smoke from my mortar, my AT team started shooting at the enemy Panzers, whilst my infantry flanked forward and threw a sticky bomb onto the lead Panzer. It died quickly. Using the same tactic, I quickly dispatched his second tank. After this I got shermans out and it was gg soon afterwards.

If he had brought up the tank under its own smoke cover, or pounded me with mortars first, and had an MG team cover his tanks advance, I would have lost. Because he just tried to use a single class of powerful unit, my (technically) inferior force was able to use tactics to defeat his armored units, because he did not use combined arms.

We should def. try some TG only locked games once this gets released. I think it has a lot of potential and I know the players here would respect things like a no base rush rule, allowing for a slower developing game.

**Steeler** · 09-11-2006, 05:10 PM

I'm playing around with the demo now, and so far the biggest hting I've noticed is that it is HARD. Maybe it's just the layout of the demo skirmish map, but I found myself having to micromanage 3 fronts against a more or les constant barrage of infantry, mechanized assaults, and dreaded stealth engineer squads running around capping my supply line flags. Very annoying. I eventually won through attrition and zerg rushing with my commander infantry reserves, but it was not as organized and immersive as I was led to believe it would be.

Still trying to decide if it's a buy. The interface is instantly familiar to RTS veterans, and I love the effects and the unit chatter, but I need to experiment more with tactics. At the moment the pace, options and detail are overwhelming.

**gunjunkie** · 09-11-2006, 05:18 PM

Yes, it will take a few (dozen) games before it becomes managable

Most of the maps they have released so far tend to have 2 minor fronts and a middle front that ends up being the focus of the fighting. Generally, the 2 flanking fronts will have chokepoints and the middle one will have several ways in.

Control groups of squads, and static defenses are key to managing the chaos, but you still have to keep a sharp eye on your tactical map.

**TychoCelchuuu** · 09-11-2006, 06:09 PM

The first couple of games I played in the demo had a lot of that annoying "fighting on four fronts" stuff, but if you just build an observation post on a place you don't want to lose or station engineers or a machinegun squad in a nearby building you really don't have to worry about the point ever again (unless they try to blow up the building with an AT gun).

**John CANavar** · 09-11-2006, 06:36 PM

CoH turned out to be much better than I expected. The engine (graphics, animations, effects, destroyable environment, etc) is quite impressive. The details of the models are hard to believe. You zoom to the face of soldiers and it is hard to see that much detail in FPS games...

The first time I tested the demo, I said "here is another "click-fest" type of arcade RTS". I was about to uninstall the demo but decided to keep it for a while and look for ways to slow down the pace. I am glad I kept it.

Here are some of the things that changed my opinion from "uninstall" to "I simply LOVE this game"

I) I started using the following standard platoon structure. Squad numbers refer to group assignments (I almost never use mouse to choose a unit, saves a lot of time and makes the game fluid). Unit names are for German army.

1 [Scout]
- 1 x Sniper

2 [Armor]
- 2 x Tanks
- 2 x Eng (with mine detectors)

3 [Mechanized Infantry]
- 1 x Half Truck w/ flamethrower [use it to transport squad. Provides protection against enemy artillery to some extent]
- 1 x MG team (3)
- 1 x Stormtroopers w/Panzerfaust (5)
- 1 x Grenadiers w/ LMG (4)

4 [Fast Response]
- 2 x Motorbikes or 2 x Armored Vehicles

5 [Artillery]
- 2 x Nebelwerfer

II) I also started using standard operating procedures such as;

1) Movement: a) Send the scouts first to get intel (camo/hold fire) b) Position armors front, mechanized infantry (MI) and Fast Response (FR) unit back flanks. Artillery follow from behind.

2) Contact: a) Commence artillery b) Engage with armors but keep eng repairing. Fall back if under heavy fire c) Flank from left and right with MI and FR while enemy is focused on your armor unit. Keep the artillery barrage going.

3) Defensive measures a) Build tank barriers/wire and place mines/anti-tank guns on strategic points. Also build defensive/service bunkers at certain locations.

III) Other things:

- Use "pause" key to organize your army, get situation updates and plan strategies.
- Try to focus the battle at one location.
- Set the Comp AI to Easy first

In conclusion, when one gets familiar with the interface, get things under control, build an organized army and use standard procedures the game is extremely enjoyable. There is a lot of room to apply real-world military strategies and when they work like you planned, oh boy, what a great feeling

I dont know about the MP part and I dont care much. People always find exploits and ruin the immersion. Gaming the game, if you know what I mean...

I should also mention the "REPLAY" option. You can concentrate on the battle while playing and then watch your battle. A must-have option for games and kudos to devs for putting it in.

I am waiting for Theater of War (huge battlefields and more realistic approach) but CoH may keep me occupied until ToW arrives. Oh damn, Medieval II is coming soon also... What are we going to do???

**|TG| B** · 09-12-2006, 10:08 AM

I tried the demo yesterday. Campaign seems to like it is going to be a lots of fun.

Also tried the skrimish twice. I tend to get all the points and then the tanks roll in and I get squished. twice...

But it does provide a very intense experience. I think I will pick it up today.

I will try your suggestions John... Hopefully will be able to do some good.

**Shiner** · 09-12-2006, 10:23 AM

Originally Posted by John CANavar

CoH turned out to be much better than I expected. The engine (graphics, animations, effects, destroyable environment, etc) is quite impressive. The details of the models are hard to believe. You zoom to the face of soldiers and it is hard to see that much detail in FPS games...

The first time I tested the demo, I said "here is another "click-fest" type of arcade RTS". I was about to uninstall the demo but decided to keep it for a while and look for ways to slow down the pace. I am glad I kept it.

Here are some of the things that changed my opinion from "uninstall" to "I simply LOVE this game"

I) I started using the following standard platoon structure. Squad numbers refer to group assignments (I almost never use mouse to choose a unit, saves a lot of time and makes the game fluid). Unit names are for German army.

1 [Scout]
- 1 x Sniper

2 [Armor]
- 2 x Tanks
- 2 x Eng (with mine detectors)

3 [Mechanized Infantry]
- 1 x Half Truck w/ flamethrower [use it to transport squad. Provides protection against enemy artillery to some extent]
- 1 x MG team (3)
- 1 x Stormtroopers w/Panzerfaust (5)
- 1 x Grenadiers w/ LMG (4)

4 [Fast Response]
- 2 x Motorbikes or 2 x Armored Vehicles

5 [Artillery]
- 2 x Nebelwerfer

II) I also started using standard operating procedures such as;

1) Movement: a) Send the scouts first to get intel (camo/hold fire) b) Position armors front, mechanized infantry (MI) and Fast Response (FR) unit back flanks. Artillery follow from behind.

2) Contact: a) Commence artillery b) Engage with armors but keep eng repairing. Fall back if under heavy fire c) Flank from left and right with MI and FR while enemy is focused on your armor unit. Keep the artillery barrage going.

3) Defensive measures a) Build tank barriers/wire and place mines/anti-tank guns on strategic points. Also build defensive/service bunkers at certain locations.

III) Other things:

- Use "pause" key to organize your army, get situation updates and plan strategies.
- Try to focus the battle at one location.
- Set the Comp AI to Easy first

In conclusion, when one gets familiar with the interface, get things under control, build an organized army and use standard procedures the game is extremely enjoyable. There is a lot of room to apply real-world military strategies and when they work like you planned, oh boy, what a great feeling

I dont know about the MP part and I dont care much. People always find exploits and ruin the immersion. Gaming the game, if you know what I mean...

I should also mention the "REPLAY" option. You can concentrate on the battle while playing and then watch your battle. A must-have option for games and kudos to devs for putting it in.

I am waiting for Theater of War (huge battlefields and more realistic approach) but CoH may keep me occupied until ToW arrives. Oh damn, Medieval II is coming soon also... What are we going to do???

I really appreciate your advice here JC. I really like the game, but have been strugglying to get control of the units. All my matches up to now have felt "out-of-control" where I'm not really appling tactics or a grand strategy, but just moving units around to meet an impending threat. I didn't realize the pause feature would allow us to select troops and was struggling with selecting units so grouping them with numbers should help.

I'm not sure if this is in other game maps, but I wish there was a pre-game timer to allow us to setup defenses on our 1/3 of the map similar to the SP campaign map. This would at least give me time to feel settled before I'm rushing off to cap flags.

**Steeler** · 09-12-2006, 10:38 AM

The more I play this, with engineers following tanks around, rifle squads huddled around flags, and me calling in arty from off-screen, it feels like being a BF2 commander in God Mode.

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