I believe this game is the best RTS game ever, so it needs to be introduced here.
Company of Heroes is a real-time strategy computer game developed by Relic Entertainment. It was released on September 14, 2006, and was the first title to make use of the Games for Windows label. A standalone expansion, Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, was released on September 25, 2007, and we are expecting another one standalone expansion, Company of Heroes: Tales of valor, which will be released in the Spring, 2009.
Website - http://www.companyofheroesgame.com/ (http://www.companyofheroesgame.com/)
Company of Heroes
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk274/Brains_09/coh1.jpg)
Company of Heroes is set during World War II where the player commands two U.S. military units during the Battle of Normandy and the Allied capture of France. Depending on the mission, the player controls either the Able Company or Fox Company, the latter being from the 101st Airborne, and the former being part of the 29th Infantry Division.
Singleplayer campaign
The single player campaign puts the player directly in some of the major American operations during the Battle of Normandy.
D-Day
The game begins with Able Company's assault at Omaha Beach during D-Day of Operation Overlord - Able must first breach the seawall, then take out German bunkers overlooking the beach, and finally disable the Flak 88 anti air guns. The game also introduces two of the game’s major characters: Captain Mackay and Sergeant Conti.
Battle of Carentan
The next three missions are about Fox Company and their actions during the capture and defense of Carentan. On the night before D-Day, Fox Company must first regroup after the chaotic airdrops at Vierville, then disrupt enemy operations in rear areas by opening new drop zones and preventing the Germans from reinforcing the beaches.
After D-Day, Fox Company is then tasked to capture the city of Carentan to secure a link between Utah and Omaha beach and to defend it against ferocious German counterattack. Though constantly bombarded by artillery, Fox Company is eventually relieved when Able Company arrives at the city and the link between Utah and Omaha beach is finally secure.
Battle of Cherbourg
Able and Dog Company form the spearhead of the Allied advance to secure Cherbourg and its deep water port. En route to Cherbourg, Allied supply route is threatened by elements of the Panzer Lehr division commanded by Hauptmann Schultz, and Dog Company is ambushed in the process. Able Company manages to drive the Germans back and defend the supply route for the "Red Ball Express" to pass through, but by doing so Able Company also becomes the nemesis of the Panzer Lehr division and Captain Schultz for the rest of the campaign.
With the flank secure, the Allies continue to advance onto Cherbourg. Able and Dog Company, supported by the 4th Cavalry and the USS Texas, are tasked with capture of the port facilities. Although Able Company successfully subdues the German defenders and captures thousands of prisoners, the port has been badly damaged and is unusable to the Allies.
However, after the battle, Able Company found documents from an Axis bunker which shows a V-2 Rocket launch site near Sottevast. Fox Company has been called in to conduct an airborne assault on the V2 facility, while elements of Able Company rush to the site with armor support.
Operation Cobra
American forces begin to approach the city of St. Lo and Able Company is arriving from the north. German defenders at St. Fromond hope to stop Able Company’s advance by blowing up the only bridge leading into the town. Able Company repaired the bridge under fire from across the river, and drove the Germans out of the town. German defenders regroup and organized several counterattacks with rocket battery support, but all assaults against Able Company are thrown back with heavy casualties.
Charlie Company is destroyed by the defending Panzer Lehr division under the command of Captain Shultz, while attempting to secure Hill 192 at the outskirt of St. Lo. Able Company is assigned to take the hill. Hedgerows around the hill and hidden flak 88 batteries provided formidable defensive position against the Allies, but Able Company managed to break through by employing bulldozer equipped Sherman tanks to plow through the hedgerows and flank the Germans.
German defenders at St. Lo decide to hold out against American forces by heavily fortifying the city center, but Able Company planned to surround and trap the German defenders at the city center rather than a head-on assault. Although the operation is successful, some German units, including the Panzer Lehr division, manage to escape destruction. Able Company call in the 8th Air Force in response and the escaping Germans units suffered heavily due to carpet bombing.
Badly reduced and under constant air attack, the shattered Panzer Lehr division is being chased by American forces, and Able Company managed to intercept what is left of the division at Hébécrevon. A raid is conducted with fast moving M10 tank destroyers against the Panzer Lehr division's positions, and almost all of Panzer Lehr division's armor strength, including the last 7 surviving Panther tanks, are completely wiped out. However, during the course of the mission, Captain MacKay is killed by the Tiger under the personal command of Captain Schultz.
Operation Lüttich
After losing their commander, newly promoted Lieutenant Conti is taking command of Able Company. Able Company is taking a break from the war, and has been reassigned to Mortain to relieve Dog Company at Hill 317. Unfortunately, on that night, Mortain becomes the focal point of a German counterattack against recent American successes. Surprised and outnumbered, Able Company is forced to hold the hill until reinforcements can arrive in the morning.
Dog Company arrives the following morning with armor support and Able Company begin to dig in and consolidate their positions. German forces renew the counterattack in force after their surprise night attack has failed to take the hill, but all attempts are beaten back. Able Company successfully force the Germans to retreat after inflicting heavy losses, including the destruction of a Flak 88 battery.
Falaise Pocket
The last section of the single player campaign deals with the destruction of German forces in France. After suffering a string of defeats, the German army is forced to retreat in order to avoid encirclement. Allied forces are racing to trap the German army before it can escape. Baker Company is assigned to shut down one of the escape routes at Autry, but Captain Schultz's Panzergruppe, which escaped the destruction of the Panzer Lehr division, annihilates them. Able Company rushes to the scene with M26 Pershing support and destroys Captain Schultz's Panzer Gruppe in return. Captain Schultz's Tiger is among those tanks destroyed in the battle, and Captain MacKay's death has been avenged.
Chambois becomes the German Seventh Army's last hope for escaping the Falaise Pocket. With heavy air cover, Canadian, Polish and American forces, led by Able Company, secure all bridges around Chambois and close the Falaise Pocket. The German Seventh Army attempts to break free, but they are met with heavy aerial bombardment and are forced to surrender.
The campaign ends with the caption that Able Company had suffered 80% casualties at the end of World War II.
Multiplayer campaign
This game allows multiplayer matches of 2-8 players via LAN or the Internet.
Company of Heroes allows players to fight as both the Allied and Axis forces in multiplayer matches.
Game awards:
- PC Gamer: Game of the Year 2006
- Computer Games Magazine: Game of the Year 2006
- GameSpy: PC Game of 2006, Best Sound, Best PC Strategy Game, Best PC Multiplayer
- GameSpot: Best PC Game 2006, Best Strategy Game
- IGN: PC Game of 2006[16], Best PC Strategy Game, Best Use of Sound on PC Best Online PC game
- Game Critics Awards: Best Strategy Game
- GameSpot: 2005 Best PC Game of Show; Best Strategy Game of Show; Best Overall Game of Show
- IGN: Runner-up, Best Strategy Game (PC), Runner-up, Technological Excellence (PC)
- GameSpy: Best of E3
- Interactive Achievement Awards: Strategy Game of the Year
Company of Heroes - Wiki, more info (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_of_Heroes)
Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts - expansion
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk274/Brains_09/coh2.jpg)
Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts is a standalone expansion pack. It contains two factions; the British and the German Panzer Elite.
Opposing Fronts introduces two new single player campaigns. They feature campaigns from the British perspective and the German perspective respectively.
The British campaign is based on the Liberation of Caen. It features nine missions focusing on the attack by British and Canadian forces from Sword, Gold, and Juno Beaches to the city of Caen.
While the German Panzer Elite's campaign is based on the driving back of Allied forces during Operation Market Garden. It features eight playable missions following a Panzer Elite Kampfgruppe in occupied Netherlands that is bracing itself against one of the largest airborne invasions in history.
Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts - Wiki, more info (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_of_Heroes:_Opposing_Fronts)
Company of Heroes: Tales of valor - expansion
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk274/Brains_09/Coh3.jpg)
Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor is an upcoming (2009) :D real time strategy video game stand alone expansion pack to Company of Heroes. It was announced on 3 November 2008 and is schedule to be released around April 2009.
Tales of Valor will include new units, additional maps and further multiplayer modes, such as 'Invasion', where the player will command a Tiger I against waves of enemies of increasing difficulty, and a new feature called "direct-fire", where the player 'Points and shoots'. It has been announced that no new factions will be added and that the new units are new models and textures.
Company of Heroes: Tales Of Valor has three plot lines or episodes.
The first episode "Tiger Ace" follows Tiger Tank Ace Hauptmann Voss's Tigergruppen as they fight the 7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom) on D-Day. During this mini-campaign you take the role of Voss, the Commanding officer in the German Campaign in Opposing Fronts.
The second episode "Causeway" follows a company of paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division in the hours after the D-Day landings. This story follows two squads, Able squad and Baker squad, they are tasked in holding the causeway from Omaha Beach for the 8th Armoured Division.
The Third Episode "Falaise Pocket" follows the SS Panzergrenadiers and Wehrmacht as they try to hold the Allied in Falaise Pocket. the story follows a young German officer station in Truhl.
Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor - Wiki, more info (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_of_Heroes:_Tales_of_Valor)
This is the first game i can play at every time. So, If you've played, say impressions here..