Company of Heroes: Gold Edition is a re-release of the real time strategy video game Company of Heroes developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ. The game takes place during World War II and was the second Relic game to involve squads rather than individual units in terms of infantry. There are two main game types, one is the Campaign mode and the other is Skirmish mode (as of Company of Heroes and the expansion Opposing Fronts) During the original game there is only one campaign story line which involves the American Faction only with the Germans as a non playable faction, though both can be played in the skirmish and multiplayer games. Multiplayer is pretty much the same as skirmish so we will group them and describe them as one.
Factions[ | ]
Americans[ | ]
The Americans are the original primary faction featured in the campaign game. They're units are cheap and versatile allowing them to perform a number of rolls. They also have the widest range of options when it comes to choosing one of three companies as each one is very distinct in how they should be played. The Americans tend to work best when they are used aggressively however they also depend on using cover when fighting German units as they cannot contend with a large number of German units toe to toe. Virtually all infantry have some type of weapon they can use against enemy tanks (which are the primary unit the Germans tend to employ, including machine gunners (though their AP rounds only work on relatively lightly armored vehicles).
Wermacht[ | ]
The German (Wermacht) faction in the game are based in a manner that reflects the doctrine of the German army during WWII. They're infantry units, while smaller in number, can be much more deadly than the American's in toe to toe combat. Their defenses, which can include the FlaK 36 88mm Anti Aircraft gun, are the most hard to penetrate. At the same time, when combining small groups of their tanks and infantry, a large amount of destruction can be wrought with very few casualties. Their weapons are perhaps the most destructive of the entire game, however their heavier tanks are much slower than the Shermans and M10 Tank Destroyers of the Americans, significantly hindering their ability to defend themselves against bazooka equipped infantry without their own infantry running a kind of defensive screen.
Opposing Fronts Factions[ | ]
British[ | ]
The British are the most annoying of the factions for German players and in some cases will be the most troublesome. The opposing fronts factions start with a full squad instead of engineers or pioneers like in the original game. British units are highly mobile by way of using command trucks instead of permanent HQ's. This allows them to move their base anywhere in their territory that they want to. Their infantry, while at first not particularly suited against infantry, can be upgraded with one of three weapons to make them effective against either garrisoned infantry or wide open battles. Their tanks are not very powerful except when they get the Sherman Firefly which is a fearsome tank.
Panzer Elite[ | ]
Oddly, this title is a bit misleading as it would suggest that they have access to really powerful and various kinds of tanks. In actuality, they have several tanks that are adept for specific roles. This lack of variation in tanks is more than made up for by their extremely robust infantry. Their infantry are similar to the Americans in that they are versatile which is made to make of for the lack of versatility in their Panzers. This faction is also extremely adept at defending against both air and ground attacks as all of their defenses are technically anti air defenses but are more than adept at dealing with ground targets like the FlaK 36 88mm Anti Air gun at surprisingly long ranges. Their infantry however are also extremely adept at cutting down both infantry and tanks.