Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts

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Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
Company Of Heroes Opposing Fronts Boxart.jpg
Developer(s) Relic Entertainment
Publisher(s) THQ (Initial)
Sega (online services: 2013-)
Producer(s) Shane Neville
Designer(s) Josh Mosqueira
Quinn Duffy
Programmer(s) Ian Thomson
Artist(s) Nicholas Carota
Erin Olorenshaw
Writer(s) Stephen Dinehart
Adrian Vershinin
Composer(s) Ian Livingstone
Inon Zur
Engine Essence Engine
Havok (physics engine)
Platform(s) Windows, Mac OS X, Android, iPadOS
ReleaseWindows
Mac OS X
  • WW: March 1, 2012 [4]
Android, iPadOS
  • WW: April 13, 2021 [5]
Genre(s) Real-time strategy
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts (abbreviated CoH:OF) is the stand alone expansion pack to Company of Heroes , a real-time strategy game for computers running the Windows operating system. Opposing Fronts was developed by Canadian-based RTS developer Relic Entertainment, and published by THQ in September 2007. Another standalone expansion to the Company of Heroes series, Tales of Valor , was released in April 2009. The expansion was made available for Android and iPadOS on April 13, 2021.

Contents

Gameplay

Dynamic Environmental Effects System

Opposing Fronts implements a Dynamic Weather Effects system consisting of real time weather effects and day-to-night time transitions. In addition to these enhancements, particular birds sing at various times of the day and during specific weather patterns. Although Relic had initially indicated otherwise, the Dynamic Weather Effects system has no tactical impact on the battlefield. [6]

New single-player campaigns

Opposing Fronts introduces two new single player campaigns. The campaigns feature gameplay from the British perspective and the German perspective. 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. The German Panzer Elite's campaign is based on driving back Allied forces during Operation Market Garden. It features eight playable missions following a Panzer Elite Kampfgruppe in occupied Netherlands that is bracing itself for one of the largest airborne invasions in history.

Compatibility

Company of Heroes players are able to play against Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts users. Those who own both games can either play as the Americans or the British against the Wehrmacht or the Panzer Elite. Those who own only Company of Heroes can play only as the American or Wehrmacht armies.

Factions

British 2nd Army

The British are the new Allied army in the series. Their primary advantages are defensive. A greater number of static defences can be built, such as slit trenches and anti-tank emplacements. These emplacements have an associated population and manpower cost to prevent the map being overrun with defences. [7] Their standard unit, the Infantry Section, has stances that alters their speed and reactions. Though more effective than their American counterparts, most British infantry move slower in neutral or hostile territory unless led by a Lieutenant or Captain, which are extremely expensive. The British mainly rely on officers, such as the Captain, Lieutenant and the Cromwell Command Tank, to improve effectiveness. [8] British bases can be packed up and redeployed at different positions, but at the cost of freezing resource income during the move. Veterancy for the British is also unique. Only officers can become veterans. As they gain rank, they gain new abilities and benefits for their soldiers. Infantry units can become more mobile if mounted in the Bren Gun Carrier, and engineers get support from the fast moving Stuart tank early in the game.

The command trees for the British army in the game are based on famous branches of British and Commonwealth armed forces. The three trees are:

German Panzer Elite

The Panzer Elite, also called the Kampfgruppe Lehr is a faction designed by the game developers who draw their inspiration from the Panzer Lehr Division and an amalgam of German units from Operation Market Garden, including the 2nd SS Panzer Corps and Luftwaffe paratroopers.

The Panzer Elite mainly focuses on speed and vehicles. They cannot build static defenses apart from a few doctrine-specific heavy weapons. They rely instead on the use of halftracks and similar light vehicles to hold territory and increase resource income. They also don't use support weapon crews, instead they use support halftracks, for example, instead of an anti-tank gun, they have an anti-tank halftrack. Unlike other players' halftracks, Panzergrenadiers (the standard Panzer Elite infantry) can fire heavy weapons, such as Panzerschrecks, StG44 automatic rifles, or mortars, from inside the vehicle. They can also repair vehicles, but at a slower pace than standard engineer units. At the same time, the Panzer Elite has Kettenkrads and Bergetiger repair units.

The three doctrines for the Panzer Elite are:

Plot

Liberation of Caen

The British 3rd Battalion, under the command of Major Blackmoore is tasked with taking the city of Caen. A day behind schedule, the battalion encounters further delays from German troops in the area. After securing the town of Authie, several bridges over the River Odon and Hill 112 in succession, British Commandos along with Canadian infantry fight an overnight battle to secure an airfield at Carpiquet. Though successful, the Germans counterattack at Hill 112, threatening the British flank.

With armor reinforcement, the Royal Scots Engineers retain the hill, and soon after the battalion moves on Caen. Bombardment by the Royal Air Force however turns the city in a hazardous quagmire, the Germans having dug in amongst the rubble. After heavy fighting with the German defenders, 3rd Battalion finally secure Caen and successfully repel a heavy German counterattack. 3rd Battalion then finishes off the remaining I SS Panzer Corps in Bourguebus before being allowed to rest as the 2nd Battalion continue the advance.

Operation Market Garden

In Wolfheze, Kampfgruppe Lehr are training raw recruits when British paratroopers descend from the skies. Using whatever means necessary, the Kampfgruppe repel the attack on their position. Plans for the entire operation are discovered in a downed British glider, and are brought to the attention of Major General Voss, commander of the Kampfgruppe. The plans indicate that the British 1st Airborne intends to capture strategic bridges across the Rhine in Oosterbeek and Arnhem. Kampfgruppe Lehr are tasked with intercepting the landed paratroopers and slowing their advances by destroying the railway bridge at Oosterbeek.

Vital to the paratroopers success also relies upon the British 30 Corps linking up with them along Highway 69 known as well as 'Hell's Highway'. Kampfgruppe Lehr mobilizes at Valkenswaard to stall and delay 30 Corps. The bridge at Best is also destroyed before the American 101st Airborne Division can secure it. Kampfgruppe Lehr then returns to secure and recapture Arnhem, the last crossing into Germany still in Allied hands. The last pocket of Allied forces in Oosterbeek is finally brought to surrender by the Kampfgruppe, putting an end to the daring Market Garden.

Interplayability

Opposing Fronts is not a classic expansion in that it does not require the original game. By itself, it allows partial access to the original game's assets in multiplayer mode. This allows players of the original game to play with those who have Opposing Fronts, even if only one of the players owns the expansion. In the same way, players who own both games can play as and against any faction. However, Opposing Fronts players also have the option to play with only those who own the expansion. [11] This stand-alone setup is similar to Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War , another Relic title, and its subsequent expansions.

Opposing Fronts requires customers to create an online account for multiplayer. In an effort by Relic to counter piracy, the game requests account authentication if Internet access is detected. Otherwise, a standard DVD check is used.

Reception

Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. [12] [13]

During the 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, Opposing Fronts received a nomination for "Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year" by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Arnhem</span> Failed British airborne operation in Arnhem, Netherlands. Part of Operation Market Garden

The Battle of Arnhem was a battle of the Second World War at the vanguard of the Allied Operation Market Garden. It was fought in and around the Dutch city of Arnhem, the town of Oosterbeek, the villages Wolfheze and Driel and the vicinity from 17 to 26 September 1944. The Allies were poised to enter the Netherlands after sweeping through France and Belgium in the summer of 1944, after the Battle of Normandy. Operation Market Garden was proposed by Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, who favoured a single push northwards over the branches of the Lower Rhine River, allowing the British Second Army to bypass the Siegfried Line and attack the Ruhr. US Airborne troops were dropped in the Netherlands to secure bridges and towns along the line of the Allied advance. Farthest north, the British 1st Airborne Division landed at Arnhem to capture bridges across the Nederrijn, supported by men of the Glider Pilot Regiment and the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade. The British XXX Corps were expected to reach the British airborne forces in two to three days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Epsom</span> Allied military operation in France in 1944

Operation Epsom, also known as the First Battle of the Odon, was a British offensive in the Second World War between 26 and 30 June 1944, during the Battle of Normandy. The offensive was intended to outflank and seize the German-occupied city of Caen from the west, an important Allied objective, in the early stages of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of north-west Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Tonga</span> Airborne operation during the Second World War

Operation Tonga was the codename given to the airborne operation undertaken by the British 6th Airborne Division between 5 June and 7 June 1944 as a part of Operation Overlord and the D-Day landings during the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Bastogne</span> American/German engagement December 1944

The Siege of Bastogne was an engagement in December 1944 between American and German forces at the Belgian town of Bastogne, as part of the larger Battle of the Bulge. The goal of the German offensive was the harbor at Antwerp. In order to reach it before the Allies could regroup and bring their superior air power to bear, German mechanized forces had to seize the roadways through eastern Belgium. Because all seven main roads in the densely wooded Ardennes highlands converged on Bastogne, just a few miles away from the border with neighboring Luxembourg, control of its crossroads was vital to the German attack.

<i>Panzergrenadier</i> German mechanized infantry

Panzergrenadier, abbreviated as PzG (WWII) or PzGren (modern), meaning "Armour"-ed fighting vehicle "Grenadier", is the German term for the military doctrine of mechanized infantry units in armoured forces who specialize in fighting from and in conjunction with infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) – that is, armoured troop carriers designed to carry a mechanized squad of six to eight soldiers into, during and out of combat while providing direct fire support for those troops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans von Luck</span> Military officer of Nazi Germany

Hans–Ulrich Freiherr von Luck und Witten, usually shortened to Hans von Luck, was a German officer in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. Von Luck served with the 7th Panzer Division and 21st Panzer Division. Von Luck is the author of the book Panzer Commander.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panzer Lehr Division</span> Military unit

The Panzer-Lehr-Division was an elite German armoured division during World War II. It was formed in 1943 onwards from training and demonstration troops stationed in Germany, to provide additional armored strength for the anticipated Allied invasion of western Europe. On 4 April 1944, the division was officially designated as the 130th Panzer Division; however, it is usually referred to as the Lehr Division. It was the only Wehrmacht Panzer division to be fully equipped with tanks and with halftracks to transport its mechanized infantry. On several occasions it fought almost to destruction, in particular during Operation Cobra, and by the end of the war in Europe bore little resemblance to the unit that had originally been activated.

<i>Kampfgruppe</i> German term for combat formations in WWI and WWII

In military history, the German term Kampfgruppe can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany and its allies during World War II and, to a lesser extent, the German Empire in World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Charnwood</span> Second World War Anglo-Canadian offensive

Operation Charnwood was an Anglo-Canadian offensive that took place from 8 to 9 July 1944, during the Battle for Caen, part of the larger Operation Overlord in the Second World War. The operation was intended to capture the German-occupied city of Caen, which was an important objective for the Allies during the opening stages of Overlord. It was also hoped that the attack would forestall the transfer of German armoured units from the Anglo-Canadian sector to the American sector to the west, where an offensive was being prepared. The British and Canadians advanced on a broad front and by the evening of the second day had taken Caen up to the Orne and Odon rivers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I SS Panzer Corps</span> German armoured corps during World War II

The I SS Panzer Corps was a German armoured corps of the Waffen-SS. It saw action on both the Western and Eastern Fronts during World War II.

<i>Company of Heroes</i> (video game) 2006 video game

Company of Heroes is a 2006 real-time strategy video game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ for Windows and Mac OS X operating systems. It is the first installment of the Company of Heroes series, and was the first title to make use of the Games for Windows label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flames of War</span> World War II tabletop wargame

Flames of War is a World War II tabletop miniatures wargame produced by the New Zealand company Battlefront Miniatures Ltd. The 1st Edition set of rules was published in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Perch</span> British offensive of the Second World War

Operation Perch was a British offensive of the Second World War which took place from 7 to 14 June 1944, during the early stages of the Battle of Normandy. The operation was intended to encircle and seize the German occupied city of Caen, which was a D-Day objective for the British 3rd Infantry Division in the early phases of Operation Overlord. Operation Perch was to begin immediately after the British beach landings with an advance to the south-east of Caen by XXX Corps. Three days after the invasion the city was still in German hands and the operation was amended. The operation was expanded to include I Corps for a pincer attack on Caen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Martlet</span>

Operation Martlet was part of a series of British attacks to capture the French town of Caen and its environs from German forces during the Battle of Normandy of World War II begun by the Allies. It was a preliminary operation undertaken on 25 June 1944 by XXX Corps of the British Second Army, to capture Rauray and the area around Noyers. The attack was to protect the right flank of VIII Corps as it began Operation Epsom, an offensive into the Odon Valley west of Caen, on 26 June. The 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division and the 49th Infantry Division were to capture Juvigny-sur-Seulles, Vendes and Rauray, to prevent German counter-attacks against VIII Corps from the area of the Rauray Spur and then extend the attack towards Noyers and Aunay-sur-Odon. It was the first time in Normandy that the 49th Division operated as a division.

This is the order of battle for Operation Epsom, a Second World War battle between British and German forces in Normandy, France between 26 June and 30 June 1944.

<i>Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor</i> Real time strategy video game

Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor is a real-time strategy video game stand-alone expansion pack to Company of Heroes. It was released on April 9, 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Mallard</span> 1944 British airborne operation

Operation Mallard was the codename for an airborne forces operation, which was conducted by the British Army on 6 June 1944, as part of the Normandy landings during the Second World War.

The Allied invasion of Italy, a phase of the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, took place on 3 September at Reggio di Calabria, and on 9 September 1943 at Taranto and Salerno. Allied naval forces landed American and Commonwealth troops on the beaches of southern Italy where they faced resistance from Axis forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges</span> D-Day airborne operation by forces of the British Army

The capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges was an operation by airborne forces of the British Army that took place in the early hours of 6 June 1944 as part of the Normandy landings of the Second World War. The objective was to capture intact two road bridges in Normandy across the River Orne and the Caen canal, providing the only exit eastwards for British forces from their landing on Sword Beach. Intelligence reports said both bridges were heavily defended by the Germans and wired for demolition. Once captured, the bridges had to be held against any counter-attack, until the assault force was relieved by commandos and other infantry advancing from the landing beach.

Panzer Brigades were formations in the German Army during World War II.

References

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  10. Official game website, British Army > Commandos
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