In a surprise release, Relic Entertainment’s Company of Heroes 2 addon The Western Front Armies has been released today, a day earlier than expected..
The new expansion adds two armies from the Western Front of World War II to Company of Heroes 2, to complement the original Soviet and German Ostheer factions.The American army is represented, flushed from its breakout from Normandy and now advancing on Germany itself. Opposing it - and plotting vengeance for the ground it has lost - is the OKW (Oberkommando Der Wehr), preparing a new offensive with new hardware and veteran soldiers, but beginning to feel the bite of Germany’s defeats. The US Army is designed around a more mobile and hard-hitting force, whilst the OKW focuses on durable and hard-hitting infantry backed up by some very fearsome tanks.
All armies are able to work with their allied counterparts, with the German armies able to be matched together on one side and the Soviets being able to work together with the Americans.
Some classic units make a return with this installment from Company of Heroes 2‘s predecessor. These include the ubiquitous Paratroopers (since the release of the TV show Band of Brothers, what World War II game is complete without them?), the evergreen (no pun intended) M4 Sherman and the Walking Stuka. But some new and eclectic units have made their first appearances as well, such as the rather curious Jagdpanzer IV/70, the M36 Jackson and a pile of German Sdkfz 251 halftracks, including even a 251 armed with an infra red searchlight for spotting enemies behind cover.
Along with the addition of the new factions comes nine new Western Front maps, several rebalanced ones, a new soundtrack for the new armies, a new warspoils system - where bonuses maybe acquired following a game - and some rebalancing of existing armies.
To go along with the launch of The Western Front Armies, a rather fancy live-action launch trailer has been released, which you can see below.
