Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts

Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts is a video game that consists of 3 releases

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Opposing Fronts is the stand alone expansion to the award winning PC game Company of Heroes and includes two new factions: British and Panzer Elite. Each faction includes a campaign and completely change the multiplayer aspect of the game.

Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts is a stand-alone expansion pack for Company of Heroes. it was developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ. Oppososing Fronts adds two new armies to the game: The British and The Panzer Elite and also 2 campaigns for them, The Liberation of Caen and Operation Market Garden.

Factions

The British

The British distinguish themselves from the other armies through their 'take and hold' strategy. They do this through advanced defensive emplacements, plentiful artillery, and trenches. The greatest variety and strengths of the British are in their doctrine choices. The Royal Commandos tree gives the player access to elite troops that can deploy anywhere in the field of battle from gliders, along with artillery and recon tools. The Royal Canadian Artillery tree gives the player access to different abilities while using artillery, such as overwatch (covers an area and fires when an enemy comes), counterbattery (fires shells at enemy artillery) and Creeping Barrage (fires shells in a line that 'creeps' across enemy defenses, destroying them entirely). The third section of the tree are Royal Engineers which grant access to 3 Varients of the Churchill Tank (the MKIV, AVRE and Crocodile), they also allow improved base defences and tanks gain the ability to entrench themselves. The Royal Engineers are inspired by the 79th Armored Division, also known as Hobart's Funnies.

British Overview

HQ Truck
The British HQ Command Truck is the first building available to the British, from it they can build Infantry sections that are the basic british multi-purpose infantry, bren carriers which are mainly used to transport units around, and a Lieutenant that provides infantry with various bonuses and needs to be built in order for the British to tech up and make newer buildings and units. The British HQ truck is the most unique in the game in that it is mobile and can move anywhere around the map, once the HQ is deployed to a territory it will increase that sector's resource output by the same amount an Observation Post does.

Tommies (Infantry Section)
Infantry Sections (Tommies) are the basic infantry unit for the British, they are built from the HQ and can construct various field defenses including trenches, hmg emplacements and mortar emlacements. Tommies move very slowly in neutral and enemy territory unless a Lieutenant is nearby to provide them with a speed boost, in captured territory the Tommies will move at the same pace as normal infantry.

Bren Carrier
The Bren carrier is like an early halftrack for the british that can be upgraded for extra firepower. It's primary use is to transport infantry or commanders around the battlefield, while a unit is garrisoned inside a bren it can capture strategic points.

Lieutenant
The Lieutenant are unique to the british, they are the veterancy of the british and provide bonuses to nearby infantry while also having a fuel cost and being a tech requirement to gain better units.

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Field Support Truck
The Field Support Truck is the Tier 2 building for the british the field support truck houses the only effective anti-vehicle/armor the british have early on. Available from the field support truck are 3 units: sappers, the british version of engineers/pioneers which can repair tanks, build defenses and have different kinds of upgrades, the Captain a defensive officer which can boost the health of emplacements and infantry units in the same sector, the Captain also acts as a retreat point instead of the standard HQ also you must have requestioned a Captain to deploy the next unit the Stuart light tank, and to tech up to the last tier availible to the British.

Captain

Captain a defensive officer which can boost the health of emplacements and infantry units in the same sector, the Captain also acts as a retreat point instead of the standard HQ also you must have requestioned a Captain to deploy the next unit the Stuart light tank, and to tech up to the last tier availible to the British.

Sappers

The Sapper is essentially a tier 2 construction unit for the British that allow them to construct more powerful defensive and artillery emplacements. They are also the only unit in the British army capable of repairing their vehicles, making them one of the core units of a late game British force. Along with thier construction and repair abilities Sappers are also able to be upgraded with weaponry and equipment that make them suitable for the roles of anti-tank infantry, mine clearing, and even further specializing in repairing vehicles and emplacements.

Stuart

The somewhat small Stuart is designed specifically for the role of dealing with light vehicles. It's speed and armor make it fast and impervious to most damage dealt by light vehicles and its gun packs the punch needed to finish such units off. Using its canister shot it can also provide a quick solution for a pesky squad of infantry but this is not it's intended role. It is not reliable against heavier vehicles, as it will most likely deal little or no damage and be destroyed quite quickly, nevertheless it comes at a time when such vehicles are still not present, and it's speed means it can stay away from them.

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Armored Command Truck

This truck is the third unit production building available to the british, it allows them to deploy heavy armor such as the Cromwell tank which is good against both vehicles and infantry, the command tank that provides veterancy bonuses to other tanks and finally the Sherman Firefly, ultimate tank hunter of the British.

Cromwell

The Cromwell is the main all-around battle tank for the British, it's reasonably armored for a tank and has average damage against infantry, vehicles and enemy armor alike with it's main gun. Cromwells are a multi-purpose tank, able to engage both armor and infantry in combat situations and are slightly cheaper than american shermans and wehrmacht panzer 4's which are similar tanks to the Cromwell. Cromwells can use their flank speed ability to circle enemy tanks or run over enemy infantry units in mass, they should be supported by infantry, more cromwells and eventually the command tank for increased firepower and range.

Cromwell Command Tank

This Command Tank will provide veterancy bonuses to all nearby tanks within it's command radius, increasing their effectiveness in combat, the command tank also has the ability of heavy crush, allowing the command tank to destroy tank traps, hedgerows and many other features of the terrain allowing you more strategical flexability if you so chose the utilize those features.

Sherman Firelfy

The Sherman Firefly is the best British Anti-Tank armor in the game. It's weapon is similar to the panther with massive range, great frontal penetration value and deals a high amount of damage. Firefly's should be used in combination with a command tank to not only increase their sight range but firing range as well, this way they can shoot much further than enemy tanks and get off 1 or 2 shots before they are even in firing range. With the firefly's high frontal armor penetration, it can easilly take enemy tanks head-on, but as always support it with other tanks and infantry.

While the firefly is the ultimate cheap tank destroyer, it lacks high armor and any infantry killing ability, the armor is average and is similar to a regular shermans so while this tank can deal good damage to late-game armor, it can't take the hits. Don't rely on the firefly to kill infantry either, it's gun is designed for tank destroying and not for taking on enemy infantry threats.

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British Emplacements

Although the British have some very powerfull units their main strength lies in the commanders use of the mobile command trucks and emplacments which allows a British commander to quite litteraly lock down a sector from any enemey assualt.

Slit Trench

An infantry section can dig in making the squad almost impervious to incoming fire, whether it is artillerey, tank shells or small arms fire, the only thing that is going to extercate a squad from a trench is flame and grenades.

HMG Emplacement

The HMG emplacement is the only available MG to the british early on, because of their defensive playstyle the British do not have a mobile MG, instead they have this emplacement that costs no fuel. The HMG emplacement is great for setting up near enemy strategic points, cutting them off from map resources, since Tommy squads can make this HMG emplacement it can be placed offensively as well as defensively depending on the flow of the game.

The Mortar Emplacement

Every other army in Company of Heroes have a mobile mortar early in the game, the british are limited to having a building as their mortar. However the British mortar has distinct differences in that it is much more resistant to enemy mortar fire and takes quite a long time to be destroyed by small arms fire, making it very handy to lock down an area from almost all infantry attack, the axis infantry will have to keep moving or risk taking heavy mortar fire.

Casualty Clearing Station

This clearing station is unique to the british as in not only does it retrieve injured units and bring them back to the station like the wehrmacht medic bunker, but it also has an area healing effect just like the American triage center.

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Bofors 40mm Anti-Air Emplacement

The Bofors is an emplacement designed for both the role of anti-vehicle and anti-air. It performs both jobs quite admirably and is fairly cost effective for what it does a drawback however is that the gun does not tilt low enough to be effective against infantry and the shells do not pack enough punch to deal with heavier armor.

17pdr Anti Tank Emplacement

The 17 Pounder AT Gun is the British armies way to keep heavy tanks away from their territory. Quite possibly the most fearsome AT Gun in the game it is only limited by the fact that it is a stationary weapon, the weapon has a range about 2cm shorter than a marder III and is the stationary equivalent of Sherman Firefly, the gun can also traverse 360* but it cannot shoot and is rather slow while turning.

25pdr Artillery Battery

The 25 pounder is the hallmark artillery piece of the British army and is rightfully so. It can be very devastating and fire over long distances making it ideal for softening up the resistance so the rest of your forces can move in, or likewise bombarding attackers and forcing them back. This emplacement becomes even more powerful through the Royal Canadian Artillery Regiment, giving it access to various abilities and strategic options such as the famous Creeping Barrage.

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Royal Canadian Artillery

Thebest artillery commander in all of Company of Heroes, lay down devastating creeping barrages from priests or 25 pounders, howitzer bombardments from any british officer. Royal Canadian Artillery focuses on improving every artillery unit available to the brits, supercharged rounds will increase the distance that all artillery units, even mortar pits can fire, while abilities like counter barrage make sure that enemy artillery won't be able to fight back without being pummeled to death.

Right Side

Forward Observation Officers

This ability allows officers such as lieutenants and captains to call in artillery on a section of the map that's not covered by the fog of war. The artillery is full of destruction and can lay waste to a lot of infantry bunched up together. Alternatively you can use the barrage and cancel it quickly to make the flares fall and make enemy infantry retreat, without losing any munitions. Forward Observation Officers also gives the command tank the ability to lay a creeping smoke barrage for 50 munitions, this can almost instantly conceal a large group of friendly tanks in smoke, protecting them from getting hit while making an assault, or allowing them to retreat unharmed.

Creeping Barage

This ability costs 150 munitions and requires the player to at least have a 25 pounder or 105mm Priest to fire and once used, will put the artillery unit's standard fire ability on cooldown. It's a considerable price to pay but the potential destruction and large amount of manpower taken away from the enemy once a creeping barrage is used can be more than worth it.

Prest 105mm Howitzer

The Priest 105mm is the only mobile artillery piece available to the British and can quickly redeploy from the back of the field to the front lines for more accurate artillery fire, and then back again to safety, it can deal around 40% more damage and can redeploy to safety if a base is overun, unlike the howitzer which is a building.

Left Side

Supercharged Rounds

This ability allows the 25 Pounder and mortar emplacements to fire much further than they normally would, it almost doubles the range of both artillery emplacements. The Priest 105mm is also effected by this ability, allowing it to fire much further than it normally would. Supercharged rounds is the most crucial ability for an Artillery Commander to obtain, if an early 25 Pounder or mortar emplacement is built, it will allow these units to fire much further than usual. An early mortar can be built near a Headquarters and still be able to reach the front lines most of the time and it's the same case with the 25 Pounder later on.

Overwatch Artillery

Any artillery unit can be set to use Overwatch Artillery, it will then automatically fire at any units that enter the overwatch area, this is great for covering victory points at late-game stages or simply covering a high resource point when an enemy unit attempts to capture it.

Counter Battery

Counter Battery is the ultimate artillery-destroyer, any artillery unit available to the British can be toggled to activate counter battery and while the ability is active the unit will instantly fire back at any enemy artillery that has fired on the map. This ability is excellent for taking out pesky mortar teams, nebelwerfers or mortar halftracks, the mighty 25 Pounder and Priest can even fire back at enemy Hummels.

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Royal Engineers

Down the right hand side of Royal Engineers are powerful tank call-ins, the main tank is the churchill infantry tank which has a turret mounted main gun backed up with heavy armor. The 2 other tanks available are both hybrid's of the first one, the churchill AVRE has a mounted gun that can fire devastating mortar rounds while the final tank is a churchill with a flamethrower mounted on it. Down the left hand side is an ability to improve emplacements, make tanks much harder to destroy in combat and an ability that improves command vehicles to produce a larger amount of resources and decrease production times.

Right Side

Churchill
The first tank available to the royal engineers commander only costs 3 command points and is a valuable asset to any british player's early to mid-game fighting force. The great thing about this tank is not only does it do good damage to infantry and vehicles alike, it has a large amount of frontal armor and hit points making it one of the toughest tanks around until late-game situations, The churchill comes with the 'Tank Shock' ability which suppresses targeted infantry nearby, it's useful for either assaulting enemy infantry or retreating out of danger since the shock effect happens almost instantly.

Churchill AVRE

The AVRE is a unique artillery piece that instead of having a regular mounted gun, it has an ability that fires a large mortar round for a cost of 35 munitions each use. When fired it does a massive amount of damage to any unit within the area, great for using against blobs of infantry.

Churchill Crocodile

The churchill crocodile tank is like a beefed up version of the original churchill, it has more hitpoints and added to the front of the tank is a new flamethrower. The flamethrower does some great damage to infantry but what really makes it shine is it's massive range, it's able to throw out flames almost as far as the regular gun can shoot which is great for staying well out of trouble while burning enemy infantry, The downside to the flamethrower is it can only be used from the front of the tank

Left Side

Improrved Emplacements

This ability does exactly what it says on the tin, it improves all british emplacements so that they recieve 25% less damage from all enemy units, all emplacements will also recieve a 50% boost to their maximum amount of health. This ability is great to use if a british player is going to make a lot of emplacements such as a mortar pit, bofors or 17 pounder AT gun emplacement. Use this ability in combo with the defensive bonus that the british captiain provides, and emplacements will be extremely hard for any unit to destroy.

Hull Down

This gives all british tanks the ability to 'hull down', which makes them more resiliant to all kinds of damage. Hull down takes hardly any time for a tank to activate and once it is active the unit will recieve 25% less damage and 25% less penetration making it much more tougher in all combat situations. However while in hull down mode, the unit will not be able to move at all until the ability has been deactivated, so use it wisely.

Improved Command Vehicles

This ability simply increases the amount of resource produced from sectors that have command vehicles on, it's a great way to boost munitions income for special late-game abilities especially in team games. It also improves the production speed of all units by 25%.

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Royal Commandos

Glider's fly from the skies and onto the battlefield providing powerful units and offensive reinforcement positions, powerful artillery and recon intelligence abilities help to confuse the enemy and allow the british commander to prepare for any combat situation long before the enemy is seen. Royal commandos support is by far the most offensive Commander of the three choices and as such is one of the most popular. Combined with the defensive natures of the british, Commandos support allows the british to strike fast, hard and hit the enemy where it hurts.

Left Side

Commandos
Commandos are the most expensive infantry unit to buy in the whole game, and so they should be as they are the most destructive and powerfull infantry around. With the ability to be deployed anywhere on the battlefield and have the glider they came down in provide reinforcements, Commandos can change the outcome of any battle at the snap of a finger. They're armed with weapons that are excellent at dealing damage close-up and have enough armor to close that distance easilly.

In addition to their low reinforcement cost, great close-range weapons and instant front-line deployment, the commandos have 3 different abilities to help them defeat enemy units in combat situations. The first ability is the grenade, this is similar in every way to the grenades that Riflemen throw, it has the same cost and same damage only this time it doesn't require any upgrade and the commandos can throw grenades further than riflemen can.

The Second ability is Demolition Charges, unlike the demolition that engineers can lay, the Commandos can lay these charges anywhere in the whole game! This is excellent for covering victory and strategic points as enemy units will walk up to capture a point, and then instantly get blown away by the demolition charge, destroying an entire squad for the small cost of 50 munitions. Other places the demolition charge can be set up are choke-points that you know the enemy will move all their forces past, bridges and buildings.

Lastly the Commandos have the most unique infantry ability in the game, they have a concealing-smoke ability that once activated, will turn the Commandos squad completely invisible to enemy units for 6 seconds. This ability allows the commandos to close the game between them and enemy units without taking any casualties at all, they will be able to sneak up and rip through infantry with their close-range weapons. Concealing smoke is also good in combination with grenades, use the smoke and toss a grenade that your opponent won't even be able to see until it's too late. Smoke also breaks the Commandos suppression and being pinned, it's also good to use while capturing a strategic or victory point as no units will be able to hurt the commandos.

Tetrach Tank
The Tetrarch can be instantly deployed to any location on the battlefield, it wields an accurate gun which is excellent at destroying enemy vehicles and is even capable of flanking and damage enemy tanks from the rear, the weapon can even be upgraded for better penetration. The Tetrarch fills a very limited purpose on the battlefield, it's average against infantry and good against vehicles but comes pretty late in the game at 5 Command Points and costing 450 Manpower, use the tetrarch if you're desperate for ant-tank firepower or need to quickly dispose of a halftrack or light vehicle away from the main battle.

Glider HQ
The Glider Headquarters, capable of producing commando teams specialized in anti-infantry and anti-tank combat for a cheap price. This is the most expensive building in the game and should be deployed with care as it's very weak, the units that come from it are very cheap and have high survivability in combat, which will eventually make up the initial manpower cost of this buildings.

Commando HMG Team
The HMG Commandos wield a machine gun similar to the Americans 30'cal, it doesn't suppress fast and has the same short range, however it does less damage than the 30 and mg42. The HMG Team's main use is to suppress enemy infantry so that other infantry units or mortar teams can lay down the hurt meanwhile. The HMG team has concealing smoke, making them able to turn invisble and not take any damage, this is essential for both reducing the amount of damage they take in combat and making sure they retreat without being destroyed, thus the Commandos HMG team has the most survivability out of any HMG team in the game.

Commando PIAT Squad
3 Commandos, 2 of which are wielding PIAT's which come with the squad completely free of charge, like all commandos the PIAT team can lay demolitions charges and has concealing smoke that allows them to get up close to enemy vehicles and armor without taking much damage in return. PIAT team are great in trenches as they can fire at vehicles safely without taking damage. PIAT shells can fire over buildings and hedgerows like grenades.

Commando Mortar Team
The Commandos Mortar team has a standard mortar with reasonable damage, they are great in combination with HMG teams as it will pin enemy infantry while the mortar can safely fire from behind the front lines. Only 1 or 2 mortars are needed at a time and that's if the enemy has bunched up massed infantry units on the battlefield, if there's not much infantry around then the mortar teams aren't as important. The Mortar team comes with concealing smoke and demolition charges just like all commandos.

Left Side

Radio Traingulation

This ability allows a Commandos player to keep track of enemy units on the minimap even while they're in the fog of war. Any british infantry unit can build a detector and once all 3 detectors are built, any enemy unit within the triangle will be viewable on the minimap making ability great for anticipating where the enemy will strike next. Make sure the detectors are spread out and very far away from eachother even in enemy territory.

Ultra Decryption
One of the most usefull abilities for finding out what units and strategy your opponent is doing ingame, this ability will let you know when an enemy unit is produced and what unit it is, what upgrades are bought, or building that have been finished. It allows any british player to be prepared for whatever comes next for the rest of the game, and at a cheap price of 1 CP.

Decoy Artillery

This ability is split up into 2 types of artillery, the first will lay a short but extremely powerful artillery barrage that covers a small area and for a very cheap cost, it's great for destroying complete squads that are capturing a strategic point while your enemy isn't looking. The second artillery is completely fake, flares will come down as if the artillery is about to land on enemy units, but nothing will happen.

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The Panzer Elite

The Panzer Elite or 'PE' as they are known in the vernacular of the community, have among the most mobile units in the game. All weapons crews that would previously have a separate infantry crew is now in vehicle form. For example, while the Americans have an MG team, a mortar team, and an AT gun, the Panzer Elite have an infantry halftrack with a machine gun on it, a mortar halftrack, and a Marder III, basically a AT gun with treads. They supplement this idea of 'mobility' by lacking a specialist for each field, sacrificing different types of infantry for a base unit called the 'Panzer Grenadier,' which can be upgraded for long range anti infantry (G43), close range anti infantry (Mp44), or Anti-Tank (Panzershrek). Adding to this moblitiy is the fact that all Panzer Grenadiers can repair vehicles, which keeps them on the offensive and not have to fall back to repair.

The doctrine choices of the Panzer Elite are Scorched Earth, Luftwaffe and Tank Hunters. The Scorched Earth doctrine allows the player to construct environmental defenses which can be used to block up roads, they can also place booby traps on buildings and strategic points. The Luftwaffe doctrine allows players to constuct specialised defences such as Flakvierling and Flak 88s as well as Wirbelwind anti-aircraft vehicles. The Tank Hunter doctrine can allow infantry to deploy with more Panzerschreks and anti-tank grenades as well as the ability to deploy the fearsomeJagdpanther or "Hunting Panther".

Company of Heroes keeps the same basic principles of the previous game such as suppresion, cover and veterancy along with many other concepts from the previous game, the catch this time around is with veterancy however.

General Information Edit

Game Name	Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
Platform(s)	PC
Publisher(s)	THQ Inc.
Developer(s)	Relic Entertainment
Genres	Add a new genre Real-Time Strategy Strategy
Themes	Add a new theme World War II
Original US Release	Sept. 24, 2007 need a fuzzy date?
Original US Release	know the real date?
Aliases	CoH
BBFC	BBFC: 15
ESRB	ESRB: M