Company of Heroes 3 - Patch Notes Archive – Relic Entertainment

Operation Sapphire Jackal - 1.1.0 Update

Overview

Our team at Relic is excited to share the first major update for Company of Heroes 3, which we’ve codenamed Operation Sapphire Jackal. This update includes a substantial number of bug fixes, quality of life improvements, gameplay balance adjustments, and all-new features and content. With so many changes going into this 1.1.0 update, our team will be standing by to roll out hot fixes should any serious issues come up.

New Content

Challenges

Challenges provide players the opportunity to complete daily and weekly in-game objectives.

Completing Challenges rewards players with Merit. See further below for more details on Merit.
Daily and Weekly Challenges will randomly select objectives for players to complete through normal play in Multiplayer and Co-op vs A.I. auto match modes.
Players will get two new Daily Challenges which will appear at 5:00 pm PT (12:00 am GMT), and three new Weekly Challenges appearing at 5:00 pm PT (12am GMT) on Saturday.

Cosmetics

With this update, we are launching a range of cosmetic options for every faction, allowing players to customize their armies in both multiplayer and single player.
The cosmetics available in this update are historically inspired. Check out our news post for a preview.
Players can navigate to the Store menu in-game to view all the cosmetics available.

War Bonds & Merit

With Operation Sapphire Jackal, we are introducing two new currencies – War Bonds and Merit.
One of our goals with the In-Game Store is to ensure there is always a mix of earnable and paid content available so that players can choose how they use the store, and unlockable content available. This will apply to everything in the store when it launches and as we move forward.

Merit - Currency is earned by completing in-game Challenges. Merit can be used to unlock some of the content in the Store.
War Bonds - Currency is earned by purchasing War Bond packs. War Bonds can be used to unlock any content in the in-game store.

Fixes

Audio

All new voiceover for Gurkha Infantry unit.
Added audio cue for when a player joins or leaves a party.
Audio adjustments for map pings.
Audio improvements for the War Cry ability: All players will now hear a trench whistle followed by a crowd swell indicating the ability has been activated.
Combat music no longer starts immediately after intro to the Pomigliano airfield mission in the Italy Dynamic Campaign.
Errant intel no longer plays before Corporal Conti's objective outline at the beginning of random skirmishes in the Italian Dynamic Campaign.
Fixed a bug that occurs when recovering an enemy vehicle and the vehicle would retain the enemy voice.
Fixed an issue where M2A1 Howitzers were missing voiceover lines.
Fixed an issue where mortars recrewed by the Afrikakorps would have no voice.
Fixed an issue where restoring a wrecked vehicle would not play sound effects.
Fixed an issue where Victory and Defeat screen voiceover sometimes did not play.
Fixed an unnecessary intel message that played when using a CWT truck to recrew a team weapon.
Fixed capture point sound effects when neutralized.
Fixed recon ability sound effects being heard in the fog of war.
Fixed silent voiceover line at the end of the defend Potenza mission.
Fixed the Humber 15mm turret's sound effects for fire rate.
Hover sound effects properly play in the Select Map screen.
Intel voiceover warnings for weapon crews such as Anti-Tank-guns and Mortars didn't play when the unit was lost. Voiceover warnings now play correctly.
Refined the voiceover selection logic to reduce the recurrence of memorable lines.
Sound effect properly plays when hovering over A.I. difficulty settings.
Squads garrisoned in buildings now give a voiceover warning when the building is at risk of being destroyed.
The Humber Armored Car and CMP 15cwt Truck now have a radio effect applied to their voice lines.
The Paratrooper Squad's M1 Carbine now plays unique firing sound effects.
US Forces halftracks now play different audio after being upgraded.
US Forces infantry will make footsteps sound when retreating.
US Forces Intel referred to Pathfinders as scouts when deployed from the HQ. They are now correctly referred to as Pathfinders.
Victory and Defeat music on the results screen is no longer affected by the muffling effect on remaining battle sounds.

Art

Added missing destruction to wrecked truck asset.
Buildings under construction no longer appear completed if you move the camera.
Fixed an issue where the main menu background would not appear.
Fixed lighting on the Battleship in the Italian Dynamic Campaign map.
Fixed missing hole in breech of British 6 pounder Anti-Tank gun.
Fixed several visual issues with debris physics from destroyed buildings.
Fixed taillights for Sherman tanks to bring them closer to real life taillights.
Fixed texture issue with Stuka plane wrecks already on maps that appear pure black.
Fixed textures on SSF Commando Squads Johnson LMG so it is not showing just black in game.
The Flammenwerfer 35 of the Wehrmacht and DAK is using player colors instead of the default grey.
Kettenkrad communication cables have an updated texture and color.
Sherman tanks explode with improved smoke effects.
Sherman Whizbang turret now has the correct color and material upon being upgraded.
The Devil's Brigade Sherman now has the correct material on its upgraded 76mm turret.
The flag on the Devil's Brigade victory point now connects with the flagpole.
Gurkhas now equip, attach, and animate correctly when obtaining new weapons.
US Forces M1 Anti-Tank gun team now holds their team weapon properly.
Victory and Defeat videos are now displayed in high resolution.
Wehrmacht Pioneers and Fallschirmpioneers now place schu-mine 42s when instructed instead of S-mines.

Animation

Engineers will no longer T-pose when canceling construction or having construction aided by another squad.
Engineers will no longer T-pose when reinforcing a squad.
Fixed an animation issue when units attempted to ride the Centaur IV Medium Tank.
Fixed an issue that could cause animation bugs upon reloading a save.
Fixed animation issues that could occur when a medic was carrying a casualty and their assigned medical building was destroyed
Fixed several visual issues with spent magazines remaining in the weapon during reload animations.
Infantry will no longer look like they are falling when near destroyed churches.
Mortar crews no longer get stuck in an infinite animation loop when they retreat after issuing a stop command during an ability.
Mortar crews no longer T-pose when retreating just as they are hit by another mortar.
Smoothed airplane turning for certain bombing run and supply run abilities.
The Afrikakorps 254 Reconnaissance Tractor's commander no longer has binoculars stuck to their face.
Units will no longer get stuck for several seconds if given a queued retreat order after an order to recrew an abandoned Heavy Weapon.
US Forces Heavy Machine Gun crews no longer have their ammo boxes float around after one of their comrades is killed.
Wehrmacht units holding STG 44s will no longer T-pose when rapidly turning around.
When aiming at a bridge with "Destroy Obstacles" ability, US Forces Bazooka squad members no longer T-pose to assert dominance over the bridge.
When riding in a vehicle towing a Heavy Weapon, the weapon's crew will try to keep their hands, feet, and heads inside the vehicle at all times.

UI/UX

We performed a full review of all text in our User Interface.

A.I. players listed in the custom browse game screen now display the correct icon.
Added a confirmation when leaving the settings that leaving with unsaved changes will discard them. Also applies to control remapping.
Added a settings option to enable exclusive control groups. Exclusive control groups make squads only occupy one control group at a time, like previous CoH games
The Hellcat Aimed shot ability now has an icon/status decorator above the unit when in idle state.
Adjusted the color, styling, and duration of many event cues that appear on the left edge of the screen during real-time gameplay.
Battlegroup icons now remain visible after switching sides in the lobby.
Chat box no longer stretches when typing very long messages.
Company names in skirmish missions are no longer cut off in Japanese.
Description of Companies in skirmish missions are no longer cut off in Japanese.
Fixed "Recently played with" list.
Fixed a bug where changing UI settings in Main Menu would not impact single player skirmish.
Fixed an issue causing input to be blocked when exiting loading screens in certain cases.
Fixed an issue in the tutorial in which hint arrows were not being removed upon objective completion.
Fixed an issue that caused some objectives to be started multiple times.
Fixed an issue where campaign save/load would become inaccessible after playing a skirmish game in single player.
Fixed an issue where clearing any grid key hotkey did not clear.
Fixed an issue where left and right mouse buttons (Mouse 1 / Mouse 2) had missing text in the settings under View and Remap Controls.
Fixed several issues related to special characters not displaying correctly in non-English languages.
Fixed several issues with missing hotkeys on the command card.
Fixed tooltip information on invite to party button.
Hotkey remap prompt no longer cuts off text in Japanese.
In "View and Remap Controls" settings, keys that cannot be re-assigned can no longer be cleared.
Party chat box no longer appears when not in a party.
Pause menu will be closed at the end of match before transitioning to Victory/Defeat screen
Added Labels to all missing Player Statistics in the Post-Match Screen.
Realigned tooltip positions on main menu buttons.
Replaced several icons and portraits with the correct Company of Heroes 3 icons
Scorecard and elapsed time are now properly hidden when using CTRL+Shift+? to enable screenshot mode.
Text in the load screen is no longer cut off in Japanese.
Updated Unique Player Color option. Colors are now unique per team: allies will be cool colors, and enemies will be warm.

Maps

Added missing cover to many objects in the environment.
Fixed an issue where certain buildings would not let units kill the last few enemies holed up inside them.
Fixed an issue where territory lines did not draw correctly on stairs.
Fixed an issue with certain buildings where units retreating from inside the building would get stuck when trying to exit.
Fixed an issue with territory being drawn outside the playable area of the map.
Fixed several issues related to bridges not correctly having cover.
Fixed several issues with indestructible hedges.
Fixed several issues with small objects taking up too much space when blocking unit movement.
Improved width of impasse around some cliff areas to reduce clipping.
Minor adjustments to Strategic and Victory Point locations on (6) Gazala Landing Ground to ensure the Western points favor the Southern team, and Eastern points favor the Northern team.
Removed cover from Greek staircases to prevent unintended gameplay issues.
Territory layout adjusted on (8) Mignano Gap to ensure a fair dispersal of munitions resources near each Team's HQ areas.
Tiger Heavy Tank call-in can no longer get stuck behind the Wehrmacht HQ on the Winter Line map.
Updated hangar assets to no longer provide cover. Suspended sections were providing cover to units beneath them.
Updated map edge visuals, including railway tunnel and rail lines.
Updated rock geometry to be impassible, preventing undesirable clipping.
Updated terrain behind several rows of buildings to prevent buildings from being indestructible.

Rendering/Stability

Bloom was removed. Fixed blur or "haze" on the maps.
Fixed a bug that could cause a soft lock if the player started a campaign mission with another in-game window open
Fixed a bug where sometimes skipping a cutscene would cause the game to crash.
Fixed a crash caused by A.I. trying to give movement orders to emplacements that lost line of sight of their target due to smoke.
Fixed a crash related to the Tungsten Round ability used by Partisan marksmen.
Fixed a crash that sometimes happened when loading a save game
Fixed an issue where capped FPS was higher (by as much as 10fps) than the set cap due some time not being accumulated frame-to-frame.
Fixed an issue where sometimes the green dots used to indicate cover would be rendered floating in the air.
Fixed an issue with units not rendering properly after adjusting the game scale in Graphics settings and then zooming the camera out.
Reduced memory increases across missions.

Tactical Map

Fixed an issue with the tactical map where capture point animations were offset.

Gameplay

Though this update does not include what we consider a “full” balance pass, we have made several changes to help shake up multiplayer and co-op. We’ll be keeping an eye on your feedback and matches and will roll out further balance adjustments in a timely fashion.

General

Artillery now properly collides with Vehicles.
Base buildings align with HQ by default rather than pointing to the map's center.
Destroyed bridges no longer receive damage until they are fully repaired. This was because it was easy to deal damage faster than they could be repaired, resulting in permanently closed paths. Now to prevent bridges being restored after destruction, players will have to focus on disrupting or killing the engineers or recovery vehicles repairing them.
Fixed a bug where heavy weapons could not be recrewed when previous crew died while being towed
Fixed a few instances of AI-controlled Heavy Weapons tearing down instead of firing after setup.
Fixed an issue when A.I. controlled squads are entering from the map edge, where they would attack the players units from outside the playable area.
Fixed an issue where battlegroup abilities could spawn units targeting locations outside the map.
Fixed an issue where certain emplacements were missing veterancy description text
Fixed an issue where infantry inside specific buildings on specific maps could not attack or be attacked.
Fixed an issue where players had access to battlegroups from other factions.
Fixed an issue where sometimes vehicles would not rotate correctly to fire when given Attack or Attack Ground commands.
Fixed an issue where the icon was incorrect for auto-reinforce on Medical Stations and Field Infirmaries when de-activated
Fixed an issue with certain grenade abilities not going on cooldown properly after use.
Fixed several issues with units being able to leave the playable map area.
Heavy Machine Gunners no longer try to shoot targets that are out of range.
Heavy Weapon squads are now included in unit stats at the end of a match.
Improved vehicle movement and responsiveness.
Many tooltips and descriptions have been updated to better reflect abilities, units, veterancy, and upgrades for greater clarity and information to the player.
Fixed several tooltips and icons missing on abandoned British team weapons.
Fixed a tooltip issue where the advanced Self-Repair version of the 4x4 Truck did not state 'Must be Damaged' and instead, left a blank requirement
Paratrooper tooltip has been updated to reflect that paratroopers can be paradropped anywhere outside the enemy base, rather than only within friendly territory.
Plane wrecks no longer have unexploded bombs attached to them.
Recovery vehicles will no longer fail to repair vehicles the first time you attempt to repair a vehicle after recovering its wreck.
Removed ability for units to stand behind and shoot through the closed door on second story of stone barn.
Several tank turret abilities that can be fired on the move will now stop correctly if issued a stop command.
Tanks no longer do a dance on bridges on the campaign map.
Tier 1 battlegroup abilities no longer have a warning that they require a previous ability to be unlocked.
Units no longer have the high ground while paradropped reinforcements are dropping in.
Updated Line of Sight generated by capture points to be more consistent with previous CoH games.
Updated rubble piles to improve pathfinding around certain key buildings.
Vehicles commanded to face in a different direction will turn properly instead of driving in circles.
When selecting a wrecked vehicle, the unit info card now mentions info about salvaging.
When taking window positions while garrisoning a building, infantry now prioritize squad members with special or heavy weapons for better firing positions.
Wrecked vehicles no longer scoot backwards before being lifted by a recovery vehicle during the recovery sequence.

Single player

British Humber "Forward Barrage" ability no longer requires specific base buildings to be alive.
Churchill IV Heavy Tank call-in tooltip has been updated to reflect that it calls in ONE tank, not TWO.
Convoy routes in certain single player campaign missions no longer get stuck on the mini map.
Fixed an issue where the campaign call-in for Medical Half-Tracks and Medical CWTTrucks did not display their population on the ability UI.
Fixed an issue where the Italian Front CMP 15cwt Truck did not have a veterancy 1 ability like its African front variant.
Fixed an issue where the Italian Front CMP 15cwt Truck used the medical variant's portrait.
Fixed an issue where the Stuart in certain campaign missions was using the incorrect portrait.
Fixed upgrade inconsistencies between the CMP15 CWT Truck that comes towing the 17-Pounder and the one built from the Platoon Command Post
US Forces Airborne Company now correctly reduces the cost of bombing runs after unlocking the Cost Reduction upgrade.

Italian Dynamic Campaign

Added an impasse to prevent players from entering cliff rock assets placed throughout Hill Highway missions.
Added description text on Supply Drop Crates
Added relevant requirement text to the Heal, Repair, & Encircle abilities when out of range
Adding correct portraits to Supply Drop Crates
Adjusted and clarified objective text throughout the Italian Dynamic Campaign.
Adjusted buildings in Salerno mission to avoid overlapping placement.
Adjusted description for the following UK Artillery company abilities/upgrades to match their functionality in-game more accurately:
Battle Hardened - "Raises minimum Veterancy Level of Gurkha Rifles to 2."
First Class Fighting Men - "Raises minimum Veterancy Level of all infantry squads to 1."
Adjusted out of bounds vista to make for a smoother transition in the distance.
Adjusted position of Stuka assets in Pomigliano to prevent them from appearing sunken into the ground.
Adjusted the first few steps of the tutorial to restrict what the player can interact with.
Adjusted timing of Conti's voiceover to not overlap with sitreps.
Anti-Air Emplacements can no longer shoot at Supply Crates.
Anti-Air emplacements no longer attack ships in the Italian Dynamic Campaign.
Assassinate Baumann objective was autocompleting. Now the mission must be played.
Adjusted the narrative objectives/dialogue in the Italian Dynamic Campaign to present less to the player on one turn. This will only be seen on new playthroughs, ongoing playthroughs will not be affected.
Companies requisitioned through a seaport now have the proper cost modifiers applied to their Heal & Repair abilities.
During campaign skirmishes, enemy squads no longer pick up supply caches at the start of the 'Recover Discarded Supplies' bonus objective,
Enemy companies in the Italian Dynamic Campaign now use recon abilities more consistently.
Fixed a bug in which narrative lines in the "Ice Cream" event could play out of order.
Fixed a bug that caused the bombing run to fail after capturing 3 towns in the Volturno Line.
Fixed a narrative bug in the "Operation Morning Glory" mission where a line's audio was assigned to the wrong character.
Fixed several typos and inconsistencies in the game's text.
Fixed air supremacy ability of P-47 not dealing any damage
Fixed an issue in the Anzio mission where enemy units would spawn during a cutscene.
Fixed an issue on certain missions where US Forces infantry were not properly displaying veterancy options.
Fixed an issue that prevented description text from appearing on the "Swap Company" ability button.
Fixed an issue where an affecter slot that is supposed to be empty would sometimes be occupied by the affecter from the previous skirmish/mission
Fixed an issue where C-47 transport aircraft spawned in airfields and captured by companies with the "Air Support" trait were not displayed in the airfield management page.
Fixed an issue where Repair and Heal cost increased on Save/Load
Fixed an issue where ships moved via the "Transfer Seaports" ability could not move on following turns.
Fixed an issue where some mini maps did not orient North correctly.
Fixed an issue where the "Destroying the Guns" objective in the Gela mission would not complete properly before ending the mission.
Fixed an issue where the Marston Mats upgrade was not correctly reducing the fuel/munitions cost of aircraft abilities on the Dynamic Campaign Map.
Fixed an issue where the partisan capture ability would sometimes not do anything
Fixed an issue where the population cap was not increasing properly when picked as a reward for completing the southern foothold objective.
Fixed an issue where the Churchill Command Tank call-in did not reference the proper unit and its abilities.
Fixed an issue with certain bridges not allowing vehicles to cross properly.
Fixed an issue with certain bridges where paratroopers would be unable to cross them after spawning on the wrong side.
Fixed dialogue bugs in the "The Winter Line" mission in which lines were assigned to the wrong characters.
Fixed objective UI language being incorrect when loading a save that was made in a different language.
Fixed partisan affecter sometimes not being selectable in skirmish/mission.
Fixed several issues where units could move through cliffs or rock faces.
Fixed the following towns (Lesina, Altamura) from running duplicate missions that were already used elsewhere.
In the Enigma retrieval mission, added a small lump sum of manpower (adjusted by difficulty) when the special aid station is captured to allow for limited reinforcements. The limited amount is to preserve a raiding party/commando "fixed force" feel that is smaller in scope than a typical skirmish or a larger scenario. A notification to the player is given when they get the resource.
German Companies can no longer heal within the first 10 turns unless they are near a Hospital or Triage Centre.
German Company affecters correspond with their Company Type.
In the Anzio mission, aircraft can now be used without being shot down if the "Destroy AA Guns" objective was previously completed.
If a Company is within range of the target and has 0 Movement Points it should still be able to heal or repair it.Navy Salvage and Repair ability have been moved so they are no longer overlapped by other abilities
Removed friendly fire damage from area of effect abilities like Barrage, Bombardment, and Bombing Run.
Replaced Forward HQ in Defend Salerno mission with a standard Headquarters building.
Some missions in the Italian Dynamic Campaign now only trigger once.
The enemy territory that exists directly east of the player base in Gela now becomes player owned once the territory point to its north is captured by the player to better reflect territorial gains. Previously, it stayed enemy owned because it is not capturable and has no resources.
The Foggia mission in the Italian Dynamic Campaign now correctly registers when intel has been destroyed.
The rewarded Destroyer is no longer stuck at the seaport after repairing the seaport
Updated Mignano Gap territory balance and improved southernmost engagement area to be approachable from more angles. When attacking Salerno, the British Indian Artillery company no longer starts with free veterancy on their first infantry units.

North African Operation

Added a fix for a specific Save/Load issue that affected a kill counter not updating properly in Ajdabiya and “Fire with Fire” missions
Adjusted some tutorial text to include special cases when using different control profiles.
Corrected historical facts on a loading screen that claimed Italian and German troops clashed with British forces in 1940, when German forces did not arrive until February 1941.
Fixed a narrative bug in the "The Great Ammo Robbery" mission where a line's audio was missing and assigned to the wrong character.
Fixed an issue where destroying enemy vehicles for an optional objective would complete the primary mission objective and end the mission early.
Fixed an issue where sometimes victory cinematics would play twice.
Fixed an issue with subtitles not appearing at the correct time.
Fixed missing Mission Failed dialog in certain campaign missions.
Fixed several instances of overly zealous infantry running towards the enemy when retreating.
Fixed several issues of missing voiceover dialog in campaign missions.
Fixed several issues with camera fadeouts flickering or happening at the incorrect time during mission sitreps.
Fixed units clipping into each other during the introductory camera pan.
Removed an unintended vehicle ability from the Ajdabiya mission

Multiplayer

Added missing foundation under some exterior props for German Luftwaffe Kompanie to stop them from floating if built on uneven terrain.
Afrikakorps "Emergency Repair Kits" upgrade no longer works while vehicles are moving.
Afrikakorps Panzerjagers no longer receive the Salvage Kit ability.
British Forward Observer Barrage abilities now consistently require that a barrage not already be active.
British Infantry Section's "Forward Barrage" ability no longer throws a flare but uses flares consistent with the Dingo and Humber.
British Matilda II Heavy Tank will now shoot infantry with its coaxial machine gun.
Afrikakorps Panzer IV and StuG G now properly provide the benefits of armory upgrades.
Fixed a bug where Afrikakorps Panzer III tanks could not use their smoke launchers a second time after the ability was used once.
Fixed a bug where US Forces Armored Battlegroup's "Fast Deploy" ability was not properly reducing production times.
Fixed a UI issue where the Fallschirmpioneer icon would appear locked in the Battlegroup menu when Infantry Reserves was unlocked.
Fixed an issue where Battlegroup Icons on the player list were incorrect.
Fixed an issue where the cost for Carpet Bomb and Rocket Strafe refunded 1 CP when unlocked.
Fixed an issue where the Grenadier Medkit would not heal the squad while moving
Fixed an issue where the LG 40 could not be paradropped if they had 5 or less population space available.
Fixed an issue with the Airborne Rally company ability was not applying bonuses correctly.
Flare and Smoke cooldowns will now persist when upgrading from Scouts to Pathfinders
Improved handling of disconnects while the game is loading
Infantry Section "Forward Barrage" ability no longer requires specific base buildings to be alive.
Killing Wehrmacht infantry now correctly updates the kill count UI.
Smoke Rifle Grenade minimum range now correctly set at 15
Stuart Mark Target can no longer stack.
Taking the Pathfinders upgrade for Scouts in the US Forces Airborne Battlegroup now works correctly on scouts that were in the building's production queue at the time the upgrade was taken. Previously they would spawn without the extra unit in the squad.
The Afrikakorps Italian Infantry Battlegroup's Cannone da 105/28 Howitzer can now shoot at its minimum range.
The British Air and Sea Battlegroup's Supply Surplus ability is no longer available for other factions.
The US Forces Special Operations battlegroup's "Assault Operation" ability no longer disables retreat while active.
US Forces Heavy Machine Gun fighting positions no longer displays a veterancy bar.
US Forces Heavy Weapons stolen by other factions now keep their veterancy abilities.
US Forces Infantry Support Center's "Advanced Logistics" discount has been adjusted to be more consistent across every unit. Previously, the amount varied slightly between units.
US Forces SSF Commando squad's demolition charge description updated to reflect that it is a manual rather than a timed trigger.
Wehrmacht MG 42 Bunker impasse bug has been fixed. Previously it was not blocking units' pathfinding or other building's construction, leading to unintended gameplay issues, like being able to stack four bunkers for a 360° area coverage.

Multiplayer Balance Changes

Infantry and Mortar Flares

Mortar and Infantry flare duration decreased from 30 to 15

Loiters

Loiters were clearly over tuned across the board, being very oppressive and offering little counterplay. We’ve toned down these abilities so that their impact is more appropriate for their costs.

British Forces Anti-tank Rocket Loiter
Munition cost increased from 120 to 180
Typhoon rocket damage from 200 to 100
Typhoon rocket count from 6 to 5 per pass
Wehrmacht Luftwaffe Stuka Loiter
Stuka Anti-Infantry Loiter damage from 30 to 20
Stuka Anti-Tank Loiter damage against vehicles from 50 to 25
Stuka Anti-Tank Loiter rate of fire from 15 to 12
Afrikakorps Armored Support Anti-Tank Loiter
Munition cost reduced from 225 to 180
US Forces Airborne Reinforcement Loiter
Fixed the ability reinforcing squad to full strength even after the ability was over
Maximum number of reinforce entities from infinite to 12-15 total
Munition cost increased from 80 to 150
Reinforce rate dramatically reduced to 1 model replaced every 4 seconds

US Forces

Engineer Squad

US Forces Engineer squad's "Light It Up" veterancy ability can now be used without a Flamethrower. Costs 30 munitions without flamethrower upgrade.

Pathfinders
We have found that Pathfinders provide too much momentum and utility in the early game, allowing players to rush out the overperforming Sherman 76mm Tanks. We have made adjustments to make this build less oppressive and will be closely monitoring the strategy.

Build time increased from 25 to 33
Flare ability range decreased from 50 to 40
Now have access to the Utility Package
Flares, Rifle Smoke Grenades and Rifle Grenades now all require the Utility Package
Reinforcement cost increase from 25 to 30 manpower
Smoke Rifle Grenade recharge time increased from 120 to 180
Upkeep per population increased from 1 to 1.25 manpower per minute

Scouts

Build time increased from 25 to 33

76mm Sherman

AOE damage drop-off reduced to Sherman 75mm levels
AOE model damage cap decreased from 4 to 3

Afrikakorps

Carro Armato M13/40 Light Tank

The M13/40 was too efficient for its timing and cost. Combined with a powerful veterancy ability and bugged ability, the M13/40 scaled to a point it could out-compete higher tier tanks. The following changes tone these factors down.

AP Rounds penetration bonus from +90% to +33%
Fuel cost increased from 45 to 50
Italian Vanguard reload bonuses per nearby Italian unit from -10% to -5%. Reload bonus maxes out at -25% or 5 units
Main Weapon rate of fire decreased from 3.2/3.5 to 3.5/4.125 seconds

Balance 1.1.4 Update

We are excited to release our first major balance update in 1.1.4. In this update, our team has focused on several key areas to tone down oppressive strategies and increase unit and strategic diversity. We will continue to monitor unit/faction performance for future updates.

In this Update you can expect:

General adjustment to balance for all factions
Balance pass over Battlegroups
Addressing the power of Forward Reinforcement
Significant changes and boosts to Heavy Machine Guns and Anti-Tank Gun teams

GENERAL GAMEPLAY CHANGES

Anti-Tank Rifles
Afrikakorps Panzerjager Panzerbusche & British Corps Infantry Section Boys Anti-Tank Rifles

Anti-Tank rifles are overperforming in their ability to shutdown vehicle play and engage targets while under suppression. The following changes address these cases and allow vehicles to kite Anti-Tank Rifle Units.

Range decreased from 40 to 35
Weapon cooldown modifier when suppressed increased by +50%

Auto-Reverse Distance

Auto-reverse distance is being increased to reduce how often a player needs to use the Reverse ability and make it easier to back vehicles up during the heat of battle.

The distance a player can now right-click to issue an automatic auto-reverse command without using the auto-reverse ability has been set from 20 to 60

Barbed Wire

Armor increased from 1 to 10

Bunkers
Wehrmacht Bunkers & Afrikakorps Heavy Machine Gun Bunker

Build times standardized to 20 seconds

Button Abilities

Wehrmacht Flak 30 AA Gun, US Forces M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage & US Forces M1919 Heavy Machine Gun Team

Button has been overhauled to be less punishing. Buttoned vehicles can now fight back and will no longer be immobilized, allowing them to maneuver or retreat.

Button no longer disables weapons
Button now reduces sight by 50% and speed by 25%; speed penalty is increased to 50% on penetrating hits
Duration set to 15 seconds
Indicator now added when the ability is active
Recharge time standardized to 120 seconds

Forward Reinforcement Times

We have adjusted forward reinforcement to lessen the power of front-line reinforcement, especially during combat. This should dramatically lower the efficiency of forward reinforcing, making it less oppressive in larger games.

Reinforcement time of in-combat units located +45m away from the HQ increased by +100% for a total of +200%
Reinforcement time of units located +45m away from the HQ increased by +100%

Mobile Anti-Tank Guns

Anti-tank guns are seeing improvements across the board, increasing their reliability and performance against vehicles. Additionally, we have implemented key adjustments to minimize the frequency of shells striking the terrain ensuring a more consistent performance at long ranges.

Will hit objects and terrain significantly less
Horizontal traverse speed increased from 16 to 24
Aim-time decreased from 0.5 to 0.125
Build times standardized to 40 seconds
Reinforcement time standardized to 5 seconds
Accuracy at long-range increased by 7%

Mobile Heavy Machine Guns

Heavy Machine Guns are seeing improvements across the board to address their unreliability in their anti-infantry / or “anti-blob” role.

Cost standardized to 240 manpower
Crew health increased from 80 to 90
Horizontal traverse speed increased from 35 to 50
Infantry now become pinned around 17% faster
Reinforcement time standardized to 5 seconds
Suppression radius increased from 13 to 15
Suppression recovery now takes 3 seconds longer

Smoke

Reducing smoke duration serves two purposes: reducing stall times for units contesting capture points while hiding into smoke and decreasing smoke effectiveness when countering Heavy Machine Guns.

Smoke duration decreased from 30 to 20 seconds

Snipers

We are reducing the effectiveness of snipers when operating independently. They will now require spotters to utilize their full range and are more vulnerable to incoming fire. Furthermore, these units will now fire marginally slower.

Aim-times standardized to 1.75 seconds
Target size increased from 1.33 to 1.5
Vision range decreased from 45 to 35
Weapon cooldown increased from 3.5 to 3.75/3.825 seconds

FACTION CHANGES

US Forces

US Forces continues to struggle in team game modes where many of their advantages are less pronounced. Our focus for this patch has been to improve their mid-game options, reduce the price of certain upgrades, and strengthen their light vehicle play.

4x4 Truck

30cal machine gun lethality increased by 13%
Self-repair speed increased from 8 to 12
Self-repair duration increased from 10 to 15
Veteran ability Capture and Decapture speed increased from 100% to 125%

Advanced Logistics

Manpower cost reduced from 250 to 200

Assault Engineers

Reinforcement cost decreased from 25 to 23

Bazooka Team

The Destroy Obstacles ability damage penalty against infantry is increased from 25% to 75%
White Phosphorus Rocket ability cost increased from 25 to 35 munitions

Engineer

Reinforcement cost decreased from 25 to 23

Grenade Package

Fuel cost decreased from 25 to 15
Research time decreased from 30 to 25 seconds

High Velocity Armor Piercing Rounds
M4A3E8 Sherman & M18 Hellcat

Can no longer pierce through shot-blocking obstacles
HVAP rounds now use the reload times of the parent vehicle’s main weapon, this is a general reload time decrease of 1 second resulting in increased rate of fire

M3 75mm Gun Motor Carriage

We have adjusted the M3 75mm Gun Motor Carriage to be geared to destroying lighter vehicles and providing fire support against units like dug-in infantry and Heavy Machine Guns.

Aim-time decreased from 1 to 0.125
Barrage range decreased from 60 to 50
Barrage recharge decreased from 70 to 45 seconds
Penetration decreased from 300/250/220 to 200/160/140
Reload time decreased from 4/4.5 to 3.75 seconds
Rotation rate increased from 30 to 50

M3 Half-track

Conversion to M3 75mm Gun Motor Carriage decreased from 75 to 60 munitions
Manpower cost decreased from 270 to 250
Non-converted form now gains Shared Veterancy

M4 Sherman 105mm Dozer

Manpower cost decreased from 420 to 400

M8 Greyhound

These changes are intended to increase the Greyhound’s performance against infantry in open terrain.

.30cal Coaxial Machine Gun lethality increased by 10% at all ranges
.50cal Pintle Machine Gun lethality increased by 20% at all ranges
Speed increased from 6.4 to 6.75

M8 Scott

Barrage minimum range decreased from 15 to 10
Cost decreased from 320 manpower and 60 fuel to 280 manpower and 50 fuel
High Explosive Barrage reload time decreased from 3/4 to 2/2.75 seconds
Horizontal weapon traverse speed increased from 30 to 45
Reload time decreased from 4.5 to 3.5/4 seconds
Vertical weapon traverse speed increased from 10 to 15

M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage

Armor decreased from 12.5/9.375/6 to 10/7/5
Can now use the Prioritize Vehicles ability
Damage against aircraft decreased by -77.5%
Weapon penetration decreased from 2.5/2/1.5 to 2.5/1.5/1.25

M24 Chaffee Light Tank

These changes will make the unit more effective at hunting down other light vehicles, give it better maneuverability to flank heavier vehicles, and disengaging from enemy threats.

Acceleration from 2.5 to 3.5
Deceleration from 3.5 to 5.5
Manpower cost reduced from 320 to 300
Now has medium vehicle pathing and medium crush
Rotation rate from 35 to 40
Reload time decreased from 3.875/4.375 to 3.5/4 seconds
Speed from 5.5 to 6.5

M1918 Browning Automatic Rifles

Research time decreased from 45 to 30 seconds

M1919 Heavy Machine Gun Team

Build time decreased from 45 to 30

Riflemen

Pour it On’Em has received a heavy adjustment to its suppression. Previously, it allowed Riflemen to win all infantry engagements through suppression while also receiving a damage boost. Browning Automatic Rifles have also had their accuracy slightly increased to improve their effectiveness at range.

Browning Automatic Rifle long-range lethality increased by 15%
Browning Automatic Rifle mid-range lethality increased by 5%
Pour it On’Em Ability
Area suppression removed
Recharge time from 120 seconds to 180 seconds
Weapon suppression adjusted; changes are a general decrease
Browning Automatic Rifle suppression decreased from 0.005 to 0.003
Garand Rifle suppression increased from 0.005 to 0.0075
Thompson SMG suppression decreased from 0.01 to 0.00075

Survival Training

Fuel cost decreased from 80 to 50
Health increase now applies to team weapon crews

M4A3E8 Sherman

To differentiate the Easy Eight from regular 76mm Shermans, the High-Velocity Armor Piercing Rounds ability now comes as default, while also retaining the regular Sherman veterancy abilities, giving the tank excellent flexibility and options.

High-Velocity Armor Piercing Rounds veteran ability is now a default ability
Veterancy abilities changed to the match standard M4A1 Sherman – High Explosive Rounds and White Phosphorous Rounds

Sherman Whizbang

Cost reduced from 400 manpower and 100 fuel to 380 manpower and 80 fuel
Population cost decreased from 14 to 13

US Forces Battlegroups

Armored Battlegroup

Rapid Production Command Point cost decreased from 1 to 0
Seek and Destroy Command Point cost increased from 2 to 3
Strength in Steel Command Point cost decreased from 2 to 1

Field Repairs

Field Repairs has been reworked to be easier to use and have a greater impact.

Ability duration increased from 30 to 45 seconds
Health restored per second increased from 11 to 20
Munitions cost decreased from 125 to 100
Will now activate if the vehicle is on the move

M4A3E8 Sherman Combat Group

The cost of the combat group has been significantly reduced to better reflect the capabilities of the Sherman Easy Eight, its timing, and its position in the Battlegroup.

Cost decreased from 800 manpower and 120 fuel to 640 manpower and 100 fuel

Command Point cost decreased from 8 to 7

The Sherman Easy Eight will now enter the field carrying a Veteran Level 1 Assault Engineer Squad instead of the standard Rifleman Squad

Special Operations Battlegroup

Sherman Whizbang Command Point cost decreased from 6 to 5

Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht is receiving boosts to its early game with improvements focused on the Panzergrenadier Kompanie to increase build and composition diversity. We are also addressing the dominance of Jägers across all game modes.

251 Medium Carrier

Conversion to Stummel cost decreased from 90 to 60 munitions
Non-converted form now gains Shared Veterancy
Riegel Mines now properly camouflage and trigger
Riegel Mine damage increased from 300 to 500
Riegel Mine deployment time from 11.5 seconds to 7.5 seconds

Armored Car 221

Cost decreased from 280 manpower and 30 fuel to 220 manpower and 25 fuel
Panzerbusche mid-range accuracy increased by 18%
Panzerbusche far-range accuracy increased by 43%
Speed increased from 6 to 7.75

Fallschirmjaeger

FG 42 ready-aim time from 0.125 to 0.5/1

Fallschirmpioneers

Reinforcement cost increased from 28 to 30 manpower

Flak 30 20mm Anti-Air Gun

Build time decreased from 50 to 45 seconds

Grenadiers

Grenadiers have received several adjustments to slightly improve their performance, so they are in-line with other early game infantry.

Assault Package cost from 45 to 50 munitions
Assault Package Sprint ability munition cost removed
Sprint recharge time increased from 35 to 180
Manpower cost decreased from 270 to 260
Medical kit healing duration increased from 15 to 30 seconds
Medical kit healing rate per second reduced from 8 to 6
Veterancy Level 2 accuracy bonus multiplier increased from 10% to 15%
Veterancy requirements decreased from 900/2700/5400 to 800/2400/4800

Hulldown Ability

This ability now has a delayed activation to prevent immediate defensive boosts.

Hulldown bonuses are activated 10 seconds after the ability is triggered.
An indicator was added to represent the countdown before the bonus triggers.

Jäger Light Infantry

The Panzerschreck Jägers high flexibility, powerful base stats, and superior anti-tank capabilities have made them dominant in all modes. We are shaving off a significant amount of power from the unupgraded Jäger and Panzerschreck Jägers, emphasizing tradeoffs when opting out of the Reconnaissance Package.

Capture and decapture rate decreased from 150%/125% to 133%/100%
Smoke grenade range decreased from 45 to 35
Sight reduced from 42 to 35
Reconnaissance Package now increases vision by +7 and capture and decapture rate back to 150%/125%

Panzerschreck

Accuracy against infantry decreased by 50%
Area of effect damage removed
Long-range aim-time multiplier increased from +50% to +100%
Ready-aim time increased from 1/1.25 to 1.25/1.5 seconds
Scatter increased; rockets should no longer reliably scatter into vehicles at longer ranges

Marder III M Tank Destroyer

Long range accuracy increased by 20%

MG 42 Heavy Machine Gun Team

Build time decreased from 26 to 25

Officer Quarters Upgrades
Infanterie Kompanie, Luftwaffe Kompanie, Panzergrenadier Kompanie & Panzer Kompanie

Research time decreased from 45 to 30 seconds

Panzer IV Command Tank

Acceleration increased from 1.9 to 2.5
Deceleration increased from 3 to 4
Speed increased from 5 to 5.5

Panzergrenadier Squad

Manpower cost decreased from 360 to 340

StuG III G Assault Gun

We have made major changes to the StuG III to make the vehicle more attractive in larger and later games where it was unreliable at fighting enemy armor.

Acceleration increased from 1.9 to 2.67
Cost adjusted from 360 manpower and 50 fuel to 300 manpower and 60 fuel
Deceleration increased from 3 to 4
Long-range accuracy increased from 0.045 to 0.0475
Rotation rate increased from 30 to 40
Reload time decreased from 4/4.5 to 3.5/4 seconds
Weapon penetration increased from 180/140/110 to 250/180/140

Stosstruppen

Stosstruppen have received a number of improvements to make them the premiere anti-infantry squad for their cost and timing.

Armor increased from 1 to 1.25
Overall DPS output increased by 13%
G43 accuracy increased from 62% / 61%/ 57% to 70% / 67% / 64%
G43 now properly reloads after 10 rounds fired, not 9
LMG accuracy from 46%/ 45%/ 40% to 48% / 47% / 44%
LMG will no longer spread damage on the targeted squads but instead focus down individual entities
Reinforcement cost increased from 39 to 40

StuG III D Assault Gun (Short Barreled)

Acceleration increased from 1.9 to 2.67
Deceleration increased from 3 to 4
Rotation rate increased from 30 to 40

Stummel Half-track

The Stummel has been adjusted to make it a more effective fire-support unit against infantry through increased range and area of effect damage.

Auto-fire range increased from 40 to 45
Auto-fire minimum range removed
Area of Effect radius from 5 to 6
Area of Effect damage increased from 33% / 25% / 15% to 35 % / 25% / 20%
Penetration for barrage and auto-fire standardized to 20

Sturmpanzer IV Brummbar

Build time decreased from 55 to 45 seconds
Cost decreased from 440 manpower and 120 fuel to 440 manpower and 110 fuel
Rotation rate increased from 25 to 28
Reload time decreased from 8.25 to 6/6.25 seconds
Speed increased from 4 to 4.25

Wespe Self-Propelled Gun

Barrage recharge time reduced from 60 to 45 seconds
Creeping Barrage recharge time reduced from 180 to 70 seconds

Wehrmacht Battlegroups

Breakthrough Battlegroup

Panzer IV Command Tank

Command Point cost reduced from 4 to 2

Luftwaffe Battlegroup

Luftwaffe is adjusted to be in-line with the other battlegroups.

Lg 40 Paradrop and Reserve Infantry abilities positions are now interchanged in the Battlegroup tree

Fallschirmjager Paradrop

Manpower cost increased from 340 to 380

Fallschirmpioneer Paradrop

Manpower cost increased from 260 to 280
Recharge time increased from 60 to 75 seconds

Mechanized Battlegroup

8 Rad Armored Car Command Point cost reduced from 3 to 2
Stosstruppen Assault Package Command Point cost reduced from 2 to 1
StuG III D Assault Group Command Point cost reduced from 4 to 3

Mechanized Assault

Munition cost increased from 80 to 120

British Forces

The British Forces’ dominance with massed infantry backed by powerful upgrades led to oppressive gameplay and reduced build and unit diversity. We have significantly reduced the effectiveness of these strategies, requiring the faction to rely on combined arms to get the most out of their units.

Bishop Self-propelled Gun

Barrage recharge time increased from 30 to 45 seconds

B.L. 5.5 Inch Artillery Emplacement

Build time decreased from 70 seconds to 40 seconds

Centaur

The Centaur has been improved to push the unit towards a mobile anti-infantry vehicle that deals steady damage to infantry, while being able to disengage from most threats.

Area of Effect radius increased from 4 to 6
Cost decreased from 380 manpower and 80 fuel to 360 manpower and 75 fuel
Horizontal traverse speed increased from 25 to 50
Reload speed decreased 6 to 4.5 seconds
Smoke Shot veteran ability now only fires 1 round
Speed increased from 5.2 to 6

CMP15 CWT AA Truck

We have adjusted the CMP15 CWT AA Truck to primarily be geared to shooting down aircraft. We will be revisiting this unit in future updates.

Anti-aircraft range bonus from +600% to +1000%
Horizontal traverse speed increased from 120 to 160
Now deals +50% extra damage against aircraft
Range reduced from 45 to 40

Commando Light Machine Gun Section

Manpower cost reduced from 350 to 320
Population cost reduced from 9 to 8

Commandos

Reinforcement cost decreased from 40 to 31

Crusader II

Fuel has been increased to better reflect the performance of the Crusader.

Fuel cost increased from 60 to 70

Dingo

Coordinate Barrage and Decoy Flare range decreased from 60 to 45
Coordinated Barrage cost decreased from 45 to 35 munitions
Distribute Medical Supplies duration increased from 15 to 45 seconds
Distribute Medical Supplies recharge time decreased from 180 to 120

Infantry Section

The following change now forces Infantry Sections to be in cover to gain their veterancy 1 ability bonuses, making them less effective when in the open.

Base of Fire passive veteran ability now requires the unit to be in cover to activate
Coordinated Barrage cost decreased from 45 to 35 munitions

Matilda II Heavy Tank

Population cost reduced from 14 to 13

Royal Engineer Section

Build time increased from 16 to 20 seconds

Training Center Upgrades

The Training Center provided excessive value for its cost, could be confusing for players and enabled Veteran British units to heavily out scale their opponents. We have streamlined the combat bonuses to only apply once and removed the damage bonus. This significant reduction should maintain British units’ early-to-mid game power but result in a noticeable drop in late-game scaling.

Combat bonuses now only apply once to units with at least 1 level of Veterancy
Damage bonuses from all upgrades removed
Upgrades buff no longer stacks per veterancy level. It is now a consistent 10% bonus that is applied only once

Vicker Heavy Machine Gun Team

Build time decreased from 41 to 30 seconds

British Forces Battlegroups

Air and Sea Battlegroup

Hawker Typhoon Anti-Tank Loiter Command Point cost increased from 3 to 5
Incendiary Bombing Run Command Point cost increased from 1 to 3

Naval Blockade

Duration reduced from 60 to 30 seconds
Munitions cost reduced from 80 to 50

British Armoured

Churchill Black Prince Command Point cost increased from 6 to 7

Indian Artillery

These changes to the Battlegroup better reflect the power of Volunteer Infantry and its role as a middle to late game option that requires the player to commit to the end of the Battlegroup tree.

War Cry and Volunteer Infantry positions swapped; command point costs for both abilities unchanged

4.2 Inch Heavy Mortar

Cost increased from 440 manpower to 440 manpower and 20 fuel

Perimeter Monitor

Perimeter Monitor Cost increased from 150 to 225 munitions

Afrikakorps

The Afrikakorps were oppressive in its middle and late game while also being overly vulnerable early on. We are making minor adjustments to even this out by strengthening its early game and reducing the power of their Armory upgrades.

250 Light Carrier

These changes should allow Afrikakorps players to delay building dedicated healing.

20mm autocannon conversion cost reduced from 75 to 60 munitions
Build time reduced from 40 to 35 seconds
Distribute Medical Supplies duration increased from 15 to 45 seconds
Distribute Medical Supplies recharge time decreased from 180 to 120

Advanced Field Repairs

Manpower cost reduced from 250 to 200

Booby Trap

Armor reduced from 35 to 1

Emergency Repair Kits

Manpower cost increased from 250 to 325

Fire Support Elements

Cost reduced from 150 manpower and 45 fuel to 100 manpower and 40 fuel

Flak 36 88mm Anti-Tank Gun

Build time increased from 30 to 45 seconds

Flakvierling Half-track

The Flakvierling Half-track is having its effectiveness increased to better reflect its timing and role as a low durability, but high firepower unit.

Accuracy increased from 40% / 35% / 30% to 44% / 42% / 36%
Angle scatter reduced from 8 to 3
Burst duration increased from 1.75/2.5 to 3.5/4 seconds
Weapon cooldown reduced 2/2.5 to 1.5 seconds
Weapon long-range cooldown multiplier increased by 50%

Guastatori

Guastatori have been adjusted to remove their anti-vehicle snare, focusing their role as an anti-infantry and anti-garrison unit. Their cost has been reduced to reflect this.

Anti-tank satchel ability removed
Manpower cost reduced from 440 to 400
Now able to plant regular mines
T.35 Gas Mask ability now requires Veteran Level 1

Kradschutzen Motorcycle Team

Build times are being reduced to improve the standard Afrikakorps openings, that include Panzergrenadiers.

Build time reduced from 35 to 30 seconds

L6/40

The armor of the L6/40 has been increased, pushing this unit towards a low health vehicle that is immune to Heavy Machine Guns and small arms.

Armor increased from 40/20/15 to 50/40/25
Flamethrower munition cost reduced from 75 to 50

Le.IG 18 Support Gun

Build time reduced from 61 to 45 seconds

MG 34 HMG Team

Build time set to 30 seconds

Pak 38 Anti-Tank Gun Team

Manpower cost reduced from 290 to 260

Panzerjaeger

Panzerjaeger Tear Gas Shot ability no longer creates a White Phosphorous Cloud explosion effect. The performance is unaffected.

Panzergrenadier Squad

Build times are being reduced to improve the standard Afrikakorps openings, that include Panzergrenadiers.

Build time reduced from 25 to 20 seconds

Rapid Advance

Rapid Advance manpower cost increased from 250 to 325 

StuG III D Assault Gun

Acceleration increased from 2.5 to 2.67
Deceleration increased from 3 to 4
Rotation rate increased from 30 to 40
Support Advance ability range reduced from 60 to 45
Support Advance ability toggle recharge now from 0 to 5

Tungsten Rounds

Tungsten Rounds is having its damage bonus removed as they added too much passive power for Afrikakorps vehicles against infantry and vehicles. Penetration bonuses have been slightly increased to compensate.

Damage bonus removed
Penetration bonus increased from 20% to 25%

Vehicle Survival Package

We are lowering the durability bonus so most vehicles, when combined with Emergency Repair Kits, can survive one additional hit rather than two.

Health bonus reduced from 80 to 40

Afrikakorps battlegroups

Armored Support 

Assault Salvage Command Point cost reduced from 3 to 2
Panzer III Flame Tank Command Point cost increased from 3 to 4 
Panzer Storm Command Point cost reduced from 3 to 2
Superior Fire Drills Command Point cost reduced from 2 to 1 
Stuka Anti-Tank Loiter Command point increased from 3 to 5
Veteran Gunners Command Point cost reduced from 2 to 1

Italian Combined Arms 

Force Recon Command Point cost reduced from 2 to 1
Secure Location Command Point cost reduced from 2 to 1

Bug Fixes

Dingo is now properly affected by Training Center upgrades
Fixed an issue where all Marders would take additional damage on rear-hits
Fixed an issue where Improvised Armor did not apply to M4A1 Sherman 76mms and Sherman Whizbangs
Fixed an issue where mines would suppress retreating units
Fixed an issue where Paratrooper carbines did not ignore cover at short-range
Fixed an issue where the Commando Grenade had minimum range
Fixed an issue where the Training Center Upgrades would not apply
Fixed an issue where the Wehrmacht 8 Rad Armored Car did not share the same mobility or autocannon stats with its Afrikakorps counterpart
Fixed an issue where the White Phosphorous Rounds for the MG 42 would cause a Blind effect on vehicles
Fixed an issue where veterancy 3 was not providing the correct bonus to Anti-Tank Guns
Riegel Mines now properly camouflage and trigger

Brass Leopard - 1.1.5 Update

This update focuses on several quality-of-life improvements, gameplay changes, bug fixes and more. We feel these changes should provide many iterative improvements to the overall feel and experience of CoH3. You can find all of the changes below along with a video summary here.

In this update, you will find the following:

Audio improvements
Additional intel warnings
New sound effects audio mixes
Gameplay feature improvements
Camera height
Event cues
Player names and colors
Gameplay changes
Plane and loiter changes
Mignano Gap and Gazala Landing Ground map fixes
A new 3 vs 3 map available in:
Skirmish
Custom games
Co-Op vs AI
Several improvements to the single player experience
Italian campaign bug fixes

NEW CONTENT

Catania Crossing - 3 vs 3 Map

Adding a new 3 vs 3 bridge map released exclusively for Skirmish, Custom Games and Co-Op vs AI modes.

A return to classic CoH bridge maps, based on the Allied Landings in Sicily.
Features dense urban combat around critical bridge crossings, perfect for those who wish to hunker down and outlast their enemy.

GAMEPLAY CHANGES

Audio

British Forces – War Cry ability

All players will now hear a trench whistle followed by a crowd swell indicating the ability has been activated.

Camera

The camera now allows players to zoom out an additional 5 meters using the scroll wheel increasing the overall zoom level.

Event Cues

Event Cues are now aligned over top of the minimap.
Event Cues priority has been adjusted across the board to prevent less important cues taking over more relevant ones.
Event Cues now allow players to click and select units behind them.
Event Cues are now limited to how many can display on screen at the same time
The background transparency of Event Cues has been reduced to improve readability
Event Cues lifetime on screen will adapt based on player interaction. Event Cues that are not interacted with will be unchanged. Event Cues that are clicked will be considered “seen” and their total lifetime will be reduced by 5 seconds. For example:
A ‘grenade incoming’ event cue appears on screen. The player clicks on it after 10 seconds, the event cue immediately disappears as its total lifetime has been reduced to 5 seconds when becoming ‘seen’.
The same event cue appears on screen again, this time the player clicks on it after 1 second: the event cue will be considered ‘seen' and will remain for 4 more seconds, as its total lifetime has been reduced to 5 seconds.

Maps

Gazala Landing Ground

Minor adjustments to Strategic and Victory Point locations to ensure the Western points favor the Southern team and Eastern points favor the Northern team.

Mignano Gap

Improved the southernmost engagement area (the bottom of the valley) to be approachable from more angles
Removed cover from Greek staircases to prevent unintended balance issues.
Territory layout adjusted to ensure a fair dispersal of munitions resources near each Team's HQ areas.

Planes

The intent of the changes to airplanes and loiters is to deliver more believable-looking visuals along with better responsiveness and game feel. When a player clicks, it’s essential that the feedback on the ability be more immediate. As always, we are looking into new ways to bring you an immersive experience, so we’ve adjusted the visuals and deformation on airplane crashes, dives, and projectile speeds.

Standardized airplane arrival times:
Utility based airplanes (includes smoke & recon runs): 3 seconds
Strafing runs: 5 seconds
Bombing runs: 7 seconds
Airplanes now start their dives earlier to allow for a less aggressive angle.
Airplanes speed increase while loitering from 36 m/s to 72 m/s.
Airplanes turn angles are increased from 25 degrees to 60 degrees.
Adjusted Airplane crashes to create deformation and include a new effect.
Adjusted Airplane crashes to damage environmental objects.
Adjusted Airplane debris to last longer.
Adjusted Airplanes doing dives to only drop the projectile when at a distance from the target as opposed to only when on top of the target.
Adjusted Airplane abilities flares to match the center of the ability reticule.
Adjusted Airplane abilities reticule colors to match the proper intention of the ability (green for utility, red for damage)
Airplanes performing paradrop abilities are now invincible.
Airplanes performing Mark Target abilities now show a proper indicator on the target.

Airplane Weapon & Projectile Changes

Adjusted projectile speeds overall to be 2x to 3x times faster.
Adjusted bombs to have a 1.5x damage modifier against buildings and emplacements.
Adjusted deformation to better match the area of effect of some of the explosions.
Adjusted strafing runs to have an area of effect of 45m length.
Adjusted strafing runs to cover the area within 1s as opposed to 3s.

Loiter Changes

Loiters no longer acquire new targets in base sectors.
Loiters now display a ground indicator that reflects the target acquisition area.
Loiters now display an indicator on top of the unit they are targeting.
Loiters now properly display the time left for the ability to end.
Loiters now take longer in between passes.

Afrikakorps

Stuka Dive Bomb munition cost from 250 to 150.

Wehrmacht

Fragmentation Bomb now drops 6 bombs instead of 4.
Fragmentation Bomb now has two airplanes in formation.

Plane Bug Fixes

Airplanes performing a Mark Target will now leave the field properly if the target is destroyed.
Loiter airplanes no longer leave the field pre-emptively which was causing instances where instead of two airplanes loitering there would be only one.
Various Audio fixes missing voiceovers in different airplane abilities.

Player Names

A new bindable hotkey has been added to the Controls settings, allowing players to customize the button to temporarily toggle player names. Default has been set to CTRL.
A toggle for player names has been added to the game settings both while in a match and in the main menu
ON: Player names will be permanently displayed under the unit decorator.
OFF: Player names will not display under the unit decorator permanently, but players will still be able to toggle them temporarily using their assigned hotkey.
Player names will be displayed on unit information cards.
Player names will be using player’s selected color scheme in the UI (compatible with both team and unique colors). This will apply to names displayed in the RTS layer, on the unit card and in the player list.

Unique Team / Player Colors

Team and Unique colors now apply to player names.
Team and Unique colors now apply to units' health bars on the unit cards.
Territory point flag and capture UI now uses team colors rather than unique colors.

Player List

Added a tooltip when hovering with the mouse on Battlegroups in the Player List, containing the Battlegroup name and a brief description.
All Battlegroups from each player’s loadout will now be visible in the player list: it will no longer be possible to check which Battlegroups other players have picked.
Player names will respect the color scheme chosen by the player in the Gameplay settings: when Team Colors are enabled, the player will be assigned the blue color, allies the yellow color and opponents the red color. When enabling Unique Colors, the player’s team will be assigned the cold color palette, and the opposing team will be assigned the warm colors palette.
Team 1 and 2 background colors standardized to blue for player team and red for opponents’ team.

Bug Fixes & Improvements

Fixed a save issue where the objective UI language was incorrect when loading a save that was made in a different language.
Fixed an issue with the main menu background not appearing.
Improved indication of resolution on the settings screen when borderless Fullscreen window mode is selected.
Improved mouse compatibility and clamping while in windowed mode.
Textbox now properly displays when chatting with friends.

Audio

Added a new sound effect to campaign map captures.
Added an intel announcement for allied-controlled points that are attacked or taken by the enemy.
Afrikakorps Mortar Units have found their voice. Fixed an issue where recrewed Afrikakorps Mortar Units would have no voice lines.
Capture point now always plays capture sound when neutralized.
Fixed audio sound effects when capture points are neutralized.
Fixed certain British vehicles not using American lines after being restored by the American recovery vehicle.
Fixed unnecessary intel message that played when using a CWT truck to recrew a team weapon.
Paratrooper Squad's M1 Carbine now uses unique firing sound effects.
Recon ability sound effects will no longer be heard in the fog of war.
The Humber 15mm turret's sound effect now correctly matches fire rate and animation.
US Forces halftracks now uses different audio after being upgraded.
US Forces Intel referred to pathfinders as scouts when deployed from HQ. They are now correctly referred to as pathfinders.
Victory and Defeat music on the results screen is now no longer affected by the muffling effect on remaining battle sounds.

Voice Over

Fixed silent voice over line at the end of the Defend Potenza mission.
Intel voiceover warnings for weapon crews such as Anti-Tank guns and Mortars did not play when the unit was lost. Warnings now play correctly.
M2A1 Howitzers now has working voice over lines.
Refined the voiceover selection logic to reduce the repetition of memorable lines.
Squads garrisoned in buildings now give a voiceover warning when the building is at risk of being destroyed.
Victory and Defeat screen voiceover will now always play.

Art

Afrikakorps Panzergrenadiers now understand how boots work, therefore their legs no longer clip through their boots. It’s leg day!
Anzio Annie crew now stands on the gun, where they should be.
British Forces M1 Pack Howitzer Team now uses the correct models and portrait.
Colors on the Afrikakorps Bersaglieri squad rifles have been adjusted to better match the unit.
CWT AA Mount seat no longer clips through benches.
Fixed smoke trails to match team colors.
Flame attacks correctly apply charring to vehicles.
Heavy machine guns no longer floats when the M8 Greyhound is destroyed.
Kattenkrad Recon Vehicle now produces debris when destroyed.
US Forces M1 carbine now uses the correct semi-automatic animation.

Gameplay

Fixed a scaling issue where unit paths would be the wrong size on the minimap.
Fixed an issue where the cover dots indicators would be rendered floating in the air.
Fixed an issue where the game was not updating the player correctly when an enemy neutralized one of the player's team-controlled sectors, and still showing the neutralized territory as player owned. With this change, after a point is neutralized by the enemy team, the player would correctly see it as neutral on both the RTS and the minimap/tactical map layers.
Fixed an issue where the minimap did not orient north correctly.
Fixed an issue where units got stuck when trying to exit certain buildings while retreating.
Fixed an issue with some environmental vehicles being targetable as if they were enemies.
Fixed A.I. players not supplying a direction to directional targeted abilities. This A.I. will now be using directional targeted abilities, such as the German Wespe Creeping Barrage veterancy ability.
Fixed several instances of overly zealous infantry running towards the enemy when retreating.
Fixed several issues related to bridges not correctly having cover.
Loiter planes no longer disappear off map while performing abilities.
Updated Line of Sight generated by capture points to be more consistent with past CoH games.

Localization

Added Japanese text display improvements.

Adjusted and simplified tooltip text throughout the game.

Fixed several typos and inconsistencies in texts.

Fixed an issue with subtitles in Campaign not appearing at the correct time.

Improved localization in all languages and integrated missing translations.

Maps

Added missing cover to several objects in the environment.
Fixed an issue on Aere Perennius where the map zone/territory would be drawn incorrectly between ruined buildings.
Fixed an issue where certain buildings would make units garrisoned inside invincible.
Fixed an issue where territory lines did not display correctly on stairs.
Fixed missing collision on large standing fuel container on L'Aquila map.
Fixed several issues with indestructible hedges.
Fixed several issues with small objects taking up too much space and blocking unit movement.
Updated balustrades to provide cover as expected (identically to stone walls).
Updated hangar assets to no longer provide cover. Suspended sections were wrongfully providing cover to units beneath them.
Updated map edge visuals on Torrente, including railway tunnel and rail lines.
Improved width of impasse around some cliff areas across multiple maps to reduce clipping.

Modding Tools Improvements & Bug Fixes

Added first ability archetype “equip_and_fire_weapon”. This archetype is intended primarily for infantry to replicate the functionality of abilities such as grenades or panzerfausts. It will equip a weapon of the chosen name or hardpoint index and fire it X times at the target. The caster entity(ies) must have the weapon assigned to that hardpoint in order to cast.
Introduced “custom properties”, which allow modders to adjust the variables that will be read by state tree scripts to allow variations of existing ability archetypes. Custom properties are only used for a specific ability state tree script, however any ability that references that state tree script can re-use the same variable names to create the same effect.
Introduced the concept of an “ability archetype” -- These are template abilities that can be cloned to easily create variations using custom properties. For now, this is just the “equip_and_fire_weapon” ability with the potential to release more in the future. Previously, if you modded an ability like the rifleman’s grenade, it could only ever throw that specific grenade. Now a modder could adjust which weapon to swap in and how many shots to fire by copying the equip_and_fire_weapon ability and changing those properties.
It will also be possible to use custom properties to adjust values on some of the abilities that do not yet have a formal archetype created, such as any of the flight abilities we reworked this patch and abilities such as Repair, which now exposes several tuning handles to adjust the repair amount.
Tuning pack mods can now have their files reference each other without crashing on load
Updated the default atmosphere to the latest day lighting version, this should improve the modding experience with default settings.

Performance

Fixed a crash that would sometimes occur when skipping a cutscene.
Fixed an issue where capped fps was higher (by as much as 10fps) than the set cap due to sometime not being accumulated frame-to-frame.
Reduced memory increases across missions.

Single Player

Fixed an issue that caused some objectives to be started multiple times.
Fixed an issue where campaign save/load would become inaccessible after creating a skirmish game in single player.
Fixed a crash that sometimes happened when loading a save game.
Fixed mission failed dialog in certain campaign missions.
Fixed several issues of missing voiceover dialog in campaign missions.
Fixed several issues with camera fadeouts flickering or happening at the incorrect time during mission sitreps.

Dynamic Italian Campaign

AA Emplacements can no longer shoot at Supply Crates.
AA emplacements no longer attack ships in the single player campaign.
Added a fix for a specific Save/Load issue that affected a kill counter not updating properly in Fire with Fire mission.
Added Relevant requirement text to the Heal, Repair, Encircle abilities when out of range.
Adding correct portraits to Supply Drop Crates.
Displaying correct description text on Supply drop Crates.
Adjusted description for the following UK Artillery company abilities/upgrades to more accurately match their functionality in-game:
Battle Hardened - Raises minimum Veterancy Level of Gurkha Rifles to 2.
First Class Fighting Men - Raises minimum Veterancy Level of all infantry squads to 1.
Adjusted out of bounds vista in Salerno to make for a smoother transition in the distance.
Adjusted timing of Conti's Voice Over so it no longer overlaps with the sitrep.
Assassinate Baumann object will no longer auto-complete and the mission can be played.
Campaign Map A.I. no longer uses bombardment abilities from its ships and howitzer emplacements outside the playable area.
Combat music no longer starts immediately after intro to the Pomigliano airfield mission.
Companies requisitioned through a seaport now have the proper cost modifiers applied to their Heal and Repair abilities.
Disabled the forward artillery ability in Salerno until the player gets access to a base.
During campaign skirmishes, enemy squads no longer pick up supply caches at the start of the 'Recover Discarded Supplies' bonus objective.
Enemy companies in the single player campaign now use recon abilities more consistently.
Errant intel no longer plays before Corporal Conti's objective outline at the beginning of random encounter skirmishes in the Italian Campaign.
Fixed a bug in the Italy campaign that caused the bombing run to fail after capturing 3 towns in the Volturno Line.
Fixed a bug in which narrative lines in the Ice Cream event could play out of order.
Fixed a narrative bug in the Winter Line mission where a line's audio was assigned to the wrong character.
Fixed a narrative bug in the Operation Morning Glory mission where a line's audio was assigned to the wrong character.
Fixed a narrative bug in the The Great Ammo Robbery mission where a line's audio was missing and assigned to the wrong character.
Fixed an issue causing input to be blocked when exiting loading screens in certain cases
Fixed an issue in the Anzio mission in the Italy campaign where enemy units would spawn during a cutscene.
Fixed an issue on certain campaign missions where US Forces infantry were not properly displaying veterancy options.
Fixed an issue where Paratroopers would get stuck in specific areas of Ortona.
Fixed an issue where Partisan capture ability would sometimes not do anything
Fixed an issue where the British Armoured Company Fuel Airdrop tooltip was incorrect when it was upgraded to drop 3 fuel crates and still referred to 2.
Fixed an issue where the Destroying the Gun's objective in the Italy Campaign mission in Gela would not complete properly before ending the mission.
Fixed an issue where units could have more movement points than their max movement points upon a new turn if they lost some supply on the previous turn
Fixed an issue with certain bridges on River Crossing Rescue not allowing vehicles to cross properly.
Fixed an issue with certain bridges where paratroopers would be unable to cross them after spawning on the wrong side.
Fixed German Mechanized Company that retreated on the Campaign Map near Camino that would get stuck and become un-targetable.
Fixed an issue that would make a company unusable if they were paradropped onto a destroyed town.
Fixed an issue where C-47 transport aircraft that were spawned in airfields that were captured by companies with the Air Support trait weren't displaying in the airfield management page.
Fixed an issue where planes were spawned hovering over Foggia if it was captured on the same turn as the objective to capture it was started.
Fixed an issue where ships moved via the Transfer Seaports ability weren't able to move on following turns.
Fixed an issue where the population cap was not increasing properly when picked as a reward for completing the southern foothold objective.
Fixed an issue with the Campaign map torpedo ability when used from Carriers that allowed it to be used against enemy land units and friendly ships.
Fixed lighting on battleships.
Fixed Partisan support ability sometimes not being selectable in skirmish/mission
Fixed post mission death animations for defending company playing on top of the initiating company
German Companies can no longer heal within the first 10 turns unless they are near a Hospital or Triage Centre.
German Company affecters/icons correspond with their Company Type
In the Anzio mission in the Italy campaign, aircraft can now be used without being shot down if the Destroy AA Guns objective was previously completed.
In the Enigma retrieval mission, added a small lump sum of manpower when the special aid station is captured to allow for limited reinforcements. The limited amount is to preserve a raiding party/commando fixed force feel that is smaller in scope than a typical skirmish or a larger scenario. A notification to the player is given when they get the resource.
Italy Finale Mission - Fixed an issue that prevented description text from appearing on the Swap Company ability button.
Navy Salvage and Repair abilities have been moved so they are no longer overlapped by other abilities
Removed friendly fire damage from area of effect abilities like Barrage, Bombardment, and Bombing Run in the Campaign.
Repair and Heal cost no longer increase on Save/Load
Re-trimmed boundaries in Calabria prologue so mountainous regions are more reliably recognized as impassable terrain.
Smoothed airplane turning for certain bombing run and supply run abilities.
Some missions in the Italian campaign now only trigger once.
The enemy territory that exists directly East of the player base in Gela now becomes player owned once the territory point to its north is captured by the player.
The Foggia mission now correctly registers when intel has been destroyed.
The Paratrooper tooltip has been updated to reflect that Paratroopers can be paradropped anywhere outside the enemy base, rather than only within friendly territory.
The rewarded Destroyer is no longer stuck at the seaport after repairing the seaport
Tiger Heavy Tank call-in can no longer get stuck behind the Wehrmacht HQ on the Winter Line map.

North African Operation

Corrected historical facts on a loading screen that claimed Italian and German troops clashed with British forces in 1940, when German forces did not arrive until February 1941.
Finale Mission - Fixed units clipping into each other during the introductory camera pan.
Fixed an issue where players had access to battlegroups from other factions in the desert village ambush mission.
Fixed an issue where destroying enemy vehicles for an optional objective would complete the primary mission objective and end the mission early.
Fixed an issue where sometimes victory cinematics at Tobruk would play twice.
Updated minor timing issues with camera sequences.

Skirmish

The Panzergrenadier Unit from the mechanized reserve can no longer equip MP40 in campaign skirmishes.

Tutorial

Adjusted the first few steps of the tutorial to restrict what the player can interact with. This change should improve clarity, limit confusion and guide new players more directly.
Fixed a minelaying tutorial tooltip staying active indefinitely.
Fixed an issue in the tutorial in which hint arrows were not being removed upon objective completion.
Fixed an issue that prevented some hint messages from appearing.
Minor additional instruction hint added to the aid post tutorial sequence.

Stability

Improved desync handling to only remove the desynced player allowing the match to continue.
Fixed a crash that occurred when a voice over line was unavailable.
Fixed a frequent Italy Campaign crash triggered by a deleted capture point.

Store / Cosmetics

All soldiers in Captain's Retinue squad will get appropriate cosmetics instead of just the Captain.
Fixed a bug where the granted item window does not show the correct rarity color.
Winter Tundra Panzer IV’s turret accessories no longer flicker.
Winter Tundra Wirbelwind no longer leaves floating objects behind when destroyed.
Fixed issue with UK truck bed not getting camo.
Fixed issue of DAK Left Behind StuG III D not being available as an offer in the store.
Amazon Night Fighter vehicle crews now have their intended camo.

Emerald Bear - 1.2.0 Update

The Emerald Bear update (1.2.0) is packed full of gameplay improvements and balance adjustments. We are also introducing two new maps and the first version of our player profile. Be sure to review all of the changes and fixes below or check out our Mission Briefing for an overview.

NEW CONTENT, FEATURES AND IMPROVEMENTS

Multiplayer Maps

Added 3v3 Benghazi map to Automatch, Co-op vs A.I., Skirmish and Custom game modes.
Added 4v4 Monte Cavo map to Automatch, Co-Op vs A.I., Skirmish and Custom game modes.

Player Profile

Added a new Player Profile feature. The Player Profile displays information about ranked match rating, player rank and additional statistics about matches. You can find a Q&A and our full write-up on this new feature here.

Menu Improvement – Social interaction options

Players can now find all social interactions by clicking the "..." button next to a player’s name.

Challenges

Ace of Spades (Build 5 US Forces Fighting Positions in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 2
Buzzsaw (Deploy 5 Wehrmacht MG42 Machinegun teams in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 2
Death or Glory (Deploy 5 British Forces M3 Grant or Crusader tanks in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 2
Edelweiss (Kill 5 infantry with Jäger squads upgraded with Reconnaissance Packages in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 2
Eighty Eight (Kill 8 Allied vehicles with an Afrikakorps FlaK36 Anti-tank gun in a match) - reduced completion count from 8 to 1
Eyes and Ears (Upgrade 3 US Forces Scout squads with a Utility package in a match) - reduced completion count from 3 to 2
Fieldworks (Build 3 Wehrmacht Fighting Nests in a match)- reduced completion count from 3 to 2
Gun Carriage (Kill 5 vehicles with the US Forces M3 75mm GMC in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 1
Gustav Line (Build 5 Wehrmacht Concrete bunkers in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 2
Hanomag Scrap (Kill 5 Wehrmacht or Afrikakorps trucks or Half-tracks in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 1
Hedgehogs (Build 20 tank traps with British Forces Royal Engineers) - reduced completion count from 20 to 10
High Velocity (Kill 10 infantry with Wehrmacht or Afrikakorps FlaK anti-aircraft guns in a match) - reduced completion count from 10 to 5
Infantry Anti-tank (Kill 3 vehicles with infantry squads in a match) - reduced completion count from 3 to 2
Jerry Surprise (Build 5 Modified AT mines with British Forces Royal Engineers in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 3
Loudmouth (Kill 3 vehicles with US Forces Bazooka teams in a match) - reduced completion count from 3 to 1
Making Tracks (Deploy 5 US Forces M3 Half-tracks in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 1
Mechanized Support (Call-in 3 Afrikakorps Mechanized infantry or team weapon groups in a match) - reduced completion count from 3 to 2
Panzerarmee (Kill 5 vehicles with Afrikakorps panzers in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 1
Panzerkorps (Kill 5 vehicles with Wehrmacht panzers in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 1
Purple Heart Boxes (Kill 5 US Forces trucks or Half-tracks in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 1
SAW Upgrade 5 US Riflemen squads with additional BARs in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 4
Stonk (Kill 5 Afrikakorps infantry with any British Forces artillery in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 1
Stupafied (Kill 5 team weapons with the Wehrmacht SturmPanzer IV) - reduced completion count from 5 to 1
Supply Depots (Build 3 Resource Caches in a match) - reduced completion count from 3 to 2
Too Much 20mm (Upgrade 3 Afrikakorps Half-track carriers to the 250/9 autocannon variant in a match) - reduced completion count from 3 to 2
Transport Mess (Kill 3 British Forces CMP 15CWT trucks in a match) - reduced completion count from 3 to 1
Wooden Shoes (Build 5 Schu-Mine 42s with Afrikakorps Panzerpioneers in a match) - reduced completion count from 5 to 3

GAMEPLAY CHANGES AND BALANCE

Vehicle Mobility & Pathfinding

End of Movement

Added a new functionality for vehicles to end their movement order at a set distance before a blocker.

Infantry and Vehicle Blocking

Infantry units no longer ignore moving vehicles and try to path around them.

Front-Facing Movement Preference

Vehicles now use their original facing direction for most movement orders.

Formation Movement

Vehicles now adhere to their formation as expected when performing formation movements instead of converging to the same point.

Phasing Through Units

Vehicles are now allowed to phase through each other and through enemy vehicles that are moving, although they will still prefer to move around if possible.

Preference to not go around even if path is blocked

Vehicles will no longer go off the path while chasing enemies. This change was made to address unpredictable vehicle behavior when the vehicle path is blocked in chases.

Road Preference

To prevent vehicles from responding unpredictably and often veering to roads instead of taking the shortest route to the order location, road preference was turned off.

Turning

Vehicule turning has been improved to prevent them from pivoting on the spot or losing too much momentum while turning. This change is meant to improve responsiveness with vehicles, especially during flanks.

Changes to Vehicle Speed

All the vehicles in the game had their speed, acceleration and rotation rates adjusted. This change helps improve the responsiveness of a number of vehicles and creates a differentiation between all vehicle classes.

US Forces

Vehicle	Speed	Rotation Rate	Acceleration	Deceleration
4x4 Truck	9.75	70	8.75	10
M29 Weasel	8	65	5.5	7
M3 Armored Personal Carrier	7.2	50	2.5	5
M16 Quad Half-track	6.9	50	2.5	5
M3 75mm gun Motor Carriage	6.9	50	2.5	5
M8 Greyhound Armored Car	6.75	50	4.5	6
M24 Chaffee Light Tank	6.5	40	3.5	5.5
M8 Scott SPG	6.75	40	3.5	4.5
M31 Recovery Vehicle	6	45	3	5
M4A1 Sherman Medium Tank	5.5	35	2.3	4
M4A3 Sherman Bulldozer	5.5	34	2.3	4
M4A3 Sherman Easy 8	5.75	36	2.5	4
M18 Hellcat	6.6	38	3.5	4.5

Wehrmacht

Vehicle	Speed	Rotation Rate	Acceleration	Deceleration
Kettenkrad	10.5	85	8.5	10
221 Armored Car	8.4	50	6	7
251 Half-tracks and variants	7.2	50	2.5	4
Marder III M	4.6	28	2.25	4
StugG II G & StugG III D	5	28	2.25	4
Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind	5.75	35	2.3	3.5
Panzer IV	5.25	32	2	3
Panzer IV Command Tank	5.5	34	2.5	3
Brummbar	4.25	28	1.9	3.25
Wespe SPG	5.4	30	2	3.5
Panther Heavy Tank	5.2	34	1.8	4
Tiger Heavy Tank	3.8	25	1.5	2

British Forces

Vehicle	Speed	Rotation	Acceleration	Deceleration
Dingo Scout Car	8.5	60	7	8
CMP 15CWT Truck and variants	7.5	55	3	5.5
Humber Armored Car	8.1	50	5	7.1
Stuart Light Tank	6.5	45	3.75	4.5
Crusader AA Tank	6.5	35	3.5	4.4
Bishop SPG	5.2	30	1.8	3.1
Crusader II & III	6.7	38	3.75	4.8
Centaur	6.3	35	3	4
M3 Grand Medium Tank	5	28	2.1	4
Matilda Heavy Tank	3.85	22	1.75	2
Churchill Heavy Tank	3.5	25	1.5	2
Churchill Black Prince Heavy Tank	3	25	1.5	1.5

Deutches Afrikakorps*

Vehicle	Speed	Rotation Rate	Acceleration	Deceleration
Kradschutzen Motorcycle Team	11.5	75	10	12
250 Light Carrier & Mortar Variant	7.35	75	4.5	7.5
250/9 Halftrack (2cm autocannon)	7.6	75	4.5	7.5
Flakvierling halftrack	6.9	50	3.25	7.5
2.5 Tonne Trust & Medical Variant	7.4	55	3.25	6
L6/70 Light Tank	7.5	50	4.25	7
8 Rad Armored Car	6.75	50	4	5.5
Marder III	4.6	28	2.25	4
254 Reconnaissance Tractor	6.8	40	2.6	4
Famo Recovery Halftrack	6.3	50	3.5	7
M13/40 Light Tank	6.6	35	3	5
Semovente 75/18 Assault Gun	6.5	35	3	5
Panzer III & variants	6.25	40	3	4.5

*Refer to Wehrmacht for the unit speed for the StuG IIIs, Tiger, and Panzer IVs

Event Cues

All event cues have received an Art pass and will now look more cohesive with one another.
Event cues have been further adjusted to reduce how often they appear on the player’s screen.

End of Match Results

Damage Dealt and Damage Taken stats no longer include environmental damage or friendly fire.
Kill stats such as Soldiers Killed and Vehicles Killed no longer include friendly fire.
Squads Lost stat at the end of the match now shows the correct number.
Unit Efficiency fixed and changed from percentage to a ratio Efficiency Factor.

Minimap & Tactical Map

The animation for out-of-supply sectors has been updated to be in line with previous Company of Heroes games, flashing between two different tones of blue (or red for enemy territories).
Territory lines will no longer disappear in out-of-supply sectors.

Modding

To ease the work of modders who might want to approach the tuning of flight and off-map systems for the first time, we have created archetype abilities in the Attribute Editor to look at and use as an inspiration source, full of detailed comments on how to correctly set them up.

Off-Map Abilities - Multiplayer

The intent of the changes to off-map abilities is to deliver a more robust, reliable and responsive system, while also improving the experience by providing more tells from both a visual and audio standpoint.

Off-Map Audio

Added projectile sounds to off-map abilities that vary with the type of ability.

Flares

Both off-map and flight abilities will now use an expanded set of flares, which will indicate the danger level of an ability.
Added yellow-colored flares for low threat abilities like unit mortar barrages abilities. Added orange-colored flares for medium threat abilities like strafing runs and standard off-map abilities with medium caliber weapons. The existing red-colored flares will now announce heavy threat abilities, like bombing, rocket runs, loiters and high caliber off-map abilities.
The green-colored flares will be kept for paradrop related abilities.

Sector Off-Maps

Added sector highlight on both the minimap and tactical map that will inform players which territories are being covered by a sector ability. Sector abilities used by the player or allies will highlight the affected territories in yellow, those from opponents will turn them orange.

Ability Reticles

Adjusted various reticles for abilities to match the effective radius or the ability type.

Ground Deformation

Off-map ability projectiles now do ground deformation damage.

US Forces

Special Operations Battlegroup

Raiding Flares

Considerably reduced the ability delay.
The ability will now correctly spawn a flare on the highlighted territories.

Wehrmacht

Breakthrough Battlegroup

Zeroing Artillery Barrage

Shells will initially drop more scattered and in fewer number, increasing in number and accuracy over time.

British Forces

Indian Artillery Battlegroup

Off-Map Airburst Barrage

Adjusted ability to be significantly more reliable.
Reduced the ability effectiveness against neutral buildings

Perimeter Monitor

Perimeter Monitor will feature three separate artillery that will individually target any visible unit with heavy artillery, followed by a delay before new targets are acquired.
Perimeter Monitor now shows area of effect on the covered sectors for both the minimap and tactical map. Sectors affected will be yellow to the player team and orange to the enemies.

British Armored Battlegroup

Recon Artillery

Now usable anywhere on the map except on HQ areas.
Recon artillery airplane call-in now gives vision for artillery to be dropped on visible enemy units.
Ability will now end if the recon airplane gets destroyed.
Enemy units inside their HQ sectors will not be targeted by artillery, even if inside the ability area of effect.
Munitions cost reduced from 180 to 150.
Plane health increased from 240 to 640.

British Air and Sea Battlegroup

Assault Flares

Frontline sectors will be highlighted on the minimap and tactical map, and recon flares will be dropped to provide vision of the area.
Rate of fire bonuses decreased from +50% to +25%

Naval Bombardment

Ability reworked to be significantly more lethal and reliable.
Cost increased from 200 to 225
Heavily increased the number of projectiles fired.
Near AOE damage distance decreased from 4 to 2
Reduced damage from 440 to 280

Deutsches Afrikakorps

Italian Infantry Battlegroup

Propaganda War

Ability will now correctly work only on squads capable of retreating.
Slightly reduced the delay after which units are retreated.

Obice 305mm Barrage

Ability reworked to be significantly more reliable.

Registered Artillery

Ability can now be cast on player owned Victory Points independently by the owner of the resource sector on which they are located.
Shells will initially drop more scattered and in fewer number, increasing in number and accuracy over time.
Updated projectiles Area of Effect profile to be more effective.

Italian Combined Arms Battlegroup

Artillery Cover

Enemy units inside their HQ sectors will not be targeted by artillery, even if inside the ability area of effect.
Radius increased considerably.
The ability will feature three separate artillery that will individually target any visible infantry, team weapon and vehicle, dropping flares before each barrage.
When the ability is used, it will now highlight the covered area and start looking for possible enemy targets.

Team Weapons

Aim while on reload/cooldown cycles

Team weapons can now move the barrel to acquire a new target while the reload or cooldown phases of the team weapon are happening. They will no longer wait for these phases to be completed before acquiring a new target.

Idle state

Team weapons are now able to track and start the setup process much better when the weapon is not set up and an enemy moves into range. Previously it was possible that the team weapon would indefinitely try to follow the center of a squad as it moved.

Prioritization

Team weapons now only start to teardown if ALL entities of the targeted enemy squad are out of the arc of fire. Previously it was possible that entities from the enemy squad were still targetable, but the team weapon chose to teardown

Teardown

Team weapons now teardown much faster. Barrels now snap to the center quicker to allow the team weapon to start the teardown process. This makes team weapons more responsive.

Turn in place range

Team weapons now have a range around them at which giving a re-face order won't make them move to the location. Most of the time, when doing a proximity click near a team weapon with a re-face order, the intent of the player is to pivot and not move, which adds extra delay.

Unit Selection

Increased the selection boxes for infantry. This will help when selecting infantry, both the player’s and the opponent’s.
Retreating units no longer remain selected or selectable.
When re-selecting units, the game will now reset any previously opened menus such as construction.

FACTIONS & ABILITY CHANGES

Auto-Reverse

Anti-tank guns and all vehicles

Auto-reverse range is now reduced to 40 from 60.

Camouflage Ambush Bonuses

All infantry squads now use the same camouflage ambush bonus. +40% accuracy and +25% damage for 5 seconds when firing from camouflage.

Casemate Tank Destroyers

Marders, StuG IIIs, Brummbars, Semovente, 75mm Halftrack Gun Motor Carriage

Casemates will now center themselves when a target is outside its arc.
Casemates gun now tracks their target without moving their hull.
Casemates guns now traverse, target and fire within their arc without needing to be perfectly centered.

Cover Combat

The range where small-arms weapons ignore cover is increased from 7 to 10 meters

Hazard Removal Package

US Forces, British Forces, and Wehrmacht

Hazard Removal Package is now standardized across the board for all factions to increase the repair rate by 2.5 for a total of 10 health per second when repairing.

Heavy Howitzers/Artillery

BL 5.5 Inch, Cannone da 105

Barrage recharge times from 60 to 45.

Infantry-Based Timed and Passive Healing Abilities

Squad based timed combat abilities such as sprints and passive squad healing abilities are now disabled when the unit is retreating.

Medium Anti-Tank Guns

M1, 6-Pounder, Pak 40, Pak 38

Increased the pack-up time from 1.3 to 1.75 seconds. However, anti-tank guns are now more responsive.

Medium Artillery
Pack Howitzer, 4.2-Inch Mortar, Le.IG 18

Barrage recharge times from 30 to 20.

Projectiles

Direct-fire projectiles such as direct-fire tank guns, anti-tank guns, autocannons, and flamethrowers were reviewed. These changes will increase the reliability of vehicles when firing over low obstacles and prevent exploits when firing through objects.

All projectiles will immediately collide with obstacles when they miss their target and roll scatter.
Projectiles will now use 3D paths to their targets. This prevents them from auto-colliding with low obstacles in their way such as mines and walls if the shooter would normally be able to fire over the obstacle.

Recon Loiters

Airborne Recon Loiter plane health increased from 240 to 480.
Recon Artillery plane health increased from 240 to 640.

Repairs

Repair abilities will now have increased speed when they are affected by modifiers. Bonuses will stack to grant faster repair speeds.

Suppression

Units that are suppressed now take a +33% penalty to weapon scatter on missed hits. This change is meant to increase the chance of weapons such as grenade launchers no longer landing directly on their target when the unit wielding it is suppressed.

Uncrewed Machine Guns and Mortars

Target size increased from 1 to 20 to facilitate force-attacks on de-crewed weapons.

Snipers

Build time decreased from 50 to 40 seconds.

US Forces

US Forces has been powerful in 1v1 and weak in larger team modes. These changes will be toning down the Easy Eight while improving underperforming units like Elite Infantry and support units.

¼-ton 4x4 Truck

Lethality for mid to far range increased by 10%

Air Support Center

Damaged aircraft no longer increases the recharge time of Air Support Center abilities.
Double Sortie fuel cost decreased from 50 to 40.
P-47 Dive bomb cost decreased from 90 to 70 munitions.
P-47 Dive Bombs now deal +50% bonus damage to vehicles.
P-47 Strafing Run cost decreased from 60 to 50 munitions.

Bazooka Team

Bazookas reload and wind down adjusted for a rate of fire increase from 4.75/5.5 to 4.25/4.75 seconds.
Health increased from 90 to 95.

Captain Retinue

Now gains Shared Veterancy.
Off-Map mortar barrage can now be used when suppressed.

Engineers

Engineer health increased from 80 to 85. This change does not impact health when upgraded to Assault Engineers.

M1 81mm Mortar

The Delayed Fuse ability is primarily meant to demolish emplacement bunkers. However, its current power allows it to devastate team weapons when abilities such as Airburst are meant to be the premiere anti-infantry ability of the mortar.

Area of effect damage distances significantly reduced from 1/1.5/5 to 0/0.5/5.
Delayed fuse mid-range damage reduced from 33% to 25%.
Delayed fuse radius increased from 4 to 5 (to better match the effect).
Delayed Fuse Shells cooldown between shots increased from 0.75 to 1.5 seconds.
Delayed Fuse Timer from 1.25 to 3 and now properly displays a timer.

M1919 Machine Gun Team

Manpower cost reduced from 240 to 220; does not affect the Airborne variant.

M29 Weasel

Machine guns can no longer target aircraft.

M3 75mm Gun Motor Carriage

Direct-fire range increased from 45 to 50

M4A1 76mm Conversion Upgrade

Fuel cost reduced from 50 to 40 fuel.

M4A3 Sherman Bulldozer

Bunker-buster deals +100% bonus damage to emplacement.
Frontal Armor increased from 195 to 240.
Population decreased from 14 to 12.
Scatter angle decreased from 9 to 5.
Scatter distance scatter ratio decreased from 1 to 0.

Weapon Support Center

Cost decreased from 120 manpower and 15 fuel to 100 manpower and 10 fuel.

Armored Battlegroup

M4A3 Sherman Easy 8

The following change puts the Easy 8’s area of effect and accuracy on-par with the standard Sherman 76mm. This is meant to significantly reduce the E8’s power against infantry.

Accuracy increased from 0.075/0.0563/0.045 to 0.1/0.0563/0.047.
Area of effect mid-range decreased from 2 to 0.75.
Area of effect model limit decreased from 4 to 3.
Area of effect radius increased from 4 to 4.5.

M8 Scott

Auto-fire and barrage fire-aim time decreased from 1 to 0.5.
Fuel cost decreased from 50 to 45.

Special Operations Battlegroup

SSF Commandos

Bazooka reload and wind down adjusted for a rate of fire increase of 3.6/4.5 to 3.5/4 seconds.
Population decreased from 10 to 9.
SSF Commando health increased from 95 to 110.

Whizbang

Rockets per barrage increased from 10 to 15

Range increased from 70 to 80

Rocket area of effect mid-range distance increased from 1.5 to 2

Rocket area of effect far damage increased from 0.175 to 0.3

Rockets now deal 50% deflection damage

Airborne Battlegroup

Carpet Bombing Run

Now drops 2 additional bombs per bomber; bombs dropped now fill the entire reticule correctly.

HMG Paradrop

Manpower cost reduced from 240 to 220.
Recharge time increased from 30 to 75 seconds.

P-47 Rocket Strafe

Damage to buildings reduced by 75%.
Damaged against infantry reduced by 75%.
Delay before the 2nd plane attacks increased from 1 to 2.
Rocket count from 6 to 5.

Paratroopers

‘Cooked’ Frag Grenade fuse time decreased from 1.6 to 1.
Bazooka reload and wind down adjusted for a rate of fire increase of 3.6/4.5 to 3.5/4 seconds.
Carbine short-range lethality increased by 8%.
M1919A6 Light machine gun mid-far lethality increased by 15%.
Population decreased from 10 to 9.

Supply Drop

Cost decreased from 150 to 125 manpower.

Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht has been overperforming and these changes are meant to tone down overall performance. To promote a more diverse gameplay, some units that have been underused have been improved.

221 Armored Car

Machine gun mid-far lethality increased by 10%.
Sight increased from 35 to 45.

2cm Flak 38 AA Gun Team

Manpower cost decreased from 320 to 280.

Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind

Bonus damage to aircraft decreased from +50% to -25%.
Cost decreased from 360 manpower and 70 fuel to 320 manpower and 60 fuel.

Grenadier

MP40 Submachine gun mid-range lethality decreased by ~15%.
MP40 Submachine gun near lethality decreased by 5%.

Marder M III

Long-range accuracy from 0.045 to 0.04.
Long-range accuracy reduced by 12%.

MG 42

Suppression against suppressed targets from 0.5 to 0.35.
Suppression applied to other squads increased from 88% to 93%.

StuG III (All Variants)

Machine Gun burst length reduced by 15% at mid and far.
Machine Gun can no longer target aircraft.
Machine Gun far accuracy reduced from 45% to 33%.

StuG III G

Point-blank Blast area of effect limit decreased from 4 to 3.

Luftwaffe Battlegroup

Luftwaffe Strafing Run

Command Point cost decreased from 2 to 1.
Cost reduced from 75 to 50 munitions.

British Forces

The Training Center changes impacted the British Forces more than anticipated. To adjust, some core units are gaining increased performance and the Training Center will now be available from the start. We are planning to continue making further improvements to the British in the future.

17-pounder Anti-tank Gun

Weapon range increased from 70 to 80.

CWT 15CMP Truck

20mm AA gun cost reduced from 75 to 60 munitions.

Dingo Armored Car

Machine gun can no longer target aircraft.

Foot Guards

Bazooka reload and wind down adjusted for a rate of fire increase of 3.6/4.5 to 3.5/4 seconds.

Infantry Section

Bren Weapon lethality increased by 4-6%.
Lethality at all ranges increased by 3%.
Population decreased from 8 to 7.

Forward Observer Base Howitzer

Fog of War scatter increased from 1.25 to 2.5.
Ready-aim time reduced from 2 to 0.5.
Rotation rate increased from 25 to 45.
Scatter max decreased from 15 to 6.

M3 Stuart Light Tank

Self-repair ability speed increased from 0.66 to 1.2.
Stuart Utility package cost reduced from 60 to 40 munitions.

Training Center

Now immediately available at the start of the game and does not need to be purchased.
Training upgrade experience for infantry, team weapons, and light vehicles increased from 500 to 800.
Training upgrade experience for medium and heavy vehicles increased from 500 to 1250.

Vickers Heavy Machine Gun Team

Mid and far range lethality increased by 5/7.5%.

Air and Sea Battlegroup

Commandos

‘Cooked’ Mills Bomb fuse time decreased from 1.6 to 1.

Commando LMG Section

Now use unique Lee Enfields that have increased accuracy and damage over the standard Infantry Section at all ranges.
+31% increased lethality at short-range, +34% at mid-range, +20% at long-range.

Incendiary Carpet Bombing Run

Now drops 2 additional bombs per bomber; bombs dropped will now fill the entire reticule correctly.
Munitions cost increased from 110 to 150.

Naval Blockade

Command Point cost decreased from 2 to 1.

Supply Surplus

Now provides a 25% discount on built Resource caches to the player by Royal Engineers or those built directly on territory points.
Field Infirmaries cost decreased from 200 manpower to 150.

Deutsches Afrikakorps

The DAK is receiving adjustments to address key weaknesses in early game options. This is meant to open options for different styles of play.

8 Rad Armored Car

Scatter angle and Scatter max increased from 2 to 3.5.

250 Light Carrier

Cost decreases from 280 to 260.
Now gains shared veterancy.

Armored Reserves

Cost decreased from 200 manpower and 150 fuel to 100 manpower and 75 fuel.
Requires only the Panzerarmee Kommand to be purchased.
Tiger fuel cost increased from 180 fuel to 240 fuel.

Assault Grenadiers

Grenade Assault cost decreased from 45 to 35 munitions.

Combined Arms Ability

Now triggers on the 250-mortar half-track, 254 Reconnaissance Tractor, and the Walking Stuka Halftrack

Flak 36 Anti-Tank Gun Team

Fire-aim time increased from 0.125 to 1.
Ready-aim time from 0.125 to 0.25/5.
Reload time increased from 2.125 to 2.5/2.75.

Flakvierling Halftrack

Bonus damage to aircraft decreased from +50% to -25%.
Weapon range increased from 40 to 45.

Le.IG 18 Howitzer

Barrage recharge times decreased from 30 to 20.

Marder III

Long-range accuracy reduced by 12%.

Panzergrenadiers

Panzergrenadiers will now be more powerful without Combined Arms while retaining the same overall strength. This was to help address the significant difference in viability of the unit in small vs large games while still incentivizing Combined Arms play.

Base Lethality at mid and long-range increased by 10%.
Combined-Arms accuracy bonus decreased from +30% to +20%.
MG42 LMG accuracy increased by 10%.

StuG III (All Variants)

Machine gun burst length duration multiplier from 1/0.95/0.7 to 1/0.8/0.6.
Machine gun can no longer target aircraft.
Machine gun far accuracy from 45% to 33%.

Tiger

S-Mines Launcher now deals significantly less damage to infantry but now will suppress and pin them.

Walking Stuka Rocket Launcher

Rockets now deal 40% deflection damage.

Italian Infantry Battlegroup

Booby Traps

Increased health on the booby trap from 20 to 140.
Now uses the demo charge model.

Guastatori

Reinforcement cost from 40 to 35.
SMG moving burst increased from 35% to 100%.

Italian Combined Arms Battlegroup

Semovente 75/18 Assault Gun

Barrage recharge time decreased from 90 to 45 seconds.
Barrage reload decreased from 3.5/4 to 3 seconds.
Ready-aim delay on HEAT Shell ability removed.

Strafing Run

Bonus damage to vehicles decreased from +225% to +200%.
Damage increased from 10 to 15.

Armored Support Battlegroup

Vehicle Awareness

Command Point cost increased from 1 to 2.

BUGFIXES

Fixed a low chance for the game to crash while hovering over the minimap icon of a squad that is currently in combat.
Fixed a memory leak in the reflection system that resulted in the leaking of speech data. Players should see a more stable experience match over match.
Fixed a synchronization issue in the replay launch argument where if the teams were uneven or there were unused slots in the match, errors could occur - units not spawning from production buildings or friendly teams showing as enemy.

Audio

Added Barb Wire cut sounds effects.
Added Naval Blockade siren sounds effects.
Added Propaganda bomb sound effects.
Added sound effects to Custom Game context menus.
Fixed Navy Bombardment sounds effects to adjust with volume settings.
Updated audio treatment for the War Cry ability; the sound effect can now be heard by all factions when active.

Art/Animation

Large explosions are now more likely to rend infantry and small explosions are more likely to create ragdolls.
Churchill Black Prince's right-side treads are now playing the correct animation.
Deutsches Afrikakorps Tank Traps now use the same model and stats as the Wehrmacht version.
Five pounder crew no longer t-poses when aiming at extreme angles.
Fixed an animation issue when infantry entered the Deutsches Afrikakorps 2.5-Tonne Medical Truck.
Fixed an issue where the infantry were incorrectly positioned inside the Deutsches Afrikakorps 250 Light Carrier.
Fixed numerous issues with floating objects when destroyed.
Fixed the Wehrmacht Command Panzer IV coaxial Machine Gun visual effects not being hooked up correctly.
Heavy Mortar Teams animations now sync up to the barrage timing.
Improved Half-track animations and soldier positioning.
Improved idle and driving poses on the Kettenkrad crew.
Improved missing terrain details.
Improved the visibility of visual effects when points are captured.
Increased Tanks/Vehicles particle visual effects when an engine is critically hit.
Reduced camera clipping through the terrain on several maps.
Reduced cloud density to improve visuals on the Foggia map.
Resource cache improvements now properly play construction animation.
Corrected some of the wrong pintle mounted weapons.
The pivot animations of loader and gunner are now matching the tracking fire angle.
US Hellcat tarps will now match their cosmetic themes.
Weapons will no longer float when the unit is hit by explosive type weapons.

Dynamic Italian Campaign

Adjusted firing cone range of campaign map howitzer emplacements to better match the ranges of its bombardment ability.
Commander XP is now correctly awarded for off-map abilities.
Consistency work done on all Campaign Company's active ability icons/titles/descriptions in the RTS to better match what was described in the Company unlock page.
Enabled the ability to save during our Gela tutorial so players can take additional time to complete it without being reset.
Fixed a camera issue in the intro mission Gela where the camera could get locked at one of the map borders.
Fixed a rare issue on the campaign map where transport ships could complete the “Assist the damaged destroyer” objective.
Fixed an issue that made it difficult to click on some of the towns in the Italian Dynamic Campaign.
Fixed an issue to prevent emplacements on the campaign map from shooting through mountains.
Fixed an issue where British Armored Company Crusader AA tanks would not benefit from suppression when upgraded with the 'Rapid-Fire' campaign ability.
Fixed an issue where saves sometimes failed to load if the save was made while the American recon aircraft ability was in use.
Fixed an issue where the “Repair damaged equipment” objective would be completed during the enemy turn.
Fixed an issue where the sniper could use their Medkit ability when uninjured.
Fixed an issue where the US Airborne and Spec Ops support ability passives were selectable in the campaign.
Fixed Assassinate Baumann target being killable without completing the mission.
Fixed attack and load commands not working correctly when issued from a company that was already within another city/town. Units automatically unload from the city and go to attack the enemy.
Fixed British Forces owned capture points flying the Wehrmacht flag instead of the British Forces flag in Italy.
Fixed detachments dying the moment they are purchased if they were purchased while inside the enemy's emplacement cone of fire.
Fixed excessive fog in the Italian Dynamic Campaign when the camera zooms out while paused.
Fixed Partisan capture ability not removing capture resistance pip when used on capture point with just 1 pip while having Valenti Local Relations upgrade.
Fixed Partisan Explosives ability not dealing any damage.
Fixed stance change being available while having no action points.
Fixed the US Airborne company in the campaign being able to requisition the M3 Armored Car before unlocking it.
In the Gela tutorial mission, the retreat command for the first objective should no longer fail.
Save & Load is now accessible in the Gela & Calabria prologue to the Italy Campaign.
Standardized tooltip description and help text for the Company support ability passives.
Updating consistency for the Italian campaign map and the Italian campaign map tutorial objective transitions. Voice over and banners now follow a predictable pattern.
Updating consistency for the tutorial mission objective transitions. Voice over and banners now follow a predictable pattern.

North African Operation

Improvements in convoy movement and behavior in the Desert Village Ambush mission.

Gameplay

Adjusted collisions so buildings cannot be built too close to rocks.
Adjusted resource points and Heavy Machine Gun Base Bunkers on skirmish maps so that units capturing the point do not get shot at.
Airborne Company Heavy Machine Gun Paradrop ability can now be used in the Fog of War.
Brummbar sight decreased from 50 to 35 as intended.
Certain variants of the CWT truck no longer fall through bridges as if the bridges weren't there.
Cleared rubble from various building entrances on (6) Mignano Summit to enable better access and reduce pathfinding issues.
CMP 15cwt Anti-Air Trucks can now Prioritize Aircraft.
Evaluated Italian buildings to ensure they hold an appropriate number of squads.
Fixed ability cancellation timing exploit that allowed the first shot of an ability to still go off, even after both the ability cost and recharge have been refunded.
Fixed an issue where Deutsches Afrikakorps reinforcing the 88 used a different crew rather than those found upon the unit spawning.
Fixed an issue where 2.5-tonne Utility Trucks did not have a veterancy ability; they now use the Field Supplies ability found on the medical variant.
Fixed an issue where builder units would run on the spot and not complete construction.
Fixed an issue where cancelling the Destroy Obstacles ability would cause the ability to go on cooldown.
Fixed an issue where certain units could cause their primary weapon to permanently swap to a barrage weapon.
Fixed an issue where Engineers that were affected by the Assault Engineer upgrade would not get extra health.
Fixed an issue where Panzerjager Squads did not have the Prioritize Vehicle ability.
Fixed an issue where paratroops would freeze in midair when reacting to explosions.
Fixed an issue where Pioneers did not get their construction bouses from veterancy.
Fixed an issue where Precision Shot and Precision Barrage were affected by Indian Artillery's Artillery Saturation ability.
Fixed an issue where Sherman Dozer Delayed Fuze did not have a delay before detonating.
Fixed an issue where Smoke Canisters on the Stuka could trigger the cooldown on the unit's barrages.
Fixed an issue where specific non-garrisonable structures stated they could be garrisoned.
Fixed an issue where Stosstruppen Shock Assault bonuses did not stack with other modifiers such as veterancy.
Fixed an issue where team weapons could get destroyed when receiving explosive damage in a structure.
Fixed an issue where the Deutsches Afrikakorps Flak 88 could only be reinforced up to a maximum of 4 models rather than 6 after being recrewed.
Fixed an issue where the 254 Reconnaissance Tractor was not affected by Emergency Repair Kits.
Fixed an issue where the Bazooka team's White Phosphorous rocket would refund its cost.
Fixed an issue where the M1 Anti-Tank Gun and Pak 38 needed to accelerate and decelerate like a vehicle.
Fixed an issue where the Mortar Half-tracks Smoke Barrage and Self-Repair abilities overlapped.
Fixed an issue where the Pathfinder Icon was used on the Recon Group for the M8 Scott's upgrade path, not the Scout Icon.
Fixed an issue where the Received Accuracy bonus from the Training Center would not apply to reinforced infantry entities.
Fixed an issue where the Scout Squad's utility package used a different icon in the build queue.
Fixed an issue where the Semovente HEAT Shell could create an invisible smoke cloud.
Fixed an issue where the StuG D could not rotate when using the Firing Positions ability.
Fixed an issue where the White Phosphorous Rocket could instantly destroy destructible objects like bridges.
Fixed an issue where there was no requirement text for paradrop abilities when attempting to paradrop units over unsuitable terrain.
Fixed an issue where there was no UI reticle when deploying M31 Recovery Vehicles or the Mechanized Assault Group from the German Breakthrough Battlegroup.
Fixed an issue where units cannot vault after picking up a team weapon.
Fixed an issue which allowed mortar barrage abilities to be used while pinned.
Fixed collision on wooden fences to prevent units from clipping through them.
Fixed inconsistent setup time for mortar crews.
Fixed an issue that would cause mortar crews to sometimes get stuck on setup.
Fixed player not losing the capture point when choosing to retreat from the battle.
Grenadier Med Kit regeneration set to restore 8 HP per second for 10 seconds during its duration.
Guastatori can now build resource caches.
Hellcat now uses a direct-fire line rather than an arcing projectile.
Improved pathfinding to allow infantry units to use the stairs behind hospitals.
Increased speed of Stuka bomb, fixed lingering bomb visual effects trail, and increased ground crater.
Improved the A.I.'s early game capture point order when on a team. Bugs were causing the A.I. to excessively prioritize VPs and fuel at the start of the game, these have been fixed.
The A.I.'s preference for capture points that are closer to its base than its teammates' bases has been increased.
Fixed an issue where the A.I. would sometimes send 2 squads to capture a single safe neutral point early in the game. They will now only send 1 squad for safe early game captures.
Issuing multiple repair commands on the same target will no longer restart the repair.
M1 Anti-Tank Gun Focused Sight ability now has a 10 second delay between toggling the ability on and off.
M3 Grant Medium Tank Prioritize Vehicle ability now functions correctly.
Pack Howitzer smoke barrage no longer shares a cooldown with other barrages.
Semovente now properly gains reload bonuses for veterancy.
Smoke clouds deployed by a player no longer trigger mines.
Team weapons no longer tear down when pinned.
Text for the Crusader's Heroic Charge is now standardized between when the ability is triggered and it's passive.
The Deutsches Afrikakorps's Flak 88 Truck and the British 17 Pounder trucks give consistent population that matches their cost, once acquiring and upon death.
The A.I. is no longer capable of ignoring the boundary lines of the skirmish map to move their units outside of the playable space.
Units should no longer get stuck when retreating from Passenger Train Cars.
Units should now be easier to select with and without box selection.
Updated HQ bunkers to prevent enemy access without drawing fire.
Using Smoke canisters while Point-blank ability is active shouldn't result in infinite grenades anymore.

UI/UX

A buff indicator will now appear over the 3-Inch Mortar team when the Zero-In veterancy ability is triggered.
Assault Package for the Grenadiers now uses the correct icon when it is in the upgrade queue.
Controls profile text now properly aligns in all languages.
Fixed a naming issue with the Paratrooper Grenade ability.
Fixed a ping message visual effect for friendly players.
Fixed a tool-tip issue where the text 'NOT' would appear when attempting to build base structures too close to other buildings.
Fixed a UI issue where several British tanks did not have portraits or UI when selected during the Desert Raid Mission.
Fixed a UI issue with the Panzer Armee auto-build ability.
Fixed an issue where the Deutsches Afrikakorps passive Self-Repair used a healing icon rather than a repair icon.
Fixed an issue where ability requirement text is sometimes blank.
Fixed an issue where Airborne Spirit displayed the wrong buff icon.
Fixed an issue where British Heavy Machine Guns and Mortars showed the incorrect mini-map icon.
Fixed an issue where the Flak emplacement did not display the text for veterancy awards.
Fixed an issue where the Guastatori Demo Charge displayed a placeholder image when selected.
Fixed an issue where the M29 Weasel with Towed 57mm Anti-tank call-in tooltip was incorrect and stated the weapon was unmanned.
Fixed an issue where the Recovery Half-track's Salvage and Rapid Advance ability icons overlapped.
Fixed an issue where the Stuart Ace was missing its portrait in the victory splash screen.
Fixed an issue where the Stuart's Mark target displayed double requirements.
Fixed an issue where Wehrmacht team weapons had incorrect portraits and text when de-crewed.
Fixed missing and inconsistent key names in View and Remap Controls tab.
Fixed Refresh button in Browse Custom Games Lobby.
Fixed the missing portrait on the 25-Pounder.
Improved the Command Tanks coordinate ability tooltip.
Improved the majority of in-game tips to correct the disparity between functionality and ability. Tooltips now also provide greater clarity across the board.
Improved unit production prerequisites not being properly displayed/communicated.
Made the Exclusive Control Groups setting enabled by default.
Self-Repair and Smoke barrage on the 250 Mortar Half-track no longer overlap with each other.
The mouse cursor will now show the build icon when placing a new construction or hovering over a partly built construction.
Updated the design for the team-weapon set-up bar.
Updated visual style of action bars that appear on the decorator.
Players can now toggle the tab navigation on and off from the Settings screen's Accessibility's General section.

Emerald Bear - 1.2.1 Update

The 1.2.1 hot fix focuses on fixing high-rate crashes and problematic gameplay issues. Our team is currently investigating a performance issue that has been reported by players and we hope to be able to share some news on this topic soon. We are closely monitoring several gameplay issues which you can find on our updated PC Known Issues list.

Fixed an issue with smoke abilities on vehicles.
Fixed top 3 high-rate crashes.
Player Profile web leaderboard links now link to the populated leaderboards.
Adjusted Player Profile resolution size so it fits in the screen for all game resolutions.
Cosmetics for the Deutsches Afrikakorps Panzerpioneer Squad will now be equipped on all unit models.
Moved build number from the main menu to the settings menu.
Removed the Pachino Stalemate Test map from custom matches.
Added missing localization for Benghazi and Monte Cavo maps.
Added localization for certain tabs in the end game screen.
Added localization for Player Profile tooltip.

Emerald Bear - 1.2.2 Update

This hotfix focuses on improving performance issues and FPS drops as well as fixing gameplay bugs and balance. You can also find the issues we are tracking and looking to resolve in the Known Issues list.

Fixed an issue resulting in FPS losses for some players caused by a bug in how the game is loading/rendering terrain.
Fixed an issue preventing players from buying certain team weapons (Flak 36, 17 pounders) despite having enough resources.
Fixed an exploit allowing players to indefinitely use some bombardment abilities.
Fixed a lighting issue on Monte Cavo 4v4 map that caused certain vehicle cosmetics to glow.
American Paradropped units now benefit from Infantry Support Center upgrades.
Player's rating will be displayed only after all stats have been loaded.
Added localization for Player profile tooltip.

Balance fixes to Air Support Center

P47 Air Support Center Strafing Run damage per shot reduced from 30 to 20
P-47 Air Support Strafing Run Delay from 0 to 2
P-47 Air Support Strafing Run area of effect can no longer miss in certain circumstances
P-47 Air rate of Fire reduced decreased from 20 to 16
P-47 Strafing Run munition cost increased from 50 to 60
Air Supply munitions cost reduction reduced from -33% to -20 munitions; applies to P-47 Dive Bomb and Strafing Run
Air Supremacy cooldown bonus reduced from -50% to -30 seconds flat; applies to P-47 Strafing Run and Dive Bomb

Emerald Bear Balance Tuning - 1.2.3 Update

Moving forward, our team will be releasing a smaller and more focused tuning update after every major PC release. Today’s update (1.2.3) will address some outstanding issues from the release of Emerald Bear (1.2.0) and make some tuning adjustments to multiplayer balance. You can find more information on our new update cadence for PC in our 2023 PC Roadmap releasing soon.

GENERAL

Unit Selection

Improved selection priority of infantry, vehicles, weapons, supply crates and sectors to ensure controlling and selecting things in-game feels better.

FACTION BALANCE

General

3-Inch Mortar Team

Shells per HE barrage increased from 4 to 6
Shells per HE barrage with Artillery Saturation increased from 7 to 8

Aircraft

Strafe plane health reduced from 280 to 240.
High-Altitude bomber plane health increased from 280 to 480.

Anti-Air – Wirbelwind, M16 Quad Half-track, Flakvierling

Range bonus increased from x6 to x7.5.

Autocannons – 8 Rad, 250/9 20mm, Crusader AA

Rate of fire reduced by 0.125 seconds; adjusts back to pre-1.2.0 update status.

Bishop Self-propelled Gun

Barrage projectiles now ignores collisions up to 75% during its flight due to the Bishop’s low angle of fire.
Now fires low angle shells to match the maximum elevation of its weapon.

CWT 15CMP Anti-Air truck

Accuracy reduced from 0.8/0.625/0.6 to 0.6/0.5/0.4
Area of effect damage set to 5.675 damage with no drop-off.
Area of effect now capped to 2 models.
Horizontal traverse speed reduced from 160 to 100.
Reload time increased from 1 to 2 seconds.
Scatter ratio and offset reduced from 0.85/0.65 to 0.35/0.25
Scatter reduced from 10 to 6.5
Weapon cooldown reduced from 0.25 to 0.125 seconds.

Reveal Area

Direct-fire units firing from the fog of war will no longer reveal the terrain they are on. This prevents these units from being targeted by certain off-map abilities.

Strafing Runs – P47, JU-87s

Suppression will now only be applied to units hit by the area of effect damage and not spread to units outside its radius.

Vickers Heavy Machine Gun Team

Focused Gunnery accuracy increased from 0.7/0.55/0.45 to 0.9/0.825/0.8
Focused Gunnery Suppression reduced from 0.009 to 0.005

M3 Stuart

Penetration reduced from 120/100/80 to 80/65/50
Reconnaissance Scan
Changed from a timed ability to a toggle ability.
Remains active when the vehicle is moving.
Movement speed reduced by 50% and disables weapons when active.

M3 Grant

Coaxial machine gun now properly tracks targets.

WEHRMACHT

221 Armored Car

20mm Panzerbusche now deals very limited area of effect damage; primarily to detonate objects like mines.
The 221 Scout Car's White Phosphorus Round ability no longer overlaps with its Scout Awareness ability
White Phosphorus Round is now available without veterancy for the Panzerbusche variant.

Breakthrough Incendiary Bombing Run

Munitions cost reduced from 120 to 100.
Now arrives sooner and drops its bombs off sooner; it now takes 8-9 seconds for bombs to impact the target area.

Flak 36 Anti-tank Emplacement

Health increased from 800 to 1040.

Kettenkrad Reconnaissance Vehicle

Reconnaissance Scan changed from a timed ability to a toggle ability that remains active when moving.
Speed reduced by 50%.

Luftwaffe Strafing Run

Recharge time increased from 60 to 90 seconds

Luftwaffe Fragmentation Bombs

Recharge time increased from 60 to 120 seconds

Stosstruppen

StG 44 Assault Rifle accuracy increase from 0.59/0.47/0.29 to 0.72/0.55/0.4
StG 44 burst duration increase from 1.25/0.75/0.25 to 1.25/1/0.45
StG 44 cost decreased from 75 to 50 munition.

Wehrmacht 8Rad

Signal Detection range reduced from 90 to 60.

Wespe Self-propelled Gun

Barrage ready-aim time from 2 to 0.125
Cost reduced from 400 manpower and 80 fuel to 320 manpower and 60 fuel.
Creeping Barrage range changed from 150 to 180; matches standard barrages.
Creeping Barrage recharge time from 70 to 55.
Fixed several issues where the Creeping Barrage damage was different from the regular barrage.

US FORCES

Chaffee

Penetration reduced from 180/125/100 to 180/110/80.

Engineer Light it Up Veterancy ability

Area increased from 5 to 6.
Flamethrower damage increased from 5 to 8.
No longer has a cooldown between bursts.

M31 US Recovery Vehicle

Fuel cost reduced from 45 to 30.
Will now self-repair when out of combat.

Whizbang

Damage to emplacements reduced by 25%.
Range increased from 80 to 85.

DEUTSCHES AFRIKAKORPS

250/9 20mm Half-track

20mm autocannon accuracy increased by 33% (0.224/0.192/0.176 to 0.3/0.25/0.23)
Area of effect damage set to 4 damage with no drop-off.
Area of effect now capped to 2 models.
Coaxial machine gun accuracy reduced by 33% at all ranges (0.64/0.58/0.52 to 0.42/0.38/0.34)
Now deals area of effect damage in a radius of 1.25

Bersaglieri

Reinforcement cost reduced from 28 to 26.

Cannone da 105/28 Howitzer

Shells per barrage increased from 4 to 6.

Famo Recovery Vehicle

Fuel cost reduced from 40 to 30.

Panzerjeager Squad

Health increased from 85 to 90.
Reinforcement cost decreased from 28 to 26.

Armored Support Battlegroup

Vehicle Awareness
Range reduced from 160 to 60.

BUGFIXES

Fixed a high-rate crash occurring when models would ragdoll.

Art/Animation

Fixed an issue where the territory and map borders would flicker on the Ruins single player map.
Wall sections should no longer remain visible once destroyed.

Dynamic Italian Campaign

Fixed an issue where recovered Stuarts for the Americans did not have the correct tint or voice lines.

Gameplay

Units with no AA capabilities no longer acquire airplanes as targets.
Engineering units no longer take extra damage when repairing at Veterancy 3 as intended.
Fixed an issue where Compromise Armor did not properly apply to targets.
Fixed an issue where some Bombing Runs preview reticle was inaccurate.
Fixed an issue where the MG34 got a speed boost when using Fire Discipline ability.
Fixed a text error that stated certain munitions crates granted 60 munitions when they only granted 40.
Moved base bunkers to remove the ability to shoot resource points on some maps.
Burst fire weapons no longer interrupt the current burst if the target is out of fire-cone angles.
MG34 Fire Discipline and Vickers Plunging Fire abilities can now be used in garrisons.
Team Weapons and Emplacements will now grant shared experience to units that can receive it.
CWT 15CMP Anti-Air truck now properly deals area of effect damage in a radius of 3.
Fixed an issue where the 8 Rad, 250/9 Halftrack, and Crusader AA were firing their autocannons faster than intended.
Improved the hitbox of dropped weapons to make it easier to pick them up.
Adjusted selection box from 1 to 2.5 on the German LG40 Recoilless Gun.
Fixed the LG40 Recoilless Gun to properly camouflage when its Veterancy 1 ability is used.
Removed the wrong decorator from the tactical map for the LG40.

UI/UX

Fixed an issue causing loss of functionality when pressing ESC during hotkey remapping.
Fixed an issue where LMG Commando Suppressing Fire ability did not display a UI icon when active.

Emerald Bear - 1.2.3A Update

This update is meant to unblock players that are unable to launch the game. Our team is working on another hotfix for next week.

Fixed an issue preventing the game from launching properly for players with an older Windows 10 version

Emerald Bear - 1.2.4 Update

Today's hot fix includes the release of AMD FSR support, fixes to several crashes and a small change to unit selection.

NEW FEATURE

AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution 2 (FSR)
AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 is a cutting-edge temporal upscaling algorithm that produces high resolution frames from lower resolution inputs.

CHANGES & FIXES

Improved support for older versions of Windows 10.
Fixed several crashes with DirectX 12
Adjusted the selection box from 1 to 3 on all faction's HMGs

Emerald Bear - 1.2.5 Update

This hot fix focuses on fixing select gameplay bugs. You can also find the issues we are tracking and looking to resolve in the Known Issues list.

Fixed an issue with burst weapons that allowed to continuously fire outside of range. However, if the burst fire started in range, the unit will keep firing until the initial burst is over but will not initiate another one if the target is outside of range. This affects any unit with burst fire such as:
Heavy Machine Guns
¼ -Ton 4x4 Truck
250 Light Carrier Halftrack
M29 Weasel
Flak Half-Track
Several Infantry Weapons
Modified the German MG42 Machine Gun Team White Phosphorous ability to have a mandatory reload animation when activated and at the end of its timer.
Fixed a glitch that caused Team Weapon's Reload ability to not animate when used back to back.
Modified the generic Team Weapon's reload ability to also force a reload animation, meaning that it will now interrupt a firing sequence, rather than simply queue the reload instruction.
Fallschirmpioneers and PanzerJagers can enter damaged vehicles

Umber Wasp - 1.3.0 Update

The Umber Wasp update (1.3.0) is focused on continued gameplay improvements and polish to pathfinding, and pings. This update also brings several quality-of-life improvements, such as a smaller icon size on the tactical map and a better flow for end-game stats. The balance changes will impact all factions, with some focus on the Deutsche Afrikakorps. Additionally, this update delivers a Newsfeed for players to access patch notes and news directly from the game’s main menu. We are also introducing one new 4v4 map with Sousse Wetlands and a reworked 1v1 map of Pachino Stalemate.

NEW CONTENT, FEATURES AND IMPROVEMENTS

New Map

Sousse Wetlands – 4v4

Added 4v4 Sousse Wetlands map to Automatch, Co-op vs A.I., Skirmish and Custom game modes.

Sousse Wetlands is a vast Tunisian map with three distinct locations:

The ancient walled city to the North
Featuring exciting urban combat and flanking routes galore

The wetlands and causeway
Featuring masses of foliage and water where combat is long-ranged, and maneuverability is key

The desert village to the South
Where cover can rapidly deteriorate, and defenders can easily be outflanked

Reworked Map

Pachino Stalemate – 1v1

Reworked 1v1 Pachino Stalemate map. This map is available in Automatch, Co-op vs A.I., Skirmish and Custom game modes.

A redesign of the existing 1vs1 map for all game modes, including:
Considerable changes to territory and accessibility
Large rock formations have been removed map-wide enabling better mid to late game pathfinding (which should open the map up as larger vehicles hit the field)
Updated cover around central resource points
Updated map textures to improve visibility around key areas
Updated atmosphere

Match stats

Quitting a match will no longer exit the Match Stats screen.
If a player gets disconnected from a match, they will now still be able to view the match stats.

GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENTS AND BALANCE

Pathfinding

Adjusted vehicle pathfinding to take more direct paths to the requested location.
Infantry will now do less pathing adjustments when friendly soldiers are in the way.
Infantry will no longer prefer to take paths with denser cover distribution, which has often led to unpredictable behaviours.
Infantry will now be able to path through allied infantry and team weapons. When traversing through blocking vehicles, infantry will now think they can path through, but will be physically stopped until the vehicles move out of the way for more predictable behavior.
Retreating infantry will no longer get stuck in place when pathing into vehicles, squads, and team weapons.
Team weapons (whether abandoned, set-up, or idle) will no longer be able to block chokepoints for allied units. The space under team weapons is now considered a pathing space.
Units executing attack orders will more consistently approach their target in a straight line.
Vehicles doing a Move order at longer distance will now follow a straight path opposed to following a path that is aligned with their orientation.
Vehicles will no longer be allowed to stop while phasing.

Pings

On map communication pings will now feature a new visual effect, that includes a uniquely colored tear drop effect lasting for 10 seconds.
New features for ping visibility
A colored light beam will appear on pings to improve visibility at distance and when used next to tall assets like high vegetation, trees and buildings.
Previous pings will be removed when a new ping of the same type is issued.
Each ping type will have a unique cursor when selected.
New animation effects on both minimap and tactical map have been added to drastically improve ping readability.

Ping cooldown

Introduced a cooldown period during ich a player can no longer issue pings, which is activated when a given player issues multiple pings in rapid succession.
When on cooldown, trying to use pings again will display a message in the chat visible to the player.
Continuously using pings when on cooldown will further increase the cooldown itself.

Map Updates

HQ Sector bunker positioning has been adjusted across various maps to prevent bunkers from unintentionally covering resource points, whilst also reducing the number of blind spots that might be exploited by the enemy player.
Many heavy-crush rock piles have been removed across Africa maps, including but not limited to Road to Tunis - 1v1 and Gazala Landing Ground - 3v3
Heavy-crush rock piles have been replaced in many cases by Sangars, which still provide heavy cover, but are less resilient to damage and are medium-crush

Taranto Coastline 1v1

Rebalancing of buildings near Victory Points.
Removal of several large rock outcrops to enable late-game crush to open the map.
Territory layout adjusted to be more appropriate for competitive gameplay.

Twin Beaches 1v1

Added an infantry-only “gitty” between Mount Bacon and the Northern beach
Adjusted the placement and number of rocks and tank traps on the Southern beach, to better improve vehicle flow and pathfinding
Minor adjustments to cover around Mount Bacon
Terrain adjusted to rebalance height gameplay around Mount Bacon

Campbell’s Convoy – 2v2

Readjusted cover placement along the central resource points, particularly around the most contested resources.

Catania Crossing 3v3

Returned the baby truck to its home, where it belongs.
Updated the two rail bridges to one double length bridge, reducing the number of bridges to destroy/repair in this area of the map from 4 to 2.

Mignano Summit – 3v3

Updated territory layout, reducing the number of high resource points and spreading their value more evenly across the map. This should reduce the chances of games ending too soon from dominating the central areas of the map.

Monte Cavo – 4v4

Updated camera mesh to make it adhere closer to the terrain, which will prevent the camera from elevating too high near rocky outcrops.
Updated atmosphere to transition into Dawn after around 30 minutes of gameplay.

Winter Line – 4v4

Updated cover placement around the central bunker complex.
Replaced a number of trenches with sangars, improving the pathfinding of tanks in these areas.

Tactical Map

Scaled down unit decorators, they now act as position icon.
Removed the Unit position icon (circle).

New Cosmetics

Eight new cosmetics will be released in October, with four releasing in each of the first two weeks.

British Forces

Mud Brown Foot Guards
Mud Brown Matilda II

US Forces

Sea Blue M18 Hellcat
Sea Blue Sniper

Wehrmacht

Dark Brown Brummbar
Dark Brown Nebelwerfer

Afrikakorps

Basalt Grey Stug III D
Basalt Grey Anti-Tank Gun Team

GENERAL BALANCE CHANGES

Accuracy Changes

We have standardized accuracy across the board for the various tank guns. We have noted that our tank guns were too accurate at maximum range. This resulted in situations where vehicles chasing at maximum range would often land their shots while on the move, more than intended, especially after the fix to projectiles that made it easier for scatter hits to avoid low obstacles.

76mm halftrack and 221 Panzerbüchse accuracy set 0.1/0.055/0.045
Anti-armor vehicle accuracy set to 1/0.05/0.04
Crusader II and III accuracy set to 0.1/0.05/0.04
General medium, heavy and light tank accuracy set to 0.075/0.0475/0.035
Hellcat, Marder III and variants accuracy set to 0.1/0.055/0.4
Sherman 76mm accuracy set to 0.1/0.05/0.04

Anti-Air

We have made significant changes to the balance of anti-air and airstrike abilities. In general, anti-air units will be significantly more effective at stopping airstrikes within their vicinity. Furthermore, anti-air can now engage planes beyond the protected border regions of the map, giving anti-air more time to respond.

Most mobile anti-air units have been standardized to output similar damage to aircraft. The following units have been changed:

CWT 15CMP AA Truck
Crusader AA
M16 Quad Halftrack
Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind
Flak 30 20mm AA Gun Team
Flakvierling Halftrack

Airstrike Abilities have also been separated into general classes of durability. The list below goes from least durable to most durable:

Strafing Runs (P-47 Strafing Run from the ASC, Luftwaffe Strafing Run)
Close-in/Dive Bombs (P-47 Dive Bomb from the ASC, Fragmentation Bombs)
Loiter (Hawker Typhoon Anti-tank loiter)
Reconnaissance versions of Strafing, Dive Bombs, and Loiters (Recon Artillery, P-47 Reconnaissance Loiter)
Heavy Bomber Runs (Carpet Bombing Run, Breakthrough Incendiary Bombing Run)

A single anti-air unit will be able to deny nearby Strafes, but multiple anti-air units are required to deny higher durability abilities. Two AA units will generally be able to lock down an area, while three will deny all but the Heavy Bomber Runs, which are designed to be largely unaffected by AA. Keep in mind this will have minor differences by map, direction of the airstrike, and when the anti-air unit faces its target.

These relationships only matter when the anti-air is covering a specific area. While anti-air can cover a significant area, they have been tuned that additional anti-air units are required to cover the larger 4 vs 4 maps. This is something we’ll keep an eye on and rebalance in the future as necessary, but the intended goal is that airstrikes should be counterable even in smaller game modes such as 1 vs 1, but not to the point they become irrelevant in larger game modes where players can more easily specialize into airstrikes or anti-air.
Notes:

Loiters are currently bugged, and are able to be shot down easier than intened. We hope to address this in a future patch.

Mortars

Wehrmacht, Deutsche Afrikakorps, British Forces Light Mortars

HE Barrage cooldown reduced from 0.75 to 0
HE Barrage reload rate standardized to US Forces mortar

Veterancy Adjustments

Anti-tank Gun veterancy requirements reduced from 1300/3900/7800 to 1000/3000/6000
Panzerpioneer and Royal Engineers veterancy requirements reduced from 800/2400/4800 to 700/2100/4200
Walking Stuka Half-track and Sherman Whizbang veterancy requirements reduced from 1950/5850/11700 to 1500/4500/900

Sniper Units

Camouflage when leaving cover increased from 1 to 4 seconds.
Sight range increased from 35 to 40.

FACTIONS & ABILITY BALANCE CHANGES

US FORCES

USF continues to perform well, however, we have noted a number of overperforming units and abilities that made it difficult for the opposing player to counter or deal with. We are weakening certain abilities such as Pour it on ‘Em, the Sherman Easy E8 call-in, the M8 Scott’s White Phosphorous shells, and the offensive capabilities of the Air Support Center.

4x4 Truck

Frontal armor decreased from 5 to 4.
Moving weapon burst reduced from 100% to 75%.

Assault Engineers

Veterancy requirement reduced from 900/2700/5400 to 750/2250/4500.

Bazooka Team

Manpower cost reduced from 250 to 240.
Reinforce cost increased from 22 to 24.
Veterancy requirement reduced from 900/2700/5400 to 800/2400/4800.

Engineer

Veterancy requirement reduced from 750/1500/3000 to 600/1800/3600.

M3 Armored Personnel Carrier

Fortify Position ability reduces ability recharge times for nearby units by 25%.

M8 Greyhound Armored Car

Area of effect damage changed from 1/0.3/0.15 to 0.75/0.4/0.4.
Area of effect model limit set from 0 to 2.
Area of effect radius increased from 1.75 to 2.
Max scatter reduced from 4 to 3.
Scatter offset set reduced from 0.33 to 0.

M8 Scott

White Phosphorus Barrage direct damage reduced from 80 to 10.
White Phosphorus Barrage now has a cost of 25 munitions.

M24 Chaffee Light Tank

APCR Rounds munition cost reduced from 45 to 35.
APCR Rounds penetration bonus reduced from +100% to +50%.
Reload time increased from 3.5/4 to 4/4.25 seconds.
Chaffee no longer does additional damage against friendly units.

Paratroopers

Grenade area of effect distance increased from 0.5/1/1.5/4.5 to 1/2/4.5; matches the standard US Forces frag grenade used by Riflemen.

Riflemen

Fire Superiority now reduces the squad’s speed by 33% when active.
M1918 BAR penetration reduced from 2.5/2/1.75 to 1.75/1.5/1.33.

Scout

Manpower cost reduced from 160 to 150.
Utility Package munitions cost reduced from 30 to 25.
Veterancy requirements reduced from 750/2250/4500 to 500/1500/3000.

Seek and Destroy

Accuracy bonus increased from 25% to 35%.
Capture bonus and received accuracy bonus while moving removed.
Seek and Destroy Ability properly provide its benefits to vehicles you control for the full 40 seconds duration of the activation.

Sherman

White Phosphorus Smoke ability no longer slows vehicles on hit.

Sherman Easy 8

76mm penetration reduced from 300/200/170 to 200/180/160.
Arrives with a veterancy 1 Engineer squad; unit only becomes Assault Engineers if the Assault Engineer is unlocked.
Command point requirement increased from 7 to 8.
Cost increased from 600 manpower and 100 fuel to 650 manpower and 105 fuel.

Sherman Whizbang

Precision Rocket barrage renamed to Long-Range Barrage.
Long-Range Barrage range increased from 80 to 160.
Long-Range Barrage range reload increased from 0.25 to 1.
Long-Range Barrage rocket count increased from 10 to 15.

Special Operations P-47 Dual Strafing Run

Second plane now arrives 2 seconds later than the first plane.

Support Center

Air Support Center

Ability reticules adjusted to be more representative of their area of effect.
Air Supply cost increased from 100 manpower and 30 fuel to 150 manpower and 40 fuel.
P47 Dive Bomb area of effect reduced from 10 to 7.
P47 Strafe’s 2nd plane now arrives 2 seconds slower.

Infantry Support Center

Munitions Surplus no longer grants an ability recharge bonus.
Survival Training now grants 25% faster recharge speed on infantry abilities.

Mechanized Support Center

Chaffee APCR Rounds ability penetration reduced from 300/200/160 to 270/165/120.
Munitions cost reduced from 45 to 35.
Canister Shot ability reworked to deal high damage against infantry in the open, but is less effective against units in cover. Deals 25% damage against units in garrison and heavy cover, 50% against light cover.
Munitions cost reduced from 45 to 25.
Greyhound canister area of effect model limit increases from 3 to 4.
Sherman canister area of effect model limit increases from 3 to 5.

US Airborne

M1919A6s upgrade time reduced from 50 to 30 seconds.

WEHRMACHT

While a potent faction, a number of the Wehrmacht units were underperforming when they should be key components of their respective tier’s arsenal. We have made a number of changes to address units like the Wirbelwind’s cost and the Stummel’s performance. Furthermore, the Armored Skirts upgrade has been reworked to offer a potent power spike for all the Wehrmacht’s core medium armored vehicles in the late-game.

20mm Flak 30 AA Gun Team

Build time reduced from 45 to 40.
Crew health increased from 80 to 90.
Penetration increased from 26/22/18 to 30/26/22.
veterancy requirements reduced from 1300/3900/7800 to 1000/3000/6000.

251 Stummel Conversion

Auto-fire reload reduced from 5 to 4 seconds.
Barrage recharge time standardized to 20 seconds.
Barrage reload reduced from 2.5 to 2 seconds.
Barrage shell count increased from 4 to 6.
Munitions upgrade cost reduced from 60 to 50 Munitions.

Armored Skirts

Cost increased from 125 manpower and 25 fuel to 200 manpower and 45 fuel.
Now provides +80 health to all affected vehicles.
Side armor bonus removed.

Blitzkrieg – Breakthrough Battlegroup

Reload bonus increased from 35% to 40%.
Speed bonuses and received accuracy bonus reduced from 50% to 35%.

Command Panzer IV

AP rounds penetration increased from 90/75/65 to 90/85/75.
AP rounds reload time decreased from 4.75/6.5 to 4/4.5 seconds.
AP Round area of effect distances changed from 0.25/1/4 to 0.25/0.25/4.
HE angle scatter reduced from 12.5 to 7.
HE round area of effect damage changed from 1/0.25/0.15 to 0.5/0.25/0.25.
HE round area of effect radius increased from 4 to 5.
HE round area of effect mode limit increased from 3 to 4.
HE round reload time reduced from 4.5/5 to 4/4.5.
HE rounds now fire directly at targets.
Movement scatter changed to match other tank guns.

Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind

Cost reduced from 320 manpower and 60 fuel to 300 manpower and 50 fuel.
Reload speed decreased from 3.75/4.25 to 1.875/2.125.
Tactical Advance replaced with White Phosphorous rounds.
White Phosphorous Rounds cause suppression and reduce a vehicle’s vision by 75% on hit for 5 seconds. Costs 30 munitions. Lasts 30 seconds.
Jaeger Light Infantry
Capture and de-capture bonus from reconnaissance package set to a flat +20% bonus.
Reconnaissance Package munition cost reduced from 60 to 50.

Kettenkrad

Communication cable munitions cost reduced from 35 to 25.
Communication cables now grants the Kettenkrad +33% capture and de-capture speed and grants +7 vision range to points captured by the Kettenkrad.
Communications cable resource bonus removed.
Speed increased from 10.50 to 11.75.
Mechanized 8Rad
Veterancy ability replaced with Deutsche Afrikakorps Commander 8Rad Ability.

Nebelwerfer

White Phosphorous rocket count increased from 5 to 6.

Pioneer

Veterancy requirements reduced from 750/2250/4500 to 500/1500/3000.

Panther

Tactical Advance replaced with Tank Hunter.
Tank Hunter is a Passive Ability that causes target vehicles hit by the Panther to be 25% easier to hit for 8 seconds. The affected unit will also be revealed, even in the fog of war for the entire duration.

Stosstruppen

White Phosphorous Grenades now properly deal damage over time.

BRITISH FORCES

We have given the British forces a small number of adjustments to address a number of concerns. The changes below should make it easier to deal with British artillery in late-game scenarios, and reduce how oppressive their vehicle rushes with Crusader AA or Stuart can be against infantry.

BL 5.5 Inch Howitzer

Command Point cost increased from 2 to 3.
Health reduced from 800 to 480.
Manpower cost increased from 320 to 400.
Dingo
Now gains shared experience.

CMP 15 CWT Truck

Veterancy 1 Improved Logisitic ability now shared between the standard CWT and the medical variant.

Commandos

Grenade area of effect distance increased from 0.5/1/1.5/4.5 to 1/2/4.5.

Crusader AA

Area of effect radius reduced from 2.5 to 2.
Area of effect distances reduced from 0.75/1.5/2 to 0.33/1/1.75.

Infantry Section

Recce Package passive vision bonus reduced from 7.5 to 5.

Light Vehicle Refit and Withdraw

No longer costs munitions.

M3 Stuart

Mark Target munitions cost increased from 25 to 45.
Mark Target penetration bonus reduced from +50% to +25%.
Area of effect damage changed from 1/0.3/0.15 to 0.5/0.3/0.3.
Area of effect damage distances changed from 0.44/0.875/1.31 to 0.375/0.375/2
Moving scatter increased from 25% to 50%.
Max scatter to 3.5.
Scatter angle from 7.5 to 5.5.
Scatter offset set to 0.125 to 0.

DEUTSCHE AFRIKAKORPS

We are making a number of changes to DAK to address some of the issues they face. These issues include a lack of ready access to infantry-based anti-tank units when going for the Mechanized Kompanie and the early weakness of their Panzergrenadiers when outside Combined Arms range. We still want DAK to be a vehicle-based faction that needs to leverage its vehicles to gain an advantage and have made improvements to early units like the 250 Halftrack to further emphasize to encourage vehicle play.

250 Halftrack

Manpower cost reduced from 260 to 250.
Front armor increased from 6 to 7.
Veterancy Requirements reduced from 1200/3600/7200 to 600/1800/3600.

Advanced Optics

New upgrade added to the Armory. Requires Panzerarmee Command.
Costs 250 Manpower.
Increases the vision range of all vehicles by +5 when moving. When vehicles are stationary, increases vehicle vision by +10.

Advanced Repairs

Manpower cost reduced from 200 to 150.
Advanced Repairs now requires the Light Support Kompanie. Previous Panzer Armee requirement removed.
Assault Grenadiers
Manpower cost reduced from 340 to 300.

Bersaglieri

Bersaglieri call-in ability recharge time increased from 60 to 75 seconds.
Manpower cost reduced from 320 to 280.

Breda Model 30 Light Machine Guns

Command point requirement reduced from 3 to 2.
Weapon burst duration increased from 0.75/1.25 to 1/1.55.
No longer grant 1 free LMG to Panzergrenadier and Bersaglieri squads.

Combat Half-track

Provides a flat 4 armor bonus to all facings to all affected units

Combined Arms

Gives +15% speed to all Deutsche Afrikakorps infantry who have Combined Arms available.
Panzergrenadier version no longer grants ability range bonuses and only provides +10% bonus to accuracy. Grants the same bonuses as the Combined Arms used by other infantry.

Command Panzer IV

Wehrmacht and Deutsche Afrikakorps Command Panzer IV now both share the ammo swap ability.
AP rounds penetration increased from 90/75/65 to 90/85/75.
AP rounds reload time decreased from 4.75/6.5 to 4/4.5 seconds.
Area of effect distances changed from 0.25/1/4 to 0.25/0.25/4.
HE angle scatter reduced from 12.5 to 7.
HE round area of effect damage changed from 1/0.25/0.15 to 0.5/0.25/0.25.
HE round area of effect radius increased from 4 to 5.
HE round maximum damage cap from 3 to 4.
HE round reload time reduced from 4.5/5 to 4/4.5.
HE rounds now fire directly at targets.
Movement scatter changed to match other tank guns.

Grenade Package

Grenade Package Removed. Panzergrenadiers now require either Fire Support Elements from the Light Support Kompanie or the Mechanized Kompanie to be constructed in order to access grenades.

Kradschutzen

Speed increased from 11.5 to 13.

Light Support Kompanie

Now has access to Panzerjaegar squads costing 250 manpower.

Panzergrenadiers

Grenade range increased from 16 to 20.
LMG accuracy increased from 0.363/0.286/0.2332 to 0.396/0.312/0.2544.
Rifle accuracy increased from 0.493/0.484/0.341 to 0.538/0.528/0.372.
Model 24 grenade and Hafthohlladung Anti-tank Grenades now requires either Fire Support Elements from the Light Support Kompanie or the Mechanized Kompanie to be constructed.

Secure Location

Now grants a +20% decapture bonus in addition to its capture bonus.

StuG III D

Veterancy Requirement reduced from 1500/4500/9000 to 1000/3000/6000.
Firing Positions range bonus increased from +15 to +20 range.

Notes:
Currently our Veterancy is 1000/2000/6000. This will be set to the intended values in our next patch.

Italian Infantry

Booby Traps

Command Point requirement from 2 to 1.
Booby Trap cost reduced from 55 to 45 munitions.
Traps that detonate on a Victory or Territory point will increase the time it takes to capture the given point by +100% for 20 seconds.

Cannone da 105/28

Command Point requirement from 4 to 3.

Designate Defensive Line

Renamed to Sound the Alarm.
Munition cost reduced from 60 to 40.
Now also makes squads 20% harder to hit when active in addition to other bonuses.
Now plays an alarm effect on activation.

Guastatori

Armor increased from 1.25 to 1.5

L6/40

Cost increased from 450 manpower and 30 fuel to 475 manpower and 35 fuel.
Emergency Speed now replaces Italian Brotherhood: Increases speed by +50%, and has +25% acceleration while making the unit 25% harder to hit. Disables weapons while active.
Health increased from 240 to 280.
Now has medium crush.
Penetration increased from 16/14/13 to 45/25/15.

Propaganda War

Now has a delay before the ability activates.
Now fires 10 shells over a large area that cause suppression damage. Targets that are pinned will retreat if they are in the blast radius of propaganda shells. No longer causes units to immediately retreat if they are not pinned.

We have also made some significant changes to the Italian Infantry tree, increasing its viability.

Before

After

BUGFIXES

Art/Animation

Changed the way weapon swap animations are played so they are now layered as upper-body animation. Mechanically that means that when a unit upgrades to a new weapon (such as the BAR) or when a unit changes weapons (such as mine sweeper for engineers), they no longer stop in their tracks and get separated from the rest of the squad.
Fixed a T Pose when units embark into the Deutsche Afrikakorps 205 Light Carrier.
Fixed hit reaction animations when infantry is dropped to prone from explosions (grenades, mortar, etc.). These animations should now quickly end when the squad is issued a command, instead of keeping the unit locked down for the full length of the animation (It was never the intention for hit reaction animations to lock down units in place).
Fixed a problem where squads would lose the player's requested unload destination if the player issued a second order while the squad was in the process of unloading. The vehicle will now properly acknowledge the new destination and navigate accordingly. Soldiers will now also respond to the unload more quickly and will exit the hold more seamlessly.
Modified the Weapon Swap to use an upper body animation layer. This should should mean kneeling units to no longer stand up when ordered to change weapons or tools.
Removed most pivots from infantry to increase infantry responsiveness.
There should be no more popping before and after throwing a grenade. Entities should now be using the aim animation while rotating to the ability location.
Adjusted the behaviour of infantry entering cover while engaged in combat. Infantry will now avoid sliding into cover (and instead opt to stay standing and shooting) if they are in the middle of aiming. However, the unit will still do the slide into cover animation if they aren't aiming - which might happen depending on a number of factors, such as the weapon type, range, wind down period etc.

Gameplay

Anti-Air units can now target airplanes outside the playable area.
Artillery should now fire with a 20 second cooldown that is surfaced through a decorator It should respect having vision on the enemy unit.
Breach now forces retreat of garrisoned units.
Burst weapons will no longer keep firing if the target ducks behind a shot blocker.
Clarified the meaning of “resource lost” stats with tool tips. This means the resource value of units lost in combat.
Fallschirmpioneers now have access to wire cutters from the start of the game.
Fixed damage over time damage not awarding veterancy and kills to the damage originator.
Fixed HMG redeploying when switching targets in arc.
Fixed a bug where the Panzerjaeger squad was unable to fire Anti-Tank Tear Gas round if the remaining squad members didn't have Panzerbuchse 39 equipped.
Fixed a bug where it was possible for a unit who was repeatedly given the Stop command to completely lose the ability to attack. This was unintentional, and now units told to stop while they're already stopped will no longer cause them to stop attacking. This bug affected infantry, vehicles and structures alike (defensive positions, etc.).
Fixed a missing UI text string on the Salvage Crew ability for the M3 Armored Personnel Carrier when used on friendly or hostile units .
Fixed a tool-tip issue with the Bishop's direct-fire ability.
Fixed an issue where certain call-in units could not be deployed due to incorrect population requirements.
Fixed an issue where certain units could double shot projectiles. Shermans, Brummbars, and Greyhounds now need to cycle a reload sequence if they fired a shell before using WP, Bunker Buster or Smoke shot.
Fixed an issue where Deutsches Afrikakorps Schu Mines and Teller mines would not cancel construction if the builder was given another order before construction begun.
Fixed an issue where Flak emplacements would not be cancelled if the engineer was given a build other before they reached the construction site.
Fixed an issue where Wehrmacht bombers used the incorrect model during the Montella mission.
Fixed an issue where Tear Gas would not disable an indicator over the target.
Fixed an issue where the Crusader had further sight than intended.
Fixed an issue where the Hellcat and M3 75mm Gun Motor Carriage First-Strike Veterancy bonus failed to work correctly.
Fixed an issue where the Stosstruppen Red Phosphorous Grenade would not continue to deal damage after detonation.
Fixed British Forces Supply Surplus Cache and Infirmary upgrades being able to be built on top of existing Supply Caches.
Fixed invalid target requirement text for the Sherman's White Phosphorus Shell.
Fixed M1 Anti-Tank Gun continuing to fire while Brace ability was active.
Fixed M1 Anti-Tank Gun not firing after Brace ability ends.
Fixed missing UI requirements for the Captain's 'Rally to Me' ability.
Fixed players appearing on the wrong team after a skirmish restart.
Fixed Recover Wrecked Vehicle ability range for recovery vehicles.
Fixing a programming glitch that caused repeatedly giving the Attack move order to prevent a unit from moving. Repeatedly giving Attack Move orders now behaves smoothly, similar to how repeatedly giving the Move order does.
Improved weapon range visualization to account for shooter size.
L6/40 Combat Group should now properly be 10 population instead of 12.
Mortars and HMG's should now have their abilities cancelled when pinned.
Pathfinding tuning on Deutsche Afrikakorps recovery now matches the US recovery vehicle.
Setup HMG teams will no longer become stuck if given a reface order in place.
Smoke Canisters should no longer break functionality on the creeping barrage ability.
Team weapons no longer change targets when already engaged via an attack move order.
The Focus Next Infantry command now cycles through units properly, skipping over retreating units.
Unit Efficency has been changed to Efficiency Factor, which is now a ratio like 1.5, rather than 150%. Efficiency Factor means the amount of resource damage dealt to enemies, divided by the cost of units produced. There are now tooltips to explaining this.
Beyond the meaning of Unit Efficiency being unclear, there were also errors in the calculation of efficiency which have been fixed. (Average) efficiency was displaying a total instead of an average. Additionally, the total damage dealt had been including friendly fire and environmental damage.
Updated a large number of tooltips in-game to display numerical values for bonuses of many upgrades and abilities.
Updated the VFX on On Map Communication Pings for the Attack, Defend and Look Here pings. Added a new VFX beam to make pings more visible when used on tall assets like buildings or when placed behind trees and bushes.
You will now receive a specific message in the left-hand-side event queue if one of your units takes a hit from a sniper.
Fix wrecks staying attached to recovery vehicles when issued move command.

Performance/Stability

Improvements in detecting cases of file corruption and trigger verifications on game installs.
Fixed a rare crash that would occur while previewing unit pathing using Tactical Pause.
Turning off FSR with antialiasing on doesn't crash anymore.
Improved/Reduced Frame Per Second drops while in a match.
Fixed crash when closing prompts from a previous mission.

Single player

Dynamic Italian Campaign

Adjusted bunkers to prevent paratroopers from dropping behind them on Monte Cavo map.
Fixed stuttering during mission zero intro sequence.
Fixed the default save names not changing in different game modes.
Fixed an issue with the Anzio Annie Barrage ability not having a cooldown.
Fixed damage on bridges with abilities such as bombing or barrages. These abilities now do the intended damage.
Fixed cursor showing that incorrectly showed you can attack again when you controlled a naval unit that had already attacked this turn.
Fixed FSE that can occur after loading a Calabria tutorial save.
Fixed game crashing when loading some save files that had used paradrop.
Fixed issue where troops would sometimes walk through Italy after landing from troop transport ability from port.
Fixed map atmosphere state not being saved.
Fixed Recover Wrecked Vehicle ability range for recovery vehicles.
Fixed save overwrite confirmation dialogues not always displaying when making a save with an existing name.
Fixed turn soft locking after using naval transport ability on a specific location in the Calabria campaign map tutorial. This only fixes new saves.
Fixed the tooltip text to no longer be a blank “Requires: “ when issuing move orders out of bounds on the campaign map.
Improved clarity on the ability fail message when trying to cast ability out of range.
Addressed the jittery transition from zoomed in to zoomed out states on the Italian Campaign map.
Attempting to capture towns no longer deal damage to it prior to doing mission or skirmish.
Repainted territory in the Cliff Crossing Skirmish to make sure that the new territory layout has separate sectors for each point.
Replaced detachments with emplacements in the Italy population breakdown menu.

North African Operation

Adjusted asset position to prevent blocking garrison doors in the Ajdabiya mission.
Fixed a bug in the Ajdabiya mission where the Flak 36 Objective could be completed by driving the truck up without the Flak 36.
Fixed an issue causing the title card to play even when the player is not first starting the operation.
Moved the enemy spawn locations to prevent them from spawning in view in the Ajdabiya mission.
Reviewed UI mission completion and start popups to reduce cases where they appear back-to-back.

UI/UX

Building production buttons now have a toggled state.
Changed the message on disconnect notifications to add clarification.
Fix a crash that can occur when loading saves from Gela.
Fixed a bug that caused dialog messages to get cut off in certain aspect ratios.
Fixed a typo in Deutsche Afrikakorps Armored Support Group name.
Fixed an issue occurring when a newly created North African Operation save uses the default name of the last completed mission.
Improved the tooltip message shown when trying to invite offline players to your party.
Replaced the CoH3 Desktop icon to support sizes from 16px to 256px.
The Battlegroup panel can now be closed by pressing ESC or clicking outside the panel.
Fixed an issue where the Night Fighter Resource Point cosmetic did not state which resource point it affects.
Fixed an issue that prevented some players to receive new daily or weekly challenges on reset
Updated the Co-op vs AI stats to have the most played faction.
Disabled Select Map and Game Options buttons during match start countdown.

Umber Wasp Balance Tuning - 1.3.1 Update

This Balance Tuning update is meant to alleviate some issues stemming from the Umber Wasp (1.3.0) update, and to provide some minor tuning adjustments to Multiplayer balance. This update also fixes an issue with framerates locking to 30 FPS. Here is a note on the goals of this update from Jason on our Balance team.

Hey everyone, just a quick note from the balance team here. We're aware of the ongoing issues relating to DAK balance and Heavy Machineguns, and we're moving to address these issues. The fixes in this current patch are intended to alleviate the problem, but we're aware it will not fully solve them. Some of this work requires more systemic changes that we could not fit into a tuning update, but we hope to include in future updates, starting with 1.4.0 in December. - Jason_RE

General

Pachino Stalemate (1vs1) and Sousse Wetlands (4vs4) have had their Automatch selection weight reset so they no longer have a higher chance of appearing. Our team will continue experimenting with this weighting in the future to try to find the best balance as we showcase new maps.

Heavy Machine Guns

Crew health decreased from 90 to 80.
HMG 42 Team suppression dealt to suppressed targets reduced from 0.35 to 0.3.
Vickers, M1919 Browning, and MG 34 suppression dealt to suppressed targets reduced from 0.5 to 0.4.
HMG Incremental Accuracy standardized to 1.12.
Infantry pin threshold increased from 0.5 to 0.65.
Wide arc machine gun arcs reduced from 125 to 110.

US Forces

Riflemen

M1 Garand cooldown modifier when in close quarters is reduced from 0.2 to 0.15.
M24 Chaffee Light Tank
Changes from 1.3.0 update reverted.
Reload time decreased from 4/4.25 to 3.5/4

M8 Greyhound

Area of Effect model cap increased from 2 to 3.
The tracking speed of the turret increased by 33%.

Wehrmacht

Flak 30 20mm AA Gun

Area of Effect model cap reduced from 3 to 2.
Incremental accuracy bonus removed.

Kettenkrad

Communication Cables sight range now properly affects all resource points.
Decapture rate from Communication Cables removed.
No longer gains bonus sight range from veterancy. (Tooltip will be adjusted in a future update).

Deutches Afrikakorps

Axis 8 Rad Armored Car

Main gun Area of Effect model cap reduced from 3 to 2.
Receives +50% damage bonus to its coaxial machine gun rather than +100% from Armored Support Battlegroup’s Superior Fire Drills

Panzergrenadiers

Kar98k cooldown multiplier at close range has been increased from 0.35 to 0.45.

Panzerjaegers

Manpower cost increased from 250 to 275.
Tear Gas Shot now requires Veterancy 1.
Tear Gas Shot duration reduced from 10 to 3 seconds.

Veteran Leaders

Manpower cost increased from 200 to 250.
No longer automatically reinforces Panzergrenadier Squads upon completion.

Flak 36 Anti-Tank Gun Team

Armor when decrewed reduced from 100 to 70; standardized with other team weapons
Reload speed increased from 2.5/2.75 to 2.875/3.15; reload time increased by 15%

Bug Fixes

250 Halftrack - Heal ability is no longer hidden under the Smoke Dischargers ability.
Axis Loiters now have their health at their correct value of 1800 instead of 280.
Axis Tigers Veterancy requirements now require 25% more XP to level
(from 2200/6600/13200 -> 2750/8250/16500).
Fixed an issue where "Framerate Limit" was locked to 30 FPS on machines where lower CPU specifications or hardware were detected
Dingo can now fire on the move.
Fixed British Supply Surplus Cache and Infirmary upgrades being able to be built on top of existing Supply Caches.
Fixed an issue where the StuG D's veterancy requirement was not set properly to 1000/3000/6000.
Fixed M29 Weasel's Signal Layer ability not giving bonus resources.
Using Focused Gunnery with the Vickers HMG no longer prevents group / band-box selection.

Steel Shepherd - 1.4.0 Update

The Steel Shepherd update (1.4.0), along with our Hammer & Shield pack, are bringing impactful improvements, new content including maps and Battlegroups, and additional changes and updates to key areas of the game. This also includes a new Replay system, visual improvements, balance changes, an overhaul to the Campaign Map and more.

NEW CONTENT & FEATURES

Hammer & Shield Expansion Pack

Battlegroups

US Forces – Advanced Infantry Battlegroup
Wehrmacht – Italian Coastal Battlegroup

Campaign Company

British Forces – Air & Sea

Premium Cosmetic Bundle

US Forces - Board Room Hellcat & Half-track Pack
Wehrmacht - Fallen Leaf Stug III & Fallen Leaf Panzer IV
British Forces - Nature’s Vanguard 15 CWT Truck & Dingo Pack
Afrikakorps - Blocking Force Infantry Pack

Maps

Villa Fiore – 1v1

Added 1v1 Villa Fiore map to Automatch, Co-op vs A.I., Skirmish and Custom game modes.

Villa Fiore is a quaint, unspoiled map set in the vineyards of rural Italy, including:

Hilltop Villa
Featuring close quarters and building-to-building combat within its inner courtyards
Rural outskirts
Featuring easy mobility in and around hamlets, stables and farms and its various territories

Day 101 – 2v2

Added 2v2 Day 101 map to Automatch, Co-op vs A.I., Skirmish and Custom game modes.

Day 101 was the product of our Map Making 101 video series, with a final layer of polish and balancing – major features include:

Central farmlands
Considerably more open and exposed farmland, bisected by a shallow river, where players will need to construct their own cover to maintain a foothold
Northern city outskirts
Featuring combat across various plazas, bridges and dense, city streets
Southern waterfall
A narrow passage of low ground enabling flanking around the map which players cannot afford to ignore

Replays

This feature allows players to access saved Replay files from previously played matches, a powerful yet flexible game interface, and many quality-of-life improvements that make the experience feel modern and easy to use. We want Replays to be a tool that will serve your needs, whether you are a competitive player, a content creator or a new player looking to learn and improve. For more details read our detailed Replay blogpost here.

VISUAL IMPROVEMENTS

Ambient Occlusion, Atmospheric Fog, Fog of War, Lens Bloom, Tone Mapping, and Lighting improvements have combined to update visuals across all maps and modes.
Added a subtle new camera lens bloom effect.
Adjusted tone mapping to improve readability, particularly in shadows.
Improved ambient occlusion rendering quality.
Improved the quality of atmospheric fog.
Modified the way atmospheric fog interacts with the fog of war effect.
Updated environment atmospheres to accommodate new rendering changes.
Updated environment lighting to improve tone and readability.

Front End and Navigation

Starting with a revamped Front-End Menu experience, the overhauled UI Menu now aligns with the franchise's legacy, in conjunction with stronger immersion and a consistent experience.
Streamlined navigation and an organized layout that simplifies players' access to their favorite game modes and settings. Players can now resume their Campaign progression right from the Main Menu, as well as find the brand-new Replay Feature in case they want to relive their favorite gameplay moments.
An upgraded Visual Presentation featuring brand new sets of background images in the Main Menu, Loading UI, and Game Modes. The newly updated Main Menu will immerse players with new ambient sound effects and visual animations.
Every menu and screen players encounter offers a uniform and refined experience, making it easier and more predictable to navigate. This update lays the groundwork for future interface improvements.
Additional UI/Navigation changes
A new "Cycle Emplacements " hotkey binding has been added which cycles through team weapon emplacements such as AA emplacements (but not bunkers and base defenses).
A Resume Campaign button has been added to the Main Menu.
The "Cycle " naming now makes it clear that the camera behavior when the hotkey is used is governed by the "Find and Cycle " setting (select without moving the camera vs camera focus vs camera follow).
The Edge Pan Smoothing option has been added in Settings. Default setting ‘Off’.
The default WASD key binding profile has been updated to better match the regular default profile including using Alt as the camera orbit modifier instead of Alt+Ctrl.
The "Focus Next [unit] " and "Select Next [unit] " hotkey bindings have been combined into a new set called "Cycle [units] " along with the "Idle " equivalents.
The "Select All " and "Select All On Screen " hotkeys have been fixed.
Updated Battlegroup selection menu to include space for a description, enabling players to compare battlegroups before locking their choices.

REDESIGNED CHALLENGES

Challenges have been rebalanced to make Merit both easier and more enticing to earn. The amount of Merit that can be earned per week remains the same, but we have added, edited, and adjusted rewards for Challenges to better reward natural gameplay.

5 new Challenges are available in the challenge pool.
Added a pip on the main menu Challenges widget indicating when new Challenges are available.
Challenge rewards will now automatically be claimed when the Challenge requirements have been met.
Fixed an issue that caused the Challenge expiry timer to be stuck in Updating state.
Several Challenges have had their requirements reduced or changed to make them more achievable.
Some Challenge descriptions have been edited to improve clarity.
Some Challenges were removed from the rotation.
Weights of all Challenges have been adjusted to change which Challenges can be available at the same time and how likely players are to encounter each Challenge.

Weekly challenges

New Challenges

Guided Glory

Play 5 Multiplayer or Co-op vs AI matches

Fire in the Hole

Kill 40 infantry with grenades, satchel charges or rifle grenade infantry abilities

Machinist

Upgrade 10 trucks or half-tracks

Changed Challenges

Armored Recon

Kill 40 vehicles with armored cars -> Kill 15 infantry squads with vehicles

Battle Ready

Win 5 multiplayer matches of any team size -> Win 3 multiplayer matches

Company of Heroes

Train 50 US Forces Paratrooper squads -> Deploy 20 squads

Industrial complex

Kill 40 vehicles with 76mm upgraded American Sherman Tanks -> Destroy 15 vehicles as the US Forces

Panzertruppe

Kill 50 vehicles as the Werhmacht -> Destroy 15 vehicles as the Wehrmacht

Stalking Tiger

Kill 50 vehicles as the Afrikakorps -> Destroy 15 vehicles as the Afrikakorps

Tally Ho!

Kill 50 vehicles as the British Forces -> Destroy 15 vehicles as the British Forces

Tank Destroyer

Kill 50 vehicles with anti-tank guns -> Destroy 15 vehicles with anti-tank guns

Tankette

Kill 40 vehicles with light tanks -> Destroy 15 vehicles with light tanks

Daily Challenges

New Challenges

Junkpile

Destroy an Allies truck or Half-track in a match

Strike a Chord

Call-in 2 airstrikes in a match

Changes to Daily Challenges

Ace of Spades

Build 2 US Forces Fighting Positions in a match -> Build a US Forces Fighting Position

Allied Expedition

Win a match as the US Forces in Co-op vs AI -> Win a Co-op vs AI match as Allies

Close Air Supply

Call-in 2 US Forces aircraft abilities in a match -> Call in 2 aircraft abilities in a match

Desert Fox

Win a Multiplayer match as the Afrikakorps -> Win a Multiplayer match as the Axis

Edelweiss

Kill 5 infantry with Jäger squads upgraded with Reconnaissance Packages in a match -> Kill 10 infantry with Jäger squads in a match

Eighty Eight

Kill 1 Allied vehicles with an Afrikakorps FlaK36 Anti-tank gun in a match -> Destroy an Allied vehicle with an Afrikakorps Marder III Tank Destroyer in a match

Gustav Line

Build 2 Wehrmacht Concrete Bunkers in a match -> Build a Wehrmacht Concrete Bunkers in a match

Hanomag Scrap

Kill 1 Wehrmacht or Afrikakorps trucks or Half-tracks in a match -> Destroy an Axis truck or Half-track in a match

Hedgehogs

Build 10 tank traps with British Forces Royal Engineers in a match -> Build 5 tank traps or sandbags in a match

Infantry Anti-Tank

Kill 2 vehicles with infantry squads in a match -> Destroy a vehicle with infantry squads in a match

Making Tracks

Deploy 1 US Forces M3 Half-track in a match -> Deploy a Half-track in a match

Orders are in

Swap 3 Wehrmacht Grenadier squads for Panzergrenadiers with Transfer Orders in a match -> Swap 2 Wehrmacht Grenadier squads for Panzergrenadiers with Transfer Orders in a match

Panzerarmee

Kill 1 vehicle with Afrikakorps panzers in a match -> Destroy a vehicle with panzers in a match

Panzerkorps

Renamed to Hornet’s Nest

SAW

Upgrade 4 US Riflemen squads with additional BARs in a match -> Upgrade 3 US Riflemen squads with additional BARs in a match

Supply Depots

Build 2 resource caches in a match -> Build a resource cache in a match

Stars and Stripes

Win a match as US Forces in Multiplayer -> Win a Multiplayer match as the Allies

SINGLE PLAYER GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENTS

Difficulties renamed to: Easy, Standard, Hard, Expert.
Changed the default campaign difficulty from Easy to Standard
General tool-tip fixes and improvements

Dynamic Italian Campaign

With these changes, we're improving the Italian Campaign experience and adding a new layer of strategic play. We want Company selection to be a meaningful choice for players and the Campaign Map to be a driver of these choices.

A Hold Position toggle has been added to Campaign Companies. When this is toggled on, the unit will not alert at the end of turn if it has not been moved. You may find this useful for defending a position.
Added a keyboard short cut to End Turn.
Added an Italian Campaign Gameplay Guide accessible from the campaign menu.
Added option in Settings menu to fast forward the player and enemy turns in the Campaign Map.
Added smoke and flare tutorials to Salerno.
Battle difficulty can now be changed during a Campaign or Operation playthrough.
Campaign paths show potential danger zones and attacks more clearly. Terrain info popup appears for all terrain types and shows exact move cost for current Company.
Campaign skirmishes now provide bonus starting resources and pre-built base buildings based on player and enemy Company veterancy level.
Capture shields on the campaign map are now also enabled for campaign towns with an active mission. These shields must be cleared to start the mission. The number of shields on towns across the map has been generally reduced.
Changed the medium projectile type in Single Player to increase the initial speed from 0 to 35 meters per second. As result, many of the medium projectiles on units and off map abilities will come down faster and look more realistic as a result.
Companies garrisoned in any Capture Point now heal every turn. Forward Headquarters upgrade has been removed.
Companies now visually attack cities when attempting to capture them.
Detachments have been removed as an upgrade option from Companies. Each company type now has inherent access to building one emplacement type.
General text updates.
The enemy now has a new Artillery company type.
Improved visual feedback for pinned and suppressed units.
Many new dialogue lines from Joe Conti and Captain MacKay were added throughout the missions.
Most of the dialogue in the Italian Campaign Map is now skippable.
Removed a population cap restriction that was resulting in making the AI less aggressive than intended.
Removed supply visuals from the Campaign Map
Improvements made to provide clear feedback to players when abilities buttons are active, in cooldown mode, and when they are passively active or inactive.
Removed terrain cover as a combat value. Companies on roads no longer have a penalty.
Shortened the time it takes for AI to use aircraft abilities on the Campaign Map.
Skirmish combats have been added to the cities of Pomigliano, Naples, Altavilla, Spinazzola, Bari, Altamura, Lesina, Lecura, Gaeta, and Aquino.
Supplies are now awarded every turn (from every 3 turns). Supply volume has been reduced to compensate.
Swapped the strategic medical point for the default medical point in all missions. Medical stations will now exist on these points automatically, rather than needing to upgrade to them.
The initial population cap for the player is increased from 25 to 35.
Tuned Battleship Barrage visual radius and speed.

Auto-Resolve Formula Update

Our goal with this change is to bring damage and health values into easier interactions and remove some repetitive skirmish gameplay. Combats between Companies in the field are now automatically resolved, without an option to start a skirmish.

Auto-resolve damage has been normalized into thresholds by degree of victory.
Company Health, Unit Type, Company Veterancy, and nearby Affectors (emplacements, companies, abilities) have impact on the auto-resolve outcome.
Companies now get a combat strength bonus based on their unit type.
Artillery gets a bonus against Infantry
Infantry gets a bonus against Armor
Armor gets a bonus against Artillery
Max health of all Companies has been reduced from 900-1000 to 100. Damage values have been adjusted to compensate.

Foggia Airfield Mission

Adjusted difficulty.
Increased the population cap to 100.
Reduced the veterancy and number of units in the base-attack groups, as well as the homing groups.
Swapped the loiter for two of the strafes that are used on Easy and Normal.
Reduced the veterancy and number of enemies in the final wave.

Traits

Medic Trait Changes

Now reduces cost of Heal Target ability for the company
Well-supplied and Bolstered Forces traits have been removed from Companies as they did not work with combat and Supply updates.

New Traits

Dug In - Damage taken when defending from auto-resolve reduced by 20%
Hard Chargers - Damage taken from emplacements reduced by 33%

Gela Tutorial

Gela has been reworked from the ground up. Now a far more streamlined mission, the player will begin by assaulting a fortified beach before continuing on to capture the courtyard in the city. The Tutorial experience offers a new atmosphere, lighting, environment art, and intro cinematics.

Joe Conti's letters cinematics have new voiceover dialogue.
Now features a landing craft which delivers the introductory squad.
The Base-building segment of Gela has been removed so a building construction tutorial has been added to the beginning of Salerno.
Updated the Lighting and Atmosphere Transitions for all missions.

MULTIPLAYER GAMEPLAY CHANGES

Event Cues

Added a new text background to make event cues text more legible.
Fixed a bug that was preventing the maximum of 3 event cues from being visible at the same time and allowing any number of event cues to be displayed.
Fixed instances where the Mine Hit event cue wouldn’t trigger
General tool-tip fixes and improvements
Improved visual appearance to match the new art style, improving consistency and readability.

Maps

Adjusted the minimum and maximum depth craters can cause, reducing the chances of impassible areas being generated by overly large craters
Updated a North African building (including sand-textured versions) to have a larger hit box, preventing units from clipping within the walls from the outside.
Updated various Greek ruins that were not blocking most heavy and medium tanks. This enabled the vehicles to clip through walls they visually should not be able to.

Benghazi

Fixed a fuel container’s state, preventing units from being able to fire through them until they are damaged.
Updated rails and tracks at the docks, enabling them to be crushed and destroyed by artillery and heavy tanks.
Updated rock piles in the North of Benghazi to be more buried underground, as they can be used as cover in combat.

Catania Crossing

Fixed not being able to fully repair bridges from one bank of the river.

Mignano

Updated buildings straddling the non-playable edge to either be un-garrisonable, or to be more viable in combat.

Monte Cavo

Updated impasse beneath large rock formations to reduce the amount of clipping if units move nearby.
Updated various rocks and blockers to improve gameplay around the central compound. Access to the compound should be notably easier and large blocking rocks should be more effective at screening movement, especially when travelling on low ground.

Sousse Wetlands

Added descriptions and titles to all garrisonable buildings, similarly, to existing civilian buildings.
Pathfinding improved across the map, by increasing space for light vehicles and anti-tank guns where required.
Removed a visible blocker, which was unintentionally rendering.
Updated impasse near a narrow staircase in the walled city, preventing vehicles from attempting access, which was causing physics bugs.
Updated impasse underneath large rock formations to reduce the amount of clipping, when units move nearby.
Updated the minimap to display additional routes into the walled city.

Twin Beaches

Removed a hidden element beneath a small section of road, which was preventing the construction of defenses/mines.

Queue flow

Players will start loading into a match from the Quick Match lobby immediately after a match is found. This will shore up matchmaking quality while also mitigating the impact of players leaving the queues.

Tactical Map & Minimap

Minimap

Minimap indicators for Airplane abilities now better match their location.
Added hand-drawn, custom minimap images to all Multiplayer Maps. These custom images should improve clarity of major features on each map, including distinguishing buildings, roads and bridges from inaccessible areas.

Tactical Map

Increased size to match the full screen height.
Improved visual appearance to match minimap art updates.
Improved units' visual priority relative to each player, both on the tactical map and in-game: player units have higher priority, followed by enemy, then allied and finally neutral. This means that player owned units will have their shield decorators always appear on top of any other player.
Improved unit selection on the tactical map: selection box creation is now possible on the entirety of the screen, and they now correctly include only units within them.
Improved territory line resolution and added a blending effect to improve the overall quality and polish level.
Double clicking on units garrisoned in buildings now correctly closes the Tactical Map.
Removed squad Buff and Debuff icons, Control Groups, and Status Decorators from the Tactical Map to improve visual clarity. . Control Groups and Status Decorators will still be available on the minimap.
Removed neutral vehicle wrecks health bars from being displayed on the tactical map.

Unit Responsiveness, Selection & Pathfinding fixes

Pathfinding

Fixed a case of infantry getting stuck on world objects.
Fixed a few instances where vehicles wouldn't move when trying to go around enemy vehicles.
The Walking Stuka Rocket Halftrack will now properly path through light crush obstacles.
Units are now more likely to prioritize pathing in the direction they are currently facing, according to the movement order.
Engineers no longer get stuck in a running loop when attempting to repair bridges.

Responsiveness

Construction will now begin before the unit’s tools are out. This should help with construction delays and improve the overall construction experience.
Mobility pass on all vehicles.
Reversing vehicles no longer stutter when blocked by enemy vehicles.
Separated the rotation rate from the pivot rate. Tanks, light vehicles and ultra light vehicles have different turn plans meaning that vehicles will be able to do tighter turns.
Vehicles get a flat increase in rotation rate of 10, excluding case mate vehicles.
Vehicles will now start their movement with a base movement speed rather than slowly ramping up.

Selection

Buildings are no longer selectable through the ground, making it easier to move infantry close to buildings without entering them.
Decorators now have higher priority than bounding boxes, making it easier to select single units.
Player-constructed defenses now show up as ghosts in fog of war
When selecting multiple unit abilities shouldn't overlap or have a priority such that both retreat and reverse commands are now available to use when both infantry and vehicles are selected.

Weapon Upgrades

If a squad has picked up weapons and reached their squad capacity, their weapon upgrades will now be locked.
If a squad has picked up only one weapon and performs a weapon upgrade, any upgrade that would grant two weapons now only grants one. It will cost half the munitions to perform the upgrade.
If a squad of Afrikakorps Panzer Pioneers pick up an abandoned GRB-39 off the ground, they will unlock the smoke grenade ability, without having to purchase the GRB-39 upgrade.
If a squad of Engineers with a stowed-away Minesweeper pick up enough weapons to reach maximum capacity, the ability to pull out your Minesweeper will no longer drop a Minesweeper on the ground. But since the squad's hands are full, you will not see a unit carrying the Minesweeper. Fret not, as the ability to find the mines will still be active, even with the invisible minesweeper. If in any further doubt, driving an M8 Greyhound over mines is the next most effective method of finding them.
The GRB-39 weapon upgrades for both factions can now drop on the ground on squad death.
The US barracks upgrade that grants Browning Automatic Rifles (BARs) to all Riflemen should no longer drop BARs at the foot of squads who are already at weapon capacity.
Tweaked the MP44 upgrade for the Wehrmacht Stosstruppen so that it properly replaces the MG42 and G43 with four MP44s.

Essence Editor New Template

In attribute editor, a new template "Weapon_upgrade " ability was added. Using this as a parent should allow creating new simple weapon upgrades for your squad in a straightforward manner.
Added a new requirement to check if there is enough capacity to fit one (or many) inventory items.
Added a new requirement to check if your inventory contains one (or more) copies of a specific Inventory Item

MULTIPLAYER BALANCE CHANGES

Adjusted the health of bridges down between 20% and 50%, making them easier to destroy with artillery and airstrikes, and overall decreasing the time required to repair them.
Changed vehicles to no longer auto attack targets while en route to execute an Ability command.
Demolitions Package upgrade from the Infantry Support Center will now grant the same demo charge types to Riflemen, Engineers and Bazooka Teams.
Forward Observer Barrage can now be used in the Fog of War for all units.
Frequency of special death criticals for vehicles has been adjusted. Turret ejection, out of control and brew-up deaths should occur much more often.
Infantry units can now use grenades while inside smoke.
SSF Commandos now have Prioritize Vehicle.

Field Defenses

Buildable defenses have been adjusted to be cheaper to construct, reflecting their base and opportunity cost. We have also added a new ability for all constructed garrisonable structures where infantry squads garrisoned in these structures will have higher offensive stats.
The Wehrmacht Bunkers have also received several changes to their upgrades to better reflect their high upgrade cost and give them more flexibility when deployed forward in the field.
Buildable defenses now crush most light cover map assets, such as crates or bushes, enabling easier placement in dense areas
Buildable defenses now provide combat bonuses to infantry inside
Units fighting from inside gain +25% accuracy and +30% rate of fire

Fighting Position

Fighting Position cost from 150 to 100

Grenades

The following change to grenades makes grenades lethal against all infantrymen in the game with greater damage in the center of the blast zone, but a higher damage drop-off around the edges. Previously, high health troops were able to stand on-top of a grenade and survive the explosion.

25% damage penalty against buildings
Damage standardized across the board to 120

Gammon and Bundle Grenades

Area of effect damage set to 1/0.4/0.35
Area of effect distance to 1/1.5/6 for Bundle Grenades, 1 / 2 /6 for Gammon Bombs
Area of effect radius set to 5.5; Gammon Bomb remains at 6
Damage reduced from 180 to 160
No damage penalty against emplacements or buildings

Regular Fragmentation – US Forces and British Thrown Grenades

Area of effect damage to 1/0.5/0.2
Area of effect distance to 0.125/1/4.5
Area of effect increased from 4 to 4.5
Model damage limit set to 4
Throw wind-up sped up from 0.875 to 0.675

Rifle Grenades – Infantry Section and Pathfinder Grenades

Area of effect damage to 1/0.5/0.3
Area of effect distance to 0.125/1/4.5
Model damage limit set to 4

Stick Grenades – Axis Grenades (excluding bundles)

Area of effect damage to 1/0.4/0.15
Area of effect distance to 0.125/1/3.5
Model damage limit set to 4
Range increased from 20 to 23; Fallschirmjager can throw range at 25
Throw wind-up sped up from 0.875 to 0.675

Indirect Fire Changes

We are strengthening the power of mortars by reducing their barrage recharge times, increasing their rate of fire when not barraging, and the number of entities they can damage. Auto-fire and barrage range have also been standardized, allowing mortars to cover their full range while the barrage is on recharge. Area of effect damage in the center of the blast has been reduced due to the increases in damage limits.

Other artillery units have also been improved by increasing their model damage limits. Rocket Artillery has been tuned to be more threatening to vehicles willing to stay stationary within a barrage, making them more relevant with dealing with large concentrations of armor.

Light Mortars

Area of effect damage reduced from 0.6/0.3/0.1 to 0.4/0.25/0.2
Auto-fire weapon cooldown reduced from 6/7 to 5
Auto-fire range increased from 75 to 90
Barrage range standardized to 90 for all mortars
Barrage recharge times reduced from 30 to 20
Model damage limit increased from 3 to 4

Howitzer Emplacements – Obice 210, BL 5.5, M1A1 105mm Howitzer

Cannot be built in the base sector; must be built outside the base sector in friendly territory

Bishop, Wespe, Cannone da 105mm

Model damage limit increased from 3 to 4

BL 5.5 Inch Howitzer

Model damage limit increased from 3 to 5

Pack Howitzer, le.IG 18, 4.2 Heavy Mortar

Model damage limit increased from 3 to 4

Rocket Artillery

Nebelwerfer now deals +100% damage and has +300% penetration against vehicles.
Stuka Zu Fuss penetration against vehicles increased by +300%

Wehrmacht Fighting Nest

Goes neutral when ungarrisoned
Manpower cost reduced from 100 to 50
Now allows 6 models to fire out the front and side; 4 from the rear

Off-map Artillery against Defenses and Buildings

We have reduced the damage of certain off-maps against defenses, primarily against the Wehrmacht Bunker. The reason for this change is to allow Bunkers under the influence of either Bulwark or the Command Bunker aura to have a chance of surviving when undamaged, requiring a follow-up to destroy them. Regular bunkers will still be destroyed as normal by these off-maps.

Note the P-47 Dive-Bomb requires the Double Sortie upgrade to destroy a bunker.

Carpet Bombing +100% bonus damage against buildings removed
Naval Bombardment now deals 25% less damage to buildings such as bunkers; does not affect emplacements.
Off-Map airburst now has a -75% damage penalty against emplacements and bunkers
P-47 Dive Bomb bonus damage against all buildings reduced from +100% to +40%

Wehrmacht Bunkers

Build-time increased to 35 seconds from 20
Manpower cost reduced from 250 to 175
Medical and Repair munitions cost reduced from 85 to 70
Medical Bunkers can now retrieve casualties and grants free reinforcement; similar to the USF Medical Station
Now allows 6 models to fire out from the front, 3-4 from the side, and 2 from the rear
Repair Bunkers now repair structures and defenses; can repair themselves when out of combat
Repair Bunker repair rate increased from 3.2 to 6
Upgrade times standardized to 30 seconds

FACTION BALANCE

US FORCES

4x4 Truck

The 4x4 is having its Commander upgrade returned in a different form, giving the US Forces a more powerful reconnaissance unit in the mid-late game.

Armor increased from 4 to 4.5
New Upgrade – Scout Commander
Allows the 4x4 to detect enemy units in the Fog of War up to range 90
Costs 50 munitions
Increases vision range of the unit by 10

75mm Halftrack Gun Motor Carriage

We have made adjustments to the barrage to be more accurate and have increased range, allowing the 75mm Half-track to safely engage units like anti-tank guns and give the US Forces a light artillery unit. Reload times for the barrage have been increased to give players time to respond once the unit has begun firing.

Barrage Adjustment
Manpower cost reduced from 320 to 280
Range increased from 50 to 70

Area of effect

HE Barrage area of effect damage adjusted from 1/0.15/0.05 to 0.6/0.4/0.2
HE Barrage area of effect penetration increased from 15/10/5 to 30/30/30
HE Barrage damage increased from 110 to 120
HE Barrage distance changed from 1/3/6 to 0/1.5/6
HE Barrage reload time increased from 3/4 to 5

Scatter

Angle scatter reduced from 7 to 3.5
Distance scatter max reduced from 8 to 5
Distance Scatter offset from 1 to 0

Bazooka Team

We have made the Bazooka Team’s launchers as effective as those carried by elite infantry due to their role as a dedicated anti-vehicle squad. The removal of Precision Shot was done to focus the unit’s role at fending off vehicles.

Bazooka stats now use the Bazooka stats found on Paratroopers/SSF Commandos
Ready-aim time reduced from 1/1.25 to 0.5/1
Reload time reduced from 3.5/4 to 2.75/3.25
Removed Precision Shot; Satchel Charge ability moved from Hotkey X to Z

M1 57mm Anti-Tank Gun

Armor-piercing round duration increased from 10 to 15
Armor-piercing rounds now increases damage by +40; damage model increases from 160 to 200

M1 81mm Mortar Mortar

Airburst area of effect far damage changed from 0.15 to 0.25
Airburst area of effect near distance changed from 0 to 0.25
Model damage limit increased from 4 to 5

M3 Personnel Carrier

50cal accuracy increased from 0.3375/0.3375/0.15 to 0.4/0.388/0.173

M8 Greyhound

Having lower health than other light vehicles of its cost, we are giving players the option to increase survivability of their Greyhounds against autocannons and weaker anti-tank weapons by spending munitions.

New Upgrade: Side Skirts

Cost 70 Munitions
Increases health by 120

M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer

The Hellcat is having its reload time increased so units like the Panzer IV will slightly win in a head-on fight without maneuvering. Previous improvements to the units such as speed and accuracy have made the Hellcat too efficient when engaging more costly units head-on.

Reload time increased from 3.75/4.25 to 4.5/4.75

Sherman Bulldozer

The Centaur, Dozer, and Brummbar are being adjusted to be even more potent against infantry due to their specialist role that are also effective at cracking defenses. We have also adjusted scatter so these units will overshoot their targets rather than undershoot, allowing for more scatter hits on stationary vehicles.

Angle scatter reduced from 5 to 4
Area of effect damage increased from 1/0.25/0.15 to 1/0.3/0.15
Area of effect distance increased from 0/1/6 to 0/1.25/6
Damage against bunkers and emplacements increased by 100%
Distance scatter max reduced from 4 to 2.5
Distance scatter offset increased from 0 to 1
Distance scatter ratio from 0 to 0.1
Manpower cost reduced from 400 to 360
Model damage limit increased from 4 to 5

Airborne Battlegroup

Airborne Reinforcement

Munitions cost reduced from 150 to 120
Now replenishes infantry significantly faster
Plane heal reduced from 4000 to 2500

Smoke Run

Munitions cost reduced from 50 to 40

Armored battlegroup

Fast Deploy

Fast Deploy build speed bonus increased from +50% to +75%

Warmachine

Command Point cost reduced from 4 to 3

Special Operations Battlegroup

Flamethrower Engineer Weasel Replaced with Weasel Towing M1 Pack Howitzer

Due to the limited use cases of the Weasel carrying Engineers, we have changed the ability to bring in a M1 Pack Howitzer, giving Special Operations access to early light artillery to pressure defensive positions.

Costs 400 manpower
Weasel arrives towing a Pack Howitzer, no longer arrives with an Engineer squad with a flamethrower.

Off-map Smoke Barrage

Munitions cost reduced from 40 to 35

Raiding Flares

Munitions cost reduced from 65 to 55

WEHRMACHT

251 Halftrack and Variants

Acceleration increased from 2.5 to 3
MG 42 weapon cooldown decreased from 1.5/2 to 0.75/1

Hull Down Ability

Can no longer be activated in combat but will continue to remain active if started prior to entering combat; can still be deactivated in combat.
Hulldown now provides +5 range, +5 sight, and speeds up reload times by 30% in addition to the current 25% damage reduction

Jager Squad

Panzerschreck ready-aim time reduced from 1.25/1.5 to 1/1.25
Schreck long-range accuracy increased from 0.0375 to 0.04
Scoped Rifles long-range accuracy increased from 0.65 to 0.695

MG 42 HMG Team

The MG 42 is gaining increased accuracy, improving its damage output. We want the MG 42 to be a key unit of the Wehrmacht and one of their primary anti-infantry damage dealers.
Incremental accuracy increased from 1.12 to 1.17
Weapon accuracy increased from 0.55/0.4/0.185 to 0.61/44/0.2135

Nebelwerfer

Barrage range increased from 140 to 160
Incendiary rocket area of effect explosion damage increased from 0.4/0.3/0.2 to 0.4/0.35/0.3
Weapon health increased from 360 to 440

Panzer Kommand

Now requires either Panzergrenadier Kompanie of Luftwaffe Kompanie to be constructed

Pioneer Squad

Weapon near cooldown decreased from 1.1 to 0.8

Side Skirts

Now increases side armor of affected vehicle by 20% in addition to the health bonus

Stosstruppen Squad

G43 accuracy increased from 0.7/0.67/0.64 to 0.77/0.74/0.704
MG 42 accuracy increased from 0.48/0.47/0.44 to 0.528/0.517/0.484
Overall DPS increased by 10%

Stosstruppen StG 44 Ambush Package

Ambush Package munitions cost reduced from 50 to 30
StG 44 damage increased from 5 to 5.5

Sturmpanzer IV Brummbar

Fuel cost reduced from 110 to 100
Area of effect damage increased from 0.75/0.25/0.1 to 0.75/0.35/0.15
Area of effect penetration increased from 20/20/20 to 70/70/70
Deflection damage increased from 25% to 50%
Distance scatter offset increased from 0 to 1
Damage against bunkers and emplacements increased by 100%

Wehrmacht Marder III M

We have adjusted the Marder to be more effective when fighting from a defensive position, but at a higher fuel cost. The unit can now ‘deploy’ to increase its range and firepower at the cost of mobility.

Cost adjusted from 280 manpower and 25 fuel to 240 manpower and 40 fuel

New ability: Sight Main Gun. Replaces Hulldown

Increases range by 10m and speeds up reload times by 20% when active. Removes ability to move. Can still rotate

Breakthrough Battlegroup

Rapid Production

Rapid Production build time bonus increased from 50% to 75%

Luftwaffe Battlegroup

Fallschirmpioneers

Build menu standardized with Pioneer squads; still has access to the Luftwaffe Relay

20mm Flak Emplacement

20mm Flak Emplacement build Time reduced from 45 to 40 seconds
20mm Flak Emplacement cost reduced from 250 manpower and 35 fuel to 200 manpower and 25 fuel
Pioneers can now construct the 20mm Flak Emplacement

88mm Anti-tank Emplacement

88mm Anti-Tank Emplacement CP cost reduced from 3 to 2
88mm Emplacement Anti-air range modifier reduced from 10 to 6
All 88mm Flak damage against aircraft increased from 240 to 600
Updated text for Luftwaffee Fallschirmpioneers to tell players about the Flak unlock

Mechanized Battlegroup
StuG Assault Group

Stug D Assault Group manpower cost increased from 600 to 650
StuG D Assault Group now comes with a Stosstruppen Squad
StuG D Hulldown removed

Wespe

Wespe CP cost reduced from 4 to 3

BRITISH FORCES

Boys AT Rifles

No longer has a damage penalty against bunkers

Crusader MK III

We have increased the scatter and lowered the area of effect damage of upgraded Crusaders to make Crusaders less effective against infantry at range. For its cost, the Crusader was too effective against infantry from long-range.

6-pounder angle scatter increased from 5 to 8.5
6-pounder area of effect near damage reduced from 1 to 0.833333
6-pounder distance scatter max increased from 3 to 5.5

Grant 75mm Gun

Penetration increased from 180/145/110 to 200/165/125

Matilda Heavy Tank

The penetration of the Matilda’s main gun is being reduced to be less effective against armored vehicles. We want to retain the Matilda’s high health and armor, but make the unit less effective at engaging heavier vehicles.

2-pounder penetration reduced from 100/85/70 to 90/70/55

Air and Sea Battlegroup

Centaur

Angle scatter reduced from 7 to 4
Centaur area of effect damage increased from 1/0.25/2 to 1/0.275/0.275
Damage against bunkers and emplacements increased by 100%
Distance scatter max reduced from 4 to 2.5
Distance scatter offset increased from 0 to 1
Distance scatter ratio from 0 to 0.1
Model damage limit increased from 4 to 5
Penetration increased from 35 to 65

Commandos - Both Variants

Commandos are receiving minor passive healing, allowing for successive ambushes and granting Commandos greater flexibility when operating on their own.

Commandos of both variants now heal when out of combat for 1.6 health per second

Commando Squad

Commando Concealing Smoke now immediately breaks suppression and pinned status conditions

Supply Surplus - Forward Medical Station

British Forward Medical Station can now be toggled on as a retreat point

British Armored Battlegroup

Designate Targets

Designate Targets Command Point cost reduced from 4 to 2

Forward Repair Assembly

Due to the ready access of Royal Engineer Sections found in the battlegroup, we are increasing the repair rate of the Forward Assembly and allowing it to repair itself and friendly structures.

Forward Repair Assembly repair speed increased from 3.2 health per second to 8 health per second.
Now repair nearby structures and emplacements including itself.

Indian Artillery Battlegroup

Airburst Artillery

British Off-Map Airburst area of effect damage changed from 1/0.15/0.05 to 0.35/0.175/0.175
British Off-Map Airburst area of effect distances changed from 3/5/10 to 0/2/3
British Off-Map Airburst model damage limit changed from 3 to 4
British Off-Map Airburst munitions cost increased from 90 to 110

Volunteer Infantry

Volunteer Infantry Command Point cost increased from 3 to 4

DEUTSCHE AFRIKAKORPS

250 Mortar Half-track

The incendiary barrage is having its initial area of effect explosion damage reduced due to the accuracy of the barrage. This will give team weapons more team to leave the blast radius before being destroyed.

Mortar half-track Incendiary Barrage area of effect damage reduced from 0.85/0.4/0.25 to 0.2/0.2/0.2

Flakvierling Half-track

Model damage limit reduced from 3 to 2
Armor-piercing weapon penetration reduced from 32/30/28 to 30/27/25
Armor-piercing weapon moving burst decreased from 0.75 to 0.5; matches the regular weapon

Guastatori

Can now fire their flamethrowers while moving

Marder III Tank Destroyer

Now has access to Smoke Canisters

Panzer III L Medium Tank

The Panzer III is gaining increased frontal armor to be able to withstand lighter AT weapons such as the Chaffee when being attacked head-on from distance.
Frontal armor increased from 130 to 150
Manpower cost reduced from 340 to 320

Italian Combined Arms Battlegroup

Armored Support Stuka Anti-Tank Loiter

Munitions cost increased from 180 to 200

Bersaglieri

Population reduced from 8 to 7
Urra duration increased from 5 to 10

Combined Arms Strafe

Strafe damage increased from 15 to 30. Suppression removed.

BUGFIXES

Art/Animation

British Forces infantry section upgraded with Recce Package no longer throw their rifles when throwing grenades.
Corpses no longer have shiny surfacing. The materials on the corpses match the playable units.
Engineers no longer get stuck in a running loop when attempting to repair bridges.
Grenadiers' uniform trousers color updated to be historically authentic.
Fixed a case where infantry can get stuck in a shuffling loop near their destination.
Fixed an issue where items attached to the US Forces Sherman 76mm cannon were propping into odd positions when using abilities
Fixed an issue with the Cupola hatch being closed on the Churchill commander when in an idle state
Fixed an issue with the US Forces Sherman 76mm cannon upgrade not receiving the US Night Fighters cosmetic
Fixed the British Forces HMG crew t-posing after being paradropped
Fixed the MG 15 gunner animation looping when in cover.
Improved the destruction state of barbed wire fences (notably those used on Monte Cavo) to reduce their “floating” appearance
Improved visual appearance of Campaign map British Carrier.
Reinforced barbed wire now has the correct animation
Ships now face the right way on the Campaign map.
Suppressed units in cover now go prone to visually communicate the squad is suppressed.
The Afrikakorps Bersaglieri squad no longer yeet their Breda machine gun alongside the grenade when using the grenade throw ability.
The flag on the German Command Bunker now uses team color.
The rubble created by the US Carpet Bombing run on Pachino Stalemate no longer flickers.
Units building barbed wire now have the correct animation
Using High Explosive Barrage or Target Weakest Point ability for US Forces M3 halftrack no longer causes the added cosmetic on the gun to revert to the default materials.
Units no longer have issues reaching the Wehrmacht Fighting Nest cover and firing positions.

Audio

Added ambient combat sound effect track in the Main Menu.
Fixed several units that were not calling out their first engagements – this was causing units to enter combat for the first time without warning
Fixed Stg 44 weapon echo and length
Fixed the Breda Model 30 weapon audio from firing for too long
Fixed the Fallschirmjager weapon echo.
Fixed the Paratrooper Bazooka Battle Chatter.
Intel Voice Over now has radio effect Tuning Intel frequency.

Essence Editor

Fixed a bug where the editor grid was hidden by fog in the scenario and FX editor.
Fixed a crash in the Attribute Editor that would occur when deleting a template variable.

Gameplay

Adjusted the recoil and reset time on all vehicles when firing their main guns to reduce wobble.
British Forces Dingo can no longer go through tank traps, dragon teeth and areas designed only for infantry to go through.
Emplacements will now properly update their visuals when repaired after a decrewed state
Engineer Light it Up now properly displays a timer over the unit when active.
Fighting nests will no longer go back to full HP when crewed
Fixed a bug that allowed squads to purchase more than one weapon upgrade.
Fixed a case where engineers ignore the second queued action after finishing a build order
Fixed Afrikakorps L6/40 Smoke Canister not working while Emergency Overdrive ability was active.
Fixed an issue in which the Werhmacht Flak38 would become invisible when de-crewed.
Fixed an issue that caused the Panzergrenadier squad to display the "+" icon next to their weapon after picking a single weapon, giving the impression the squad somehow already had 2 special weapons.
Fixed an issue where dropped weapon UI would not show until the weapon was moused over.
Fixed an issue where Emergency Repair Kits image was incorrect in the production queue.
Fixed an issue where garrisoned units become trapped on unload.
Fixed an issue where Mechanized Assault did not apply to newly constructed vehicles while the ability was active
Fixed an issue where recrew team weapon ability could be used on emplacements that were under construction.
Fixed an issue where reinforcements for the Wehrmacht Stosstruppen would not always get the upgraded Submachine gun.
Fixed an issue where resource caches constructed by Supply Surplus did not use the same icon as the British resource caches.
Fixed an issue where Resource Caches under Supply Surplus did not properly show their correct value and flickered between 150 and 200 manpower.
Fixed an issue where Sherman 76mm tanks would occasionally be recovered as 75mm tanks.
Fixed an issue where smoke canisters did not function on the Afrikakorps recovery vehicle.
Fixed an issue where the Armored Battlegroup's Field Repair ability was different for the ability and the Battlegroup command card.
Fixed an issue where the Kradschutzen did not get the self-repair benefit of Emergency Repair Kits.
Fixed an issue where the name of certain structures would not appear in the Building Shortcut tab.
Fixed an issue where the Panther Tank Hunter ability did not apply correctly onto vehicles hit.
Fixed an issue where the Tommy weapon would become invisible after using the rifle grenade ability.
Fixed an issue where the training center text was in the incorrect location for the Team Weapon Training upgrade
Fixed an issue where the Valentine did not have a functional machine gun
Fixed an issue with emplacement construction that would show the object as fully constructed despite still being in construction.
Fixed an issue with German 8-Rad radar effect not playing when the Signal Detection veterancy ability is active.
Fixed an issue with tire tracks being left by British Forces CWT Truck 15.
Fixed being able to unlock Air Re-Supply Operation ability multiple times from Special Operations Battlegroup.
Fixed being able to use the Hull Down ability while in combat
Fixed casemate vehicle auto target selection so it is no longer indecisive between infantry it can fire upon now versus tanks it has to turn to fire at.
Fixed Fortified Combat Position Bonus ability to keep showing in command card when a building is garrisoned
Fixed instances where units wouldn’t fire after vaulting
Fixed Mechanized Assault ability not healing vehicles.
Fixed ML 4.2-inch Heavy Mortar Recon Flare ability to show projectile being fired.
Fixed Munition cost refund for Demo charge munitions.
Fixed Rally to Me! radio antenna asset playing destruction effect after spawning.
Fixed recovery vehicles sometimes getting stuck when issued the Repair Vehicle ability.
Fixed some barrage abilities not properly locking out availability to other barrage abilities.
Fixed Team Weapons tearing down while in combat when given an attack move order even if they're already engaging an enemy.
Fixed the bonus emplacement damage being done to Wehrmacht bunkers
Fixed the Commando Section's Concealment Smoke ability sometimes going on cooldown without triggering smoke effect.
Fixed the Designate Defensive Line ability being able to target neutral/environment bunkers.
Fixed the Jaeger and Panzerjaeger's Ambush Tactics passive ability to properly give the +40% accuracy and +25% damage to all attacks and for the first attack as well as the following ones in the 5 second window.
Fixed the Matilda Critical Repair ability only activating once.
Fixed the Panzergrenadier squad moving to target after Focus Fire ability ends.
Fixed the Valentine Command Tank's Forward Observer Smoke Barrage ability to have projectiles cooldown start correctly.
Fixed the vehicle repair icon for self-healing abilities
Fixed Wehrmacht bunker weapons tearing down and trying to move when issued attack command out of range
GRB-39 from Afrikakorps and Wehrmacht now drop on the ground at the same rate as other special weapons when a squad is wiped out.
Infantry section Base of Fire ability now properly triggers only when all the squad is in cover and it affects all squad members.
Landmines dealing damage now properly grant experience and kills to the squads responsible for building them.
Loiters will no longer chase targets across the map or well outside the circle.
Low altitude recon run will now properly reveal camouflaged units.
Pioneers, Fallschirmpioneers, Engineers, Assault Engineers, Sappers and Panzerpioneers and Guastatori can no longer defuse their own mines.
Player-constructed defenses now show up as ghosts in the fog of war. Spooky.
Queued reinforcements provide proper refund if they are cancelled due to instant reinforcement from a medical station.
Recrewing a British Forces M1 Pack Howitzer with the Afrikakorps faction will correctly grant you that unit.
Special Operations Mark Target airplane time on the field now better matches the actual duration of the ability
The Kettenkrad will no longer act erratically when hit by certain weapons.
Weapon upgrades are now all properly locked / grayed out if the squad doesn't have the inventory capacity required to equip them.
Weapon upgrades on squads that do not have enough capacity will no longer result in dropping a weapon on the ground. This fixes the issue where Team-Owned weapons laying on the ground have priority over squads when selecting multiple units on screen via a selection box.

Performance/Stability

Fixed a crash that occurs in the Italian Campaign recovery bonus objective if the target vehicle is destroyed before the objective begins.
Fixed a desync occurring when the AI takes over for a player in a Multiplayer match.

Single Player

Adjusted a territory point on the urban skirmish map that now enables units to capture in cover. Previously they were automatically pulled out of the capture area because of a lack of cover.
Adjusted the Out of Bounds area and Vistas across many maps so the out of bounds areas are less visible.
All Unit Production and Research Times in for the Allies is affected. Standard is 15 seconds for infantry and ultralight units. Standard is 10 seconds for upgrades. Build times of the majority of core infantry units reduced to 15 seconds. Upgrade times for individual upgrades reduced to 10. Tech research upgrades reduced to 15. Reduced recharge time on medical crates to 60 from 180 for Dingo and halftrack.
Changed the fail conditions on Potenza.Fixed some Company abilities not having a hotkey assigned to them.
Cover added to a unique urban crater which previously provided no cover. Will affect any map it’s present in.
Fixed an issue where a kicker would appear on units for a very short moment when in radius of the Valentine's Armoured Commander aura ability.
Fixed an issue where the player’s chosen affector was missing in the post mission debrief screen.
Fixed many instances throughout missions where player squads were getting stuck in buildings or other features of the maps. Adjusted the impassable areas and disabled some garrisons in various missions to account for this.
Fixed restart not being available when a Skirmish game was loaded from a save.
General tool-tip fixes.
Removed inaccessible areas of flame from skirmishes played on Pachino Stalemate to improve flow into and out of the central village.
Resolved an issue where German bunkers were missing roofs. Too bad for Klaus, he loved stargazing.
Saving the game while a squad is paradropping will no longer cause the unit to get stuck in the air upon loading the save.
Shortened delay for bonus objectives to start in the Skirmish Battles so they appear closer to the beginning of the match.
Tactical pause hint icon no longer overlaps with text.

Dynamic Italian Campaign

Adjusted HQ emplacements on the Mountain Ruins skirmish map to ensure there is sufficient space for off-map units to enter the field.
Campaign units will no longer overlap when attacking.
Company purchase menus can now be closed with escape after being interacted with.
Deleted Sandbags in Anzio Defend that were not providing cover correctly.
Emplacements that already fired this turn no longer shows as a threat on the movement preview.
Fix bombardments not negatively affecting garrisoned enemy units in subsequent missions
Fixed a bug causing Companies on the Campaign map to fail to load into transport ships during the transport ability.
Fixed a bug where the End Turn button would sometimes not become disabled after clicking on it.
Fixed a Fatal Scar Error in the Winter Line mission that occurs when the player kills bunkers early
Fixed a load error during the Calabria tutorial
Fixed an issue in Pignataro Maggiore where the British faction didn't have enough room to build the Company Command Post.
Fixed an issue in the Monte Cassino mission where the Hangman's Hill complete dialogue played twice.
Fixed an issue where Saving Private Norton mission could be soft locked by the player destroying their own tank.
Fixed an issue where Wehrmacht Mortars recrewed by the British Forces used the wrong portrait
Fixed Campaign map missions granting more resources than indicated in the mission rewards indicator.
Fixed campaign Map movement animation for infantry and armored companies.
Fixed campaign soft locking if a skill menu was opened while attack was in progress.
Fixed Companies becoming invulnerable sometimes if retreating when attacked during AI's turn.
Fixed German howitzers sometimes trying to target aircraft .
Fixed hospital retreat point always being active on Salerno mission.
Fixed issue on River Crossing Airfield where the airfield would sometimes lose track of its aircraft out on missions on save/load.
Fixed issues in the garrison for the church near the forward base on the Ortona Defend mission that was causing units to be untargetable and unresponsive.
Fixed Campaign map secondary objectives completing by flying a company over the location instead of reaching the location through land.
Fixed paradrop on Campaign map being interrupted by autosaves when ending the turn.
Fixed ships sometimes overlapping over each other on Italian Campaign Map.
Fixed some soft locking occurrences if certain narrative events get triggered during the AI's turn.
Fixed the game sometimes soft locking when Naval Transport ability was used on Anzio.
Fixed the targetable state for one of the German Destroyers near Naples.
In Anzio, updated the "Prevent HQ from being destroyed " objective to only start once the gun begins firing.
Moved the ML 4.2-inch Heavy Mortar Team 4.2-inch Incendiary Barrage ability to the column 3 row 2 of the abilities card.
On Salerno Defend when units are at the bottom or top of the stairs and directed to go down or up, they will follow the stair path instead of jumping down.
Planes on the Campaign map will no longer create visual ghosts when exiting the fog of war
Prevented Companies from using abilities when garrisoned in a Battleship.
Removed a non-functional fuel cache from the soldier storyline.
Replaced the SAS unit with a Foot Guards unit in the River Crossing Airfield mission.
Territory borders on campaign map no longer flicker when overlapping.

North African Operation

Added a fail condition to the intro beat of Tobruk, preventing a soft lock.
Changed the upgradeable medical strategic point for a default medical point in Ajdabiya, Gazala and Tobruk.
Fixed a text issue with Grant tanks during the Tobruk mission.
Moved props away from Garrison Doors to allow units to easily exit/enter on the Desert Raid mission.

UX/UI

Added additional tooltip for the Airborne Rally ability
Added extra tooltips in the Mission and Skirmish results popup
Added missing translations for “Turn” and “End” in Campaign for all languages
Added SFX to various Minimap buttons
Closing chat channels will no longer hide the chat widget
Fixed a bug causing inventory to disappear in the Loadout tab
Fixed a bug causing the veterancy tier descriptions to be missing for M3 Stuart tank.
Fixed a bug causing the wrong icon to appear for Tungsten rounds when upgrading.
Fixed a bug that caused a player’s Battlegroups to show blank on the Match Stats screen
Fixed a bug where the Panzerpioneers could have multiple versions of the Booby Trap ability.
Fixed a bug which had allowed the Panzerjager squad to deploy too early in the Ajdabiya mission.
Fixed an issue where in the Load Games page, where campaign saves would sometimes appear in the Skirmish Load menu.
Fixed disappearing Company support modifiers on the mission debriefing screen.
Fixed UI being disabled when opening chat in screenshot mode.
Improved quality of the territory lines on the mini and tactical maps.
Match settings are now saved when exiting Custom or Skirmish lobbies.
Mod Download notification: changed percent downloaded from float 0-1 to percent 0% - 100%
Mod Download notification: fixed progress bar dropping back to zero after download completes
Mod Download notification: fixed text "Download in Progress " to make sense after download completes
Mod Download notification: implemented total download size and amount downloaded so far.
Removed Rank icons from Skirmish match stats screen.
Removed the End Turn button appearing when the mission briefing screen is opened.
To help provide further gameplay clarity, there is now a bigger opacity difference between selected and unselected squad decorators
Updated cut-off shortcut key text for keyboard and mouse to show full text.
Updated Japanese text for readability
Updated Minimap capture indicator animations to show the point is being captured.
Updated name of performance benchmark map to 'Benchmark'.
Updated the Salerno UI decorator to show it is held by the enemy.
Updated UI so that players cannot accidentally end turn while in the recruitment panel.
Updated visual style of campaign loyalty rewards button
When requesting slot swap in custom games, fixed an issue showing incorrect team number
When using the Match Lobby Default Settings button to reset match settings, it now correctly resets as the default settings.

Steel Shepherd - 1.4.1 Update

This hot fix aims to address the desynchronization issues currently affecting multiplayer. Additionally, we have included a partial fix for Challenges not auto-claiming.

Fixed high occurring sync errors affecting multiplayer and replays. We will be monitoring match stability over the weekend, and once we are satisfied, we will unpause ELO and rank changes. For now, they will stay paused.
Fixed an issue where the Custom Game browse screen prevented players from navigating if there were more than 15 current game lobbies.
Temporary Challenges fix: Challenges that were in-progress and over their completion amount (ex: Kill X Axis vehicles) can now be completed by meeting the criteria one more time (ex: Kill 1 more Axis Vehicle). If a Challenge is stuck at their completion amount, players will need to wait until the Challenge reset on Sunday at Midnight.

Steel Shepherd - 1.4.2 Update

After the release of our Steel Shepherd (1.4.0) update, this hot fix aims to resolve our highest priority bugs while also introducing some necessary changes.

BALANCE CHANGES

Wehrmacht Italian Coastal Battlegroup

We're happy to see people really take Coastal and run with it, trying all kinds of styles and strategies with the Battlegroup. We're going to continue to track its performance, but as a start we're going to tone down a few elements that we noticed were clearly over-tuned.

Artillery Officer

Artillery Overwatch recharge time increased from 20 to 30
Manpower cost increased from 240 to 280

Coastal Reserves

Call-in ability recharge time increased from 35 to 40

Designated Artillery Overwatch

Munitions cost increased from 80 to 90
Overwatch radius reduced from 60 to 55

US Forces Advanced Infantry Battlegroup

Advanced Infantry seems to be having a harder time out of the gate, so we are giving Rangers a significant boost. They will have improved base performance but also scale better with reduced costs and better veterancy, justifying their high cost and upkeep.

Ammunition Storage

Corrected an issue where the Ammunition Storage reduced all weapon cooldowns to 0; now provides the correct 25%

Rangers

Capture rate increased from 1.25 to 1.5
Decapture rate increased from 1 to 1.25
Heavy Weapons expert accuracy bonus increased from +10% to +20%
Ranger Thompson SMG accuracy reduced from 0.54/0.33/0.18 to 0.513/0.3135/0.171
Veterancy 1 damage reduction increased from 10% to 15%
Veterancy 2 now grants +10% weapon accuracy
Veterancy 3 now grants an additional 10% damage reduction
Weapon Crate munition cost reduced from 100 to 90

M1A1 105mm Howitzer

Barrage recharge times reduced from 60 to 45 seconds

M1A1 105mm Howitzer Auto-fire

Range increased from 80 to 110

Ranger Weapon Training

Command Point cost reduced from 4 to 3

BUG FIXES & CHANGES

Art / Animation

British Air and Sea company has new icons.
Fixed an issue where the heavy mortar would animate slower when auto-firing shells.
Beretta M38 has muzzle visual effects when shooting.
Improved the consistency of vaulting over objects.

Audio

Fixed cases where the Intel did not notify the player when a unit is lost in combat.
Improved the audio of ships engaging in combat in the Italian Dynamic Campaign.

Gameplay

Observer Overwatch ability can no longer be permanently applied to a sector.
Fixed an issue that allowed some vehicles to phase through medium sized environmental objects, like cars, instead of crushing them.
Fixed an issue with the 254 Reconnaissance Tractor Off-Map Mortar Barrage also triggering the Smoke Canister ability cooldown.
Fixed an issue where converting Scouts to Pathfinders or Artillery Observers while retreating would cancel the retreat order and stop the unit.
Fixed an issue where Designate Artillery Overwatch and Designate Defense Line were useable on uncompleted Bunkers.
Fixed an issue where overlapping multiple Designate Defensive Line auras would unintentionally stack the damage reduction for units in the area.
Fixed an issue where the ownership of the British Forces Field Infirmary and Resource Cache would transfer to teammates when upgrading over a point they originally captured.
Fixed an issue where Pack Howitzer and Heavy Mortar formations would have a single soldier wander far away from the squad upon detaching from a towing vehicle.
Fixed an issue where the US Forces Demo charge did not display its camouflaged state.
Fixed an issue where units could sometimes get stuck when retreating near buildings.
Fixed instances where units wouldn't fire right after vaulting
Fixed some abilities getting stuck on cooldown when recasting too quickly (aka spamming)
Fixed Team Weapons not retreating correctly after tearing down
Fixed the 4X4 Self-Repair ability decorator not properly showing a timer.
Mines planted by Panzerpioneers and Guastatori now use the correct model, animation and effects. Mines planted by other units now also use the correct model.
Removed the Churchill Crocodile flamethrower bonus damage against bunkers in Single Player.
The Ammunition Supply passive description has been updated to reflect that it affects all units
The Artillery Radio Beacon minimap range indicator now reflects the updated range when monitored.
The Howitzer Free-Fire drills cooldown can no longer be skipped by using the Barrage ability
Units will no longer cancel retreating early if their retreat target becomes invalid
Improved pathing of engineers - engineers should no longer go to the opposite side of barb wire to cut it.
Updated the Unit Command Card to include icons for the Breda Model 30 LMG, GrB Grenade Launcher, Johnson LMG, and MG 15.
Added a new Visual Effect on facing order commands, to confirm units received the order.

Maps

(2) Villa Fiore

The central villa of Villa Fiore has been updated to reduce the dependence on garrisons and improve movement from HQ to HQ, via the villa itself. Three buildings have been removed, and a fourth replaced with a central mansion that has distinct blindspots. Height gameplay still persists in this area, but is less drastic once the player's units enter the boundary of the villa itself (any progress up the hill will negate it).

Minimap Updates

Added updated versions of all Italy and North Africa minimaps for Campaign missions, archetypes and skirmishes across the Italian Campaign and North African Operation.

Single Player

Fixed some hovering strategic points on the Twin Beaches skirmish map. They are now grounded properly.
Fixed the Focus Sight ability to correctly update sight and range.
Fixed a few buildings that didn’t have Auto-Reinforce set to ‘on’ by default.

Dynamic Italian Campaign

Changed the Hold the Line objective to focus on the two capture points beside the Flak 36s. Previously the objective told the player to defend their base.
Fixed Companies from getting healed every time a save game is loaded.
Fixed Companies getting stuck in Spinazzola if airdropped on the location.
Fixed one of the Spec Ops Company's upgrades reducing cost of Mechanized Support Center's upgrades instead of Infantry Support Center's upgrades.
Fixed the attack movement preview being visible when trying to attack an enemy target with a company that cannot attack on this turn.
Fixed the Medical Half-Track being available before requirements are met.
Fixed the Wehrmacht aircraft abilities sometimes ending too early.
Reduced the amount of path-blocking rubble near a medical point in Ortona. This change will now enable reinforcements that spawn behind the point to reach the street.
Updated the atmosphere on the Enigma Mission.
When playing a skirmish, the title now displays the squad Company's faction name instead of the default assigned faction

Foggia Mission

Fixed a fatal scar error occurring when the enemy used a strafing run.
Fixed an issue where some of the airstrike event notifications had no icon.

North African Operation

Changed the Ajdabiya scene atmosphere to prevent issues when transitioning between atmospheres.

Tutorial

Adjusted tutorial mission atmosphere to move it more in line with other North African atmosphere settings.

UX/UI

Added a tooltip on a disabled button in the pause menu during the Tutorial
General tooltip and ability icon fixes.
Reviewed negative affectors in campaign skirmishes to display the right color, a description and an icon.
Squad count is now displayed even when only 1 unit remains in the squad.
Updated icons for side objectives in the objectives pop-up to look consistent with icons in the objectives panel.
Using the Afrikakorps ability to recrew team weapons from the medical truck will no longer cause an empty / null squad to be shown in the post-game stats Units tab, as well as in the Replay live stats.
When setting up a match, all game mode option selections are transferred over when you change the game mode.

Addendum (Dec 13)

Our team has identified the following fixes and changes from the 1.4.2 hot fix that were missing patch notes.

Coastal Wall - Command Point cost from 2 to 3
Challenges that were already in progress before 1.4.0 and are now over the completed amount can now be completed by progressing them just 1 more time.
Converting an infantry unit no longer makes it lose any collected special weapons.
Fixed a sync error when re-crewing team weapons.
Certain elements of the Italian Dynamic Campaign UI are now correctly localized in other languages.
Lowered the attack rate of the Partisan Hub Encircle Target ability, to improve game readability on the Italian Dynamic Campaign Map.
The Fortified Positions trait in the Italian Dynamic Campaign now correctly references to emplacements instead of detachments.
Updated description for the Special Forces' Elite Commandos Trait campaign upgrade.
Improved resource crates clarity on the Italian Dynamic Campaign Map, ensuring all the different crate types feature a portrait and a brief description.
British paradrop planes in Campaign from the Air and Sea Company can no longer be shot down.
Campaign Companies will no longer offer an option to change battle and mission affectors if there is none available.
Fixed the tooltip description of the Valentine II tank in the Italian Dynamic Campaign.
Fixed an issue that was causing auto-saved Replays to no longer recognize players slots and colors after renaming them.
Abilities tooltips are now anchored to the resource bar in Replays, no longer appearing as if they are floating when collapsing the Playback Panel.
Match information will no longer be cutoff in the Replay List under certain languages.
Improved chat box size and positioning in Replays to always show the entirety of messages.
Fixed an issue that was causing ellipses to be applied to text in the Mods page even in cases where it was not necessary.
Garrisonable structures no longer display a description in the Unit Card. The detailed description is still available in the unit tooltip, visible when hovering the mouse on the structure name.
Added an Add Friend button in profiles of players that are not in the friend list.
Updated Tobruk to use a new atmosphere.
The Battle overview UI is no longer visible when quickly switching from hovering on an enemy unit to hovering on a mission space, which previously caused various UI and gameplay issues.

Steel Shepherd - 1.4.3 Update

This hot fix addresses our top crash from this past week that was causing players to crash while loading into a multiplayer match. This was especially problematic in larger game modes. We wanted to thank all our players for filling out their BugSplat crash reports so that we could diagnose the problem in a timely fashion. Thank you for all your patience as we worked to resolve this. Should this patch stabilize matchmaking as expected, we will look to resume ELO or Rank changes in the coming days.

Bugfixes

Addressed a crash while loading into a 4v4 quick match.
Artillery Radio Beacon now stops receiving bonuses to rate of fire and range as soon as the ability is cancelled.
Fixed alignment of territory lines and icons on the tactical map for rectangular shaped maps.
Fixed an issue where players could not change Company Support options when starting a mission in the Italian Dynamic Campaign.
Fixed some messages not appearing when a tutorial is calling the player's attention to something.

Year-1 Anniversary - 1.5.0 Update

To celebrate the 1-year anniversary of Company of Heroes 3, we have remade and re-introduced several classic maps from the franchise’s history into the game. Additionally, we have created two variants of existing maps specifically designed for coop and custom games. This update will also allow players to customize their profiles with new badges, banners and titles. In our ongoing efforts to improve the feel of Company of Heroes, we have also made small changes to pathfinding and acceleration. Please note that this work is still ongoing. Based on player feedback of Replays, we have introduced two new quality of life changes to the feature.

From the perspective of multiplayer balance, our primary objective is to enhance the strategic diversity of the British Forces. Notable adjustments include significant improvements to underused units like the Humber and Grant, aimed at boosting their effectiveness. Core upgrades, such as the Bren Gun and team Weapon/Light vehicle training, have also been refined to enhance the performance of essential army units.

Additionally, we're reshaping two battlegroups to bolster their overall viability. The Wehrmacht Mechanized and US Forces Armor Battlegroups have undergone a restructure, and both will introduce an experimental change for the Panther and Easy 8 call-ins.

NEW CONTENT & FEATURES

Maps

Semois – 1v1

Added 1v1 Semois map to Quick Match, Skirmish and Custom game modes.

An official remake of a favored CoH1 map. This idyllic river village has seen some of the most aggressive, competitive games in the franchise’s history. Fight carefully around the central village and overextend at your own peril.

Elst Outskirts – 2v2

Added 2v2 Elst Outskirts map to Quick Match, Co-op vs A.I., Skirmish and Custom game modes.

Lovingly converted from CoH2, this heavily forested location has become overgrown and decayed since it was first released in 2016. While there are vital resources to the bombed South and industrial North, commanders cannot neglect the vital roads that connect the map and risk leaving them stranded.

Montherme – 3v3

Added 3v3 Montherme map to Quick Match, Co-op vs A.I., Skirmish and Custom game modes.

Return to where it all began in this faithful recreation of a CoH1 classic. Four Commanders will face off across this hilltop town, fighting street by street for control, while two Commanders fight their own desperate gambit across the river. Do you pull resources to ensure their victory, but risk losing the town?

Sangro River Crossing – 3v3

Added 3v3 Sangro River Crossing map to Co-op vs A.I., Skirmish and Custom game modes.

Introducing a new variant of Day 101. This six-player, casual version features player-friendly territory and chokepoints, with pre-destroyed bridges and a flooded river to buy you more time and freedom to lock the map.

Sousse Stronghold – 4v4

Added 4v4 Sousse Stronghold map to Co-op vs A.I., Skirmish and Custom game modes.

A variant of the existing Sousse Wetlands map, split into two major lanes by rising floodwater. Fight over the ancient walled city or the desert village to the South with player-friendly territory layouts and chokepoints galore.

Community Maps

We are pleased to introduce the first round of Community maps as part of Company of Heroes 3's first anniversary. The following maps have been hand-selected and invited into a program of feedback and iteration, before receiving a final polish from our design and art teams. Official Community Maps are recognizable by a green badge, author credit, and a hand symbol in Custom Match and Skirmish lobbies, Map Selection and the Loading Screen.

Faymonville – 1v1

Added 1v1 Faymonville Community map to Quick Match, Skirmish and Custom game modes.

Return to a CoH2 classic, faithfully restored by community members Kpen and AE. This competitive slice of countryside has seen countless battles across its open fields – we expect many more.

Steppes – 4v4
Added 4v4 Steppes Community map to Quick Match, Co-op vs A.I., Skirmish and Custom game modes.

Beautifully reimagined by community mapmaker TheSphinx, this CoH2 map trades the plains of the Eastern Front for the North African desert. Vast and open, with only key chokepoints to fall back to, this map is a mechanized commander’s dream come true.

Profile Customization

The Year-1 Anniversary Update adds the ability to customize the Player Profile. Under the Loadout panel, players are presented with a new “Profile” tab.

Through this panel, you will be able to customize three profile elements:

Badge
Title
Banner

These elements will be visible on a player’s Profile, as well as in any other section of the game where a player name is displayed. For the first batch of items, we have decided to explore a few different themes.

For badges, we have been looking at some of the most beloved unit symbols, applying to each medal a unique treatment. You may notice different colors, fingerprints, or weathering effects.

For banners, our artists drew inspiration from our official trailer, taking scenes and applying unique backgrounds and weathering elements.

For titles, we decided to follow three main themes: unit names, military ranks, and humorous references.

We will continue to expand on the current themes and explore new ones in the future. However, as part of our Anniversary celebration, we are going to gift all current and future players the following profile content:

Four Badges

Bersaglieri
Grenadier
Half Screw
Rifleman

Six Titles

Rifleman
Bersaglieri
British Rifleman
Grenadier
Private First Class
General Errands

Two Banners

Air Cav
MG 42

We have reworked the standard banner that every player has unlocked by purchasing Company of Heroes 3. Premium Edition Exclusive badges, banners and titles will still be available in the Profile menu for those who unlocked them. .

As a final note, this is our first iteration for Profile Customization, and we are looking at further improvements and additions for this feature in the future.

Challenges

Three new challenges are available for our Anniversary week in addition to the regular daily and weekly challenges. These Challenges can only be completed between February 27th and March 5th, 2024.

Anniversary Competitor: Complete 5 Multiplayer or Custom matches on any of the seven new maps
Anniversary Campaigner: Complete 5 Italian Campaign missions
Anniversary Demolitionist: Destroy 50 vehicles in Single Player or Multiplayer

Each of these challenges is worth 800 Merit (2,400 total).

GAMEPLAY & FEATURE IMPROVEMENTS

Maps

Adjusted audio in multiple maps, increasing reverb near tall buildings or in walled compounds.
Adjusted heavy cover near the Western entrance to Monte Cavo's compound, enabling easier light vehicle access to the region. This will in turn create larger holes for infantry to enter this area in the early game.
Bridges will no longer appear as icons on the minimap and tactical map, as they are visible on the new style of minimaps.
Updated cover on the concrete trenches found on Winter Line and other maps, making them one-sided (only benefitting units inside the trench).
Updated Pachino Stalemate with audio tracks and combat music.
Updated Villa Fiore atmosphere to have more contrast.
Various updates to Taranto Coastline, including updating cut-off territory to be considerably less aggressive; height gameplay around center line of the map has also been reduced significantly, improving gameplay and pathfinding in this area.

Pathfinding

We continue to work on pathfinding improvements and will be releasing changes as they are ready. For this update, we wanted to address vehicle reversing. When issuing forward movements, we want vehicles to follow a path with small direction deviations (smooth curve), so they do not lose speed.

This means that our path searching algorithm doesn't follow the shortest path. However, for reverse movement, precision and direct movement it is often more important to get out of harm’s way quicker. As such, for reverse movements our path searching algorithm will try to stick to the shortest path when possible.

Vehicles now follow tighter paths when force-reversing

We will have additional pathfinding improvements in our next PC update (1.6.0).

Replays

We are happy to see that players have responded positively to CoH3’s implementation of the Replay feature, and we have been reviewing your feedback as we work to continually improve it.

We are happy to announce two new features coming to Replays, along with various bug fixes that should make the experience more consistent and enjoyable.

Playback Panel can now be faded out when in “Collapse and Hide Player Elements” mode through a dedicated option in the game settings. This feature works similarly to the Cinematic Mode button. Find this option in the Settings menu.
A new “Reveal Map: All Players” option has been introduced in the Playback Panel. This is a very popular feature in other Strategy titles, as it reveals the vision of all players, while retaining fog of war on areas where none of the players can see. This will provide better information on what players can and cannot see, while also helping to create tension and excitement while watching replays.

Replay Bug Fixes

During Replays the tactical map can now be opened when the free camera is off, meaning you are following a player's camera.
Fixed the icons for the Italian Combined Arms Battlegroup and the Italian Infantry Battlegroup.

Vehicle Acceleration

Our recent acceleration changes to vehicles were meant to improve the responsiveness of the game. While we think controlling vehicles ended up feeling snappier, it was slightly over-tuned making it difficult to land snares on them. We're now halving the values as a middle ground, which should alleviate these issues, but still ensure vehicles feel snappy with realistic acceleration.

Slope of "Speed increase" from 0.8 to 0.4
Start Speed from 0.3 to 0.15 - These are percentages of the vehicles maximum speed
Time before vehicle acceleration kicks in from 0.625s to 0.250s

MULTIPLAYER BALANCE

Anti-Infantry Strafing Runs

Recent fixes to strafing runs and how they apply damage has resulted in these abilities doing less damage than intended for the anti-infantry strafes. The following change brings them back up to their previous power level.

Damage increased from 20 to 35

Call-ins

We’re trying out a new experimental change in the beloved world of Call-ins. For the Wehrmacht Mechanized Panther and the US Armored Easy 8, we have added alternative picks in their battlegroups that allow you to directly build them from your tech structures.

The idea here is to separate the channels where players simply want to access powerful unique vehicles and where players want to tech skip, giving us the ability to now balance both behaviors separately. Before they were separated, we always had to balance around the more powerful strategy in its most disruptive mode (so often tech skipping in 1v1) while overly punishing all other alternative employments, which often disadvantaged team-game players. It also meant the best way to use these Battlegroups with these call-ins would be to tech skip, forcing a certain style of play to maximize efficiency.

We want these units and abilities to be interesting and accessible to as many playstyles and modes as possible, so the intent here is that by separating them into exclusive options with different costs, we can achieve proper balance in a variety of scenarios.

This is experimental and we will be keeping a close eye on how this affects the game and player experience. All that we ask is that players approach it with an open mind and try it out!

FACTION BALANCE

US Forces

Only a few changes are being made this patch to the US Forces to improve the viability of the Air Support Center, slightly nerf the Chaffee, and adjust the strength of the Armored Battlegroup which has taken over as the dominant strategy in certain modes and skill brackets.

4x4 Scout Commander

Upgrade time increased from 10 to 30

Air Supply Upgrade

Cost decreased from 150 manpower and 40 fuel to 125 manpower and 30 fuel

American Air Support Center P-47 Strafing Run

With anti-air in a better state, we’re reintroducing some power to the ASC Strafes, giving US Forces players more punch but with the possibility of counterplay.

Damage increased from 20 to 40
Delay for the second plane decreased from 4 to 3 seconds
Munition cost decreased from 60 to 50

Grasshopper Recon Run

We’ve reworked the way the ASC recon works, giving it vision at all levels and reversing the high-level and low-level planes. Before, the tradeoffs were not intuitive and often could be detrimental to the player, so we’re simplifying this so that the upgraded version is a strictly better version of the non-upgraded recon run.

Advanced Air Reconnaissance increases plane health by 1000 and increases vision radius by 15
Now provides vision from the start; no longer detects enemies in the fog of war

M4A1 Sherman Medium Tank

High-Explosive Rounds munitions cost decreased from 45 to 30

M4(105) Sherman Bulldozer

Dozer now properly takes reduced damage from mines by 50% and will not take mine criticals while active. Speed penalty increased to 40% when the dozer blade is active
Sherman Dozer no longer starts with its dozer blade deployed

M8 Scott

Vertical tracking speed increased from 15 to 35

M24 Chaffee Light Tank

We’ve noted the power of the Chaffee tank in certain modes and matchups, but we’re currently going after some of the enablers (US Armored Battlegroup) that make employing these units so strategically powerful. However, we are toning down the Chaffee slightly by making hard anti-tank options more effective against them by increasing their target size.

Target size increased from 16 to 18

M2A1 105mm Howitzer Emplacement

Barrage range increased from 250 to 300
Wind-up decreased from 0.25 to 0

US Forces Battlegroups

P-47 Special Operations Strafing Run

The Special Operations Strafing Run has been overhauled to be an anti-infantry Loiter.

Converted to a loiter that lasts for 60 seconds
Munition cost increased from 100 to 110
Only targets infantry; deals damage and suppression

Armored Battlegroup

New Ability - Unlock M4A3E8 Sherman Production

Costs Zero Command Points to unlock
Alternative pick to the standard M4A3E8 Sherman Combat Group that allows the M4A3E8 Sherman to be built from the Tank Depot.
M4A3E8 Sherman build cost set to 440 manpower and 110 fuel

Fast Deploy

We have reverted the command point change of Fast Deploy to reduce the pressure double 4x4 trucks can apply to the opponent before they can get an equal number of units out to contest.

Fast Deploy command cost increased from 0 to 1

Seek and Destroy

Seek and Destroy and Panzerstorm are having their speed bonuses reduced to make it easier to intercept or rundown units under the effects of these combat boosts. These abilities have received slight increases to their bonuses in other areas to compensate.

Accuracy bonus increased from 35% to 40%
Reload bonus increased from 25% to 30%
Speed bonus decreased from 50% to 35%

M4A3E8 Sherman Combat Group

Sherman Easy 8 call-in command point cost decreased from 8 to 7

M8 Scott

Command point cost decreased from 3 to 2

British Forces

The British Forces are receiving many changes that are primarily targeting underused units and upgrades to improve build diversity and strategies. Units like the Humber and Grant have received significant changes to improve viability and to have greater impact on battles. Upgrades like the Bren Gun, Team Weapon/Light Vehicle Training have also gained improvements, allowing upgraded British armies to perform better.

Churchill IV Heavy Tank

Population requirement decreased from 18 to 16
Reload time decreased from 4.75/5.75 to 4.25/5.25

Crusader AA Medium Tank

We are reverting the majority of the prior changes to the Crusader AA which was previously on-par with the Wirbelwind’s effectiveness despite costing more and being locked to a Battlegroup.

Area of effect increased from 2 to 2.5
Area of effect distance increased from 0.33/1/1.75 to 0.5/1.5/2

CWT AA Truck

Polsten 20mm Anti-air conversion cost decreased from 60 to 45

Dingo Scout Car

We want to keep the unique aspect of the Dingo being a combat scout vehicle, meaning its main changes are focused on weapon responsiveness and increased firepower. We have slightly increased the cost of the Dingo due to its potency against early game threats. With Royal Engineers having increased capture rates, this allows the British to take map control while the Dingo keeps the enemy on the defensive.

Accuracy increased from 0.614/0.506/0.484 to 0.75/0.68/0.65
Fire-aim time modifier at long-range decreased from 1.5 to 1
Firing cone increased from 5 to 15
Front and side armor decreased from 5 to 4.5
Health increased from 220 to 235
Manpower cost increased from 250 to 265
Moving cooldown modifiers changed from 0.5 to 1
Ready-aim time decreased from 0.5/0.75 to 0.125/0.125
Weapon horizontal traverse speed increased from 25 to 60
Weapons no longer begin to reface when no targets are acquired. It will now reset to its default position after 4 seconds.

Foot Guards

Foot Guards are receiving some minor improvements to increase their survivability and damage that better reflects their status as elite end-game infantry.

Health increased from 110 to 115
Thompson accuracy increased 0.58/0.3/0.15 to 0.64/0.34/0.15

Humber Armored Car

The Humber is gaining significant improvements to make it a cheap, effective anti-infantry scout vehicle that can better resist autocannons, allowing it to engage units like the Flakvierlinghalf-track. The Humber will remain fragile to anti-tank weapons but will have increased vision range and speed to escape threats.We have also raised the accuracy of the Humber to be reliable against all infantry units. Previously, the Humber’s accuracy depended on the current squad’s size, despite not being geared to engaging massed infantry formations.

15mm Machine Gun accuracy increased from 0.38/0.29/0.19 to 0.85/0.65/0.55
Area of effect increased from 0 to 0.75
Armor increased from 20/20/10 to 25/25/10
Fuel cost decrease from 35 to 30
Incremental accuracy removed
Mark Area ability now provides vision around the flare, but does not see through sight blockers
Mark Area now displays the affected aura around it
Sight increased from 40 to 45
Speed increase from 8.1 to 8.3

Infantry Section

We are increasing the power of Infantry Sections when they are armed with Bren Guns. Bren Guns are the primary combat upgrade for the Infantry Section that allows them to scale into the late-game, providing a significant damage boost over all other upgrades at the cost of utility.

Build-time decreased from 28 to 25
Reinforce time for all models standardized to 4.5
Bren Gun cost decreased from 100 to 90
Bren gun accuracy increased from 0.54/0.51/0.47.5 to 0.67/0.60/0.55
Bren Gun cooldown decreased from 2/2.5 to 1.5/1.5

Light Vehicle Training

Light Vehicle Training has been adjusted to provide significant experience bonuses to light vehicles, allowing them to reach veterancy sooner, while the bonuses improve hit reliability and mobility bonuses.

Bonuses changed to +15% Accuracy, +25% acceleration and rotation rate

Increased veterancy experience gain from 800 to 1200

M3 Grant Medium Tank

We want the M3 Grant to be an advanced medium tank that is worth its unlock cost and makes it stand-out from other vehicles in the game. Changes are meant to focus the Grant’s role as a vehicle that excels in frontal assaults, challenging most units head-on with its improved durability and high firepower.

The turret 37mm weapon has been reworked to be more focused on defeating light vehicles that can occasionally penetrate tanks at distance. Its anti-infantry performance is now like that of the Stuart’s main gun.

37mm area of effect damage changed from 0.75/0.3/0.15 to 0.5/0.3/0.3
37mm area of effect decreased from 2 to 1.75
37mm distance changed from 0.5/1/1.5 to 0.375/0.375/2
37mm model damage limit decreased from 3 to 2
37mm penetration increased from 55/45/40 to 90/80/65
37mm reload time from 3.5/4.25 to 3/3.25
75mm penetration increased from 200/165/125 to 200/185/165
Distance scatter max from 15 to 3.5
Health increased from 720 to 840
Scatter changed from 7.5 to 5.5

M3 Stuart Light Tank

Given how quickly vehicles can move, having three separate effects for Tread Shot depending on the range was difficult for players to gauge what effect they would get. We are reducing it to a single effect, allowing the Stuart’s veterancy ability to always impact any vehicle in a major way.

Tread Shot now always causes a speed debuff of -80% speed and -40% rotation for 5 seconds. Effects no longer change on distance.

Requisition 17-pounder Anti-tank Gun Unlock

Cost decreased from 125 manpower and 25 fuel to 100 manpower and 15 fuel

Royal Engineer Section

Royal Engineers are having their capture speed increased to help diversify the British early game by granting them better map control early on at the cost of long-term scaling.

Health increased from 85 to 95
Capture rate increased from 1 to 1.25

Team Weapon Training

The bonuses from Team Weapon Training have been reworked to now provide significant bonuses that can be impactful to the outcome of a battle. The upgrade focuses on improving the survivability and rate of fire for all units involved.

Bonuses changed to +20% cooldown and reload speed and +15 health. Veterancy reward bonus remains the same.

Vickers Focused Gunnery

Ranged increased from 50 to 55
Suppression penalty from 60% to 25%
Suppression penalty no longer affects Suppression radius and nearby suppression modifier

Vickers HMG

Build time decreased from 40 to 30

British Forces Battlegroups

Heavy Armor Battlegroup

Engineer Detachments now competes with Veteran Vehicle Crews
Light Vehicle Withdrawal moved to location of Engineer Detachments
Radio Net position swapped with Light Vehicle Withdrawal

Light Vehicle Withdrawal

With Light Vehicle Withdrawal always being available and the improved performance of British Forces light vehicles, we are reinstating the munitions cost to this ability to limit how fast units can be traded in early game where there are multiple units competing for munitions.

Restored the previous munitions cost of 30

Deutsche Afrikakorps

The Deutsche Afrikakorps is receiving some changes to reduce the impact of their shock vehicle timings, specifically the anti-infantry power of the L6/40 and limiting the mobility of the Flakvierling. In return, the Afrikakorps will have easier access to late game units with the primary focus on the deployment costs of Armored Reserves to improve its viability and provide discounted medium armor over the course of a longer game.

254 Armored Tractor

Lockdown mortar barrage shell count decreased from 24 to 14

250 Light Carrier

The standard 250 is having its front armor reduced to allow infantry to push back the 250 Light Carrier with concentrated small-arms fire.
Frontal armor decreased from 7 to 5.5; Also applies to the mortar variant
250/9 20mm autocannon variant armor unchanged

Armored Reserves

The cost of non-Tiger call-ins has been reduced. Afrikakorps players already pay a significant number of resources to unlock units that have earlier timings in other armies or already exists in Panzer Armee Kommand.

Carro Armato M13/40 Light Tank

We are making some minor changes to the Carro to reduce its performance against infantry.

Carro 47mm far accuracy corrected from 0.0375 to 0.035 to match other generalist tank guns
Model damage limit decreased from 3 to 2

Famo Recovery Half-track

Veterancy requirements decreased from 1200/3600/7200 to 500/1000/1500

Flak 36 88mm Anti-tank Gun

Range increased from 70 to 75

Flakvierling Half-track

We are reducing the Flakvierling Half-track’s speed and acceleration, making it more difficult for the unit to escape its counter, and less effective at responding to enemy incursions across the map.

Acceleration decreased from 3.25 to 2.5
Speed decreased from 6.9 to 6.2

Flammpanzer III Medium Tank

Frontal armor increased from 130 to 150

Panzer III Assault Group

Panzerjaeger replaced with a Panzerpioneer Squad that is upgraded with the GrB 39 Grenade Launcher

Cost decreased from 600 manpower and 80 fuel to 500 manpower and 60 fuel

Panzer III L Medium Tank

We have fixed an issue where the Panzer III’s machine gun upgrade was significantly weaker than all other machine guns in the game. This puts it on-par with the Panzer IV’s MG 42 upgrade.

Pintle machine gun damage increased from 3 to 5
Pintle machine gun accuracy increased from 0.45/0.30/0.20 to 0.65/0.55/0.20

Panzer IV and StuG G Assault Groups

Cost decreased from 600 manpower and 80 fuel to 500 manpower and 70 fuel

Panzerarmee Kommand

Cost decreased from 350 manpower and 130 fuel to 300 manpower and 120 fuel

Panzerjäger Squad

We are significantly improving the Panzerjäger’s role as an anti-vehicle unit by increasing their rate of fire and responsiveness when acquiring a target. Their durability has also been slightly increased to help them against area of effect weapons they often encounter.

Health increased from 90 to 95
Panzerbüchse ready aim time from 1.25 to 0.75
Panzerbüchse aim-time decreased from 0.5/1 to 0.25/0.75
Panzerbüchse aim-time multiplier decreased from 1/1.25/1.5 to 1/1/1
Panzerbüchse reload time decreased from 2.75/3.25 to 2.5/2.75
Anti-tank Tear Gas Round ability cost decreased from 45 to 30

Semovente

HEAT shell now slows a vehicle’s speed by 80% and rotation by 40% for 5 seconds.
HEAT shell will now force the Semovente to keep tracking its target if the unit has exited its arc of fire while the ability is active, but no shell has been fired

StuG D

Vertical tracking speed increased from 17 to 35

Deutsche Afkikakorps Battlegroups

Italian Infantry

L6/40 Double Call-in

L6/40s are receiving a major adjustment that greatly reduces their anti-infantry performance when used without the flamethrower. This makes the standard L6/40 rush less likely to immediately end the game and more geared to countering early light vehicles when used in pairs.

We have chosen to go this route as the Afrikakorps already have many anti-infantry light vehicles that can put pressure on the opponent, and we wanted to keep synergy with the Guastatori also being available from the same part of the unlock tree who are strong anti-infantry units.

Area of effect damage reduced from 0.3/0.15/0.15 tp 0.1 at all distances
Area of effect distance reduced from 0.75/0.67/0.5 to 0/0.35/0.5
Area of effect reduced from 1.25 to 0.15
L6/40 accuracy reduced from 0.65/0.53/0.45 to 0.175/0.15/0.125
L6/40 Combat Group cost changed from 475 manpower and 35 fuel to 425 manpower and 50 fuel
L6/40 speed reduced from 7.5 to 7.2
Model damage limit reduced from 3 to 1

Armored Support
Battlefield Salvage

Duration increased from 45 to 60 second duration
Munitions cost decreased from 150 to 125 munition,

Panzer IV Command Tank

Command Point cost decreased from 4 to 3

Panzerstorm

Seek and Destroy and Panzerstorm are having their speed bonuses reduced make it easier to intercept or rundown units under the effects of these combat boosts. These abilities have received slight increases to their bonuses in other areas to compensate.

Acceleration bonus increased from 20% to 30%
Panzerstorm decorator indicator updated from offensive to speed
Rotation bonus increased from 20 to 25%
Speed bonus decreased from 50% to 35%

Vehicle Awareness

We have reworked this ability to be a global active, allowing us to increase the range of the detection aura, without providing constant reconnaissance of enemy vehicles through the fog of war.

Active for 60 seconds; 120 second recharge time
Changed from a passive ability to an active timed ability
Command Point cost decreased from 2 to 1
Costs 50 munitions
Range increased from 60 to 70

Italian Combined Arms

Italian Combined Arms Strafing Run

Bonus damage against vehicles increased from 100% to 250%

Italian Combined Artillery Cover

Delay between anti-infantry mortar barrages decreased from 10 to 3
Delay between anti-vehicle heavy artillery barrages decreased from 10 to 5
Mortar projectile speed increased from 30 to 55
Munitions cost decreased from 225 to 200

Pact of Steel

Command Point cost increased from 1 to 2

Secured Flanks and Force Recon abilities

Active aura range increased from 25 to 35 to match Combined Arms aura

Wehrmacht

Wehrmacht is receiving gentle adjustments this patch mainly to address issues regarding early game map control.

Artillery Officer

Artillery Overwatch now has a 1.5 second delay before the first barrage is triggered; does not affect subsequent barrages.

Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind

Fuel cost increased from 50 to 60

Grenadier Squad

Grenadier capture rate is being increased to match other infantry squads.

Can no longer merge into retreating units
Capture speed increased from 1 to 1.25

Kettenkrad

Kettenkrad has been overperforming as the main capture tool for Wehrmacht players. We’re making some changes that should distribute a bit of capture power away from the Kettenkrad, making builds without it a bit more viable.

Decapture revert rate decreased from 1.5 to 1.25
Communication Cables munitions cost increased from 25 to 40
Communication Cables now increases decapture speed by 0.25 from 0; returns Revert rate back to its original value

MG 42 White Phosphorous Rounds

Now has increased effectiveness against targets in cover. Gains +25% accuracy against units in cover and lowers the impact of cover damage reduction by 25%.

Nebelwerfer 42 Rocket Launcher

This adjusts the direct damage caused by the Nebelwerfer rockets on defensive structures, bringing them in-line with other artillery units that also have this penalty.

Now has a 25% damage penalty against bunkers and emplacements

Panther Heavy Tank

Now benefits from Officer Training from the Panzer Kompanie

Panzergrenadiers

Medium-range accuracy increased from 0.34 to 0.375

Stummel Half-track

Vertical tracking speed increased from 18 to 35

Wehrmacht Battlegroups

Mechanized Battlegroup

Mobile Repair Stations replaces Fuel Seizure: 251 Half-tracks and its variants, and the 221 Scout Car can automatically repair nearby vehicles in a 25m aura with a repair speed of 5.5 health per second when stationary and out of combat.
Panther, StuG III Assault Group, and 8-Rad Command Point costs decreased by 1
Raid Package Command Point cost increased from 1 to 2
Zeroing Artillery and Mechanized Assault swapped with Stosstruppen Ambush Package and Wespe SPG locations to the final row

New Ability - Unlock Panther Heavy Tank Production

Costs Zero Command Points to unlock
Alternative pick to the standard Panther Heavy Tank call-in that allows the Panther to be built from the Panzer Kompanie.
Call-in and buildable cost are the same at 550 manpower and 100 fuel.

Coastal Battlegroup

Bulwark Command Point cost increased from 2 to 3
Designate Defensive Line munitions cost increased from 60 to 75
Designate Defensive Line radius decreased from 35 to 30

Command Bunker

Cost increased from 250 manpower and 15 fuel to 250 manpower and 25 fuel

BUGFIXES

Art/Animation

Adjusted some fences on Gardens to improve access to buildings.
Enabled access to a building near the summit of Mignano so that both doors can be used by players.
Fixed doors and windows on certain buildings to break when occupied.
Fixed an issue where the Stug III D was missing smoke launcher tubes.
Fixed an issue where the repair animation and sound were persisting after a bunker’s destruction.
Fixed an issue with destruction on certain fort structures.
Fixed occlusion issues with the US Forces Ammo Storage
Fixed rocket visuals for the Nebelwerfer
Fixed an issue where the Engine Damaged and Crew Stunned special effects were triggered when researching the Communication Cable upgrade.
Fixed a misaligned construction animation happening when repairing machine gun emplacements
The 105mm Howitzer recoil timing was improved to match projectile ejection.
Removed a horizontal line artifact showing during the post-match Victory video.
The Map preview in Multiplayer or Skirmish lobby will now only show victory point locations if the selected game mode uses victory points.
The 250 Halftrack Gunner no longer use the default idle animation when shooting.
Fix some vehicles having choppy movement when they pivot on the spot.
Fixed water seam issue on Semois map.
Adjusted Sousse Wetlands atmosphere to have warmer tone.
Fixed vehicle physics sometimes causing vehicles to continuously bounce up and down.

Audio

Added audio feedback when hovering the All Maps or Modded button.
Fixed the British Air and Sea Company sometimes using the wrong voice lines.

Gameplay

Squads no longer automatically skip a queued capture order if it is contested by an enemy squad. Queueing up multiple capture orders will force the unit to remain until they capture the point before moving on to the next target, instead of giving up when enemies walk into the area. This behavior impacts all units, which means that even a unit with no combat capabilities (ie: Kettenkrad), will remain to capture a point.
Challenges can no longer be completed by destroying your own or your teammates' units.
Fixed retreating units being cancelled by pinned status that begins on the same tick as the retreat command.
Fixed a description issue with Sound the Alarm where it did not mention it provided vision.
Fixed a munition exploit with the Half-track Salvage ability.
Fixed a targeting issue with the Bazooka Team's White Phosphorous rocket when firing at bridges
Fixed an issue where build time indicators for defenses built by Coastal Reserves Pioneers did not reflect the fact that Coastal Reserves Pioneers build 50% faster.
Fixed an issue where Assault Engineer Thompsons would not be reequipped on reinforce.
Fixed an issue where Coastal Reserve abilities could occur when near neutral or enemy bunkers.
Fixed an issue where the Afrikakorps 2.5 tonne trucks were not affected by Rapid Advance.
Fixed an issue where snipers could miss pinned targets.
Fixed an issue where Strength in Steel did not update the population values of the M8 Scott, M31 Recovery Vehicle, and Sherman Easy 8 call-in abilities.
Fixed an issue where the 4x4 Trucks self-repair abilities did not share a cooldown between its upgraded and non-upgraded version.
Fixed an issue where the 6-pounder, 17-pounder, and the Flak 36 88mm Mobile Anti-Tank gun could gain height bonuses
Fixed an issue where the 75mm Half-track did not reveal itself when firing from the fog of war.
Fixed an issue where the Bishop projectile could fail to fire and instead fall through the earth when firing at certain elevations.
Fixed an issue where the Wehrmacht Sniper lost camouflage faster than the US Forces Sniper when leaving cover
Fixed an issue where the GrB 39 Grenade Launcher projectile could fall through the ground rather than firing at the target when on a slope.
Fixed an issue where the Kettenkrad could not camouflage until it moved after reaching Veterancy level 1
Fixed an issue where the Recon Artillery ability would not cover its intended radius and would not barrage enemies at the edge of the ability.
Fixed an issue where the Semovente was using medium vehicle veterancy rather than light vehicle veterancy.
Fixed an issue where the Smoke canisters did not function for the Stummel and was in the incorrect grid position for the Wehrmacht Medical Half-track
Fixed an issue where the sniper could not fire when medical-kits was active. Healing will be paused when the sniper fires.
Fixed an issue where the Spotting Scope Upgrade remained upon converting the unit.
Fixed an issue where the Stummel and 75mm Gun Motor Carriage would not fire if the hull was not aligned to the target.
Fixed an issue where the US Forces Sniper could get first-strike bonuses
Fixed an issue where the Zeroing Barrage ability description was incorrect on the Battlegroup menu.
Fixed an issue where White Phosphorous Grenades could trigger mines, even when not exploding on top of them.
Fixed Command Churchill to allow infantry to ride it like other Churchill variants.
Fixed decapture time on some Medium and High resource points that were previously using the Low points values. This is a specific issue that was affecting rectangular shaped points, such as those available on Gardens. Decapture rate has now been standardized to 25 seconds for Medium and 35 seconds for High points.
Fixed units with Ambush Concealment staying camouflaged when squad enters combat.
Fixed vehicles moving in reverse ignoring movement speed modifiers.
Fixed when the loop for the aircraft engines becomes stuck playing if the player drastically changes the zoom when the sound effects are playing.
Flak 36 Anti-Tank Guns and 17-pounder Anti-Tank Guns can now capture territory and prevent territory from being captured when the squad is in a capture circle.
Panzergrenadiers will now spawn with their 6th model when upgraded with Veteran Squad Leaders.
Team weapon squads can no longer be deployed while inside the Afrikakorps 250 Halftrack
The Allied Expedition challenge now awards 30 Merit instead of 100
The description of the challenge Panzerarmee has been updated for clarity and now specifies that the challenge must be completed with a Panzer III or Panzer IV.
The Flak 30 20mm Anti-aircraft Gun can now prioritize aircraft
The Flakvierling Half-track Armor Piercing rounds ability will now apply a speed debuff decorator over the target it hits.
Units that do not provide resources for their wrecks can no longer be salvaged for resources from Recovery Vehicles or the Afrikakorps Salvage Kits upgrades. Previously the wrecks could be salvaged, but no resources would be provided.
Updated a wooden gate to be crushable by all vehicles - it was previously impervious to light vehicles.
When Support Advance is used on the StuG D, the reticule will now match the unit's maximum attack ground range.

Performance/Stability

Fixed a crash that can occur when upgrading bunkers at the same time as squads are unloading.
Fixed an issue causing frame-drop when selecting a large group of vehicles.
Fixed a crash that sometimes occurs when using abilities in single player.
In Custom Matches, when an outdated or unloadable mod is selected in a lobby, the start match button is disabled and a tooltip will provide information on the mod causing issues. This change prevents players from crashing when trying to load a Custom match with an outdated or unloadable mod.
For performance reasons we now only validate and populate the most recent 50 manual saved games for each of three categories: Skirmish saves, Italy Campaign saves, and North Africa saves. Replays are also restricted to the 50 most recent ones. The older save and replay files don't get deleted though. If you delete some of your newer ones, older ones will then become available.
Updated minimum AMD driver version to accommodate last released driver for AMD 370 GPUs.
Fixed some memory leaks.
Fixed a crash that would happen occasionally in Italian Campaign Skirmishes while the Fallschirmjäger bonus objective was active.

Single Player

Gela

Fixed an issue where Allied units were infinitely spawning. This could cause save files to become exceptionally large and fail to load or open.

Calabria

The first Attacking tutorial no longer overlaps with the combat preview window.
Fixed instances of ending turns taking too long.
The background to the loyalty button is now being properly hidden during the tutorial.

Dynamic Italian Campaign

British Forces vehicles now use multiplayer pathfinding improvements instead of the older singleplayer pathing.
Fixed an issue where a company may die even when they win a mission on Italy campaign if they started the mission while having low health.
The Attack Airfield secondary objective will no longer spawn out of bounds behind the Caesar line.
Fixed British Air and Sea Company's Air Recon trait not always providing the correct buff percentage.
Improved Paradrop Company ability is now properly hidden on the C47 plane until the upgrade has been purchased.
Rapid Construction Company skill upgrade now instantly builds detachments.
Fixed an issue preventing scripted aircraft flyovers and bombing runs from overlapping.
Fixed an issue where the BAR upgrade would display, even after the player had access to the M1941 Johnson Light Machinegun in campaign.
Fixed an issue where the Stuart Light Tank in the Tank Ace mission did not have a decorator when using self-repair.
Fixed the crew being German on the Stummel Half-track when recrewed during certain missions.
Fixed some disappearing Company support modifiers on the mission briefing screen.
Fixed the tooltip description of the Valentine II Medium tank.
Improved movement lines and Attack Icon visuals.
Removed the single rogue Wehrmacht repair bunker from the campaign map as it had no functionality.
The British Forces mortar will now recrew with the correct Indian mortar crew members.
Updated the reticule for the veterancy 1 Paratrooper paradrop to use the same radius of the non-upgraded ability.
The Command Valentine now uses a unique wreck; when recovered the unit will be respawned as a Command Valentine rather than as a normal Valentine.
The member of the paratrooper squad no longer starts the Salerno mission stuck behind the truck.
Fixed some company upgrades being purchasable multiple times in Italy Campaign.
Added failure reason text when attempting to use ability that requires vision at an area/target player does not have vision of.
Fixed paradropped supply crates sometimes getting stuck inside buildings and being unreachable if a building started being constructed on the landing site before the supply crates have landed.
Fixed some player abilities cooldown freezing upon saving and loading the game.

UX/UI

Updated error/ban message for chat-banned players, in addition Ban notifications will now show more information about your ban.
Team weapons will be counted in the total stats under Units tab in post match stats.
Fixed an issue introduced in Steel Shepherd that required holding the ESC key to skip the opening cinematic. Pressing ESC once will now skip the cinematic as intended.
Fixed an issue in the Japanese and Chinese versions of Company of Heroes 3 that would occur when typing English characters.
Added a hotkey tooltip to production building buttons in the command card.
Adjusted loading screen pinwheels to be present inside the content grid in ultrawide screen mode.
Changed the time stamp format for store sales countdown timer to show seconds, only when it's less than 24-hours left
Disabled movement preview from being visible while trying to construct detachments.
Factions are now consistently ordered in the Faction Selection and Loadout screens.
Fixed a bug that was causing British Forces and Afrikakorps base bunkers to appear in the post-match stats.
Fixed the Detonate icon on the tactical map
Fixed some emplacements not being selectable while in Tactical Map.
Fixed wrong requirement tooltip being displayed when trying to load more units to a garrison that is already at full capacity.
General tool-tip fixes and information updates.
Party members will receive a notification message when party host migration occurs, due to the host leaving.
Removed No Key objective names in the after-action reports.
The Hold-Fire ability will now display the correct icon when active.
Updated the wreck recovery UI.
The store UI now allows players to view owned store items.
Along with the addition of profile customization to the Loadout screen, the sorting of items on the Loadout screen has been changed. They are now sorted by the Company of Heroes 3 release in which they were introduced, then by rarity and finally alphabetically.
Fixed a bug where in some cases replays would reflect the tickets remaining for the two teams swapped.

Year-1 Anniversary - 1.5.1 Update

GENERAL

Fixed an issue where the M4A3 Sherman Easy 8 did not benefit from the Fast Deploy ability.
Fixed an issue that allowed players to get the same weapon upgrade twice on a squad.

MULTIPLAYER BALANCE

US Forces

M8 Greyhound Armored Car

Skirts have pushed the Greyhound to be too difficult to deal with for a variety of softer counters, leading to US Forces players gaining a significant advantage when these are on the field. We are gently rolling this back to make it more vulnerable to soft counters like Anti-Tank Rifles and snares.

Armored skirts health bonus decreased from 120 to 80

British Forces

Royal Engineers

We are partially removing some of the changes to the Royal Engineer squad to make them more vulnerable to non-rifle weapons. We want to maintain the increase in capture speed, but also limit how fast Royal Engineers can arrive on the field to gain both map control and field presence.

Build time increased from 20 to 30 seconds
Reinforce cost increased from 24 to 26
Health change reverted from 95 to 85

Training Center Upgrades

The Training Center upgrades are being locked behind the Platoon Command Post to require the British Forces to tech up to gain the powerful upgrades available to the faction. With the recent changes to both the British and Axis factions, the Training Center upgrades no longer need to be available from the start.

Now requires the Platoon Command Post to be constructed

Centaur Medium Tank

With a stronger early game available to the British Forces, some mid game call-ins have become far too powerful and can often catch Axis players at a point where they cannot field a reasonable counter. The costs on the Centaur and AA are meant to slow down the acquisition of these units and force a deeper investment into them if the player wants a powerful midgame.

Fuel cost increased from 75 to 90

Crusader AA

Fuel cost increased from 70 to 80

Deutsche Afrikakorps

Panzerjager Squad

This change was meant to be part of the rest of the Panzerbuchse changes as we wanted to improve the effectiveness of the Panzerjager against vehicles through its rate of fire, but not its infantry efficacy. By increasing both, the unit is far too efficient against all targets, which we are now toning down.

Panzerbuchse 39 AT Rifle now has a -25% accuracy penalty against infantry.

STABILITY

Fixed a crash when transitioning out of a match.
Fixed a crash when completing a daily or weekly objective.
Fixed 3 instability crashes.
We are still investigating reported lag and audio issues.

Year-1 Anniversary - 1.5.2 Update

This hot fix is a temporary measure to address the lag and audio issues players have been encountering in multiplayer. Please note that we are still working on this issue, as its root cause requires additional time to resolve it correctly. We want to thank all of the players who helped us isolate this issue by submitting their Replay files to us. To everyone else, thank you for your patience as we worked to alleviate this issue.

General

Partial fix to audio processing to alleviate frame issues.
As an exception, this update allows Replays from 1.5.1 to be played with the 1.5.2 version of the game

Year-1 Anniversary - 1.5.3 Update

This Hot Fix is focused on improving menu loading time and player interactions.

If you have a lot of Steam friends, opening the Friends list in game takes a loooooooooooooooooooong time. So we fixed it.
Improved update time when changing the equipped Player Profile items (Badges/Titles/Banners) in a Party screen or Lobby screen.
Optimized the loadout menu to improve loading time.
Fixed chat interaction causing a "$11183830 No Key" error.
Various player moderation system improvements.

Coral Viper - 1.6.0 Update

NEW CONTENT & FEATURES

Battlegroups

We’re happy to announce that the new Battlegroups releasing with Coral Viper will be available for free (0 Merit) for all players via the in-game Store. This is our way of thanking you, our players, for sticking with us as we continue to work to improve the game and create additional gameplay content. This offer isn’t planned to expire for now, but if we change the price later, we will give you ample notice. Anyone who unlocks the Battlegroups for free will be able to keep them, even if their price is adjusted in the future.

British Forces – Australian Defense Battlegroup

Defensive battlegroup designed around the exploits of the Australian 9th Division in North Africa. Despite being made of entirely volunteer infantry, this division was the first Allied army to successfully repel Germany's Blitzkrieg tactics, notably at Tobruk and El Alamein.

Traits

Light Infantry
Defensive Emplacements
Economy Boost
Anti-tank

Deutsche Afrikakorps – Battlefield Espionage Battlegroup

Conceal your force's movement to plunder resources from your enemy and strike where they are weakest. Establish ambush operations and force the enemy to be cautious of where your army might be.

Traits

Economy Manipulation
Area Disruption
Ambush Gameplay
Stolen Equipment

Community Maps

Operation Eindhoven (2v2)

By Spanky

Added 2v2 Operation Eindhoven map to Automatch, Co-op vs A.I., Skirmish and Custom game modes.

"Operation Eindhoven has been a challenging first project because of the new worldbuilder tool that we got but also a fun learning experience overall. I wanted Op Eindhoven to be as true to the original as It could be and with all the new assets to play around with, it has been a pleasure to re-create this iconic 2v2 map from CoH2. Relic took note of this effort and contacted me which led me to working with Will aka "MonolithicBacon" to bring Op Eindhoven to CoH3 automatch and I have to say, we as a community are very fortunate to have him as our lead map designer. What a Legend!" - Spanky

The Gothic Line 3v3

By Tobeh

Added 3v3 Gothic Line map to Automatch, Co-op vs A.I., Skirmish and Custom game modes.

“Gothic Line started as a chokepoint map featuring a wall of fortifications on a hill, with the focus being on destroying the walls to open avenues of attack. Feedback led to me making more paths up the hill and through the walls, and then Will gave me some great advice, including how to improve the cover and help people approach the center line.” - Tobeh

Oasis Depot (4v4)

By Springrare

Added 4v4 Oasis Depot map to Automatch, Co-op vs A.I., Skirmish and Custom game modes.

"Having had the opportunity to work with Will and Relic has been an amazing experience. Will is an incredible designer, and I have learned so much from our discussions. This type of collaboration with the community is truly commendable, and I hope more people will have the opportunity to participate in it." - Springare

Accolades

Accolades are a brand-new feature that add dedicated Faction progression and offer new rewards at completion.

Accolades add more progression to the game. They are like Challenges except they are completed in a series and never expire.
Each Faction has their own thematic series of Accolades that progress from 1 to 10.
Rewards are earned for each Accolade and consist of Titles, Badges, Banners, and Merit.

Mission Select

Missions from both Italy and North Africa can now be played directly from the main menu.

All missions are unlocked right away regardless of campaign progress.
For the Italy Campaign missions, players can choose either the US Forces or British Forces and an upgraded company will be pre-selected for them.
Missions will begin tracking the hardest difficulty and fastest completion time on that difficulty.

Co-op vs A.I. Difficulty Selection

We have added A.I. difficulty selection in the Co-op vs A.I. game mode. This provides players with greater control over their co-op experience. We have also added new filters in the Player Profile to track Co-op vs A.I. games per A.I. difficulty.

Vote to Surrender

Surrender is a multiplayer feature that allows players to concede a match to their opponents without incurring an Automatch Cooldown or other penalties (more info below in the Automatch Cooldown section).

Starting from the 5th minute mark, each player from either team can start a surrender vote by opening the Pause Menu and clicking the Surrender button.
When a vote is called, a Surrender pop-up appears at the top left of the screen, showing the number of required votes to end a match. Whenever voting criteria are met, the Surrender pop-up disappears.
Players have 30 seconds to vote. Not voting is considered a negative vote.
For a Surrender vote to succeed, a majority of connected players on a team must vote to concede the match.
If a vote is not successful, the player who called the vote will have a 90-second cooldown before being able to start a new vote.
If a Surrender vote is successful, the game immediately ends. A loss is assigned to the team that surrendered, Challenge progression is still calculated, and no penalty is assigned.
Writing /l in chat will start a Surrender vote.

Automatch Cooldown

Automatch Cooldown is a brand-new feature for the Company of Heroes franchise and a part of our effort to improve the experience in Automatch games. By dissuading players from simply disconnecting, without using the Surrender option, we hope to improve disconnection rates and the overall Automatch experience.

Automatch Cooldown will be available in all Automatch game modes (Quick Match & Coop vs AI) and the cooldown will be shared across the two modes.
When players are under an Automatch Cooldown, they are unable to search for an Automatch game until the cooldown duration is over. The Start Match button and a pop up will inform you and display the remaining waiting time before being able to match again.
The system will track disconnections during a match and does not discriminate if a player leaves at the start or near the end of a match. The optimal way to quit matches is by using Surrender.
A built-in grace buffer accounts for occasional crashes or disconnects.
Cooldowns are built on incremental, and exponential, thresholds – the more times a player drops out of matches without surrendering, the longer their cooldown will be.
Any party that has a member with an active cooldown will also share that cooldown unless the player with the cooldown is removed from the party.
When under an Automatch Cooldown, if you try to search and have a cooldown, you’ll see a pop-up telling you that you need to wait for a period which will be displayed. The Start Match button will also display the remaining waiting time.

We built this system to be flexible so we can adjust it when needed. We will be monitoring our data and player feedback to inform future changes.

End Game Flow

As our team worked on Vote to Surrender, we also reviewed what happens when a match ends. In this update, we are improving the End Game flow with a series of changes allowing you to stay on the map and spectate after the match has ended.

After the win or loss videos are played, players are brought back to the match.
At this point, the match is over, and the game is paused on a fully revealed map. In this state, you can still move the camera around the map, click on units, use the tactical map and type in chat.
When you are ready to continue to the Match Stats screen, click the "Stop Spectating Map" button at the top center of the screen. These improvements are also part of the Replay feature.

CHANGES & IMPROVEMENTS

For this patch we wanted to tackle some of the outstanding issues with AI. We identified that when engaging in combat with vehicles, the AI was attempting to move to more "advantageous" locations by ignoring the most optimal armor positioning.

Furthermore, the AI will now be more careful when choosing targets to avoid running past enemy units, as well as positioning team weapons slightly better.

Vehicles are better at deciding when to use reverse, which fixes some of the instances of the AI reversing vehicles into the opponent.
Vehicles will avoid unnecessary movements during combat
Vehicles will aim to position themselves behind the front line
Vehicles now prioritize long range combat
Squads will try to finish their abilities in combat more often (increases chances of repair completing)
Anti-tank guns will position themselves in safer positions and avoid moving into positions that would lend themselves to enemy fire.
AI will recrew team weapons

Co-op vs AI

Added AI Difficulty selection.

Challenges

Several adjustments have been made to the Challenges system. For players that complete all daily and weekly Challenges, there is now more Merit overall every week.

An extra 30 Merit daily challenge has been introduced to provide more opportunities for players to engage in daily tasks.
One of the weekly challenges will now be a Single Player expert challenge.
The remaining weekly challenges have had their Merit increased from 250 to 400 for those players that may choose to not engage with singleplayer missions.

Color Decal Setting

This new option has been added to the Game Settings under Gameplay -> General. The option has two choices:

All = all color decals are visible. This is the default setting players are already experiencing on Company of Heroes 3.
Only Structures = color decals are removed from vehicles and team weapons, while remaining on base buildings. This option allows you to still be able to identify what structures your teammates are building, while increasing the overall immersion of the game.

Pathfinding Improvements - Coral Viper (1.6.0)

Hello everyone, I’m Miguel (DevM) the gameplay designer at Relic working on pathfinding changes post-launch. I’d like to go over what we have done for pathfinding in both the Year-1 Anniversary update (1.5.0) and the Coral Viper update (1.6.0). Before getting into these, I’m going to cover the feedback and background context driving these changes.

We have gone through various iterations of pathfinding and come a long way since launch. The main goal for the changes were always twofold:

Reduce player frustration.
Create more consistent unit behaviors.

The problem

Company of Heroes runs into a problem that few RTS games do due to the nature of being more closely related to a war simulation game.

While in faster paced RTS titles it’s okay for a vehicle to rotate 180 degrees straight away, and for units to overlap often, in CoH that becomes quite noticeable.

Frustration often results when things happen that are outside your control - like your teammate driving tanks up the frontline and creating traffic jams - this can usually end up with your vehicle getting destroyed. While in some other games that might be more acceptable from a player’s perspective, since each individual unit is less of an investment, in Company of Heroes, a vehicle is a large investment of your time and economy.

Another example of frustrating experiences is when your vehicle reverses into battle, given that front-armor in our game is quite important.

Something that is usually a less obvious problem for players familiar with the franchise is reversing behavior. An experienced player may be used to using the reverse hotkey a lot, but for a newer player that may not be an engrained mechanic.. In fact, most RTS players would not expect required usage of a hotkey for best vehicle movement.

How do we create more consistent behaviors?

Previously we had systems like road preference turned on. This meant vehicles would prioritize moving on roads, often to their detriment. This is an example of sometimes being too smart for your own good. While in theory you get somewhere faster, it also means that once you issue a move order, you’re never sure what your vehicle is going to do. It also becomes heavily map dependent on how the roads are set up. Often in designing these systems, you want to be careful about including behaviors that will mean downstream implications for map designers, since that means every time you author a map you also need to test if vehicles have unexpected behaviors.

This image is a clear example. While following the road is faster (red), the player expectation is the shortest path (green). Following the red path might land you in rough situations where your vehicle comes under enemy fire.

These were the pathfinding items we wanted to tackle for the last 4 months.

Reversing behaviors.
Consistency when a vehicle decides to drive forward versus backward.
Making Casemate vehicles feel better to use.
Fixing the “circle” issue (referred to by the community as “donuts”).

Before going over what we’ve done, there’s two distinctions we need to make which are hard to get across in patch notes - the difference between the pathfinding algorithm itself and turn plans.

Without overcomplicating things, since there are many underlying systems, to find a path we use A star (A* for short). A* is an algorithm to find the shortest path to somewhere. Company of Heroes works on a grid system, so you can imagine A* telling us which squares we should follow to get to the end location.

However, we often don’t want A* to give us the shortest path, since that would look very unnatural for tanks and possibly frustrating for the player. We want the system to have some leeway. To understand A*, lets look at the following two examples.

Here we follow the shortest path.

Here we try to keep the same overall "direction" as the previous example, but we smooth the curve out.

Turn plans on the other hand are how the vehicle "realistically" interprets the movements to those squares, making the tanks seem more authentic. This could look something like this (green path):

The reason why it’s important to have this context is that when we say “tightening” a curve, it could be on the A* side or with the turn plan.

With these two concepts covered, let’s get into the changes.

Reversing behaviors

One of the changes we made for (1.5.0) is tightening the A* on reverse moves specifically. This should allow vehicles to more closely follow the player’s intent. While the previous implementation meant that the vehicles would get there faster (wider turns means higher speed) it also meant that sometimes it would stay in danger for longer (a wider arc could mean staying inside the arc of fire of an AT-Gun).

The green path is now what we’re choosing. Keep in mind that for frontal movements, it's still important to keep the A* picking somewhat wide paths so that vehicles don’t lose as much speed on turns (especially important when flanking vehicles).

Additionally, turn plans were changed for reverse as well - the range is now halved. This means that if a player doesn’t use the force reverse order, the vehicle will now only reverse much closer to itself. In practice this means that vehicles will choose to get somewhere by reversing less often.

This only fixes the turn plan side of the issue since the A* could still decide to draw a path that’s behind the vehicle and as such the fastest order there might still be to reverse. This already makes it feel a lot better.

More consistency when a vehicle decides to drive forwards versus backwards

As described previously, turn plans are only half the solution. In the following image, even if reverse is less preferred in the turn plan, if it has nothing better it will still reverse into the point.

A* in green, turn plans in orange.

Tied to the previous change, we have made changes once again to how we prefer to path in terms of forwards and backwards. To keep things brief, we have changed how it works so that vehicles prefers moving forward more oftenin these scenarios, so that it looks more like this.

This will alleviate instances where the player clearly wanted to move somewhere with their vehicle front-facing, even if the angle of the click was somewhat behind the vehicle. If players want to still reverse into it, they always have the option to force the reverse through the appropriate command.

There’s also another lever that governs this behavior which we’ve also changed. You can think of it as Sector pathing (let’s call it SP for short). SP governs the A* itself. We use A* for close range squares since doing an A* on our bigger maps would be super expensive. As such SP gives some directives to what the general path should be and A* tries to follow that as close as it can.

We’ve made changes so that this algorithm on top of A* also cares about vehicle facing. This means that for its higher-level calculation it will also make vehicles generally follow paths that are in front of them.

The end result is much more consistent vehicle behaviors. Players can expect front facing movements most of the time unless they are clicking directly behind a vehicle.

Making Casemate vehicles feel better to use:

For casemate vehicles, we noticed that often they would do wide “S” movements, which can feel particularly bad since this unit really cares about its facing. Below of we have an image comparing CoH2, CoH3 live and the new change:

This effectively means that given a move order, the casemate vehicle will be facing the direction a lot sooner, both at the beginning and at the end since the “S” turns were also tightened (on the turn plans). It also means it's less likely to get itself into dangerous situations where it oversteps the forward movement.

In the end we hope this ends up feeling better than even previous CoH games.

Fixing the “circle” issue (referred to by the community as “donuts”).

There were two main problems with this one. One of them is that sometimes turns (turn plans) with big radiuses (which caused the full circle players experienced), were sometimes given too much weight in terms of how fast they were.This meant that vehicles would sometimes prefer a full wide circle that keeps their speed as opposed to just moving in a straight line. This was addressed so that wide turns are deprioritized.

A bonus to this change is that vehicles will now more often choose to do tighter turns which meets player expectations. In the example below the red path is the live game and the green path is the new preferred path.

We feel that these changes will ensure vehicles feel more responsive and fun, while also reducing any previous frustrations with vehicle control. Changes to pathfinding in Company of Heroes 3 have deep cascading effects on the rest of the game, and as such, it often requires ample time for iteration and testing. We know players have wanted to see this addressed quickly, and some feel that we were moving too slowly to respond to pathfinding feedback. However, at the end of the day we wanted to make sure we did not rush this work and that we did it right. Our team is always listening to feedback on how we can improve the CoH experience, and we want to thank everyone for their patience as we kept working on this in the background. Let us know what you think of the changes!

Queued Capture Orders

Altered the behavior of Queue'd Capture Orders so that a squad no longer automatically leaves a capture point when it is contested by an enemy squad. This means that queueing up multiple capture orders will force the unit to wait until they finish capturing the point before moving to the next target, instead of leaving when enemies walk into the area.

This behavior impacts all units, which means even a unit like the Kettenkrad, with no combat capabilities, will stick around to capture a point, probably leading to the loss of that squad if left unsupervised.

UI/UX

Gameplay UI Improvements

Added a new animation to Veterancy stars when units gain a Veterancy Level.
All Status Decorators on units have received a visual pass. The background has been changed from white to a dark tone of grey, borders and icons are now both colored and have received a visual pass. A drop shadow effect has been added to improve visual clarity.
All Status Decorator sizes have been reduced by 20% to improve game readability.
Updated the "Close Tactical Map" icon in the Tactical Map to better reflect its intended use.

Single Player UI Improvements

Fixed an issue that prevented players from completing a mission if the Tactical Map was open right before the end of mission cutscene started.
The Post Match Screen has been reworked to better reflect the new UI style of the game.

Italian Dynamic Campaign

The airfield production panel has been reworked to better reflect the new UI style of the game.
Location Decorators and Objective Summary Cards have been updated to better reflect the new UI style of the game.
Loyalty Rewards panel has been reworked to better reflect the new UI style of the game.
Tutorial popup panels and text have been reworked to better reflect the new UI style of the game.
Fixed a bug that was causing the ESC key to not always close Campaign Companies skill panels.
Fixed various UI issues on Ultrawide monitors.

General UX-UI Improvements

The Benchmark Results Page has been reworked to better reflect the new UI style of the game.
Browse Custom Game List has gone through a first pass to better reflect the new UI style of the game. It will be further improved in future updates.
Error Modal in the store has been updated to better reflect the new UI style of the game.
Error dialogs now contain a "Copy" button that copies the error message to the clipboard, to be used when wanting to forward a specific error report to Relic.
Performance optimization when accessing Replay List and Player Profile.
When playing as a party in Automatch Game Modes (Quick Match and Co-op vs AI), factions that are incompatible with the party leader selection will appear as disabled to party members.
When playing COH3 in widescreen, players will see a map textured letterbox.

UX-UI Bug Fixes

Fixed a crash related to the Humber Armored Car Mark Area ability. When the ability is used, it should now correctly display a "Marked!" in the event cue list.
Fixed a crash that could occur by changing settings in the front end after completing a match.
Fixed a rare crash happening when players incorrectly owned multiple copies of the same Loadout item and tried to access Skirmish or Custom Games too quickly.
Fixed an issue on Map Selection screen that caused buttons and tabs to not be aligned with the central UI component.
Fixed an issue related to mapping a key with the combination CTRL+NUMLOCK, which previously was displayed as CTRL+PAUSE.at
Fixed an issue that prevented players from being able to double click on the production building buttons to focus the camera.
Fixed an issue that was allowing kicked players to rejoin a Custom Game Lobby set to Private.
Fixed an issue that was allowing players different than the host to change Battlegroups to AI players in Custom Matches. The intended behavior is that only a match host can access AI's Battlegroup selection screen.
Fixed an issue that was allowing scroll bars in Skirmishes to open a placeholder menu when right-clicked on.
Fixed an issue that was causing an error message to appear when trying to equip cosmetics too quickly on the Loadout screen.
Fixed an issue that was causing Badges to not be centered when displayed in the main menu.
Fixed an issue that was causing partial icons to appear on camouflaged AFRIKAKORPS Panzerjager units on the Tactical Map.
Fixed an issue that was causing players to no longer see friends' status in the friend list.
Fixed an issue that was causing the game to wait for 5 seconds at the end of North African Operations missions before loading match statistics.
Fixed an issue that was triggering a slot change accept pop-up whenever players were moving between tabs (Play, Loadout, Store, Mods).
Fixed an issue that was causing Store items to appear only in two columns instead of the intended three when playing on Ultrawide monitors.
Fixed graphics in Post Match Statistics and Live Match Statistics to properly display information on Ultrawide monitors.
Improved resolution of Player Badges on different areas of the UI where they previously displayed lower than intended resolution.
Improved visual quality of the War Bonds icon used in the Purchase Warbonds confirmation screen.

Unit Attack Behavior

We have changed unit attack behavior. This should make players feel like units go idle less often for reasons they weren’t aware of while improving on the unit attack behavior seen in previous titles.
Behavior before 1.6.0:
Units that had an attack order on a target that got destroyed will go idle.
If a unit enters the Fog of War briefly and re-appears again, the Unit keeps the target and chases.
Now:
Units that had an attack order on a target that got destroyed will go to the maximum weapon range of the last seen location.
If a unit enters the Fog of War and re-appears again, the Unit will go to the maximum weapon range of the last seen location.
If the enemy unit gets obscured by smoke, it will still use maximum weapon range meaning that the unit won't run inside the smoke

Weapon Upgrade Refunds

Altered the way partial weapon upgrade refunds work. They will no longer allow you to queue partial upgrades due to selecting multiple squads with different inventory capacities.
However, this means that Weapon Upgrades are always paid in full when put in production. A squad will issue a refund of 50% of the value of the upgrade, should it lack the capacity to receive all the weapons that are included in the normal upgrade package.

MULTIPLAYER BALANCE

Experience Rewarded against Veteran Units

Damaging or killing veteran units will reward more experience. We want players to have more opportunity to catch up as lower veteran rank units generally struggle more than they should against enemies at higher veteran levels.
Bonus experience rewarded per kill on veteran units increased from 15%/30%/45% to 20%/40%/60% per veterancy level

Heavy Machine Guns

We are tuning up the suppression of heavy machine guns to shorten the amount of time it takes for a unit to become pinned. It took too long for units to become pinned while in the open, and the number of counters to heavy machine guns has increased over multiple patches.

Vicker HMG suppression increased from 0.0125 to 0.0144
Vicker HMG suppression against suppressed targets increased from 0.4 to 0.5
M1919 HMG suppression against suppressed targets increased from 0.4 to 0.5
MG 34 HMG suppression against suppressed targets increased from 0.4 to 0.5
HMG 34 suppression against suppressed targets increased from 0.4 to 0.5
HMG 42 suppression against suppressed targets increased from 0.3 to 0.4

Height Combat Bonus

Height combat bonuses no longer negate cover as it made high ground/multi-level garrisons too powerful and ignored one of the major mechanics of Company of Heroes. However, we are increasing the accuracy bonus provided to still be meaningful.

Height bonus no longer ignores the cover of the opponent.
Height bonus accuracy bonus increased from 10% to 25%

Light/Medium Mortars

Mortars were doing too much damage in a short period of time which made it very difficult to use units like heavy machine gun teams that were forced to immediately retreat upon being barraged.

Damage reduced from 0.4/0.25/0.2 to 0.3/0.25/0.2
Barrage cooldown between shots increased from 0 to 0.5

Mines

Mines were too efficient at killing unit models in infantry squads. We are reducing this to better reflect the cost effectiveness of mines and prevent mines from being able to one shot certain squads like the Pioneer or Scout.

Unit model damage limit decreased from 3 to 2

Recovery

Recovery is becoming significantly faster but in exchange is slightly more expensive and recovers vehicles in a more vulnerable state

Health restored upon recovery changed from 25% to 10%
Resources required for recovery 50% from 40%
Vehicle recovery time sped up from 36 for light vehicles and 73 for all other vehicles to 17 for light vehicles and 30 for medium vehicles
Heavy vehicle wrecks now need 55 seconds to recover
Heavy vehicle wreck health increased from 220 to 400

Sandbags

Sandbags are receiving a significant increase in their build-times as it was too easy to lay down heavy cover, even when the squad was under fire.

Sandbag build-time standardized to 10 seconds; was previously between 3-5 seconds.
Coastal Reserves Sandbag build-time increased from 1.5 to 8

Snipers

We are reducing the cost and increasing the health of snipers to make these investments less risky due to the numerous counters available to the various factions in the form of light vehicles.

We will continue monitoring the unit in terms of its durability.

Health increased from 80 to 100
Manpower cost decreased from 340 to 300

Stealth Detection

We are giving players more options to deal with camouflaged units by designating proper Detection units and adding Detection to most vision-based abilities.

Factions will have access to both infantry and vehicle-based ‘Detectors’ that are able to spot camouflaged units from a greater distance.

However, Detector units will not be able to spot up to their maximum sight range. This allows camouflaged units some chance to avoid Detectors and make use of their advantage.

Detection Range of 25
The following units are Detectors and have a Detection range of 25:

British Forces
Dingo Scout Car, Humber Armored Car, Infantry Sections upgraded with the Recce Package
US Forces
1/4-ton 4x4 Truck, Scouts and their variations (Pathfinders, Artillery Observers)
Afrikakorps
Kradschutzen Motorcycle Team, 254 Reconnaissance Tractor, Panzerpioneers
Wehrmacht
Kettenkrad Recon Vehicle, 221 Scout Car, Pioneers

Flares

Detects enemies up to their full sight range

Mobile Units

General detection range increased from 10 to 12.5

Recon Planes

Detect enemies up to their full sight range
Recon Loiters detect enemies within the loiter area

Sticky Bombs, Anti-tank Grenades, and Panzerfausts

We want infantry to be better at zoning out vehicles and prevent units like anti-tank guns from being overrun, so we are reducing the number of infantry-based snares it takes to slow and destroy vehicles. Furthermore, Veterancy will play a more important part in keeping these abilities relevant at the later stages of the game through increased power.

This change is being made so it is harder to overwhelm anti-tank defenses with vehicles and prevent opponents from immediately ending the game by killing dedicated anti-vehicle units and overrunning the rest of the opponent's army.

Damage increased from 110 to 120 for anti-tank grenades and sticky bombs
At Veterancy 2, Panzerfaust and anti-tank grenades deal +40 damage
Sticky Bomb and Anti-tank Grenade speed increased from 5/15 to 10/20
Coastal Reserve Oto Mod 42 Incendiary Anti-tank grenade is not affected by these changes

All Mobile Medium Anti-Tank Guns
6-pounder, Pak 40, Pak 38, M1 57mm Anti-tank Guns
We are giving anti-tank guns a slight boost to their effectiveness by increasing their rate of fire.

Wind down decreased from 1.5 to 1.25

Ultra-Light Vehicle Machine Guns

We are reducing the reload times for several light vehicles to match their weapon cooldowns. This change is to limit situations where the vehicles take significantly longer to fire their next burst.

Kradshuzten Motorcycle Team

Reload from 5/5.5 to 4.25/5

1⁄4-ton 4x4 Truck

Reload time decreased from 3/4.5 to 2.25

M29 Weasel Recon Vehicle

Reload from 5/5.5 to 2.5

250 Light Carrier

Reload from 5/5.5 to 2.5

Vehicle Load Times

The time it takes to load infantry into transports (not tank riding) no longer scales with the size of the squad. This will speed up loading infantry into transports.

Non-tank riding vehicle load times standardized to the following:
Maximum time for an entire squad to enter a vehicle set to 0.5 seconds once the loading process begins
Squad members now need to be within 1m of the transport before entering

FACTION BALANCE

US Forces

We are shifting the power of the US Forces Support Center to create better gameplay diversity where the Infantry Support Center focuses on infantry units and the manpower economy, Mechanized Support Center has access to much stronger vehicles and repairs, and the Air Support Center provides powerful abilities to support the existing army.

We have also added a new upgrade to improve Bazookas that allows us to make changes to reduce the power of the M18 Hellcat and Sherman Bulldozer combo.

Mechanized Support Center

The Mechanized Support Center has received significant changes and improvements. We want this Support Center to be the ideal tech decision for American players who want to focus their playstyle on vehicle gameplay.

The New Mechanized Support Center no longer gives its base repair, but instead has a new ability in the form of Designate Forward Repair Station, which moves the repair outside the base, onto captured points on the map. This adds flexibility to fit into various strategies but also to equate its effectiveness across smaller and larger game modes.

The upgrades within the Mechanized Support Center have been overhauled to give more meaningful upgrades that can supplement a vehicle-heavy playstyle.

Mechanized Support Center Repair Aura Removed

Replaced by new Faction Ability unlocked when Mechanized Support Center is purchased

NEW - Designate Forward Repair Station

Spawns a Repair Engineer squad on the territory point that heals nearby vehicles one at a time for 6 health per second. Engineers do not fight in combat
When used on the additional territory points after a point is designated, the Engineer squad will disappear, and a new squad will appear at the target location.
If the enemy de-captures a territory point that is Designated by this ability, the Engineers will be removed
This ability cannot be used on territory points marked with Forward Repair Stations by other players.
First use is free. Costs 100 manpower for each subsequent use.

Specialized Munitions Changed to Rearm and Retrofit

We are packaging the old Smoke Screen ability with Specialized Munitions, so Americans only need to purchase a single upgrade to unlock all abilities related to their vehicles.

Cost increased from 100 manpower and 20 fuel to 150 manpower and 30 fuel
Upgrades does the following
M8 Greyhound Armored Car: Unlocks Canister Shot and Smoke Shot abilities
M24 Chaffee Light Tank: Unlocks APCR Rounds
M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer: Unlock HVAP Rounds and Flanking Speed
M4A1 Sherman Medium Tank: Unlocks Canister Shot and Smoke Launchers ability
M4A3 Sherman Bulldozer: Unlocks White Phosphorus and Smoke Launchers ability

Sherman 76mm Conversion

Manpower cost reduced from 200 to 175

Improvised Armor

The cost of Improvised Armor is being slightly increased to better reflect the benefits it provides to American vehicles.

Cost increased from 100 manpower and 20 fuel to 125 manpower and 25 fuel
Tooltip updated to reflect it reduces incoming damage from hand-held anti-tank weapons.

Rapid Repairs

Replaces Smoke Screen

Costs 125 manpower and 25 fuel
Increases the Repair Speed of all US Forces repair units, including the Forward Repair Depot, by +3 health per second
Removes the manpower cost of Designate Forward Repair Station

Infantry Support Center

We are moving the Captain into a more supportive role and adjusting the costs of two other upgrades. These changes are intended to move Infantry Support Center from being an all-rounder tech decision to being more specific at supporting heavy investment into infantry.

Captain Retinue

We are removing one of the retinue members of the Captain squad to further emphasize the Captain’s role as a support unit, rather than as a combat unit. In return, the squad now has veterancy that better reflects the squad’s support role that relies on its abilities to be effective.

Squad size reduced from 4 to 3
Squad cost set to 150 manpower when rebuilt
Mark Target range increased from 30 to 35
Veterancy 3 requirements adjusted from 5400 to 4500

Veterancy changed to the following

Level 1: -10% Harder to hit, +20% Ability Recharge Speed
Level 2: +10 range on abilities, +20 health
Level 3: -25% Harder to hit, +30% Ability Recharge Speed

Survival Training

We are reducing the manpower cost but increasing the fuel to better reflect the identity of these upgrades as a form alternative fuel investment to teching and purchasing vehicles.

Cost adjusted from 250 manpower and 50 fuel to 150 manpower and 70 fuel

Advanced Logistics

Cost adjusted from 200 manpower and 50 fuel to 150 manpower and 70 fuel

Weapon Support Center

New Upgrade: Improved Rockets

We want American players to be able to use Bazooka Teams and elite infantry in the late game. While the Bazooka is a potent threat in the early game, it does not deal enough damage to heavier vehicles.

To allow for infantry-based strategies based on Bazooka units to scale better, we are giving US Forces players an option to invest into Bazooka at a similar cost to BARs found in the Barracks.

Increases the damage of infantry Bazookas by 33%
Costs 150 manpower and 40 fuel

Sherman Smoke Launchers

The angle of the Sherman Smoke Launchers has been adjusted so the projectile arrives faster and looks less jarring when it is launched from the tank.

Angle adjusted to no longer fire at 90 degrees, now fires in a low arcing angle.

M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer

The current Hellcat is too efficient when dealing with more expensive vehicles in head-on fights. The change is meant to focus the Hellcat as an anti-armor vehicle that uses its speed to disengage or maneuver after getting an accurate, high damaging shot off.

Flanking Speed is also being locked behind an upgrade as we want the Mechanized Support Center to be the primary way for the US to access vehicle abilities.

Long-range accuracy increased from 0.04 to 0.045
Reload time slowed down from 4.5/4.75 seconds to 5.25/5.5 seconds
Now unlocks Flanking Speed when Rearm and Refit is upgraded. Flanking Speed no longer available by default.

M4A3 Sherman Bulldozer

The Bulldozer is having its speed reduced to better differentiate the unit as a slower moving breakthrough tank. Cost has also been increased due to the unit’s high infantry firepower, increased health, and heavier frontal armor which is superior to that of the standard M4A1 Sherman.

Cost increased from 360 manpower and 90 fuel to 380 manpower and 100 fuel
Speed reduced from 5.5 to 5.2

Bazooka Team

The White phosphorous smoke from the Bazooka Team is being adjusted to be less lethal, giving enemies more time to leave the smoke and still be combat capable.

White Phosphorous damage per tick reduced from 10 to 7
Explosive damage removed; from 60 to 0

SSF Commandos

Due to their high command point and manpower cost, the anti-infantry power of the SSF Commando is below where we want it to be. Improvements are targeting their mid-range effectiveness to further reinforce their effective combat range.

M1941 Johnson LMG Accuracy increased from 55/46/41 to 57/50/41
M1941 Johnson LMG mid-range cooldown decreased from 0.58 to 0.5
Veterancy 2 reload speed bonus increased from 10% to 15%

Rangers

The damage bonus at Veterancy 3 made Rangers too powerful with certain weapons. We are changing their damage bonus to an accuracy bonus. Rangers will still be very powerful units by the late game due to their high accuracy provided by veterancy and their innate +20% accuracy bonus to all weapons.

Veterancy 3 +33% damage bonus changed to +27.5% accuracy bonus

US Forces Infantry Artillery Beacon

All beacons are receiving an armor reduction, making them easier to be destroyed by small arms. Units will also now auto-attack beacons due to their importance.

Armor reduced from 3 to 1.5
Will now be auto attacked by nearby enemies

M8 Scott

We want the Scott to be better at attacking defensive structures directly. Bunker-buster has also been changed to be a long-range pressure tool that is very effective at destroying emplacements without endangering the Scott.

Standard attack and barrage damage penalty against emplacement and bunkers removed.
Bunker-buster range increased from 50 to 75
Bunker-buster bonus damage decreased from 100% to 33%
Bunker-buster recharge time reduced from 60 to 40
Angle scatter reduced from 6 to 5
Distance Scatter max reduced from 8 to 6
Cost increased from 0 to 35 munitions

M4A1 Sherman Medium Tank

The manpower price of the standard Sherman is being reduced to better reflect its performance.

Manpower cost reduced from 360 to 340

M3 75mm Half-track

Accuracy has been increased to allow the 75mm to better tackle light vehicles.

Long-range accuracy increased from 0.045 to 0.05

Mortar Pit

Mortar pits are having their health reduced to better reflect their role as an indirect fire support unit that needs to have a frontline to be effective. We have also greatly increased the Veterancy requirements which was far too low.

Health decreased from 640 to 480
Veterancy requirements increase from 480/960/1920 to 1200/3600/7200

US Forces Battlegroups

Airborne

Airborne Carpet Bombing Run

Carpet Bombing is having its cost slightly increased to better reflect its performance and make it harder to use with high frequency. We have also slightly tightened up the spread on the 2nd and 3rd bombers to reduce the area it covers.

Munitions cost increased from 180 to 200
Spread between planes reduced by 2.5-5 meters; increases the grouping of the 3 separate bomber payloads

P-47 Rocket Run

Arrival time sped up from 5 to 3 seconds

Special Operations

P-47 Anti-Infantry Loiter

Munitions cost increased from 110 to 120
Command point cost increased from 3 to 4

Sherman Whizbang Production Unlock

We are continuing the process of adding alternatives to call-ins, allowing players who purchase their tech buildings to have a cheap Command Point option and easy access to these specific units.

Added as a competing choice to the Sherman Whizbang, allowing the Sherman Whizbang to be purchased from the Tank Depot. Does not have a Command Point cost.

British Forces

With the recent changes to the British Forces, we are only doing some minor adjustments to the faction to tone down a few units in their roster after the recent buffs to the faction.

To improve their performance against factions like the Afrikakorps Assault Grenadier rushes, we are primarily toning down those units, rather than further increasing the strength of the British Forces.

Churchill Black Prince Heavy Tank

The Tiger and the Black Prince are receiving a significant boost to their frontal armor to address survivability issues in head-on engagements. We are not increasing their side or rear armor to make facing with these tanks important and to reward flanking opponents.

Front armor increased from 340 to 440

CMP 15CWT Truck

This change is primarily to reduce the impact of a CMP 15CWT rush when the player goes for the 4.2 Inch Heavy Mortar which could arrive before proper anti-vehicle counters can arrive.

Polsten and Medical upgrades now require the Platoon Command Post

Heavy Machine Gun Nest

We have now added a machine gun nest to the British Forces faction to give them some light defenses that can be built to lockdown areas against infantry.

Now available to be built by Royal Engineers
Costs 250 manpower

Humber Armored Car

The Humber was gaining veterancy too fast as its good anti-infantry damage allowed it to gain experience very quickly. Furthermore, a bug made the Humber reach veterancy 2 much faster than intended.

Humber requirements increased from 800/2000/4000 to 1000/3000/6000

M3 Grant Unlock

The cost of the M3 Grant Unlock upgrade is being increased. The Grant has proven to be a very powerful unit, and we want players to have to invest a bit more to unlock it.

Cost increased from 125 manpower and 25 fuel to 125 manpower and 35 fuel

Matilda Heavy Tank

The Matilda heavy tank is having its armor slightly reduced to better reflect its cost.

Matilda frontal armor reduced from 300 to 280
Matilda side armor reduced from 200 to 180

British Battlegroups

British Armored Battlegroup

Churchill Heavy IV Tank

Changed from a unit call-in, to a production unlock that is available through the Company Command Post. Production Unlock does not cost Command Points

Cost set to 440 manpower and 110 fuel
Infantry Support Smoke no longer locked behind veterancy 1

Deutsche Afrikakorps

The Deutsche Afrikakorps is receiving several changes to level-off some of their power spikes in the early game by reducing the performance of their specialist infantry, while increasing their power in the late-game by giving them easier access to their final tier and the options from Armored Reserves.

2.5 Tonne Truck

Can now convert into medical trucks for a 50 munition cost.

Armored Reserves

We are further adjusting Armored Reserves by adjusting prices. We are making most of the call-ins cheap on manpower as Afrikakorps struggles for this resource in the late game, rather than fuel.

We are also giving the Tiger a substantial cost reduction as it is a major risk for the Afrikakorps to reach the Tiger and then purchase it. There will still be a major opportunity window for players to punish rushing for a Tiger without preparing counters in advance.

StuG G III, Panzer IV, and Panzer III Armored Reserved call-in manpower cost reduced from 500 to 400
Armored Reserves Panzer IV and StuG III G fuel cost increased from 70 to 80
Armored Reserves Panzer III fuel cost increased from 60 to 70
Tiger Heavy Tank call-in cost reduced from 800 manpower and 240 fuel to 700 manpower and 180 fuel

Assault Grenadier Squad

Due to their early timing, we are reducing the health of Assault Grenadiers to make it easier for players to force the squad back with small-arms. We have also increased the speed penalty on Tactical Assault to make it harder to chase enemy units and dodge incoming grenades.
Tactical Assault speed penalty increased from 20% to 33%
Health decreased from 110 to 100
Now gains +10 health at veterancy level 2

Bersaglieri Squads

Bersaglieri are continuing to have their price reduced to match their combat power and make it easier to obtain Breda Light Machine Guns.

Our intent has been to do a deeper review of the Combined Arms Battlegroup, as we have with other Battlegroups. However, for the time being, we are increasing the base power of the Bersaglieri unit as we continue this work.

Manpower cost reduced from 280 to 260
Breda 30 Light Machinegun munition cost reduced from 80 to 70

Panzer 3 Hull Machine Gun

Affects all Panzer III Variants

This change gives the Panzer III’s hull machine gun tracking that is closer to those used by other Allies and Axis vehicles.

Hull machine gun tracking from left to right increased from 3 to 10
Hull machine gun firing cone increased from 10 to 15

Panzerarmee Kommand

We are further reducing the cost of Afrikakorps’ final tier structure to better reflect the units that are available to the Panzerarmee Kommand once it is constructed and to give the player an option to rush for heavier units.

Cost reduced from 300 manpower and 120 fuel to 200 manpower and 100 fuel

Panzerjager Squad

These changes lower the speed of the second and further volleys depending on distance to the target, giving vehicles more time to escape.

Panzerbuchse Fire-aim time increased from 0.25/0.75 to 0.75/0.75
Panzerbuchse reload time now increased by 19% between ranges 20-35
Reinforce cost increased from 26 to 30
Population increased from 7 to 8

Survival Package Smoke Launchers

Smoke launchers are getting a munitions cost to create a small resource drain on the Afrikakorps player when they are trying to escape with their vehicle units.

Smoke launchers now cost 25 munitions per use

Walking Stuka Rocket Launcher

Barrage wind down reduced from 0.5 to 0.25

Wehrmacht

We are targeting several Wehrmacht units for improvements to better diversify their build orders and strategies when not going Luftwaffe Kompanie either through extended Infanterie Kompanie play or the Panzergrenadier Kompanie.

We also want Wehrmacht upgrades to be useful for the player when they go for Battlegroup units.

We want the faction to be less reliant on Jaegers, Wirbelwinds and Marders, but rather than nerfing these units, we want to increase the power of other units in the roster.

Officer Quarters

We are making the Officer Quarters affect Battlegroup units. Previously, Wehrmacht was the only faction whose upgrades did not synergize with their Battlegroup. This should open new strategies where researching Officer Quarters is a viable path for improving Battlegroup units.

Infanterie Kompanie: Affects Fallschirmpioneers, Artillery Officer, and Coastal Reserves
Panzergrenadier and Luftwaffe Kompanie: Affects StuG D Assault Gun, 8-Rad Armored Car, Fallschirmjager, Wespe Self-propelled Gun, Panzer IV Command Tank, LG40 Anti-tank Gun, 88mm Anti-tank Gun and Flak 38 20mm Emplacements.
Panzer Kompanie: Affects Tiger, Panther, and Obice 210mm Artillery Emplacement

Panzer Kommand

We are reducing the fuel cost of the Panzer Kommand to match the price of other tech structures and recent changes that require either the Panzer Grenadier or Luftwaffe Kompanie to be constructed.

Fuel price reduced from 130 to 110

Pioneer Squad

Fast Capture Capture bonus increased from 1.25 to 1.33

Grenadier Squad

We are improving the performance of Grenadiers at short range to make charging Grenadiers more difficult in the early game, while improving their scaling into later stages of the game with Veterancy along with significant boosts to their support utility. Area of effect healing will allow veteran Grenadiers to keep other units on the field while improved Panzerfaust range will make it harder for vehicles to push into Wehrmacht lines.

Kar98k Rifle accuracy increased from 51.3/49.5/48 to 60/52.5/50
Panzerfaust cost reduced from 35 munitions to 30 munitions
Veterancy 2 accuracy bonus increased from 15% to 25%
Veterancy 1 provides +5 range to Panzerfaust
Veterancy 3 provides +5 range to Panzerfaust
Medical Kits changed to area of effect heal. Heals nearby friendly units units for 5 health per second over 25 seconds within a radius of 15m. Can heal while moving.

Grenadier Assault Package Upgrade

Cost reduced from 50 munitions to 45 munitions

Panzergrenadier Squad

Panzergrenadiers are getting a gentle increase of lethality at medium range and are getting a significant boost to their Bundle Grenades, making their potential lethality higher. These new grenades are incredibly dangerous to unsuspecting enemy squads.

We are also increasing their capture speed as Wehrmacht Panzergrenadiers are specialist units that cannot be built in large numbers.

StG 44 mid-range increased from 20 to 22.5
Bundle grenade mid-damage increased from 0.4 to 0.625
Capture Rate increased from 1.25 to 1.5

Nebelwerfer 42 Rocket Launcher

The Nebelwerfer can no longer stack fire damage on targets. This change is to reduce the massive damage caused by fire on units such as team weapons and emplacements that often were in multiple flame patches due to their stationary nature.

Fire damage no longer stacks. Units in multiple flame patches from the Nebelwerfer will only be damaged by one.

StuG III G Assault Gun

The StuG III is having its reload speed and penetration improved, allowing the StuG to better combat all vehicle types. We want the StuG to be a cost-effective brawler that can challenge units above its weight class in frontal engagements. We have slightly lowered its anti-infantry performance to correct a value error and further cement its role as an anti-vehicle unit.

Reload speed decreased from 3.5/4 to 3/3.5
Long-range penetration increased from 140 to 160
Area of effect damage corrected from 0.1/0.1375/0.07 to 0.1/0.08/0.05
Area of effect model damage limit decreased from 3 to 2

Jaeger Light Infantry Squad

We are slightly increasing the damage per second of the Scoped Rifles to allow upgraded Jeager squads to have more combat power when upgraded with the Reconnaissance Package.

G43 Scoped accuracy increased from 80/72/69.50 to 80/78/75

Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind

The Wirbelwind is getting an adjustment to be less lethal against units that are bunched up/in-cover.

Area of effect model damage reduced from 3 to 2

221 Armored Car

Veterancy requirements increased from 800/2400/4800 to 900/2700/5400

Stosstruppen Squad

We are slightly reducing the manpower costs of Wehrmacht Panzer Kompanie units to rewards players who have reached the final tier.

Manpower cost decreased from 420 to 380
Population decreased from 10 to 9

Panzer IV Medium Tank

Manpower cost reduced from 380 to 360
Reload speed increased from 4/4.5 to 3.5/4

Tiger Heavy Tank

(Affects Afrikakorps Tiger as well)

Frontal armor increased from 300 to 380

Panther Heavy Tank

We are slightly increasing the Panther’s rate of fire to be better at tackling armored vehicles.

Mark Target now refreshes its effects on hit
Reload speed increased from 3.5/3.75 to 3/3.25

Wehrmacht Battlegroups

Breakthrough Battlegroup

Breakthrough

We have doubled the duration of Breakthrough to allow players significantly more time to raid and secure enemy territory. Previously, too much time of a unit would be spent travelling to the next point after securing the first territory point.

Duration increased from 45 seconds to 90 seconds

Italian Coastal Battlegroup

Coastal Reserves

With the changes to the Officer Quarters upgrades, we are increasing the veterancy requirements of Coastal Reserves. We have also reduced their build-time bonus to make construction take longer.

Experience requirements increased from 650/1900/3800 to 800/2400/4800
Build-time bonus decreased from 50% to 25%

Designate Defensive Line

The vehicle repair and healing from Designate Defensive Line to reduce the versatility of this ability and force the Coastal player to either build more support Bunkers.

Aura no longer repairs vehicles or heals infantry
Munition cost reduced from 75 to 70

Mechanized Assault Battlegroup

Stosstruppen Halftrack call-in

We are reducing the command point cost of this ability to allow Breakthrough to have faster access to Stosstruppen.

Command point requirement reduced from 3 to 2

Mechanized Smoke Launchers from Raid

Smoke launchers are getting a munitions cost to create a small resource drain on the Wehrmacht player when they are trying to escape with their vehicle units.

Smoke launchers now cost 25 munitions per use

Riegel Anti-tank Mines

This change makes the Riegel function in its intended role as an improved anti-tank Teller mine.

Now properly cause Heavy Engine damage

88mm Flak 36 Anti-tank Gun Emplacement

Manpower reduced from 380 to 320

BUGFIXES

Art/Animation

Fixed the tint of the Sea Blue Hellcat M2HB 0.50Cal Machine Gun Upgrade to match the rest of the cosmetic theme.
Fixed an issue that caused units to go through equip and unequip animations before firing up their special weapons.

Audio

Vehicle explosions are no longer truncated.
Various voice over improvements and fixes.
Non-combat Units will no longer do a voice-over confirming engaging with the enemy.

Gameplay

Fixed the restart button not being available when a skirmish was loaded from a save.
General tool-tip fixes and updates.
Fixed vehicle animations sometimes stuttering when pivoting in place.
Fixed global reinforcement modifiers not working with other reinforcement modifiers.
Fixed an issue where buildings lost more combat slots than intended when taking damage.
The “Focus Next infantry” and “Cycle Idle Infantry” hotkeys will no longer select in-combat garrisoned squads.
Fixed scout and engineer squads dropping their special weapons when upgraded to pathfinders and assault engineers.
The Stug III turret now fires when aligned with its target.
Buildings can now be constructed on steeper slopes.
Fixed vehicle physics sometimes causing vehicles to continuously bounce up and down.
Improved the width of medium, stone bridges across all maps, better enabling larger vehicles such as the Tiger Heavy Tank to cross them without needing pivots.
Adjusted impass on Sousse Stronghold to prevent vehicles accessing areas they should not be able to.
Resource caches are now easier to target.
Fixed an issue where the minesweeper would sometimes not be properly stowed away after the ability is turned off.
Fixed an issue where snares hitting vehicles that are stunned/shocked would cause engine damage even if they were above 50% life.
Fixed the Afrikakorps Veteran Squad Leaders upgrade to apply modifiers to reinforced units.
Fixed collision on the Wooden Shack located in the south-western corner of the Faymonville map.
Fixed the visual assets of the British Forces Forward repair assembly so it blends better to the terrain.
Landmines will no longer detonate when the territory they are in gets captured by the enemy team.
Added visual assets for Wehrmacht production buildings to better blend with terrain
Improved flow throughout Taranto Coastline by increasing gaps and spaces in long fences and walls.
Nebelwerfer is no longer moving faster in reverse.
Added cover near the central Victory Point on the Semois map to reduce the chance of units capturing two points at once.
Enabled a number of burnt shrubs and trees to be crushable by bunkers and other emplacements.
Fixed the error message displayed when trying to repair a team weapon that is at 100% health.
Buildable items can now be constructed in shallow water
Squads in cover and height disadvantage will no longer show the broken shield icon.
Veteran Squad Leaders upgrade no longer affects team weapons in addition to regular infantry.
Fixed construction animation on British resource caches.
Debuff timer decorators will reset on activation if they already exist.
Strafing runs indicators now better match their area of effect.
Added 'Cannot garrison this target' warning message.
Fixed an issue where Light Vehicle Training was not providing the correct experience value at 1200.
Fixed an issue where Engine Damage would not be properly applied when a unit reached 50% health from anti-tank grenades, anti-tank satchels, engine damage abilities and Panzerfausts
Fixed a bug that made the LG40 health bar invisible when decrewed.
Fixed observation posts not having collision.
Added new lighting to the 3v3 Sangro River Crossing map.
Fixed an issue where Artillery Observer veterancy tool-tips had placeholder text.
Added titles to selectable buildings, helping to identify whether they are garrisonable.
Fixed issue with the Afrikakorps L6/40 where the flame upgrade would fire backwards
When units are marked with an orange flare by the British Humber Armored Car making them more vulnerable to incoming fire, you will now see a message on the left-hand side of the screen.
Fixed an issue that showed missing textures when playing in widescreen.
Fixed the movement visuals for Companies garrisoned inside cities on the campaign map. These were inaccurately displaying which unload destinations were actually possible.
Fixed building footprints sometimes being visible through the fog of war when trying to target with Area of Effect abilities.
The range of the Repair Station is now set at 15-20m
Fixed an issue where the Flak 30 anti-aircraft gun team would give chase if the target of their veterancy ability, Button Vehicle, went out of range from them.
Emplacements can now fire when they are outside of their territory.
Fixed a problem where the Forward Repair Engineers would stop working if you purchased the Armored Battlegroup Assault Engineer upgrade.
Most infantry grenades, AT grenades and Satchels no longer receive damage increase from First Strike.
155mm Rapid Artillery no longer provides vision
Fixed an issue where the Flak 30 anti-aircraft gun team would chase if the target of their veterancy ability, Button Vehicle, went out of range from them.
Fixed an issue with a few non-combat units that could issue an attack order (via right-click default command) even though they had no means of fighting. Those units will now move to the target location instead. The Whizbang will now move into range and engage enemies with its machine guns if you issue it an attack order.
Fixing an issue with some anti-tank grenade and anti-tank satchel abilities that would sometime lose the command if the enemy vehicle's movement caused it to leave the dedicated ability caster's strict facing requirements.

Performance & Stability

Fixed a crash sometimes occurring on the campaign map when aircraft are destroyed by AA guns.
Optimized Load Replay screen, Player Cad, and Player Profile
Error dialogs now contain a button that copies the error message to the clipboard.

Single Player

Added missing text about Unit Production in the tutorial.
Fixed paradropped units sometimes landing in water and dying while in Skirmishes.
Fixed an issue where the 2.5-tonne Utility Medical Truck could not tow heavy weapons.

Dynamic Italian Campaign

Fixed the rotating turret on some artillery Companies.
Fixed an issue where if the player completes a Campaign mission with the Tactical Map open, they cannot close it while the mission-ending cinematic plays.
Fixed an issue where players could transfer planes to airfields they do not own.
Fixed some aircraft getting stuck outside of airfields and becoming unusable
Fixed an issue where some placeholder assets would appear during a mission.
Fixed the objective guide sometimes disappearing when loading a save game
Fixed being able to end turn during the tutorial via key board shortcut while ending turn shouldn't be enabled
Fixed the attack movement preview sometimes not showing up correctly
Fixed team weapons setting up and tearing down in a loop.
Trucks in the Tobruk mission no longer allow salvage without being damaged

North African Operation

Match stats no longer take a long time to display after completing a mission.

UI/UX

Fixed a bug that prevented players from being able to double click on the production building buttons to focus the camera.
Several player badges now use higher resolution images in various areas of the UI such as player lists.
Improvements to the Faction selection screen
Fixed an issue that displayed the old Swap Slot Request popup when changing menus.
Fixed some typos on the Fade Out Playback Panel option tooltip.
Added a ping check when entering a custom game lobby
Fixed an issue with Replay stats where player stats were not centered in the screen.
Fixed an issue where friends’ online status was not displayed in the Invite menu

Known issues

Some UI inconsistencies in Custom game mode

Coral Viper - 1.6.1 Update

Today’s hot fix includes some minor multiplayer balance adjustments along with several crash fixes and bug fixes. This is our first set of multiplayer changes following the 1.6.0 Coral Viper update, with additional changes planned for subsequent hot fixes and patches.

General

We have implemented a server-side change to alleviate the issue of Automatch Cooldown false positives on PC. We will continue monitoring this system, but please let us know if you encounter further false positives in the days ahead.
Fixed several issues that were leading to crashes.

Multiplayer Balance

US Forces

Improved M9 Bazooka Rockets – As this tech is intended to have lower impact than the Browning Automatic Rifle upgrade, we wanted a cost that is closer to the intended power level of this technology.

Fuel cost reduced from 40 to 30

Wehrmacht

Grenadier Squad – In general we feel the buffs given to this unit were a bit too much, especially with the power spike timing of their assault package. As such, we are reverting the cost change from 1.6.0 and standardizing the upgrade timing to match other units more closely.

Assault Package munition cost increased from 45 to 50
Assault Package research time increased from 20 to 30 seconds
Sprint now prevents the unit from firing on the move.

Infanterie Kompanie Officer Quarters – The Infanterie Kompanie Officer Quarters is having its price and research time increased to slow down the momentum of Wehrmacht players going this research, and to give Allied players more time to get tools to counter veteran Axis infantry.

Fuel cost increased from 25 to 35
Research time increased from 30 seconds to 45 seconds

Breakthrough – This battlegroup has been performing a bit too well and we have identified this ability as one of the most egregious ones.

Duration reduced from 90 to 60

British Forces

Australian Light Infantry – The Australian Light Infantry are having their short and mid-range power increased to better reflect their early-game role as aggressive, anti-infantry combatants.

Accuracy increased from 65/55/35 to 72/61/35 (short/medium/far).
Increased Sharpshooter penetration from 1 to 2.

Archer Tank Destroyer – For this unit to hit the field in time to counter big tanks, we’re slightly reducing the Command Point cost.

Reduced command point cost from 7 to 6

Bofors Emplacement – As it is pretty expensive and immobile, we wanted to give the Bofors some more presence on the map and increase its general effectiveness versus infantry.

Health increased from 600 to 720
Reload time sped up from 4 to 3 seconds
Area of effect increased from 1 to 2.5
Area of effect far damage increased from 0.25 to 0.4
Area of effect distance increased from 0.5/0.75/1 to 0.5/1.25/2
Area of effect penetration increased from 1 to 5
Angle scatter increased from 2 to 5
Angle scatter max increased from 2 to 4

Deutsche Afrikakorps

250/3 Funkpanzerwagen - The Funkwagen being able to hide tanks, medical trucks, and Tigers was too powerful. We are removing the ability to camouflage vehicles to make the Funkwagen more infantry and team weapon focused and create less overlap with Operation Skorpion.

Can no longer camouflage vehicles within its aura.

Afrikakorps Tiger Deployment Call-In – We love that this unit is seeing more play! However, it is hitting the battlefield too quickly and does not allow enough time for the proper counterplay. We are increasing the cost to make this unit a bit less cost effective. This will also make teching straight for it riskier.

Fuel cost increased from 180 to 220

Panzerjeager Squad – We wanted this unit to function similarly to other units in this role like the British Anti-Tank (AT) rifles.

Panzerbuchse AT Rifle now deals 50% less damage to buildings; except bunkers.
Panzerbuchse AT Rifle deals 75% less damage to destructible ambient objects.

Bug Fixes

Changed the visual effects of the Australian Light Infantry Sharpshooter ability to distinguish it from their standard attack.
Fixed an issue where certain Team Weapons could not be targeted by infantry or vehicles.
Fixed an issue where other players could benefit from the Afrikakorps’ Vehicle Awareness ability, allowing them to detect in the Fog of War.
Fixed an issue where Anti-Tank Grenades and Panzerfaust abilities would trigger/finish their animation and then fire once the target has exited the unit's weapon range.
Fixed several localization text errors.
Fixed an issue where the incorrect menu options would appear during a match.
Fixed an issue where duplicate surrender prompts could appear during a surrender vote.
Fixed an issue where the Continue button would not appear in the post-match stats screen of the tutorial.

Coral Viper - Unit Responsiveness

It’s hard to cover everything in our game that can influence input latency in a single patch note, so while the following may summarize a few key points, it is by no means the whole picture. With that said, the CoH3 engine operates on a variable-framerate-fixed-timestep-simulation model. This model gives our engine the stability and determinism of running a fixed framerate game state combined with the flexibility of rendering a variable framerate on-screen visual state. The components of this model can be broadly categorized into an input layer, a deterministic game state processor, and a visual state processor. When the player generates an input, it is registered in the input layer and processed through the deterministic game state. Once the new game state containing that input has been generated, it is released to the visual state processor to be interpolated up to 30, 60, 144fps or more.

Let’s look at the changes coming in the 1.6.5 PC patch, and then we’ll go into specifics about what’s going on behind the scenes.

With CoH2, the input layer, game state processor, and the visual state processor all run in a single synchronous CPU processing thread with each system taking its turn in rotation as required for a given processing cycle. This means that an input generated by the player could be immediately followed sequentially by an update to the game state, which in turn could be followed immediately by an update to the visual state. This order of events provided a tight processing flow for inputs that led to a high response rate that we still hope to match with CoH3 today. However, this approach also comes at the cost of visual smoothness. Since each system works in rotation, each one will incur a periodic CPU usage spike resulting in unstable framerates. Being limited to a single processing thread also means that we cannot utilize the processing power of stronger CPUs and as a result this approach does not often scale well to modern hardware.

With CoH3, the deterministic game state processor and the visual state processor are each allocated their own CPU threads. This allows for a much higher and smoother throughput of frames but comes at the cost of having to synchronize data between these threads. Since these threads run independently, the order of events is not guaranteed to be as straightforward. As a result, an input may be left unattended until the game state processor thread is ready to service it. A common colloquialism used to describe this sort of latency is a ‘frame rule’ or ‘bus stop’ delay. If an input arrives just before the game state processor is ready to start processing a new game state, then its response is seen immediately. If it arrives just after processing has already started, then it “just missed the bus” and must wait an entire game state cycle before being processed. Another problem to consider is that the visual state processor cannot interpolate past the most recent game state. This means that if the game state (running asynchronously) takes too long, then the visual state must halt until the new game state is ready. This manifests on screen as a visual hitch or stutter in the game flow. To combat this, we employ a buffer of game states. If the game state (or network server for an online game) takes too long, we can subtly adjust the speed of interpolation for the remaining buffered states to seamlessly hide the visual stutter.

What we found in this update was that the buffering algorithm for game states was acting far too conservatively towards game smoothness. And while this commonly produced impeccable visual clarity, it also did so at the cost of undue input latency. The changes introduced in this patch reduce the weighting on the buffer table regarding network latency and CPU load, which should result in a significant reduction in input latency. However, this may make the game more susceptible to network and CPU usage spikes, so some players may notice a drop in visual smoothness or other artifacts. We will be monitoring this change and be ready to adjust things further as needed.

- The CoH3 Programmer Team

Coral Viper - 1.6.5 Update

OVERVIEW

The 1.6.5 Patch following our Coral Viper update includes several multiplayer balance changes that focus on improving some of the infrequently used Battlegroup choices to create a wider variety of effective strategic paths. This patch also includes highly requested quality of life improvements such as Map Preference voting and reduced input latency. Read on for the full list of gameplay and quality-of-life changes.

NEW FEATURES & IMPROVEMENTS

Map Preference

Map Preference voting has been added to the game, giving players a simple way to downvote maps they would prefer to not play on in Automatch modes. Find our writeup on this feature in our Mission Briefing.

Available in Quick Match and Co-op vs A.I. modes
It is important to note that votes are not vetoes, they simply reduce the priority of a map. This is how the system also functioned in Company of Heroes 2.
New to Company of Heroes 3, votes are specific to match size and game mode.
For parties, all members will copy the votes of the Party Leader.
Votes are saved between sessions until they are changed again.

Matchmaking

We have continued adding quality-of-life improvements to the matchmaking and automatch experience.

While looking for a game in Automatch modes, the game will display the percentage of players queuing as Allies versus Axis.
The game will now automatically save Match Types and A.I. difficulty settings between matches and sessions.
New to the franchise — party members will now always spawn next to each other even if they do not fill all available slots in a match type (for example a party of two in a 4vs4 match). This should allow for better strategy and communication between friends.

Animation

Several improvements have been made to unit animations so that their gameplay affecting behaviors are less prone to breaking the immersion of our players. We have additional fixes to known animation issues coming in subsequent patches.

Infantry will aim at targets when in cover more consistently.
Fixed an issue where units will sometimes not be aiming at the target they are shooting.
Fixed an issue where units could get stuck in animation loops.
Fixed an issue where smaller movement orders could get movement animations stuck.
Fixed an issue where resetting a reload animation could lead to awkward animation transitions for a unit.
Fixed a bug that skipped certain weapon swap animations while the unit was suppressed. This caused some attacks to be faster than intended.

Unit Responsiveness

Units will be much more responsive in 1.6.5, with input latency for both offline and online matches being reduced by approximately half. You can find a video showcasing the before/after comparisons, along with a technical write up from our team here.

Input latency of units in online and offline matches has been reduced by roughly half. This change is accompanied by a large shift in the game's internal engine architecture and may impact in-game visual smoothness. We will be monitoring this change for future adjustments if need be.
Fixed an issue where units and visuals would continue to move in-place momentarily after pausing the game. Additionally, unpausing the game would cause units to skip forward a short distance before resuming. Now units and visuals will properly pause and resume in-place when pausing single-player games or replays.

A.I.

In 1.6.5, we have made several improvements to the A.I.’s behavior. Most notably, we fixed an issue introduced in 1.6.0 (Coral Viper) where the A.I. would retreat too early from fights. Now, they should tough it out in most encounters and retreat more realistically. The A.I. will also recrew team weapons more effectively. Finally, a change we’re sure players will feel in their matches – the Hard and Expert A.I. will now use air-focused abilities more frequently. Watch out for those loiters, strafes and bombing runs!

The A.I. will no longer freeze while trying to pick up certain team weapons such as Anti-Tank guns.
Fixed an issue that caused the A.I. to retreat too readily when they knew they were in danger. The A.I. will now consider falling back before retreating.
Fixed an issue where targeting reticles from off-map abilities used by the A.I. would stay on the map longer than intended.
The A.I. can no longer target base defenses.

In-Game Player Reporting & Moderation

We have recently made several improvements to our Player Reporting and Moderation system in Company of Heroes 3. Many of these improvements will not be visible to players but should be felt by the community in the days and weeks ahead. We have adjusted how we handle reports, suspensions, and bans so they are more stringent to improve the multiplayer experience.

As a reminder, you can report players while in a game lobby or while in a match together by accessing the social functions on their name.

Several improvements to how we process reports and issue bans.
Players will now receive warnings to let them know that they will be issued a ban if their in-game behavior does not change.
Players will now be notified when we have banned a player that they have recently reported.

In-Game Store

Based on player feedback, we have changed how cosmetic sets are bundled in the store. All items in a set will now be released at the same time, and not held back for different bundles. All items that make up a cosmetic set can now be acquired in an “Ultimate” bundle. Many items can now also be acquired individually. Several of our previous sets have been repacked in this same way. Rotating offers for Merit will continue being available.

Added new cosmetic sets to the store.
Ultimate Packs
Board Room Ultimate Pack
Left Behind Ultimate Pack
Forest Rangers Ultimate Pack
Winter Tundra Ultimate Pack
New Premium Cosmetics
Blocking Force Medical Truck
Blocking Force Motorcycle Team
Blocking Force 8 Rad
Board Room M4A1 Sherman
Board Room M24 Chaffee
Board Room M4(105) Sherman
Fallen Leaf Panzergrenadier
Fallen Leaf Anti-Tank Gun Team
Fallen Leaf Pioneer
Nature's Vanguard Bishop
Nature's Vanguard Crusader II
Nature's Vanguard Matilda II
New Rare Cosmetics
Charcoal Wirbelwind
Charcoal Brumbar
Charcoal Stug III
Charcoal Armored Car 221
Light Grey Halftrack Stuka Sdkfz 251
Light Grey Kradschutzen Motorcycle
Light Grey Marder III
Light Grey Stug III
Mud Brown Bishop
Mud Brown M3 Stuart
Mud Brown Mortart Team
Mud Brown Machine Gun Team
Sea Blue Anti-Tank Gun Team
Sea Blue Riflemen
Sea Blue Engineer
Sea Blue M3 Half-Track
Repackaged Cosmetics
Fighting First M4A1 Sherman
Fighting First M18 Hellcat
Fighting First M4(105) Sherman
Fighting First M24 Chaffee
Fighting First Captain
Fighting First Engineer
Fighting First Rifleman
Fighting First Scout
Fighting First Sniper
Left Behind Assault Grenadier
Left Behind le.IG 18 Team
Left Behind Panzerjäger
Left Behind Medical Truck

MULTIPLAYER BALANCE CHANGES

General Changes

Healing and Camouflage

Forward healing and camouflage are powerful tools that were able to re-activate too quickly once the unit had left combat. We are increasing the out of combat duration to make it more difficult to receive healing immediately after encountering the enemy and harder for units to re-camouflage after engagements.

Time before they can be retriggered increased from 6 seconds to 10 seconds

Airborne and Breakthrough Smoke Runs

Projectile Speed increased from 0 to 15
Recharge times standardized to 60 seconds

BL 5.5-Inch Howitzer, Obice 210, and M2A1 105mm Howitzer

Howitzer emplacements saw minimal use due to their low durability, particularly in artillery duels against mobile artillery. We are partially reverting the health nerf to allow emplaced howitzers to better survive counter-barrage fire from on-map artillery and give players more time to react if they are being raided.

Health increased 480 to 600

US Forces

Mechanized Support Center

Because of the high barrier to entry that had the opportunity cost of delaying light vehicles, this upgrade was generally purchased in late-game scenarios where resources were less of a concern. To allow for easier integration with light vehicle builds, we are reducing the cost of this upgrade.

Rearm and Refit cost reduced from 150 manpower and 30 fuel to 125 manpower and 20 fuel

Infantry Support Center

Survival Training fuel cost reduced from 70 fuel to 60 fuel

Engineer

The US Forces tend to struggle more against defenses and garrisons than other factions as they start with the Scout Squad rather than a unit with access to flamethrowers. While we want to keep this asymmetry, we do want standard Engineers to be a viable option. To facilitate this change, we are making Engineers more accessible by reducing their cost and giving them Satchel Charges as part of their kit, granting the US more tools to demolish early garrisons, defenses, and obstacles.

Manpower cost reduced from 200 to 180; does not affect Assault Engineer squads.
Now have access to Satchel Charges
Reinforce time reduced from 6 to 3.75

Riflemen Pour it On ‘Em

Now properly cancels on retreat like other timed-based abilities

Designate Assault Position

Designate Assault Position is an under-utilized ability that we want to be a viable option against forward retreat and healing. To emphasize the ability’s role in supporting infantry pushes, we are granting suppression resistance to all units affected.

Now provides +50% suppression resistance in addition to current bonuses

Special Operations Mark Vehicle

We are boosting the duration of Mark Target to give the player more time to focus down enemy units that are affected by this ability. The plane is also receiving a significant health increase as it was too easy to shoot down.

Duration increased from 35 to 45
Plane health increased from 1000 to 2000
Recharge time increased from 30 to 60 seconds

Free Fire Drills

Free Fire Drills did not offer enough reward to the player when they built their howitzers closer to the front-line where they could be attacked by the enemy if the line was pushed. We are significantly increasing the rate of fire to encourage putting the howitzer closer to the front-line when this Battlegroup ability is selected.

Command point cost reduced from 3 to 2
M2A1 105mm Howitzer auto-fire reload speed sped up from 15 to 10 seconds
Auto-fire ready-aim time reduced from 2 to 1

Ammunition Storage

Ammunition Storage has languished due to a combination of opportunity cost, extremely low durability, and inability to support front-line forces. We are increasing the health and radius to give the Ammunition Storage increased survivability against direct and indirect fire while the bonuses have also been increased to solidify this structure’s role as a major force multiplier.

Ability recharge and reload bonuses increased from 25% to 33%
Health increased from 280 to 480
Aura radius increased by from 30 to 35

Infantry Assault

The cost of Infantry Assault was a little too high, both in opportunity cost against the passive bonuses of Ranger Weapon Training and how quickly the ability could be shut down in certain circumstances. We are reducing the Command Point and munitions costs to increase accessibility given the high munition costs already required by the Advanced Infantry Battlegroup in the form of its Rangers.

Command Point cost reduced from 4 to 3
Munitions cost reduced from 120 to 100

Wehrmacht

Grenadier Squad

We want the decision of Merge to be more of a calculated choice, rather than a player immediately using Merge to reinforce combat squads every time it takes a single casualty. The delay will force players to decide when they want to Merge during combat situations.

We have also removed the Veterancy 1 range bonus on Panzerfausts as it made light vehicle play extremely difficult against the Wehrmacht.
Merge now has a 15 second cooldown
Veterancy 1 Panzerfaust range bonus removed

Panzergrenadier Squad

The kill radius of the Bundle Grenade was a little too high. The following change reduces the kill radius of the Bundle Grenade.

Bundle grenade area mid damage reduced from 0.625 to 0.5

Breakthrough 2.5 Tonne Cargo Truck

Cost set to 250 manpower
Now only provides resources to the owning player at a set +8 munitions or +5 fuel depending on the point.
Only 1 Cargo Truck can be active on a territory point at a time

Coastal Call the Reserves

We are reducing the cost of ‘Call the Reserves!’. While the ability is powerful, the requirements to set it up in advance, and the opportunity cost with the passive Bulwark ability made its current price too high.

Munitions cost reduced from 125 to 100

British Forces

Requisition Stuart Unlock

Fuel price decreased from 30 to 25

Crusader 6-pdr Conversion Upgrade

We are increasing the point-blank penetration of the 6-pounder Crusader to make this unit stronger once it has closed the distance with enemy vehicles.

Point-blank penetration increased from 180 to 220

Foot Guards Section

While Foot Guards could be powerful in the right circumstances, model losses affected them disproportionately compared to other infantry squads due to their Bazookas. We are further increasing the damage done by their submachineguns to remedy their fast loss in damage-per-second when taking casualties.

Thompson damage increased from 4 to 5

Requsition Grant Unlock

We want to maintain the Grant’s role as a very powerful tank once it has been unlocked that is more in line as a tier 4.5 tank, but it still comes too early, outcompeting other options even with the current costs.

Fuel cost increased from 35 to 50

Supply Truck

The CMP 15cwt Supply Run was too risky for what it offered despite it being a core ability to the Battlegroup. We are improving the ability by slightly reducing the cost and increasing the speed of the truck when it is returning to base.

Loaded speed penalty from 67% to 57%
Manpower cost reduced from 150 to 125

Infantry Training Center

Now properly grants 800 experience rather than 1200

Indian Artillery War Cry

Command Point Cost decreased from 2 to 1
Munition cost reduced from 125 to 100

Indian Artillery Valour

Command Point cost increased from 1 to 2

Deutsche Afrikakorps

Goliath

Rotation speed increased from 45 to 55

8- Rad Commander Mode

The bonuses provided by the 8-Rad's Commander mode were far too powerful in addition to the 8-Rad being able to spot targets from afar. The following change puts the 8-Rad's Commander mode to where its intended power should be.

Reload and accuracy bonuses set to 20% from 30/40%

Italian Infantry Sound the Alarm

Command Point cost reduced from 2 to 1

Propaganda War

Munition cost reduced from 150 to 120

BUG FIXES

Fixed several crashes.
Fixed an issue in Essence Editor that was causing instability and crashes.
Fixed an issue where bombing runs would not match their intended area of impact.
Fixed a bug that would sometimes cause the Afrikakorps Salvage Kits ability to break if a squad member died during the operation. This fix also allows the use of two squads to salvage wrecks. This will not speed up the process, but it provides redundancy in case a squad gets killed or if a player decides to move one squad away before the salvage operation is completed.
Fixed an incorrect population value tooltip on the Panzer IV Assault Group call-in. Properly set from 20 to 21.
Fixed a bug where machine guns could become invisible when setting up and tearing down in a building or bunker.
Team weapons will now always be visible when the team weapon squad retreats. Even if the gunner is killed and the weapon switches to a new soldier.
Fixed an issue where Engineers converted to Assault Engineers had different veterancy requirements from Assault Engineers built from the HQ.
Fixed an issue that caused the Semovente's barrage to go on cooldown when using smoke launchers. [This fix did not make it into 1.6.5, but will be included in a hot fix.]
Fixed an issue where the Captain's Mark Target ability would not re-apply after being used once on a target.
Fixed an issue where Anti-tank Incendiary Munitions did not properly apply the damage bonus to Panzergrenadier anti-tank grenades.
Goliaths no longer provide cover. They are meant to go boom; you should not stand next to them.
Fixed an inconsistency in the Mobile Repair Station tooltip.
Flamethrowers will no longer receive a higher rate of fire if their target dies during a burst.
Fixed a problem where the Australian Light Infantry's sharpshooter ability would fail to hit soldiers when used against machineguns or mortar squads.
Fixed a bug where using the 221’s white phosphorus ability didn't revert to the original weapon.
Fixed an issue where the Infantry Section's Observer Artillery Barrage would cause every squad to drop what they were doing shortly after the ability was started.
Fixed an issue where the Vickers Heavy Machine Gun was not using forward retreat points.
Fixed an issue where reinforcing squads with the minesweeper toggled on would not re-apply the mine detection capability.
Fixed a bug with Infantry Assault which allowed the player to take control of the squads.
Fixed an issue where duplicate items could appear in the player Loadout.
Fixed the tutorial loading screen.

Coral Viper - 1.6.6 Update

OVERVIEW

This hot fix focuses on resolving GPU related crashes and introduces additional logging so we can get our crash rate down even further. We have also fixed the matchmaking queue estimations being stuck at 50/50. We are still investigating a few outstanding issues. You can find our Known Issues thread here and the previous 1.6.5 patch notes here.

GENERAL

Fixed matchmaking queue estimations. Not all players were receiving accurate information based on which match type they were queueing for.
Improvements in GPU related crashes where GPUs on a hardware level report as missing, lost or hanging. These are often referred to as D.R.E.D. crashes.
Fixed an issue that caused the Semovente's barrage to go on cooldown when using smoke launchers.
Fixed an issue where modded maps that had the same filename as maps in the quick match pool could cause the Map Preference dialog to show duplicates.
The names of cosmetics for the Dark Brown and Charcoal units in the store have been fixed. Localized names will be fixed in a future update.

Coral Viper - 1.6.7 Update

Fixed an issue where Flamethrowers were causing performance and framerate issues. This was more notable when playing with other players.
The enemy A.I. was using an incorrect artillery option in defense missions causing unintended difficulty spikes.
Fixed the Night Fighters Kettenkrad cosmetic so it appears correctly.
Fixed a black screen that was appearing after missions in the North African Operation.
Additional crash fixes.

Coral Viper - 1.6.8 Update

Fixed an issue that could lead to a crash after turn 6 of the Italian Campaign

Coral Viper - 1.6.9 Update

Fixed a high frequency crash affecting many players.
Reduced performance issues such as hitching or stuttering when playing with multiple A.I. team mates or opponents.
Fixed invisible unit decorators on campaign map entities.

Coral Viper - 1.6.10 Update

Fixed an issue where some matches would not be recorded correctly or would display incorrect ELO changes as a result of a surrender vote.
Fixed an issue where the Italian Campaign would sometimes soft lock when a Partisan Objective failed.
Fixed an issue where the Italian Campaign would soft lock when multiple ships finished production on the same turn.
Fixed an Italian Campaign soft lock that would occur after capturing two ports with the Capture Target Partisan ability.
Improved logging to track GPU crashes.
Improved soft lock identification and logging in the Italian Campaign. This new system will identify when you encounter a soft lock and will send us your save file so we can quickly identify and fix these issues.

Coral Viper -1.6.11 Update

Added additional debug logging in the Italian Campaign to resolve blockers and soft locks on the enemy turn.
Added support for fortnightly events and challenges. Setup Handle With Care event.
New store sales, increased rotational sales to 20%.

Onyx Shark - 1.7.0 Update

NEW CONTENT & FEATURES

Maps

Black Gold (4vs4)

Added 4vs4 Black Gold map to Quick Match, Co-op vs A.I., Skirmish and Custom game modes.

An oil refinery and its oil fields sit isolated among the salt flats and creeping desert. Commanders will be required to bring every tool in their repertoire, including towing, tank riding and combined arms to take control of this vast space.

We have increased the automatch weighting of Black Gold temporarily to coincide with its release. This will be reverted in the coming weeks.

Blinder Alley (1vs1)

Added 1vs1 Blinder Alley to Skirmish and Custom game modes.

Drawing on the tight, urban combat of Torrente, this revised map is intended as a haven for our first-time players. Commanders should expect a long, narrow field of play to reduce the amount of frontline they must control, with plentiful garrisons and cover between them and the enemy.

Player Profile - Match History

Added Match History as a new section to the Player Profile. This feature allows players to find, watch and save replays from other players right in the game. For each player, the last ten games played in Multiplayer (Quick Match, Co-op vs AI, Custom Games) will automatically be saved and stored in the cloud. A button located on the top right of the HUD allows players to toggle their Match History between Public (default) and Private. When accessing the Match History, the following actions are available:

Save Replay allows a local copy of the selected game to be saved, either keeping the default name or renaming it. These games will then be accessible inside the Replay List to be watched at any time.
Watch allows directly watching the selected game without a download

If the downloaded match requires a specific mod to run, and the mod is still available, it will also be downloaded with the replay. Past matches available in the player profile are subject to the same limitations as local replays, meaning they will be invalidated when a new patch affecting gameplay data is released.

New Battlegroup & Commander Points Panel

Battlegroups are a premium component of Company of Heroes 3 and are considerably more complex than our previous games’ iterations of similar systems. However, we felt we did not fully do justice to how they were visually represented in the game. For this reason, we decided to rework the Battlegroup Panel to provide a new, more refined and polished version that we are releasing in Onyx Shark, coming with a new Design, improved Art and Quality of Life improvements. This is the first step of our Battlegroup Panel rework, specifically targeting the look & feel of the panel during RTS matches.

As with Battlegroups, we felt that our Commander Points system could benefit from a visual rework — after all, we are talking about a unique resource type that is crucial to unlock some of the most powerful abilities and units in the game! We went back to the drawing board and, inspired by both historical assets and previous games’ iterations, we designed a new Commander Points button. Our goal is to create something polished and new, yet familiar to our players.

Added visual improvements to all elements of the Battlegroup Panel.
Added a newly redesigned Commander Points button located in the bottom right of the screen.
Updated XP kickers to more intuitively match the Commander Points
The default way to select Battlegroup abilities has been changed: instead of a "one-click purchase" behavior, each ability will be initially pre-purchased when clicked, temporarily unlocking it in the panel. You will also see your total Commander Points adjust based on your decision. These choices will then need to be confirmed or cancelled. Confirming will unlock the selected abilities. When cancelling a pre-purchase, Command Points are given back to the player and any pre-purchased ability is reverted to its previous state. We designed this system to help new and less experienced players pick the right ability. Pre-purchasing new abilities and closing the panel without confirming will result in the purchase being reverted.
We are adding a new Gameplay Setting called "Deliberate Battlegroup Unlocking" that you can toggle off to continue using our legacy single click purchase behavior, in case the new system is not to your taste. Our goal with this work is to create a more friendly system without adding new friction points to players who are used to the legacy Battlegroup system.

Random Faction Selection

Random Faction Selection makes its debut in Company of Heroes 3. Players will be able to use it in Quick Match to search with all the factions simultaneously, with the goal of getting into a match as quickly as possible. Matches and ELO gains/losses will count towards the faction & map type combination played. This feature will not be available in Skirmish.

To use a random faction, simply open the faction's selection panel from the Quick Match lobby and click on the Random button. The last equipped Battlegroup loadout will automatically be plugged in when queuing as Random. To change Battlegroups, select a different faction, adjust the Battlegroup selection and then select Random.

Random Faction selection is also available when queuing as a party. The Party Leader will be the only player allowed to select Random, while other party members will be given a faction that is consistent with the side the party leader is eventually assigned (Axis / Allies). This is the first iteration of Random faction selection, and we will explore additional improvements in the future as we monitor our matchmaking health.

FEATURE IMPROVEMENTS

Audio

Audio improvements in Onyx Shark have targeted small arms weapon firing, vehicles, and specific voice over moments. Rifles, sub-machine guns, light machine guns, and heavy machine guns were all streamlined to optimize their overall playback. In addition to sounding cleaner and more distinct, it also means there will be much less audio dropping where sounds were supposed to play but didn’t.

Additionally, the team has done an attenuation pass to these weapons. Our goal was to clean up the CoH3 soundscape and create a more focused game experience. This means you’ll hear audio for things happening on screen, and as you scroll further and further away the sound will be fainter and fainter. As the audio is more localized, it means you’ll be less overwhelmed with attacks happening all over the map and it will provide a more understandable picture of the battle. You should have an easier time hearing what is happening and determining where sounds are coming from on the map. A similar pass was done for vehicles with a focus on optimizing sound playback and attenuation tuning. This should put a stronger focus on vehicles during gameplay, with new optimizations allowing important sounds to come through reliably.

On the speech side, we've addressed missing squad voice over on weapon pickups, death exertions, and we have polished medium armored vehicle responses from mine damage. Additionally, we did some minor tuning on the Intel voice over to reduce repetition when announcing victory points.

The audio work in Onyx Shark focused on updating the foundation of the audio experience, which was necessary for any further audio improvements in the future.

Fixed an issue where the MP40 sometimes was looping sounds when it wasn’t being fired
Attenuation of the GRB 39 Grenade Launcher explosion cut in half
Added attenuation for the Garand Ping
Vehicle engines now play when loading a saved game
Reoptimized and added attenuation for SMG, LMG, HMG, flamethrower, small cannon, and 20mm AA gun.
Re-tuned volume and attenuation on vehicle audio for all factions
Added voice lines for British Forces sappers when they build a field infirmary
Added death exertions for Gurkhas and Pioneers
Added unique voice over lines for when units are ordered to pick up weapons and after they are picked up

Italian Campaign

We wanted to make the campaign more difficult, but in a way that adds more nuanced strategy and interesting obstacles to navigate. Several gameplay adjustments have been made with the intention of encouraging a more cautious but rewarding approach on the Campaign Map. Instead of relying on the brute force, your success will depend on clever use of employing aircraft, abilities, and detachments to deal with issues. Skirmish missions will offer a much greater variety of obstacles to keep you on your toes. Difficulty curve should be more even over time instead of becoming much too easy as time goes by.

Emplacements now deal increased damage to Companies, based on the player’s difficulty selection. On expert units will take double damage, so be careful, commander!
Some towns have had the number of “shields” increased, increasing the length of time it takes to capture some settlements
Companies can now only use their Heal ability while in allied territory
With the increased difficulty noted above, using planes is now more critical. Therefore, we have removed their population cost so a larger force can be deployed to help keep up with threats.
Reduced cost to repair aircraft to 75 manpower, down from 100
Looking at the Campaign map, you should quickly be able to see your Company’s movement points and action points. When you select one of your units, you will see the movement points and action points displayed on the selection card as well.
The Italian Dynamic Campaign's prologue has been streamlined, making it quicker to complete.
Fixed camera in Italy Campaign sometimes not focusing on A.I. actions
When the player selects a unit, town, or enemy they will see a new selection card that will be connected to the command buttons and resources.
Enemy actions are now displayed as a progress bar during the enemy turn.
Increased amount of XP required to gain veteran ranks by 33%
Veteran squads are very powerful and they were unlocking too quickly in the campaign leading to a difficulty level that wasn’t engaging enough

Missions

Build order for the enemy will now vary based on the company type, e.g. Armoured companies build more tanks, Infantry build more Jaeger and Panzergrenadiers, Luftwaffe build more Wirblewinds, and Mechanized build more light armor.
Enemy grenade fuse timers now scale with difficulty level, with higher difficulties giving you less time to react
Player AND enemy companies start with fewer bonus resources based on their veterancy. (Previously, vet 2 and 3 companies were given significant starting resource boosts). Note that the free buildings for veteran ranks remain unchanged.
We’ve re-tuned the skirmish maps to ensure primary and secondary objectives fit well together and flow well with the map type.
Updated “The Rescue” mission with an overhauled map to provide better movement , more exciting encounters at each location, and a dramatic finale. Predominantly an infantry-only mission, our revisions should provide an interesting new perspective on the next playthrough!
Three new Skirmish maps (Villa Fiore, Gardens and Semois) have been added to the Italian Campaign, replacing the Skirmish missions previously at Calitri, Cancello, Pomigliano and Spinazzola
Blinder Alley has been added to the Italian Campaign, replacing the Skirmish mission previously at Altavilla
Adjusted the Skirmish missions at Lesina and Toretto to better suit their maps, as some objectives are more challenging on these maps
Cover and extra population has been granted on the Montella mission, which was noted to have a particularly challenging final battle
The size of the airstrike targeting reticle has been reduced at the finale of Gela, to help avoid confusion as to whether it might cause friendly fire
Three skirmish objectives "Rescue", "Victory Point" and "Fixed Force" have been reintroduced to increase the variety of objectives found on Skirmish missions
Rout objective has added defenders on hard and expert difficulty so it’s more difficult to win extremely quickly
The time required to hold points to win the Rout and Encirclement modes varies based on difficulty setting, but is now 60 seconds max, down from 120 seconds.
"Reserve" enemy forces that are called in when the player is close to winning should never spawn in the Encirclement mode and has a higher chance of spawning based on difficulty setting.
If you start a skirmish, you should never see the same objective as your previous skirmish.
Updated spawning logic for side objectives so the required conditions such as taking a Panzerschreck can always be met
Mine clearing objective now requires you to actually clear them with an engineer instead of sending hapless troops to detonate them. To balance this increased difficulty, less mines must be deactivated to complete the objective.
Destroy enemy Panther objective now requires you to stop it from hitting Veterancy 2 instead of Veterancy 1. The time at which this objective can appear now scales with difficulty, so it shows up later on easier difficulty levels.
Fixed an issue where vehicles part of the Recovery objective could be destroyed and thus never completed.
As the Campaign progresses, the enemy in campaign skirmish should unlock limited airstrike and artillery abilities like Stuka Strafing Run, Fragmentation Bombs, Heavy Artillery Barrage, and Encirclement Barrage. They will unlock call-in abilities for units like the Wespe, Nashorn, Panther, Tiger, Flak Halftrack, and 8-Rad. Luftwaffe companies should deploy Fallschirmjager squads (but not via paradrop).
Added a warning when allies health drops to 50% in the skirmish Rescue Mode. Armor of allies is now increased on easier difficulties.
Enemies now retreat once you have beaten them in the Rescue and Knockout skirmish battles

Multiplayer Maps

Many improvements and bug fixes have been made across our Multiplayer Maps, thanks to feedback on the Company of Heroes Official Discord. Any further feedback on each map is still welcome, so please be sure to leave comments in the map-feedback section.
Faymonville (1vs1) - Adjusted territory points to prevent squads capturing two locations at once. Rotated a central building to prevent it from only being accessible to the Southern player, which was causing major balance issues. Both the mansion and its "equivalent" building on the South of the map have been replaced with more similar structures, rebalancing the number of windows available to players. This has also dramatically reduced player frustration with the mansion, which was unintuitive to play around. A large tree cluster near the Northern safe Fuel point has also been replaced with a crushable hedgerow to better mirror the opposing Southern point, which should enable easier "diving" for this resource point.
Pachino Stalemate (1vs1) - The map center now has improved accessibility: we have removed a building, restored more health to an adjacent building to counterbalance this, added more cover to both sides and improved pathfinding in the area.
Road to Tunis (1vs1) - Rock piles near the Western HQ's cut-off have been adjusted to have clearer 3 meter-wide openings, enabling vehicles to enter and exit the area without having to stop and pivot. Cover near Western HQ has also been adjusted to prevent the player from protecting their cut-off from cover and to prevent them from constructing HQ buildings in this corner, which enables reinforcement too close to this cut-off. Minor adjustments to safe fuel points have also been considered to prevent them from being completely covered by a single HMG arc. New sight blockers added near Western HQ to prevent the HMG bunker from firing through rocks.
Semois (1vs1) - Brought buildings nearest the HQ cut-off points to parity by removing shot blockers and ensuring an equal number of windows face the central fuel points. Cover near these fuel points has also been adjusted to directly counter these buildings. Satellite victory points have been changed to have smaller capture areas, due to their proximity to high munitions points (which some units were able to capture simultaneously). Locations on both sides of the map have been adjusted to ensure better timing for players attempting to capture their safe munitions before crossing the shallows to capture the high munitions - these were previously unbalanced. Northern safe fuel has had cover and blockers removed to bring it to parity with the Southern equivalent. Northern cut-off road has been widened and wooden fence swapped for stone wall. It is now impossible for players to mount the opposite side of this wall.
Twin Beaches (1vs1) - A new atmosphere and transition has been added, better suited to the dramatic environments this map was designed to mimic. Updated the map's ambient audio to be more appropriate for the Italian countryside. Updated pathfinding and cover near the lighthouse staircases to enable large team weapons (Anti-Tank Guns and Flak Guns) access to the upper platform. Updates to the sight/shot blocking around the map's central buildings, using new sandbag formations to block windows.
Villa Fiore (1vs1) - Updated and removed some cover near the map center - notably removing medium crush walls to enable better movement of light vehicles in this area. We are observing this map closely for issues with height gameplay and terrain blocking shots, which should now be considerably reduced thanks to gameplay changes.
Campbell's Convoy (2vs2) - Updated various rock formations and cover positions to improve flow across the map, especially to the East side of the central Victory Point. Rock formation near the central Victory Point has been reduced in size and an infantry-only path widened to accept all units. Various changes to vehicle wrecks across the map.
Day 101 (2vs2) - Adjusted a capture point which had become obscured by foliage unintentionally. Introduced two new infantry only pathways between the central fields and the city, to improve movement and flanking between them. Added light cover parity near the Southern Victory Point.
Elst Outskirts (2vs2) - Updated territory to prevent a single squad from capturing two capture points at once. Added an additional sneaking route behind the industrial sector in the Northeast to reach parity with the opposite side of the map.
Operation Eindhoven (2vs2) - A new atmosphere has been added to add striking contrast to the map and help units stand out against the terrain.
Torrente (2vs2) - Piles of rubble en route to the central church have been updated to provide a smoother route of access, where previously team weapons were struggling.
Gothic Line (3vs3) - Updated trucks to have correct cover and sight blocking settings in the South of the map. Also updated HQ buildings to face the map center as some were skewed, causing retreating units to choose odd rally points. HQ positions have also been changed to enable players to spawn next to members of their party, which was not guaranteed previously.
L'Aquila (3vs3) - A new atmosphere has been added to vastly improve the visual style of the map, deepening shadows. Updated cover in the map center to be more balanced, including adding craters and rotating the brick warehouse to better mirror the train station. Sight and shot blocking wall added to the industrial complex overlooking the Eastern HQ area to reduce base pinning, and overall improvements to team weapon movement and pathfinding. Removed design splines from the Out of Bounds areas.
Montherme (3vs3) - Updated pathfinding and cover map-wide. Several areas have been improved for AT guns, mortars and HMG's, due to their inability to vault. Sight blocking added and improved in the map's North near the central Victory Point, to create a more distinct and fair engagement area. Buildings adjusted in the map South to reduce base-pinning and create more interesting engagements in this lane. New metal railings have been added along the riverside, reducing the risk of British tourists falling into the water.
Monte Cavo (4vs4) - Atmosphere adjusted to improve the visibility of units in shadowed areas (notably on shadowed slopes), where previously it was possible to lose sight of units entirely. Removed timer from the first atmosphere in Monte Cavo's transition, which was delaying the transition into the next atmosphere. This delay, when triggered, caused the lighting to snap unnaturally. Adjusted cliffs, walls and buildings near the West side of the central compound, opening a larger route into the area. Considerable updates to defenses in the map center using new sandbag assets, reducing the effectiveness of overpowered buildings by blocking windows.
Sousse Wetlands (4vs4) - Updated vehicle wrecks map-wide to meet the African aesthetic.
Four existing maps (Twin Beaches, Operation Eindhoven, L’Aquila and Monte Cavo) have been given striking new atmospheres to improve their visual fidelity. We have also been sure to improve the visibility of your units on these maps
Most Multiplayer maps have had territory capture areas adjusted to square shapes or larger circles. We wanted to add diversity to how our maps play compared to each other whilst ensuring we don't dramatically affect their balance. Expect to see square capture areas of varying sizes in urban areas and circular capture areas in more organic spaces.
Map descriptions can now be viewed in the loading screen for a Match
Several map descriptions have been updated to provide a more detailed overview of the map's features or the historical events that inspired them
New map objects have been added across various maps, including new faction-specific vehicle wrecks, sandbag shoring, metal city railings and some autumnal foliage

A.I.

Enemy and friendly A.I. have undergone several changes over recent updates that will result in a noticeable improvement in their overall behavior and effectiveness with Onyx Shark.

The A.I. will be more vigilant with repairing and preserving vehicles, ensuring they are not low health when entering new engagements.
A.I. will be smarter about when to use recon and smoke runs.
Infantry will now group up more, so they maintain their strength in numbers.
Infantry will be less focused on back-capping points.
Easy AI now has a 50% resource penalty across all three resource types. This, along with throttled production should let newer players experience a slower paced game as they learn and explore

Game Lobbies & Loading Screens

Added a new tooltip appearing when hovering on Matchmaking Queue percentages while searching for a match in Quick Match and Co-op vs A.I. - this tooltip shows the detailed distribution of players across different Map Types when more than one is selected.
Resource, Victory Points and Player Start Locations will now appear on the minimap in the Custom Game Browser.
Resource and Victory Points now appear on the minimap in the Replay Browser.
Map descriptions and Resource and Victory Points will now appear on loading screens.
Updated game lobbies to better inform players on Random vs Fixed Locations: when Random locations are selected, the number will disappear from each player slot and a question mark will appear on the minimap instead of a number on each player start location. Friends List is now sorted by status (online then offline) and then alphabetically.
Improved the flow of the Recently Played tab by identifying if friends are still in the previous match/match stats or if they are out and available to join the party.

Rendering

The Maximum Image Quality setting will now disable the terrain quality degradation on camera movement. Terrain degradation is important for slower GPUs, but players with powerful computers can now choose to retain maximum terrain quality at all times. There is a large performance hit for enabling Maximum now, so players should only enable it on high end machines, as it will affect performance when the camera is moving.
Players who previously had their Image Quality set to Ultra and Maximum will now default to Very High and Ultra to accommodate the “new” Maximum. This can be manually changed after you launch the game for the first time.
The Fog of War effect now blends smoothly over time. Note: if you see any visual issues, please update your video card drivers.

Replays

In the Settings menu, the players will have a new option under the Gameplay settings called “Hide Match Length”. When the setting is turned on, they will not be able to see the Match Length.
When pressing enter while watching a replay, the player will only be able to see messages that were sent during the match. They will not be able to enter a new chat message.
When hovering over a Battlegroup in the Caster UI, the player will see a tooltip displaying all the correct information.
Replays now show team chat messages, but only for the team of the person who recorded the replay.
Fixed a bug with the Replays management page, preventing the renaming or deletion of a Replay.
Fixed a bug where you would not get the post-match map spectator mode if you won a multiplayer match by being the last human player remaining. =

Friends List

When searching your friend list, the results are sorted in order of Friend Requests, Online, Offline, and Blocked - with each group sorted alphabetically.
Fixed a bug whereby attempting to open the Player Profile of someone in the Recently Played section on the Add Friends menu opens the player’s own profile instead.

Status decorators for both active and passive abilities that currently appear above unit decorators will now also be displayed on the unit card, detailing both ability names and detailed descriptions when hovered over. This was a major task the team took on for Onyx Shark, and we will continue looking for ways to make CoH3 easier to learn.
Several legacy icons have been updated to align with CoH3’s theming, including the US Armored Battlegroup.
Standardized the vehicle icon used on all the 2.5-tonne trucks for the Afrikakorps faction on the Unit Card to match their light vehicle role.
Handbrake now gives a status decorator icon when it is active.

Camera & Controls

Centering the camera when multiple units from the selected group are far from each other will now always result in the camera being centered on at least one unit. Previously the system was centering the camera on the center point between them, which often resulted in the camera being pointed at an empty location.
Double-pressing on a control group hotkey can now have the camera center on the control group or center and then continue to follow it. You can use the new Control Group Focus Camera Behavior setting in the Controls tab of the Settings to customize this behavior.
With a group of squads selected, double clicking on a squad's shield in the lower-right info card will now have the camera center on the squad or center and then continue to follow it. You can use the new Multiple Squad Selection sub-select Camera Behavior setting in the Controls tab of the Settings to customize this behavior.
Double-clicking on a squad decorator on the tactical map (as well as selecting the unit and closing the tactical map) will now have the camera center on the squad or center and then continue to follow it. You can use the new Double-Click Squad on Tac-Map Camera Behavior setting in the Controls tab of the Settings to customize this behavior.
Fixed a bug where the hit test area for unit decorators was too wide making it difficult to click on a unit that had another unit's decorator floating nearby.

Inactivity Detection & Moderation

A new Inactivity auto-detection feature has been added to Quick Match and Coop vs A.I.; when a player is inactive for some time, they will receive a warning message, followed by a vote to kick them between the remaining active players from the same team. On a successful vote, the player is kicked, and an A.I. will take over. Our goal with this feature is twofold: promote fair play by increasing the quality of our matches and to educate our community on respecting the game rules set in place to guarantee the best possible experience.

Current thresholds are 1 minute for a warning message, 2 minutes (total) for the vote to kick to be started. While this threshold might be strict, it allows any player who is away from their keyboard from the start of the match to be kicked very early in the match, meaning the rest of the team can determine if they wish to proceed with an A.I. teammate (which we have also improved!).
When a vote is started, a popup will appear in the top left corner of the screen, similar to the Surrender popup.
For a player to be kicked, all the other players need to vote positively, and that percentage needs to be >50% of the total connected players on that team.
When a vote is started, the system will also vote “Yes” in the background to solve the impasse created by cases where only two players are effectively on the same team.
Only one vote of any type can be active at the same time:
If a Surrender vote is in progress while a vote to kick is supposed to be triggered, the kicking vote is overridden, and a new system check will happen after two more minutes.
In the opposite scenario, if a vote to kick is already ongoing, the Surrender feature is temporary disabled.
Lastly, in the case of multiple players being inactive, if the second vote to kick would happen during the time the first vote is in progress, it will forgo the second vote until a new check happens again after two more minutes.
Players still need to manually report inactive players, especially if they feel the inactivity is malicious or a pattern of behavior. We recommend taking this extra reporting step so our automated moderation tools may also trigger further penalties under certain thresholds.
Players kicked for being inactive will be sent back to the Main Menu, and they may receive an automatch cooldown dependent on their recent behavior.
To be considered active, players must do what we call “meaningful actions.” This includes production, commands, use of abilities, research of upgrades, etc.. If a player is only moving the camera around the map or simply selecting units, the game will not consider the player “active.”

GAMEPLAY CHANGES

Pathing

For this update we have introduced a new type of turn for vehicles. This turn should allow vehicles to pre-emptively start turning before a corner, where as before they would wait until they cleared the corner to start the turn.

This effectively reduces the amount of times vehicles will pivot when attempting to go past tight map locations and improves the smoothness of their movement in general.

Vehicle Suspension, Start of Movement and Recoil

We wanted to improve how vehicles looked and felt - from their navigation through the terrain to the start of their movement. Therefore we have completed a design review of every vehicle in the game. While previous Company of Heroes games were largely animation driven, Company of Heroes 3’s systems simulate physics. For this update we have implemented the following:

Light vehicles with wheels should exhibit more suspension sag while moving through the terrain.
Treaded light vehicles should be more stable and have less sag but still react to acceleration/deceleration and getting hit.
Ultra-light vehicles like the jeep and dingo should exhibit the most suspension sag
Medium and Heavy Tanks in general have more suspension dampening meaning that they should be better at absorbing hits (less rocking back and forth).
Due to the default camera height, at which most players will be playing at, we exaggerated some of the interactions for game readability, but we kept authenticity where it seemed to make sense (as an example, the Whizbang was a stable vehicle when firing its rockets).
While suspension dictates how vehicles interact with the terrain, it also dictates how they react to getting hit since the suspension will try to dissipate that energy from the hit. In general, we wanted vehicles to react more strongly to getting hit which means suspension systems having less strength and dampening. For our heavier vehicles we have adjusted them to balance themselves quicker to give a feeling of their stable and heavy nature.

We have also added some new physics interactions behind the scenes, one of them is some slight instability or “wobble” linked to the acceleration of vehicle, this should be more noticeable at the start of the movement but not distracting at the default camera height. While doing this part we have also adjusted the lurching seen in multiple vehicles. Finally, this vehicle suspension work opened some space for weapon recoil to be more visible. We think it's important to give the player feedback when their vehicle is firing, and it also adds to the overall experience of making your vehicles feel like they are a part of the action.

Weapon Impacts

We have added some additional tuning settings to let us further refine how vehicle impacts feel. Previously, weapon impact forces were heavily scaled based on how effective the weapon was on the vehicle, but this made some weapon impacts feel unnaturally disconnected from the actual projectile forces behind the weapon.

With these new options, we can now fully control whether we want to make a hit from an Anti-Tank Rifle feel measurably different compared to a hit from a Tiger - regardless of their relative effectiveness. Smaller vehicles now also have a limit on how strongly they react to impact forces. If a lighter vehicle like a 4x4 Truck or Kettenkrad gets hit by a large caliber weapon, it is now less likely that the vehicle will react in an undesirable manner. This has also allowed us to increase the outward force for large explosions which should make all vehicles react more noticeably to nearby explosions. With these changes, all vehicles and weapons have received a tuning pass and should show impact forces and reactions appropriate to their weight, lethality, and caliber.

Deaths

As part of our focus on immersion in Onyx Shark, we had another look at infantry unit deaths. The overall goal was to ensure when infantry unit entities were eliminated by small arms or artillery, that those moments were more cinematic. There were three main components to this work:

Ragdolling – When an infantry entity dies but they keep their full body
Gibbing – When parts of the infantry entity get dismembered
Death Animations – Played usually before entities ragdoll

Starting with ragdolling, we first completed an optimization pass that allows us to increase the number of overall ragdolls for every physics setting and time that they remain on the field. This greatly improves the feeling of the battles since you’re now seeing more bodies remain on the battlefield. Not only was it important to increase the number of ragdolls, but to ensure they properly interact with the environment.

We have adjusted both the mass of the bodies, explosion strength, origin of the explosion and fixed a problem that was making explosions not correctly interact with ragdolls. This essentially means that different explosions should have different energy levels when interacting with the ragdolls and at the center of the explosion there should be more up force instead of side-to-side force. An additional change we’ve made is that ragdolls should now preserve the velocity of the joints previous to their death. In practice, it means that soldiers that were running will retain some of thier velocity instead of just falling on the spot.

Finally, soldiers will now drop their weapons when they die, instead of disappearing, and these will also react to explosions.

Moving on to gibbing, these had the same problems as ragdolls where they were not interacting with explosions in the way we wanted them to. For gibs, we have adjusted their mass so that in general they fly higher than ragdolls and we’ve made changes to the percentage of gibbing versus ragdolling depending on the explosion (bigger explosions cause more gibbing and less ragdolling than before). The last piece of this puzzle is our death animations. We noticed that when soldiers died to both small arms and artillery, they often died in the same pose. For this update, we have added new animations for infantry death and adjusted the randomness before they ragdoll so that everything feels more natural, and soldiers will not always die with the same pose.

Camera Shake

Camera shake is something that we felt was sorely missing, so we have reviewed our different weapon FX to match their expected feedback. Our focus with this work included:

Hitting an enemy vehicle should feel more satisfying
Big moments like heavy artillery should feel more epic
Increase player awareness around the action, especially if directly outside their camera view
Certain weapons should feel like they have more punchiness to reflect their power level
Destroying vehicles should both have better feedback and be more satisfying

While we think the points above are important, we also acknowledge that some people prefer their experience without camera shake. For those that don’t want as much or any camera shake, we have added a setting which allows you to select a value from 0% to 100%.

Regarding some of the important changes around this:

Different camera shake amounts on vehicle deaths for: Ultra-light, light, medium and heavy vehicles.
Weapons now exhibit some extra shake on penetration of a vehicle.
Some weapons also exhibit some camera shake when firing (Tiger and big caliber emplacements such as the 105mm Howitzer and Obice artillery pieces as examples).
Adjusted camera shake on various weapon types such as mortars, light artillery, medium artillery and heavy artillery. In general, the deadlier the weapon the more camera shake. This should allow you to better understand if a big deadly explosion is happening just outside the screen.
Added Camera Shake to some moments that didn’t have it, such as an airplane crashing.

Importantly, we have removed the shake on the Z axis (zooming in and out) which was causing some of the nauseas and more distracting effects that were present at CoH3’s launch.

Towing

We have overhauled the logic used by the towing system. From a player’s perspective, there won’t be a very noticeable change, however this should ensure that the system no longer fails to execute.

We have units that are heavily reliant on towing, so we expect to see some more usage of those in the future. The problems with towing could be qualified under two different categories, one of them is the ability failing to execute and the other is general responsiveness even when working as expected. With this release, you should expect the following:

Towing will no longer fail to execute even under difficult terrain situations.
Towing will increase the rotation rate of the truck when on the latching phase.
In situations where towing would take too long, we allow for some teleporting.
Vehicles capable of recrewing and towing unmanned team weapons should now default to towing with the right-click command.

Hopefully players will feel like they can interact with this mechanic without the concern that their halftracks will circle around endlessly.

Demolition Charges

Demolitions Charges have undergone a comprehensive system and balance rework. A full list of system changes is available below, while all the detailed balance changes are available in the Multiplayer Balance section.

Demolition charge construction no longer fails occasionally.
Demolition charge construction progress bar is now properly visible while under construction.
Demolition charge construction immediately stops if the squad that is doing the construction is given a new order (including retreat), or if the Stop Construction command is issued on the charge.
Demolition charges no longer have a cooldown on construction, behaving similarly to mines .
Demolition charge cost has been normalized across the different iterations built by different units.
Demolition charge construction will temporarily halt and resume properly as different members of a squad die while attempting to plant a charge in combat.
Demolition charge "ghost" used for placement now disappears after picking a target location. Previously, two demolition charges were visible to the player at the same time (one on the ground and one in the hands of the soldier planting it).
Demolition charges no longer leave invisible objects behind when their construction is cancelled. Previously, this prevented construction of other structures over that position.
Updated the logic for the owner and allies of a demolition charge to no longer default to "attack" command when moving the mouse cursor over their own demolition charges. (The Attack command can still be used to manually issue an order to attack them). This doesn't affect enemy units, which will always have the attack command as the default action when hovering the mouse cursor over enemy demolition charges.
Demolition charges will now properly funnel the experience points and kill count to the squad who planted the charge.
Demolition charges now always have a visible reticle (like dropped special weapons). Enemies will see this reticle only when the demolition charge is revealed.
While placing a demolition charge, the effective damage radius of the demolition charge will be visible. This range indicator is also visible whenever you have the demolition charge selected.
Minesweepers are no longer required to reveal Demolition charges, as they are also now visible as soon as they enter enemy units' detection range. For them to be revealed, units need to be close enough to the demolition charge and to have direct vision on them. If a demolition charge is close enough to a squad, but on the other side of a sight blocker (like buildings, hedgerows, or smoke grenades), it will not be revealed.
The only exception to this logic is represented by the Hidden Demo Charges, which are not revealed by enemy proximity and require a minesweeper unit in direct sight to be revealed. Hidden Demo Charges are available on the US Forces SSF Commandos from the Special Operations Battlegroup.
Minesweepers now disable demolition charges, removing the ability to detonate them from the UI and Action Card. Damage from either allies or enemies will still result in setting off the demolition charge. This will display a "Disabled!" indicator above the demolition charge. This indicator is visible to friends or foes alike.
Demo charges now give spotted warnings when seen and detonation warnings when destroyed/detonated to the opposing player.
The detonation icon is no longer visible on the Tactical Map.
Fixed a visual glitch in the beginning of the animation of the engineer planting Demolition charges.

MULTIPLAYER BALANCE

General

Time-to-Kill

We have increased the overall lethality of the entire early game by increasing the damage output of most early game infantry units.

Majority of early game infantry squads have had their damage-per-second increased by around 25%

Higher damage output will mean that positioning will be much more important and rewarding, as units caught in the open will suffer more damage sooner and units properly positioned behind cover will benefit more. Our aim is to shift the early game to better reward proper cover usage and flanking, as these actions will create a greater differential faster.

Originally we set the time-to-kill in Company of Heroes 3 to be slower than previous titles to give players more time to react when visually engaging the enemy. We wanted players to have a reasonable window to make contact, decide how to react and then execute that reaction, so we significantly reduced lethality at long range. While we still want to keep this, we have noted that this was overdone, and many of the following changes are meant to better reward players already in good positions without overly punishing players moving in the open.

Players should expect the new time-to-kill changes to be noticeable but still familiar and should not be an extreme shift in the game. There will be more situations where taking cover will be better than backing away or charging the enemy, increasing the number of options players will have to weigh. There will also be some softer knock-ons with elements like the Manpower economy and the number of simultaneous engagements on the map, so we are excited to see how things shake up.

Do note, these changes are focused on the basic weaponry of early game units, and the later phases of the game should still feel very familiar. We have also made efforts to preserve the combat relationships infantry had before these shifts, but some nuances have changed and will be up to players to discover.

We will be closely monitoring how the game evolves with these changes.

Construction Penalty

Infantry units that are constructing objects will now be more vulnerable to enemy fire. We were finding it too difficult to punish units that were constructing defenses like sandbags if a player caught the builder out of position.

Infantry units constructing structures, buildings or field defenses now take 50% more damage

Tank Riding

Tank-riding was clunky to use due to how long it took for infantry to load onto the vehicles compared to other transports. We have significantly reduced the time it takes to load and unload from tanks to bring this feature forward as a method to transport infantry in the late-game.

Load times standardized to 0.75 seconds
Max load seconds set from 5 to 1 per entity
Minimum load times seconds reduced from 1 to 0.5 per entity
Unload time seconds reduced from 3 to 1

Speed Bonuses

For infantry, we are reducing the number of stacking speed bonuses to prevent occasions where infantry could outpace even light vehicles and race through a heavy machinegun’s arc of fire. The following change will limit the number of speed bonuses that stack.

Players will still be able to stack global speed bonuses with individual unit bonuses as the global abilities have a higher cost and are one of the main benefits of use.

Flanking Maneuver, 105mm Artillery Support aura, Cover to Cover, and all Sprints no longer stack with each other.
Assault Grenadier Assault Disembark ability does not stack with Combined Arms or Field Resupply abilities

Demolition Charges

With the recent system adjustment made to demo charges, we have made some further balance changes to better capture their power as anti-structure weapons that can be used as traps on certain occasions.

Demolition charges will be more dangerous to nearby units with a larger explosion radius and a cheaper price, making it easier to access for demolitions work. They will, however, also be easier to detect to push their role as anti-structure weapons that need to be hidden by sight blockers to be utilized as traps.

Demo Charges are now detected at range 12.5 by non-minesweeping units
Demo Charges are detected at range 25 by minesweepers
Demo Charge area of effect increased from 5 to 8
Demo Charge area damage changed from 1/0.75/0.25 to 1/0.25/0.075
Demo Charge area distance changed from 1.25/2.5/3.75 to 1.25/5/5.5
Demo charge munitions cost reduced from 60 to 50
SSF Commando can plant demo charges that are only revealed by minesweepers, but cost 75 munitions instead of 50

Resource Caches Forward Retreat Point – Include variants such as Transfer Stations

On larger maps, the ability for different armies to utilize infantry heavy builds varied significantly due to varying degrees of access to Forward Retreat, which was warping the amount of builds available to each faction. To remedy this, we are adding the forward retreat mechanic to Resource Caches and their variants as an upgrade.

We want players to be able to set up forward retreat points, allowing them to return to the battle faster, however, with significant investment and risk associated with set up. The retreat point cannot move and is fixed to specific areas of the map, is easy to destroy, requires a significant amount of time and investment, and still requires healing and reinforcements to be provided by other units or structures.

Can now be upgraded to act as a Forward Retreat point. Costs 150 manpower. 45 seconds research time.

Towed Howitzers & Howitzer Emplacements

Emplaced howitzers were a little too inaccurate at longer ranges compared to their mobile counterparts. While they had significantly more range, these emplacements were often built far behind the frontlines, causing their scatter to become significantly worse. The following changes should help reduce the inaccuracy of weapons when used at maximum range.

Barrage angle scatter reduced from 8 to 7.5
Obice Barrage angle scatter reduced from 10 to 9
BL 5.5 Inch Artillery angle scatter reduced from 9 to 7.5

Medium Mortar Teams & Mortar Halftracks

With the importance of cover with the faster time-to-kill, mortars were too potent against the increased number of stationary targets. We are reducing the effectiveness of their auto-fire to make mortars less effective when left idle, while maintaining the current effectiveness of barrages against stationary units.

Auto-fire cooldown increased from 5 to 7
Auto-fire angle scatter from 7 to 8.5
Auto-fire scatter max increased from 6 to 7.5
Auto-fire scatter ratio increased from 0.04 to 0.08

Heavy Machine Gun Teams

Because heavy machine guns often suppress targets which reduces their damage output, these units took a little too much time to gain veterancy for how often they were cleared by vehicles, artillery, or flanking infantry.

We are reducing the requirements to allow for faster veterancy and are also adjusting Heavy Machine Gun veterancy to be a little more potent.

Furthermore, all team weapons are having their received accuracy replaced with health bonuses as these units are often engaged by indirect-fire and vehicle-based cannons, making veteran units too hard to keep alive in mid to late game scenarios. Veterancy 3 weapon teams in particular will be more difficult to destroy as they take less damage which replaces their previous health bonus.

Veterancy requirements reduced from 600/1800/3600 to 500/1500/3000

Heavy Machine Gun veterancy changed to the following

Veterancy Level 1: +10 health, +20% reload speed
Veterancy Level 2: +15 health, +20% burst length, +25% suppression
Veterancy Level 3: 20% damage reduction from all sources, +20% weapon accuracy

Medium Mortar Teams

Veterancy Level 1: +10 health, -10% scatter
Veterancy Level 2: +15 health, +20% cooldown/reload, -15% recharge speed
Veterancy Level 3:  20% damage reduction from all sources, +10 weapon and ability range, -10% ability recharge time

All Other Team Weapons

For all infantry-based team weapons not mentioned above, the received accuracy bonuses and health bonuses have been replaced with the following.

Veterancy Level 1: +10 health
Veterancy Level 2: +15 health
Veterancy Level 3: 20% damage reduction from all sources

Centaur, M4A3 Sherman Bulldozer, Sturmpanzer IV Brummbar, StuG D

These units were dealing too much damage to vehicles on deflection hits, reducing the importance of a vehicle’s armor. We are reducing the deflection damage to reduce how quickly these units can wear down heavier vehicles through frontal attacks.

Deflection damage reduced from 50% to 25%

Field Defenses

The following changes have been made to both Single Player and Multiplayer:

Sandbags, barbed wire, reinforced barbed wire and tank traps are now selectable and attackable.
Standardized field defenses health, armor, construction time across different factions.
Lowered sandbags armor from 35 to 25: they can now be damaged by small arms fire.
Increased barbed wire and reinforced barbed wire armor from 10 to 35, making it invulnerable against most small arms fire. The intent of this change is to open to more interesting early game placement of field defenses
A unique tank trap has been added to the British Forces, inspired by the coastal defenses of Britain; this tank trap is standardized to behave like other tank traps

Handbrake

Handbrake is now available on the 251, M3, and CWT 15CMP Medical variants

US Forces

Scout Squad

In addition to the changes regarding time-to-kill, Scouts are gaining additional survivability bonuses with their veterancy to make the squad more difficult to destroy.

Health increased from 80 to 85
Accuracy increased from 0.65/0.62/0.52 to 0.813/0.775/0.65
Pathfinder accuracy increased from 0.65/0.62/0.57 to 0.813/0.775/0.713

The following only applies to the Scout Squad and not its Pathfinder and Artillery Observer variants.

10% received accuracy at Veterancy 1 increased to 15%
Veterancy 2 received accuracy bonus of 15% changed to +10 health
Veterancy 3 health bonus increased from 10 to 15

Engineer

Accuracy increased from 0.6/0.3/0.18 to 0.75/0.375/0.225
Assault Engineer near accuracy increased from 0.675 to 0.81
Assault Engineer Grease Gun now follows the same stats of the standard Engineer Grease Gun except for Near accuracy as mentioned above.

Bazooka Team

While the Bazooka Team was a cheap anti-vehicle unit, vehicles outranged them making it difficult for players to understand the role of the Bazooka Team who were generally defeated by the same vehicles they were meant to counter.

To reinforce their role as an anti-vehicle squad, we have made a significant change to the unit in the form of a new passive ability, allowing the Bazooka Team to engage vehicles at longer range when fighting from stationary positions. This also gives the Bazooka Team a unique advantage over other anti-tank squads who need to close the distance with vehicles.

Manpower cost increased from 240 to 280
Satchel Charge moved to Veterancy 1 ability choice, replaces Sprint ability.
New Ability: Steady-Fire
When the unit is stationary for 3.5 seconds, it gains 7.5 range until it moves. Passive

Paratrooper Squad

Carbine accuracy increased from 0.66/0.44/0.38 to 0.825/0.55/0.475
M1919A6 cooldown reduced from 2.25/2.5 to 2/2.25

Riflemen Squad

Rifle weapon cooldown reduced from 1.75/2.75 to 1.5/2
Rifle accuracy increased from 0.55/0.50/0.29 to 0.68/0.615/0.33
Squad leader Thompson accuracy increased from 0.42/0.375/0.22 to 0.53/46/0.29

SSF Commandos

M1 Garand updated to the Riflemen variant except for the following changes
Garand cooldown set to 1/1.5
Long-range accuracy increased from 0.33 to 0.39

Captain Retinue
As part of our changes to make forward retreat more readily available, but also more vulnerable to artillery and off-map abilities, the Captain is losing the ability to act as a Forward Retreat Point. This will indirectly weaken the Infantry Support Center which remains the most popular of the support centers thanks to the momentum it provides through its free Captain.

Captain Thompson accuracy increased from 0.45/0.28/0.25 to 0.563/0.35/0.3125
Can no longer act as a Forward Retreat Point

Ranger Squad

Cover to Cover Suppression resistance bonus reduced from 100% to 33%

¼ ton 4x4 Truck

Without veteran level 1 being immediately provided by the Armored Battlegroup, the 4x4 suffers from a somewhat high cost that often makes Riflemen, that scale into the late game, a better choice.

We are reducing the cost of the 4x4 to create a more meaningful choice where the player goes for a cheaper unit that can provide an early game advantage at the cost of scaling and being easier to lose.

Manpower cost reduced from 240 to 200

M8 Scott SPG

The Scott was underperforming compared to its Axis counterpart, the Stummel, despite being available later, battlegroup locked, and competing with the powerful Seek and Destroy ability. The following changes increase its damage against infantry and survivability, making it a sturdy anti-infantry and anti-structure light vehicle.

Health increased from 360 to 420
Area of effect distance increased from 1 to 2
Area of effect radius increased from 5.5 to 6
Area of effect damage increased from 0.33/0.25/0.15 to 0.35/0.25/0.2
Fixed an issue where the M8 Scott could crush infantry.

M4A1 Sherman Medium Tank

New ability: Keep them Firing!
Timed ability that grants all machine guns on the Sherman suppression which includes the M2HB 50cal upgrade. Also increase machine gun burst length by +50%, but reduces speed by -33%. Replaces High-explosive Shells. No munitions cost

M29 Weasel

Can now detect camouflaged units up to range 25

Canister Shot

We have changed how Canister shot works, making it a short-range, high-risk, high-reward toggle ability. This change encourages vehicles to close in with enemy infantry and get behind/past their cover for a devastating anti-infantry effect.

Now is a free toggled ability for the M4A1 Sherman and M8 Greyhound. Reduces the unit’s range from 40 to 25, but Canister is fired until the ability is toggled off.
Canister Shot for the Greyhound is a weaker version than the Sherman

HVAP and Armor Piercing Rounds - M18 Hellcat, M4A3 Sherman Easy 8, M1 Anti-tank Gun

We want tank and team weapon positioning to matter during engagements. The current benefits provided by these types of abilities, on top of the increased damage, made it too easy to punish heavy tanks like the Tiger from the front at long-range.

We are removing the automatic penetration mechanic to make tank armor still matter to an extent when these abilities are active. The penetration boost, however, is still significant, particularly on units with very high penetration to begin with such as the Hellcat.

No longer automatically penetrates enemy armor. Now gives +50% penetration.

Air Support Center P-47 Strafing Run

Delay reduced from 2 to 1

Munitions Surplus

The current implementation of Munition Surplus requires the player to purchase it early to gain the most benefit from the munition discounts. This made it extremely powerful in the early game, but also made the upgrade scale poorly once all infantry units were upgraded until a unit was lost.

We are changing Munition Surplus to now affect abilities and buildable objects like mines. This reduces the immediate power of the upgrade, but allows for a long-term benefit throughout the course of the game.

Cost increased from 100 manpower and 15 fuel to 100 manpower and 25 fuel
No longer decreases the cost of weapon upgrades
Now reduces the cost of infantry abilities, demolition charges and mines by 10 munitions.

War Machine

Command Point requirement increased from 2 to 3

M4A3E8 Sherman Combat Group

Command Point requirement increased from 7 to 8

Wehrmacht

Grenadier

Accuracy increased from 0.6/0.525/0.5 to 0.75/0.656/0.625

Pioneer Squad

Pioneers are receiving some minor adjustments to their veterancy to increase their survivability with veterancy as the game progresses. Despite the unit’s low cost, it was too easy to destroy veteran Pioneer units.

Health increased from 80 to 85
Accuracy increased from 0.35/0.25/0.20 to 0.42/0.3/0.24
10% received accuracy at Veterancy 1 increased to 15%
Veterancy 2 received accuracy bonus of 15% changed to +10 health
Veterancy 3 health bonus increased from 10 to 15

Jager Squad

Rifle accuracy increased from 0.65/0.59/0.4 to 0.81/0.74/0.5
Scoped Rifle cooldown reduced from 1/1.5 to 0.8/1.25
Scope Rifle damage increased from 13 to 14

Coastal Reserves

Fire-aim time reduced from 1/1.25 to 0.75/1
Rifle weapon cooldown reduced from 1.25/1.5 to 1/1.25
Rifle accuracy increased from 0.67/0.65/0.63 to 0.755/0.73/0.695

Panzergrenadier Squad

Panzergrenadiers are receiving a boost to their mid and long-range damage-per-second to further differentiate them from submachinegun assault infantry. We want this unit to fight from cover with their assault rifles and only close when there is an opportunity.
We have also replaced their Veterancy 1 ability to push forth their role as medium range infantry that needs to be positioned correctly for the ability to be most effective.

Assault rifle accuracy adjusted from 0.72/0.375/0.18 to 0.72/0.45/0.245
Long-range cooldown decreased from 200% to 150%
New ability: Automatic Fire
When activated, the squad gains increased weapon burst length and cooldown every 3 seconds to a maximum of 100%. Speed is reduced by 10% every 3 seconds to a maximum of 50%. Lasts 20 seconds. Replaces Sprint ability.

Fallschirmpioneer

Rifle accuracy increased from 0.63/0.57/0.53 to 0.788/0.713/0.663

Kettenkrad

The Kettenkrad was too effective at scouting thanks to its camouflage, keeping it safe from the majority of threats.
Can no longer camouflage when using its Reconnaissance Scan Ability
Veterancy requirements increased from 190/380/900 to 400/1200/2400

Pak 40 Anti-tank Gun

When camouflage is toggled, the speed and sight penalties only apply when the unit is camouflaged and will no longer persist if the unit is revealed/detected.

221 Armored Car

Machine gun damage increased from 3 to 3.6

Stumpanzer IV Brummbar

New ability: Shatter Will
Timed ability. Generates an aura around the Brummbar that debuffs nearby infantry once and then retriggers every 10 seconds for 30 seconds. Reduces affected infantry speed by 50% and their weapon cooldown and reload speeds by 20%. Effects do not stack. Lasts for 10 seconds.

20mm Flak Emplacement

We are lowering the cost and population of Anti-Air emplacements. We do not want these emplacements to be very powerful on their own, but their current high costs make them compete with more powerful mobile options and their stationary nature means they are inevitably destroyed by concentrated assaults. The flak emplacement is having its range reduced in exchange for increased health and armor to match the recent changes to the Bofors. We want Anti-Air emplacements to support the existing battleline which requires other units nearby to support them in combat.

Armor increased from 10 to 15
Health increased from 600 to 720
Population cost reduced from 6 to 5
Range reduced from 50 to 40

Designate Defensive Line

Munitions cost reduced from 70 to 50

Anti-Tank Bunker & Command Bunker

These special bunkers will now take up a very small amount of population for the player. While the population upkeep is small, it will make spamming the more powerful bunkers difficult when armies are getting maxed out.

Now takes up 2 population with an upkeep of 1 manpower per population

Lufwaffe Relay Point -  Replaces Luftwaffe Combat Group

2 Command Points and costs 200 manpower to build
Allows Fallschirm units to reinforce around the Relay point within a 50m range
Relay Points are camouflaged and can be built, even in enemy territory
Can be garrisoned. Units inside cannot fire out, but are hidden from the enemy if the Relay Point is still camouflaged
Luftwaffe Relay Point now uses a variant model of the bunker and has the durability of a standard Wehrmacht bunker.

LG 40 Anti-Tank Gun

Camouflage ability no longer requires Veterancy 1
New ability: High-explosive Rounds
Increases the unit's anti-infantry firepower with increased blast radius at the cost of -40 direct weapon damage and reduces range by 10. Toggle ability. Requires veterancy 1

British Forces

Royal Engineer Squad

Health increased from 85 to 95
Accuracy increased from 0.58/0.2875/0.1725 to 0.667/0.331/0.198

Infantry Section

Rifle damage increased from 12 to 14
Rifle accuracy increased from 0.651/0.64/0.61 to 0.695/0.685/0.655
Webley Revolver Damage increased from 10 to 13
Scoped Rifles stats standardized with regular Rifle; except the following
Accuracy set to 0.76/0.7/0.66
Maintains the increased accuracy against units in cover and weapon penetration that currently exists.
Bren Gun cost increased from 90 to 100 munitions

Australian Light Infantry

Accuracy increased 0.72/0.61/0.35 to 0.77/0.65/0.38
Rifle damage increased from 12 to 14
Scoped Rifle damage increased from 14 to 16

Vickers HMG team

Focused Gunnery changed to a toggle ability and does the following: +10 range, + 15 vision, -50% weapon arc, removes area suppression. Vision bonus is only active when the unit is set-up.

2-pounder Anti-tank Gun

Veterancy requirements set to 900/2700/5400

6-pounder Anti-tank Gun, 17-pounder Anti-tank Gun, 3-Inch Mortar Team

New ability – Entrenchment
Toggle ability that entrenches the weapon team over 5 seconds forcing it to set-up and remain stationary. When complete, the unit takes 25% less damage and fires 15% faster. Unit cannot move or reface when the ability is active, except for mortars which can rotate. Weapons are disabled while entrenching. Replaces all Veterancy 1 abilities for the listed units.

CWT 15CMP Anti-air Truck

The anti-air truck has struggled to find a role in the British light vehicle roster. Its combat role is too similar to the Humber with more downsides in the forms of less armor, sight, speed, and its backwards facing turret.

We are reworking the anti-air truck to now fit a defensive role that wants to be screened by other units where it can safely provide anti-light vehicle and anti-infantry firepower from a safe distance. The increased range and damage should now give this unit a unique playstyle that differs from other light vehicles in the game.

Munitions cost increased from 45 to 60
When the unit is stationary, after 3 seconds, range increases to 50. Range bonus remains even if the vehicle rotates/pivots. Moving from its current position removes the range bonus.
Base range reduced from 40 to 25
Area of effect damage increased from 0.375 at all ranges to 0.5
Now deals an additional 5 damage against vehicles.
Anti-air range adjusted to maintain current AA range when stationary
Handbrake ability added. Locks the vehicle in-place, but still allows rotation.
New ability: Fragmentation Rounds
 Increases area of effect radius by 3 and have increased accuracy and damage against units in cover by 25%. Replaces Suppressing Fire.

Crusader II Medium Tank

The Crusader is being adjusted to be a fast-firing tank that excels at taking out lighter vehicles or flanking heavier targets. These changes will give the Crusader a more defined role in the British tank roster as a cheap high-damage-per-second unit that is somewhat fragile if it is not using its speed and mobility to its full extent. Anti-infantry performance has been reduced to accommodate for the significant rate of fire increase.

The upgrade to the Crusader has also been reworked to be a role change that gives up its anti-infantry performance to be a dedicated anti-armor vehicle that is used in close-range flanking attacks or for chasing after wounded vehicles.

2-pounder reload sped up from 3/3.75 to 2/2.5
Model damage limit decreased from 3 to 2
Area of effect near damage reduced from 1 to 0.75

Crusader III 6-pounder Conversion Upgrade

Cost reduced from 60 to 45 munitions
Reload sped up from 3.75/4.25 to 2.5/3
Area of Effect radius reduced from 2.75 to 1
Area of effect damage reduced from 0.833/0.4/0.2 to 0.15/0.1/0.05
Area of effect distances reduced from 0.5/1.25/1.75 to 0.15/0.25/0.5
Model damage limit decreased from 3 to 2

Churchill MK IV Heavy Tank

The Churchill is gaining increased frontal armor and a lower maximum reload time to help the unit both offensively and defensively.

Frontal armor increased from 300 to 340
Maximum reload time sped up from 5.25 to 4.5

40mm Bofors Emplacement

We are lowering the cost and population of Anti-Air emplacements. We do not want these emplacements to be very powerful on their own, but their current high costs make them compete with more powerful mobile options and their stationary nature means they are inevitably destroyed by concentrated assaults. We have also increased the penetration and armor of the Bofors to better protect it against small arms and be more reliable against light vehicles.

Armor increased from 10 to 15
Cost decreased from 260 manpower and 35 fuel to 200 manpower and 25 fuel
Penetration increased 35/30/25 to 60/55/50
Population cost reduced from 6 to 5

Artillery Tripwire Flares

Can now be planted in any location following traditional mine placement. Detonates like regular mines that detonate when walked over. Flare and artillery effects remain the same.

Artillery Saturation

Now increases the shell count of off-map artillery abilities by 2 for Perimeter Monitor and Airburst Barrage
Tooltip updated to state the indicated number of shells increased per barrage for on-map units. Value set to 3

BL 5.5 Inch Artillery Emplacement

The BL 5.5 Artillery Emplacement lacked a specific niche and advantage over the other howitzers. While it did more direct damage than the 105mm guns, its lack of total damage potential made it ineffective against defensive positions. The following change is to make this an artillery unit that excels in denying an area over a long period of time and bombarding defenses.

Shell count during standard barrages increased from 4 to 7
Barrage recharge time increased from 45 to 60
Barrage angle scatter reduced from 9 to 7.5

Designate Targets

We have made an adjustment to Designate Targets. The debuff was too powerful for its price, but we still want to keep this ability as a fairly cheap alternative to Recon Artillery. To compensate we have further reduced the price and have increased the aura debuff’s range.

Munitions cost reduced from 80 to 70 munitions
Aura debuff range increased from 30 to 40
Received accuracy debuff reduced from 40% to 20%

Incendiary Carpet Bombing

Two of the Air and Sea off-map abilities are being adjusted to be a little more expensive to reduce the number of off-map abilities being used by this battlegroup.

Munitions cost increased from 150 to 180

Naval Bombardment

Cost from 225 to 250 munitions
Command point requirement increased from 2 to 3

25-Pounder Artillery

Fixed issue where the British 25-Pounder artillery from the HQ could get destroyed.

Deutsches Afrikakorps

Panzerpioneer

Accuracy increased from 0.6/0.55/0.5 to 0.75/0.688/0.625

Bersaglieri

Accuracy increased from 0.63/0.59/0.51 to 0.788/0.738/0.638

Panzergrenadier

Accuracy increased from 0.538/0.528/0.372 to 0.673/0.66/0.465

Panzerjeager Squad

The previous inclusion of the MG 34 diluted the Panzerjeager’s role as an ambushing anti-vehicle squad. We have removed the upgrade to reinforce the role assigned to this unit.

Can no longer be upgraded with the MG 34.

Assault Grenadier Squad

Assault Grenadiers are receiving a major change to differentiate themselves from other short-range assault squads. Assault Grenadiers will now receive a significant bonus when they disembark from vehicles as a passive, emphasizing the Afrikakorps’ theme as a mechanized faction that wants to be transporting its troops into combat.

Health increased back from 100 to 110
Health bonus at Veterancy 2 removed
Smoke Grenade now requires Veterancy 1
Tactical Assault veteran ability removed
New ability: Assault Disembark
When Assault Grenadiers disembark vehicles that are in-combat, the squad gains a 40% speed bonus. Grenade recharge times immediately reset when the ability begins and are made free for the ability’s duration. Lasts 10 seconds with a 60 second recharge time. Does not require veterancy

Kradschutzen Motorcycle Team

We want to distinguish the Kradschutzen from other ultra-light vehicles in its play pattern with more authentic movement. Players will need to plan their exit with the Kradschutzen in advance, as it can no longer reverse to escape every situation; however, it has received a buff to its turn acceleration and rear armor.

Rear armor increased from 1.5 to 3
Turn plan adjusted to allow for faster, tighter turns
Can no longer reverse

250 Light Carrier

With the general increase in lethality, the 250 is also gaining increased firepower when stationary. We are lowering the moving accuracy of this unit so it still remains a support vehicle that should be used in conjunction with infantry, rather than a fast anti-infantry hunter.

Machine gun accuracy increased from 0.464/0.36/0.231 to 0.56/0.43/0.27
Moving accuracy reduced from 0.75 to 0.5
Veterancy requirements reduced from 600/1800/3600 to 500/1500/3000

250/9 20mm Halftrack

We have reworked the 250/9 to be an upgrade over the standard 250 which retains its utility. Before, it was just a lighter 8-rad, rather than a a heavier transport with fire support capabilities.

The 250/9 is now a slower, but more durable troop transport that gains increased firepower when garrisoned that maintains both its healing and towing functionality, giving this unit excellent versatility to the Afrikakorps player while also encouraging more mechanized gameplay.

Veterancy requirements reduced from 800/2400/4800 to 700/2100/4200
Speed decreased from 7.5 to 6.5
Acceleration and deceleration set from 4.5/7.5 to 3.6/6
Health increased from 240 to 280; 320 with Combat Halftracks upgrade
Machine gun accuracy increased from 0.42/0.38/0.34 to 0.504/0.46/0.41
Autocannon stats adjusted to that of the 8-Rad except for the following:
Damage reduced from 16 to 12
Area radius from 1.25 to 1.5
Area of effect distances from 0.75/0.67/0.5 to 1/0.75/0.5
Moving accuracy reduced from 0.75 to 0.5
When the 250/9 is unloaded, the weapon cooldown is set to 0.925 seconds
Can now use the Distribute Medical Supplies ability
Can be garrisoned with a squad. When garrisoned, the Halftrack’s rate of fire is sped up by 0.8 seconds.
New ability: Hit and Run.
When the halftrack is damaged and reaches 75% health or below, the unit gains +30% speed and +30% acceleration for 20 seconds. Recharges after 40 seconds when triggered. Replaces Terror Tactics.

Cannone da 105/28 Field Howitzer

The Cannone, despite being a towed gun, did not function any differently from fixed howitzer emplacements. The following changes are to make the Cannone a unit with a shorter barrage range that wants to be towed closer to the front line where it can utilize its new auto-fire functionality.

Can now auto-fire at targets within range 115 and are in its arc of fire
Barrage range reduced from 275 to 250
Barrage angle scatter reduced from 8 to 7.5

BUG FIXES

Audio

Fixed an issue where reversing vehicles would play little or no sound effects.
Fixed an issue where heavy artillery was using old sound effects
When the player hovers over a Battlegroup, they will receive audio feedback.
Fixed instances of some voice over lines being repeated back-to-back.
Fixed an issue where units would not issue warning voice over when an Engineer squad threw a satchel charge at them.

General Gameplay

Fixed the Afrikakorps halftrack mortar's incendiary round ability minimum range being too low and failing to fire when targeting too close to the halftrack itself.
Fixed an issue with some weapons playing aiming reloading animations while running.
Infantry hit reactions will correctly end if the unit starts a new action like retreating.
Fixed an issue where destroyed Crusader IIIs would not display their turret.
Crusader IIs converted to Crusader IIIs will no longer cancel orders in-progress.
Fix an issue which caused some squad members when garrisoning in fighting positions to sit outside of the structure or at the wrong position.
Updated several ability reticules to better reflect their effect area for grenades, barrages, and off-map abilities.
Riegel mines can no longer be stacked on top of each other
Fixed issue with Riegel mines being able to be queued infinitely up to a negative munition count
Fixed an issue where anti-tank grenades and button abilities could target wreck entities.
Fixed re-targeting of units when pressing the stop command. They will now prefer their current target.
Marder IIIs now benefit from the Mechanized Raid Package ability
Fixed an issue where StuG III Point Blank Blast could be used on certain world objects that were not targetable.
105mm Howitzer and BL5.5 emplacements can now be multi-selected.
Fixed an issue where the 105mm Howitzer could affect team weapons with its Artillery Support ability
Team weapons leaving buildings now have an idle attacking grace period to give players a chance to give a new command instead of instantly unpacking when in the presence of an enemy.
Fixed a bug that caused the Afrikakorps’ Panzerpioneer and Guastatori's Territory Booby Trap to go on cooldown even if the construction was interrupted. You will now get your munitions back in such a case.
Fixed the way weapon upgrades grant a refund for cases where a squad would normally get two weapons but is currently unable to carry both (for example, after having picked up a different weapon off a dead squad).
Frontline Medical Station will now properly issue a cost refund if cancelled.
Fixed an issue where the Ammunition Storage would not be displayed on the mini-map or tactical map.
Fixed an issue where flamethrower Engineers would t-pose when exiting a building.
Fixed captured team weapons sometimes showing the wrong max HP and squad member count.
Fixed the Afrikakorps medical truck healing aura shrinking when reaching Veterancy 3.
Fixed vehicles displaying erratic behavior when driving over certain physics objects after loading a saved game.
Fixed an issue where Infantry Assault squads could remain indefinitely on the field when trapped by obstacles.
Fixed units using bolt action firing animations when they should be using semi-automatic firing animations.
Added some feedback when the Veterancy 3 Australian Light Infantry manages to instantly kill an enemy infantry unit with their regular shots.
Fixed an issue where the Australian Light Infantry's Sharpshooter ability would not get refunded if the target died before the shot was taken.
The SSF commandos have learned from the Australian Light Infantry the secret art of targeting soldiers hiding in buildings and can now use their knife throw ability against them.
Fixed issue with prioritized vehicles also targeting aircraft.
Stealth camouflage detection now respects most line-of-sight blockers.
Fixed an issue that was preventing the M2A1 Howitzer emplacement to fire at targets at minimum range.
Fixed an issue with the Battlegroup ability Prepared Positions not properly applying the bonuses to emplacements.
Fixed an issue when the Flak 38 and Flak 88 emplacements were damaged while being constructed it would default to the repair action.
Updated Forward Barracks and Partisan hubs to have a retreat point further from the building. This should reduce the number of units clustering near the entrance of the building when mass retreating.
Adjusted wooden rubble piles to enable vaulting to improve infantry mobility around urban/ruined maps.
Fixed an issue where temporary crews from the recrew ability were gaining veterancy from the training center.
Fixed an issue where Wehrmacht Jager Squads lost their camouflage faster than other units when leaving cover.
Fixed an issue where Artillery Cover in the Italian Combined Arms Battlegroup would deduct 3 command points rather than 2.
Fixed an issue where Engineer Satchel Charges did not give grenade warnings.
Construction help behavior is now correctly 15 range instead of 50.
Fixed an issue where vehicle visuals could occasionally disappear from the game world rendering the vehicle invisible and un-selectable for all players in the match.
Fixed issues with the Whizbang, Wespe and Bishop becoming stuck in the pre-fire phase of their barrage.
The LG40 can now be towed.
Added a small random variation to retreat point selection to avoid squads clumping up.
Fixed instance where the territory booby trap was triggering with aircrafts
Fixed instance where after the conversion from Scouts to Artillery Observers they would not deal damage until given a move order.
Fixed an issue where Stosstruppen decloaked faster when leaving cover compared to other units.
Fixed an issue where flares and certain recon abilities could detonate mines.
Foot Guards Section Veterancy 1 ability "Staggered Shot" will now always penetrate, guaranteeing that the slow and stun effects are consistently applied.
Hovering over enemy vehicles in the fog-of-war when infantry are selected will no longer give feedback, preventing information leaks.
Updated the flight plan of the US Airborne Battlegroup "Paradrop Reinforcements" ability to better match its duration with the UI indicator.
Added a timer to display the duration of the British Forces Heavy Armor Battlegroup "Recon Artillery" ability when it is active.
Fixed the population requirement not displaying for the 2-pounder Anti-tank Gun from the Australian Defense Battlegroup.
Fixed a problem when issuing attack orders against emplacements (such as mortar pits).
Fixed a problem when issuing attack orders against Team Weapons who are garrisoned.
Fixed a problem when a squad using weapons with two different ranges (Rifle + Flamethrower) would behave improperly when issued an attack order on a garrisoned structure.
Fixed an issue where the Engine Damaged animation on vehicles was resetting back to repaired even though it still had the engine damaged.
Fixed an issue where players could take control of squads that were not meant to be controlled when using the recrew abilities for halftracks.
Fixed an issue where equipping Jaegers, Pioneers or Stosstruppen with a Flamethrower would not remove their existing backpack causing it to clip.
The armor-piercing rounds from the Flakvierling Half-track will no longer slow infantry.

Italian Dynamic Campaign

Building Momentum for the British Air and Sea Company in Campaign now functions as intended.
Fixed an issue with passive Company Abilities not displaying icons in game for the US Armored Company
Fixed veterancy experience gain not being awarded sometimes on the Italian Dynamic Campaign
Player Companies have been made directly selectable via clicking on their Icon in capture points without having to select the capture points first
Fixed enemy Companies sometimes being visible in the fog of war while retreating
The game no longer soft locks trying to load after quickly repeatedly clicking on the resume campaign button
Fixed some instances of Campaign abilities dropping flares at the wrong location
Fixed issue where the Anti-air guns emplacements on the campaign map were still visually firing at airplane past their range
Fixed some units T-posing after loading from a save game.
Updated the campaign abilities to use the new battlegroup borders found in multiplayer.
Fixed an issue where reward supply-drop crates from breaking out of Salerno were sometimes not collectable.
Fixed an issue where bombardments from player-owned Battleships and Destroyers would sometimes not deal damage to enemy naval units
Fixed a bug where companies sometimes started skirmish battles with a captain unit
Fixed a bug where Partizan units sometimes appeared as pink cubes
Fixed an issue where resource crate selection box was sometimes too big
Fixed an issue where enemy units would sometimes remain idle while being attacked
Fixed a bug in skirmish battle VP mode where the player sometimes started with too few territories.
Fixed game sometimes crashing upon repairing a destroyed airfield/port in Italy Campaign.

Singleplayer Missions

Various pathfinding improvements to Salerno, including opening a staircase towards the back of the Hospital, granting easier access to the bridges beyond
Units called in during the early stages of the Salerno mission now appear on the beachfront road, instead of the mountains, providing earlier and easier access to Company units
Prevented vehicles from clipping through rock formations near the collapsed rail tunnel on Anzio
Fixed trench crossing markers, which enables tanks to cross wooden and stone trenches across various North Africa maps and missions.
Fixed an issue where partisan units would sometimes appear as debug assets on the Monte Cassino mission
Removed an island of non-interactive territory from the "To the Rescue" mission, which was causing player's cameras to get stuck
Removed the "kill enemies with mines" bonus objective from campaign skirmish, due to a technical change with kill attribution
A wayward retreat point has been removed from “The Great Ammo Robbery”, as it was causing units ordered to retreat too early into the mission to charge enemy lines
Fixed an issue with German fuel crate pickups having an oversized selection circle
Fixed an issue where the recrew-able Humber vehicle could not use its Smoke Launcher ability
Fixed an issue with an isolated territory point in one coastal skirmish map
Various tuning changes and bug fixes to improve the variety, A.I. behaviour and difficulty curve of skirmishes in the Italy campaign
Fixed an issue where unlocking the SSF Commando demo charge veterancy upgrade on a single unit would unlock demo charges for all SSF commando units.
Fixed an issue in singleplayer where auto-reinforcing for halftracks and trucks did not work in enemy territory.
Fixed an issue where Paradropped Reinforcements did not work in single-player and the loiter plane did not indicate which units it was attacking.
Updated the Great Ammo Robbery mission, which now includes enemy territory to enable the use of off-map barrages and abilities, and the removal of an erroneous retreat point which encouraged your forces to retreat forwards in the opening moments of the mission.
"Great Ammo Robbery" mission completion challenge now points to the correct mission
Bersagilieri in the Italian Front campaign now use the correct carbine.
Fixed an issue in singleplayer where some team weapons wouldn't tear-down when a truck was sent to tow them.

Multiplayer Maps

Adjusted the HQ territory on the West side of Semois to prevent players from constructing Triage Centers on the road, thus blocking their call-in units from entering the field
Updated a staircase in the center of Sousse Wetland's city, to enable infantry to access an elevated entrance
Added an additional Bunker to the West side of Gothic Line to provide better coverage of the HQ area
Adjusted the truck on the south of Gothic Line to no longer be sight/shot blocking
Adjusted a Victory Point on Gothic Line to prevent it from being capturable simultaneously with other resource points
Adjusted the HQ positions of Gothic Line to ensure players in a party are assigned to adjacent positions
Updated stone wall posts to be impervious to flame damage. Previously it was possible to burn them as if they were made of wood
Most map objects have been adjusted to prevent waypoint flags from attaching to them. Players should now be able to place a waypoint next to a sandbag wall, rather than on top of it.
Fixed floating accessories, such as chimneys, on certain buildings when they receive damage
Building near the central Victory Point on Montherme has been rotated to have its windows face the roundabout, balancing the two buildings in this area
Water FX have been removed from the waterwheel site on Faymonville, as there is no longer a waterwheel with which to churn water
Sidewalks and curbs have been adjusted to allow the construction of bunkers and emplacements on top of them
Added terracotta roof tiles to the ground when gazebos are damaged or crushed
Small, wooden rubble piles can now be vaulted, increasing mobility through ruined areas and reducing the chance that paradropped units can become trapped
Designer splines have been removed from L’Aquila, as these could be seen in the Out of Bounds area
Converted decals to splats across various maps, as these were overlaying textures on top of player-constructed buildings, such as Resource Caches

Animation/Pathing

Fixed driver’s hands de-syncing from handlebars when facing orders are given.
Improved firing animation for the M1 Carbine.
Fixed an issue where infantry squads would not settle in cover and would instead move back and forth.
Fixed an issue where the Sherman Smoke Launcher ability would force the vehicle to rotate if used at long-range.
Fixed an issue where the Cannone would randomly replay the aiming animation.
Fixed an issue where HMG Focused Gunnery and White Phosphorous abilities ended early if the gunner was killed.
Fixed an issue where attack-ground and attack-structure orders issued to squads would sometimes be ignored until the squad finished their current action.
Fixed an animation problem when issuing attack orders against emplacements (such as mortar pits), Team Weapons that are garrisoned, or with weapons with different ranges (Rifle + Flamethrower) which would prevent units from attacking.

User Interface & User Experience

General tool-tip fixes and updates.
When a player Remaps a control with an existing Key Combo, they will see a Conflicting Key Dialog. If the player tries to do the Key Combo again, it will not take effect, they will have to choose to Cancel or Continue before the Key Combo will take effect.
Fixed an issue where clicking on the Select Map button and pressing the ESC key at the same time would result in an empty Select Map UI.
Social options (block, friend request etc.) no longer show up for A.I. players in the player list of the pause menu.
Fixed some abilities that were not usable through the mini-map.
Hovering over the cover shield on the unit portrait's sidebar will now display the type of cover the unit is in and the bonuses they are receiving for generic weapons.
Fixed a bug where the friends in the Invite Player list of the match lobby did not show the correct profile personalization loadout.
Community Mod Tools - Fixed map files bloating with unnecessary data more and more each time they were saved, sometimes causing memory issues.

Store

The names of cosmetics for Dark Brown and Charcoal units in the store have been fixed. Localized names will be fixed in a future update.
Fixed the Afrikakorps Blocking Force shorts not receiving camo.

Stability

Fixed a crash that was caused when icons would take longer than average to load.
Fixed the game crashing sometimes when issuing retreat orders to team weapon squads garrisoned in buildings.

Onyx Shark - 1.7.1 Update

A.I. Changes

A.I. will now prefer contesting capture points when making initial contact with the enemy. They will avoid immediately taking cover.
A.I. team weapons will prefer the backline in combat more often.
Bugs with team weapons positioned at the frontline have been addressed. Now refacing happens more frequently to prevent team weapons from looking the wrong way.
Team weapon positioning adjusted. A.I. will no longer reposition mid combat, just reface.
Battlegroup ability casting improved. Targets are more likely to be in-combat.
Recrewing can be triggered during combat now. A.I. will be more likely to acquire team weapons.
Infantry will not pick a second cover spot if it moves them further from combat.
A.I. team weapons will retreat more often in combat.
Alternate build order for US Forces. The Engineers-first build order is now removed.
A.I. build order adjusted across all factions. Tier 4 units acquired faster.

Bug Fixes

Fixed an issue where the Mechanized Battlegroup's Raid Package incorrectly granted a bonus to infantry and team weapons.
Fixed an issue where the enemy’s turn in the Italian Campaign would sometimes freeze or not complete, preventing the player from progressing.
Fixed cases where Match History would not load when viewing Player Profiles.
Fixed an issue where camouflaged units would not fire on enemies in their weapon range even when hold-fire was disabled.
Fixed an issue with the standard cooldown on Vote to Surrender. Calling a Vote to Surrender can no longer be done in rapid succession by a single player.
Fixed an issue where the British Forces Foot Guards and US Forces Bazooka Team would have floating weapons after being hit with artillery.
Fixed a visual error in the post-match screen where ELO values were not displayed correctly.
Fixed an issue where certain autocannon shells were not properly aligned, and their trails would not appear on specific occasions.
Resized the 2cm autocannon shells which were too large.
Fixed a visual issue with the arrows connecting Battlegroup abilities and units in their tech tree. Selected abilities should differ from purchased abilities and display a yellow highlighted border.
Some physics pieces/rubble/debris were not rotating around their center, causing parts to swing around wildly looking unnatural.
Fixed an issue where status decorators and veterancy stars tooltips were triggered after a delay. In addition, they should no longer disappear after just a few seconds while continually hovering over the tooltip.
Pips (red indicators) no longer appear in the Loadout incorrectly.

Onyx Shark - 1.7.2 Update

This hot fix aims to resolve several campaign progression issues (or soft locks) we are seeing from player logs and reports. This should fix most instances where the enemy turn hangs or fails to complete, leaving the player stuck and unable to progress further in the campaign. We will continue monitoring and working on any additional occurrences of this issue, so please let us know if you still experience this after today's hot fix.

Campaign Progression Fixes

Fixed a soft lock where aircraft sometimes failed to path properly if their target moved too far from its original position.
Fixed a soft lock where the Indian Artillery Company's barrage ability sometimes failed to fire when used on steep inclines.
Fixed an issue where interacting with a unit model not at its actual position on the Campaign Map would lead to a soft lock.

Additional Fixes

Fixed performance issues related to social widgets in the menus. Players should see improved frame rate when navigating the menus.
Added additional animations for the Command Point wheel when a new point is received.
Reduced the map weighting values of Black Gold (4v4) back to default levels now that we are past its release window. This is our standard practice with new maps.
Updated the British version of the Monte Cassino Mission, removing a pink cube that appeared in the outro.
Fixed an issue where Fast Deploy would impact the M4A1 Sherman 76mm twice, resulting in a 2-second build time.
Fixed an issue where Munition Surplus did not apply to future units after the upgrade was completed.
Fixed a low occurrence crash related to Friends list when adding or removing a friend.

Onyx Shark - 1.7.3 Update

Today's hot fix prepares rewards and challenges for next week's community event - Breaking Point. We will share more details about this event soon! We have also added several fixes to soft locks in the Campaigns, along with improved data logging to help us identify any outstanding stability issues or progression blockers.

This patch fixes a large percentage of all reported campaign progression blockers which should provide a much more stable and enjoyable experience for everyone. Thank you for reporting these issues to us and for your continued support.

Improved BugSplat's logging to help identify correlations between submitted reports.
Improved soft lock detection and logging during campaigns.
Fixed an issue where the Italian Campaign sometimes soft locks when the Foggia Intel objective starts while the Devil's Brigade Company was dead.
Fixed an issue where the Italian Campaign sometimes soft locks soon after the Break the Volturno Line objective started.
Fixed ships sometimes getting stuck during movement causing a soft lock in the Italian Campaign.
Fixed a few instances where the A.I. was not ending its turn in the Italian Campaign.

Please note that these changes will invalidate replay files, however, we felt it was necessary to improve the overall experience for a large portion of our players.

Patch Notes - 1.8 Update

NEW CONTENT & FEATURES

Maps

Audio

Updated several maps with ambience audio. Notably, our launch maps lacked updated environmental ambience that can be heard in quiet moments on the battlefield.

New Maps

Road to Primosole (2vs2)

Added 2vs2 Road to Primosole map to Quick Match, Co-op vs A.I., Skirmish and Custom game modes.

Set into the beautiful foothills of Sicily, this manor house and its grounds will play host to vicious fighting. Take command of the manor on its perch, but always remain vigilant not to lose the lower roads and their connection to your headquarters.

We have increased the automatch weighting of Road to Primosole temporarily to coincide with its release. This will be reverted in the coming weeks.

Longstop Hill (3vs3)

Added 3vs3 Longstop Hill to Quick Match, Co-op vs A.I., Skirmish and Custom game modes.

A steep and daunting mountainside, nestled with defenses and ruins. Choose to fight on the barren high ground or take your chances in the lush valley below.

We have increased the automatch weighting of Longstop Hill temporarily to coincide with its release. This will be reverted in the coming weeks.

Alam el Halfa (4vs4 Official Community Map)

Added community-made 4vs4 Alam el Halfa map to Quick Match, Co-op vs A.I., Skirmish and Custom game modes.

A vast open desert, flanked by a militarized airfield and secluded town. Rocky outcroppings break sight lines and encourage ambushes in this otherwise barren and battle-worn landscape.

We have increased the automatch weighting of Alam el Halfa temporarily to coincide with its release. This will be reverted in the coming weeks.

Multiplayer Maps Quality of Life Improvements

We continue to bug fix and add improvements across our Multiplayer Maps, thanks to feedback on the Company of Heroes Official Discord. Further feedback on each map is still welcome, so please be sure to leave comments in the map-feedback section.

Villa Fiore (1vs1) - Stone Archways into the central garden have been adjusted to ensure access to all team weapons, including Anti-Tank guns.
Faymonville (1vs1) - Hedgerows near the central house have been adjusted to ensure there is a guaranteed blind spot on this building. At very specific angles, Heavy Machine Gun teams could occupy this blocked window and fire through the hedges.
Pachino Stalemate (1vs1) - This map has received a considerable territory update, thanks to continued feedback. Fuel points have now been adjusted to the outer edges of the map and territory cut-offs are now more aggressive.
Pachino Farmlands (2vs2) - The Southern Victory Point has received a rework to iron out several issues, including the dominance of the house placed upon the hill, height gameplay bonuses that favor one side of the map, and a lack of sight blocking hedges to mirror the other side of the map. Additionally, a new access route has been added to the farmhouse in this area to improve access.
Gothic Line (3vs3) Updated a section of trench walls on Gothic Line to provide more reliable cover.

FEATURE IMPROVEMENTS

Chat System Improvements

Added Chat Visibility settings to provide players more control over their in-game experience. Chat will default to Disabled until you decide to change it. Defaulting this setting to Disabled means players will need to opt-in to chat with others. This change is specifically geared towards limiting negative interactions, especially for newer players learning the game or making the jump from singleplayer to multiplayer. If a player attempts to chat with others while they have text chat disabled, they will see an in-game notification reminding them to change their settings.

Added the Chat Visibility option to Settings. Players can toggle between:
Everyone (Team + All)
Team Only
Disabled
System messages will still be visible in the chat (such as vote to surrender, etc.)

User Interface and User Experience

The ability UI for the US Forces has been adjusted to make the estimated area of effect more accurate to the payloads being delivered.

Reticule sizes have been increased (for the most part) to better communicate what you can expect when using an ability. Keep in mind that the reticule size increases are for visual communication; not everything within the reticule space will be guaranteed to be hit by the ability due therandomness generated by scatter, but the effects of the ability will land within the area shown by the UI.

The following abilities have had their UI reticules adjusted:

Airborne Recon Loiter- made the initial cast more accurate to the sight revealed by the plane.
Airborne Reinforcements - Made the area affected by the ability more accurate to the exact area the ability affects.
Spec Ops Raiding Flares - Made the preview more indicative of the results the player can expect (accounting for potential scatter of the flares)
Spec Ops Smoke Screen - Made the preview more indicative of the results the player can expect (accounting for potential scatter of the shells)
Captain Retinue Off-Map Barrage - Tuned ability indicator according to range to target
Sherman Whizbang Rocket Barrage - Tuned ability indicator according to range to target
M3 75mm Motor Carriage High Explosive Barrage - Tuned ability indicator according to range to target
M1 Mortar Team Delayed Fuse HE Barrage - Tuned ability indicator according to range to target
M1 Mortar Team Delayed Airburst Barrage- Tuned ability indicator according to range to target
M1 Mortar Team Smoke Barrage - Tuned ability indicator according to range to target
Mortar Pit High Explosive Barrage - Tuned ability indicator according to range to target
Mortar Pit Smoke Barrage - Tuned ability indicator according to range to target
M4 105 Sherman Bulldozer Incendiary Barrage - Tuned ability size and indicator according to range from target
M4 105 Sherman Bulldozer White Phosphorus Barrage - Tuned ability size and indicator according to range to target
M8 Greyhound Armored Car Smoke Shot - Increase the size of the reticule UI to account for possible scatter
Rifle Smoke Grenades- increased the size of the reticule to be more accurate to the size of the smoke. This will be applied to all units using the rifle smoke grenades.
US Scout Recon Flares - increased the size of the UI reticule to be more accurate to the area revealed by the flare.
Smoke Shells - increased the minimum and maximum UI radius values to be more accurate to the size and scatter of the payload. Affects the Chaffee, Sherman, and Sherman Bulldozer.
M8 Scott SPG High Explosive Barrage - increased the max UI radius to account for potential scatter of the payload
M8 Scott SPG Smoke Barrage - increased the min and max UI radius to account for potential scatter of the payload
M8 Scott SPG White Phosphorus Barrage- increased the min and max UI radius to account for potential scatter of the payload
M8 Scott SPG Bunker Buster Barrage - increased the min and max UI radius to account for potential scatter of the payload

The ability UI for the Wehrmacht has been adjusted to make the estimated area of effect more accurate to the payloads being delivered.

The following abilities have had their UI reticules adjusted:

GRM-34 Mortar Team HE Barrage increased size to be more accurate to the areas hit (accounting for scatter)
GRM-34 Mortar Team Smoke Barrage - increased UI maximum size to reflect the areas affected by the ability
GRM-34 Mortar Team Veterancy Flare - increased the UI size to reflect the area revealed by the ability
Nebelwerfer 42 Rocket Launcher Incendiary Barrage - increased UI at all ranges for accuracy (Accounting for scatter)
Nebelwerfer 42 Rocket Launcher White Phosphorus Barrage - increased the UI at maximum range to account for scatter
Stormtrooper Stick Grenade Assualt - increased the UI to better reflect where the grenades can land at all ranges
Stormtrooper Red Phosphorus - increased the UI size to better reflect the size of the ability payload
Mechanized Battlegroup Zeroing Artillery Barrage - increased the ability UI to better reflect the area that can be affected by it.
Luftwaffe Battlegroup Stuka Loiter - increased the UI to better show the area that will be affected by the loiter
Wespe Self Propelled Artillery HE Barrage - adjusted the UI to account for the potential scatter at all ranges
Stummel Half Track HE Barrage - increased the maximum range UI slightly to account for potential scatter.

High Contrast Mode

Updated the High Contrast values for text. This will allow text to be more readable to those players that need to use High Contrast. Also added a black background.
Added a High Contrast Background to the town text and the battle type text.
Updated the selection card to use proper High Contrast Values. T.
Updated the background for the text on the objectives and objectives pop up in High Contrast mode.
Updated the background for the Unit Text and the background for the Veterancy text.

GAMEPLAY CHANGES

A.I.

With the release of Onyx Shark (1.7.0) we noticed that player feedback regarding the A.I. predominantly noted it was not as active around the map. For this update, we've taken another look at how we can further improve the A.I to tackle this problem. One of the biggest changes made was to re-adjust how the A.I. perceives the frontline and how units are positioned. This should make the A.I. feel like they are overall more aggressive and ready to help nearby engagements.

Here is a more comprehensive rundown of the changes:

A.I. has a stricter definition for the frontline and units will prefer positions near the border of owned and enemy territory.
Adjusted more vehicle behaviors so that vehicles will prefer to go to the frontlines when full health more often.
Adjusted build orders to use less of the early game light vehicles at game stages where they are no longer as useful.
Adjusted retreat timing to compensate for the 1.7.0 time-to-kill changes.
Improved team weapon behaviors. They should now face the correct way and get recrewed only when the A.I. feels like they have a more significant combat advantage.
A.I. should now react better to being targeted by units in the fog of war, where previously they could leave themselves exposed for long durations.
Changed how the A.I. chooses to use their Battlegroup abilities. As they unlock stronger abilities, they will prioritize them over cheaper abilities. This should solve over-usage of recon loiters as an example.
A.I. will have a higher chance to build engineers when vehicles are present.

MULTIPLAYER BALANCE

General

Light Vehicles

Light vehicles have become too dominant, being very cost effective, lethal, and having early timings that make it hard to get counters before they snowball the game in favor of the player building light vehicles.

We have made a global change to most light vehicles in the game, increasing their fuel cost. This will make massed light vehicles less cost-effective and give players more time to create counter units.

Sandbags and Tank Trap Defense Target Size

The following change makes it easier to destroy certain field defenses when issuing attack-move commands on the target.

All updated to target size 20 except wire

Recrew Team Weapon Ability

Halftracks and trucks were able to reinforce decrewed team weapons too quickly, particularly in team games where they are more prominent. This change slows the rate at which a single reinforcement platform can recrew multiple team weapons without infantry support.

Recharge time increased from 30 to 60

Demolition Charges

We are further increasing the damage demolition charges deal to defensive structures to solidify their role as anti-defense weapons.

Now deal 200% additional damage to bunkers in addition to current modifiers.
Bonus damage against emplacements increased from 100% to 200%

Flamethrowers and Vehicle Flamethrowers

Flamethrowers have fallen out of use on most units in favor of safer options. Recent changes to time-to-kill, ineffectiveness against defenses, and flamethrowers doing inconsistent damage to infantry squads in-cover have made these weapons weak in their role. The following changes increase area of effect for the flamethrowers, their anti-structure damage, and slightly improves their damage-per-second to be more effective weapons during combat.

Area of effect width increased from 3 to 4
Bonus damage against bunkers increased from 100% to +250%
Bonus damage against buildings increased from +75% to +250%
Flamethrowers now always penetrate bunkers and buildings
Panzer III and L6 Flamethrower damage increased from 2 to 2.5
Minimum and maximum cooldown reduced by 0.25 for all flamethrowers

Salvaging – Recovery Vehicles and Rapid Salvage for Panzerpioneers and Panzergrenadiers

In most cases it was preferable to recover a destroyed vehicle wreck rather than salvaging it. To remedy this, we are now allowing salvaged wrecks to provide manpower, incentivizing this ability to be used to improve one’s economy or in situations where wrecks cannot be safely recovered.

Now provides 30% of the total wreck’s manpower cost in addition to the current 15% fuel.

All Infantry-Based Rifle Weapons

In the early game, it is too easy for ultra-light vehicles to push off mainline infantry squads. In many instances, these vehicles could drive into an infantry squad, cause a significant amount of damage and then either back-off for repairs or force the squad to retreat when these vehicles should either be flanking an opponent’s cover or providing fire support from a distance.

We are now giving all rifle weapons in the game increased penetration at point-blank, allowing mainline infantry to ward off vehicles at close-range.

Near penetration increased from 1 to 1.5 for all rifle weapons

Pintle Mounted Machine Guns

With the current anti-air system, pintles do not deal enough damage to bring down planes. We are removing the anti-air feature of these weapons to prevent these units from giving their location away when not on hold-fire.

No longer target aircraft

Vehicle Turrets, Anti-tank Guns and Pintles

A large number of weapons would reset to neutral facing when an enemy unit left the weapon’s arc. We are increasing the post-fire aim time so weapons remain at their previous facing for longer periods of time.

Post fire-aim time standardized to 4; this means vehicles, anti-tank guns and tank top gunners should require 4 seconds before reverting to neutral facing when there are no targets

Snipers

The improvements to time-to-kill have made it more difficult to push well-protected snipers, despite them also being more vulnerable when caught in the open. We are slightly increasing their manpower costs to make killing snipers more cost-effective if a unit needs to be traded out in the process.

Price increased from 300 to 340

Shell-based Artillery Units

A number of shell-based artillery units are getting their far area of effect damage adjusted to increase the damage of non-direct hits and help deal additional splash damage to large masses of infantry. We have not chosen to increase the far area-of-effect damage of rocket artillery due to their faster rates of fire, allowing more rockets to reach a target position before the opponent can react.

Medium howitzer far area of effect damage increased from 0.15 to 0.2; Affects the Wespe, Bishop, Cannone 105, M2A1 105mm
Bl 5.5 Inch Howitzer far area of effect damage increased from 0.1 to 0.175
Fixed an issue where the 105mm auto-fire did not use the same stats as the standard 105mm barrage

US Forces

Air Support Center

Due to the munition costs of the various strike abilities that also have an opportunity cost associated with them, we are removing the shared cooldown between the strafing run and the dive-bomb.

Airstrikes no long share cooldowns

Scout Squad

Scouts are having their build-time reduced to give USF more strategies in the early game that focus on map control over combat.

Build time reduced from 30 to 20; due to rounding, it causes it to appear as 19 in the UI
Pathfinders unaffected and remain at 33

Engineer and Assault Squads

American engineers are receiving a boost to their health to increase their durability when used in combat roles such as flamethrower teams or light assault infantry. We have also adjusted their damage-per-second to be more damaging against vehicles, like other SMG weapons, while retaining the current effectiveness against infantry.

Standardize health from 85/90 to 100 for all variants
Accuracy reduced from 75/37.5/22.5 to 46/26.5/17
Assault Engineer accuracy set to 0.495/0.265/0.17
Damage increased from 3 to 4
Burst near modifier increased from 0.75 to 1

Riflemen Squad

Riflemen are receiving a population increase to make it harder to maintain a large army, this primarily targets builds that go above 4-5 Riflemen.

Population increased from 7 to 8
Veterancy requirement increased from 900/2700/5400 to 950/2850/5700

Bazooka Team

We are reducing the manpower cost of the Bazooka Team to make the unit more cost-efficient as an early anti-vehicle unit. We have also fixed Steady-Fire, allowing Bazooka Teams to zone out a large area when in garrisons such as Fighting Positions.

Manpower cost reduced from 280 to 250
Steady-Fire now functions in garrisons

M1 57mm Anti-tank Gun

Due to how fluid and mobile combat can be, we have changed the Focused Sight ability to provide a shorter vision range but will always remain active until it is toggled off.

Focused Sight functionality changed to only give vision when the team weapon is set-up. The ability no longer cancels when the unit is not deployed and remains active.
Focused Sight vision bonus reduced from 35 to 15

M3 Armored Personnel Carrier

Fuel cost increased from 25 to 30
HMG arc increased from 45 to 120
Salvage Crews now changed to destroy team weapons after a set duration, rather than depleting health. Always grants 60 munitions for team weapons and 15 fuel for wrecks

M16 Quad Halftrack

Fuel cost increased from 30 to 40

M3 75mm Halftrack

The 75mm Halftrack is having its barrage improved, giving the US Forces a more powerful indirect-fire option over the mortar. The increased range, rate of fire, and near area of effect improves the unit’s effectiveness against defenses, team weapons, and infantry. Scatter has been increased to reduce accuracy at range, but also for greater chances of scatter hits against mobile units.

Fuel cost increased from 30 to 40
Barrage reload time reduced from 5 to 3.75/4.25
Barrage aim-time reduced from 1 to 0.125
Barrage range increased from 70 to 90
Barrage angle scatter increased from 3.5 to 6.5
Barrage area of effect distance increased from 0 to 0.5

M8 Greyhound

The Greyhound population is being increased to match other light combat vehicles. The unit’s area of effect damage is also being reduced in exchange for more damage on the 50cal Heavy Machine Gun, making the Greyhound less effective at dealing large bursts of damage in a short period of time.

Cost adjusted from 280 manpower and 40 fuel to 260 manpower and 50 fuel
Population increased from 6 to 8
Area of effect damage reduced from 0.75/0.4/0.4 to 0.5/0.3/0.3
M2HB 50cal damage increased from 7 to 9

M24 Chaffee Light Tank

The following changes primarily target the effectiveness of massed Chaffees which were too cost effective when paired with the Armored Battlegroup. It created a gameplay loop where players could challenge higher tier vehicles while continuing to stockpile cost effective vehicles that were easily replaced and had little impact on upkeep/population.

To remedy this, their population cost has been increased, near penetration reduced to make attacking tanks frontally less effective and Seek and Destroy has been changed to now be pure a detection ability. A single Chaffee will still remain effective against early enemy vehicles.

Population increased from 7 to 9
Fuel cost increased from 50 to 60
Near penetration reduced from 180 to 150
APCR near penetration reduced from 270 to 220
Now prioritizes vehicles by default upon creation
Seek and Destroy renamed to Vehicle Detection
Duration increased from 30 to 45 seconds
No longer grants a speed bonus

M8 Scott

Fuel cost increased from 45 to 55
Fixed HE barrage data to match auto-fire damage

Armored Battlegroup

Armored Field Repairs

Munitions cost reduced from 100 to 85

Seek and Destroy

We are changing Seek and Destroy to provide vision, creating greater differentiation from the German Blitzkrieg ability and reducing the effectiveness of units while the ability is active due to Armored Company being able to produce cheaper vehicles.

All global vehicle speed bonuses have been lowered to make these abilities less effective at rushing through enemy lines and getting to an enemy’s flank by charging forward.

Fire rate bonus removed, now gives +10 Sight
Speed bonus reduced from 35% to 20%

Strength in Steel

Command Point cost increases from 1 to 2

Wehrmacht

Pioneers

Pioneers are receiving some improvements to their survivability and point-blank damage to make them slightly more effective in the early game.

Health increased from 85 to 95
Weapon near cooldown reduced from 0.8 to 0.5

Grenadier Squad

Build time decreased from 24 to 20

Panzergrenadier

We are improving the Panzergrenadier, particularly at mid-long range to make it more dangerous to approach the squad or engage with them in cover battles. We are hoping this change encourages players to use this squad at mid-range, rather than rushing them forward as a close-quarters-combat squad.

Aim-time modifiers reduced from 1.75/1.75/3 to 1.25/1.5/2
Mid accuracy increased from 0.45 to 0.475
Long-range accuracy increased from 0.245 to 0.26

251 Armored Personnel Carrier

Like other light vehicles, we are delaying the Stummel upgrade through build-time and cost increases as the unit is now a very capable combat support unit.

Fuel cost increased from 20 to 30
Stummel munition cost increased from 50 to 60
Stummel research time increased from 30 to 45
Fixed an issue where the Stummel would not benefit from Veterancy 1 upgrades from the Officer Quarters

221 Scout Car

Fuel cost increased from 25 to 30

Flak 30 Anti-aircraft Team

Bonus damage against aircraft increased from 300% to 435%

Wirbelwind Flakpanzer IV

Fuel cost increased from 60 to 70

Marder III M Tank Destroyer

Fuel cost increased from 40 to 45

StuG III G Assault Gun

All StuG variants are gaining increased armor. It was too easy to force the StuG away with anti-armor weapons due to its limited arc of fire and slow speed. For the anti-armor variant, the unit was too slow to track most targets on the field before they got away or got to the unit’s flank.

Fuel cost increased from 60 to 70
Armor increased from 210 to 250
Side armor increased from 110 to 150
Rotation rate increased from 28 to 32

Brummbar

Fuel cost increased from 100 to 110

Tiger Heavy Tank

Heavy tanks like the Black Prince and Tiger are having their area of effect adjusted to have less damage drop-off and a larger area of effect, but they will also have a smaller one hit kill radius. There were too many situations where these heavy tanks failed to deal damage to infantry despite the shell landing near them, while other situations could see these vehicles wiping out an entire squad on a lucky hit.

Area of effect radius increased from 3.5 to 4.5
Area of effect distance adjust from 1/2/3.5 to 0.25/1.5/3.5
Area of effect damage adjusted from 1/0.15/0.05 to 0.6/0.33/0.1875

Blitzkrieg

Global speed bonus reduced from 35% to 20%

Mechanized Battlegroup

8 Rad Armored Car

The Wehrmacht 8 Rad is receiving an increase to its command point requirement to delay how quickly this unit can arrive. This is in addition to changes that the DAK 8 Rad has also received.

Population increased from 7 to 8
Fuel cost increased from 40 to 55
Accuracy decreased from 0.52/0.424/0.36 to 0.52/0.318/0.18
Command Point requirement increased from 1 to 2

StuG III D Assault Gun

Armor increased from 210 to 250
Side armor increased from 110 to 150
Rotation rate increased from 28 to 32

Mobile Repair Stations

Command point cost reduced from 2 to 1

Mechanized Assault

The amount of health regenerated was far too high, able to heal a unit through 2-3 anti-tank gun shots and led to players using the ability to rush vehicles in, rather than supporting the infantry. We have significantly reduced the amount of healing provided.

Health regeneration per second reduced from 10 to 3.5

Luftwaffe Battlegroup

LG 40 Recoilless Team

The LG 40’s HE rounds were too ineffective against infantry, having a low explosion radius, high scatter, and limited damage outside its near explosion radius. We have adjusted the HE rounds to be more accurate with a larger explosion radius and more damage at the mid and far edges of the area-of-effect, but less damage within the near radius.

High-explosive round area radius increased from 2.5 to 3.5
High-explosive round angle scatter reduced from 10 to 6
High-explosive round area of effect damage changed from 1/0.25/0.1 to 0.6/0.3/0.25

Luftwaffe Relay

We are moving the Luftwaffe Relay back to only requiring Fallschirmpioneers to allow for synergy with paradropped weapons such as the LG40 and earlier access. The Flak emplacement has now been moved to replace its position in the Battlegroup tree with a range buff to improve the emplacement.

Now available on the Fallschirmpioneer and Pioneers squad at the start of the game
Reinforcement radius increased from 50 to 60
Manpower cost reduced from 200 to 175

Flak 38 Anti-Aircraft Emplacement

Now takes up the position of the Luftwaffe Relay Point at 1 command point
Range increased from 40 to 47.5
Veterancy bonuses changed to the following:
Veterancy 1: +120 health
Veterancy 2: -20% weapon cooldown, -30% weapon reload, +15% weapon accuracy
Veterancy 3: +2.5 damage, -20% received damage

Italian Coastal Battlegroup

Bunker Overwatch Artillery

Now has a 3.5 second delay before the first artillery barrage arrives

Rapid Fortification

Upgrades on the bunker created by Rapid Fortifications bunker have their upgrades discounted by 50%. Affected by Coastal Wall

Call the Reserves

Munitions cost decreased from 100 to 90

Artillery Officer

The Artillery Officer’s barrage has received several significant changes to reduce its effectiveness and force the officer to be closer to the target area. We want to give the opponent more time to dodge the barrage when the officer first casts the ability, force the officer to expose itself to incoming fire, allow HMGs to act as a counter to frontal assaults, and lower the area of the zone that is controlled.

Overwatch Artillery Barrage now cancels on suppression
Overwatch artillery range reduced from 37.5 to 35
Overwatch Artillery radius reduced by from 15/25 to 12.5/20
Barrages now require line of sight
Delay before the first barrage begins targeting increased from 1.5 to 4

British Forces

Royal Engineers

With improvements to time-to-kill, Royal Engineers lagged a little behind other units, despite them being geared for combat. We are improving their damage drop fall-off to make it harder to kite Royal Engineers and easier to get within maximum damage range. We have also slightly reduced their build-time to allow double Royal Engineers to help gain map control.

Sub Machine Gun near range increased from 7 to 10
Build time reduced from 30 to 25

Dingo Light Scout Car

The Dingo’s moving damage-per-second has been adjusted to be less effective against other vehicles. In matchups such as British versus Afrikakorps, the Dingo could destroy a 250 too fast while driving at full speed/chasing. The unit will still retain high damage against ultra-light vehicles while stationary.

Moving burst reduction from 1 to 0.66
Moving accuracy increased from 0.75 to 0.9

Humber Armored Car

Because the British lack a sniper unit in their core roster and closing with snipers is a high-risk maneuver when well-protected, we are giving the Humber bonus accuracy against snipers to ensure snipers are destroyed when caught out of position.

Fuel cost increased from 30 to 35
All weapons now have a +100% accuracy bonus against snipers

CWT 15 CMP Truck

Fuel cost increased from 20 to 25

M3 Stuart Light Tank

Fuel cost increased from 35 to 45

Matilda Heavy Tank

The Matilda is having its near area of effect damage lowered to give infantry more time to react when a Matilda comes into weapon range.

Area of effect near damage reduced from 1 to 0.75

M3 Grant Medium Tank

We are slightly increasing the population of the Grant to better reflect its power as a premium medium tank.

Population increased from 12 to 13

Bofors Anti-Air Emplacement

Bonus damage against aircraft increased from 300% to 435%

BL 5.5 inch Artillery Piece

Command Point cost reduced from 3 to 2

Gurkhas

Several British elite short-ranged infantry units are having their damage-per-second at point-blank improved to compensate for recent time-to-kill changes.

SMG damage increased from 4 to 4.5

Commando Section

SMG near accuracy increased from 0.42 to 0.5
Mid-range cooldown reduced from 200% to 125%

Black Prince Heavy Tank

The Black Prince has also received a boost to its penetration to make it better at punching through heavy armor that it encounters.

Area of effect radius increased from 3.25 to 3.75
Area of effect damage adjusted from 1/0.25/0.1 to 0.6/0.33/0.1875
Penetration increased from 300/275/240 to 325/300/280

Deutsches Afrikakorps

Mechanized Kompanie

Manpower cost decreased from 200 to 180

Rapid Advance

Capture bonus does not stack with units that can already capture territory

Combat Halftracks

Due to other light vehicles being pushed back in their timing, we are also increasing the time it takes to research Combat Halftracks and the 250/9 conversion to give players more time to prepare.

Research time increased from 30 to 45

Combined Arms Bonus

We are now allowing Combined Arms to trigger off ultra-light vehicles, allowing Afrikakorps infantry to have more sources of Combined Arms if they choose to have their Kardschutzen provide fire support in the early game over capturing territory.

Can now be triggered by ultra-light vehicles such as the Kradschutzen and Kettenkrad

Panzerpioneers

Panzerpioneers are having their health slightly increased to make them take one more hit from most rifle weapons. This improves their staying power in prolonged ranged engagements where the Panzerpioneer excels at over other engineering squads.

Health increased from 80 to 85
Veterancy requirements reduced from 700/2100/4200 to 650/1950/3900

Panzergrenadiers

The ranged effectiveness of the Afrikakorps Panzergrenadier (colloquially, the Palmgrenadier) is being increased. This is to improve their effectiveness in cover battles as closing distance is much more difficult due to recent time-to-kill changes.

Mid and far aim-time multiplier reduced from 2/4 to 1.5/2.6

Kradschutzen Motorcycle Team

With the recent changes to the Kradschutzen, we are slightly lower its manpower cost to compensate for its loss of reverse move. Moving cooldown has also been decreased to make the Kradchutzen slightly more effective when chasing.

Cost reduced from 200 to 180 manpower
Moving cooldown reduced from 1.5 to 1

250 Light Carrier

Like the Dingo, we are making changes to the 250’s moving effectiveness to reduce the power of the unit against other vehicles when chasing while retaining its current effectiveness against infantry.

Moving accuracy partially reverted from 0.50 to 0.725
Moving cooldown increased from 0.25 to 1
250/9 20mm autocannon upgrade research time increased from 30 to 45

Assault Grenadiers

Assault Disembark is having its duration increased to allow for greater impact. Combined with this change, we have significantly improved the Assault Grenade ability to be a major component of the unit’s offensive potential. Damage, time to throw, and scatter have all been improved to make Assault Grenades dangerous to units that remain in the target area. The StG 44 has also been improved to make plundered variant more effective in its role as a mid-range weapon.

Increased duration of Assault Disembark from 10 to 15
Assault Grenade wind-down reduced from 1.25 to 1
Assault Grenade wind-up reduced from 0.75 to 0.5
Assault Grenade angle scatter reduced from 25 to 15
Assault Grenade far damage increased from 0.3 to 0.4
Assault Grenade scatter ratio reduced from 1 to 0.5
Assault Grenade damage increased from 40 to 70
StG 44 Plunder weapon mid-range accuracy increased from 0.4 to 0.45
StG 44 Plunder weapon mid-range increased from 20 to 22.5

2.5 Tonne Medical Truck

When Field Supplies was available, it made infantry too combat effective, gaining bonuses that were as powerful as combat veterancy. We are lowering the combat bonuses to make units affected by this ability less powerful.

Field Supplies accuracy and cooldown combat bonuses reduced from 20% to 10%

Le.IG 18 Support Gun

Due to its availability within the DAK core roster, the Le.IG 18 is having its rate of fire reduced to make the unit less effective. Previously, it fired faster than units like the Pack Howitzer with no additional drawbacks.

Barrage fire-aim time increased from 0.5 to 0.75
Barrage reload increased from 2.5 to 3
Auto-fire reload increased from 3.75 to 4.5

8 Rad Armored Car

Like other light vehicles the 8 Rad was too population efficient while also being too lethal at long-range for its price. We are reducing its performance to make the 8 Rad most effective at shorter ranges.

Population increased from 7 to 8
Accuracy decreased from 0.52/0.424/0.36 to 0.52/0.318/0.18
Fuel cost increased from 40 to 55

Marder III Tank Destroyer

The Marder has received adjustments to make it less manpower heavy but with a higher fuel cost. In mid to late game scenarios, it is difficult to replace Marders due to their high manpower while fuel became less of an issue. We have also increased the rotation rate of the unit - improvements in pathing have made it difficult for the Marder to counter fast vehicle-based threats.

Cost adjusted from 280 manpower and 25 fuel to 240 manpower and 35 fuel
Rotation rate increased from 28 to 34

254 Recon Tractor

We want to push the 254 as one of the Afrikakorps’ primary recon options that allows the faction to gather intel. Recon range is being increased, allowing the 254 to stay far back from the fight to locate enemy units. Fuel costs have been increased to make going for an early 254 a significant investment due to the improved recon range.

Fuel cost increased from 15 to 35
Radio Recon range increased from 90 to 125
Recon Detection now holds the position of detected enemies for an additional 2 seconds when the pulse reaches its maximum radius before resetting

Flakvierling Halftrack

Flakvierlings will now need to be stationary to provide suppression capabilities, making the unit less frustrating for infantry to deal with when it is forced to move.

Fuel cost increased from 40 to 50
Can no longer suppress while moving

StuG III D Assault Gun

Armor increased from 210 to 250
Side armor increased from 110 to 150
Rotation rate increased from 28 to 32
Fuel cost increased from 45 to 55

StuG III G Assault Gun

Armor increased from 210 to 250
Side armor increased from 110 to 150
Rotation rate increased from 28 to 32

Tiger Heavy Tank

Area of effect radius increased from 3.5 to 4.5
Area of effect distance adjust from 1/2/3.5 to 0.25/1.5/3.5
Area of effect damage adjusted from 1/0.15/0.05 to 0.6/0.33/0.1875

Guastatori

We are making a change to all infantry units that previously had armor. We are giving the unit a flat damage reduction against all sources to make it easier for players to understand what defensive benefits are provided and improve their durability against weapons like LMGs and HMGs.

Damage reduction numbers will be visible to players on the unit description card.
Armor reduced from 1.5 to 1
Now takes 25% less damage from all sources

M13/40 Carro Light Tank

Fuel cost increased from 50 to 60

L6/40 Light Tank Call-in

Fuel cost increased from 50 to 60

250/3 Funkpanzerwagen

We are further emphasizing the role of all non-mortar 250 variants as transport vehicles to double down on the Afrikakorps’ mechanized theme.

Can transport infantry and tow heavy weapon teams

Armored Support Battlegroup

Vehicle Awareness

We are changing how vehicle awareness works to be free with the removal of the stationary requirement but are adding a significant cooldown duration.

Ability no longer costs munitions
No longer requires vehicles to be stationary
Cooldown increased from 60 to 180

Flammpanzer III Medium Tank

Price adjusted from 400 manpower and 30 fuel to 300 manpower and 55 fuel

Panzer Storm

All global vehicle speed bonuses have been lowered to make these abilities less effective at rushing through enemy lines and getting to an enemy’s flank by charging forward.

Global speed bonus reduced from 35% to 20%

FIXES

Art, Animation & Pathing

Fixed doors on wood buildings so they open when garrisoning.
Fixed an issue where the mortar gunner would t-pose when a retreat order is given after setup has begun and the loader and support crew are all killed before setup completes. Mortars will now be dropped at their current position if the crew is reduced to one model while under a retreat order. The unit will no longer retreat to base with one model before dropping the mortar tube when the retreat order ends.

General

Fixed an infinite munition exploit when using the salvage crew ability from the halftrack.
Fixed an issue where a rounding error made the Gurkha cost appear as 31 rather than 32
Fixed an issue where the Foot Guard's reinforce cost stated 31 rather than the correct number at 32.
The armor debuff decorator has now been updated to show a '-' sign rather than a '+' sign.
When units die within the aura of the Panzer IV Command Tank, they will now be given a decorator that they are under the effects of the on death reload buff.
Fixed being able to place construction on top of abandoned team weapons and paradrop locations.
Fixed units sometimes getting stuck in buildings if they get attacked as they were exiting it.
Updated the 254 to have a status decorator when in lockdown mode and updated the tool-tips to reflect the changes the unit receives.
Suppression and Pinned status will now state the modifiers being applied when the icon is hovered over on the Command card.
Fixed an issue where the 17-pounder variant of the CWT Truck did not share the same Veterancy ability as the standard CWT Truck.
Updated the tooltip on sprint abilities to state units cannot fire on the move while moving. This applies to the following abilities: Grenadier Sprint, Riflemen Sprint, Bersagileri Urra!, and Bazooka Squad Tactical Movement.
250 Light Carriers called in from the Afrikakorps Halftrack Deployment system will now appear as one unit entry in the post-game stats screen alongside regular 250s rather than as its own entry.
Fixed an issue where Brummbar Shatter Will worked on retreating units.
Fixed an issue with Afrikakorps, Wehrmacht and British Forces Heavy Machine Gun teams. Prior to this fix, when retreating from being pinned, the unit would not pick up the weapon, instead it would slide along the ground.
Fixed an issue where attacking a garrisoned squad with the SSF Commando knife throw ability would result in the building being damaged instead of the squad.
Fixed an issue where tanks would get stuck in the hold-fire state if units riding on the tank were killed before dismounting.
Enabled the "Tank Destroyer" Challenge to also be completed by 2 Pounder Anti-Tank Guns
Fixed "Default Settings" button functionality in Skirmish/Custom game options page
Removed a placeholder map object that was hidden under the sand on Black Gold.
Fixed units being able to pass through partially destroyed buildings.
Fixed kills sometimes not counting toward mission objectives when squads were killed with explosives.
Fixed the Big Game Hunter Accolade so it displays the correct description.

Singleplayer & Campaign

Using the Encircle Target partisan ability will no longer make the squad continuously fire until the turn ends.
Fixed dead emplacements sometimes not getting removed properly.
Fixed the fast forward settings description being inaccurate.
Various ruined walls in Ortona have been updated to reduce the ability to fire through areas you could not expect.
Fixed some Campaign missions ignoring the RTS difficulty setting and defaulting to standard difficulty.
Fixed a crash occurring when the same naval units were issued multiple attack commands in rapid succession in the Italian Campaign.
Fixed an issue where Commandos in the Italian campaign would not have a status decorator when in camouflage.
Vickers Focused Gunnery in singleplayer now uses the same functionality of its multiplayer variant.
Fixed Italy Campaign sometimes soft locking during the enemy turn after capturing Benevento.
Fixed units sometimes getting stuck during their movement which could cause soft locks.
Fixed an issue where SSF Commandos upgraded to have reduced manpower cost or camouflage in the Italian Campaign would have their call-in abilities require 12 population to be used rather than the stated 8.
Fixed Armored Company losing supply when near enemy emplacements in the Campaign.
Fixed an issue in the Campaign where the Bazooka Team's Veterancy 1 stated the unit would unlock the satchel charge when it is already unlocked.
Fixed a number of issues with the Partisan Tungsten Round ability. The ability will now require and only function on the model with the Panzerbuchse AT Rifle. Fixed an issue where the Partisan Sniper Rifle did not use sniper tracers. Fixed an issue where there was no decorator when Partisan Tungsten Round was active.

User Interface & User Experience

Performance improvements were made when opening the tactical map when there are many squads on the field.
Fixed a bug where the Replays page would not properly reflect renames and deletes of replays that were recently created or if the filenames contained non-English characters.
Fixed an issue that allowed players to initiate a vote to kick enemy players.
Entity Status Decorators will now show up in the selection panel so the player can hover over them to get a detailed description of what the Status means.
Fixed a bug where the pip that designates a newly purchased Battlegroup might not disappear when the Battlegroup is clicked on in the Battlegroup selection screen.
Fixed a bug where making a purchase in the store would not show the "new item" pip on the Loadout button at the top of the Main Menu.
Fixed an issue with missing Battlegroups in Custom lobbies.
Fixed an issue with players receiving automatch cooldown penalties when someone else quit during loading
Store
Discounted items now appear at the top of the "Cosmetics" tab in the store for easier visibility.

Stability

Implemented a solution to prompt Windows to automatically retrieve missing root certificates when connecting to the game server. This should resolve the recent connectivity issue caused by SSL certificate validation for most players.

Patch Notes - 1.8.1 Update

General

Fixed an issue in the Campaign where aircraft or supply ships moving off the map would count as them being killed and trigger squad death notifications.
⁠Removed debug text from the Loadout screen if running the game with specific command arguments.
Fixed an issue where some players that bought the game during our Free Weekend earlier this year could not buy or use War Bonds.

Multiplayer Balance

General

Stosstruppen and Guastatori

Correctly adjusted armor to be 1 from 1.25 or 1.5

US Forces

M8 Greyhound

A few issues were found when we made our changes to Greyhound’s data, and we’re making some improvements to the performance of its very important 50cal gun so that it is effective while on the move.

37mm moving accuracy to 0.75 from 0.5
50cal moving burst penalty removed
50cal horizontal tracking speed from 35 to 60
50cal firing cone increased from 5 to 10
50cal ready aim time set from 0.5/0.75 to 0.25/0.375

Bazooka Team

Build time from 40 to 25

Infantry Assault

Ability cooldown increased by 60 seconds
Munition cost increased from 100 to 125

Wehrmacht

Panzergrenadiers

This incorrect number increased what was intended to be a gentle ~5% increase in damage-per-second to be a powerful ~15% lethality buff at close ranges, which was unintended.

Near range corrected from 10 to 7

LG40 Recoilless Team

The new performance of the High Explosive shell is oppressive when combined with its full range. Rather than making the HE less reliable, we’re reducing the range to increase the risk and counterplay.

HE Range from 50 to 40

Sturmpanzer IV Brummbar

Fuel cost from 110 to 120

Support Bunkers

We’ve noticed that certain strategies are too powerful at snowballing an early Command Bunker into dominant map control, never letting opponents catch up. This is meant to delay how early Coastal can anchor their defensive line and give opponents more time to counter a player trying to setup.

Command Point cost increased from 1 to 2

British Forces

Commando Section

Fixed an issue where the Commando Sten was not using the correct stats. Now properly uses the values provided in update 1.8.0

Deutsches Afrikakorps

Panzergrenadier

The original changes were meant to make Panzergrenadier builds more viable, particularly in smaller game modes. However, the impact on team games was significantly greater than expected, and we’re toning down some of the power we’ve given to them and reducing their scaling speed slightly.

DPS revert mid-range buff from 1.6 to 2
Build time from 20 to 30
Reinforce time increased from 3.375 to 4
Veterancy requirements scaling increased by 100, from 900/2700/5400 to 1000/3000/6000

Kradschutzen Motorcycle Team

We’re toning down some of its Recon and its combat endurance. While the changes have increased the build variety of Afrikakorps openers, we’ve found that the value of giving Combined Arms far exceeded expectations, making this unit too efficient early, being good at combat, support and recon.

Vision radius reduced from 45 to 35
Self repair time changed from 15 to 30 seconds- Health reduced from 200 to 185

2.5 Tonne Medical Truck

We’re increasing the risk of bringing these to the front. It was too difficult to properly punish these builds due to the ability of the Truck to shrug off hits and retreat.

Health reduced to 160

L6/40 Light Tank

Fuel cost increased from 60 to 70
L6 Flamer damage against production buildings reduced to 175% from 350%

Patch Notes - 1.8.2 Update

General

Fixed an issue where Battlegroups were missing when hosting a Skirmish match.
Added additional data logging for soft locks that may occur in the Campaign.
Fixed units sometimes not dying properly if they were being healed at the same time.
Reverted the map weighting/chance to play of our new maps to normal levels. Whenever we release new maps we increase the chance of playing on them for a few weeks before restoring that rate to normal.

Multiplayer Balance

Deutsches Afrikakorps

Panzergrenadier

Reverted the mid-range fire-aim time nerf from 2 to 1.6
Build time reduced from 30 to 25.

Patch Notes - 1.8.3 Update

Fixed an issue where Battlegroups were still not appearing in Skirmish mode for all players. Steam Workshop mods should no longer cause this issue with Battlegroups in Single Player.
Updated Air Superiority challenge to include unique variants of Incendiary Bombing run found on the British Air and Sea Company.
Bunker Buster challenge has been updated to include all player-built and HQ bunkers.

Orchid Spider - 1.9.0 Update

OVERVIEW

The Orchid Spider (1.9) update for Company of Heroes 3 introduces new maps, our Live Observer Mode, in-game Leaderboards, and substantial additions to multiplayer with new unit Veterancy and unit distinction and ability changes. Notably, VFX Improvements and Light Vehicle Tuning which we had slated for this update have been moved to our 2nd Anniversary update in February.

NEW CONTENT

Maps

New Maps

Rapido River Crossing (4 vs 4)

Rapido River Crossing is the latest 4-vs-4 installment, available in all game modes. This autumnal valley disguises a brutal battlefield bisected by a fast, muddy river. Creating a foothold on the enemy side of the river is key to victory but will prove challenging for even the most experienced commander.

Despite having already suffered heavy losses at Salerno a month prior, the US 36th Infantry Division was selected for the crossing of the Rapido River, a costly and controversial decision. Ill-prepared and dramatically understrength, a crossing was forced at several points, each of which was carefully zoned and overlooked by dug-in German forces. Whatever tenuous foothold was captured across the river was soon lost.

A wide, fast river bisects this rural landscape, with only flooded forests and scattered farmland available to protect forces before they advance.

Santuario (2 vs 2)

Santuario is our latest Official Community Map, created by Mythe. This 2-vs-2 map features a once idyllic seaside village, now fortified in preparation for battle. Players will be tasked with taking and holding a variety of environs, from the beaches to the South, to the central village, to the Northern forests.

Despite its namesake, there was little sanctuary to be found in this coastal commune. A vital inlet for the Allied invasion of Italy’s West coast, this once thriving location devolved into a warzone.

There is no such thing as undue caution when entering a location like this. Commanders should be wary of leading their forces into ambushes around every corner.

Multiplayer Maps Quality of Life Improvements

We have several additional bug fixes and improvements across our Multiplayer Maps, thanks to feedback on the Official Discord. Any further feedback on each map is still welcome, so please be sure to leave comments in the map-feedback section.

Pachino Stalemate (1vs1) - There has been continued improvement and balancing around this map's cut-off points. Due to a number of changes in the last patch, new issues arose that we have addressed. As this is a competitive map, we still expect minor issues that need similar treatment, so please keep any feedback coming.
Villa Fiore (1vs1) - Gateways have been updated to ensure Anti-Tank guns can enter the central compound on the slim chance early combat has not knocked them down.
Day 101 (2vs2) - The destructible bridge encountered a bug that was enabling vehicles to continue crossing the river, even after the bridge was destroyed. This has been rectified.
Road to Primosole (2vs2) - Adjustments to the inclined roads from each HQ to the Manor. The East path was proving too narrow and caused congestion, while the West lacked balanced cover to mirror the East. Impasse has also been slightly reduced in these areas to better enable flanking these main entrances around the North of the map with team weapons and light vehicles.
L'Aquila (3vs3) - A wire pole was left floating in mid-air. This has been grounded once more.
Longstop Hill (3vs3) - Some minor adjustments to pathfinding and sight/shot blockers, particularly in the map center. HQ bunkers have been adjusted slightly to reduce their impact on territory near the HQ sectors.
Alam el Halfa (4vs4) - Very minor adjustments to cover to improve balance in key areas. Crates that were piled too close to windows (therefore obscuring whether the window was occupied) have been reduced or removed.
Black Gold (4vs4) - Several pathfinding and cover improvements have been made map-wide.
Oasis Depot (4vs4) - Several adjustments have been made map-wide to improve the balance of buildings and improve pathfinding, particularly for larger vehicles which struggled to path in some areas.
Sousse Wetlands (4vs4) - Minor adjustments to rock formations near the map center, improving pathfinding in these areas.

Furthermore, a number of changes to map objects will reduce minor issues across many of our maps.

Small scree rocks (but only those that do not provide cover) have been updated to no longer block shots should a projectile stray nearby (unless that projectile already missed its target).
All garrisonable towers have been updated to be easier to target with right-click or attack move orders. Indirect-fire attacks will be generally more effective against these buildings.
Bridges and bridge walls have been updated to be more satisfying when collapsing. Bridges should now destroy any walls attached to the bridge when they collapse.
A small number of light cover map objects have been updated to be crushable, where previously they were not.

NEW FEATURES

In-Game Leaderboards

Added in-game Leaderboards. Leaderboards can be accessed from a button at the top of the Main Menu.
Player Profiles can be accessed directly from the Leaderboards.
If a player on the Leaderboard is currently in a match, an option to Observe Match will be available.
Added a new Rank Up animation for Quick Match. Unique animations will play for reaching Brass, Bronze, Iron, Silver, Gold, and Challenger ranks.

Live Observer Mode

Live Observer Mode makes its debut in Company of Heroes 3, providing players and content creators with a tool to watch and commentate on matches live as they happen. This mode also lets you spectate your favorite players and friends.

Introduced Live Observer Mode. This can be found in the Multiplayer menu.
Added Observer Mode settings for Custom Games.
Added new hotkey settings for Observer Mode and Replays in the Settings menu.
Introduced the Tournament Mode layout for both Observer Mode and Replays. This presents an overview of what all players are up to and allows easier tracking and comparison between players.
While in Tournament Mode, players can switch between three different panel views. This is done via arrow buttons under the minimap. Up to four players can be displayed at a time, and clicking the player name in the panel opens a dropdown menu allowing you to change the currently viewed player.

User Interface

We have done a major pass to improve tool-tip clarity for the majority of multiplayer units in-game. This reduces the length of the paragraphs, focusing key information and abilities to bullet points within the main body of the description. Unit upgrades have also been moved to bullet points, making it easier to understand how many upgrades a unit has. We have also retagged the majority of units, so players can better understand which class that unit is. Additionally, we have revamped Veterancy tooltips which appear when the player hovers their mouse over the Veterancy stars in the command bar. They will now display the numerical bonuses for each Veterancy level. This will make it easier for players to understand how much power each unit gets for each Veterancy level.

Quality of Life

Added a Kill Counter to all units. Mousing over the icon in the unit portrait opens a tooltip that shows how many kills of each different type of unit.
Production buildings and base structures are now immune to friendly-fire damage from both direct-fire hits and area of effect damage. As a reminder, please use the in-game reporting system if you feel a player is engaging in any type of disruptive behavior.
A destroyed headquarters can now be repaired in Multiplayer and Skirmish. When the HQ is destroyed, the faction's respective builders can be called-in for the same price as their base cost. These builders can repair the HQ until it is restored to 50%. This ability has a 30 second recharge time. Armory and Support Centers are no longer destroyed when the HQ is destroyed. HQs only count as a functional structure when they are repaired to 50%. If all buildings are destroyed while the HQ is below 50% after previously being destroyed, the player will still lose the match.

MULTIPLAYER CHANGES

General Changes

Manpower and Upkeep Changes

We have found that army sizes in Company of Heroes 3 tend to be a little too large, resulting in strategies that rely on overwhelming the foe with superior numbers, rather than focusing on tactical play and superior positioning. Furthermore, standard infantry squads with lower upkeep were a little too prominent, leaving little room for elite infantry.

To address this issue, we have made a game-wide change to upkeep and reinforcement costs. The values themselves do not have a major impact in the early game, but it will make it less favorable to spam certain unit types in the mid-game. The upkeep changes will also make it harder to sustain large groups of standard infantry squads while incentivizing the deployment of elite troops who now have a similar upkeep cost.

Unit Upkeep

Upkeep has been standardized to the following:

Upkeep of 1: Team weapons, Emplacements, certain officer units, ultra-light vehicles and Grenadiers
Upkeep of 1.5: All vehicles and infantry units

Reinforcement Cost Changes

General

Heavy Machine Gun, Mortar, and Indirect-fire Crews	25 to 28
Anti-Tank Gun Crews	25 to 29

US Forces

Scout Squad	25 to 28
Engineer Squad	22 to 24
Bazooka Team	25 to 28
Riflemen Squad	26 to 30
Captain Retinue	26 to 29
Paratrooper Squad	28 to 33
SSF Commando Squad	28 to 33
Ranger Squad	45 to 50
Assault Engineers	23 to 25
Pathfinders and Artillery Observers	28 to 30

Wehrmacht

Pioneer Squad	25 to 22
Grenadier Squad	22 to 25
Coastal Reserves	20 to 23
Jager Squad	28 to 32
Panzergrenadier Squad	28 to 32
Fallschirmpioneer Squad	28 to 33
Stosstruppen Squad	40 to 44
Fallschirmjager Squad	40 to 44

Deutsches Afrikakorps

Panzerpioneer	23 to 25
Panzergrenadier Squad	28 to 32
Assault Grenadier Squad	28 to 31
Bersaglier Squad	26 to 30
Guastatori Squad	35 to 39

On-Field Reinforcement

We are increasing the time it takes to reinforce squads that are outside the base sector to reduce the power of forward reinforcement and how quickly squads can return to the fight.

Out of combat penalty increased from 100% to 150%

Tank Traps

This is a small change to make buildable tank traps act like other constructable objects in the world that can intercept projectiles on scatter hits.

Now properly block incoming projectiles

Forward Retreat Points

Retreat Point functionality automatically toggles on when construction or upgrades are complete

Light Artillery – Le.IG, Pack Howitzer, and 4.2 Inch Heavy Mortar

The long-range power of light artillery units could be oppressive due to their ability to inflict heavy damage with only 1-2 shots from extreme ranges. This was made worse by the fact these units could also defend themselves against approaching infantry.

We have reduced their area of effect damage and have weakened their auto-fire capabilities to give infantry more room to play around these weapons and make it easier to close the distance with them.

Area of effect damage reduced from 0.5/0.4/0.15 to 0.4/0.3/0.15
Minimum range increased from 15 to 25
Auto-fire angle scatter increased from 6 to 7
Auto-fire scatter max increased from 5 to 10
Auto-fire distance scatter ratio increased from 0.065 to 0.125

Resource Caches

While we are reducing the power of forward reinforcement, the retreat point on Resource Caches was fairly weak due to its frailness. We are increasing the durability of resource caches and retreat points against indirect-fire due to their stationary nature.

Are now tagged as emplacements, reducing the damage they receive from indirect fire by around 20-50% depending on the weapon
Gains +120 health when upgraded as a forward retreat point

Heavy Machine Gun Changes

We want Heavy Machine Guns to be weapons that excel at controlling a zone against massed infantry attacks, however, they currently are not powerful enough to de-incentivize blobbing, or massing units, particularly for the Allied Heavy Machine Guns which have lower area suppression.

We have standardized area suppression to make all Heavy Machine Guns effective versus large groups of infantry, and have increased their base accuracy to make it more dangerous to remain in a machine gun arc for an extended period.

General Heavy Machine Gun Change

Area suppression standardized to 1 across the board

M1919 Heavy Machine Gun Team

Accuracy increased from 0.65/0.45/0.3 to 0.748/0.518/0.345
Now by default has 20% damage reduction when set-up
Cover Combat veterancy ability replaced with Improved Defensive Set-up; increases damage reduction bonus from 20% to 30%
Button now is a 30 second timed ability rather than a targeted ability.
Button cost reduced to 20 munitions
Manpower cost increased from 220 to 240

MG 42 Machine Gun Team

Accuracy increased from 0.61/0.44/0.2135 to 0.702/0.506/0.246
Area suppression radius increased from 15 to 17.5

MG 34 Team

Accuracy increased from 0.61/0.45/0.225 to 0.702/0.518/0.259

Vickers Machine Gun Team

Accuracy increased from 0.7/0.5/0.375 to 0.805/0.575/0.432

Anti-Tank Guns

It is too easy to amass multiple anti-tank guns and attack-move them around the map due to their quick deployment time. We want these weapons to be set up in advance for enemy assaults, rather than being used to quickly respond to vehicle assaults.
We are slightly increasing the set-up time of the anti-tank gun to make it harder to respond to fast-moving threats while their cost has been slightly increased.

57mm cost increased from 250 to 270; includes paradropped version
All other anti-tank guns increased from 260 to 280
Anti-tank gun set-up time increased from 2 to 2.5
LG 40 set-up time increased from 1.5 to 2
2-pounder unaffected by the following changes

Territory Points

It was difficult for certain units to gain experience throughout the game, particularly for those that focused on capturing territory that have little-to-no combat power. This resulted in these units rarely getting to the higher level of veterancy and players not being incentivized to constantly contest the map with them.
We have made a system change that allows certain units to gain veterancy when they capture territory. This should encourage players to capture territory with specific units and allow non-combat units to eventually hit higher levels of veterancy, even if they do not participate in combat.

In the future, we may open this mechanic to other units in the game.

Now provide 100 experience on capture and 50 experience on decapture to specific units. This applies to all units in the capture circle that are capable of gaining experience.
Applies to the following: Scouts, Pathfinders, Artillery Observers, Kettenkrad, Kradschutzen Motorcycle Team, 4x4 Truck, M29 Weasel.

Victory Points

Capture time increased from 20 to 25
Revert time reduced from 15 to 10
Also provides 100 experience on capture and 50 experience on decapture like territory points

Attack Loiters

We are reducing the health of offensive-based loiters. This will make it easier for anti-air to deny these abilities and prevent them from getting additional passes after the first strike.

Health reduced from 1800 to 1350 for the following: P-47 Strafing Support, Stuka Anti-Tank Loiter, Stuka Loiter, Hawker Typhoon Anti-Tank Loiter

Vehicle Pathing

Vehicles navigating around obstacles will have a stronger preference for paths that match their current heading, instead of always trying to take the shortest distance which may result in awkward pivots.

US Forces

Rearm and Retrofit

We are removing Rearm and Retrofit from multiplayer as the upgrade was complicated to understand with different effects for each US vehicle in the game and resulted in a lot of power being gated behind a specific support center.

In return, we are giving a salvage upgrade to the Mechanized Support Center to help bolster the economy of US players.

Replaced with Engineer Salvage; allows Engineers to salvage wrecks. Costs125 manpower and 15 fuel to research.

Scout and Sniper Stealth Reconnaissance

Stealth Reconnaissance no longer de-triggers in-combat; unit instead will auto-engage if spotted
Scout Recon no longer makes the unit prone
Speed penalty on Scout and Sniper Stealth recon changed from 70% to 50%

Scout Squad and Variants

Regular Scouts have gained a new ability meant to help them survive engagements when given the retreat order. This was added due to the Scout’s limited combat capabilities and small squad size.

The experience requirements of Scout variants have also been increased to accommodate the changes to experience gained from capturing territory.

New ability: Smoke Drop - Drops a smoke grenade when the squad is given a retreat order. 40 second recharge time. Replace Passive healing only for Scouts; Artillery Observers and Pathfinders retain Passive Healing.
Artillery Observer and Pathfinder experience requirements increased from 750/2250/4500 to 950/2850/5700

M3 Armored Personnel Carrier

The M3’s machine gun has been revamped to be more in-line with those found on vehicles like the Sherman and Greyhound which results in significantly more damage at range.

Long-range damage-per-second increased from 6.5 to 10
Ready-aim time adjust from 0.3 to 0.25/0.375
Fire aim time multiplier set to 1 at all ranges
Burst duration decreased from 2/3 to 2/2.5
Rate of fire increased from 7 to 8
Rate of fire multiplier adjust from 1.1/1/1.05 to 1 at all ranges
Cooldown adjusted from 2/4 to 2/2.5
Duration near multiplier set from 0.4 to 1
Damage increased from 7 to 9
Reload sped up from 5/6 to 4.5/5
Reload frequency lowered from 8/10 to 5/5

M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer

The Hellcat has been a difficult unit to adjust as we want it to remain a cheap fast-moving tank destroyer that is efficient against most vehicles while not being overbearing in the anti-tank role. To this end, we are giving the Hellcat indirect power through a new ability, allowing it to spot the enemy and get the first shot in. We have also revamped its veteran abilities to better reflect the role of the unit.

The Hellcat can now take HVAP Rounds as a choice to tackle all vehicle-based threats or it can take the new Shoot and Scoot ability that speeds up the Hellcat after it has fired a shot when stationary, allowing it to either chase after enemy vehicles or quickly disengage from danger.

New ability: Open-Topped - Hellcat now gains + 7 vision when stationary
New ability: Shoot and Scoot – When the Hellcat fires while stationary, it gains +15% speed and +20% acceleration for 6 seconds. Effects refresh when the Hellcat fires while stationary. Replaces First-strike.
HVAP Rounds added as a veteran ability choice. Replaces Long-range barrage.

M4 Sherman Tanks - Standard M4A1, M4(105)Dozer and M4A1 76mm

We find the performance of the basic Sherman to be underwhelming, lacking any notable strengths with mediocre anti-infantry performance despite arriving at the end of the tech tree. To remedy this, we are giving a major boost to the Sherman’s machine guns giving the unit consistent DPS at all ranges against infantry.

Smoke launchers are now a stock ability to the standard Sherman, giving it more utility by allowing it to block off vision for itself and other units.

Coaxial and Hull machine gun accuracy increased from 0.35/0.15/0.1 to 0.7/0.5/0.45
Coaxial machine gun cooldown reduced from 4 to 3.5
M2HB 50cal Far accuracy increased from 0.15 to 0.25 (all Shermans)
Standard Sherman has Smoke Launchers by default

M1 Pack Howitzer Team – US Forces and British Forces Variants

New ability: White Phosphorous Rounds - Fires 6 shells with moderate scatter and deals burn damage while blocking vision. Costs 25 munitions. Requires veterancy 1.

M8 Greyhound

We have revamped the Greyhound’s veterancy abilities, allowing the unit to further specialize in the anti-infantry role or act as a potent raiding unit.

New ability: Raider - Allows the Greyhound to decapture territory with a speed of 2. Replaces Vehicle Spotter
Reworked ability: Canister Rounds - Canister is now a 15 second timed ability that costs 35 munitions. Replaces Vehicle Detection

Airborne Battlegroup

Paratrooper Squad

Paratroopers are being given a unique mechanic to distinguish themselves from other US Forces infantry. They can now be paradrop reinforced when out of combat, allowing the squad to replenish losses between engagements.

Paratrooper veteran abilities have also been revamped, allowing them to play into their explosive abilities or being a squad with high capture speed that excels at seizing or holding territory points.

Can be paradrop reinforced when out of combat on the battlefield
New ability: Packed Explosives – Increases the damage and explosion radius of all grenades and satchel charges by +25%. Replaces Concealment
New ability: Seize and Hold – Increases capture rate by +33%. When the Paratrooper unit is within 10 meters of any territory or victory point, they gain +15% damage reduction. Replaces Fast Capture.

Advanced Infantry Battlegroup

Artillery Observers

Monitor Beacon speeds up the recharge time of beacon barrages from 20 to 15

Frontline Medical Tent

Manpower cost increased from 200 to 275

Ammunition Storage

We are creating further risk-and-reward with the Ammunition Storage by increasing its bonuses even further, at the cost of dealing significant damage to any friendly unit near the building when it detonates.

Reload and ability recharge bonuses provided increased from 33% to 40%
Now properly explodes on death and deals heavy damage to infantry standing beside the Ammunition Storage

Special Operations Battlegroup

M29 Weasel Recon Vehicle

The experience requirements have been increased to accommodate the changes to experience gained from capturing territory.

Veterancy requirements increased from 400/1200/2400 to 700/2100/4200

SSF Commando Squad

We are giving the SSF squad camouflage to differentiate them from other US Forces infantry squads. This allows them to pick their battles and use the appropriate weapons, while giving them a brief boost to their combat performance. In exchange, health is being lowered to make them more reliant on ambushing, and the weapon swap time has been increased.

Can now camouflage when in cover. Gains ambush bonuses when attacking from camouflage.
Health reduced from 110 to 100
Weapon swap time increased from 5 to 15 seconds

Wehrmacht

Panzergrenadiers

Automatic Fire is having its speed penalties greatly increased to make the squad less capable of dodging grenades and to make it easier for the opponent to disengage/back away.

Speed penalty for Automatic Fire now starts at 60% and increases to 85% maximum

251 Personnel Carrier

The machine gun has been revamped to be more in-line with those found on vehicles like the Panzer IV which results in significantly more damage at range.

Machine gun accuracy adjusted from 0.6/0.5/0.4 to 0.51/0.36/0.31
Fire aim-time adjusted from 0.125 to 0.25
Ready-aim time increased from 0.125 to 0.3
Burst duration increased from 0.75/1.25 to 2.5/3
Burst rate of fire increased from 14 to 16
Burst Duration multiplier standardized to 1 at all ranges
Machine gun cooldown adjusted from 0.75/1 to 3/3.5
Cooldown duration multiplier standardized to 1 at all ranges
Damage increased from 3 to 5

221 Armored Car

We are increasing the damage of the Scout Car to make this unit dangerous to early game infantry that are unsupported. Signal Detection has also been buffed to match the effectiveness of the 254, giving the unit a powerful recon role in the mid-late game.

Accuracy increased from 0.7/0.6/0.52 to 0.7/0.66/0.6
Signal Detection range increased from 90 to 125; blip duration matches the 254 Reconnaissance Tractor at 4.6 seconds

Marder III M

Sight Main Gun toggle off recharge time adjusted from 7 to 5 seconds

Fallschirmjager Squad

Fallschirmjagers have been underperforming due to a low damage output in comparison to their survivability. To address this issue, we are increasing the damage the unit does at short and long-range and reducing their population cost, while retaining the glass-cannon nature of the unit.

Population reduced from 10 to 9
Near cooldown reduced from 0.75 to 0.5
Long-range cooldown reduced from 1.5 to 1

LG 40 Anti-tank Gun Team

HE round penetration set to 30 at all ranges

Wespe Self-Propelled Artillery

Tracking Barrage replaces Creeping Barrage.

The Wespe now fires 3 shells at the target and keeps tracking it so as long as it retains vision.

Italian Coastal Battlegroup

To incentivize Designate Defensive Line and Call the Reserves! abilities, we are reducing the Command Point cost of these abilities, allowing quick access to the end of the left-hand tree of Coastal.

Designate Defensive Line

Command Point cost reduced from 2 to 1

Call the Reserves!

Command Point cost reduced from 2 to 1
Munition cost increased from 90 to 100

Artillery Officer

With the recent nerfs to the Artillery Officer, requiring the unit to get sight of the target area and now being interrupted by suppression, we are partially reverting the initial delay on the Artillery Overwatch.

Artillery Overwatch initial delay reduced from 4 to 2

British Forces

Bishop Self-Propelled Artillery

Due to the Bishop’s low health and push towards unit uniqueness through veterancy, we are reducing the recharge time of the Bishop’s Direct Fire ability to encourage more risky play with this unit.

Direct Fire recharge speed reduced from 30 to 5

M3 Stuart Light Tank

Manpower cost reduced from 280 to 260

Crusader II Medium Tank

The Crusader II was a little too effective against medium tanks, even from the front due to its high rate of fire resulting in little need for the up-gunned variant to combat most armored vehicles. We have decreased the penetration of the Crusader II that relies on the unit getting flank shots.

2-pounder penetration reduced from 110/85/65 to 100/65/50
Up-gunned moving accuracy increased from 0.75 to 0.85

Australian Defense Battlegroup

CMP 15CWT Supply Run

Minimum and maximum rewards before modifiers increased from 50/100 to 65/110

Australian Light Infantry Section

While Australian Light Infantry have higher damage output over other infantry squads it was not high enough to offset their high cost, population, and lack of anti-tank snares. This change further strengthens the unit’s primary role as an anti-infantry unit.

Rifle accuracy increased from 0.77/0.65/0.38 to 0.85/0.715/0.45
Scoped rifle far accuracy increased from 0.59 to 0.65

17-Pounder Anti-Tank Emplacement

Manpower cost reduced from 380 to 320

Hold the Line!

Duration increased from 30 to 45 seconds

Charged Creeping Barrage

Munition cost reduced from 200 to 180

Air and Sea Battlegroup

We have made several changes to this Battlegroup to make it less potent in the late game by delaying more of its abilities while increasing the viability of its early game by allowing quicker access to both the Pack Howitzer and the Commando Support Section.

Commando Section

Given their high cost and dedicated short-range assault role, we are increasing the damage-per-second of the Commando unit to better reflect their price and timing.

Sten accuracy increased from 0.5/0.25/0.15 to 0.55/0.275/0.175

Commando Support Section – previously called the Commando LMG Section

Despite the unit’s high damage output, we find this unit does not generally synergize well with other Commando units resulting in players rarely deploying both Commando variants. We have reworked the abilities of this unit to provide additional utility in the form of paradropped reinforcements to all commando units and allows the unit to call-in airstrikes to punish groups of mass infantry or to push team weapons.

Commando LMG Section renamed to Commando Support Section
Command Point cost reduced from 1 to 0
New ability: Relay Beacon - Nearby commando units can now reinforce off the Commando Support Section; includes itself. Range of 15m. Does not function during combat.
New ability: Typhoon Hawker Strafing Run – Strafes an area with autocannon fire similar to the P-47 Strafing Run but does decent damage to light vehicles. Replaces Suppressing Fire
Limited to 1 squad on the field

M1 Pack Howitzer

Command Point cost reduced from 1 to 0
Has access to White Phosphorous rounds at Veterancy 1

Hawker Typhoon Anti-Tank Loiter

Command Point cost increased from 5 to 6

Incendiary Carpet Bombing Run

Command Point cost increased from 3 to 5

Assault Flares

Command Point cost increased from 1 to 2

Naval Bombardment

Command Point cost increased from 3 to 4

Field Infirmary

Must now purchase Forward Retreat; also increases health by 120

British Armored Battlegroup

Light Vehicle Withdraw and Refit

Munition cost increased from 30 to 40

Indian Artillery Battlegroup

Gurkha Rifles Section

We have consolidated the bonuses for Ayo Gorkhali! that focus the ability on granting a speed boost to the Gurkha squad, while causing a significant debuff to nearby infantry. This encourages players to get in close with the Gurkha unit to make the most of the ability during combat.

Ayo Gorkhali! now gives the following: +50% speed, debuff nearby enemy infantry accuracy by 40%.

Deutsches Afrikakorps

Fire Support and Support Elements Upgrades

The Afrikakorps rarely has a reason to tech to the Mechanized Kompanie after upgrading the Light Support Kompanie. This also includes upgrading the Light Kompanie after building Mechanized Kompanie. To create further build diversity, upgrading either structure will unlock the upgrade for both buildings, making it easier to get access to certain specialists.

Now unlock each other when purchased

Le.IG 18 Mechanized Group

The power of the Le.IG and the cheap price of the call-in made it the preferred choice of players, particularly in team games where the frontline is more static. We are increasing its price to reflect the power of the call-in.

Cost increased from 275 to 325

Panzergrenadier Squad

New Ability: Mechanized Advance - capture 33% faster and have +15% weapon accuracy when garrisoned in vehicles. When they disembark, this bonus lasts 15 seconds. Replaces Focus Fire

250 Light Carrier and Variants

With the increase in infantry weapon penetration, the 250 was too vulnerable to incoming fire from the frontal arc. We have increased its frontal armor to address this issue and made combat half-tracks provide an additional point of armor to help shrug off the increase of infantry damage-per-second from update 1.7.

Front armor increased from 5.5 to 6.5
250/9 Front armor increased from 7 to 8
Armor bonus gained from Combat Halftracks increased from 4 to 5

Assault Grenadier Squad

Assault Disembark is having its ability recharge exchanged for damage reduction as there are few instances where the player would not have grenades off-cooldown prior to assaults and improves their combat performance when the ability is triggered.

Smoke grenades have also been re-added as a non-veteran ability to help the unit against the improved machine guns and the increased lethality of most infantry squads.

Assault Disembark now grants +15% damage reduction when active
Ability instant recharge removed from Assault Disembark
Assault Disembark no longer has a cooldown after being activated. Now retriggers if the unit garrisons a transport and then disembarks
Smoke Grenades no longer require Veterancy 1

MG34 Team

This is a functionality change to change the MG 34’s veteran ability to a pure damage ability at the cost of suppression.

Controlled Fire Ability bonuses changed to the following: +75% weapon accuracy, does not deal suppression damage.

8 Rad Armored Car

The 8 Rad fuel cost is being slightly reduced due to the tech requirements for the Afrikakorps variant. Penetration at short and medium range have also been increased to allow the 8 Rad to fend off light armored vehicles at short-range like the Greyhound.

Autocannon penetration increased from 16/14/13 to 24/20/13
Fuel cost reduced from 55 to 50

Marder III Tank Destroyer

The previous Marder ability was too difficult to use, resulting in it seeing very little play. The new veteran ability is a passive that helps the unit keep up with Afrikakorps vehicle compositions.

New Ability: Travel Speed - Increases speed by 30% when out of combat. Replaces Fast Reposition

251 Walking Stuka Halftrack

The Stuka’s damage was a little too weak, despite being a dedicated late game artillery unit, often being unable to knock out team weapons, even if multiple rockets landed near the targets. We have made changes to the rocket’s damage drop-off, resulting in a smoother damage drop-off that results in more damage being received outside the center of the blast zone.

Area of effect far distance increased from 6 to 8
Area of effect damage increased from 1/0.2/0.175 to 1/0.3/0.15
Creeping Barrage no longer shares a cooldown. Creeping Barrage recharge time increased from 90 to 120

Italian Infantry Battlegroup

L6/40 Light Tank

We are slightly pushing back the L6/40’s costs and timing to give players more time to prepare. We have also changed how spotting scopes work, allowing the non-flamethrower variants to be better at scouting duties.

Fuel cost increased from 70 to 75
Flamethrower cost increased from 50 to 60
Flamethrower research time increased from 30 to 40
Spotting Scopes is now a mutually exclusive upgrade with the flamethrower but now provides +10 vision to the L6/40 without needing to remain stationary.

Sound the Alarm

Now creates a reticule to indicate the radius it affects

Battlefield Espionage Battlegroup

Transfer Depots

Transfer Depots Command Point cost reduced from 2 to 1
Transfer Depots conversion amount base increased by 60% for both cost and the manpower gained.

Disruption Operation

Munition cost reduced from 100 to 75
Debuff apply rate sped up from 1.5 to 1 second
Maximum penalty increased from 60% to 80%
Can now be used in the Fog of War

Firestorm

We have adjusted Firestorm to now cover a wider area, further increasing its area denial capabilities.

Shell count increased from 7 to 11
Shell spread increased from 24 to 28
Munitions cost increased from 110 to 125

Veterancy Changes

We have updated the Veterancy of every multiplayer unit. This system has mostly remained unchanged since launch, and we wanted to take the time to do a major overhaul. Our goals with these changes are to better communicate unit Veterancy bonuses, help make units more distinct from one another, and to increase the overall power level of high Veterancy units. This means keeping units alive is more critical, as is taking out higher Veterancy enemies. These new Veterancy bonuses will also help showcase the role and advantages of each specific unit.

US Forces

Riflemen Squad

Veterancy 1: -10% Received Accuracy
Veterancy 2: +25% weapon accuracy, 50% Ability Recharge
Veterancy 3: +15 Health, 35% Cooldown and Reload, -20% Received Accuracy

Engineer Squad

Veterancy 1: -15% Received Accuracy
Veterancy 2: No bonus damage taken while constructing, +3 repair rate
Veterancy 3: +20 Health, +10 satchel range, -10 satchel cost

Scout Squad

Veterancy 1: -15% Received Accuracy
Veterancy 2: +10 vision and detection range, +50% capture speed
Veterancy 3: 20 Health, +10 ability range, + 66% ability recharge speed

4x4 Truck

Veterancy 1: -20% weapon cooldown
Veterancy 2: +25% accuracy, +25% rotation rate
Veterancy 3: +30% harder to hit, +10 vision and detection range

Captain Retinue

Veterancy 1: 20% received accuracy
Veterancy 2: 10 range on abilities, 35% ability recharge speed
Veterancy 3: 25 health, +30% ability recharge speed, doubles XP gain aura

M1919 30cal Heavy Machine Gun

Veterancy 1: +10 health
Veterancy 2: +15 health, +30% weapon suppression
Veterancy 3: 30% damage reduction, +20% rate of fire

M1 81mm Mortar Team

Veterancy 1: +15 health
Veterancy 2: +25% weapon scatter reduction, 35% ability recharge time
Veterancy 3: 20% damage reduction, +50% reload speed

Bazooka Team

Veterancy 1: +15 health
Veterancy 2: +30% weapon penetration, +25% weapon accuracy
Veterancy 3: 15 health, 30% weapon cooldown and reload, +7.5 range to Steady-Fire bonus

Sniper

Veterancy 1: -15% Received Accuracy
Veterancy 2: 25% weapon reload and cooldown, camouflage lasts 2 seconds longer when leaving cover
Veterancy 3: 80 health, +10 sight and vision

M3 Medium Carrier and Medical Variant

Veterancy 1: +10 reinforcement range
Veterancy 2: Nearby units reinforce 20% faster, + 10 medical aura range (if applicable)
Veterancy 3: 80 health, Recrew is now free

M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage

Veterancy 1: +25% acceleration and Deceleration
Veterancy 2: +25% rotation rate, +25% weapon accuracy
Veterancy 3: 80 health, +33% weapon damage

M3 75mm Gun Motor Carriage

Veterancy 1: +25% acceleration and Deceleration
Veterancy 2: +35% ability recharge, +20% rate of fire
Veterancy 3: 80 health, +20 weapon damage, +5 range

M1 57mm Anti-Tank Gun

Veterancy 1: 15 Health
Veterancy 2: 30% Vertical and Horizontal Tracking Speed, 25% Accuracy
Veterancy 3: 20% Damage Reduction, 30% Reload speed, 'Armor-piercing double duration'

M24 Chaffee Light Tank

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration/Deceleration
Veterancy 2: 25% reload and weapon cooldown speed, 35% turret traverse speed
Veterancy 3: 80 health, +33% speed, 33% rotation rate

M8 Greyhound Armored Car

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration/Deceleration
Veterancy 2: 25% accuracy, 25% rotation rate
Veterancy 3: 80 health, +35% reload and weapon cooldown speed, + 5 range on machine guns

M4A1 Sherman and 76mm Variant

Veterancy 1: 35% turret traverse speed
Veterancy 2: 25% accuracy, 15% reload and weapon cooldown speed
Veterancy 3: 30% rotation rate, 15% reload and weapon cooldown speed, +30% machine gun damage

M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration/Deceleration
Veterancy 2: 25% rotation rate, 20% reload and weapon cooldown speed
Veterancy 3: 30% weapon penetration, 20% reload and weapon cooldown speed, ‘No longer takes accuracy penalties when moving’

M4(105) Sherman Dozer

Veterancy 1: 35% turret traverse speed
Veterancy 2: 15% reload and weapon cooldown speed, 80 health
Veterancy 3: 15% reload and weapon cooldown speed, Takes 25% less damage from frontal hits

M4A3E8 Sherman Easy 8

Veterancy 1: 35% turret traverse speed
Veterancy 2: 25% accuracy, 15% reload and weapon cooldown speed
Veterancy 3: 30% rotation rate, 15% reload and weapon cooldown speed, +10 seconds to HVAP ability duration

M8 Scott SPG

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: 35% ability recharge speed, 20% reload
Veterancy 3: 80 health, 20% reload, +5 weapon attack and ability range

M31 Recovery Vehicle

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: 30% rotation rate
Veterancy 3: 160 health, +7 repair rate

Pathfinders and Artillery Observers

Veterancy 1: -15% Received Accuracy
Veterancy 2: 30% weapon accuracy, +50% capture rate
Veterancy 3: 20 health, 40% weapon cooldown, 5 vision and detection range

Paratroopers

Veterancy 1: -15% Received Accuracy
Veterancy 2: 20% damage reduction, 15% weapon reload and cooldown
Veterancy 3: 20 health, 30% weapon accuracy, 20% weapon reload and cooldown

M29 Weasel Recon Vehicle

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration
Veterancy 2: +50% capture speed, +25% rotation rate
Veterancy 3: 80 health, 10 vision and detection range, -33 ability cost

SSF Commando Squad

Veterancy 1: -15% Received Accuracy
Veterancy 2: 30% weapon accuracy, 20% weapon reload and cooldown
Veterancy 3: 20 health, 20% weapon reload and cooldown, +0.4 speed

Pack Howitzer

Veterancy 1: 15 health
Veterancy 2: 35 ability recharge speed, 15% weapon reload and cooldown
Veterancy 3: 20% damage reduction, 15% weapon reload and cooldown, x1.167% damage multiplier

Sherman Whizbang

Veterancy 1: 15% barrage recharge speed
Veterancy 2: 20% range, 20% barrage recharge speed
Veterancy 3: 50% reload and weapon cooldown, +5 additional rockets per salvo

Ranger Squad

Veterancy 1: -15% Received Accuracy
Veterancy 2: -20% Received Accuracy, 25% reload and weapon cooldown
Veterancy 3: 20% damage reduction, 35% weapon accuracy, -33% Received Suppression

M2A1 105mm Howitzer

Veterancy 1: 15% ability recharge speed
Veterancy 2: 20% ability recharge, 20% barrage range
Veterancy 3: 33% damage reduction, 30% reload speed, 50% horizontal and vertical traverse speed.

Mortar Pit

Veterancy 1: 15% ability recharge speed
Veterancy 2: 20% ability recharge, 20% barrage range
Veterancy 3: 33% damage reduction, 50% reload speed

Wehrmacht

Grenadier Squad

Veterancy 1: 10% received accuracy
Veterancy 2: 25% weapon accuracy, 33% ability recharge
Veterancy 3: 20 health, 15% weapon accuracy, +5 panzerfaust range

Pioneer Squad

Veterancy 1: -15% received accuracy
Veterancy 2: No bonus damage taken while constructing, +3 repair rate
Veterancy 3: 20 health, +3 repair speed, no longer takes bonus damage when repairing

Kettenkrad Recon Vehicle

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: +35% construction speed, +5 vision and detection range
Veterancy 3: 60 health, +50% capture and decapture speed

Panzergrenadier Squad

Veterancy 1: -15% received accuracy
Veterancy 2: -20% received accuracy, 25% weapon cooldown and reload
Veterancy 3: 15 health, 33% weapon accuracy, Bundle grenades cost 50% less

Jager Squad

Veterancy 1: 15% received accuracy
Veterancy 2: 20% weapon cooldown (no reload bonus), 15% weapon accuracy
Veterancy 3: 20 health, 20% weapon accuracy, 20% weapon cooldown and reload

MG 42 Team

Veterancy 1: +10 health
Veterancy 2: +15 health, +30% weapon suppression
Veterancy 3: 20% damage reduction, +20% rate of fire, 20% weapon reload and cooldown

GrW 34 Mortar Team

Veterancy 1: +15 health
Veterancy 2: +25% weapon scatter reduction, 35% ability recharge time
Veterancy 3: 20% damage reduction, +25% reload speed, +20% damage

Sniper

Veterancy 1: -15% received accuracy
Veterancy 2: 25% weapon reload and cooldown, camouflage lasts 2 seconds longer when leaving cover
Veterancy 3: 25% reload and cooldown, 35% faster weapon cooldown when attacking from camouflage

Pak 40 Anti-Tank Gun

Veterancy 1: 15 Health
Veterancy 2: 30% vertical and horizontal tracking speed, 25% accuracy
Veterancy 3: 20% damage reduction, 30% reload speed, now gains first strike bonus for 5 seconds

251 Medium Carrier and Medical Variant

Veterancy 1: +10 reinforcement range
Veterancy 2: Nearby units reinforce 20% faster, + 10 medical aura range (if applicable)
Veterancy 3: 80 health, Riegel mines build 75% faster and are 10 munitions cheaper

Stummel Half-Track

Veterancy 1: +25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: +35 ability recharge speed, 20% reload and weapon cooldown
Veterancy 3: 80 health, 20% reload and weapon cooldown, +10 ability range

StuG III G

Veterancy 1: 15% rotation rate
Veterancy 2: 20% reload speed and weapon cooldown, 25% weapon accuracy
Veterancy 3: 120 health, 15% reload and weapon cooldown, 15% rotation rate

Nebelwerfer 42 Rocket Launcher Team

Veterancy 1: 15% Barrage recharge speed
Veterancy 2: 20% Barrage recharge speed, 20% weapon reload and cooldown
Veterancy 3: 20% damage Reduction, +20% weapon scatter reduction, +20% ability range

Flak 30 Anti-Aircraft Gun Team

Veterancy 1: 10 health
Veterancy 2: 15 health, 25% weapon accuracy
Veterancy 3: 20% damage reduction, 25% burst rate of fire, now deals 33% deflection damage

221 Armored Car

Veterancy 1: 15% weapon reload and cooldown
Veterancy 2: 30% accuracy, 25% rotation rate
Veterancy 3: 80 health, 10 vision and detection range, 25% weapon reload and cooldown

Wirbelwind Flakpanzer IV

Veterancy 1: +25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: 20% reload speed and cooldown, 20% weapon burst length
Veterancy 3: 30% rotation rate, 30% weapon accuracy, +5 weapon range

Marder III Tank Destroyer

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: 25% weapon accuracy, 25% reload and weapon cooldown speed
Veterancy 3: 80 health, 30% rotation rate, 15+ vision when main gun is sighted in addition to existing bonuses

Stosstruppen Squad

Veterancy 1: -20% received accuracy
Veterancy 2: 15% weapon accuracy, 25% weapon cooldown
Veterancy 3: 20 health, 20% weapon accuracy, Grenade ability is free every 2 minutes

Panzer IV Medium Tank

Veterancy 1: 35% weapon traverse speed
Veterancy 2: 25% weapon accuracy, 15% reload and weapon cooldown speed
Veterancy 3: 30% rotation rate, 15% reload and weapon cooldown, 66% faster recharge speed for Focused Fire ability

Sturmpanzer IV Brummbär

Veterancy 1: 15% rotation rate
Veterancy 2: 15% rotation rate, 15% reload and weapon cooldown speed
Veterancy 3: 20% weapon reload, 60 frontal armor

Fallschirmpioneer Squad

Veterancy 1: -15% received accuracy
Veterancy 2: 25% weapon cooldown, +3 repair rate
Veterancy 3: 20 health, 35% weapon accuracy

Fallschirmjager Squad

Veterancy 1: -15% received accuracy
Veterancy 2: 25% weapon cooldown, +15% weapon accuracy
Veterancy 3: 20 health, 20% weapon accuracy, +7 seconds to ambush duration

Flak 38 Anti-air Emplacement

Veterancy 1: +120 Health
Veterancy 2: 25% weapon accuracy, 35% reload and cooldown
Veterancy3: 20% damage reduction, +2.5 damage per shot, +10 vision

Flak 36 Anti-tank Emplacement

Veterancy 1: +120 Health
Veterancy 2: +25% reload, +25% tracking speed
Veterancy3: 20% damage reduction, +80 damage

LG40 Anti-tank Gun Team

Veterancy 1: 15 health
Veterancy 2: 30% tracking speed, 25% weapon accuracy
Veterancy 3: 20% damage reduction, +30% reload speed, no speed penalty when moving while camouflage

8 Rad Armored Car

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration and Deceleration
Veterancy 2: 25% accuracy, 25% rotation rate
Veterancy 3: 80 health, 35% weapon cooldown and reload, +15 radius on commander mode

StuG III D Assault Gun

Veterancy 1: 15% rotation rate
Veterancy 2: 15% reload, +40 armor on all facings
Veterancy 3: 20% weapon reload, 15% rotation rate, 120 health

Panther Heavy Tank

Veterancy 1: 35% weapon traverse speed
Veterancy 2: 15% reload, 25% accuracy
Veterancy 3: 30% rotation rate, +15% weapon reload, +40 main gun damage against vehicles

Wespe Self-propelled Artillery

Veterancy 1: 15% ability recharge speed
Veterancy 2: 20% ability recharge, 25% reload speed
Veterancy 3: 20% barrage range, 20% weapon scatter, +2 additional shells fired during tracking barrage

Tiger

Veterancy 1: 25% weapon traverse speed
Veterancy 2: 15% weapon reload and cooldown, 25% weapon accuracy
Veterancy 3: 40% rotation rate, 25% reload speed

Panzer IV Command Tank

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: 35% ability recharge speed, 15% weapon reload and weapon cooldown
Veterancy 3: Standard aura bonus increased by 10%, now gains bonuses from its own aura

Coastal Reserves

Veterancy 1: 10% Received Accuracy
Veterancy 2: 7th man, +15% weapon accuracy
Veterancy 3: +10 health, +15% weapon accuracy, 15% Received Accuracy

Artillery Officer

Veterancy 1: 20% ability recharge speed
Veterancy 2: 20% received accuracy, + 10 ability range, Sector Supervise Improved
Veterancy 3: +20 health, +5 Overwatch area, Supervise Sector Improved Further

Obice 210mm

Veterancy 1: 15% ability recharge
Veterancy 2: 20% ability recharge speed, 15% reload speed
Veterancy 3: 15% damage reduction, 15% reload speed, 20% weapon scatter

British Forces

Infantry Section

Veterancy 1: 10% received accuracy
Veterancy 2: 25% weapon accuracy, 15% weapon reload and cooldown
Veterancy 3: 15 health, 15% weapon reload and cooldown, 15% received accuracy

Royal Engineers Section

Veterancy 1: -15% Received Accuracy
Veterancy 2: No bonus damage taken while construction, -20% Received Accuracy
Veterancy 3: 30% burst length, + 1 additional soldier, + 3 repair speed

Dingo Light Scout Car

Veterancy 1: 20% weapon cooldown and reload
Veterancy 2: +25% accuracy, + 25% rotation rate
Veterancy 3: 80 health, 10 ability range, + 5 vision range

Humber Armored Car

Veterancy 1: 20% weapon cooldown and reload
Veterancy 2: 25% Accuracy, 25% rotation rate
Veterancy 3: 80 Health, 10 Vision and Detection, 5 weapon range

Vickers Heavy Machine Gun

Veterancy 1: +10 health
Veterancy 2: +15 health, +30% weapon suppression
Veterancy 3: 20% damage reduction, +20% rate of fire, +10 wider weapon arc

ML 3-Inch Mortar Team

Veterancy 1: +15 health
Veterancy 2: +25% weapon scatter reduction, 35% ability recharge time
Veterancy 3: 20% damage reduction, +25% reload speed, +15 auto-fire and barrage range

6-pounder Anti-tank Gun

Veterancy 1: 15 Health
Veterancy 2: 30% vertical and horizontal tracking speed, 25% Accuracy
Veterancy 3: 20% damage reduction, 30% Reload speed, +10 wider weapon arc

CWT 15CMP Truck

Veterancy 1: +10 reinforcement range
Veterancy 2: nearby units reinforce 20% faster, + 10 medical aura range (if applicable)
Veterancy 3: 160 health

CWT15 CMP AA Truck

Veterancy 1: +25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: +25 rotation rate, 25% accuracy
Veterancy 3: 80 health, 25% damage, Buttons Vehicles

Stuart Light Tank

Veterancy 1: +25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: +25 rotation rate, 25% reload and weapon cooldown
Veterancy 3: 80 health, 25% accuracy, +40 damage against vehicles

Bishop Self-propelled Artillery

Veterancy 1: 15% Barrage recharge speed
Veterancy 2: 20% Barrage recharge speed, 25% weapon reload and cooldown
Veterancy 3: 20% barrage range, 20% weapon scatter, Direct-Fire is now free

Crusader II Medium Tank

Veterancy 1: +25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: +25 rotation rate, 20% reload and weapon cooldown
Veterancy 3: 80 health, 25% accuracy, +20% speed

Crusader III Medium Tank

Veterancy 1: +25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: +25 rotation rate, 20% reload and weapon cooldown
Veterancy 3: 80 health, 25% weapon penetration, +20% speed

Matilda Heavy Tank

Veterancy 1: +35% weapon traverse speed
Veterancy 2: 20% reload speed and cooldown, 25% weapon accuracy
Veterancy 3: 30% rotation rate, +70 side armor, +160 health

M3 Grant Medium Tank

Veterancy 1: +25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: +25% weapon accuracy, 15% reload and weapon cooldown speed
Veterancy 3:15% weapon reload, 30% rotation rate, 25% weapon penetration

Foot Guards Section

Veterancy 1: -20% received accuracy
Veterancy 2: -20% received accuracy, 25% weapon cooldown and reload
Veterancy 3: 15 health, 33% weapon damage

17-Pounder Anti-Tank Gun

Veterancy 1: 120 health
Veterancy 2: 30% weapon tracking speed, 25% weapon reload
Veterancy 3: 20% damage reduction, +40 damage, +100% accuracy

Commando Section

Veterancy 1: -15% received accuracy
Veterancy 2: +20% weapon accuracy, 25% weapon cooldown
Veterancy 3: +20 health, +20% weapon accuracy, +50% speed during First Strike Ambush

Commando Support Section

Veterancy 1: -15% received accuracy
Veterancy 2: 25% ability recharge speed, +10 radius to paradrop reinforcement radius
Veterancy 3: 20 health, 30% weapon accuracy

M1 Pack Howitzer Team

Veterancy 1: 15 health
Veterancy 2: 35 ability recharge speed, 15% weapon reload and cooldown
Veterancy 3: 20% damage reduction, 15% weapon reload and cooldown, x1.167% damage multiplier

Centaur Medium Tank

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: 15% weapon reload and cooldown, 35% weapon traverse speed
Veterancy 3: 15% weapon reload and cooldown, 30% rotation rate, 20% speed

Bofors Anti-air Emplacement

Veterancy 1: +120 Health
Veterancy 2: 25% weapon accuracy, 35% reload and cooldown
Veterancy 3: 20% damage reduction, +15 damage per shot

17-pounder Emplacement

Veterancy 1: 15 health
Veterancy 2: +25% reload, +30% weapon tracking speed
Veterancy3: 20% damage reduction, +40 damage, +100% accuracy

2-pounder Anti-tank Gun

Veterancy 1: 15 health
Veterancy 2: 20% rotation speed, 25% weapon penetration
Veterancy 3: 20% damage reduction, +30% reload speed, 25% weapon penetration

Australian Light Infantry

Veterancy 1: 10% received accuracy
Veterancy 2: 15% received accuracy, 15% weapon accuracy
Veterancy 3: 20 health, 15% weapon accuracy, 25% speed

Gurkha Rifles Section

Veterancy 1: 15% received accuracy
Veterancy 2: 25% weapon cooldown and reload, 15% weapon accuracy
Veterancy 3: 20% health, 20% weapon accuracy, 15% weapon cooldown

BL 5.5 Artillery Emplacement

Veterancy 1: 15% ability recharge
Veterancy 2: 20% ability recharge, 20% barrage range
Veterancy 3: 33% damage reduction, +30% weapon reload, +40 damage against emplacements and vehicles

Crusader AA Tank

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: 20% weapon accuracy, 20% weapon reload and cooldown
Veterancy 3: 30% rotation rate, +25% weapon damage, increase model area of effect damage limit by 1

Churchill Black Prince

Veterancy 1: 25% weapon traverse speed
Veterancy 2: 15% weapon reload and cooldown, 25% weapon accuracy
Veterancy 3: 30% rotation rate, 20% reload speed, regains160 health when Engine Critical Repair occurs

Churchill IV Heavy Tank

Veterancy 1:35% weapon turret traverse speed
Veterancy 2: 15% weapon reload and cooldown, 25% weapon accuracy
Veterancy 3: 30% rotation rate, 15% weapon reload and cooldown, 15% damage reduction

Archer Tank Destroyer

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: 25% weapon accuracy, 25% rotation rate
Veterancy 3: 80 health, 40% reload speed

Deutches Afrikakorps

Panzergrenadier

Veterancy 1: 10% received accuracy
Veterancy 2: 15% weapon accuracy, 20% weapon cooldown and reload
Veterancy 3: 15 health, 15% weapon accuracy, 15% received accuracy

Panzerpioneer Squad

Veterancy 1: -15% received accuracy
Veterancy 2: No bonus damage taken while constructing, 20% weapon cooldown and reload
Veterancy 3: 20 health, +3 repair speed, 20% weapon cooldown and reload

Kradschutzen Motorcycle Team

Veterancy 1: 20% weapon cooldown and reload
Veterancy 2: 25% weapon accuracy, 5 vision and detection range
Veterancy 3: 5 vision and detection range, 50% capture and neutralization

250 Light Carrier

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: 25% rotation rate, 50% ability recharge time
Veterancy 3: 80 health, 30% received accuracy, deals passive suppression damage

250/9 Halftrack

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: 25% rotation rate, 25% weapon accuracy
Veterancy 3: 80 health, 30% received accuracy, 30% weapon reload and cooldown

Assault Grenadier Squad

Veterancy 1: 15% received accuracy
Veterancy 2: 20% received accuracy, 25% weapon cooldown and reload
Veterancy 3: 15 health, 30% weapon accuracy, 50% ability recharge

Panzerjäger Squad

Veterancy 1: 15% received accuracy
Veterancy 2: 20% weapon penetration, 25% weapon cooldown and reload
Veterancy 3: 15 health, 5 weapon range, +20% damage

MG 34 Team

Veterancy 1: +10 health
Veterancy 2: +15 health, +30% weapon suppression
Veterancy 3: 20% damage reduction, +20% rate of fire, 20% weapon accuracy

le.IG 18 Infantry Support Gun

Veterancy 1: +15 health
Veterancy 2: 15% weapon reload, 35% ability recharge time
Veterancy 3: 20% damage reduction, +25% reload speed

Mortar Half-track

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: 25% weapon scatter, 35% ability recharge time
Veterancy 3: 80 health, 25% weapon reload, 20% speed

Pak 38 Anti-tank Gun

Veterancy 1: 15 health
Veterancy 2: 30% vertical and horizontal tracking speed, 25% accuracy
Veterancy 3: 20% damage reduction, 30% reload speed, +25% speed

2.5 Tonne Truck and Medical Variant

Veterancy 1: +10 reinforcement range
Veterancy 2: nearby units reinforce 20% faster, + 10 medical aura range (if applicable)
Veterancy 3: 80 health, +10 combat readiness range

Flakvierling Half-track

Veterancy 1: +25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: 25% weapon accuracy, 25% rotation rate
Veterancy 3: 80 health, 30% reload and weapon cooldown, 33% weapon burst length

8 Rad Armored Car

Veterancy 1: +25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: 25% weapon accuracy, 25% rotation rate
Veterancy 3: 80 health, 35% reload and weapon cooldown, +15 aura radius to Commander Mode

StuG III D

Veterancy 1: 15% rotation rate
Veterancy 2: 15% reload, +40 armor on all facings
Veterancy 3: 20% weapon reload, 15% rotation rate, 120 health

Marder III Tank Destroyer

Veterancy 1: +25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: 25% weapon accuracy, 25% weapon reload speed
Veterancy 3: 80 health, 30% rotation rate, 20% reload speed

254 Reconnaissance Tractor

Veterancy 1: 15% ability recharge speed
Veterancy 2: +10 sight and detection range, +10 signal detection range
Veterancy 3: +10 signal detection range, +35% ability recharge speed

18-Tonne Recovery Vehicle

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: +30% rotation rate
Veterancy 3: 160 health, +7 Repair speed

Panzer III Medium Tank

Veterancy 1: +25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: 15% weapon reload and cooldown, 25% weapon accuracy
Veterancy 3: 30% rotation rate, 30% weapon reload and cooldown

Flak 36 88mm Anti-tank Gun

Veterancy 1: 15 health
Veterancy 2: 25% weapon reload, 20% weapon tracking speed
Veterancy 3: 20% damage reduction, +80 damage

Walking Stuka Rocket Launcher

Veterancy 1: 15% ability recharge speed
Veterancy 2: 20% ability recharge speed, +20% ability range
Veterancy 3: 20% weapon scatter, 60% weapon cooldown and reload

Panzer IV Medium Tank

Veterancy 1: 35% weapon traverse speed
Veterancy 2: 25% weapon accuracy, 15% reload and weapon cooldown speed
Veterancy 3: 30% rotation rate, 15% reload and weapon cooldown, 66% faster recharge speed for Focused Fire ability

StuG III G

Veterancy 1: 15% rotation rate
Veterancy 2: 20% reload speed and weapon cooldown, 25% weapon accuracy
Veterancy 3: 120 health, 15% reload and weapon cooldown, 15% rotation rate

Tiger Heavy Tank

Veterancy 1: 25% weapon traverse speed
Veterancy 2: 15% weapon reload and cooldown, 25% weapon accuracy
Veterancy 3: 40% rotation rate, 25% reload speed

Bersagileri Squad

Veterancy 1: -10% Received Accuracy
Veterancy 2: +15% weapon accuracy, +20% weapon reload and cooldown
Veterancy 3: 20 health, +15% weapon accuracy, +20% speed to Quick March ability

Guastatori Squad

Veterancy 1: -15% received accuracy
Veterancy 2: -20% received accuracy, +25% weapon cooldown and reload
Veterancy 3: 25 health, +25% weapon accuracy

Cannone da 105/28 Howitzer Team

Veterancy 1: +15% ability recharge speed
Veterancy 2: +20% ability recharge speed, +20% weapon reload speed
Veterancy 3: 20% damage reduction, +50% rotation and pivot rate, +15 auto-fire range

Carro Armato M13/40

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: 25% weapon reload and cooldown, 25% rotation rate
Veterancy 3: 80 health, 25% weapon accuracy, 25% weapon penetration

Semovente da 75/18 Assault Gun

Veterancy 1: 10% weapon reload and cooldown
Veterancy 2: 35% ability recharge, 20% weapon reload and cooldown
Veterancy 3: 80 health, + 5 weapon range, +30% rotation rate

L6/40 Light Tank

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: 25% rotation rate, 25% weapon reload and cooldown
Veterancy 3: 80 health, +25% damage, 20% speed

Panzer IV Command Tank

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: 35% ability recharge speed, 15% weapon reload
Veterancy 3: Standard aura bonus increased by 10%, now gains bonuses from its own aura

Flammpanzer III Medium Tank

Veterancy 1: 25% acceleration and deceleration
Veterancy 2: 20% reload and cooldown, +0.75 damage
Veterancy 3: +20% speed, +0.75 damage, +30% rotation rate

250/3 Funkpanzerwagen

Veterancy 1: Veteran ability to generate munitions
Veterancy 2: +5 munition generation, -20% Goliath cost
Veterancy 3: 80 health, +6 munition generation (stacks with existing), + 10 Camouflage aura radius

Orchid Spider - 1.9.1 Update

General

Fixed an issue with super-mines. Mines will once again obey the damage dealt per-model-per-squad rule.
Fixed an issue where the Air and Sea Battlegroup Pack Howitzer and Command Support Section unlocks would deduct 1 Command Point from the player.
The Sherman Whizbang will now properly convert to the standard M4A1 Sherman variant upon jettisoning its launcher. It will now properly unlock the smoke launcher ability, standard Sherman tank Veterancy, and gain access to the White Phosphorous and Keep them Firing! Veterancy abilities.
The Deutsches Afrikakorps Armory now requires the Mechanized Kompanie to be built to unlock the tier-three upgrades after unlocking Fire Support Elements.
Fixed an issue where the Command Support Section Hawker Strafing Run could be used anywhere on the map with vision.
Skipping the tutorial when starting a new Italian Campaign will no longer result in a brief custom match lobby screen.

Observer Mode

Fixed sorting of the Game List in Observer Mode.
Increased the total amount of viewable games in the Observer Mode Game List.
Changed lists and filters to default to descending for Player Rating and Number of Observers.

Stability

Fixed a crash in Observer Mode when the Quick Match filter is selected.
Fixed a crash that occurred in games with A.I. when the A.I. host migrated to another machine due to the host player leaving the match.

Orchid Spider - 1.9.2 Update

Fixed a crash that occurred when viewing or selecting out-of-date replays.

Orchid Spider - 1.9.3 Update

Fixed an issue where Salvage Crews allowed for an exploit causing infinite resources.
Fixed an issue where players running in Simplified Chinese at certain resolutions including 1440p could hit a soft-lock during the single-player campaign when first selecting an Indian Artillery unit.
修复了以简体中文运行某些分辨率（包括 1440p）的玩家在单人战役中首次选择印度炮兵部队时可能会遇到锁死的问题。
Fixed infantry sometimes getting stuck on retreat.
Fixed an issue with the Campaign tutorial where the initial artillery squad would fail to deploy if skipping dialogue too quickly.
Fixed Observable games in the Leaderboard flickering off shortly after loading.
Fixed a bug with observing matches from the leaderboards showing a different match.

Orchid Spider - 1.9.4 Update

Multiplayer Balance

Pathfinders

Population increased from 5 to 6
Manpower upkeep increased from 1/1.25 to 1.5 per population
Reinforcement cost increased from 30 to 32
Decapture speed reduced from 1.25 to 1

Bug Fixes

Made some UI improvements to the live Observer Mode tournament layout. The upgrade tracker pane is now paginated.
Fixed an issue where searching for a player would not show them as in an observable match in the leaderboards. Games will refresh as expected when searching for a player.
Fixed an issue with the Campaign tutorial where the initial artillery squad would fail to deploy if skipping dialogue too quickly.