Tales of Valor, and of repeated defeat…

Company of Heroes isn’t exactly a new game, but it keeps popping up in Steam sales and with the release of the beta version of CoH Online, we decided to revisit it. There’s been a few add-ons and expansions since the original game, and the newest, Tales of Valor, contains a tense co-op mission called Operation Stonewall, or as we dubbed it “defend the bastard buildings or whatever” and for the last two nights, that’s exactly what we’ve have been playing…

Matt:
We got owned, didn’t we? Three times.

Paul:
Well let’s just say I’m glad we aren’t in the army, and if we ever were I think the troops would all be grateful if we never made it to any position of command, unless of course they wanted to become flamethrower fodder.

Matt:
Yeah there’s no way I’d win any medals for that performance. I’m blaming it on the fact I haven’t picked up this game for at least a year, and couldn’t remember what everything did. That said, it’s a much more simplified version of the game, ain’t it? One ‘base’ building each, plus 4 key structures to defend…

Paul:
It’s certainly simplified in terms of the base structures and resource gathering – seeing as there’s practically none of that stuff – but the combat itself in this play mode is anything but simple. Defending a total of five important buildings in a small area from sixteen increasingly difficult waves of Nazi infantry and armour, attacking from every possible angle, with extremely limited supplies and little or no manpower 90% of the time is possibly one of the most difficult and terrifying strategy game scenarios I’ve ever attempted to beat. Can’t deny that it’s immense fun though.

Matt:
Hell yeah, we’ve tried three times now, with varying success. I really thought we had it on that last go… The tactic of you focusing on soldiers while I leveled up the vehicles seemed to be working, but the waves are relentless! I really feel a sense of panic when the narrator shouts desperately “if they take the bank, they’ll have control of our supply lines!” No! Not the bank!!

Keep the bank, manor, church and garage safe from Krauts.

Paul:
Our tactics definitely worked well on the third attempt when we made it all the way to the last wave, though at around wave nine we did lose everything but a handful of infantry and the bank. It was totally devastating when – on the verge of our men taking down the last two or three tanks – the bank just gave up and collapsed after a few more shells slammed into it. In all honesty, I was so worried about evading the flamethrowers on those half-track tanks that I completely forgot about the safety of the last structure we had to defend. Poor bank…

Matt:
Those soldier’s survived far longer than they were entitled to. Thank sod for sticky bombs! Nothing more satisfying than a small diminished squad taking out a Tiger tank, hehe.

Paul:
Yes, and there’s nothing funnier than when a second Tiger tank fires a high-impact shell into the middle of that squad, sending all of them flying upward and outward at about 200mph. Or how about when one of your jeeps exploded and the driver was practically launched into orbit. At least some humor can be salvaged from the chaos and destruction.

Matt:
I can’t think of many other RTS games that bother with ragdoll. Relic are awesome.

Paul:
They sure are. They certainly know how to make an awesome game, no matter what the concept is. Homeworld is another great strategy game by them too, one of my all time favourites actually! But Company of Heroes really is something special for any fans of RTS games. The depth is just incredible, and I’ve never felt as sorry for my units in a strategy game as I have in CoH; seeing them explode and fly into a building, or fall to the ground in flames after an encounter with a flame tank. It just makes me want to win that little bit more!

Flamethrower engineers are useful

Matt:
I love the way the soldiers talk and comment on their actions. And gotta mention the awesome narrator again, Steve Blum (look him up, he’s been in almost every game ever!). I wonder how much of the attention to detail and polish will make it across to CoH Online… I assume you’ll be getting it?

Paul:
Fo’ shizzle! In fact I’m applying for a beta-key right this minute! I just hope the end product includes some more co-op missions against the Nazis. I mean, surely we all love a bit of jerry-smashing teamwork.

Matt:
I guess I’ll try grabbing one too, I haven’t looked into this game much yet, but I’m sure it’ll be worth checking out. We should test it and tell our loyal BcR readers all about it (all 21 of them, according to our Facebook page).

Paul:
21? That’s a drastic improvement on the mere 20 I saw yesterday. BcR is moving up in the world! One Facebook fan at a time…

Matt:
Exactly! We’ve veered slightly off-topic, but it’s all for the best I feel. Go check out CoH Online! I’m going home now.

Paul:
Yeah, me too. Company of Heroes is calling to me!