[PC] Coral Viper (1.6.0) - Patch Notes

Find our current known issues list here. 

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

AI  

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 

Read in detail about the most recent pathfinding changes directly from our Designer here.  

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 Deutche 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)  

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 reward flanking opponents.  

• 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