Orchid Spider (1.9.0) Patch Notes

Orchid Spider (1.9.0) Patch Notes

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. You can get a summary of what's coming in this update in our Mission Briefing and find our Known Issues list here.   

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 

US Forces 

Wehrmacht 

British Forces 

Deutches Afrikakorps 

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 

ESSENCE EDITOR 

Essence Editor Improvements  

Over the course of the past few updates, we have been gradually rolling out improved or new map objects into our maps. We are pleased to report that these new assets will be available in the Essence Editor for our Community Mappers to also make use of. If you are at all interested in creating your own maps for Company of Heroes 3, be sure to check out our tutorial series, or jump into the CoH3 map-making channel on the Official Discord. 

Included in this update are the following: 

• Various Africa buildings have been updated with tan versions to improve variety. More of these are planned for the future. 
• Various rural Italy buildings have also been updated with tinted versions, including blue, red, tan, white and stone versions of most buildings, to suit the theme of your map. 
• Three of our wooden Italy farm buildings have also been updated with white and red painted versions for added variety. 
• Metal fuel barrels have been updated with US Military Green and Afrikakorps Desert Tan versions to better suit their use in more climates. We’ve also added new stacked versions of all metal barrels (including sight/movement blocking versions of each), so you have more ways to build fuel depots in future maps. 
• There are now more faction-specific pre-wrecked vehicles available (at least one vehicle per faction), including wrecked 251 Halftracks, Marders, Churchills and trucks. 
• We’ve also added a number of abandoned military vehicles that can be used as cover, such as Wehrmacht 2.5-tonne trucks, US 6x6 trucks and 15cwt trucks. 
• A permanently wrecked bridge asset has been added. 
• Aqueduct map objects that were previously only available in the Out of Bounds have now been updated and broken into several components, enabling you to use them at your leisure in maps. 
• Work is underway to create autumnal versions of our Italian foliage, including Brown, Orange, Yellow and mixed versions of most of our trees and bushes. This is a considerable amount of work, but more is planned for the future (just in case we missed your favorite shrub). 
• A variety of stone walls and wooden fences have been updated with damaged variants, enabling you to cap walls with battle damage. 
• A small selection of Italian rocks have been updated with a darker shade for Mediterranean maps – these are currently only available as VIS. 
• We’ve also “spiked” some team weapons such as the Obice and Bl5.5 Howitzer so you can have pre-destroyed versions in your maps.

A final note for our community mappers: as part of a cleanup of our internal game builds, a large number of test maps and greybox assets have been removed from the game. While this will not affect any official maps, there is a distinct possibility that custom maps using these unfinished assets may be affected. Any of the deleted greybox assets will simply no longer appear in your maps. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. 

BUG FIXES  

A.I.  

• The A.I. is now more likely to capture the map through connected territories. 

• The Bishop and Wespe are now tagged as long-range units for A.I. behaviors. They will now prefer to stay out of engagements and are considerably more likely to fire off long range damaging abilities. 

• Performance in matches with multiple A.I. has been improved. Games that extend in length should see a performance improvement. 
  • Improved performance by optimizing complexity in core classes. 
  • Improved performance by caching damage-per-second values used in simple combat rating calculations. 
  • Improved performance by caching cover spot utility functions that are used across encounters that often calculate scores for the exact same positions and threats. 

Art & Animation 

• Fixed magazines being duplicated and appearing still in the gun during reload animations.  

• Fixed Bren Gun, Vickers K and Breda 30 showing duplicate meshes.  

• Fixed duplicated flamethrowers and other weapons. 

• Fixed kick up FX on dirt terrain for Kradschutzen motorcycle - FX were previously rotating around the vehicle. 

• Artillery Overwatch and Designate Defensive Line artillery shells have been updated to provide more appropriate craters and terrain deformation. Previous versions spawned an incorrect crater size which was misaligned with the terrain deform. 

• Improved cases where some units were not aiming at their targets. 

General  

• Fixed Challenges counting the same ability activation multiple times.  

• Guided Glory Challenge has been updated to include only Quick Match and versus A.I. game modes.  

• Brummbar Shatter Will ability is no longer disabled through Engine Damage. 

• The Flammpanzer III will no longer gain a weapon upgrade decorator of a flamethrower when using Flame Blind. 

• Fixed an issue where the Sherman Easy 8 call-in did not have the population properly updated from 18 to 21 when Assault Engineers were unlocked. The Easy 8 will now also come in with a full Assault Engineer squad, rather than arriving with 4 models.  

• Fixed an issue where Luftwaffe Infantry Reserves would not affect remanned team weapons or paradropped units after the ability was unlocked.  

• Fixed an issue where the Hellcat did not get the correct population adjustment with Strength in Steel.  

• Fixed status/buff icons sometimes not showing for certain emplacements.  

• Units hit by stun grenades now show a debuff status indicator.  

• Fixed an issue where Afrikakorps Booby Traps would trigger when enemy units that could not capture passed over the point they were placed on. 

• Fixed an issue where the Engineer Light It Up ability would immediately exit ability cooldown when the Flamethrower upgrade was completed. 

• Fixed team weapons not responding to long-ranged attack orders.  

• Fixed an issue where infantry in camouflage would be revealed when in range of certain objects such as mines or enemy territory points. 

• 57mm Anti-Tank Gun Brace unlock will now display the correct modifier of 75% rather than 25% which corresponds with the defensive bonuses given.  

• Fixed an issue where a certain combination of interactions around towing could result in an abandoned team weapon becoming un-targetable and un-clickable.  

• Units can no longer be pushed out of playable bounds by vehicles.  

• Fixed an issue with missing palm tree stems.  

• Fixed an issue where Anti-Tank Rifles did not benefit from the Point-Blank mechanic and used the old height bonus modifiers. 

• The 2.5 Utility Truck for Wehrmacht from the Breakthrough Battlegroup can no longer gain Veterancy due to its role as a resource enhancing vehicle. 

• Added new icons for Brummbar Shatter Will and added an icon for the Luftwaffe Relay to indicate it reinforces nearby units. 

Singleplayer & Campaign

• Fixed the Ice Cream event not triggering correctly and sometimes failing right away in the campaign. 

• Updated the skirmish map at Castel Di Sangro to now use a variant of Semois.  

• Fixed being able to save the game during some cutscenes which could result in the game soft locking upon loading that save. 

• Fixed an issue where Airborne Company abilities in the campaign such as Heavy Carpet Bombing, Improved P-47 Rocket Strike, and White Phosphorous Bombing Run did not properly launch their projectile in the correct pattern, resulting in undershooting of targets.  

• Fixed an issue in the campaign where the CMP 15CWT Truck would lose its in-progress movement orders and halt when upgraded.  

• Fixed supply drop aircraft sometimes failing to return to their airfield if the supply drop target died before the aircraft could reach it.  

• Fixed an issue where Seek and Destroy during campaign missions would have an extra generic decorator when active.  

• Fixed unload squad command sometimes not working in the campaign.  

• Fixed combat preview sometimes being incorrect when a company has to move some distance to reach their target in the campaign.  

• Fixed voice-over lines in Salerno that sometimes did not match whether the player chose to bombard on the campaign map.  

• Fixed a base construction hint in Salerno that could end up getting stuck.  

• Fixed an issue where a Company would not be produced correctly when they were set to spawn on the same turn as naval ships were being spawned on the campaign map. 

• The Forward Assembly will no longer appear on the Royal Engineer's build menu in the campaign unless the unlock is selected.  

• Charge for Canadian Shock Troops in the campaign has its status decorator updated to display the correct numerical effects. 

• Fixed an issue in singleplayer where the M16 Quad Halftrack used the wrong status decorator when Button Vehicle was active.  

• Fixed an issue where team weapon crew entities would sometimes get stuck after loading a save game.  

• Prevented vehicles from clipping through rock formations near the collapsed rail tunnel on Anzio. 

• Fixed an issue in the Africa campaign where Panzerstorm bonuses did not correspond with the tooltip.  

• Fixed an issue where the 4x4 Truck in the Italian Campaign had a damage bonus aura and the tooltip incorrectly stated it gave 10 vision range rather than 20.  

• The 222 Armored Car call-in during the Scorched Sand mission ability cooldown has been reduced from 240 to 60 seconds. 

• Fixed playable boundary line sometimes being too thick in the campaign. 

User Interface & User Experience

• General tool-tip fixes and updates. 

• Fixed an issue where the Loadout button would show a red pip even though there were no unseen items in the Loadout. 

• Reduced the size of the Battlegroup abilities so they do not cover up the Global Unit Command 

• Lobby and loading screen player card banners have been updated, resulting in less of the images being obscured by faction and Battlegroup UI. 

• Searching for friends no longer requires the player to click on the magnifying glass icon to begin the search. 

• When browsing multiplayer custom matches, the Refresh button and Search textbox have been re-positioned to be right aligned with the list of matches. Similarly, when browsing Replays, the Search textbox has been re-positioned to be right aligned with the list of Replays.   

• Fixed an issue where the generic vehicle image between the CWT Truck and the CWT Truck with the 17-pounder Anti-tank Gun when the player hovered over the health bar were different. 

• The tooltip for Battlegroup upgrades has been updated to include additional information. 

• 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. 

• The Add Players button now opens the Invite to Party modal instead of opening the Friends widget. 

• Fixed an issue where auto-builders from the HQ could appear in the score screen if they managed to kill an enemy.  

• Custom Game Lobby Game Options button has been renamed to Game Settings. 

• Updated design of the X button for the remove from group button. 

• The Campaign loading screen is no longer shown when loading into multiplayer if a mission select mission was played previously. 

• Fixed status/buff icons sometimes not showing for certain emplacements. 

Stability

• Fixed a crash that would happen if loading icons took too long.  

• Improved performance of save game scanning. Limited the maximum number of save validation to 50 newest per save types (Skirmish, Africa Campaign, Italy Campaign). Older saves are still accessible by deleting newer saves and restarting the game. 

• Resolved an issue where the game would sometimes crash on shutdown. 

• Fixed loading screen soft lock due to disconnections during the previous match.