Hello!

Here is my suggestion of a potential French Forces faction. It combines the French Army prior to capitulation, the Free French Forces and the French Resistance. 

No manpower, munition, fuel or battlegroup costs are written as they are an important part of balancing the faction and I don't think I have the required expertise. 

I have done research in order to list only weapons or vehicles that were used during the period. 

If Relic decides to use this suggestion to add a French faction, no credit is required and any modification or addition they deem necessary is encouraged. 

Any suggestion or critique from the community is welcome.

Main Buildings:

Armoury:

- WW1 Veterans (Give 1 veterancy to every infantry squad)

- Hold the line! Unlocked by building the Infantry Support Company (Give bonuses to every infantry and support weapon when in cover)

- Advanced Recovery package Unlocked by building the Light Mechanised Company (Give Sappers the ability to restore wrecks of tanks and mechanised vehicles)

- Infantry support tanks Unlocked by building the Tank Company (Improve both the efficiency of tanks and infantry when fighting alongside)

Headquarters:

- Sapper (MAS-36, Schilt flamethrower or Mine-detector upgrades, can build bunkers with 8mm MG upgrade)

- Hotchkiss model 1914 machine gun (8mm)

- Medic post upgrade

Infantry Support Company:

- Renault UE Chenillette Light Recon Car (7.5mm MG)

- Brandt Mle 27/31 Light Mortar (3.2 in)

- Sniper (Lebel model 86-93 with telescopic sight, Berthier 1916 with telescopic sight Upgrade) 

- Rifle Squad (RSC M1917,  MAS-36 or Chauchat upgrade)

- F1 grenade access

- Sniper access

Light Mechanised Company

- 47 mm APX anti-tank gun

- Panhard 178 Armoured car (25mm main + 7.5mm MG)

- R36 Light tank (37mm main)

- Hotchkiss M1929 AA machine gun (13.2mm)

- R36 light tank access

- Hotchkiss M1929 AA machine gun access

Tank Company

- AMC Scheider P16 (37mm + 7.5 MG)

- Char D2 (47mm main)

- SOMUA S35 (47mm main)

- SOMUA S35 access

- Char D2 access

BATTLEGROUPS

Allied Lend Lease Battlegroup:

Left (Ground Lend lease):

- Polish Volunteers ( Kbsp wz. 1938M gun, Błyskawica Machine pistol upgrade)

- British Weapons (give access to Vickers MG, ML-3 inch Mortar, 6 pounder AT with veterancy 1)

OR

- American weapons (give access to M1919 MG, M1 Mortar, M1 AT with veterancy 1)

- 2x Mk VII Cavalier (57mm + 7.92mm MG with veterancy 1)

OR

- 2x M4A1 Sherman (75mm + 7.65mm MG with veterancy 1)

Right (Air lend lease):

- 150 fuel paradrop

OR

- 300 manpower paradrop

- French SAS deployment (2 Lee Enfield No.4 MK “Jungle Carbine” + 2 Sten + 2 PIAT AT or 2 Bren LMG)

- Typhoon AT Raid

OR

- Spitfire Infantry Raid

French Main Army Battlegroup:

Left (Static Warfare):

- Chasseurs Alpins (Lebel model 86-93 guns, Berthier 1916 upgrade)

- Maginot Line ( Give bunkers a 47mm APX anti-tank gun upgrade)

OR

- Canon de 75 CA modèle 1940 Schneider AA artillery (75mm)

- Mortier 280mm TR de Schneider-St Chamond Self propelled howitzer

OR

- Obusier de 520 model 1916 barrage (52cm)

Right (Maneuver Warfare):

- All tanks gain access to the 7.5 MG upgrade

OR

- Hotchkiss H39 deployment (37mm main + 7.5 MG)

- Char B1 Bis (75mm main + 47mm secondary)

- Char 2C (75mm main + 4x 8mm MG)

OR

- Char B1 Ter upgrade (75mm armour + 1 crewman)

French Resistance Battlegroup:

Left (Resistance Support):

- French Partisan (Deployable in empty buildings with Karabiner 98k)

- Cut Radio Communication (Reduce line of sight of enemy tanks when active)

OR

- French partisan MP40 upgrade available

- French Partisan panzerfaust upgrade available

OR

- French Partisan MG42 deployement

Right (Free French Forces) :

- Taxi redeployment (accelerate production of infantry troops)

OR

- P107 halftrack

- French Colonial Troops (Reduce manpower cost of infantry troops)

OR

- Foreign Legion(MAS-38, FM 24-29 upgrade)

- “COLMAR” Tiger tank deployment (MG42 upgrade available)

In the battlegroups, the OR parts are between the one above and the one below, not between the two above and the two below.

his is an easy prey that pissed off the war for 2 weeks. this is rock bottom bro. forget it. at this rate, add Romania and hospitality, and we will not forget about the Czechs))))))))))))))))))))

Well-thought out, and interesting! Would love to see more factions/flavour in Coh3!

I completely agree, I want this faction in the game. ? 

otherwise I would place the colonial troops more in the main army group, the colonial troops having served more with the FFL than with the resistance

I would welcome a FFF faction for sure but here we have -unfortunately- a weapon list without any faction concept.
I would like to get more ideas for faction concepts instead of weapon lists.

Can u talk a bit about the gameplay ideas, game design and historical concept for the proposal? Thx.

Thanks for all the comments and upvotes! The Main Army group is meant to represent the war effort pre-capitulation with very few fighting in Northern Africa and represents the different attempts at stopping the German invasion with the Maginot line and heavy artillery or the use of Heavy tanks to break through the Westwall (Siegfried line). The French Resistance Battlegroup is meant to represent the war effort post-capitulation with strictly French manpower in opposition to the Allied Lend Lease group which represents all the help that was offered to France. This is why the colonial troops and foreign legion are in the Resistance group, because their fame and renown appeared post-capitulation and in cooperation with other Allied forces such as the Goumiers or the Spahis. In game, the French forces would have fast access to the MG from the Headquarters to represent the Great War tactics still being implemented with the only mechanised vehicle in the two first buildings being the Chenillette. I thought of the Hotchkiss AA gun, despite CoH3 not having non-emplacement and non-vehicle AA in the current factions, because of the tactical fear the French high command had of the Luftwaffe and to combine this fear with some cheap response to this threat as opposed to the heavy investment an emplacement is. I wanted the Polish war effort to at least be present as a squad available in a battlegroup as there actually were Polish divisions in the French Army after the invasion of Poland. The French would play be a balance between Armour, Infantry and Artillery similar to the tactics employed in the Great War with some battlegroup emphasising one side more than the others.

Boby wrote:

Thanks for all the comments and upvotes! The Main Army group is meant to represent the war effort pre-capitulation with very few fighting in Northern Africa and represents the different attempts at stopping the German invasion with the Maginot line and heavy artillery or the use of Heavy tanks to break through the Westwall (Siegfried line). The French Resistance Battlegroup is meant to represent the war effort post-capitulation with strictly French manpower in opposition to the Allied Lend Lease group which represents all the help that was offered to France. This is why the colonial troops and foreign legion are in the Resistance group, because their fame and renown appeared post-capitulation and in cooperation with other Allied forces such as the Goumiers or the Spahis. In game, the French forces would have fast access to the MG from the Headquarters to represent the Great War tactics still being implemented with the only mechanised vehicle in the two first buildings being the Chenillette. I thought of the Hotchkiss AA gun, despite CoH3 not having non-emplacement and non-vehicle AA in the current factions, because of the tactical fear the French high command had of the Luftwaffe and to combine this fear with some cheap response to this threat as opposed to the heavy investment an emplacement is. I wanted the Polish war effort to at least be present as a squad available in a battlegroup as there actually were Polish divisions in the French Army after the invasion of Poland. The French would play be a balance between Armour, Infantry and Artillery similar to the tactics employed in the Great War with some battlegroup emphasising one side more than the others.

That was not the "concept" I was looking for but okay. Thx for the try ;) I still support a free french idea.

This post is a bit old but I decided to add some ideas after the reveal Fire & Steel expansion doctrine trees reveal. Considering the tanks in this suggestion are mostly 1939-1943 focused similarly to the game prior to the expansion (except for the Black Prince) and that the latest battlegroups push the game further to 1944-1945 with the Tiger II (Kingtiger) and the Churchill Crocodile, I decided to add ideas which could help the French resist against these new additions (Even if the Tiger I "Colmar" could be a good counter already).

First, two prototype tanks (Can be justified by the addition in the game of the Black Prince Churchill tank which was a project that did not go further than the prototypes in real life because of its inferiority compared to the Sherman Firefly, the Centurion [which was about to be produced] and the Comet Tanks):

-Char G1, the French would-be equivalent to the standard Sherman or T-34 tanks. It would have had a 75mm gun, 60mm armour, a coaxial machine gun alongside a mounted one for the commander, 40km/h speed with 4 crewmen. Its particularities are the gun stabilisation, the semi-auto loader and the optical rangefinder which were innovative for its time. According to historian Stéphane Ferrard, the tank would have been available on the battlefield by 1942 if the capitulation hadn't happened.

-Char FCM F1, a super-heavy tank (char de forteresse) intended to break through the Siegfried line. With a 90mm main gun, a 47mm secondary gun, six machine guns, a 100mm armour, a speed of 20km/h and crewing 9 men, this tank was the intended inheritor of the Char 2C's role. Later in February 1940 the tank's design was changed to a 135 or 155mm (depending on availability) howitzer hull alongside a 90mm turret gun. The ARL-44 produced in 1949 is the spiritual successor to this tank's development.

-Finally an off-map railway gun single strike of the 520mm "Obusier de 520 modèle 1916" which was captured by the germans after the fall of France before it could be used. One was intended to be used during the siege of Leningrad but its shell detonated in the barrel destroying it.

That's all, adding a French faction could be a bit of fresh air and originality to this Company of Heroes sequel though you could argue the same for a Japanese Faction or a Standalone Italian one. I did not suggest anywhere the addition of the Algerian Spahis because adding cavalry units with horses would be a massive balance change for the game which would honestly not really be worth it but there could be a battlegroup focused on the Colonial Forces of France including the mechanized Spahis, the Goumiers, the Tirailleurs and the Zouaves who were present in both the Northern African Front and the Italian Campaign.