Introduction – CoH then and now

From its inception, Relic has made games that told stories through carefully crafted missions that link challenging gameplay to an immersive narrative. Homeworld set the mold and Company of Heroes refined it, weaving together an audio-visual history lesson and character-driven gameplay. 

Fifteen years ago, CoH delivered a campaign that guided players through a series of bombastic missions. Company of Heroes 3 will let players lead the way. Our campaign has a discrete start and end point, but what you do along the way is your choice. To create a player-guided campaign, we needed to re-think how we develop missions.  

Company of Heroes 1 – Omaha Beach 

Campaign Structure

Consider the types of campaigns Relic has made in the past. Homeworld 1 & 2, Impossible Creatures, Dawn of War, and Company of Heroes have all featured linear campaigns that focus on telling a story. But we’ve also delivered non-linear campaigns in Dawn of War: Dark Crusade, Dawn of War 2, and Company of Heroes: Ardennes Assault. 

These non-linear campaigns gave the player a varying amount of choice. In Dark Crusade, you could play the game as any one of 7 factions, start at different locations on the planet Kronus, and wipe out the other factions in any order. In Dawn of War 2, it was possible to play dozens of optional missions to “100 percent” the game, or blast through the major missions to speed-run the game. Ardennes Assault gave the player control of three or four discrete companies with the option to swap between them to take control of the Ardennes region. 

Ardennes Assault – Campaign map and mission selection
 

Company of Heroes 3 isn’t exactly like any of those games. We’re building a campaign that gives the player freedom to navigate the world using companies that develop and improve, tackling missions that interest you and bypassing others that don’t. You can’t pick from 7 factions, but you can choose what companies to deploy and how to upgrade them. You can focus on the units and abilities you enjoy the most, and you can take on missions that range from small-scale assassinations to sprawling urban assaults. 

Let’s get into the variety of mission and skirmish experiences you’ll find in our campaigns. 

Missions and Skirmishes

"Major” missions are the foundation of our campaigns. You’ll start the campaign by playing a major mission inspired by a historical battle and location. This mission will introduce you to the Italian theatre, the armies you’ll control, and the threats you’ll face. 

The campaign is punctuated by major missions that represent a historical battle. Because each mission is designed to be completed in under an hour, they cannot possibly represent weeks-long conflicts at places like Anzio and Monte Cassino. Rather, they present the player with an evocative location and challenges that reflect the real battles. In Anzio, the player should feel trapped until a breakout attempt makes headway and the offensive can resume.  

Between major historical missions, you’ll find smaller missions built around themes that suit the Italian theater of war. For example, Rescue missions will task you with supporting trapped allies or Italian partisans, while a Raid mission will send you into an enemy supply yard to destroy fuel and munitions caches before you are overwhelmed. Each of these themes will appear two or three times in the campaign, but nearly all these missions are optional. 

An in-editor view of a Rescue mission 

We also have a handful of even smaller missions that focus on squad tactics and a self-contained story. These missions often put you in control of a handful of squads with a very specific objective: assassinate an enemy officer, escape from behind enemy lines, disrupt an ambush, steal intel, etc. These are also optional missions (but we hope you play them). 

Finally, you’ll play skirmish matches against the AI. These matches are triggered whenever two companies clash on the campaign map. Skirmishes take place on a variety of maps, each of which can support several primary objectives and a long list of bonus objectives. We're in the process of adding more diversity to our skirmish modes, and we’ll carefully tune how often they occur in the campaign. 

Showcases – units, abilities, and mechanics

When developing a mission, we often think about what elements of the game will be “showcased”. You may remember a mission from the CoH 1 or CoH 2 campaigns that emphasized paratroopers, or the Tiger I tank, or mobile artillery platforms. Many of our missions are designed to showcase specific playable units, enemy units, powerful abilities, and game mechanics. Some maps emphasize the value of anti-garrison weapons and the Breach ability, while others emphasize the power of controlling high ground. 

I am eager for players to experience missions that showcase partisan squads, Italian military vehicles, and even a massive railway gun! 

Railway gun - art and animation are work-in-progress 

 Affectors and Company Support

As designers, we build challenges for you to overcome by arranging enemy squads and giving them AI guidance. However, we don’t have total control. The company you use to initiate a mission will modify your starting forces and define what abilities you can use. You can also bring in support from nearby companies, airfields, naval destroyers, and partisan hubs. Similarly, the enemy’s forces will change or grow in power depending on their company and nearby support.  

You can also modify a mission significantly by bombarding it on the campaign map. By using naval or air support, you can heavily damage a mission location (like a town or crossroads). In the mission itself, this will change the environment, damaging or destroying buildings and cover objects, adding craters that you can use for cover, and even opening new routes. 

An intact and bombarded mission location. Gameplay changes, like building and wall damage, are not shown here. 

Conclusion

Company of Heroes 3 is more ambitious than its predecessor. To put more control in the hands of our players, we’ve built an enormous, richly detailed campaign map. You’ll chart your own path through the Mediterranean theatre, taking on some missions that evoke pivotal moments in history and others that challenge your tactical prowess. What matters most is that your experience is unique – the choices you make will matter. Take charge of the companies you like best, tackle the missions that interest you, and find your own path to victory. 

Hi Sacha, 

I didn't see you in the Invitational match up, I bet you would have won it all, it's nice of you to let the others get the glory. I agree with @Banditks I too cannot wait. The next MP slice cannot come soon enough.

@Sacha_RE in regards to Mission Design I have responded directly or indirectly to this topic in previous threads. I will include those after my summarization. 

In summary, I enjoyed the actual maps in COH1 and COH2 that developed as you played it, you could have intensive progressive battles in sections of the map to unlock further objectives ahead later on in the very same map. I like storytelling through mission design. I am not just referencing soley terrain reveal progression, but the actual landmarks used, the story of the german sniper shooting your squadmate then transitioning directly into RTS map. I really hope there are cool ways you use mission design to capture the gamer in the story. I was thinking same maps could even be reused but from different starting points and objectives to really maximize the really good maps that don't need to be one time only visit. I mean MP justifies this there are players that play the same map over and over again due to the gameplay always delivering a new story depending upon players choices. Same goes for SP, don't feel like map variety = better gameplay, the story and narrative can really bypass that initial apprehension to reuse maps, not often but several would be actually preferred. I mean even if starting points change, it shouldn't have to be me replaying the entire campaign to get another chance at a city for example, like I know what I would do next time. Well it could very well happen in campaign, plenty of battles occurred over same land even by same troops. Here is a summary of some of my related threads to your thread....

1. Storytelling
2. Campaign Mode Input
3. My responses to Kyle_RE OG post years ago - Specifically section * Where possibly both COH1 or COH2 fell short - where in your opinion is the untapped potential? 
4. Tug of War
5. SP Campaign
6. Turn based campaign - (you already know this thread but for reference it's here)