Hi everyone, I’m Lisa, a Missions and Multiplayer Maps Designer on Company of Heroes 3. In this post, I wanted to share with you a deeper look at how our Defend missions work and how they’re tied in with our Dynamic Campaign Map in Italy.
First, let’s take a brief look at Defend missions in our previous Company of Heroes titles!
Defensive Missions in CoH
The Defend archetype is a core part of the Company of Heroes experience. Either in the multiplayer setting or in the campaign, you’re bound to come across a moment where you’re needing to defend. There’s something so gratifying about figuring out good unit composition, positioning and defending a point or location.
Defend missions are typically 20–30-minute engagements where the player holds highlighted locations on the map and defends against a series of waves. You’ll find yourself defending valuable units or a crucial location. These often include a church, manor, trapped allies, or simply a bridge that protects the entrance of a town. Along with these central defend locations, there are bonus defend points which offer more incoming resources.
(Work-in-progress snapshot of an airfield defense mission. All images are taken from Pre-Alpha gameplay and are not indicative of the final game.)
Defensive Missions in CoH3
Having a look at Company of Heroes 1 and 2, we continue to have many similarities in how our defensive missions work in CoH 3. Like needing to hold an important building or location, waves of enemies that grow in intensity, large tank battles and a battlefield that evolves both in gameplay and visuals as the mission progresses.
However, in Company of Heroes 3, there are some new features that will have the defense missions stand out or play differently. One of the new major variables is the inclusion and emphasis of height gameplay. Verticality plays well in our Italy based maps as it creates new tactical options alongside unique counterplay opportunities. Many of our maps in Italy feature some instances of hills and dense urban towns that showcase this very feature. In a defense mission, these height advantages could either pose a threat or a great way to strategize your positioning on the map.
(Work-in-progress snapshot of an urban defense mission. All images are taken from Pre-Alpha gameplay and are not indicative of the final game.)
You’ll find in some defensive missions you are set to defend a high position with plenty of good sightlines and height advantages. Missions like these encourage the use of heavy artillery or long-range infantry. In others, you’re defending an open flat airfield where it’s more challenging to predict where units are coming from and the possibility of enemy armor is high. In missions like this, you can really play around with dense tank battles and artillery support!
(Work-in-progress snapshot of an urban defense mission. All images are taken from Pre-Alpha gameplay and are not indicative of the final game.)
You’ll not only have one point to defend, but other optional points. Occasionally, you will need to hold the outer city and if one sector is overwhelmed then units will start rushing the central town! Whether you’re rushing to hold off two bridge points from a wave of units or having all your units spread out across a city defending the church, our intent is to offer variety and challenges that adapt to all playstyles!
(Work-in-progress snapshot of an airfield defense mission. All images are taken from Pre-Alpha gameplay and are not indicative of the final game.)
Our goal in these defensive beat missions is to offer an assortment of tools and allow you to take full freedom in how you want to go about the mission. There will be moments where you are granted armor, elite infantry, or a unique weapon to aid you in the final wave, or you have multiple chokepoints to hold at once, or you have no barracks at all and must await the arrival of ally reinforcements! We want to keep these encounters interesting, and you can all look forward to being challenged on how you go about the classic Company of Heroes defense.
Defensive Missions and the Campaign Map
Although we’d love for you all to try out every defense mission, you’re not always guaranteed to encounter them depending on how you tackle certain engagements on the Dynamic Campaign Map. For a defense mission to trigger, the player will first need to capture a major location on the map. Once it’s in the player's territory, a nearby enemy company is likely to try and retake that location.
If you notice the enemy on their way to retaking a major location, you do have some time to prevent them. The player can counter them before they reach the point using nearby Companies, air, or naval support. If the player counters the enemy as they are recapturing a point, it will trigger the defense mission. You are also able to bombard the location before encountering the enemy to weaken the company. By doing this, the map itself will reflect this action in the RTS mission. It takes the enemy company a few days to fully recapture a sector, so you have some time to reach them and defend the location.
Conclusion
That’s pretty much defensive missions in a CoH 3-themed nutshell! There are many other new and exciting features I have yet to cover and not just for Defend missions.
The team would love to hear from you! Are there missions in the CoH franchise that stood out to you? If so, what made that mission so memorable? Besides the satisfaction of successfully pinning a group of units on a bridge, what else makes defensive missions enjoyable? Thanks for reading and I’m excited to have all of you experience these defensive missions for yourselves.
I'm interested in the last part of the part where you mention how a defensive battle is triggered. If you'll indulge me, I'd like to digress for a bit but promise to get back on point ;-)
Many months ago I wrote a post sharing some ideas about how progression through the campaign might work. Without getting into the minutia, the idea was that you stayed at the smaller, more personal, company level (rather than the manage everything general) and were just a part of a larger force pushing into Italy. Then on a given "turn" several operations would be presented as your forces advance and you'd be given the option to select the one you want to command and your AI allies would carry out the other tasks.
The point here is that progress would involve several different mission types (say offensive, defensive and support) that would take place simultaneously. You'd pick the one you'd like to command most and leave the others to the AI. This way, if you're an offensive player, you may favour the breakthrough mission and leave the bridge defense to AI. Then, see how all missions turn out (both yours and the AI's) at the end of your real-time battle. Maybe you hogged all the air support and nailed it but the both of your AI buddies lost a key positions. One step forward and 2 steps back! Next time perhaps you should take the critical bridge mission...
Ok. Why do I bring that up? Because seeing as that particular game mechanic isn't (to the best of my knowledge) being used. My question becomes what if you really dislike a particular mission type? For example, I really hate defensive missions but love storming the castle. What gameplay mechanics are in place that let me tailor my experience and bias it towards the gameplay I enjoy?
Some players love pumping their popcap through the roof and just smashing everything together to watch it go boom! Others, as you mentioned, really enjoy staving off the hoard against all odds in defensive missions. Guys like me, prefer being on the offensive and having to tactically figure out how to crack a particular nut.
I'm sure CoH3 will have a variety of missions that will cater to all types. That's not my question. I'm wondering: Can I bias my campaign playthrough experience to favour the mission types I like and avoid the ones I don't. Or, do I just need to grind through the ones that don't tickle my fancy to get to the ones that do.
I ask because, interestingly, it was defensive missions that stopped me from playing earlier campaigns. I just got tired of slogging through them to get to the "fun" ones.
Thanks for the ear! Really excited to see what you're cooking up!!!
I'm sure CoH3 will have a variety of missions that will cater to all types. That's not my question. I'm wondering: Can I bias my campaign playthrough experience to favour the mission types I like and avoid the ones I don't. Or, do I just need to grind through the ones that don't tickle my fancy to get to the ones that do.
I was just quickly chatting with Lisa (Missions & MP Maps) and Sacha (Lead Singleplayer Designer) and I brought up your question. Here's a quick summary of what they told me. I hope this answers your question!
"The best answer we can give is that MOST of our mission content is optional! The player can look at a location, view the mission summary, and decide they'll leave that location in enemy hands. You can even decide to let the enemy reclaim a location like Foggia or Potenza. We only require the player to complete a few key missions, but otherwise you're free to choose where you fight. Of course we hope players enjoy and want to play most of our missions, but they certainly don't have to."
I was just quickly chatting with Lisa (Missions & MP Maps) and Sacha (Lead Singleplayer Designer) and I brought up your question. Here's a quick summary of what they told me. I hope this answers your question!
"The best answer we can give is that MOST of our mission content is optional! The player can look at a location, view the mission summary, and decide they'll leave that location in enemy hands. You can even decide to let the enemy reclaim a location like Foggia or Potenza. We only require the player to complete a few key missions, but otherwise you're free to choose where you fight. Of course we hope players enjoy and want to play most of our missions, but they certainly don't have to."
Thanks JohnT,
Ok... While "most of our mission content is optional" by deciding to "leave the location in enemy hands" may be technically true. That's is not really in the spirit of which I asked the question.
I'd hoped it was understood that I still intend to play to my best advantage. This would preclude giving up a strategic location for any reason.
However, I do appreciate you passing my comment on and Lisa/Sacha's reply, which does (technically) answer my question :-)
I'm wondering... If these missions are procedurally generated, might it still be possible to offer options? Let's use the example of a city that needs to be defended. Perhaps you could opt to either be responsible for the city defense, or lead an associated counter attack for example? Without understanding how the narrative elements work, this may not be a good or easy fit. So, just take it as a conceptual example. But, I think offering this type of play-it-your-way is really worth some extra consideration.
Also, I'm not sure where things are at as far as a co-op campaign. But, my old suggestion (pick one of several operations per "turn") was also an idea to make co-op work. As clunky as it is, I've enjoyed playing Total Warhammer co-op with my brother. But, we both prefer CoH ;-)
Basically, I'd love the campaign to be a bespoke experience that you can tailor to your playstyle, rather than one-size-fits-all. If you could throw some of that feedback back into the mix too, I'd appreciate it.
FWIW, I'll share my CoH single-player experience. I've started every single CoH (1&2) campaign there is. Yes, every one. But, I have completed exactly ZERO of them. As mentioned, it's often the big defense missions which throw me off the horse. When playing by myself, I fire up custom games versus the AI because... well... they're CUSTOM! I can configure them how I like, pick mods, etc.
This time I don't want to get kicked off the CoH3 campaign horse and am hoping and that it really has the variety to be re-playable. Even If it doesn't happen to float my particular boat, I'd still love to see a lot more customization options when dialing up a one-off battle.
I envy you guys in game design. Something I've always wanted to do. Enjoy it and make something excellent!
my all time favourite defensive mission is Mortain, where you defend Hill 317, still after 12 years i enjoy playing it, i dont know, maybe night time is the reason, which makes atmospheric that mission, also map design is beautiful, i would like to see similar maps and defensive missions in COH3, thanks Devs, keep up good work.
also the intro storytelling is much Convincing and realistic than it was with any COH2 mission
I was just quickly chatting with Lisa (Missions & MP Maps) and Sacha (Lead Singleplayer Designer) and I brought up your question. Here's a quick summary of what they told me. I hope this answers your question!
"The best answer we can give is that MOST of our mission content is optional! The player can look at a location, view the mission summary, and decide they'll leave that location in enemy hands. You can even decide to let the enemy reclaim a location like Foggia or Potenza. We only require the player to complete a few key missions, but otherwise you're free to choose where you fight. Of course we hope players enjoy and want to play most of our missions, but they certainly don't have to."
Thanks JohnT,
Ok... While "most of our mission content is optional" by deciding to "leave the location in enemy hands" may be technically true. That's is not really in the spirit of which I asked the question.
I'd hoped it was understood that I still intend to play to my best advantage. This would preclude giving up a strategic location for any reason.
Ah I see what you're saying. So some additional systems like air, navy, or partisans provide you a robust toolkit to influence what happens on the Dynamic Campaign Map. So let's say you see an enemy Company ready to reclaim a town you liberated, which then might force you into a Defensive mission (which, in your case, you're not a fan of). You have these additional resources to potentially thwart the enemy Company before you even end up in that type of scenario. Naval or air bombardment could easily force them into a weakened state and make them retreat. Or perhaps you leave a garrisoned Company close at hand, then proactively send them out to attack the enemy Company before they arrive. The team is really embracing the mantra "play your way" when it comes to the Campaign Map. Excluding a couple key missions, it will be up to you as to where and when you fight the enemy.
Ah I see what you're saying. So some additional systems like air, navy, or partisans provide you a robust toolkit to influence what happens on the Dynamic Campaign Map. So let's say you see an enemy Company ready to reclaim a town you liberated, which then might force you into a Defensive mission (which, in your case, you're not a fan of). You have these additional resources to potentially thwart the enemy Company before you even end up in that type of scenario. Naval or air bombardment could easily force them into a weakened state and make them retreat. Or perhaps you leave a garrisoned Company close at hand, then proactively send them out to attack the enemy Company before they arrive. The team is really embracing the mantra "play your way" when it comes to the Campaign Map. Excluding a couple key missions, it will be up to you as to where and when you fight the enemy.
Yes! That is what I'm talking about.
That is very different than having a defensive mission dropped on you as part of a story arc for example. I want the tools and resources to tactically engineer the type of engagements I want to fight.
Partisan intelligence or sentries could also be invaluable providing situational awareness (less fog of war) so I have time to counter the aforementioned assault before it turns into Enemy at the Gates. The examples you gave also illustrate the point well.
I'm glad the design is emphasizing "play your way". I'm very curious to see how flexible the system is an what gameplay mechanics enable us to shape the type of battles we engage in.
It's cool to see that defensive missions are sticking around. Carentan Counterattack was my favorite mission in COH1 when I was younger. I went back a few months ago to see the US campaign to the end, and Carentan was still an absolute blast to play.
I think there is potential for improving defensive missions by making them multiplayer. So instead of you playing alone, you could do it with 4 players defending against computer who's difficulty could be adjusted.
On regular players vs CPU the CPU is always bit dull and stupid on many things, however on defensive maps where developer designs and programs how the AI will attack, CPU attacks look more realistic, organized and there is plenty of potential to make cool stuff and surprises. I would like to see it made with touch of randomness, meaning CPU doesnt always do the same things, instead it has "toolkit" of different types of attacks that CPU can use and then CPU picks randomly 6 different kind of "attack waves" out of 12 for example.
But most interesting part on defensive missions compared to regular COH gameplay is the building time you have before action begins, COH is very intensive gameplay but on defensive maps you have this peaceful timer to build sandbags, trenches, fortifications etc in peace without being super busy. Please dont neglect that, thats very big part of defensive maps fun.
.png)
DEVLisaN_RE
Newcomer
DEVLisaN_RE
Newcomer
1 000g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report LisaN_RE?
Are you sure you want to block LisaN_RE ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock LisaN_RE ?
UnblockCancelJLX
Newcomer
JLX
Newcomer
7 700g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report JLX?
Are you sure you want to block JLX ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock JLX ?
UnblockCancelADMINJohn_RE
Moderator
ADMINJohn_RE
Moderator
8 600g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report John_RE?
Are you sure you want to block John_RE ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock John_RE ?
UnblockCancelJLX
Newcomer
JLX
Newcomer
7 700g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report JLX?
Are you sure you want to block JLX ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock JLX ?
UnblockCancelcoh-11yearsfans
Newcomer
coh-11yearsfans
Newcomer
7 700g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report coh-11yearsfans?
Are you sure you want to block coh-11yearsfans ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock coh-11yearsfans ?
UnblockCancelvoodxd
Newcomer
voodxd
Newcomer
5 200g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report voodxd?
Are you sure you want to block voodxd ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock voodxd ?
UnblockCancelADMINJohn_RE
Moderator
ADMINJohn_RE
Moderator
8 600g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report John_RE?
Are you sure you want to block John_RE ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock John_RE ?
UnblockCancelJLX
Newcomer
JLX
Newcomer
7 700g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report JLX?
Are you sure you want to block JLX ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock JLX ?
UnblockCancelCawsForConcern
Newcomer
~
CawsForConcern
Newcomer
3 600g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report CawsForConcern?
Are you sure you want to block CawsForConcern ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock CawsForConcern ?
UnblockCancelPeurake
Newcomer
Peurake
Newcomer
1 000g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report Peurake?
Are you sure you want to block Peurake ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock Peurake ?
UnblockCancelRAZORLIGHT
Newcomer
RAZORLIGHT
Newcomer
1 000g2g ptsReport comment
Why do you report RAZORLIGHT?
Are you sure you want to block RAZORLIGHT ?
BlockCancelAre you sure you want to unblock RAZORLIGHT ?
UnblockCancel