Company of Heroes, from the developers of Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War, is a real-time strategy game that drops you into the fray of World War II Europe. From the bloody beaches of Omaha to the deadly firefights of the Bocage, you attempt to lead your troops to victory one battle at a time. The game comes with three modes of play -- single-player campaign, single-player skirmish and online multiplayer. All the missions in the single-player campaign take place during the Battle of Normandy (codename Operation Overlord) and are played from the perspective of the American Able Company (part of the 29th Infantry Division) and Fox Company (101st Airborne Division). More varied maps are available in the skirmish and multiplayer modes, including many added through patches.

What really sets Company of Heroes apart from other real-time strategy games, much like Relic Entertainment's previous entry, is that you no longer train and control individual troops. Instead you deploy squads of soldiers. Players must train a balanced assortment of units in order to obtain victory over their adversaries. Most units can be upgraded and equipped with special accessories that are either more powerful or suited for specific tasks. For example, the M4 "Crocodile" Sherman can smash through hedgerows when equipped with the Bulldozer upgrade. This is normally impossible for tanks in the game. Allied units can also advance through a progression system that awards XP for killing enemies and destroying hostile structures, while Axis units gain veterancy at the Kampfkraft Center through research. In both cases they become more effective in combat.

There's also a progression system for the players themselves, called Company Commander. It rewards XP for successful attacks and controlling territory sectors, which can then be invested in a two-branched ability tree. Each faction has three ability trees. The Allied forces trees include Infantry Company, Airborne Company and Armor Company, while the Axis has the Defensive Doctrine, Blitzkrieg Doctrine and Terror Doctrine. The nature of the abilities are diverse. Some may be used to call airborne support, including bombardment, while others can call in special units such as paratroopers, the King Tiger or the Calliope Rocket Launcher. At the same time, there are others which can give temporary bonuses to existing troops or capabilities to units that normally can't perform them. This way, riflemen can be used to construct defensive structures (tank traps, sandbags etc.), for example.

Resource gathering has gone in a different direction from that of other RTS games. Players must attempt to capture and control strategic points which bring in the much needed resources of manpower, munitions and fuel to build and train new units. At the same time it's necessary to have the right base buildings to deploy units on the battlefield, such as a tank depot to create tanks, barracks for riflemen, and motor pools for light armored vehicles. Only the Allied engineers and the Axis pioneers can raise new buildings, but some missions may start with a full or partial base already up and running. The Allies and the Axis generally have different types of base structures and combat units.

The game's Essence engine brings a level of depth to RTS games with deformable terrain and completely destructible environments. Units will take cover in burnt out craters and tanks can decimate buildings suspected of containing snipers.

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Screenshots

Company of Heroes Windows The tactical map is also live; the red wrench icon has been making its way southeast.

Company of Heroes Windows The end of every skirmish or multiplayer game gives you an overview, such as this.

Company of Heroes Windows One-on-one tank duel: the Sherman vs the STUG.

Company of Heroes Windows Bombs aren't just for show; the crates left behind can be used as cover. The yellow dots indicate minimal cover.

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Promo Images

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Trailer

Alternate Titles

"英雄連隊" -- Traditional Chinese spelling
"Company of Heroes (New Steam Version)" -- Steam title of Steamworks-powered variant from 4 December 2013 to 7 November 2017
"Company of Heroes (Legacy Edition)" -- Steam title of unsupported Quazal variant as of 7 November 2017
"Company of Heroes: Kompania Braci" -- Polish title
"Company of Heroes: Game of the Year" -- Patched re-release title
"CoH" -- Common abbreviation

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Part of the Following Groups

User Reviews

Deep and engaging, but not flawless	D Michael (232)
Company of Heroes is no RTS Relic	Rambutaan (1672)
Trick or Treat?	Open_Sights (468)
Not so realistic as it claims, but brilliant fun nevertheless!	SifouNaS (1326)

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Critic Reviews

G4 TV: X-Play	Nov 03, 2006		100
Games Finder	Apr 22, 2014	9.5 out of 10	95
Play.tm	Oct 10, 2006	93 out of 100	93
PC Zone	Sep 29, 2006	9.3 out of 10	93
Gamer 2.0	Jan 26, 2007	9.2 out of 10	92
FZ	Oct 22, 2006		90
All Game Guide	2006		90
Netjak	Nov 13, 2006	9 out of 10	90
4Players.de	Sep 29, 2006	85 out of 100	85
Game Revolution	Oct 03, 2006	B+	83

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Trivia

1001 Video Games

Company of Heroes appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Copy protection

As of September 2006, Company of Heroes is fairly unusual for a retail game of its kind. Unlike hundreds of other games on the store shelves, Company of Heroes does not require the CD-ROM to be present in the drive while playing.

Server shutdown

After SEGA acquired the Company of Heroes rights after THQ's death in early 2013, they permanently shut down the multiplayer servers and transferred multiplayer capabilities to the Steam version. Steam accepts the retail disc code for the game and its expansions for registering.

Awards

4Players
- 2006 – #2 Best Strategy Game of the Year
Computer Games Magazine
- March 2007 - Game of the Year 2006
Games for Windows Magazine
- March 2007 - #2 Game of the Year 2006
GameSpy
- 2006 – #2 Game of the Year
- 2006 – PC Game of the Year
- 2006 – #2 Online Multiplayer Game of the Year
- 2006 – PC Multiplayer Game of the Year
- 2006 – PC Real-Time Strategy Game of the Year
- 2006 – PC Real-Time Strategy Game of the Year (Gamers' Vote)
- 2006 – Best Sound of the Year (PC)
- 2011 – #4 Top PC Game of the 2000s
PC Powerplay (Germany)
- Issue 02/2007 – #3 Best Strategy Game in 2006