When infantry units inevitably clash, it’s grim to watch – solid cover can stretch shootouts into gruelling minutes, but a tossed grenade or well-positioned flanker can violently cut things short. Establishing a static frontline takes genuine effort in multiplayer, as things like paratroopers and readily-available armoured units mean the action can swing to another, weaker part of the map at a moment’s notice. I could talk about America’s paratroopers all day, but they’re just my favourite cog in Company Of Heroes 3‘s big scrappy war machine. I’m a big fan of dropping them into distant strategic points that would be difficult to hold, but irritating for the enemy to defend – resulting in paratroopers breaking up supply lines and stretching enemy defences thin in the same way that Company Of Heroes 2‘s partisans excelled at.

Uncle Sam’s angels make mincemeat of light vehicles or the average infantryman, and being able to drop them anywhere means you can pull off plenty of devastating flanking manoeuvres or feints. America’s airborne skill tree is all about embracing the carnage of multiplayer, allowing you to hammer the map with airstrikes or sprinkle the map with elite paratroopers. Credit: Relic Entertainment.Įach faction gets to pick one of three skill trees at the start of the game, each one offering their own unique units, abilities or buffs. I’m a big fan of the American faction, which falls into the latter if you opt into their airborne division.Ĭompany Of Heroes 3. Some factions, like the ironclad Wehrmacht or defensive Brits, try to enforce order amid that chaos, with unassailable armoured columns or walls of player-built fortifications.

READ MORE: The best strategy games of 2023Įven on Company Of Heroes‘ smallest maps, there’s a myriad of strategic points to capture which are crucial to keeping your army running – or at least stumbling – faster than your opponent’s.

Oh, and your opponent is laughing at your dead engineers in Discord. In reality, it’s not so easy: all of this is happening while your best infantry’s been set on fire, a sniper is running amok in your territory, and three tanks are making mincemeat of your poor squaddies. Fighting against other players is a scrappy struggle to dominate command zones that will eventually lead to victory, all while maintaining control over the supply points that keep your economy chugging along. Multiplayer in Company Of Heroes 3 is a race to build a house of cards, but there are no rules against shaking your opponent’s table.

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