Company of Heroes 3 News

On December 5th we are releasing the biggest update to Company of Heroes 3 ever – Steel Shepherd (1.4.0), along with The Hammer and Shield Expansion Pack. It’s going to be a big day for the game, so mark it in your calendars!

Steel Shepherd is bringing impactful updates, new free content including maps, and additional improvements to key areas of the game. We already gave an overview of what players should look out for back when we released our Roadmap in late August. Replays, a new 1v1 Map, Onboarding Improvements, and several gameplay updates were among what was revealed at this time. However, since then, we’ve been able to squeeze additional improvements and content into Steel Shepherd, which we think players will really appreciate. One such item is a major Visual Update which encompasses numerous areas of the game. Not only that, but we’re also introducing a substantial overhaul of the Campaign Map Systems, a Main Menu Redesign, an additional 2v2 Map, and more!

You can now see all of the items you can expect in Steel Shepherd in the graphic below. On November 30th, we will be diving deep on several of the changes in Steel Shepherd, so make sure to stay tuned to our social channels and our new Company of Heroes Twitch channel to soak up all the details.



The Hammer & Shield Expansion Pack is also releasing on December 5th, alongside the Steel Shepherd update. Hammer & Shield introduces two contrasting new Battlegroups for Multiplayer/ Co-op and Single Player Skirmish — the US Forces Advanced Infantry Battlegroup and the Wehrmacht Italian Coastal Battlegroup.

For solo strategists, an all-new British Forces Air & Sea Campaign Company allows you to tackle the Italian Campaign with bold combined arms tactics that synergize particularly well with the free Campaign Map overhaul arriving in Steel Shepherd. In addition, Hammer & Shield also includes four Premium Cosmetic packs, equipping each army with new cosmetics for select units.

Hammer & Shield will be available on Steam for $16.99 USD on December 5th

Over the coming weeks we will be sharing more information about the content in Hammer & Shield. For now, check out our short Sizzle Trailer which gives a flavor of each piece of content in Hammer & Shield.

For more info and details please check out our FAQ.

This week's highlights are intended to catch you up on the Umber Wasp Balance Tuning Update, as well as our new map making tutorials and, of course, some fantastic community content our players have shared with us.


[h2]NEWS [/h2]


Livestream Next Week

The Steel Shepherd (1.4.0) update is coming soon! To give you a sneak peek, we're hosting an overview livestream on Nov 16th at 10AM PT. Plus, our livestreams are moving! We’ll now be broadcasting from https://www.twitch.tv/companyofheroes. Follow us there to catch all the action and fun!



Map Making 101 - Tutorials

Alongside the release of our Map Making 101 tutorial, we’ve also announced that we've begun work on the integration of community maps to CoH3.

All 8 episodes are now available, showing you how to create maps from scratch. If you’re interested you can watch them here.


Amazon Prime Gaming Drop 7 Reminder

The Night Fighters Capture Point Bundle is available until November 15th. This exclusive package includes

✔️ Capture (Strategic) Point Night Fighters skin
✔️ Pioneer Squad Night Fighters Infantry outfit
✔️ Jäeger Squad Night Fighters Infantry outfit




[h2]DEVELOPER SITREP [/h2]


Umber Wasp Balance Tuning Update

We released the Umber Wasp Balance Tuning Update for PC on Oct 31st. This focused on specific issues that arose after the initial release (1.3.0) and tuning adjustments to enhance multiplayer balance. Read the full patch notes here.


CoH3 Bootcamp Reminder

A little reminder that, whether you're a veteran, play for pure enjoyment, or started as a fresh recruit, our tutorial bootcamp is your secret weapon!

It's jam-packed with tips & tactics to level up your game, regardless of your skill level.



[h2]COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT [/h2]


Give this awesome CoHKart map a try! Created by Shadowphreak, it's a super fun custom map where you can experiment with a cool race mode featuring kettenkrads.


Make sure to take a look at these awesome screenshots shared by loopfree.


Also, there are some awesome airplane screenshots taken by the coach.


You can submit your content for consideration by using the hashtag #CoHCommunity on our socials or by sharing screenshots, links and videos on our Discord or Forums.

That's it for this week. Tune in on CoH3 news on any of the links below.


[h2]LINKS[/h2]

Website

Forums

Technical Support

Bug Reporting

YouTube

Twitch

Discord

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Steam

This Balance Tuning update is meant to alleviate some issues stemming from the Umber Wasp (1.3.0) update, and to provide some minor tuning adjustments to Multiplayer balance. This update also fixes an issue with framerates locking to 30 FPS. Here is a note on the goals of this update from Jason on our Balance team.

Hey everyone, just a quick note from the balance team here. We're aware of the ongoing issues relating to DAK balance and Heavy Machineguns, and we're moving to address these issues. The fixes in this current patch are intended to alleviate the problem, but we're aware it will not fully solve them. Some of this work requires more systemic changes that we could not fit into a tuning update, but we hope to include in future updates, starting with 1.4.0 in December. - Jason_RE

[h2]General [/h2]

• Pachino Stalemate (1vs1) and Sousse Wetlands (4vs4) have had their Automatch selection weight reset so they no longer have a higher chance of appearing. Our team will continue experimenting with this weighting in the future to try to find the best balance as we showcase new maps.
  

[h2]Heavy Machine Guns [/h2]

• Crew health decreased from 90 to 80.
  
• HMG 42 Team suppression dealt to suppressed targets reduced from 0.35 to 0.3.
  
• Vickers, M1919 Browning, and MG 34 suppression dealt to suppressed targets reduced from 0.5 to 0.4.
  
• HMG Incremental Accuracy standardized to 1.12.
  
• Infantry pin threshold increased from 0.5 to 0.65.
  
• Wide arc machine gun arcs reduced from 125 to 110.
  

[h2]US Forces [/h2]

Riflemen

• M1 Garand cooldown modifier when in close quarters is reduced from 0.2 to 0.15.
  

M24 Chaffee Light Tank

• Changes from 1.3.0 update reverted.
  
• Reload time decreased from 4/4.25 to 3.5/4
  

M8 Greyhound

• Area of Effect model cap increased from 2 to 3.
  
• The tracking speed of the turret increased by 33%.
  

[h2]Wehrmacht [/h2]

Flak 30 20mm AA Gun

• Area of Effect model cap reduced from 3 to 2.
  
• Incremental accuracy bonus removed.
  

Kettenkrad

• Communication Cables sight range now properly affects all resource points.
  
• Decapture rate from Communication Cables removed.
  
• No longer gains bonus sight range from veterancy. (Tooltip will be adjusted in a future update).
  

Deutches Afrikakorps

Axis 8 Rad Armored Car

• Main gun Area of Effect model cap reduced from 3 to 2.
  
• Receives +50% damage bonus to its coaxial machine gun rather than +100% from Armored Support Battlegroup’s Superior Fire Drills
  

Panzergrenadiers

• Kar98k cooldown multiplier at close range has been increased from 0.35 to 0.45.
  

Panzerjaegers

• Manpower cost increased from 250 to 275.
  
• Tear Gas Shot now requires Veterancy 1.
  
• Tear Gas Shot duration reduced from 10 to 3 seconds.
  

Veteran Leaders

• Manpower cost increased from 200 to 250.
  
• No longer automatically reinforces Panzergrenadier Squads upon completion.
  

Flak 36 Anti-Tank Gun Team

• Armor when decrewed reduced from 100 to 70; standardized with other team weapons
  
• Reload speed increased from 2.5/2.75 to 2.875/3.15; reload time increased by 15%
  

[h2]Bug Fixes [/h2]

• 250 Halftrack - Heal ability is no longer hidden under the Smoke Dischargers ability.
  
• Axis Loiters now have their health at their correct value of 1800 instead of 280.
  
• Axis Tigers Veterancy requirements now require 25% more XP to level (from 2200/6600/13200 -> 2750/8250/16500).
  
• Fixed an issue where "Framerate Limit" was locked to 30 FPS on machines where lower CPU specifications or hardware were detected Dingo can now fire on the move.
  
• Fixed British Supply Surplus Cache and Infirmary upgrades being able to be built on top of existing Supply Caches.
  
• Fixed an issue where the StuG D's veterancy requirement was not set properly to 1000/3000/6000.
  
• Fixed M29 Weasel's Signal Layer ability not giving bonus resources.
  
• Using Focused Gunnery with the Vickers HMG no longer prevents group / band-box selection.
  

This week's highlights are meant to catch you up on the Umber Wasp Update, Xbox Hotfix, as well as some awesome community content our players have shared with us.


[h2]NEWS[/h2]

Umber Wasp Release
On October 4th, we rolled out the Umber Wasp, [1.3.0 Update] for PC. This update brings a range of changes and improvements. These include:

• A new 4v4 map
  
• Improvements to an existing 1v1 map
  
• A main menu newsfeed
  
• A host of gameplay adjustments
  
• Quality of life improvements
  
• Balance changes
  

For a detailed breakdown of all the changes introduced in this update, you can refer to the Mission Briefing or check out the complete Patch Notes.



We also released before and after clips of some of the abovementioned adjustments. Take a look here

• Tac Map Changes
  
• Pings
  
• New Map
• Team Weapon Block
  
• Pathfinding – Long Range
  
• Cover Preferences
  
• Infantry Repath
  
• Infantry – Repath #2
  

CoH 1 Nintendo Switch Release
Feral Interactive launched Company of Heroes 1 on the Nintendo Switch on October 12th! If you own a Nintendo Switch and want to play, this is where you can get it.



Amazon Prime Gaming Drop 7

The Night Fighters Capture Point Bundle is available now until November 15th. This exclusive package includes

• Capture (Strategic) Point Night Fighters skin
  
• Pioneer Squad Night Fighters Infantry outfit
  
• Jäeger Squad Night Fighters Infantry outfit
  

[h2]DEVELOPER SITREP [/h2]

Umber Wasp Preview

In this video, we explored more Umber Wasp update insights from our devs, Will, Jason, and Miguel.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Console Hotfix

The latest hotfix released on Sept. 25th, 2023 has resolved stability issues when launching and resuming CoH3 on Xbox.


CoH3 Bootcamp

A little reminder that, whether you're a veteran, play for pure enjoyment, or started as a fresh recruit, our tutorial bootcamp is your secret weapon!

It's jam-packed with tips & tactics to level up your game, regardless of your skill level.




[h2] PARTNER CONTENT [/h2]


CoH2 Smoking Ace League



CoHmmunity Germany is organizing a 2vs2 League for CoH2, which welcomes players of all skill levels to participate! To sign up, please use this discord link.

The deadline to register for the league is October 29, 2023 CET.

Mark your calendars, as the matches are scheduled to commence on November 6, 2023.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


[h2] COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT [/h2]

Check out this creative Sniper War PvP map by Shadowphreaks!


Just in time for a Halloween special, thanks VEF215's for the Undead Rising - Zombies Game Mode!


These screenshots of the British Forces by Yi Atlas


You can submit your content for consideration by using the hashtag #CoHCommunity on our social channels or by sharing screenshots, links and videos on our Discord or Forums.

That's it for this week!

[h2]LINKS[/h2]
Play CoH3 Official Forums Steam
Technical Support
Bug Reporting YouTube
Twitch
Discord
Facebook
Twitter Instagram

The Umber Wasp update (1.3.0) is focused on continued gameplay improvements and polish to unit pathfinding and pings. This update also brings several quality-of-life improvements, such as a smaller icon size on the tactical map and a better flow for end-game stats. The balance changes will impact all factions, with some focus on the Deutsche Afrikakorps.

Additionally, this update delivers a Newsfeed for players to access patch notes and news directly from the game’s main menu. We are also introducing one new 4v4 map with Sousse Wetlands and a reworked 1v1 map of Pachino Stalemate. Be sure to review all of the changes and fixes below or check out the Mission Briefing for an overview.

Continue reading below for bugfixes.
Click here to view new content, gameplay changes and game balance notes.


[hr][/hr]

[h2]Art/Animation[/h2]

• Changed the way weapon swap animations are played so they are now layered as upper-body animation. Mechanically that means that when a unit upgrades to a new weapon (such as the BAR) or when a unit changes weapons (such as mine sweeper for engineers), they no longer stop in their tracks and get separated from the rest of the squad.
  
• Fixed a T Pose when units embark into the Deutsche Afrikakorps 205 Light Carrier.
  
• Fixed hit reaction animations when infantry is dropped to prone from explosions (grenades, mortar, etc.). These animations should now quickly end when the squad is issued a command, instead of keeping the unit locked down for the full length of the animation (It was never the intention for hit reaction animations to lock down units in place).
  
• Fixed a problem where squads would lose the player's requested unload destination if the player issued a second order while the squad was in the process of unloading. The vehicle will now properly acknowledge the new destination and navigate accordingly. Soldiers will now also respond to the unload more quickly and will exit the hold more seamlessly.
  
• Modified the Weapon Swap to use an upper body animation layer. This should should mean kneeling units to no longer stand up when ordered to change weapons or tools.
  
• Removed most pivots from infantry to increase infantry responsiveness.
  
• There should be no more popping before and after throwing a grenade. Entities should now be using the aim animation while rotating to the ability location.
  
• Adjusted the behaviour of infantry entering cover while engaged in combat. Infantry will now avoid sliding into cover (and instead opt to stay standing and shooting) if they are in the middle of aiming. However, the unit will still do the slide into cover animation if they aren't aiming - which might happen depending on a number of factors, such as the weapon type, range, wind down period etc.
  

[h2]Gameplay[/h2]

• Anti-Air units can now target airplanes outside the playable area.
  
• Artillery should now fire with a 20 second cooldown that is surfaced through a decorator It should respect having vision on the enemy unit.
  
• Breach now forces retreat of garrisoned units.
  
• Burst weapons will no longer keep firing if the target ducks behind a shot blocker.
  
• Clarified the meaning of “resource lost” stats with tool tips. This means the resource value of units lost in combat.
  
• Fallschirmpioneers now have access to wire cutters from the start of the game.
  
• Fixed damage over time damage not awarding veterancy and kills to the damage originator.
  
• Fixed HMG redeploying when switching targets in arc.
  
• Fixed a bug where the Panzerjaeger squad was unable to fire Anti-Tank Tear Gas round if the remaining squad members didn't have Panzerbuchse 39 equipped.
  
• Fixed a bug where it was possible for a unit who was repeatedly given the Stop command to completely lose the ability to attack. This was unintentional, and now units told to stop while they're already stopped will no longer cause them to stop attacking. This bug affected infantry, vehicles and structures alike (defensive positions, etc.).
  
• Fixed a missing UI text string on the Salvage Crew ability for the M3 Armored Personnel Carrier when used on friendly or hostile units .
  
• Fixed a tool-tip issue with the Bishop's direct-fire ability.
  
• Fixed an issue where certain call-in units could not be deployed due to incorrect population requirements.
  
• Fixed an issue where certain units could double shot projectiles. Shermans, Brummbars, and Greyhounds now need to cycle a reload sequence if they fired a shell before using WP, Bunker Buster or Smoke shot.
  
• Fixed an issue where Deutsches Afrikakorps Schu Mines and Teller mines would not cancel construction if the builder was given another order before construction begun.
  
• Fixed an issue where Flak emplacements would not be cancelled if the engineer was given a build other before they reached the construction site.
  
• Fixed an issue where Wehrmacht bombers used the incorrect model during the Montella mission.
  
• Fixed an issue where Tear Gas would not disable an indicator over the target.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Crusader had further sight than intended.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Hellcat and M3 75mm Gun Motor Carriage First-Strike Veterancy bonus failed to work correctly.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Stosstruppen Red Phosphorous Grenade would not continue to deal damage after detonation.
  
• Fixed British Forces Supply Surplus Cache and Infirmary upgrades being able to be built on top of existing Supply Caches.
  
• Fixed invalid target requirement text for the Sherman's White Phosphorus Shell.
  
• Fixed M1 Anti-Tank Gun continuing to fire while Brace ability was active.
  
• Fixed M1 Anti-Tank Gun not firing after Brace ability ends.
  
• Fixed missing UI requirements for the Captain's 'Rally to Me' ability.
  
• Fixed players appearing on the wrong team after a skirmish restart.
  
• Fixed Recover Wrecked Vehicle ability range for recovery vehicles.
  
• Fixing a programming glitch that caused repeatedly giving the Attack move order to prevent a unit from moving. Repeatedly giving Attack Move orders now behaves smoothly, similar to how repeatedly giving the Move order does.
  
• Improved weapon range visualization to account for shooter size.
  
• L6/40 Combat Group should now properly be 10 population instead of 12.
  
• Mortars and HMG's should now have their abilities cancelled when pinned.
  
• Pathfinding tuning on Deutsche Afrikakorps recovery now matches the US recovery vehicle.
  
• Setup HMG teams will no longer become stuck if given a reface order in place.
  
• Smoke Canisters should no longer break functionality on the creeping barrage ability.
  
• Team weapons no longer change targets when already engaged via an attack move order.
  
• The Focus Next Infantry command now cycles through units properly, skipping over retreating units.
  
• Unit Efficency has been changed to Efficiency Factor, which is now a ratio like 1.5, rather than 150%. Efficiency Factor means the amount of resource damage dealt to enemies, divided by the cost of units produced. There are now tooltips to explaining this.
  
• Beyond the meaning of Unit Efficiency being unclear, there were also errors in the calculation of efficiency which have been fixed. (Average) efficiency was displaying a total instead of an average. Additionally, the total damage dealt had been including friendly fire and environmental damage.
  
• Updated a large number of tooltips in-game to display numerical values for bonuses of many upgrades and abilities.
  
• Updated the VFX on On Map Communication Pings for the Attack, Defend and Look Here pings. Added a new VFX beam to make pings more visible when used on tall assets like buildings or when placed behind trees and bushes.
  
• You will now receive a specific message in the left-hand-side event queue if one of your units takes a hit from a sniper.
  
• Fix wrecks staying attached to recovery vehicles when issued move command.
  

[h2]Performance/Stability[/h2]

• Improvements in detecting cases of file corruption and trigger verifications on game installs.
  
• Fixed a rare crash that would occur while previewing unit pathing using Tactical Pause.
  
• Turning off FSR with antialiasing on doesn't crash anymore.
  
• Improved/Reduced Frame Per Second drops while in a match.
  
• Fixed crash when closing prompts from a previous mission.
  

[h2]Single player [/h2]
[h3]Dynamic Italian Campaign[/h3]

• Adjusted bunkers to prevent paratroopers from dropping behind them on Monte Cavo map.
  
• Fixed stuttering during mission zero intro sequence.
  
• Fixed the default save names not changing in different game modes.
  
• Fixed an issue with the Anzio Annie Barrage ability not having a cooldown.
  
• Fixed damage on bridges with abilities such as bombing or barrages. These abilities now do the intended damage.
  
• Fixed cursor showing that incorrectly showed you can attack again when you controlled a naval unit that had already attacked this turn.
  
• Fixed FSE that can occur after loading a Calabria tutorial save.
  
• Fixed game crashing when loading some save files that had used paradrop.
  
• Fixed issue where troops would sometimes walk through Italy after landing from troop transport ability from port.
  
• Fixed map atmosphere state not being saved.
  
• Fixed Recover Wrecked Vehicle ability range for recovery vehicles.
  
• Fixed save overwrite confirmation dialogues not always displaying when making a save with an existing name.
  
• Fixed turn soft locking after using naval transport ability on a specific location in the Calabria campaign map tutorial. This only fixes new saves.
  
• Fixed the tooltip text to no longer be a blank “Requires: “ when issuing move orders out of bounds on the campaign map.
  
• Improved clarity on the ability fail message when trying to cast ability out of range.
  
• Addressed the jittery transition from zoomed in to zoomed out states on the Italian Campaign map.
  
• Attempting to capture towns no longer deal damage to it prior to doing mission or skirmish.
  
• Repainted territory in the Cliff Crossing Skirmish to make sure that the new territory layout has separate sectors for each point.
  
• Replaced detachments with emplacements in the Italy population breakdown menu.
  

[h3]North African Operation[/h3]

• Adjusted asset position to prevent blocking garrison doors in the Ajdabiya mission.
  
• Fixed a bug in the Ajdabiya mission where the Flak 36 Objective could be completed by driving the truck up without the Flak 36.
  
• Fixed an issue causing the title card to play even when the player is not first starting the operation.
  
• Moved the enemy spawn locations to prevent them from spawning in view in the Ajdabiya mission.
  
• Reviewed UI mission completion and start popups to reduce cases where they appear back-to-back.
  

[h2]UI/UX[/h2]

• Fixed an issue that prevented some players to receive new daily or weekly challenges on reset
  
• Building production buttons now have a toggled state.
  
• Changed the message on disconnect notifications to add clarification.
  
• Fix a crash that can occur when loading saves from Gela.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused dialog messages to get cut off in certain aspect ratios.
  
• Fixed a typo in Deutsche Afrikakorps Armored Support Group name.
  
• Fixed an issue occurring when a newly created North African Operation save uses the default name of the last completed mission.
  
• Improved the tooltip message shown when trying to invite offline players to your party.
  
• Replaced the CoH3 Desktop icon to support sizes from 16px to 256px.
  
• The Battlegroup panel can now be closed by pressing ESC or clicking outside the panel.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Night Fighter Resource Point cosmetic did not state which resource point it affects.
  
• Updated the Co-op vs AI stats to have the most played faction.
  
• Disabled Select Map and Game Options buttons during match start countdown.