Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor (Now with a Trailer!)

[Sturmhaubitze]

If you ask me, I think the US might get a T-17 with canister shot and the brits receive a mine-laying one. Im not familiar with western allied armor however. Did the Stuart or the Staghound had any versions or modifikations, like Munitionsschlepper, Flammpanzer or Flakpanzer?

British Stuarts sometimes had the turret removed, and replaced with a .50cal machine-gun. This lowered the vehicle's profile and lightened it quite a bit, and that obsolete gun wasn't of much use in the recon role. This conversion had the nickname of Jalopy.
The Stuart chassis and turret was used for the M8 Scott, which was a light assault gun with a 75mm howitzer.
There was an AA variant of the Staghound with twin .50cal MGs, and a fire support variant with a 3" howitzer.

I mean, just look at the two different tiger models on that scan. One has some kind of exhaust tubes fitted on the back...

That Tiger is an older model fitted with special air filters for use in the desert. Perfect for the guys working on the Afrika mod.

[Imperial Dane]

Plus some of them seem to have some command tank upgrade.. also that screenshot of a firefly.. i get the impression that something is differnet about it..

[Kosake]

Cant tell... I'm playing on a horrific low resolution for some time now so don't ask me... I'm ordering undefined blobby things around the battlefield wich are only distinctioned by their voices *g*

3" are 76,2 mm if I am right... same caliber as the T-34 main gun. I wonder if this is coincidence, since the Soviet union used metric system, as far as I know... Well, thats OT anyways.

What I can imagine as a replacement unit is the M3 Lee / Grant. Could replace the Churchill for the british, adding more MGs, that straightforward 75mm and the rotating 37mm at the cost of the high hitpoints and that supression ability. My, my... could be an interesting option...

[JustinFillion]

That Fat Marder isnt to Good LoL what is it a PanzerJager on a Hothkiss Chassie? they shoulda made a panzerjager 1 our 2 that is sexy another unit that id like to see and prolly will is mg-34 Squad for Pe mabey

[Lethal Dosage]

The SPG in the distance in that screen (looks like the 7.5cm Hotchkiss SPG conversion) will probably be a visual change (more or less) for the PE's Marder III, as so far i've only seen it in screens of the PE, or it might be another upgrade for the regular Hotchkiss tank that looks like it'll make it ingame.

Lol Justin, If it was just about sexy they'd mount everything from MG's and 12cm Mortars to 7.5cm Paks on the Sdkfz251 chassis and get rid of all the PE armour all together (ok, so the Sdkfz250 is sexy enough to stay). On another note, a MG34 squad would be nice, perhaps expand on the Fallshirmjager a bit with 3.7cm packs (Ketten towed) and LMG34 teams (with abilities).

[JustinFillion]

Yah a door knocker for the Fallshirmjager would be nice and how about some more upgrades for the 251 Halftrack mabey the pak40 our the Single barrled Flak gun , and for the USA they need Thompsons for the airborne

[nigo]

more pics

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/44...or-Screenshots

[Imperial Dane]

@Justicefillion: well there have been campaign screenshots of airborne with SMGs.. not sure if it would be so great for multiplayer though..

@nigo: yeah saw them, but didn't see the point in mentioning them as there really isn't anything new :P

Although i imagine this might be the buildup towards a fresh stream of previews.

[Panzer Jager]

Thanks for sharing Nigo

[Mickey C]

What are those infantry, in the foreground looking like they're ganna ambush the MG team from behind in the last screen from Nigo's post ? British paratrooper infantry ? Or just US airborne with skin varations like in a previous shot ?

Maybe I'm just seeing what I want to see

[Adullam]

Thanks nigo.

What is that truck in the fourth screen shot behind and to the left of the Cromwell?

[Sturmhaubitze]

What is that truck in the fourth screen shot behind and to the left of the Cromwell?

US Deuce and Half truck, from regular CoH SP missions.

[Panzer Jager]

British paratrooper infantry ?

Those are already in the game; first two levels of the Panzer Elite campaign

[Mickey C]

I should get around to playing the PE campaign then lol

[Imperial Dane]

If you are thinking of the paratroopers, they are probably campaign only, already seen screenshots with different ones, some in green uniforms with thompsons for example.

[Mannerheim]

all this speculating will just end in epic fail when everyone figures out that the new units wont probably be much more than 80% identical units to the ones they replace cause else people without tov in multiplayer will have disadvantage and the balance goes down even more than its been now

[Celution]

Yeah you're right Mannerheim, otherwise it would be unfair.
but the modding community can change that part.

[senseo1990]

I think there is no unit in the game right now that is similar to a light-tank with stukas...

[Pyros]

If you're referring to the Hotchkiss, it could very well be a new unit, but only used in custom maps. It is clearly related to the Tiger Ace campaign due to the fact that it is listed as a TankWars unit, and it has been developed with its own unique set of TankWars abilities that makes it unlikely it is just a reskin.

[Imperial Dane]

@Mannerheim: Or it might turn out to be an epic win instead of Epic Fail, who is to say ? We really don't know anything about it yet.. so it could go both ways, but judging from Relic.. i would say they will be different within certain boundaries.

[DarkWarrior]

Well COH right now was a very fragile online community and ToV can easily break it; as much as the beta patch can help reuild it or destroy it.

[Panzer Jager]

ToV won't break it because it's stand-alone: I believe Relic stated the new units won't be able to be used in Automatch, and the new gamemodes won't be in Automatch.

And in the Beta, when there was the few unlockable units available, there was an option to enable or disable them in the unranked lobby. They were discluded from Automatch entirely.

[YurdleTheTurtle]

Any links to where they said that stuff, Panzer Jager? Must see!

Although if they're not in automatch, that kind of screws up having new units. It's like you can only use them half the time now; feels very limiting.

[Imperial Dane]

Indeed, not being able to use the new units in automatch would be kind of pointless.. Might as well disallow new factions then...

[Panzer Jager]

I don't have a link.. read it in one of the earlier articles, possibly IGN.. dunno.

[Kosake]

to be honest, if i do not have the new units in automatch, i do not need them at all. I have no desire for compstomp. I kill an expert CPU without losing more than 3-4 single PzGrenadiers and using team asignment. So no thanks... I'm pretty fed up with that.

[Imperial Dane]

And well i generally don't do custom matches.. too much of a bother to be honest.. always have been, why i never played DoW 1 in multiplayer, because autmatch didn't work for me either.

[Kosake]

If you ask me, automatch does not work in coh at all.
The network-system is a piece of rare trash and there are just a few players any given moment online. When I connect to battlenet (warcraft 3) i have a match in any given size from 1-1 to 4-4, arranged team or random team at any given daytime in less than 90 seconds. custom matches are somewhat of a pain in the ass too, as you allways end up with two noobs against three clansmen ranking somewhere in the upper tens.

[YurdleTheTurtle]

@Kosake: Stop comparing Relic games to Blizzard games. We're talking about a company with at least 10 times the budget, manpower, size, etc.

I'm a regular CoH player and the automatch system works fine. Yes, it's worse than Bnet., but you have to remember CoH uses a peer to peer thing, while Blizzard actually has a real server that probably costs a lot to maintain. In addition, their games are MUCH more popular, so comparisons about the time it takes to get matched won't work.

-------------------------
Back on topic:
New info at Gamespot! http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/...=picks;title;1

Let's see...Confirmed that Direct Fire is single player and ONE multiplayer mode only. All other MP modes stay the same.

Confirmation of units (though we already knew about these). Schwimmwagon, Hellcat, and Kangaroo! And once again, these are new units that can be swapped in place of a classic unit that fills the same role. Again, they are alternative options, and hopefully one won't become painfully stronger than the other.

Game modes! Invasion, Assault (pick a hero, push your way to victory with computer controlled units, aka similar to AoS style maps like DotA on WC3), and Panzerkrieg - Direct Fire with multiplayer tanks!

The only thing I feel sad about is that we're kind of being forced to pay for things normally free, like new maps. Yes, generally new maps always come with new expansions, but I'm talking things that should have been released before so there would not be a shortage in the first place.

[Martino]

Everyone would have access to the new maps whether they buy ToV or not wouldn't they? Just like OF and the maps that came out with it.

[Mills022]

Eh, at least we get free maps with the next patch.

[Pyros]

Looks like the CoHO stuff is the exact Tales of Valor MP modes, just with the original names.Tank Wars definitely sounds interesting, I hope we hear more about it soon.

[Kosake]

Aaawww.... now thats nice! When it comes to good ideas wich make you money its OK to copy from uncle Bliz (Assault = dota), but when it comes to comunity support its like screw em all, add some p2p thingie and fine... Great policy. Well, actually, at least the game modes sound somehow funny.

What bothers me more right now - were there not 5 campaigns announced an article before??? I can kind of remember "they are at a scetch phase right now"... What happened to them? Budget cut?

[InsaneDruid]

Cant remember a 5 campaign announcement or even rumor.

3 was the number.

[Imperial Dane]

I recall that in the article, but then again, there was alot about that preview that had me a bit cautious.. and those 2 last campaigns could be later DLC i suppose.. But the schwimmwagen is there.. eh :/ Well hope something more interesting appears later on. But the kangaroo does sound interesting, which would give an impression of at least 2 new units per side.

[Kosake]

Jeah... great! A cangaroo. I am overjoyed! Now the british have the option to send 3 squads of rifles straight into your base, dig a trench and do whatever they want lateron and you can not stop the carrier with MGs. I sure hope my vierlings-flaks will deal at least some damage to it.

[Imperial Dane]

Who says it will be available right away ? Might have some changed requirements if nothing else.. But i do see your point.

Also : http://www.thq.com/games/gameinfo.php?id=1359

The other two campaigns have been described, the second will be a paratrooper campaign while the third one is a wehrmacht one. So two wehrmacht campaigns

[Pyros]

As I mentioned here , I think that Falaise Picket is a typo and should say Falaise Pocket, as not only is the page riddled with typos, but Falaise Pocket was a battle where the Wehr was surrounded by the Allies and had to fight them off, which meets the description.

However, Imperial Dane pointed out that picket is a valid military turn that also fits. So maybe it is a Falaise picket that takes place within Falaise Pocket. Or THQ just got lucky with their spelling mistake.

[Kosake]

I say it will!
"The replacement units will be replacing units of similar type..." Since the only other transporter is the Bren, there won't be much prerequisite, apart from the Lt maybe... But as long as it moves the brits away from Sim City-style combat, I gladly accept any changes to their side. If I see 5 17lbs in a single match again, I swear, I'll bite through my mouse cable...

On the other hand, as much as I like to see a wehr campaign, we allready had the Fallaise pocket in the last vCoH mission... They sure could have added something new...

[Imperial Dane]

One would imagine that this being a falaise picket, would be in the early stages of it and would center around trying to prevent the pocket closing, where as the mission in CoH was about closing the last gap.

And yeah the kangaroo will probably replace the bren, but that does not mean that it will be available right away for other reasons, could have require a lieutenant, plus the cost for it might be higher than the Bren.

[JustinFillion]

a kangero will be so cheap its a sherman with no turret our a Priest with no turret so it will be like a walking bunker imune to rifle fire

[Kosake]

Thats what I mean. The most difficult and expensive part of a tank is in most cases the turret - thats why in later years of war the Germans relied so much on StuG-type vehicles. So the production cost of a kangaroo will be not much higher than that of a bren. Maybe some 290 MP and say 20 - 30 Fuel. What I would love to see is a field replacement function for the kangaroo. Would actually mean for me, that the brits would become some sort of fun to play since I heavily favor halftrack-supported infantry combat.

[Panzer Jager]

Kangaroo is supposed to have Bren armour (vulnerable to small-arms) but with Sherman hitpoints.

[Imperial Dane]

Well that would solve some problems, though it might still prove to be an early pain in the ass :/ *shrug* And question is, who will receive the schwimmwagen ? Although by the sound of things it might be the Wehrmacht.

[senseo1990]

Then the Cangaroo shouldnt be aible to selfrepair anymore...would be some sort of impossible to kill early game ,wouldnt it?oO

[Mannerheim]

im pretty sure its the same as in beta so wehr and pe will get the schwimmwagen

[senseo1990]

Heh? So wehr and pe...? I think I am missunderstanding your sentence oO

[Imperial Dane]

Well i suppose we will see,just hoping that the axis gets something a little more interesting than that :P

[Cobra5]

Invasion, Assault, and Panzerkreig sound amazing...

I'm glad I was wrong about them not including more game modes. I take back things I said

[Panzer Jager]

The Scwhimmwagen, like the Staghound, has rolevariations (skins and whatnot) for both Faction of each side.

And as to those new gametypes; yea, they sound fun, but that's only 3 maps