Company of Heroes/Walkthrough

The American campaign brings you in command of Able company of the American 1st Infantry Division "The Big Red One". You will also be commanding Fox company of the 101st Airborne Division "The Screaming Eagles". The campaign takes place in the Allied invasion of occupied France from the D-day landings at Omaha Beach to the final battle for the Falaise pocket, and you will command your company across 15 missions to make sure that the invasion will be a success.

Mission 1. Omaha Beach
Key Intel and Strategies:

So just getting started with Company of Heroes? Congrats! This is a great game! And the cut scenes to Omaha Beach have to be one of the most classic (and intense) in gaming history!

Let me just point out a few things on Mission 1 to help get you started.


 * Later in this mission, when squads fall below six, you can call in reinforcements to fill the vacancies. That's the big white "plus" sign you see once you choose a squad.
 * Storming the cliffs of Normandy will give you practice utilizing the grenade and satchel charge ability of your units. Once your engineers throw the satchel charge at the main machine gun emplacement at the top of the hill, the next cut scene will occur and lead to the next part of the mission.
 * Alternatively, there is a sniper you can utilize to neutralize many of the machine gunners in this mission. (It's very easy to overlook this sniper in the heat of battle!) When you first sight the sniper on the beach, turn on his invisibility function before moving him forward or he won't make it to the shingle.
 * IMPORTANT: Medals can be obtained for each of the 15 missions in Company of Heroes. You can view these medals obtained on the main screen under the subcategory Rewards. After you get more used to playing, you will look back and wish you had obtained more of these medals, so why not start focusing on them now?!
 * The medal on this mission can be obtained after the "big explosion" cut scene by clearing the western approach to/from the beach. Throw a grenade at the big AT/AA gun and then capture it. From here, you can blast away to clear the western path from the beach and obtain your first medal. Additionally, this AT/AA gun can be used to clear out a majority of the Axis defenses, including taking out the two 88 batteries on the ridge.
 * Achieve the secondary objective by clearing all four bunkers. The last bunker is hidden away to the far northwest corner of the map. I am not sure that the game "keeps track" of the accomplishment of secondary objectives, so it's not "that important" to achieve this particular one. Comments, anyone?

Mission 2. Vierville
Key Intel and Strategies:

This is not a timed mission. Once territory is captured, it will most likely stay captured -- which won't always be the case in the future. This mission allows you opportunity to practice squad tactics.

Before or after playing this mission, it may help to watch one of the videos to see where one can make improvements and lower casualties. Here are a few possible pointers.


 * Make ample use of satchel charges and grenades.
 * Important: Use the FIRE UP ability in conjunction with satchel charges and grenades to speed up infantry movement. It really helps out!
 * Capture strategic points to raise unit cap and add to supplies. Every grenade and satchel charge costs resources.
 * Attack from two different locations to help divert enemy fire.
 * Machine gun emplacements only face in one direction. Attack from the sides!
 * Use cover to lower losses. Look for the green icon to indicate good over.
 * Build sandbags before the convoy comes down the road to protect your troops.
 * Pick up fallen weapons to add to your unit strength -- including the two anti-tank guns located to the east.
 * Upgrade your individual squad's abilities.
 * When you have the manpower, group two or more squads together. The large amount of fire power will cut down enemy units before they have a chance to do much damage.
 * Plant mines to destroy enemy convoys along the road.
 * After destroying a mortar squad, capture the mortar to make use of long-range attacks. This will save your men from having to rush enemy emplacements!
 * "Free" reinforcements can be obtained when clearing the northeastern side of the map and also the far northwestern part of the map. You can even go over your maximum unit cap with these squads!
 * The unit cap will go up to 30 before capturing the final road flag point. After that, it will increase to 34.
 * Squads that are flanked or approaching machine gun emplacements will be pinned down and the ground surrounding your squad will turn red. It will not be possible to throw grenades or satchel charges when your squad is pinned down!

Obtaining the medal for this mission.

You want to obtain these medals where possible. It's a matter of pride! This can be accomplished quite easily on this mission by destroying the initial convoys that roll down the main road. Pick up a few of the panzerschreks and place them behind a sandbag barrier you build toward the road. Place as many mines as you have time for along the road. Sit your men behind the sandbag barrier and start blasting away once the convoy arrives. Once the medal is obtained, it will be displayed on your screen.

Destroying the final convoy.

After capturing the final road segment at the north of the map, you will be given time to set up a defense before the final convoy rolls down the road. Delay capturing this final point if you want extra time for the preparations.

Bring up the anti-tank gun(s) if still available, although they are not necessary to win. Place your men in the bunkers and behind sandbag barriers. Place mines along the road. Have fun. It's a great fireworks show!

Mission 3. Carentan
Summary:

This mission basically is composed of two parts: Approaching the church and then approaching the town hall.

The area around the church must be cleared using your initial troops and limited reinforcements. These reinforcements will come in two groups, each consisting of two squads of paratroopers. After this, you must capture the church with these limited forces or the mission will be lost.

The approach to the town hall will be more complex. Use caution! Destroying walls and blasting through barbed wire will allow multiple directions of approach!

Key Intel and Strategies:


 * Important: The squads remaining at the end of this mission will carry over to the next mission, Carentan Counterattack! Having a few snipers in reserve might be helpful!


 * Clearing the area around the church should be mainly accomplished by satchel charges while using the "fire-up" ability. Structures cleared and not destroyed will be reoccupied by enemy troops.


 * To receive the medal on the hard setting, you must have 40 kills by your snipers. (50 on expert, 30 on medium.) To help achieve this, there are two "smooth" walls that can be blasted through with satchel charges to the east to access more victims.


 * There is an "archway" to the east while approaching the church to give you other areas of access in the early part of the mission.


 * Seek cover for your men so that the green icon is showing while moving toward the church area.


 * Some garrisoned structures will take two blasts with a satchel charge in order to be destroyed. Consider having two squads of paratroopers attack simultaneously with satchel charges. Your call!


 * The church will be converted to your headquarters during this mission, and additional troops will become available. This basic concept will carry forward on the remaining missions.


 * The initial flag point encountered will be "protected" by mortar fire. Consider taking out this threat before capturing this munition point.


 * Once the barbed-wire obstacle to the north is destroyed by satchel charges or other means, you will receive a moderate counterattack. Be prepared!


 * The mission will end once the armored vehicle is destroyed near the front of the town hall. The remaining enemy troops will flee the area.


 * Direct progress to the town hall due north will be easier if the "street" to the west is cleared first. First the barbed wire barrier will have to be cleared heading to the west and a sniper dealt with. Have your own sniper(s) head up this street to clear the way and have paratroopers capture this western munitions point. Have paratroopers clear whatever buildings it can reasonably reach with satchel charges heading up this side street toward town hall, including the one with the machine gun squad. Not trying to overburden you with info, but taking out that machine gun squad really helps out!

Mission 4. Carentan Counterattack
Key Intel and Strategies:

This is the first mission that you may begin to think, am I going to be able to finish this game?? Yes, you can!

On the hard difficulty, the wrong approach or attitude can make this mission literally impossible. With a few words, hopefully a lot of the anxiety for this mission can be resolved.

The key is: Don't expect to hold off the enemy forces at the forward headquarters or at the bridges. These positions will be overrun!

It will be necessary to make a "strategic" retreat to the church to finish off the mission once the off-screen rocket attacks (marked with the red smoke flares). These attacks will begin with eight to nine minutes left in the countdown.

Bingo! Once the red flares drop, do a wholesale retreat of all forces to the church.

(In fact, it may be best to withdraw right at the nine-minute point, as once the red flares land, you may not be able to withdraw your troops in time to save them from the artillery barrage.)

In a moment I will describe the simple defensive perimeter you can establish at the church.

First, let's begin with the defense of the bridges for the countdown from 15 to 9 minutes or so.

Generically speaking, sandbag defenses for your troops will be of assistance on all three bridges. They can be placed to the side diagonally or directly across the front of the bridge.

Barbed wire may also help slow down the enemy a bit, but it seems to get destroyed rather quickly in the heat of battle. NOT NECESSARY to win the game.

The mission can also be won WITHOUT placing mines. Don't get too carried away with them, as engineers will come in and clear them off. If you place mines, place them near your side of the bridge so engineers can be sniped that try to clear them!!

For all three bridges, you can use the same basic defensive layout, with a few exceptions, which will be mentioned momentarily.

The westernmost bridge will receive the least amount of traffic and can be basically ignored once basic defenses are established. The two easternmost bridges will need more interactive attention.

The basic defense of each bridge should consist of: (1) A machine gun unit. (2) A machine gun emplacement. (3) A sniper. (4) An engineer squad upgraded with flamethrowers. (5) An anti-tank gun.

Pretty simple!

Important: The middle bridge should have a secondary anti-tank gun set back a ways. You will need it! The easternmost bridge could use for a second machine gun squad. Lots of infantry in that area! The same for the middle bridge, if you have the manpower.

Have the Jeep parked by the headquarters to take care of any infantry that slip through, which will probably happen.

Have a few paratroopers available, upgraded with recoilless rifles, to help protect against tank intrusions and to jump on any weapons abandoned by lost souls. Any spare mortar teams can be positioned between the two easternmost bridges to help things along.

Be aware that these paratroopers are quite handy against tanks. They will come in handy for that "one" tank that always seems to slip through.

Strategy upgrade that makes a BIG difference: Every time a tank starts rolling across the bridge, click on the "armor piercing shells" upgrade on the anti-tank guns. This is much quicker than the off-screen howitzer attack and costs only 50 munition points versus 150 for the howitzer.

Strategy bonus 2: Don't put the snipers in buildings. It helps the enemy spot and target them. Plus, in your mass withdrawal to the church, you don't have to micromanage their retreat!

It may be a bit messy, but hopefully this will get you through to the nine-minute marker when the off-screen rocket attacks begin.

One of the biggest threats may be enemy engineer units with flamethrowers. Anti-tank guns don't work well when their crews have been burned to a crisp. Use caution!

A secondary threat is a mortar crew that appears near the middle bridge. Use your own mortar teams to target them, if possible. By then, though, it's almost time to retreat!

It's worth mentioning that the munitions point on the northwest of the map can be easily captured by a squad of engineers and is definitely worthwhile. The munitions point to the east is heavily defended and it is not necessary to capture this in order to win the mission. In fact, it can be quite disruptive while focusing on your initial defenses.

The second part of the mission revolves around falling back to the church.

(1) Have three machine gun emplacements aimed in different directions around the church. Four is better.

(2) Have three anti-tank guns similarly situated to protect the three approaches to the church. Four is better.

(3) Have three machine gun squads positioned in the same way. Four is better.

The above units are a good base, but it's better to add to the mix.

Engineers with flamethrowers and surviving snipers will come in handy for the overflow of infantry that will hit in the last three minutes. Again, Axis engineers may be the biggest threat to your base.

The final few minutes will indeed be hectic. You may be able to win the mission even with zero units left if you get close enough to zero in the countdown. Don't let the fat lady sing too soon!

If you survive the countdown, reinforcements will arrive and the remaining forces can easily be eliminated. This is just bonus Nazi hunting!

Have fun!

Mission 5. Montebourg
Introduction and Summary:

This mission can go on and on forever if a solid defense is not established. Munition and fuel points secured will undergo constant counterattacks from the Nazis. This walkthrough presents a steady, sure method to secure the base area and progress toward a few supply points before securing the road. Good luck!

Rescuing Dog Company.

There is a time limit to rescue Dog Company from the compound. But don't worry -- you have plenty of time to take out all enemy infantry west of the road on the way up. Plus you can't build up your base until they are rescued, so go help out those dog faces!

A few pointers during the rescue:


 * Take all armored units to rescue Dog Company except for the half-track.


 * Immediately upgrade the half-track to the quad .50-caliber guns. Keep this vehicle with your riflemen to protect them while the rest of the armor rescues Dog Company.


 * Use your riflemen to capture the munition point directly north of the base and the fuel point somewhat to the east of this area. The fuel point is extremely important! It's the only one in the immediate area! You need fuel!!


 * Afterwards, have the riflemen capture the two anti-tank guns west of the road and north of the base. Again, use the half-track to protect them during this process. Bring them back to the strategic point on the road and have them face both north and south along the roadway.


 * The strategic point along the road where you just parked the AT guns is going to be your base of defense. It is close enough to the base to provide some protection - PLUS it is close enough to the fuel point to keep it safe. Other defenses will be put in place and discussed later!


 * This is slightly getting into the next video, but immediately upon the rescue of Dog Company, pull all of your units back to this strategic point!

Building Tank Traps

Dog Company is rescued and the bulk of your troops are pulled back to the strategic point. There is no doubt about this fact -- you will be harassed by infantry and tanks the entire mission. So go ahead and build a strong defense so steady progress can be made. The entire road can be secured with the convoy rolling and this mission can still be lost without proper defenses!!

Recruit a "number" of engineer crews. Utilize one or two of them to build a single, straight fence line running directly north and south along the western edge of the road from the very bottom of the map to somewhere around the middle of your base. No need to go any further than that!

Your engineers WILL NOT survive this mission unless they are protected by the half-track - now upgraded with quad cannons - to protect them. Park this half-track along the road to protect your engineers. Move it along as necessary.

You will be interrupted from attacks to the strategic point to the north so you may be interrupted at times. Be sure there is not a SINGLE HOLE along the tank traps or Axis armor will pound your flanks!!

Defending the Base Before the Panzers

Some of the base defense written here will happen during the building of the tank traps.

And -- some of this base defense will occur both before and after the Panzers cut scene, but I will go ahead and put all of the base defenses here under this section.

If you are a great multitasker, you perhaps can expand the base more than I did before the Panzer cut scene, but the purpose of this walkthrough is a slow-but-sure method.

The following will give you a solid base defense. Try it. You might like it:


 * Station one or two sets of engineers around the strategic point to repair both your Shermans and armored vehicles. This is where most of the action will be.


 * Have two machine gun emplacements (the bunker-type structures) on the southern part of your base, one pointed somewhat south covering the extreme southern entrance, and the second one pointing due east. Back up this area with the half-track to deal with constant infantry intrusions. This area is now secure.


 * A total of four AT guns do a great job of preventing flanking. The tanks will come from every direction that you DON'T WANT them to come from. The original two AT guns will be shifted around a bit near the strategic point, so be interactive with them. Station a third AT gun somewhat midway in front of your base headed due east. This will help prevent your cluster of troops around the strategic point from being flanked from the south. This works great! Have the fourth AT gun slightly north of headquarters facing due north -- toward the munitions point above the base. This will prevent flanking from the west toward the strategic point and protect this munitions point.


 * Build two MG emplacements directly north of the base facing due north. These are essential to protect the munitions point north of your base. (The AT gun will be slightly to the south of them!)

Of course, start building up your production structures as time and resources allow. This video walkthrough did not utilize a barracks.

Defending the Base After the Panzers

The base defenses have been described above. Just be vigilant and make heavy use of your anti-tank guns - much more efficient than your Shermans!

You will have a chance to capture a few supply points while slowly waiting for the Panzers to strike.

The mission can be won with the original two supply points and the two additional ones directly to the north - one munitions and one fuel.

These points can be captured by armored vehicles and secured by a single sniper each. Other units or MG emplacements just complicate matters!

The same process can be used to the east, but be particularly aware of the AT guns in the area. Run around them and pounce on them from behind or snipe them ahead of time! Again, all points must be secured by snipers or they will be lost!

Securing the Road

Once three (hopefully leveled-up) Shermans are ready to roll, with a solid defense in place, you can carefully start heading north. With the upgraded Shermans, both armor and infantry can be handled. Have an engineer squad or two tag along for repairs. The "repair ability" costs 150 munition points - quite costly!

If all of the Panzers have not "dropped down" to visit by now, they will be encountered along the road. If your three Shermans are leveled up, they have a pretty good chance to take them out.

The mines will be encountered later, so have the lead Sherman have its crab flail activated. Cool!!

If you are too impatient to wait for a sniper to come along, try to run past the AT guns encountered and blast them from the side.

Just one road needs to be cleared. Your choice!

The Red Ball Express

Once the highlighted strategic point is captured, the convoy starts rolling along slowly - whether the entire road is cleared or not. That is, they will roll along half-way and then STOP.

If a sector is not secured, the convoy will park itself and be susceptible to attack. It is best to capture this point last to avoid traffic jams.

One additional sector NOT along the roadway that must be captured to allow the convoy to proceed is the point at the original location where Dog Company was rescued.

Mission 6. Cherbourg
Written for the Hard Setting.

Key Intel and Strategies:


 * Avoid the area along the eastern dock leading to the Gas Resource point. That Stug tanker will blast the hell out of whatever comes in that direction. Save it for later.


 * Before building any additional structures it is necessary to capture the headquarters building to the west. Only one problem. That German tank is going to give you fits. Here is a great technique. Use your Crocodile flame tank to run circles around the headquarters to totally clear out all infantry in the area, then withdraw the Croc to a safe area. He can survive this assault quite easily. Next use a combo of mortar attacks and your M4 Sherman to take on this tanker. Have the Sherman barely peak his head around the corner to blast the tank while your engineers repair it in relative safety.


 * After the tank guarding the headquarters is gone, NOW you can build your base. If you have trouble building a Tank Factory, use your mortars to clear out barbed wire and other debris to make room! Be sure to squeeze tight your initial buildings close to the headquarters!


 * Expect a straight-forward expansion strategy from here on. It is possible to keep your two tankers alive throughout the entire push to the docks west of the canal. Use your sniper to spy out anti-tank weapons and engineers to keep your tanks healed. Quite a nice break from the scattered attack suffered throughout the Montebourg mission!

Mission 7. Sottevast
Written for the Hard Setting

Key Intel and Strategies:


 * At the very beginning of the mission, do not fight the guards at the gate until "after" you have picked up the numerous weapons laying on the ground lying next to them, specifically the "Flakvierling," a/k/a anti-aircraft gun at the entrance. If you wait around, the German troops will grab these weapons and make your life a living hell.


 * A combination of the satchel charge and fire-up ability will help your paratroopers take out the enemy towers and other defenses in this mission!! The fire-up ability will rush them to their targets before they are pinned down and annihilated.


 * You will receive a number of reinforcements, including four armored vehicles and one set of engineers. I would suggest saving the mission periodically and if the engineers are lost to reload your last save. These vehicles are going to receive a lot of wear and tear and are needed to keep this mission moving.


 * The beginning of the mission is actually quite easy, especially after you receive the first ARMORED CAR. Enjoy methodically taking over the map until you reach the area of the mortar team on top of the launching facility structure. Warning: Don't try to rush through the rest of the mission, though, or it will lead to disaster. Anti-tank weapons must be slowly and methodically destroyed by paratrooper "fire-ups" with satchel charges.


 * The mortar team on top of the building near the northeast corner of the map will present difficulties as you must go through a number of defenses to get to them. Withdraw your armored units when needed for repair so they are not lost clearing the area to the north and east of the mortar team.


 * It is necessary to go counterclockwise around the launching facility on the north end of the map to reach the launching platform. This launching platform must be destroyed to win the mission. There are also oxygen tanks on the south side of the main building that must be destroyed.


 * German reinforcements seem to come from off-map from the northeast part of the map. Once the "roof" of the main structure is cleared, German infantry will re-establish a presence in this area and attack paratroopers approaching the final launching area. It might be helpful to leave units behind to protect this "overlook" area.


 * Beware snipers once on the roof of the launching facility!


 * Repeat Warning: Approaching the very last section of the map before dropping down to the launching pad area is a real maelstrom. If you rush your tanks into this area, they will be lost and the rest of the mission can go to s---.

Mission 8. St. Fromond
Written for the Hard Setting

Key Intel and Strategies:


 * The bulk of this mission is defending the town square for 30 minutes. Once that is accomplished, the mission is over.


 * The timer for the assault begins when you capture the flag in the town square or you approach the enemy base at the far north of the map.


 * It is possible and advisable to gear up to full strength in units and defenses BEFORE capturing the flag to the town square.


 * Three sets of rocket launchers will be attacking your town a few minutes into the countdown. It is advisable to have an offensive unit poised to destroy them as soon as the rocket attack begins. Three upgraded Shermans can take out all three positions.


 * It is advisable to destroy the infantry inside a farmhouse due west of the town center. This is an area where one of the ROCKET LAUNCHERS will be located and these garrisoned troops can do major damage to your troops.


 * It is not possible to build machine gun emplacements before the countdown, but you can capture enemy munition points. You can also build tank traps, barbed wire, sand bags and mines.


 * Warning: You can spend half an hour building tank traps, but the ROCKET LAUNCHERS and other battle activity will probably break a hole through them. It is tough to totally surround the town. It is probably not worth too much time and effort. Perhaps time would be better spent planting massive mines around the town!


 * After the timer starts, it is possible to turn one of the houses into a headquarters for quicker recruitment of engineers. It is possible to win the mission with the TANK BUILDING FACILITY and other structures at the initial headquarters, calling over additional tanks and other units as needed.


 * You can receive an additional medal by destroying the enemy headquarters to the north. It is lightly defended with a variety of units. Three Sherman tanks can handle destroying the headquarters if you use caution around the single anti-tank weapon and occasionally drop in an additional squad of paratroopers and anti-tank weapons.


 * This mission can be won with the town square being protected by six upgraded Sherman tanks and a constant supply of engineers to burn infantry and to repair these tanks. Of course, any additional defensive measures will be of further assistance.


 * With about ten minutes left in the mission, the attacks start to slow down and it is possible to split off three Sherman tanks to destroy the headquarters, with three Shermans continuing to guard the town square.


 * This mission was won with the CALLIOPE parked on the bridge defended by a single anti-tank weapon. If it is still surviving after ten minutes, it would be a great asset to take out the enemy headquarters!


 * It is not necessary to take out the headquarters to win this mission!

Mission 9. Hill 192
Written for the Hard Setting

Key Intel and Strategies:


 * This mission is a major grind where tons of heavy-duty Panzer tanks will be encountered - two heading west, at least another six or more heading due north and another four or more hanging around the top of Hill 192. Tons and tons of Panzers!! Patient deployment of 105-mm howitzers by your engineers (after receiving this ability from the tech tree) will greatly aid in slowly working your way up the hill. Groups of two anti-tank weapons will also help, together with off-screen howitzer strikes. Also, the Rangers that can be called in, once that ability is obtained, are equipped with anti-tank bazookas. They will do a great job finishing what your off-screen howitzer attacks don't.


 * Goliaths will be encountered along the way. Not much you can do about them unless you are right on top of the situation. Your Rangers equipped with bazookas can blow them up before they approach their target. Try not to cluster your forces in one area so the damage will be minimized.
 * 105-mm Howitzers, once deployed by your engineers, cannot be moved but can be rotated. They do count toward your unit cap with 11 units!


 * Plenty of snipers will be encountered, especially on your trip to the west. Burn them out with your Crocodile Shermans, bomb them with your Calliope or howitzers, or go toe-to-toe with your snipers.


 * Throughout the entire mission, you will be faced with "off-screen" rocket attacks. This will intensify once you approach the compound at the top of Hill 192. If possible, run a Sherman into their compound to use these rocket attacks against the troops cloistered inside this area.


 * Unless you are going for the 40-minute accomplishment of this mission (on the hard setting) take your time - with plenty of scouting with your snipers. The enemy will present a very balanced defense of infantry and heavy armor. Again, this will intensify at the entrance to the compound at the top of the hill.


 * Headquarters can be taken over at the far west and far northwest sections of the map.


 * Unfortunately, the Panzers are pretty good about withdrawing once they are severely damaged. Try to time off-screen howitzer attacks with upgraded Rangers or anti-tank guns in the vicinity to finish them off.


 * There will be plenty of infantry for your Crocodile Shermans to burn. Just run like crazy when the Panzers show up! Have fun!

Mission 10. St. Lo
Written for the Hard Setting

Key Intel and Strategies:


 * This is a straight-forward mission where territory is slowly taken heading north. Once territory is acquired, the counterattacks will be nominal. There are no time limits involved.


 * A quick note on obtaining the medal on this mission. It is necessary to level up a Ranger on this mission. You can tell the Ranger is leveling up by the small "white bumps" on the top of the icon - not the actual stripes that are predominant on the icon! Three white "notches" is fully ranked. Also, it is necessary to choose the Ranger ability to obtain the Ranger. Don't mistake the objective to level up a "Rifleman." Rookie mistake!!


 * Rangers specialize in taking on heavy armor, so try to have them take out a few Panzers to quickly level them up, instead of street fights with infantry! A direct off-screen howitzer shot will destroy most Panzers, so if you wish to "soften up" a Panzer in this way, aim a bit off to the side of the Panzer so hopefully he will survive and allow the Rangers to finish it off.


 * If you haven't used medic stations yet, this is a good mission to start using them. Your Rangers will get beaten up and you may have to use the "retreat" function to send them back to headquarters. If you notice your Rangers are not "healing completely" when they stand next to the medic station, this is because you lost members of the unit. Recruit new soldiers to your squad near your headquarters and you will notice their health bar will go back to 100 percent!


 * One more note about Rangers: Upgrading them with machine guns will do wonders for their ability to chew through Axis infantry!


 * The secondary objective of taking out the Nebelwerfer battery is not that difficult. Move your men to the east to capture flags to avoid the brunt of the rocket attacks until they can be destroyed. The Nebelwerfer guns can be captured and utilized to your advantage in this mission. Great for long-range attacks! Don't destroy them with off-screen howitzer shots! Instead, use your sniper to disable them.


 * Once the seven sectors (indicated with green circles on the mini-map) the mission will be completed. It is not necessary to attack the actual Axis headquarters in the middle of the zone.


 * It is possible to have two attacks going both up the east and west sides of the map with simply a Crocodile "flame" tank and a sniper, with whatever other supporting cast you might enjoy. If a unit is lost, switch over to the other side of the map to carry on the battle while this unit is replaced. Off-screen howitzer shots can take care of tanks, along with possibly a Nebelwerfer blast. Snipers will take care of anti-tank weapons and the Croc will do wonders with Axis infantry!


 * You can also choose to take out the Axis headquarters in the plaza to finish the mission - without capturing the seven highlighted areas around the map! Entry will have to be made from the north! It's a fun little battle!


 * Take a deep breath and enjoy! Future missions will be tougher!

Mission 11. Hebecrevon
Written for the Hard Setting

Key Intel and Strategy:


 * This mission is pretty much a straight turkey shoot - with the objective to destroy seven Panther tanks, along with their armored support. The one "twist" on this mission is that unlike previous missions, you can lose the entire mission half way through when the Panthers charge your base. This will happen after about four of the Panthers have been destroyed. Be ready for them with anti-tank weapons waiting at the base and all things will again be peachy!


 * Added note on Panther rush on your base: Even with five Panthers destroyed, it is still possible to lose this mission. A sniper will accompany the last two Panthers and attack your anti-tank weapons, which can be disastrous. Also have a few engineers upgraded with flamethrowers or a spare armored vehicle on standby -- just in case!!


 * The medal on this mission can be obtained by losing fewer than five of your own tanks. To be precise, the medal objective is announced "after" you lose your first tank, so you can lose a total of five and still obtain the medal. This can be achieved by higher reliance on anti-tank weapons and keeping your armor repaired and shiny! The "repair" ability will be extremely useful on this mission! It is necessary to use extreme care or this medal will not be obtained. Anti-tank weapons will damage your tanks just as quickly as the Panthers. Additionally, there are ramps that can be entered on the northern part of the map that set up your tanks for annihilation. Save often -- just in case!!

The goal of this guide is not to flood you with unnecessary info. So%u2026go forth -- and blow up Panthers! You will be fine! Enjoy this mission. It's a sunny walk in the park compared to what lies ahead!

Mission 12. Mortain
Written for the Hard Setting

Key Intel and Strategies:

This mission is absolutely brutal. It's gonna be messy, but you can beat it! I will try to give as many tips as I can to aid you along the way.

Important: The troops and defenses you set up in this mission will carry through to the next mission, Mortain Counterattack. That mission can be absolutely horrendous, so keep that in mind as you play. If things are under control the last few minutes of this mission, start cranking out the units you want for the next mission. If you do this successfully, you can start the next mission with 90 or so units, even though the unit cap is 75!

You may want to replay this mission if you are not happy with the way the next chapter begins.

Miscellaneous tip 1: There may be a slight lull in the fighting with about eight minutes left to play. SAVE NOW! Especially if you like the way things are going. The next eight minutes are going to be rugged, and you can now look at this as an "eight-minute mission" versus 30 and will be less discouraging!

First Five (Plus) Minutes: There is plenty to do, and you won't be able to accomplish all of these things in five minutes, but just keep continuing with these chores into the next five minutes while receiving various and sundry infantry attacks.


 * Build two armored cars and upgrade them to the max. Park one up the road to the east to help with the upcoming infantry assault. The second one will be used to obtain the bonus objective of rescuing the Rangers to the northwest. (Swing one of these around to the east side of the hill after the Rangers are rescued.)


 * Build an extra rifleman squad or two and start picking up the anti-tank weapons and machine guns littered around the top of the hill. Set them up in the protected areas behind the sandbags slightly off the top of the hill. (I will mention this again, but on the very top of the hill, they will be decimated by off-screen rocket fire.)


 * Send a squad of engineers to the end of the road to the east and build a tank trap not allowing access from the outside of the screen to the play area. This will stop a few units. Not many, but a few, and it all helps.


 * There are "orphan squads" of two riflemen scattered on the outside of the map. Use them to capture flag points throughout the map. This will definitely help beef up resources and "may" slow down the enemy assault as the Axis forces take time to capture them.


 * Move the anti-tank weapons up to where the howitzer is slightly to the west of the top of the hill. (I will call this the "upper plateau," slightly above the flag point area.) There is a slight rise you will notice and you want them to the west of this "rise." If you don't, they will be blasted to smithereens from off-screen rocket attacks that will devastate the very middle of the hill to mincemeat. Trust me! In the last eight minutes, these anti-tank guns will be attacked by infantry. Hopefully you can have some machine gun emplacements or machine-gun squads protecting these areas by then.


 * The first part of the mission you will not be attacked by armor, so, remember, these anti-tank weapons are just being "stored" for now.


 * Move all machine-gun units to the sandbagged areas. Definitely get them off the very top of the hill or they will be lost.


 * There is a second area of concern that will take a bit of your attention. This is your headquarters area and the flag area slightly to the southwest of this area. If you take care of this now, you won't have to worry about it too much later.


 * At the flag area southwest of the headquarters (flag point surrounded by buildings) on the west side of the map, have two machine gun emplacements facing each other on both sides of the flag. Park an anti-tank unit in the middle for future use. Eventually, Panzers will come prowling into this area. This is necessary if you want to obtain the bonus objective. Not necessary otherwise!


 * At the headquarters area, build two more machine gun emplacements - (the structures that look like bunkers) -- one facing east up the road and another by the Motor Pool facing north. If you don't do this, a squad of infantry will destroy the Motor Pool! Eventually, if you are still under the unit cap, build a secondary anti-tank weapon to complement the one hidden by the flag area to the southwest.


 * Whenever you have time, build a few more MG emplacements facing different directions protecting the top of the hill.

Throughout the game, keep having riflemen replace abandoned machine guns and anti-tank weapons. Have an armored car prowling on both the east and west sides of the map. A single mortar team or sniper can really mess up your entire defense if you're not ready for them!

There is a great machine gun nest to the east of the hill on top of a ridge. Try to keep this position manned.

The enemy seems to be quite selective on their approaches, so this is going to be a very interactive mission.

Your anti-tank guns, parked on the west on the "upper plateau," should be relatively safe until the last five minutes or so of the game. By then, these weapons may be overrun with infantry, so hopefully by the end game this area is protected by MG squads or emplacements.

Use the 105-mm howitzer at the top of the plateau to target Axis infantry in early going and armor later on. It really helps out! Assign it a "hot key" for easy access.

The last five minutes will be hectic and the enemy will be pounding you with tanks and infantry. A balanced defense must be maintained in four directions. A lot of things can go wrong, so, again, find a "happy" save point eight minutes or so in and go from there.

The way you leave this game will have a MAJOR impact on the next mission. My first victory in Mortain, my troops were so devastated, being on the verge of being overrun, that Mortain Counterattack started with a counterattack just a few seconds into the mission -- versus a few minutes. It made getting started practically impossible! Keep in mind you may want to replay this mission to get a better start in Mortain Counterattack.

Mission 13. Mortain Counterattack
Written for the Hard Setting

The start of this mission is highly influenced by how you left off in Mission 12, Mortain.

You may receive a counterattack immediately upon starting this mission if you were about to be overrun in Mortain. If you were in control of the map at the end of that mission, you will have more time to prepare for the initial attack.

Both MG emplacements and troops will be carried over from the previous mission - even to the point of exceeding the unit cap of 75!

Unless two of the strategic points are held in this mission, the "counter" will go down from 400 to zero. To achieve the medal in this mission, you must keep the counter above 250. At zero, the mission will be lost.

Two of the strategic points will be impossible to hold in the early part of the game, as they are protected by howitzers controlled on the far east side of the map. Until these howitzers are destroyed by snipers, it is necessary to control the top of the hill flag point and the point to the north side of the map.

This is a tough mission. It will be very interactive. When controlling the top of the hill, the assaults will be constant. They will constantly probe for weaknesses, changing their approach to attack an area that is not well defended.

The northern flag point will not receive as many attacks and a moderate defensive force can protect the area.

If you survive the "war of attrition," send a few snipers to the east to take out the howitzers. From there, go due south to destroy the Axis base - utilizing the captured howitzers to aid in the process. This will "finally" slow down the attacks on the hill. Whew! With these captured howitzers, you can also now capture and protect the final two flag points to help bring this epic battle to a close.

Mission 14. Autry
Written for the Hard Setting

Key Intel and Strategies:


 * This mission is nice and straight-forward. Once territory is acquired, you can basically hold on to it. Much less stressful than the constant onslaught in the PREVIOUS MISSION!


 * To achieve the MEDAL in this campaign, it is necessary to destroy 25 Axis vehicles. There is no time limit, so that is a relief! Basically, you must destroy every vehicle on the map to get this award.


 * The enemy tanks can quickly auto-heal once they retreat to an engineer, and they are quite adept at the strategic withdrawal. Try a combination attack of the off-screen howitzer attack, the HOWITZER which you can build with your engineer, anti-tank weapons and paratroopers to finish them off. It's very irritating to get them down to 1-percent health and then have them escape!


 * Remember that the 105-mm. howitzers cannot move once placed, so be careful not to put more than one near your original base, since they take up 11 units toward your population cap.


 * All of the flag points can be captured in route toward the roads at the top of the map --where multiple Axis vehicles will travel by. These points are protected by a reasonable mix of infantry and armor, so a balanced attack will be necessary to clear the flag areas.


 * Although Schultz and his Tiger tank are encountered not far from your home base, he will continually make strategic withdrawals. One thing that makes this mission easier to accomplish is that any damage done to his tank will not be repaired! Schultz will eventually park to the north and allow you time to destroy the 25 Axis vehicles without harassing your troops.


 * No snipers will be encountered until you reach the very northern section of the map, where they will be hanging out in some of the civilian structures in the area. Watch out that your snipers are not run over by Tiger tanks in the area!!

Mission 15. Chambois
Written for the Hard Setting

Key Intel and Strategies:


 * Another "timed" mission, wouldn't ya know it! 60 minutes on the hard setting. A bit of a rush, but quite manageable once you get started. All four flag points on the four bridges must be captured within this time frame. It is NOT necessary to capture any other territory for mission completion. The fifth bridge at the top of the map without a flag point is basically "irrelevant" to the mission.


 * Important: Once the four bridges are secure, the mission is "not quite" over. You will be given an additional objective, but don't worry. You can still woohoo and celebrate as victory is close at hand! The objective will be to destroy a number of PANZERS moving across the bridge, but, again, don't worry! The mission IS NOT lost if they cross. You just need to hunt them down and there is NO TIME LIMIT to get this done! Circles will indicate the point of some of the tanks, but not necessarily all of them. It may take a seek-and-destroy mission on the east side of the river to hunt down remaining Axis forces to "officially" finish Mission 15. Yea!


 * Getting started: (I wanted to be sure you got the above info, but let's go back to the beginning now.) Moving north along the west side of the river is going to be slow going. Six or more anti-tank weapons will be encountered -- so it is absolutely essential to put your snipers to work to destroy these targets! Before doing so, move the jeep due north to take care of a sniper in the area! Save often!


 * Your base area and all points in between will be bothered by enemy infantry and a few vehicles throughout the mission. In other words, captured territory may not stay captured! Go ahead and take the time to put a few machine gun emplacements around your base. Additionally, scatter a few upgraded armored cars throughout captured territory as you head north to take care of the constant Axis infantry intrusions.


 * On your first play-through, you may "barely" be able to collect 300 "kills" to achieve the medal for this mission. If necessary, delay capture of the fourth flag point on the bridge to obtain additional kills. Enemy infantry count along with vehicles, so at the end of the mission it might help to camp outside of the base to the northwest of the map and prey on the infantry in the area.


 * Capturing the flag point on the fourth bridge will complete the first part of the mission and will avoid mission failure.


 * It will be necessary to attack defensive positions slightly east of the bridges, but it won't be necessary to capture any of the points east of the river for victory. There is a land mine on the east side of the first bridge -- but I guess you will learn that for yourself in due time!


 * Your allies to the north will help out later in the mission. Much appreciated! But you will have to capture all flag points on your own!