Company of Heroes Collection (NSP, XCI) ROM + v1.5_66915 Update

Company of Heroes Collection is a 2006 real-time strategy video game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ for Windows and OS X operating systems. It is the first installment of the Company of Heroes series and was the first title to make use of the Games for Windows label. Company of Heroes is set during the Second World War and contains two playable factions.

Players aim to capture strategic resource sectors located around the map, which they use to build base structures, produce new units, and defeat their enemies. In the single-player campaign, the player commands two U.S. military units during the Battle of Normandy (Operation Overlord) and the liberation of France (Operation Cobra). Depending on the mission, the player controls either Able Company of the 29th Infantry Division’s 116th Infantry, or Fox Company of the 101st Airborne Division’s 506th PIR.

Company of Heroes received widespread acclaim, winning multiple awards for the best strategy game of the year, and being considered one of the best video games ever made. Two expansions were released: Opposing Fronts in 2007 and Tales of Valor in 2009. A free-to-play massively multiplayer online version of the game, Company of Heroes Online, was briefly released as an open beta in South Korea in April 2010, before being canceled in March 2011. An iPad version, developed and published by Feral Interactive, was released in February 2020.

A version for Android and iOS mobile devices was released in September 2020. A Nintendo Switch version was released on October 12, 2023. The success of the game led to a sequel, Company of Heroes 2, which was released in 2013. As of January 2013, the Company of Heroes series has sold more than 4 million copies. A film adaptation, also titled Company of Heroes, was released in 2013. The latest installment in the series, Company of Heroes 3, was released in February 2023.

GAMEPLAY

Company of Heroes allows multiplayer matches of 1-8 players via LAN or the Internet. Company of Heroes allows players to fight as both the Allied and Axis forces in multiplayer matches. For the Company of Heroes, developer Relic Entertainment used a new online matchmaking system called Relic Online.

Previous Relic games had used GameSpy Arcade or World Opponent Network services. This system includes many features that the previous systems did not have, including a built-in automatic ranking system. Relic Online matchmaking has been shut down. To play multiplayer users must transfer the game to Steam. The Steam version does not allow for LAN matches.

Victory Point Control, These games focus on controlling several victory points around the middle of the map. These victory points can be captured similarly to strategic points. When one side has more victory points under their control than another, the other side’s “points” start to decrease. When one side’s counter runs out of points, they lose.

Alternatively, the player can simply destroy all enemy structures to win the game. Before the start of the game, the host can choose between 250, 500, or 1000 points. The point function in Company of Heroes works much like the ticket feature in the Battlefield series. Annihilation games lack the victory points of the VPC game mode. To win, the player needs to destroy all enemy buildings excluding observation posts on points.

PLOT

On June 6, 1944, the US Army’s Able Company, under the command of Captain MacKay and Sergeant Conti, storms the Dog White sector on Omaha Beach in Normandy. Preceding them is Fox Company, a 101st Airborne unit that drops into Vierville-sur-Mer, secures the roads to Omaha Beach, and assaults Carentan. Able relieves Fox as they repel the German counter-attack on Carentan. The US Army begins its push towards the port city of Cherbourg. In Montebourg, Able Company defends the Red Ball Express convoys from the elite Panzer Lehr Division commanded by Tiger tank ace Hauptmann Shultz.

Supported by USS Texas and other warships offshore, the company then takes the main harbor of Cherbourg in vicious street fighting. Afterward, Able Company provides armored support to Fox Company as the paratroopers infiltrate and destroy the V2 launch facility at Sottevast. The focus shifts towards Operation Cobra and the breakout to Saint-Lô. Able Company captures a bridgehead across the river Vire at Saint-Fromond before fighting through the bocage to take Hill 192 outside Saint-Lô.

The German garrison in Saint-Lô is encircled and defeated, but the Panzer Lehr escapes. While the US Army Air Forces carpet bomb much of the Panzer Lehr, Able Company’s M10 tank destroyers mop up its remaining Panther tanks at Hébécrevon. Shultz evades the American attack, killing Captain MacKay with a parting shot from his Tiger tank. Able Company is taken off the frontline to garrison Hill 317 outside Mortain, with Conti given command and a field promotion to lieutenant.

However, a German armored counter-attack strikes at Mortain; Able defends the hill until relieved and retakes Mortain. The Germans begin to withdraw from Normandy, and Able attacks one escape route at Autry, destroying Shultz and his remaining Tiger tanks with a Pershing tank. By August 19, the German 7th Army is almost encircled in the Falaise pocket. With support from the Air Force, Able Company links with Canadian and Polish forces at Chambois and crushes the German escape, ending the Normandy campaign. A postscript notes that Able Company sustained an 80 percent casualty rate by the end of the war, although Conti survived.

KEY FEATURES

• EPIC REAL-TIME STRATEGY – The Company of Heroes set the bar for a modern real-time strategy with its intense tactical combat and fast-paced, squad-based action.
• CUSTOMIZED FOR NINTENDO SWITCH – Featuring a revamped interface optimized for both docked and handheld play, the Company of Heroes Collection is perfectly tailored for console gaming.
• THE FULL PACKAGE – From the Normandy beach battles in the base game to the Opposing Fronts and Tales of Valor expansions as the fighting moves inland, all three campaigns, totaling 41 missions, are at your fingertips.
• FROM D-DAY TO THE LIBERATION OF NORMANDY – Command Allied and Axis forces during the crucial engagements of Operation Overlord, the campaign that led to the liberation of France.
• FORGE YOUR BATTLES – With two distinct battle types, four unique factions, numerous maps, and adjustable difficulty levels, Skirmish mode offers extensive replayability.
• MOLD THE BATTLEFIELD – Harness destructible environments to gain a tactical edge, disrupting enemy lines and reshaping your own to secure victory on your terms.