Thoughts on Hammer and Shield and the remaining leaked BGs

Hello everybody, I've been away for a while due to both real life and my main system hard drive having an major failure but for those concerned about updates to my mod, I was able to recover most files so that's still coming.

Either way I just wanted to give my overall opinions on the update and the possible BGs that we might see in the future.

First off, this DLC was largely unexpected and I think I'm with the majority in saying that when I hear the word "Expansion" I think of more factions, units, single player campaigns, etc... So while new content is, as always, greatly appreciated, I believe that 2 "new" Battlegroups which had most of their content already hidden in the game and some cosmetics are a bit unjustified for the price that was asked from those of us who bought the Premium Edition and is still being asked at around 20 dollars. I'm not really counting the British Sea and Air BG for the Italian campaign as I'm mostly a tank player and for the record I am very much against Pay 2 Win, however for that price I think most of us expected a new faction such as an Italian Army for example which made the most sense to me, not content that can be unlocked by just normally playing the game.

Anyway moving on, going back to GachiGasm's post about the leaked BGs (https://www.coh2.org/topic/108904/coh3-file-digging/post/872463) from what I understand the Coastal Defense, Defense and Italian Artillery were combined into what now became the Italian Coastal with the Coastal Reserve infantry, Artillery Officer and Obice da 210/22 artillery emplacement along with the bunkers taken from all 3, leaving us with just the Recovery Halftrack, Nashorn and Gebirsjägers which are referenced in the files as new units for potential future BGs for the Wehrmacht. Oh and of course the rest of the Italian units already present for DAK.

Then we have the US Advanced Infantry Battlegroup which looks to just be an improved version of the original CoH Infantry Company with more focus on the Rangers and the inclusion of the M2A1 105mm Howitzer in the multiplayer which was only previously available in the single player Italian campaign. That leaves us with just the Light Mechanized BG which features the Command Halftrack which has a working model in the game and both the M20 and M3 Lee which both have references in the files I believe. However the Priest comes as a surprise here since it's not mentioned anywhere but it would still be a welcomed addition in my opinion since the US look like they need more Artillery options.

Lastly we come to the Brits who I expected to see receive at least one of their 2 confirmed but still unreleased Australian and Canadian battlegroups, each respectively with their own national themed infantry as well as the 2 pounder AT gun for the Aussies and Churchill Croc for the Canucks. There's also mention of the Marmon-Herrington Armoured Car but I see no references in the files for it and from what I know it never really saw action, at least major such.

DAK seems largely left out for some reason in terms of leaked new content, there's only a 253 Halftrack model and mortar team in the files for them. However I think a Fallschirmjäger themed Battlegroup inspired by the Ramcke Brigade since we already have the falls models for the Wehrmacht which would probably only really require light re-skinning to get right and it could feature the previously mentioned GrW 34 mortar team as well as probably the Wehr mobile flak AA gun. I don't see the problem with a bit of overlap since that's already present in other BGs either way and there's probably other combinations that can be made for some unique new content with stuff that's already present but not utilized in the game.

This is generally it, I just wanted to share my 2 cents like I said. Mostly talking from a modder's perspective I'm overall happy with the new content that we can play around with but I'm still hoping for more in the future and also of course improvements to the modding tools as well since with what's already present on the workshop it's obvious a lot of people are playing the game with custom content and enjoying it so further expansion on that would most likely also mean more sales for people looking for said custom content.

As usual, after anything Relic does all I can do is scratch my head. WTF were you thinking?


TIMELINE
1) Put game out way too early.
2) Slowly fix things, add content, and work balance.
3) Stream how important balance is and commit to keep working it.
4) Put out a limp DLC that destroys balance and angers players with its lack of content. But finally brings the casual user experience to a decent level.

So what is the end game with having all these unused assets? To make another DLC later? Will there be anyone left to purchase it after angering everyone with the missteps so far?

My guess for Relics issues is two possibilities:
1) They cant execute their ideas. Each update has had such a small amount of content. They are either working on other things or don't have the right people to get the job done.

2) They think anyone who is going to buy has already done so. Slowly trickle out DLC and hope to get small amounts of money from new players. Old players will get excited and bite also. Look how much attention this patch got already.

As usual, after anything Relic does all I can do is scratch my head. WTF were you thinking?


TIMELINE
1) Put game out way too early.
2) Slowly fix things, add content, and work balance.
3) Stream how important balance is and commit to keep working it.
4) Put out a limp DLC that destroys balance and angers players with its lack of content. But finally brings the casual user experience to a decent level.

So what is the end game with having all these unused assets? To make another DLC later? Will there be anyone left to purchase it after angering everyone with the missteps so far?

My guess for Relics issues is two possibilities:
1) They cant execute their ideas. Each update has had such a small amount of content. They are either working on other things or don't have the right people to get the job done.

2) They think anyone who is going to buy has already done so. Slowly trickle out DLC and hope to get small amounts of money from new players. Old players will get excited and bite also. Look how much attention this patch got already.

To be fair they're slowly, but surely, improving the game so one day it might become an RTS version of No Man's Sky, hopefully.

And like I said, my major concerns are access to new content and improvements to the modding tools because we can pretty much fix and make pretty much anything, as long as we're not limited which we currently sort of are.

Also to add to my Ramcke Brigade idea for the DAK, they also have an unused model for the 251 Halftrack which I forgot to mention but everything that I previously said can put put into a new BG for them -



The Wehr Fallschirmjäger uniform can just be reskinned to desert tan with an added scorpion emblem. Unique weapons and abilities could be Mauser K98k rifles with rifle grenades and double MG34s perhaps for a 5 man squad to show their "elite" status or something along those lines.

And on an unrelated note, the British also have an Indian infantry section as well which could act as an Allied counterpart to the Coastal Reserves as a cheap mainline builder unit.

You can definitively skip the 2 new battlegroups and still fully enjoy the game. You could also have farmed the ingame won credit to buy at least one of them if not both. It's nice to know that you can get them for free if you play the game regularly.

We're now with a almost fully finished game. H&S is like coh3 Version 1.0.

You can definitively skip the 2 new battlegroups and still fully enjoy the game. You could also have farmed the ingame won credit to buy at least one of them if not both. It's nice to know that you can get them for free if you play the game regularly.

We're now with a almost fully finished game. H&S is like coh3 Version 1.0.

+1
I enjoy the game very much after the update. A lot of my friends returned as well and are happy as well. Npw we need more new content. IN February the community maps should be added and after that DAK/ Brit need their battlegroups asap.

You can definitively skip the 2 new battlegroups and still fully enjoy the game. You could also have farmed the ingame won credit to buy at least one of them if not both. It's nice to know that you can get them for free if you play the game regularly.

We're now with a almost fully finished game. H&S is like coh3 Version 1.0.

I pre-ordered the premium edition thinking the expansion was going to be an Italian Army or something along those lines like I mentioned already.

Otherwise I would have grinded out the BGs like I did with the commanders in CoH2 and I never really cared much about skins unless they were ultra realistic like a few ones in CoH2.

I pre-ordered the premium edition thinking the expansion was going to be an Italian Army or something along those lines like I mentioned already.

Otherwise I would have grinded out the BGs like I did with the commanders in CoH2 and I never really cared much about skins unless they were ultra realistic like a few ones in CoH2.

Till Relic shift their mind from PVE, expansion or DLC main content is going to be focused on it, being solo campaign or coop vs computer. And you fool yourself if you believed they would simply give you new faction for free.

And you fool yourself if you believed they would simply give you new faction for free.

This "DLC" is a joke. It provides almost nothing for the people who got the premium edition. Fooling ourselves into thinking Relic would magically not be a disappointment is the copium we all keep sucking. They had to shit out something and this is the best they could do.

Just imagine what a real company would do, then subtract 70% of that expectation and you will be fine. Relic is a wheelchair bound child in a dodgeball fight who cant reach the missed balls all around them.

MonolithicBacon (John_RE) did an amazing series about the mapping editor where he stated how easy it is to make maps. The new map he made seemed to only take a week and it has amazing visuals. So why did we only get a few maps this year? Shouldn't we have like 30 new maps by now? I fooled myself into thinking he was working on a new Campaign full of mapping work. I guess not? So what the %$#%^^ are they doing for the last year? Seriously, any ideas?

I am accepting all ideas because I cant for the life of me figure out how so many capable people can produce so little.

Yeah I think that if you asked all the ppl who got the premium edition RIGHT NOW "would you still have bought the premium edition if all you got were these two battlegroups" NOBODY would have said yes lmfao

Yeah I think that if you asked all the ppl who got the premium edition RIGHT NOW "would you still have bought the premium edition if all you got were these two battlegroups" NOBODY would have said yes lmfao

Steam reviews support this message. They are up to 28% positive at the moment.

Yeah I think that if you asked all the ppl who got the premium edition RIGHT NOW "would you still have bought the premium edition if all you got were these two battlegroups" NOBODY would have said yes lmfao

I admire gullibility of people who still buy premium, collectors or other above base price editions in 2022/23.

We know for so many years its all FOMO with nothing to miss out really, but people still keep falling for it and paying for unknown with hopes of advantage from their higher priced edition only to be disappointed over and over and over again. And they never learn their lesson.

Till Relic shift their mind from PVE, expansion or DLC main content is going to be focused on it, being solo campaign or coop vs computer. And you fool yourself if you believed they would simply give you new faction for free.

Why? The premium costs 20 € extra. Deduct 2-5 € for the couple of skins, however you evaluate their worth. Would also be fair to assume that those were the free bonus for giving Relic an interest free 20 € credit. Either way, this leaves 15-20 for the actual content. That should be a new campaign or 1-2 factions.

I admire gullibility of people who still buy premium, collectors or other above base price editions in 2022/23.

We know for so many years its all FOMO with nothing to miss out really, but people still keep falling for it and paying for unknown with hopes of advantage from their higher priced edition only to be disappointed over and over and over again. And they never learn their lesson.

100% agree. It's almost always a scam filled with superficial 'goodies' that are worth no-where near the inflated price.

Why? The premium costs 20 € extra. Deduct 2-5 € for the couple of skins, however you evaluate their worth. Would also be fair to assume that those were the free bonus for giving Relic an interest free 20 € credit. Either way, this leaves 15-20 for the actual content. That should be a new campaign or 1-2 factions.

At best a short single player campaign or coop missions.

At best a short single player campaign or coop missions.

Just no. Launch price for Western Front armies was 20 € (or 13 € for one faction). Even adjusting for inflation since CoH2's launch that's about 24 € today. The DLC should have included the content worth of at least one faction + a smaller goodie (some scripted missions or whatever).

At best a short single player campaign or coop missions.

Pretty sure they dropped CoH2 ToW mission packs, because they were selling badly, which gave clear message that this was not the content players wanted.

#1: Balance out the Multiplayer modes (especially maps). drop the 3v3 mode for healthier playerbase (allow 3v3 maps for custom matches)

#2: make custom commanders for the compstomp crowd (with crazy stuff like V2 strike or Tiger battlegroup callin or whatever)

#3: create a Dota or Tower defense mode for The Casual crowd


-->Profit

#3: create a Dota or Tower defense mode for The Casual crowd

Coh1 Tales of valor had a moba style gamemode, never got to play it though. It looked like fun when I opened it once, as well as that tank-on-tank arena game mode.

I doubt we will see such a thing though, devs thus far dont really seem passionate about the game. So far the only dev I saw with sparkles in his eyes when talking about coh3 was Marco.

It's hard to be passionate when you already know you're maybe a month away from losing your job. They probably have resumés out there already.

Just no. Launch price for Western Front armies was 20 € (or 13 € for one faction). Even adjusting for inflation since CoH2's launch that's about 24 € today. The DLC should have included the content worth of at least one faction + a smaller goodie (some scripted missions or whatever).

Pretty sure they dropped CoH2 ToW mission packs, because they were selling badly, which gave clear message that this was not the content players wanted.

We're talking about free content for some dudes who were willing to pay more even before the game was release. Relic isn't going to give for free a new faction when cosmetics and a couple of commanders is more than enough by industry standard.