I can't relate to those with performance issues. I have 2 computers capable of gaming. I built my desktop on AMD and ASUS built my laptop on Nvidia. Both systems run the game without stutter. I've got everything enabled on my desktop and I turned a few settings down on laptop for good framerate (funny thing is, I didn't know that I was on battery power while I was testing it).
My desktop has an i5 3770k, 16GB of RAM(not that ram matters as much), and crossfire 290x
My laptop is Asus ROG G750JX-TB71, it has a gtx 770m.
+1 to everything Inverse said. Also I don't know if anyone else has issues with this, but the snow is so white on the "winter" maps that my eyes are usually bloodshot red and watering like a mofo in as little as 20 minutes even with the brightness turned down a bit. I can play other games for several hours in a dark room before this starts to happen. There needs to be at the very least an option for a blue'ish tint to the snow, even though I want to its hard to get back playing this game because my limited play sessions are rarely longer than 2 games (3 max) because of my eyes.
PS: Back when I was playing vcoh competitively on a laptop that got 15-30fps, the camera panning still felt crisper than it does in CoH2 when its running 30-50fps.
It sounds like you are playing the game in the dark. It not good for your eyes to do so. Also, try to drink some water during extended sessions, it helps me. The big problem though, is the huge contrast in brightness your getting between the screen and the rest of the light. It's very similar to having the cops shine their bright ass flashlight in your face in the middle of the night. You need some dim ambient light and you won't get strain anymore. I have a hall light just outside my room that I turn on, so my room is dimly lit, but doesn't overpower my monitor. I hope something in all this text can be useful for you.