Company Of Heroes 3 Tips: 12 Ways To Ensure You Win Every Battle

Our Company of Heroes 3 tips will ensure you have what it takes to win every battle you participate in across the game's two campaigns, skirmish mode, and online multiplayer. Company of Heroes 3 is the third entry in the legendary real-time strategy franchise, which turns WWII into a playground to test your tactical prowess. 

This third entry is in many ways the same as the previous ones, but it does add some new features and mechanics that even long-time players may struggle with initially. So, whether you're a newbie or part of the old guard, if you need a collection of Company of Heroes 3 tips to help ease you into the game, we've got you covered.

• Here's a complete factions list for Company of Heroes 3.

Company Of Heroes 3 Tips: Use Your Tactical Pause

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Real-time strategy games can be difficult to get used to due to all the micromanaging and quick-thinking they often require, but Company of Heroes 3 shakes things up by adding the revolutionary ability to pause the game. 

While slightly hyperbolic, it does make a massive difference, as you can now hit the Space bar and take stock of the situation while queuing up commands. If you're ever in a situation where you're not sure what steps to take next, pause the game and use the infinite amount of time you're given to think up a new strategy. 

Company Of Heroes 3 Tips: Watch For Environmental Hazards

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World War II was a dangerous time, and the maps are reflective of that, containing numerous hazards that can be a detriment to you and the enemy. For example, many defensive points are littered with barrels of gas, or boxes of ammunition, which can be targeted to cause big explosions. 

Always be aware of where you are stationing your troops, as if a nearby barrel explodes, it can wipe out a whole squad. Obviously, this goes the other way too, so don't be afraid to cause some explosions and thin out the enemy numbers quickly to gain an advantage. 

Company Of Heroes 3 Tips: Pick Up Weapons From The Floor

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Maps in COH3 are littered with different weapons, such as bazookas, anti-tank guns, MGs, submachine guns, and much more, so you should probably pick some of them up. Infantry squads can add additional firearms to their arsenal to make them even more powerful, with each squad having space for one special weapon. 

If a squad has one of these unique weapons, the outline of the gun will be highlighted below their unit icon. Some of these weapons will also split squads up. For example, if you order a squad to pick up an MG, two of the soldiers will become a separate MG squad that you can direct orders to. 

Many of these weapons are more powerful than the standard ones that infantry units are equipped with, and they'll give you an edge in most infantry vs infantry situations. 

• Will Company of Heroes 3 ever release on console? Find out here.

Company Of Heroes 3 Tips: Learn What Speed Is Appropriate For Your Mission

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With two separate campaigns that involve a multitude of different objectives, ranging from specific story missions to random skirmish matches, each real-time battle will have its own pace you need to adapt to. 

Missions are often focused more on specific objectives, such as destroying guns or taking a heavily fortified point, so it's best to take these slowly, building up your units and planning the best way to execute your mission. However, when in Skirmish matches (which you'll often take part in during the Italian campaign), speed can often be your best bet. 

Many of these matches will task you with capturing neutral points and holding them to reduce the enemy's points to zero. It's often a good choice to immediately rush your units to these control points and keep them there on the defensive, allowing you to end the match in minutes. 

Company Of Heroes 3 Tips: Use Movement And Positioning To Your Advantage

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It can often be tempting to select all your units and just send them towards the enemy in a massive blob to overwhelm them, and while this can work in some situations, you'll want to think carefully about your unit positioning if you want to be consistently successful. 

A good rule of thumb when attacking any position, whether it contains one enemy unit or multiple, is to come in from two different angles. This is powerful for a number of reasons, allowing you to divide their attention, catch them off guard, forcing them to move out of cover, and more. 

Positioning is also key for mechanised units, as you can use buildings to block the lines of sight of anti-tank weapons or bazooka squads. This is a constant process, and you'll want to be moving as much as possible with these units as they can't take cover like infantry. 

Company Of Heroes 3 Tips: Increase The Population Cap Quickly

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Your Population Cap is the total of amount of units you can field at a given time, and it applies to both real-time battles and the dynamic Italian campaign map. Having more units than your enemies is always an advantage, so you'll want to do all you can to make sure you have the bigger army. 

In matches, increasing your Population Cap requires you to capture command points, which are denoted by a circle with a dot inside, while in the Italian campaign, you need to capture harbours along the coast. This should be one of your main priorities at all times, and you can never have too many units on the field. 

Company Of Heroes 3 Tips: Have A Varied Set Of Units

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Connected to the last tip, once you do have the max Population Cap, don't waste it by fielding all the same unit types. Diversity in your infantry, mechanised units, and support units is key to making the best of any battle and will ensure you have a unit that's specialised for any situation you encounter.

This doesn't mean you need one of every unit type, but having a mix of anti-infantry and anti-tank is core to dealing with your enemies, and having units which can support your other units, such as healing, repairing, or applying buffs, will maximise everyone's potential. 

Company Of Heroes 3 Tips: Don't Forget Your Upgrades

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A big feature of real-time battles that can be easy to miss is upgrades, which apply to both buildings and individual units. These allow you to equip your units with more powerful weaponry or bolster their current abilities, such as improved repairing or better minesweeping. 

These do cost resources, so you should be careful about when you purchase upgrades, but generally, they are super useful once you have fielded a full army and just need some additional firepower. 

Company Of Heroes 3 Tips: Cover Is Your Best Friend

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Taking cover is a massive part of effectively controlling your infantry units, and it's key to keeping them alive. When you select infantry and set to move them to a location, you'll either see grey dots, orange dots, or green dots. These are representations of how much cover they'll have in that location. 

Grey means no cover, while orange is partial cover, and green is full cover. You should always aim to get them in green cover, but sometimes orange cover is all you have available. It's also important to note that cover is relative to what direction you are receiving fire from, as an enemy flanking you will fully negate any cover you're in. 

These rules also apply to the enemies, so if you can get in full cover while they are in partial cover, your infantry will have the advantage in that fight and win much easier. 

Company Of Heroes 3 Tips: Always Smoke

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One of the most powerful abilities in Company of Heroes 3 is smoke cover, which can be used by certain infantry and mechanised units, along with air support. These block lines of sight, stopping enemies from being able to see or target you, making them very useful when attacking a heavily fortified point. 

One of the best ways to use smoke, is by blocking off half the enemies in a specific location. This lets all your units focus on the enemies in front of the smoke first, before fighting the ones behind the smoke once it clears, essentially separating the engagement into two fights. 

Smoke is also imperative for protecting your tanks from long-range anti-tank guns, as you can't always target them first if they are far away, or there are lots of enemies in the way. 

Company Of Heroes 3 Tips: Always Collect The Healing Truck

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Many of the missions in the game (especially those where you are defending a point or can't get any reinforcements) will have a medic truck that is positioned at the edge of the map. You can split up an infantry unit to man one of these vehicles and provide a passive heal to nearby units, which is important for missions where you aren't winning the numbers game. 

These trucks are denoted by a white square with a cross inside, and they can sometimes be far away from where you actually spawn, making them easy to miss. Regardless, it's worth sacrificing a few capable fighters to ensure everyone can consistently heal. 

Company Of Heroes 3 Tips: Take All Supplies You See

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During real-time battles, you will frequently see supplies located around the map, which can reward you with extra munitions, fuel, or health. To get these, you just need to select an infantry unit to pick them up, and they can often give you the extra resources needed to spawn in a powerful tank or call in a devastating airstrike on the enemy. 

There's no downside to picking these up once the immediate area is clear of enemies, so always be on the lookout for where you can increase your resources.

That's all for our coverage of Company of Heroes 3 tips, and now you know some key ways to get the advantage in any battle and defeat the enemy.