Steam - including latest offers

[Darren S]

Re: Steam

I downloaded the CoH's demo last night as I've never played it before, didn't play it much but it seems good so far.

Step 1 - Buy the full game
Step 2 - Play all the campaigns
Step 3 - Bask in RTS nirvana....



D.

 

[Wilkeh]

Re: Steam

I never, ever got into that. I had such high hopes for it too having played RA2 to death. WTF EA has done to the C&C franchise over the years is beyond belief. I also made the mistake (severe mistake) of buying C&C4 in the Steam Sale. Utter tripe. I had to laugh when on C&C4 I quit to the game lobby and player after player was slagging off what EA had done to their beloved series?

C&C RA2 and C&C Generals were the last two stokes of genius in the series imo. Though C&C Tiberium Wars was pretty good, I have to say.

D.

I very rarely blow my own trumpet, but D, I would absolutely annihilate you on RA2.

 

[James28]

Re: Steam

Reading this has made me want to play CoH's again lol. Not played it since it first came out.
Going to install it and join the Cliosport steam group too

Have to see how I get on! Not very well to start with I'm imagining

 

[James28]

Re: Steam

Edit: I installed it off the disc, but how do i patch/update it lol.

 

[RSteve]

Re: Steam

ffs, now I want to get my CoH working even more now so I can play with you all haha.

 

[Darren S]

Re: Steam

Edit: I installed it off the disc, but how do i patch/update it lol.

Login on your online account from the main menu m8 and it should say that updates are required. If you Alt+Tab to the desktop, the Relic downloader should be seen on your taskbar which will automatically get the updates for you....

D.

 

[Damo_Sport]

Re: Steam

Anyone ever played Tropico 3? currently £6ish atm on steam

 

[RSteve]

Re: Steam

I saw that too, got the original and never got the hang of it! Tropico 4 is due out soon too.

 

[Darren S]

Re: Steam

I very rarely blow my own trumpet, but D, I would absolutely annihilate you on RA2.

You more than likely would! My biggest issue with any RTS is that I spend too much time base-building rather than dealing with the task at hand. A get nailed by any opposition who has the tank-rush tactic in mind.

D.

 

[Malachi]

Re: Steam

You more than likely would! My biggest issue with any RTS is that I spend too much time base-building rather than dealing with the task at hand. A get nailed by any opposition who has the tank-rush tactic in mind.

D.

This is my problem too. In AoE2 I'd spend forever organising my base (verging on OCD) and creating perfectly symmetrical walls, towers etc.. Meanwhile my allies and enemies were in the imperial age, with a 100 strong army knocking at my gate.

 

[Wilkeh]

Re: Steam

I'm curious actually Darren, how big's your Steam folder? Mine's 85GB and I only have half the game installed!

 

[Darren S]

Re: Steam

I'm curious actually Darren, how big's your Steam folder? Mine's 85GB and I only have half the game installed!

Lol - not sure m8! I've only got about a dozen games installed at the minute after I reformatted the PC last month. That said, I know Shogun II takes around 27GB itself....

D.

 

[James28]

Re: Steam

Login on your online account from the main menu m8 and it should say that updates are required. If you Alt+Tab to the desktop, the Relic downloader should be seen on your taskbar which will automatically get the updates for you....

D.

Cheers mate. Ended up adding it through steam somehow, without the disk. clicked add game and I entered the product key and it started downloading.
This time it automatically asked me to patch.

For some reason in steam its come up as Company of Heroes Retail Beta though. lol.

 

[Addicted]

Checked my steam folder earlier, 148gb

 

[UncleGrumpy]

Re: Steam

I only use steam because I bought Duke Nukem Forever - it's shat.

 

[st3ve]

Re: Steam

My steam folder is 47.2gb.

Only just got mine back up and running with a new motherboard, it's soooo good to be able to multi task and have some real speed when doing things.

Is £25 a good price for COH?

I like the new trading feature and the updater for AMD drivers.

 

[Cookie]

Re: Steam

25 is way too much

Recent Steam sales it's been less than 3 quid IIRC

 

[Darren S]

Re: Steam

My steam folder is 47.2gb.

Only just got mine back up and running with a new motherboard, it's soooo good to be able to multi task and have some real speed when doing things.

Is £25 a good price for COH?

I like the new trading feature and the updater for AMD drivers.

Definitely not.

http://www.play.com/Search.html?sea...ce=0&searchstring=company+of+heroes+anthology

Completed the original CoH campaign last night and now on the third mission into the Opposing Fronts campaign. Fecking awesome it is - this will be my third play-through.

D.

 

[st3ve]

Re: Steam

Bought it from Amazon for £12.08 1-2 days delivery. Everywhere else was about 3 days+

Better not regret this Darren. I'm going off your recommendation.

 

[Wilkeh]

Re: Steam

Bought it from Amazon for £12.08 1-2 days delivery. Everywhere else was about 3 days+Better not regret this Darren. I'm going off your recommendation.

Lol same Bought it from D's recommendation, although I can already tell I'll love it.

 

[Darren S]

Re: Steam

Bought it from Amazon for £12.08 1-2 days delivery. Everywhere else was about 3 days+

Better not regret this Darren. I'm going off your recommendation.

Lol same Bought it from D's recommendation, although I can already tell I'll love it.

Lol - no pressure on me there, then?!

As I've said before, please, please play the campaigns first. They give you a really good insight to the units types and their abilities. Going straight online (even if you're an RTS God) will get you nailed and frustrated.

If you do go for setting up a skirmish against AI however, the following is my interpretation of easiest side to play, through to the hardest:-

1. German Wehrmacht
2. Americans
3. German Panzer Elite
4. British

The British are by far the most challenging side to play - lacking many staple units of the other sides. They do get the superb 25-pounder howitzer unlock - but being so powerful, they normally attract a LOT of attention from the Germans. The key difference between the German sides I've found is in the length of game you like to play. The Wehrmacht are excellent from the get-go, but the Panzer Elite have better and more potent equipment in the long term. As I'm base-builder type of player, my favourite is the Panzer Elite - slow burning as a side until I have enough resources to unleash a powerful range of units.

Playing this game initially in skirmish mode, I'd therefore suggest picking the Wehrmacht side as yours, against a single British AI. You shouldn't have much trouble at all against that.

D.

 

[RSteve]

Re: Steam

Oh man, I don't think I ever won with the British haha!

Currently making my way through Dawn of War 2: Retribution.

 

[Wilkeh]

Re: Steam

CoH... Good game. VERY, good game.

 

[Darren S]

Re: Steam

CoH... Good game. VERY, good game.

:approve:

Currently half way through the Caen map on the Liberation of Caen campaign. Iirc, the game steps up a gear about half way through the map with a panzer onslaught. Already managed the first two bonus objectives on that map - rescued the Canadian troops in the lower left of the map and also took out the three German nerbelwerfer positions. A wise placement of a 25-pounder artillery piece helped a lot - then I got the 'supercharge' rounds which increased the range of the arty piece.

That said, three German bunkers and one '88mm AT placement are just out of reach of the 25-pounder. Looks like I'll have to take them out the hard way....

D.

 

[st3ve]

Re: Steam

I've mostly played skirmishes so far. I've only played 1v1 against an easy AI. I can't seem to hold positions very well especially in the early stages. If it wasn't for the AI being so easy going I'd get smashed in 5 minutes, they don't seem to take your flags very quickly on easy.

Am I doing something wrong?

 

[Darren S]

Re: Steam

I've mostly played skirmishes so far. I've only played 1v1 against an easy AI. I can't seem to hold positions very well especially in the early stages. If it wasn't for the AI being so easy going I'd get smashed in 5 minutes, they don't seem to take your flags very quickly on easy.

Am I doing something wrong?

I'd advise against the small maps initially - simply because you have nowhere to run and hide - or regroup if the AI has the upper hand. For starters, pick a 4 player map with one Easy opposition and close the other enemy slot. Have a Normal AI team up with you and watch what he does. You can learn a lot from how and where they place units (even if the AI does cheat!) and use similar strategies yourself.

Pick annihilation mode in skirmish rather than victory point control. The AI goes all out to capture the strategic points regardless of cost and loss of units. As a result, it's a tricky game mode to learn at the start - whereas annihilation is just plain wiping out of the enemy.

Fuel is the scarciest resource in the game - you should look to cap those as quickly as possible. The Wermacht and Yank sides can build observation points on these resource points to gain extra resources from them as well - making the 200 manpower points needed to build an OP, a very small price to pay for better resources. The Panzer Elite and British (iirc?) cannot build OPs on resource points. So capturing a low Fuel Point with the Panzer Elite or British might get you +3 fuel per 'cycle'. Using the Yank or Wermacht sides, they could stick an OP on top of that same resource point and maybe get +8 fuel per cycle.

The knack for a good defence is unit 'layering'. A mortar team, placed behind an MG team is a great combo. The rapid fire of the MG suppresses the enemy infantry, making them crawl on the floor and slow to move and respond to orders. They also suffer a defence penalty whilst in the suppressed state - making them perfect targets for the high-arc trajectory of mortar fire.

Many units can fire beyond their fog-of-war range. AT guns, mortars and definitely the fixed AT placements like the German 88mm AT gun have very long ranges. However, they can't fire at stuff that they can't see. A unit with great visual range such as a sniper, jeep or those German motorbike/tracked vehicle things are great to push forward ahead of the usual visual range of these weapons and provide a sighting for them to fire at.

Always, always, always use the Retreat key. Don't let a unit die unnecessarily. Get them back to the HQ to heal and reissue replacements. Replacements are much cheaper to produce than a new unit from scratch. Also, veterancy bonuses are earned by units as they fight, meaning that a group of four squads with one rifle, two assault rifles and one bazooka team - will become very potent over time as a fighting unit.

Finally, don't worry so much about Easy AI being a challenge. Relic altered the AI some patches ago and ramped up the difficulty by quite some margin. I used to play against one Brutal (no longer avialable) and one Hard AI and just about win. Now, if I have two Normal AI's against me, I normally loose - or win by the skin of my teeth!

D.

 

[Silent_Scone]

Re: Steam

Cool tactics, bro

Would the work in Deus Ex? Did I mention I'll be playing it again some more later. ;D

 

[Wilkeh]

Re: Steam

I'm absolutely loving the Rocket Tank perk for Americans. Two of them positioned well just about annihilates everything. It's also very satisfying watching a rain storm of rockets pummel enemy tanks and infantry!

 

[Darren S]

Re: Steam

Cool tactics, bro

Would the work in Deus Ex? Did I mention I'll be playing it again some more later. ;D

You git! :rasp:

I'm absolutely loving the Rocket Tank perk for Americans. Two of them positioned well just about annihilates everything. It's also very satisfying watching a rain storm of rockets pummel enemy tanks and infantry!

The Calliope's are lethal if used correctly! Like you say - position them well and they prove to be a very potent weapon's system. Keep moving them against the AI though as they like to rain down arty and/or rockets on the Calliope's position.

The Germans have something similar. If you pick the Panzer Elite and then choose the Terror Doctrine (iirc) - you can get either the flamethrower units, or the much more powerful walking Stuka upgrade. My m8 picks that all the time and uses shitloads of his available points to have six (or more) of these things....

Six walking Stukas, each firing six rockets means 36 rockets into the target area. Complete blitzation...

D.

 

[st3ve]

Re: Steam

I'd advise against the small maps initially - simply because you have nowhere to run and hide - or regroup if the AI has the upper hand. For starters, pick a 4 player map with one Easy opposition and close the other enemy slot. Have a Normal AI team up with you and watch what he does. You can learn a lot from how and where they place units (even if the AI does cheat!) and use similar strategies yourself.

Pick annihilation mode in skirmish rather than victory point control. The AI goes all out to capture the strategic points regardless of cost and loss of units. As a result, it's a tricky game mode to learn at the start - whereas annihilation is just plain wiping out of the enemy.

Fuel is the scarciest resource in the game - you should look to cap those as quickly as possible. The Wermacht and Yank sides can build observation points on these resource points to gain extra resources from them as well - making the 200 manpower points needed to build an OP, a very small price to pay for better resources. The Panzer Elite and British (iirc?) cannot build OPs on resource points. So capturing a low Fuel Point with the Panzer Elite or British might get you +3 fuel per 'cycle'. Using the Yank or Wermacht sides, they could stick an OP on top of that same resource point and maybe get +8 fuel per cycle.

The knack for a good defence is unit 'layering'. A mortar team, placed behind an MG team is a great combo. The rapid fire of the MG suppresses the enemy infantry, making them crawl on the floor and slow to move and respond to orders. They also suffer a defence penalty whilst in the suppressed state - making them perfect targets for the high-arc trajectory of mortar fire.

Many units can fire beyond their fog-of-war range. AT guns, mortars and definitely the fixed AT placements like the German 88mm AT gun have very long ranges. However, they can't fire at stuff that they can't see. A unit with great visual range such as a sniper, jeep or those German motorbike/tracked vehicle things are great to push forward ahead of the usual visual range of these weapons and provide a sighting for them to fire at.

Always, always, always use the Retreat key. Don't let a unit die unnecessarily. Get them back to the HQ to heal and reissue replacements. Replacements are much cheaper to produce than a new unit from scratch. Also, veterancy bonuses are earned by units as they fight, meaning that a group of four squads with one rifle, two assault rifles and one bazooka team - will become very potent over time as a fighting unit.

Finally, don't worry so much about Easy AI being a challenge. Relic altered the AI some patches ago and ramped up the difficulty by quite some margin. I used to play against one Brutal (no longer avialable) and one Hard AI and just about win. Now, if I have two Normal AI's against me, I normally loose - or win by the skin of my teeth!

D.

Thanks for that, makes it so much easier having a team alongside you for support. I tried the heavy machine gun and mortar teams lineup and they seemed to hold the positions very well.

You git! :rasp:



The Calliope's are lethal if used correctly! Like you say - position them well and they prove to be a very potent weapon's system. Keep moving them against the AI though as they like to rain down arty and/or rockets on the Calliope's position.

The Germans have something similar. If you pick the Panzer Elite and then choose the Terror Doctrine (iirc) - you can get either the flamethrower units, or the much more powerful walking Stuka upgrade. My m8 picks that all the time and uses s**tloads of his available points to have six (or more) of these things....

Six walking Stukas, each firing six rockets means 36 rockets into the target area. Complete blitzation...

D.

I love the calliopes too, they look awesome and they are so useful in the field. I think I've tried the Stukas aswell, they look a lot more basic but as you say they too dish out the damage. I like the Royal Commandos for the British too, although the way they enter the field is slightly weird.

 

[BatFastard]

Loved CoH!! Amazing game, but loved on to Starcraft 2 which has a much better pro scene

 

[Darren S]

Re: Steam

Thanks for that, makes it so much easier having a team alongside you for support. I tried the heavy machine gun and mortar teams lineup and they seemed to hold the positions very well.

I love the calliopes too, they look awesome and they are so useful in the field. I think I've tried the Stukas aswell, they look a lot more basic but as you say they too dish out the damage. I like the Royal Commandos for the British too, although the way they enter the field is slightly weird.

Definitely worth keeping an eye on which way your teams are facing. The mortar team is pretty good at providing 360 coverage, but the MG teams are definitely forward-focused. Quite easy at times to be caught out by your MG team ignoring an enemy coming in from a flanking side.

Yep - the 'wandering in' of the Commandos is a little weird. Have you linked them to a lieutenant unit too? The US Rangers simply amble into the map as well...

Loved CoH!! Amazing game, but loved on to Starcraft 2 which has a much better pro scene

Yep - the StarCraft scene is pretty much legendary for online play. I wouldn't stand a chance on there! Some of those Korean TV programs showing StarCraft league matches must be quite inspiring to watch.

D.

 

[st3ve]

Re: Steam

Definitely worth keeping an eye on which way your teams are facing. The mortar team is pretty good at providing 360 coverage, but the MG teams are definitely forward-focused. Quite easy at times to be caught out by your MG team ignoring an enemy coming in from a flanking side.

Yep - the 'wandering in' of the Commandos is a little weird. Have you linked them to a lieutenant unit too? The US Rangers simply amble into the map as well...

D.

No, what does that do?

 

[Wilkeh]

Re: Steam

No, what does that do?

It make's your units more confident and gives them veterancy bonuses. Always assign one to each team, makes them much more efficient!

 

[Darren S]

Re: Steam

It make's your units more confident and gives them veterancy bonuses. Always assign one to each team, makes them much more efficient!

As wilky says Steve - he's a good unit to have around. Pretty good range with his SMG too.

http://companyofheroes.wikia.com/wiki/Lieutenant

D.

 

[Sargara]

Re: Steam

Im late in on this, but after reading the recommendations i took the plunge over the weekend because:
- I liked Dawn of War
- I used to play a similar WW2 RTS called Sudden Strike.

Needless to say this game lives upto the hype you mentioned in this topic so thanks, £9.99 wisely spent for once. Got to say ive played through all the 4v4 maps now as British, normally 2 Brits + 2 American VS 2 Panzer Elite, 2 Wehrmacht and ive not really had any issues winning with everyone on Normal. I play Victory point control maps with a 1000 limit but usually end up killing off the enemy and ending the games early. As most maps have 3 Victory points i usually rush to one, dig in with a bunch of deffences and let the AI fight over controlling a 2nd.

Having got used to playing the British i now actually struggle with the other factions!

 

[Darren S]

Re: Steam

Im late in on this, but after reading the recommendations i took the plunge over the weekend because:
- I liked Dawn of War
- I used to play a similar WW2 RTS called Sudden Strike.

Needless to say this game lives upto the hype you mentioned in this topic so thanks, £9.99 wisely spent for once. Got to say ive played through all the 4v4 maps now as British, normally 2 Brits + 2 American VS 2 Panzer Elite, 2 Wehrmacht and ive not really had any issues winning with everyone on Normal. I play Victory point control maps with a 1000 limit but usually end up killing off the enemy and ending the games early. As most maps have 3 Victory points i usually rush to one, dig in with a bunch of deffences and let the AI fight over controlling a 2nd.

Having got used to playing the British i now actually struggle with the other factions!

Apparently quite a few of the pro-players use the British side a lot. For the majority of us (myself included) - they appeared a under-equipped and generally weaker side to play. However, as they are the most mobile of the factions, those type of dynamic players who shift about the map and never remain in one position - find the British to be very useful indeed.

I had a 4v4 game the other night with three mates against four AI. The AI went on a Calliope spammage mission! Seriously - the incoming rain of rockets at times was a joke and in the game, my units destroyed 10 of those Calliopes alone. It was a good game though - seeing your 'wall' of blue get pushed further up the map as you and your team-mates progress. I actually completed my third total play-through of all the campaigns yesterday too. The trickiest ones I'd say are Caen : Storm Front and the very last mission on the Falaise Gap campaign. If you can complete that last mission with both primary and secondary objectives complete - you're a much better RTS player than me!

D.

 

[Cookie]

Re: Steam

In the spirit of this thread, I've been playing Supreme Commander (the first one) again. Had a 2 hour mission going the other day, was 2 minutes from the end.. accidentally got my commander destroyed

Didn't have a save

Nearly cried

 

[Darren S]

Re: Steam

In the spirit of this thread, I've been playing Supreme Commander (the first one) again. Had a 2 hour mission going the other day, was 2 minutes from the end.. accidentally got my commander destroyed

Didn't have a save

Nearly cried

Lol! I must admit, the Supreme Commander thing I never did 'get'. A guy I knew regularly had 4+ hours sessions at the weekend on it. I kind of got bored after 30mins or so.

That was the pinnacle of RTS grinding for me.

D.

 

[Cookie]

Re: Steam

I first played it when I had a subpar PC to cope with it

It's awesome with a quad core chip (which I've had for a fair while now anyway)