Company of Heroes 2 returns to Western Front

Company of Heroes 2 is returning to the Second World War's western battleground with new standalone multiplayer DLC that offers two new factions - the US Forces and the German Oberkommando West - alongside eight new maps.

The DLC's called Company of Heroes 2: The Western Front Armies and players will be able to buy either of the factions separately or together as a bundle. According to executive producer Greg Wilson, each army offers "distinct units, new abilities, new upgrades and new tactical and strategic elements".

Most importantly, The Western Front Armies is a standalone release - you won't need Company of Heroes 2 itself in order to play it. "This is a new entry point for the series," says Wilson. "You can play with and against the AI, you can play in comp stomp skirmish modes with your friends and you can also go into our automatch pool against other Company of Heroes players."

"The unique thing is that you're actually going to be able to play against existing COH2 content, too," he continues. "So if you buy the US forces, say, you'll be able to drop into the automatch pool and play against the Eastern Front armies potentially on an Eastern Front map. Equally, if you own the original COH2 and you haven't had the chance to pick up any of the Western Front content and you drop into automatch, you'll actually have the opportunity to be matched up with somebody who's on the same side of the war that you are, but potentially on another map. So if you don't own the US and you're playing as the Soviets, you could potentially be teamed up with the US and playing on a Western Front map."

The US pricing sees each army costing $12.99, with the bundle available for $19.99. UK prices are yet to be announced.

Company of Heroes 2: The Western Front Armies will be released this June. I asked Wilson if that meant it was coming out on D-Day, and he politely suggested I had been thinking about it too much.