The Last Crusade: 1944-1945 mod for Company of Heroes 2

Hello everyone,

It has been a rather long time since I have updated anything on moddb/etc, but there were reasons for this. Basically, I had access to tools which as of June 23rd are partially released to the public. In particular, content such as custom Decals, Skins and apb files.

The original plan was to release a full update for all four factions, with each containing at least four rosters. Due to time constraints (I am basically a one man team, with Ruhr helping me immensely when he can with Armour values and statistics and Zupadupadude doing custom icons, with the occasional tip from nachocheese) but the point is that I am the only individual who does any of the coding.

Personally, as I aim to use this modification and all other projects I do as a portfolio of my capabilities I am fine with this. Unfortunately for both this project and those that want to play it, this means longer wait times and more hap-hazard dates due to the comings and goings in my life. Due to recent events which occurred the week before June 23rd (Which are family related in nature) I was unable to achieve even my setback goal of releasing the Ostheer and Soviet rosters.

I am happy to say that I should be able to do the Soviet rosters in the coming weeks and release both the Ostheer and the Soviet rosters together, with custom icons included. (Zupadupadude has been quite the busy bee, and is essentially almost finished all of them!)

Currently, my setup for the Rosters is as follows:

Ostheer:

Ostlegionen: This roster is essentially made up of various groups thrown together as a supplementary to German troops. They aren't the cream of the crop by any means, but they are cheap and gain a bonus when working together with units of their own cadre to help nullify penalties given to them due to their poor training. This means that using these units by themselves in groups of one will penalize the player, but grouping them together in 2 or more will nullify this malus and even give them some nice bonuses.

Infantry: Essentially your run of the mill division. Their infantry is quite capable and versatile and their vehicle loadout is what you would expect from a division meant to represent the baseline. More equipped with vehicles than the Ostlegionen, but less mechanized than other divisions.

Panzer: This division boasts some semi-competent infantry, but it's real bonus is in it's armour loadout. Players will choose this if they want access to some of the larger toys that the Ostheer has to offer, and unlike the Infantry division and Ostlegionen this division utilizes mobile artillery, rather than static artillery.

Panzergrenadiere: By far the best choice for mechanized warfare. This division makes heavy use of mobile artillery in both light and heavy formats, as well as using the more agile Sdkfz 250 Halftracks, whilst its infantry will gain benefits for working in and around its mechanized support vehicles.

Soviet: (Not completed, thus not in depth)

Streleky: This division is essentially your baseline. It'll make heavy use of infantry, with a fair amount of generic armoured support.

Shock: These divisions are made up of Shock troops, and are essentially what you want if offense is your game. Expect expensive, but highly effective troops all around with very few, but heavily specialized armoured support.

Guards: This division is far more equipped than your average Streleky division, and their infantry is better equipped, trained and most importantly they are the best equipped division for armoured support.

Partisan: This division is abit of an enigma, both literally and figuratively. Their units are all over the map equipment wise, and they utilize both domestic and foreign equipment. Expect to utilize hit and run tactics and underhanded abilities to achieve your goals.

Veterancy:

Players will be happy to know that Veterancy is planned (and in the case of the Ostheer) re-balanced to introduce a five level system. I hope people like this, as it is incredibly painful to implement without breaking a units balance.

Weapon Drops: Regular weapons (LMGs, Bazookas, STG44s, MP40s) will no longer drop. Please note that Mortars, HMGs, ATGs will continue to be re-crewable. For those who're about to cry and moan about this change, note that instead units will have access through equipment upgrades to foreign weaponry upon retaining specific veterancy levels.

This is to reflect the amount of time spent on the battlefield in regards to these units, as many units will take foreign armament if it helps them perform their tasking better. This allows me to keep unit balance while retaining the usage of foreign armament.

That's all for now, but I hope this helped fill some things in for now. Please note that I am bound by Relics ruleset for design purposes. This means that units tied to paid doctrines cannot and will not be moved out of their spot. An example being the KV-2, which belongs to the Industry doctrine. As it is only available in this paid DLC doctrine, I cannot move it anywhere without keeping the tie to that one doctrine.

However, you will be happy to know that for the Ostheer, units such as the:

Puma, Elefant, Tiger, Mortar Halftrack, Sdkfz 250 are all available for me to play around with as I please. There are actually very few items which I am restricted to moving, but in those specific instances I will honor the Relic ruleset.