The battle of the bulge is a modification for CoH and brings you to the snowy forests of the ardennes where you command the Germans or the Americans in the infamous Battle of the Bulge as it was called by Sir Winston Churchill.
Battle of the Bulge is a Mod focusing exclusively on the battles in Belgium and Luxemburg, December 44 - January 45.
It converts the Summer/Normandy Scenario of CoH into a winter scenario along with winter Maps, Skins and units.
Lots of emphasis has been laid on the look of the Mod. All skins are as accurate as possible, from uniform detail to unit marking. EACH soldier in a squad has individual uniforms and equipment.
Occlusion effects, team colors, even territory borders and selection markers have been removed for visual authenticity.
Furthermore, the Mod's aim is to combine CoH game play with more realism and it tries to reflect the battle properly. Therefore Panzerelite and Brits have been taken off the game ( Brits will show up as doctrine reinforcements, though ).
You can call in battlegroups which have originally taken part, like the 14th Cavalry Group or the infamous Kampfgruppe Peiper.
Tons of changes have also been done to unit stats, gameplay and doctrines. The units you can produce depend on the doctrine you choose.
The overall game changes are too many to mention, here are some extracts[]
- 20 completely new winter maps, mostly historical battlegrounds, designed from photos and maps.
- some maps even have dynamical weather, which influences units sight range, battle performance and movement speed.
- 5 new unit models ( Sturmtiger, Jagpanzer IV, Panzerwerfer 42, M21 Mortar Halftrack, FW 190, jagdtiger )
- realistical penetration values of Guns and armour, historical movement and turret rotation speed and loading times
- smoke screens for almost all tanks.
- New veterancy system: All units gain veterancy by fighting, each vet step increases accuracy, sight range, shortens reload times, decreases inflicted suppression of a unit.
- special vet abilities
- dynamical sight range - moving units wont see as far as standing units, cause they have to pay attention to their movement
- new upgrade system, units can only upgrade when near to HQ or other special buildings.
- removed unrealistic features, like building bunkers in 30 seconds
- vehicles give cover for soldiers, tankwrecks cant be crushed and have to be demolished
- barb wire may damage tires and tracks of vehicles
- limits on almost every support/armored unit
- heavy Infantry squads already have a bar / LMG when built.
- smoke Grenades for Infantry Squads to conceal movement.
- line Engineer Squads cannot repair tanks or vehicles anymore.Special vehicle repair crews or repair stations have to be used to repair them.
- and so on and so on - but maybe test it out yourself.
The in-game doctrines have been changed to reflect historical units, read more below[]
Airborne Division:
becomes the defensive tree. You have a lot of powerful infantry like airborne infantry, AT-teams and heavy mortars, but only little choice of heavy artillery or vehicles force you to really use airborn tactics - dig in and wait for the Cavalry.
Doctrines will even strengthen your infantries combat value, until you get full ( and I mean that!!) air support in the late game.
( note: during the real battle, both US Airborn Divisions were transferred to the battlefield by trucks -
so you wont be able to paradrop in this mod, either. )
units: engineers,scouts, riflemen, mg, sniper, airborne infantry, heavy mortars, Antitank squads, vehicle repair squads,
vehicles: jeep, deuce and a half, m3 halftrack, 76mm AT. 57mm AT, m1 75mm Howitzer Sherman, Sherman Croc, m10
Infantry Division:
still well rounded, with good defensive and artillery units,
combat engineers and fair armor. Doctrines give you more production bonuses and send armored
combat groups to the battlefield.
units: engineers, scouts, riflemen, mg, sniper, combat engineers, rangers, mortars, Company HQ
vehicles: jeep, deuce and a half, m8 Greyhound, m3 halftrack, 57mm AT, m2 105mm Howitzer
Sherman, Sherman Croc, m10, Sherman 105, Sherman 76mm
Armoured Division:
Like in vCoH, this is the most powerful, but slowest to build Division... but mobile artillery like priest, and many tanks like the Sherman Easy Eight and the M36 let you gain the initiative.
You will even receive tank reinforcements by the British.
units: engineers, scouts, riflemen, mg, sniper, armored infantry, mortars,
vehicles: jeep, deuce and a half, M8 Greyhound, M3 halftrack, M5 Stuart, 57mm AT, M7 Priest, Sherman Calliope, Sherman M4, Sherman Croc, M10, Sherman 105, Sherman M4A3E8, Jumbo Sherman, M36
7th Army
Consist of Volksgrenadier and heavy Fallschirmjager Infantry, light artillery and heavy antitank equipment, Mobile units are mostly antitank...the doctrine gives you enhanced defensive options like trenches as well as some armored support.
units: Pioneers, Scouts, Volks, Fallschirmjager Infantry, Sniper, MG, Mortar, Company HQ
vehicles: Opel Blitz, Sdkfz 251 Halftrack, 75mm Pak 40, SdKfz 222 251/16 Flamehalftrack, Nebelwerfer, leFH 18 105 mm Howitzer, Ostwind, Hetzer, Jagpanzer IV, Tiger I, Kingtiger and 88mm Flak 36 (offmap)
5th Panzerarmy
The most rounded tree... good Infantry units like Panzergrenadiere, some early ATs, mobile Artillery and fair battle tanks as well as doctrinal refitting options and powerful offmap units like Jagdpanther and Sturmtiger
units: Pioneers, Scouts, Volks, Panzergrenadiere, Sniper, MG, Mortar, Company HQ, Fallschirmjager ( offmap )
vehicles: Opel Blitz, Sdkfz 251 Halftrack, 50 mm Pak 38, SdKfz 234, Puma, 251/16 Flamehalftrack, Stuka zu Fuß, Wespe Ostwind,Panzer IV H, Panther, Jagdpanther, Sturmtiger (offmap)
6th SS Panzerarmy
Focussing on heavy mobile Firepower... mobile artillery units like Hummel and Maultier and the heaviest tank in the game, the Kingtiger, give you full force in your advance.Fanaticism boosts your troops fighting spirit and the hidden "Operation Griffon" Teams spread sabotage and confusion behind enemy lines.
units: Pioneers, Scouts, Volks, Waffen SS Panzergrenadiere, Sniper, MG, Mortar, Company HQ
vehicles: Opel Blitz, Schwimmwagen, Sdkfz 251 Halftrack, 251/16 Flamehalftrack, SdKfz 234/1, Puma, Panzerwerfer 42, Hummel, Wirbelwind, Panzer IV H, Panther, Kingtiger, Ostwind (offmap)