Company of Heroes 2: The British Forces

Company of Heroes 2: The British Forces is the final standalone multiplayer expansion for Relic Entertainment’s Company of Heroes 2. Released in September 2015, this expansion was the last major piece of the puzzle, officially rounding out the game’s massive roster to a total of five heavily asymmetrical, highly competitive factions.

Just like The Western Front Armies, this was released as a standalone product. You could buy it for a fraction of the cost of the full game, boot it up, and immediately take the British Army into the global matchmaking pool to fight against players using the Soviets, Ostheer, USF, or OKW.

While the British forces had appeared in the 2006 original game (via the Opposing Fronts expansion), Relic completely redesigned how they played for CoH2. They abandoned the mobile “Command Trucks” of the first game to create an army that perfectly encapsulated the stubborn, deeply entrenched, and highly methodical nature of the WWII British military.

Gameplay Mechanics: The Masters of Defense

The British are arguably the most defensive faction in the entire Company of Heroes 2 sandbox. Playing them requires a slow, tactical, and highly deliberate mindset.

Key mechanical innovations for the British include:

• Cover Dependency: The core British infantry—the Infantry Section (or “Tommies”)—are incredibly unique. They receive a massive combat bonus when fighting from behind directional cover (like sandbags or craters). However, if they are caught out in the open, they suffer severe penalties to their accuracy and fire-rate. This forces players to methodically leap-frog from cover to cover rather than blindly charging into the fog of war.
• Emplacements and the “Brace” Mechanic: Royal Engineers can construct massive, highly durable defensive structures directly on the battlefield, including Bofors AA guns, heavy Mortar Pits, and devastating 17-pounder Anti-Tank guns. Because these emplacements are prime targets for enemy artillery, they have a unique Brace ability. When activated, the crew hunkers down; the emplacement cannot fire, but it receives a massive damage reduction, allowing it to survive direct hits from heavy barrages.
• Glider Deployments: Certain commanders allow the British to call in massive Royal Air Force (RAF) gliders that crash-land directly onto the battlefield. These gliders act as forward reinforcement points and can even spawn elite Commando infantry behind enemy lines.

The Defining Choice: Hammer vs. Anvil

The absolute defining feature of the CoH2 British faction is their late-game tech tree. Once you reach the final tier of your base, you cannot unlock everything. You are forced to make a permanent choice between two distinct military doctrines:

• The Hammer Specialization (Aggression): Designed for mobility and offensive pushes. Choosing the Hammer unlocks the incredibly fast, hard-hitting Comet Cruiser Tank, allows your engineers to track enemy vehicle movements, and grants your infantry the ability to sprint.
• The Anvil Specialization (Defense): Designed to hold the line and bleed the enemy dry. Choosing the Anvil unlocks the slow, heavily armored Churchill Heavy Tank, grants you access to devastating heavy artillery barrages, and significantly upgrades the repair speed and durability of your static emplacements.

Audio, Animation, and Aesthetic Upgrades

The British Forces didn’t just add a new faction; it brought a massive quality-of-life update to the entire game. Relic utilized newly recorded motion-capture data to completely overhaul the infantry animations (like vaulting, sprinting, and firing SMGs), which was retroactively applied to all previously released factions.

Furthermore, the audio design for the British is widely considered the best in the game. Relic hired a massive cast of international voice actors to ensure the army actually sounded like a unified force of the British Empire. Your squads feature thick, distinct regional accents—from posh English officers to working-class Scottish, Welsh, and Irish infantry. The banter between the squads is hilarious, cynical, and deeply authentic.

Development and Legacy

Released in September 2015, The British Forces was highly praised for successfully balancing a heavily defensive faction in a game entirely reliant on aggressive map control. While balancing their static emplacements against the highly mobile German factions caused some early meta headaches, Relic relentlessly patched the game.

With the addition of the British, Company of Heroes 2 finally reached its ultimate form. It solidified the game as the undisputed king of the WWII RTS genre for nearly a decade, creating a deeply complex, 5-way asymmetrical multiplayer ecosystem that maintained tens of thousands of daily players until the release of Company of Heroes 3.

Key Features:

• Hammer or Anvil — Master a dynamic tech tree that forces you to choose between highly mobile armored aggression or impenetrable, heavy-artillery defense in the late game.
• Positional Warfare — Command elite Tommy infantry that excel when fighting from hard cover but are vulnerable when caught in the open.
• Static Emplacements — Lock down the map by building Bofors cannons and Mortar Pits, utilizing the “Brace” mechanic to survive enemy bombardment.
• Incredible Audio Design — Experience the war through the voices of a highly diverse cast featuring authentic regional accents from across the United Kingdom.
• The Final Faction — The ultimate standalone expansion that officially rounded out the Company of Heroes 2 multiplayer roster.

Release Platforms:

• Microsoft Windows (PC) — September 3, 2015
• macOS & Linux — 2015
• (Currently available on Steam, functioning natively as an integrated part of the complete Company of Heroes 2 multiplayer client).