Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts

Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts is the massive, critically acclaimed 2007 standalone expansion to Relic Entertainment’s World War II real-time strategy masterpiece.

Rather than just releasing a traditional expansion pack that required the base game to run, THQ and Relic made a brilliant consumer-friendly move: Opposing Fronts was entirely standalone. If you purchased it, you could immediately jump into multiplayer and use the two brand-new factions to fight against players who only owned the original game. It essentially doubled the scope, asymmetry, and tactical depth of the Company of Heroes universe.

The Two New Factions: Absolute Asymmetry

The original game featured the highly adaptable US Forces and the heavily entrenched German Wehrmacht. Opposing Fronts introduced two radically different armies that completely shattered the established multiplayer meta:

• The British 2nd Army: The undisputed masters of defense and artillery. The British play completely differently from any other faction because they do not build traditional base structures. Instead, their base consists of massive Command Trucks that can pack up and drive to newly captured territory, securing the sector and boosting its resource output. British infantry (Tommies) move slowly but can dig deep trenches anywhere on the map, supported by a unique officer-buff system (Lieutenants and Captains) and devastating, map-spanning 25-pounder artillery emplacements.
• The Panzer Elite: The exact opposite of the British. Based on the real-world Kampfgruppe Lehr, the Panzer Elite are built entirely around hyper-mobility and mechanized infantry. They lack the massive, heavy tanks of the standard Wehrmacht in the early game. Instead, they rely on swarms of highly upgradable half-tracks, armored cars, and elite Panzergrenadier infantry who can heal, repair vehicles on the fly, and dynamically upgrade their weapons based on the situation.

The Campaigns: Two Sides of the War

Because the expansion added two new factions, it also delivered two distinct, highly cinematic single-player campaigns that showed the war from both the Allied and Axis perspectives.

• The Liberation of Caen (British Campaign): A grueling, nine-mission campaign following the British 3rd Battalion. Set immediately after the D-Day landings, you are tasked with breaking the stalemate around the heavily fortified French city of Caen. The missions heavily emphasize the British doctrine of slow, methodical advances, utilizing creeping artillery barrages and massive glider-borne infantry drops to secure the city block by block.
• Operation Market Garden (Panzer Elite Campaign): A fascinating, challenging eight-mission campaign played entirely from the German perspective. You command Kampfgruppe Lehr during the ill-fated Allied airborne invasion of the Netherlands in September 1944. Your objective is not to conquer, but to desperately hold the line, repelling massive waves of American and British paratroopers attempting to secure the bridges across the Rhine.

Engine Upgrades and Dynamic Weather

Opposing Fronts didn’t just add content; it heavily upgraded Relic’s proprietary Essence Engine.

Key technical additions included:

• DirectX 10 Support: The game pushed 2007 PC hardware to its absolute limits, introducing vastly improved lighting, softer shadows, and incredibly detailed vehicle textures.
• Dynamic Weather and Day/Night Cycles: The expansion introduced fully functional weather systems. Matches could start in the bright morning sun and seamlessly transition into a pouring, pitch-black midnight thunderstorm. This wasn’t just visual; heavy rain would dynamically muddy the dirt roads, physically slowing down tanks and infantry.

Development and Legacy

Released in September 2007, Opposing Fronts was universally praised. Critics and hardcore players loved how the British and Panzer Elite forced players to completely rethink their established build orders and map control strategies.

It perfectly complemented the base game, turning the multiplayer into a deeply complex, four-way asymmetric chess match. The standalone model was also a massive success, heavily boosting the game’s player base. In 2009, Relic would follow it up with one final standalone expansion, Tales of Valor, which added new micro-campaigns and alternative vehicles for all four factions.

Today, in 2026, the fragmentation of standalone expansions is a thing of the past. If you purchase the modern Company of Heroes – Legacy Edition on Steam, the British 2nd Army, the Panzer Elite, and their respective campaigns are fully integrated into the complete package, ensuring the definitive WWII RTS experience is perfectly preserved.

Key Features:

• Two Radically New Factions — Master the mobile base trucks and heavy artillery of the British 2nd Army, or swarm the map with the hyper-mobile half-tracks of the Panzer Elite.
• Standalone Multiplayer — Originally released as a standalone product, allowing new players to immediately jump into competitive matchmaking against owners of the base game.
• Dual Campaigns — Fight to liberate the city of Caen as the British, or desperately repel the Allied airborne invasion during Operation Market Garden as the Germans.
• Dynamic Environments — Experience the horrors of war with upgraded DirectX 10 graphics, featuring dynamic day/night cycles and terrain-altering weather.
• The Complete Roster — Flawlessly integrated into modern digital storefronts alongside the base game and Tales of Valor expansion.

Release Platforms:

• Microsoft Windows (PC) — September 25, 2007
• macOS & Linux — 2012
• iOS (iPad) & Android — 2021 (Released as a DLC expansion for the mobile port of the base game).