There's a saying that's been attributed to both the Russians and the Finnish. "There is no such thing as cold weather, only the wrong kind of clothing." 1941 saw a horrendous winter that caught the Nazis with their lederhosen down. They were so assured of their victory against the Russians that they only bothered to equip their troops with summer uniforms when the offensive began in June. Once winter hit, they were in for a harsh reality, one that Relic Entertainment intends to explore in their ColdTech system for Company of Heroes 2.
"We try not to do things that are just pretty; we really want them to have an effect on the gameplay," says Quinn Duffy, Company of Heroes 2's Game Director, and such is the case for the weather, which was so fierce that it was nicknamed "General Winter."
In an interview with Game Spy, Duffy explains, "General Winter is almost like having a third, neutral player...The Eastern Front was bitterly cold, especially the winter of '41 and '42, with temperatures reaching minus 40 degrees Celsius. In those kinds of conditions exposed flesh can freeze in just a couple of minutes, literally a couple of minutes, and you had tens of thousands of soldiers dying of exposure to the cold."
During the Nazi's 1941 invasion of the USSR, they incurred approximately 734,000 casualties during the first five months of the invasion. Additionally, their tanks and guns froze up along with trucks and aircraft. There were even reports Germans sawing the legs off dead Russians then heating them in ovens so they could thaw out and remove the boots, which offered better protection. But don't expect Relic to go that far. While it's not expected you'll have the option of sawing off limbs, you will be responsible for keeping your troops and equipment warm in other ways, huddled around fires, or staying in buildings, away from the harsh winter.
Says Duffy, "This becomes a vital part of gameplay, because you can deny your enemy by destroying buildings, or by destroying his campfires, or by knocking out his troop transports...Players are going to move around the world in a very dynamic manner, reacting to weather, and bringing in the right units at the right time."
Death by exposure, freezing rain, hail, sleet, and all out war. Fantastic...
Company of Heroes 2 is out for PC sometime in 2013.