COH 1.5 Patch Out Now!

[Mr_Skiff]

My god this is going to be game changing!

-Buggo

Please try to read this with an open mind until you play the actual changes!

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Company of Heroes Release Notes
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v1.5

New Maps
2p_Beaux Lowlands
4p_Lyon

General Fixes
- Games with friends now have a friend icon displayed when browsing the lobby game list.
- Messages regarding game connection attempts are logged to the chat window for all players in the session.
- Rank icons now indicate the type of game the rank was earned in.
- Games with players who have infinite pings now display an "X" for ping in the lobby game list.
- New game list filtering options added to the online lobby.
- Custom maps are now properly supported in multiplayer.
- Losing connection with the lobby while downloading a patch no longer crashes the game.

Sound
- UI sounds have been added to the online lobby.
- Auto match sound notification has been improved.
- Various speech fixes for weapons have been implemented and tuned.
- Destruction sounds have been added to various world objects.
- Repetition has been reduced in battle chatter and with various units.

Gameplay
Sherman Calliope:
- Sherman Calliope’s main tank gun has been removed and the Calliope Barrage ability is now free to use.
- Sherman Calliope Barrage range increased from 130 to 150 meters.
- Sherman Calliope now has cap of 2, similar to the Pershing Heavy Tank.
- Sherman Calliope cost reduced from 600 Manpower to 560 Manpower.
- Sherman Calliope Barrage ability recharge timer increased to 105 seconds
M10 Tank Destroyer:
- Allied M10 Movement improved: 15% increase to acceleration and 10% increase rotation rate.
- Allied M10 Tank Destroyer weapon damage has been increased and Fuel cost has been reduced by 5.
- Axis Armoured Car (Puma) 20mm main cannon rear penetration vs. the Allied M10 significantly reduced.
M8 Armored Car:
- Allied M8 Armored Car’s accuracy on the move increased. Now on par with the M4 Sherman and M10 Tank Destroyer.
- Allied M8 Armored Car’s accuracy penalties vs. the Axis Armored Car (Puma) have been removed.
- Allied M8 Armored Car Armor upgrade Munitions cost reduced by 25.
M26 Pershing Heavy Tank:
- Allied Pershing penetration rate vs. the Stug increased to 80%.
- Axis Stug penetration rate vs. the Pershing has been reduced to 45% from 74.6%
Allied Commander Tree Improvements:
- Armoured Fury Branch changed to: Raid to Allied War Machine to Calliope.
- War Machine Branch changed to: Fast Deployment to Field Repairs to Pershing.
- Allied War Machine Command Point Cost reduced by 1
- Sherman Calliope Command Point Cost reduced by 1
Infantry AT weapon changes (Allies and Axis):
- All Infantry Anti-Tank weaponry (Bazooka, Recoilless Rifle, Panzerschreck) are slightly more accurate when firing at moving light targets.
- Allied Bazookas and Recoilless Rifles now deal slightly more damage to Light Vehicles
- Panzerfaust accuracy against infantry targets has been reduced as intended. While there is still a chance to directly hit and kill targets like snipers, - Panzerfausts are now more likely to cause splash damage rather than kill infantry.
- Panzerschreck Damage vs. base buildings lowered by 25%.
- Bazooka damage vs. base buildings has been lowered by 25%.
Allied BAR and suppression changes:
- Allied BAR Rifle upgrade now gives 2 BAR Rifles rather than 3. Allied BAR Riflemen squads will now be able to pick-up MG42 and Panzerschreck items
- Allied BAR Rifle damage increased by 40%.
- Allied BAR Rifle will take slightly longer to Pin units that are in a Suppressed state
- Allied BAR Suppression ability can no longer suppress and pin units in heavy cover.
Construction Changes:
- Players may no longer delete Sand Bags or Tank Traps.
- Allied Observation Post built from Riflemen now has the same build speed as the Observation Post built by Engineers.
- Allied Observation Posts, Axis Observation Posts, and Machine Gun Nests now have the appropriate target type while building; now like all other buildings they will be much more susceptible to damage while under construction
- Axis Volksgrenadiers can now utilize the same build menu as the Grenadiers – this allows them to construct Barbed Wire and Sand Bags.
Smoke Changes:
- All Barrage weapons no longer have a 50% chance to miss targets in Smoke.
- Projectiles will no longer pass directly through Sherman’s on registered “Misses” – they will now behave like all other tanks and those hits will be registered as a non-penetrated “deflection”.
- Sherman smoke launcher recharge rate was less than the duration of the ability, now set to 45 seconds
Axis Officer:
- Axis ‘Leutnant’ Manpower cost decreased to 260 from 340
- Axis ‘Leutnant’ Build Time increased to 60 from 30.
General Squad and Weapon Changes (Allies and Axis):
- All Snipers more effective against units garrisoned inside of bunkers.
- All Allied Rifles slightly more effective against Axis Motorcycles
- Allied Engineers with the Flamethrower upgrade are no longer resistant to Sniper Shots
- Fixed an issue where the Stug’s main gun Area-of-Effect was too effective against infantry squads.
- Axis Assault ability will now break pinning/suppression and prevent pinning/suppression while the ability is active.
- Increased Axis Infantry passive health regeneration bonus received from their first level of veterancy by 40%.
General Vehicle Changes (Allies and Axis):
- Panzer IV accuracy while moving set to the same value as other tanks.
- Axis Goliaths now destroy Tank Traps in a single explosion.
- Axis Armoured Car Puma 50mm Cannon upgrade now requires Escalate to Battle Phase upgrade.
- Axis Motorcycles damage vs. units in light or heavy cover has been slightly reduced
- Axis StuH 42 now effectively kills infantry as was originally intended
- Axis Armoured Car Puma 50mm Upgrade accuracy reduced vs. infantry. It is intended as an anti-armor upgrade.
General Heavy Weapon Team Changes (Allies and Axis):
- All Mortars now have a chance to deal Mobility Damage if they hit Light Vehicles.
- All Anti-Tank guns are now more accurate when firing at moving and stationary Light Vehicles.
- Allied 57mm Anti-Tank gun firing cone has been increased by 20 degrees to match Axis 50mm Anti-Tank gun.
- Allied HMG Armor Piercing Rounds ability price reduced from 50 to 35 munitions.
- Allied Howitzer Gun Barrage is less accurate when firing into the Fog of War.
- Axis Nebelwerfer Manpower cost has been reduced by 20
- Axis Nebelwerfer Rocket Suppression area of effect increased.
- Axis Nebelwerfer Rocket area of effect damaged reduced. Direct hits and near misses will still damage infantry units.
- Axis Nebelwerfer will deal a reduced amount of damage to units in light, heavy, bunker, and garrison cover types.
- Axis Flak 88’s are more resilient to Artillery, off-map attacks, and satchel charges (the crew manning them is not).
- Axis Flak 88’s and Nebelwerfers can now be re-manned by 2-man Pioneer squads.

[Scrobbs]

Undocumented changes noticed:

-Different noise plays when you select the Axis HQ and Wehrmacht Quarters. They sound better than the old selection sounds.
-Registered artillery now costs 135mu, up from 125mu.
-Officer forced retreat ability now 50mu, down from 75mu. However, it can now only target 1 squad at a time instead of an area.
-Allied AT gun from motor pool costs 280mp, down from 310mp.
-Not sure if this has been around pre-1.5, but I noticed that the pak38's camo tooltip says that it gets a "first strike bonus" when coming out of camo.

Had a quick blast on this last night with Hamachi (as Relic's servers seemed to be creaking under the weight of ~1K people downloading a 50 mb patch) - man! the M10's are like lightning! CPU skill seems to have been beefed a little too.

[NWA]

Some good changes in there imo, I might even consider some m10s in the future. Anyone played the new maps? Any good?

[Scrobbs]

A lot of people seem to be bitching about the allied 57mm being overpowered now. I always thought the axis 50mm was better that the allied 57mm anyway - could fire more often and was more accurate (or am I making it up?)

[NWA]

the allied gun has a longer range i think, though you obviously have to spot for it. with them increasing the firing cone that might mean you could stick one gun where there previously needed to be two. countering at will be the same though, stick infantry on them or use ranged attacks / off-map. If I was an axis player I'd be more worried about the 40% increase in BAR damage, they were already pretty kick arse even if there's now only 2 BARs per unit rather than 3 the 40% increase and the possibility of pick up (another BAR would probably make them the best anti infantry infantry and a panzerschrek would make them good all rounders) makes the rifleman unit absolutely lethal.

Still the game was biased to axis (just look at the record streaks) and these changes were made with levelling the playing field in mind.

[Rainy]

WOW some of those changes seems like there a very good start on the road to balancing some of the issues in CoH. *Cough cough* I think I have man flu comming on. Might have to take a sicky tonight

[Mr_Skiff]

Lo there Rainy! I thought you had Wii disease!

This would be a fine time to launch your trickery famous tourney inline with the new patch

I'm up for a few games tonight if anyone else is? The missus owes me because of yesterday!

[Inertiaman]

CalliopeNerf! Booo.

Those cheaper M8 upgrades must make them fearsome if rushed out.

[Rainy]

Originally Posted by Mr_Bishi

Lo there Rainy! I thought you had Wii disease!

This would be a fine time to launch your trickery famous tourney inline with the new patch

I'm up for a few games tonight if anyone else is? The missus owes me because of yesterday!

Dont have a wii matey lol.

Not been around due to work (dont you read TBM mails ) Doing nights again atm wich I hope finnishes on saturday. Yep will have to get somehting sorted with this tourney.

I should be up for a few games tonight if I can wrangle a night off hehe.

[Scrobbs]

Great idea Skiff. I think if we allow a couple of weeks to get everyone used to 1.5....?

Rainy, I'm off on hols on the 19th for a week - so if you wouldn't mind holding off for a while?

[wooly-back-jack]

got a link to full patch? or do I have to fart about with incrementals?

[Scrobbs]

Yeh incrementals I'm afraid.

[NWA]

Originally Posted by Inertiaman

CalliopeNerf! Booo.

Making their fire munitions free (when it previously cost 125 munitions) is pretty damn great. OK they're now no use on the front line but awesome to pound armour and AT on the back foot. It will mean I'll definitely go for the sherman first rather than getting the calliope on the field with the manpower. It does mean you can afford to upgrade the sherman anti infantry gun more though.

[Reprobate]

The calliope change is definately a step in the right direction, in both the reduction of its turreted gun and the removal of cost of firing the damn thing, id still like to see them trying to improve the pathing AI as its still very suspect at times. They also need to look at when you barrack up a building and it creates locked troops when they spawn as it still seems to happen far too frequently.

[Scrobbs]

Only 2 calliope's with a minute and 3/4 recharge time. So, if you time it right, with a front line of AT guns, you could get a barrage just under every minute. Could be good - unless flanked. People on the relic forums are saying the tier 2 Panzershrek from the volks tear crocs and shermans to pieces easily now, with a 90% hit rate. Could be interesting.

[wooly-back-jack]

http://www.companyofheroesgame.com/updates/

1.0 to 1.4 (105.9mb)
then 1.4 to 1.5 then? (need a link to this one)

[Scrobbs]

Here y'go dude

http://www.dowpatch.com/~cohpatch/coh_patch_15.html

[Rainy]

Originally Posted by Norfolk'n'Clue

Great idea Skiff. I think if we allow a couple of weeks to get everyone used to 1.5....?

Rainy, I'm off on hols on the 19th for a week - so if you wouldn't mind holding off for a while?

Not really much of a problem m8 as I was told today That im now going to be heading up the team on the next phase of the kings cross develpment. There sending me off to germany next week for four days, then stop off in Ireland for 3 days. After that I shall be on permanant nights right through untill early next year. Dont know wether to cry or laugh lol.

So it looks like im out of the whole tourney thing. I'll have to have a chat with venger at some point and see if he wants to carry it on without me.

[NWA]

if you're about now i can play.

[Mr_Skiff]

Wow Rainy that certaintly sounds like a shitter but think of the money hehe. You should still be about on the weekend though?

[NWA]

Just had the most amazing game on Lyon with Goose, I rushed for the fuel on the left and got it and built an MG bunker just north of it. I stuck an MG team in the back for good measure and then he rushed it with two engy squads and 5 groups of riflemen which got pinned quicker than it's taken me to type "pinned", and on went a fire storm. That must have hurt.

They went infantry and airborne and got some howies up with planes spotting everywhere, they obliterated my base multiple times with these, and hurt goose's considerably. They kept raiding my bridge and most of my defences were anti-infantry when they rushed across with 6 or 7 shermans. My grenadiers took out two before they got killed and assaulted my base and had it nearly in ruins, but Goose's tiger came over and heroed the 5 shermans and an incidental M8.

As we were recovering they stuffed an infantry rush over the bridge and took the strat point and munitions point from us until my tiger ace, volks and Goose's partially repaired tiger got rid of them. We recapped, I rebuilt and then we tiger rushed the middle bridge and took over and destroyed his howitzers. I capped the strat point and forward barracksed up, with a repair depot also there. I had lots and lots of manpower by that point as I'd had nothing to spend it on due to my base being rubble for a large part of the game.

We must have killed about 15 shermans and several anti tank with infantry and some stolen AT guns supporting our tigers. We grounded and pounded, I lost my tiger ace but as I said I had a dickload of manpower so it wasn't a problem, I just got another one up and we'd capped most of the left points up to his base, killed another 4 shermans before they finally quit.

An hour and 8 minutes of mostly frantic scrambling with a massive final push, certainly one of the best games I've played.

[Scrobbs]

Sounds ace! I think I heard snatches of that on Vent. Goose, "that arty is seriously starting to piss me off now."

[stepper]

yeh, they were off map kings, I timed the beginning of the rush just right cos I thought they had fuck all ammo left, and they didn't. Walked over the middle bridge, promptly dicked all his howies, they threw an army of shermans and at guns at us, and we didn't lose a single tiger.

Stormtroops/Grenadiers backing up a tank with shrecks seriously own tanks now, its a must.