Company of Heroes 3 has two campaigns for you to try out. One is more straightforward, taking place in the deserts of North Africa where you’ll see a clash between the Afrika Korps and British Forces. The other is set in Italy, where the Allied advance attempts to capture German-held territories. The latter has numerous mechanics for you to master, including the control of companies, management of resources, crushing hostile defenses, and earning upgrades. Here’s our Company of Heroes 3 Italy Dynamic Campaign Map guide to help you with the basic mechanics and core gameplay functions that you can expect in this mode.
Note: For more information, check out our Company of Heroes 3 guides and features hub.
Company of Heroes 3 Italy Dynamic Campaign Map guide
The basics
The Company of Heroes 3 Italy Dynamic Campaign Map has many similarities to grand strategy or turn-based strategy titles (i.e., the Total War series). It’s not a straightforward romp where you go from one mission to the next. Rather, you’ll be given turns to move your forces to assault locations or hostiles. The only time a real-time strategy (RTS) battle occurs is when your company meets an opposing force on the overworld map. But, before we get to the action, let’s discuss the different types of areas that you can capture, as well as related mechanics:
- Ports – Allows you to purchase additional companies and ships; increases population cap so you can field more units; adds manpower resources.
- Munitions Depots – Adds munitions resources used by artillery, aircraft, and targeted abilities (i.e, bombardment).
- Fuel Depots – Adds fuel resources used to produce companies, ships, and aircraft; armor-type companies (i.e., tanks) require more fuel than infantry-type companies.
- Hospitals – Can heal companies to full.
- Airfields – Allows you to send out planes to serve different roles on the overworld map. We discuss air power and air support further down below.
- Partisan Hubs – Symbolized by a dagger, Partisan Hubs let you use the sabotaging skills of the Italian Resistance. You can learn more in our Partisan Hubs/Actions guide.
- Supply – Denoted by a box with a check mark, supplies represent the overall combat capabilities of a unit.
- This resource affects a company’s movement range, as well as its strength when autoresolving.
- In friendly territory, you can +30 supplies each turn; you lose -10 supplies each turn when in enemy territory.
- A company that is out of supply will lose health each turn.
- Population Cap – As mentioned earlier, this is increased when you capture Ports. This value represents the total number of companies, detachments, naval vessels, and aircraft that you’re allowed to field at any given time.
- Defenses and other emplacements – As you advance further, you might see small emplacements dotting the countryside. These will deal damage to your companies if they pass within range.
- Terrain – Different kinds of terrain will affect your troops, too:
- Roads allow companies to move across great distances, though they’re out in the open. This is dangerous if enemy detachments are roaming nearby.
- Plains offer normal cover and normal movement.
- Forests slow down your movement, though they’ll camouflage your forces.
- Hills also slow down your movement, but you’ll have a wider vision range to see your surroundings.
- Decisions and loyalty – You’ll periodically receive messages from leaders of Allied command. Your choices here will, eventually, unlock rewards. We discuss these in our Loyalty mechanic and rewards guide.
Screenshot by PC Invasion
Capturing towns and naval bombardment
Next up, let’s talk about how you’ll capture towns in the Company of Heroes 3 Italy Dynamic Campaign Map. You’ll use your companies here for the most part. Here’s the gist:
- Select a company and right-click on a town. If the company still has an action point, they’ll capture it within the turn.
- An exception to this rule is if the town has defenses, denoted by a shield icon. One shield/defense can be removed via a direct attack with a company, ship bombardment, aerial bombardment, or the Partisan Capture Target action.
Related: You can learn more in our town capture and defenses guide.
Real-time battles and auto-resolve
As cited earlier, the Company of Heroes 3 Italy Dynamic Campaign Map is where you’ll move and reposition your units. However, once two opposing companies are engaged, that’s when you can partake in real-time battles. A few of them are scripted and part of the campaign itself, while others are dependent on when and where you’d encounter hostiles. Factors such as terrain (i.e., open-fields) or defending in a town (i.e. sieges) will also come into play. Lastly, there are instances where you’d be able to auto-resolve a battle, though your company’s strength (i.e., based on supplies) will be considered.
Screenshot by PC Invasion
Airfields and air support
Once you control an airfield in the Company of Heroes 3 Italy Dynamic Campaign Map, you’ll be able to use different types of planes that have unique roles for both overworld and battlefield action:
- L-2 Grasshopper (Reconnaissance)
- Overworld: Recon Loiter – Reveal nearby towns, defenses, and hostile forces.
- Battlefield: Recon Run – Reveal an area of the map.
- C-47 Douglas (Transport)
- Overworld: Supply Drop – Replenish a company’s health, supplies, movement points, and action points.
- Overworld: Paradrop Company – Move a garrisoned airborne or special forces company to a targeted location or another airfield.
- Overworld: Transport Company – Move any type of company to another airfield.
- P-47 Thunderbolt (Fighter)
- Overworld: Air Supremacy Loiter – Damages any enemy aircraft that moves within the designated area.
- Battlefield: Strafing Run – Shoots hostile troops on the battlefield to support your forces.
- B-25 Mitchell (Bomber)
- Overworld: Bombing Run – Weakens a town’s defenses.
- Battlefield: Bombing Run – Drops bombs over an area to support your forces.
Unit upgrades and abilities
Lastly, the more you use your companies in successful engagements in the Company of Heroes 3 Italy Dynamic Campaign Map, the more XP they’ll acquire. This lets you unlock new perks, such as:
- Abilities – Think of these as special commands that are actively used while you’re in battles. Examples include calling in a Gurkha Rifles squad, a Valentine Command Tank, boosting speed and offense with a War Cry, or unleashing an Airburst Barrage.
- Upgrades – For the most part, these are passives. They boost certain functions like defense, cost reduction, suppression, veterancy ranks, and more.
- Units – Each company has a default set of units that can be recruited in barracks and other buildings. You’ll be able to unlock more to complement your squads as time goes by.
Screenshot by PC Invasion
Company of Heroes 3 is available via Steam.
