Fresh Company of Heroes 3 trailer shows “defensive” Wehrmacht

In the runup to Company of Heroes 3's February 2023 release, Relic's WW2 RTS game just got a new gameplay trailer showing the Wehrmacht faction

Company of Heroes 3 trailer wehrmacht sizzle - SEGA screenshot showing in game Wehrmacht troops and a Tiger I tank

Developer Relic Entertainment unveiled its latest Company of Heroes 3 trailer on Wednesday, detailing the core characteristics and playstyle of the German Wehrmacht playable faction. One of four playable factions that’ll be in Relic’s flagship World War 2 PC strategy game at launch, Wednesday’s Wehrmacht Sizzle Trailer summarises the faction as “defensive, battle-hardened, intimidating”.

“The Wehrmacht rely on several formidable infantry units and heavy armoured vehicles,” the trailer explains, adding “with enough experience they become capable of prodigious feats, both on the offensive and when holding key objectives”.

“The German war machine starts as a defensive behemoth and, once its gears are in motion, it becomes nearly unbreakable.”

A SEGA press release accompanying the trailer says the Wehrmacht’s tech structure is where it’ll “feel most different” to players, offering a new set of choices in how to tech up and which priorities to choose.

“Players will make a choice between investing further in their buildings, unlocking units such as the Wirbelwind or StuG, or progressing upwards to the likes of the Panzer IV”, says SEGA.

“Additionally, Transfer Orders will also allow you to exchange your Grenadiers for Panzergrenadiers or Jaeger Infantry as the game progresses.”

Company of Heroes 3 trailer wehrmacht sizzle - SEGA photo showing the game's logo with soldier characters and a beach with tanks

The SEGA release also confirms that “iconic weapons” the Tiger I heavy tank and Flak 36 artillery gun are units in the game, while it name drops two brand new Wehrmacht units:

  • 20cm Flak
  • Fallschirmpioniere (Parachute Pioneers)

It comes after CoH3 US Forces Sizzle Trailer, published on September 28, encapsulated that faction as “aggressive, adaptable, overwhelming” – reliant on their combined arms tactics and pre-emptive attack strategies to swamp enemies before they’re able to dig in and upgrade their units.

The scheduled Company of Heroes 3 release date is February 23, 2023, and we’ll expect to see at least two more of these ‘faction focus’ videos before then, detailing the other two CoH3 factions at launch: the British Forces and the Deutsche Afrika Korps (DAK).

Ahead of that, SEGA says CoH3 gameplay designers Jason Zhang and Marco Fiore will be running a “deep dive livestream” about the development and details of the new Wehrmacht faction via the Relic Twitch channel at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm GMT on Thursday, November 24.

In the meantime, check out our guides to the best WW2 games ever (featuring Company of Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault) and the best RTS games on PC. For tabletop conflicts, try our guide to the best war board games.