About Back to Basics

Back to Basics is a full conversion mod for Company of Heroes and its expansions. The aim of the mod is to create an environment that respects the nature of the original Company of Heroes gameplay, while expanding core features to put further focus on tactics, proper decision making, and player skill. Back to Basics can be played PvP, but also features AI opponents capable of challenging battle-hardened players.

Company of Heroes: Back to Basics has active development. We continue to develop the mod to consistently improve the core gameplay, game balance and overall player experience.

About the Game

• New Content

  Back to Basics features over 30 brand new units spread across the four factions, while existing ones were revised to fit the core gameplay the mod offers. Each unit was carefully selected and designed, offering diversity while retaining clear unit roles and purposes to avoid unnecessary unit overlap. Many of the original core unit designs and envisioned roles were kept intact to retain a sense of familiarity, yet were expanded upon to enhance the overall depth and complementary dynamic between units.
  
  Command Trees have been expanded to permit various progression paths that synergise with various faction strategies. The nodes for each branch were shuffled around to offer more interesting choices throughout, while also mitigating the evident power differences between branches. Practically every feature in each of the Command Trees received some attention; from minor balance adjustments and bug fixes, to fully revised functionality of certain abilities, units, and upgrades, and plenty of new content has been added with the aim to broaden the versatility of each tree.
  

• New gameplay mechanics & enhanced combat

  Along with new units, abilities, upgrades, and command trees, the mod features an entirely new weapon damage model as well as brand new gameplay mechanics. The damage model is generally more lethal with a lower time-to-kill than the base game. At the same time it is as fair, balanced, and consistent as possible with almost all instances of instant squad wipes removed from the game. New gameplay mechanics featured in Back to Basics include “Enfilading fire”; squads receiving fire from multiple directions are prone to taking more damage, “Anti-blob”; clumped up infantry squads receive penalties to their overall combat effectiveness, and “Regeneration”; infantry squads out of combat will slowly regenerate hitpoints over time.
  
  Those who take the time to understand and adapt to the enhanced damage model and mechanics will find that the battles are dynamic, with a wide spectrum of playstyles being viable. The impact of utilising different types of weaponry is strong and worthwhile, as each weapon has a unique role and performance. Consequently, proper army composition and unit positioning are essential factors that players have to consider in order to turn battles into their favour.
  

• AI as core feature

  Back to Basics touches every aspect of Company of Heroes AI as well as introducing entirely new features for an experience that is unique to Company of Heroes as a whole. All combat logic is replaced with custom functionality - individual units are more aware of their surroundings and have much more complex behaviour. ​AI difficulty scaling no longer relies on scaling unit hitpoints.
  
  
  Custom logic for spreading out units across the map allows the AI to have a good variety of head-on engagements as well as flanking attacks. Larger-scale AI decisions and unit purchase logic have been remade almost entirely from scratch. Changes include fixes to major bugs, a massive rebalance of existing and newly added functionality, and full integration of the mod's unique content and features. The result is a dynamic AI that is much more aware of the various unit class interactions, continuously trying to counter whatever the player is fielding. Our implementation of AI build orders and personality randomisation should result in diverse choices of tech paths and army compositions game to game.
  
  AI now has custom functionality for closing in on and assaulting positions, taking cover, pulling back and retreating. Various unit classes also feature custom behavior, such as general vehicle combat, team weapon utilisation, HQ truck setup, indirect fire unit control (barraging, avoidance of danger), and capability to recognize specific threat types.
  
  All-in-all, players may experience a refreshed AI battle experience, featuring 8 AI difficulties that can be challenging and unpredictable for all skill levels, while also being both fair and enjoyable to play against.
  

• Full campaign compatibility

  Campaign compatibility is supported for all three major campaigns (Invasion of Normandy, Liberation of Caen, and Operation Market Garden), as well as the three tales of valour (Tiger Ace, Causeway, and Falaise Pocket). The campaigns have seen major enhancements and fixes to many of the iconic missions and objectives. Scenarios now also incorporate many of the mod's unique content and features for an overall refreshed experience.
  

• Quality of Life

  Back to Basics features an array of adjustments that aim to improve the overall player experience. Changes range from minor bug fixes to overhauled mechanics and gameplay features, including more responsive unit behaviour and vehicle pathing as well as the elimination of the "invincible at 5% health" bug for vehicles.