Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor on Windows: Direct Fire Control and Three Episodic Campaigns

Direct Fire Control: Aiming, Firing, and Maneuvering in Real Time

Direct Fire Control is the label given to the interaction between a player's tactical and strategic decisions and the real-time battle itself. Rather than only setting broad orders, the player directs the fighting as it unfolds, so choices made at the tactical level carry into the strategic layer and vice versa. The game is a real-time strategy title for Windows, developed by Relic Entertainment and published by SEGA; its Steam product date is listed as 2009. The direct-fire framing is documented as a gameplay mechanic, and it sits alongside the expansion's new campaigns, units, and battlefields.

The mechanic is exercised across three episodic campaigns, each with its own missions and objectives in a persistent environment. In the first episode, the player controls Tiger Tank Ace Hauptmann Voss's highly decorated Tigergruppen against the British 7th Armored Division on D-Day. The second puts an American Paratrooper Company under command in the hours after the initial D-Day landings, while the third has the Wehrmacht Army holding off the advancing Allied army at the Falaise Pocket. Across these settings, direct-fire decisions and broader strategic choices interact during the battle.

New Units on the Field: Schwimmwagen and Staghound

Tales of Valor expands the vehicle roster with two new units, the Schwimmwagen and the Staghound. The Schwimmwagen is described as an amphibious, all-wheel drive off-road vehicle, giving players a machine built to keep moving across varied ground. The Staghound is characterized as a highly maneuverable 4x4 Armored Car, emphasizing speed and turning ability over raw bulk. Both are listed alongside new infantry as options available to commanders, so they join the existing forces rather than replacing them.

These additions connect to the direct-fire control system, since the player aims, fires, and maneuvers units in real time to exploit shifting battle conditions. The Schwimmwagen's amphibious, all-wheel drive design and the Staghound's maneuverable 4x4 chassis are the traits a commander works with when repositioning and engaging during a fight. Tactical and strategic decisions are both said to influence the battle, and the player also directly commands individual units on the field, so the two vehicles sit within that same layer of hands-on control.

Three Episodic Campaigns: Tiger Ace, Causeway, and Falaise Pocket

The expansion's three episodic adventures unfold across nine new missions, each episode presenting its own missions and objectives inside a persistent environment. Episode one, Tiger Ace, places the player in command of Tiger Tank Ace Hauptmann Voss and his highly decorated Tiger group against the British 7th Armored Division on D-Day. Episode two, Causeway, hands over an American paratrooper company in the hours after the initial D-Day landings. Episode three, Falaise Pocket, puts the Wehrmacht Army on the defensive, holding off the advancing Allied army.

The three settings move from a German armored push on D-Day to an American airborne deployment shortly after the landings and finally to a German defensive stand at Falaise Pocket. Each episode's missions and objectives sit within a persistent environment, so what carries over between missions forms part of the structure rather than resetting with every fight. The player's tactical and strategic decisions are documented as influencing the battle in these campaigns, and the same expansion supplies new units, three multiplayer modes, and new abilities to master. The Steam product date is listed as 2009.

Three Multiplayer Modes: Panzerkrieg, Assault, and Stonewall

The expansion adds three multiplayer modes, each with a distinct role for the player. In Panzerkrieg, a player becomes a tank commander and squares off against enemy armor. Assault has each player choose a hero unit and join the battle to push back enemy lines. Stonewall takes a cooperative posture: players team up and defend against waves of attackers. All three are presented as modes to experience with friends, giving the multiplayer side a tank-duel option, a hero-led push, and a shared defensive stand.

Each mode assigns a concrete battlefield job rather than a generic skirmish. Panzerkrieg narrows command to a tank commander dueling opposing armor, Assault centers on selecting one hero unit and pressing forward to roll back the enemy line, and Stonewall pools players' defenses against successive attacking waves. These modes arrive alongside new maps drawn from famous battles such as Villers-Bocage for competitive online play. The title is a Windows strategy game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by SEGA.

First published Oct 21, 2026.