Company of Heroes 2 kicks off next year with WWII's bloodiest conflict

Company of Heroes 2 kicks off with Operation Barbaraossa.

Company of Heroes 2 will put players in command of the Soviet Red Army starting with 1941's Operation Barbarossa as they defend against a German push into Russia, THQ confirmed this morning.

The PC game, due out next year, will use Relic Entertainment's Essence 3.0 Engine to help place players in the snowy Eastern Front setting of the first full sequel to 2006's Company of Heroes.

Operation Barbarossa was one of the most brutal conflicts during World War II. The Axis 1941 offensive saw a full-scale invasion of more than 3.9 million troopers into the frozen Soviet Union. The offensive involved 600,000 motor vehicles and 750,000 horses. The bloody conflict resulted in 95 percent of all Germany Army casualties from 1941 to 1944 and 65 percent of all Allied military casualties accumulated throughout World War II. That single operation resulted in more than 6.4 million casualties. The game will have players take command of the Soviet Army as you fight off the invasion and then push back German forces all of the way to Berlin.

We still don't know a lot about the game, but according to the website that went live this morning, it will include "innovative Dynamic Battle Tactics," increased graphical fidelity, new environmental destruction and new Commander Abilities.

The game also replaces traditional strategy-game fog of war with something THQ is calling TrueSight which they say means that unit visibility on the battlefield will rely on true and proper line of sight. It sounds like the core Company of Hero experience won't change which of course includes online multiplayer.

Today's unveiling confirms last week's leaked scan from the UK version of PC Gamer.