Company of Heroes 3: David Milne (1942-4)
David Milne - A mission builder on Company of Heroes 3
In this fascinating episode we talk to the game developer David Milne about his historical work on the hugely popular real time strategy game Company of Heroes 3. Milne takes us back to the Mediterranean theatre of World War II, from Tobruk in North Africa to Anzio in Italy, as we learn how games developers faithfully evoke the past.
Company of Heroes 3 is the latest instalment in the multi-million selling Company of Heroes franchise. Developed by Relic Entertainment in Vancouver, the game has been enthusiastically critically received. Gaming Trend called it ‘a masterpiece’. The reviewer for the NME described it as ‘fiercely intelligent.’ In this episode we set out to find out why. Scroll below, too, to explore the fascinating accompanying site: The Briefing Room.
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The Mediterranean theatre was one of World War 2’s most bitterly fought and decisive areas of conflict. The fighting took place in wildly contrasting geographies, from the deserts of North Africa to the steep hills and jagged coastlines of southern Italy. In this episode David Milne takes us back to three of the vital battles and he explains how the developers of Company of Heroes 3 interacted with the original history as they went about building distinctive missions.
Explore The Briefing Room and learn much more about the history inside Company of Heroes 3.
The Battle of Tobruk
The first of these battles took place at the Libyan port of Tobruk in June 1942. For months before this date Tobruk had held out against German attacks, being saved by the heroic fighting of units like the 9th Australian. The epic story of the siege had become a huge moral boost back home in Great Britain.
In June 1942, however, Tobruk’s defences began to crumble. On one single day, 20 June, the Allies were subject to a huge assault by Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps. After such long and stubborn resistance, Tobruk fell in a single, calamitous day. Hearing news of the defeat, Churchill was said to have been stunned. It was one of the gravest setbacks of the war.
Ortona and Anzio
The other battles that Milne describes have a very different outcome and they are fought following the Allied Invasion of Italy in 1943. The first of these occurs in the ‘Bloody December’ of that year and it involves Canadian troops fighting in the devastated town of Ortona on the Italian Adriatic coast.
Canadian Armour Passing Through Ortona, by Dr. Charles Comfort (Wiki Commons)
During the war Ortona gained the name of ‘Little Stalingrad’. It was a place where the German troops decided to make a valiant stand against the Allied forces.
The fighting was brutal and it played out at close quarters. Just about every building in the town was destroyed while Sherman tanks rolled through the streets and snipers lay concealed among the ruins.
Milne explains one technique known as ‘mouse-holding’ which was vital in Ortona, whereby the soldiers zig-zagged up and down through the buildings to clear out the enemy combatants.
The final in the trio of battles takes place at Anzio on the western Italian coast in the early months of 1944. Anzio was a fascinating episode in the war. Here, at the birthplace of Nero and Caligula, the Allies decided to try and establish a beachhead far behind the stubbornly impenetrable Gustav Line.
A mix of American and British soldiers made a successful landing at Anzio in January of 1944. While this first part of the operation went forward without difficulty, the situation quickly changed. What was intended as a brave and inspired disruptive plan soon began to look like a terrible miscalculation. For the German commander Albert Kesselring, the vulnerable troops on the beach at Anzio were to be destroyed in much the same manner that a previous Allied force had been in Dunkirk four years before.
By mid-February 1944 the Germans had pushed the Allies right back into their beachhead, and they were left clinging onto their last frail lines of defence. Three months would pass before the combined forces at Anzio were relieved. During that time the soldiers were forced to endure constant artillery barrages from guns like the infamous ‘Anzio Annie’, while hiding in tunnels and plotting their escape.
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All of these battles feature in Company of Heroes 3.
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Show Notes
Scene One: June 1942, Second Battle of Tobruk
Scene Two: December 1943, Battle of Ortona
Scene Three: March 1944, Anzio Beachhead
Memento: As many soldiers’ memoirs as he can carry
People/Social
Presenter: Peter Moore
Guest: David Milne
Production: Maria Nolan
Podcast partner: SEGA
Follow us on Twitter: @tttpodcast_
See other World War 2 Podcasts
About Company of Heroes 3
The Company of Heroes gaming franchise is long established and immensely popular. It began in 2006 with the launch of the original Company of Heroes, which was set France and based around the events of Operation Overlord. A follow up was was issued in 2013 that dealt with the Red Army and the Eastern Front. In February Company of Heroes 3 was launched. Developed by Relic Entertainment in Vancouver, it focusses on the Mediterranean theatre of World War 2.
The Briefing Room
To accompany the launch of Company of Heroes 3, SEGA have developed a content-rich website called The Briefing Room, which explores the Italian and North African campaigns that are depicted in the game. At The Briefing Room history fans can learn all about the realities of desert warfare; they can read biographies of key leaders, and browse interactive maps. Four expert historians have helped in the development of The Briefing Room. Professor Simon Ball explains all about El Alamein. Matthew Parker describes why the fighting at Monte Cassino was so bitter. And Dr Robert Lyman contributes to a feature called The Longest Siege: Tobruk, the Battle that Saved North Africa. To find out more click here.