I`m sure a lot of people wondered “What`s that supposed to mean??” the first time they heard the US Army`s “Army of One” tag line, but anyone that has played Call of Duty will know exactly what it means. “Johnson! Take out that machine gun!” “Johnson! Grab that Panzerfaust and stop those tanks!” “Johnson! We`ll wait here while you clear out that bunker, find the secret documents, learn to read German and decrypt them, fashion a rudimentary radio out of shell casings and a coffee can, and call in artillery.” One could certainly be forgiven for thinking the burden of the entire Allied effort had been placed on one pair of shoulders, while the Sergeants, Captains, and Generals just stood by and watched. Well, if you`ve ever spent any time hunkered down in a virtual fox hole dreaming about the day you could shake off the mud and take a leadership role, your time has come with Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, a stand alone expansion (isn`t that the same as saying sequel?) to the original Company of Heroes. Be careful, though, because things are not always what they seem. It night not be quite as easy as you assume to step into the boots of the guy that has to make the decisions.

The original Company of Heroes was reviewed by the lovely and talented John here, so I won`t spend a lot of time rehashing his observations. The basic game play is unchanged, so John`s descriptions will apply equally to Opposing Fronts. The difference in Opposing Fronts is in the armies that you will be associated with.

On the one side, you will be able to play as a member of the British 2nd Army (the 1st apparently never having recovered from its pwning in the Revolutionary War of 1775 – 1783) in a primarily offensive role fought for the umpteenth time over war-torn northern France in the summer of 1944. You will be fighting to gain control over the city of Caen (again!), but this time you will be calling the shots, so to speak.

On the other side, you will be leading a defensive battle as a member of the elite German Panzer Kampfgruppe, which loosely translates to “whatever collection of troops, trucks, tanks, and artillery pieces happen to be available.” Make no mistake, though: even as an ad-hoc collection of various components, or perhaps even because of the inherent flexibility of such a non-rigid structure, these groups were wildly effective. You will be defending against the Allied airborne assault of the Netherlands in Operation Market Garden. Students of history will recognize that assault as having eventually failing to attain its goals, but will also note that it was a hard fought battle for both sides. Interestingly, the ultimate failure of Market Garden is considered to be the result of the British 1st Airborne`s failure to secure the bridge at Arnhem. In any event, you will enter this campaign with history on your side, but that and $3 Euros will buy you a Skinny Latte in Caen. You`re still going to have to work to win it.

The excellent tutorial from the original Company of Heroes is also included in Opposing Fronts, but is enhanced with two more tutorials to show you the different elements that come in when playing on the British or German side. With the British, you will naturally to adjust to things like their insistence on pronouncing words with letters that aren`t in the word (aluminum = “al-you-min-ee-um”, lieutenant = “left-tenant”, etc.) and their dry sense of humor (“military intelligence assures us that Jerry won`t put up much of a fight, but we know that means he`ll be up our arse like Sir Michael Moore after a doughnut, what?”) in addition to a slightly different unit composition. The basic infantry squad is five soldiers, but a leff-tenant can be a...