Red Ball Express: Redux

Ladies and Gentlemen, Red Ball Express is back! The classic community made map by Yojimbo from the original Company of Heroes has been masterfully reworked for COH2, and my my, does it look gorgeous. Red Ball Express is more than just a nice piece of eye candy. It has been redesigned with competitive play in mind. With a distinct lack of maps designed specifically for 3v3 in the rotation, Red Ball Express stands out as one of the few true 3v3 maps.



The guys behind the project, Acinonyx, and Zupadupadude, wanted to keep the spirit of the original Red Ball Express, while updating it for COH2.

!Ultimately, we wanted to bring the complete Red Ball Express experience to Company of Heroes 2, but some adjustments had to be made. While vCOH and COH2 are similar, they are simply different games, with different mechanics and rules. The original map was amazing, but there were some smaller issues here and there that we felt deserved some tweaking. We made adjustments while trying to keep the theme and layout true to the original.Acinonyx

One issue with many of the maps currently in the 3v3 rotation is they are often either too cramped, or are simply maps designed for 4v4 that are far to big, leaving one player on each team isolated (ie: Lanzerath Ambush). Red Ball Express attempts to address these issues by being appropriately sized for 3v3, and providing players with opportunities too make coordinated pushes around the flanks. The long hedgerows work wonderfully with the True Sight system, allowing players to make extended flanks outside of the line of sight of their enemy.

I asked Acinonyx about what separates Red Ball Express from other 3v3 maps, and he had this to say:

!Team game maps should focus on promoting coordination in our opinion. I personally don't start a 3v3 match to have 3 separate 1v1s because of the distance between the various key locations. Red Ball is more open than a lot of other 3v3 maps, and contains less movement impairing elements such as rivers, bridges, or tight streets, which allows for great flanking opportunities.Acinonyx

Everyone give Zupadupadude and Acinonyx lots of love for all the hard work they put into the map! I sincerely hope that it grabs Relics attention because this classic deserves to be in the rotation. Until then, download it from the workshop and get to it with your friends!