Company of Heroes 3: How to use Partisan Hubs in the Italy campaign

Company of Heroes 3 has a grand campaign that leads you deeper into the Italian countryside. There, you’ll meet the resistance fighters led by Eleonora Valenti. With their aid, you’ll liberate their homeland from the nefarious Germans. Here’s our Company of Heroes 3 Partisan Hubs guide to help you use the sabotage expertise of the Italian Resistance in the campaign.

Note: For more information, check out our Company of Heroes 3 guides and features hub.

Company of Heroes 3 Partisan Hubs and Partisan Actions guide

There’s a mission that unlocks Partisan Hubs and Partisan Actions in Company of Heroes 3. For me, this popped up around turn 7. I had just blunted the German counterattack; I drove them back from Salerno and I was poised to capture Naples and Potenza.

Around this time, General Norton will inform you about a distress call in a nearby town: Avellino (it might be different in your campaign, but I’m not sure). Move any company to the marked location, and you’ll spot a hostile force. Norton will ask if you wish to engage the enemies, and you’ll want to accept. Eleonora Valenti will then tell you that the Italian Resistance will be helping you along the way.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

Mission: Rescue the Partisans

The mission tends to be fairly straightforward. Partisans are trapped near their hideout, and your chosen company will spawn further south. Climb uphill, eliminating troops that you see, while also recruiting extra soldiers, such as Riflemen and Snipers. Once you reach the outskirts of the villa, you can garrison inside the buildings to clear out the remaining forces in the town square.

After rescuing the Partisans, you’ll have to defend the villa from a German counterattack. Again, use some of your troops to garrison buildings, all while preparing for combatants to rush up from the road. Also watch out in case one of the Partisan Sniper units gets stuck in front of a building.

Once you’re up against tanks and half-tracks, you’ll want to use Sticky Grenades (Riflemen), Satchel Charges (Engineers), or Bazookas (press the icon to have a Partisan Squad switch from their LMG to an anti-tank weapon). Toward the end of this encounter, some Fallschirmjäger squads will paradrop, but you can wait for them and pounce once they’re on solid ground. With the mission completed, you’ll unlock the Company of Heroes 3 Partisan Hubs and Partisan Actions mechanics after a couple of turns (i.e., I completed the mission on turn 9, and the mechanics were introduced on turn 11).

Partisan Support on the Italy Dynamic Campaign Map

So, how exactly do you make use of the Company of Heroes 3 Partisan Hubs and Partisan Actions? First off, the towns with a dagger icon are considered Partisan Hubs. Liberating them gives you a group that can conduct actions in nearby areas. For instance, Avellino should be the initial hub, but there are others like Calitri, Caiazzo, and Craco. As for Partisan Actions, here’s the gist:

• Hubs can be upgraded to unlock functions like Capture Target and Encircle Target.
• Observe and Report – Removes fog of war in an area over multiple turns; reveals enemy targets and marks them for attack.
• Capture Target – Weakens a town’s defenses over multiple turns; automatically captures it for your faction once the defenses/shields are depleted; requires that the town is within range and there are no enemy companies within its vicinity.
• Loot Target – Loots resources from a target over multiple turns.
• Encircle Target – Pin down an enemy company to prevent it from moving or retreating.
• Explosives – Damages enemy forces in an area and weakens defenses.

Apart from these functions on the map, you may also gain the help of Partisan troops during battles, or they’ll leave nasty booby traps that you can activate. Likewise, Valenti will give you additional missions, such as doing supply drops or helping clear out a town. Lastly, liberating more Partisan Hubs, completing missions, and using saboteur actions will raise Valenti’s loyalty. We discuss more in our Loyalty mechanics and rewards.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

Company of Heroes 3 is available via Steam.