Company of Heroes features different units with different and special abilities to help players proceed throughout the game.

Company of Heroes is a WWII real-time strategy game which re-creates the violence of the Western Front while giving players a chance to manage troops and vehicles on a strategic map. The campaign follows the adventures of Baker company, a single infantry company in the US 1st Army as it slowly pushes the forces of Germany out of France in the summer of 1944. Beginning with the Normandy Invasion, the player commands Baker in a number of exciting situations, including the capture and defense of Carentan, the battle of Cherbourg and the defense of Hill 19.

Players command a force of infantry and vehicles on a strategic map, with the main objective being the elimination of the opposing force. However, in order to raise and maintain units, the player must capture and hold strategic points across the map. Along with their own units, the player can research specific technologies and capabilities unique to their faction, whether they play as the Axis or the Allies. They must choose specific strategic options that best fit their style of play: they can choose to command greater air power, raise additional troops, call in reinforcements or confer powerful upgrades to their units.

Company of Heroes was followed by two stand-alone expansion packs: Opposing Fronts which allowed the player to command elite German and British forces during the Market-Garden Offensive, and Tales of Valor which recreates several key battles of the Western front.

Allied Units Riflemen Squad: a squad of six infantrymen armed with rifles. Can be trained to carry heavy rifles, grenades or sticky bombs.

Engineers: small squad of soldiers who can build fortifications or buildings and can repair vehicles. They are armed with submachine guns and can be trained to carry flame-throwers as well.

Ranger : elite infantry armed with machine guns, grenades and satchel charges for destroying buildings. Much hardier and stronger than standard infantry.

MG team: three-man team with deployable .30 caliber machine gun.

Mortar team: three-man team with deployable medium-range combat mortar.

Sniper: a single soldier armed with a long-range sniper rifle. When not moving the sniper is invisible to enemy units.

Jeep: fast-moving lightly-armored vehicle equipped with machine gun. Good for reconnaissance and infantry support.

M3 Halftrack: lightly-armored vehicle used for troop transport. Can be equipped with a single turreted .50 caliber machine gun.

M8 Greyhound: light armored vehicle armed with a 20 mm cannon and a single .50 caliber machine gun. Good for light armor support and reconnaissance.

M10 Wolverine: a tank destroyer equipped with an 80 mm cannon and [[.50 caliber machine gun] but only lightly armored. Used best in groups to surround and destroy heavier Axis tanks.

M4 Sherman: standard heavy tank armed with a 76 mm cannon and .50 caliber machine gun. Can be upgraded to carry a second turreted machine gun and a deployable smokescreen.

M4 Crocodile: a Sherman tank with a medium-range flamethrower instead of the 76 mm cannon. Used best against infantry.

M4 Calliope: a Sherman with a long-range rocket battery attached above the turret. Excellent as mobile artillery.

M28 Pershing: an expensive and slow heavy tank carrying a 90 mm cannon and machine gun. Ineffective against infantry, it is meant as a counter to the German Tiger and Panther tanks.

M2A1 Howitzer: an artillery piece used to defend positions or to protect infantry from armored attack.

Axis Units Volksgrenadiers: low-quality infantry squad armed with rifles.

Pioneer: experienced infantry armed with submachine guns and grenades.

Grenadiers: battle-hardened infantry armed with submachine guns and grenades. More than a match for the Allied infantry squad.

Stormtrooper: elite shock infantry armed with machine guns, grenades and heavy rifles, used best with heavy armor.

MG team: three-man team with deployable heavy machine gun.

Mortar team: three-man team with deployable long-range combat mortar.

Sniper: a single soldier with a scoped rifle. When motionless, the Sniper is invisible to Enemy units.

Officer: an infantry commander who grants combat bonuses on the troops nearby.

R75 Motorcycle: a fast-moving lightly-armed vehicle, excellent for reconnaissance.

Goliath: a small remote-controlled vehicle filled with explosives, which can be detonated when near enemy units.

SdKfz Halftrack: a lightly-armored infantry transport. It can be upgraded to carry a flamethrower and machine gun.

50mm Pack 38 AT: a deployable anti-tank artillery piece, good for defending positions.

88mm Flak 36: an immovable heavy artillery piece originally designed as anti-aircraft artillery but also used against tanks and infantry.

Nebelwerfer: a moveable rocket artillery battery with good range and excellent area damage.

Stug: a medium tank with good armor. With only a fixed gun, it can only fire directly ahead.

StuH 42: an upgraded Stug with heavier armor and an extra machine gun for better infantry defense.

Ostwind Flakpanzer: a vehicle fitted with an anti-aircraft 20mm cannon. Lightly armored, it is good against infantry and aircraft but poor against tanks.

Panther Tank: heavy tank with an 88mm gun. Expensive and slow, it is best used with other tanks and infantry support.

Panzer Tank: the standard Axis battle tank, with a 76 mm gun and heavy armor. More or less equal to the M4 Sherman.

Tiger Tank: the heaviest tank in the game, with an 88mm gun and extremely thick armor. It is, however, very slow.