THQ has released some new images from the hotly anticipated Company of Heroes 2, and some accompanying new information from developer Relic Entertainment about the game's environmental effects.

As the sequel surrounds the events of World War 2's Eastern Front, the latest images all follow the theme of frosty soviet winter, but Relic explains how the game's environment effects will now have a much greater impact on gameplay, going so far to describe the weather as "the third player" in the game.

Any historian will attest to the huge role the brutal Soviet winter played in the Eastern Front theatre of World War II and this is now realistically simulated in-game thanks to Relic Entertainment’s new Essence™ Engine 3.0 and its ColdTech system.

ColdTech includes an ‘extreme cold’ mechanic which accurately encapsulates the Soviet winter which reached extremes of -40 degrees F in 1941. At those temperatures human skin will freeze in a matter of minutes, something that is portrayed in the game. On winter maps, Infantry units exposed to the bitter cold will gradually freeze to death unless the player keeps them warm by building fires and garrisoning them in buildings. Dynamic blizzards will increase the effects of extreme cold making it even more hazardous to leave infantry in the open.

Further, ColdTech will cause snow fall to dynamically accumulate and receed during gameplay, with realistic depth that affects unit movements, mark vehicle tracks and can be melted or removed by players. And frozen waterways will serve as perilous paths for units, that can be destroyed from under them by opponents.

Hit the thumbs below for a closer look at the latest images. Company of Heroes is due exclusively on PC in early 2013.