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Company of Heroes 2 beta access for Eurogamer Expo attendees

Plus more details on what you can play (for the first time in the world) this weekend.

Back when we revealed that you would be able to play Company of Heroes 2 at this year's Eurogamer Expo, we promised that everyone who played it (or attended the developer session on Saturday at 2.30pm) would get "a special gift".

Today we're very happy to reveal that the special gift will be... a unique Steam code that grants you beta access to Company of Heroes 2! There will be a closed beta phase at some point in the future, and your code will get you into that.

THQ and Relic have also told us that those of you who play the game at the Expo will be going hands-on with "the Rzhev Meatgrinder".

"This little known battle from World War II occurred between 1941 and 1943 as Soviet forces attempted to push the German army back from the gates of Moscow," we were told. "No exact figures are available but estimates are that the Red Army lost around a million men breaking this siege."

Rzhev Meatgrinder: play it at the Eurogamer Expo.

The developers also notes that by playing through Rzhev Meatgrinder you will be able to observe new features like TrueSight, deep snow, vehicle abandonment and vaulting.

These are sure to be things that game director Quinn Duffy will elaborate on during his developer session, too. That takes place at 2.30pm on Saturday 29th September, and will showcase one of the game's Extreme Cold winter maps. There will also be an audience Q&A.

Should be good! Check out Chris Donlan's Company of Heroes 2 preview to get a better sense of Relic's bleak new PC strategy game before you head on down.