More information at hand
Page 101 of the collectors edition handbook
"Cliffs of Dover uses steam for it's matchmaking. You can also play non-Steam games via LAN or by manually entering a server IP. Fans have created external match making programs for older IL2 games. It is possible that some of them will support Cliffs of dover as well....."
Looks like the best of both worlds! Also keeps us stick in the mud old timers happy! Hope Hyperloby gets updated soon!
Cheers!
Oh! by the way did I tell you I've got a copy of Storm of War: Colectors Edition (Ooop! Cliffs of Dover!) in my hand now!