Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Oddball-CAF on December 27, 2010, 01:10:19 AM
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For those of you familiar with Battlefront.com's "Combat Mission" series of games, you'll perhaps be happy to know there's
a new one in the works; "Combat Mission: Beyond Normandy". For those of you unfamiliar with the series, if you enjoy
tactical scale WW2 wargaming, you'll not find a better game on the market than the CM series.
Here's the link to the new one. Release date maybe somewhere around February or March.
Note, there's a discussion forum link to the left of the page which has some "teaser" screenies
availlable for viewing.
http://battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=273&Itemid=459 (http://battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=273&Itemid=459)
Regards, Odd
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Got the newsletter on that the other day. While I havent played CM in a while. this one looks interesting.
BTW it looks as if there is a demo available. If memory serves correct. this companies demos arent too bad either if anyone is looking for a freebie.
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Thanks for that, I used to play the hell out of beyond overlord. I'll be getting this one.
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Sweet! Looks awesome!
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Have they increased the squad size depictions? It looks like it from the print screens. I remember a few years back a squads was represented by a three man team which was disappointing...
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If anybody is interested playing a PBEM or H2H, let me know, I still play all three games.
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I tried the 'CM:strike force' demo this weekend which should have a similar user interface and graphics that Normandy will have. Or at least close to it.
wow, nicely done is all I can say. I will definitely will be getting a copy of this when it comes out. I didn't think I would like the strike force game since it deals with modern combat, but ended up being surprised on how well it was done.
They've come a long way when comparing it to CM:AK..
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I have one of the Combat Mission games somewhere.....I loved the mission where you got Whitmann's tiger against a full British column.
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I have one of the Combat Mission games somewhere.....I loved the mission where you got Whitmann's tiger against a full British column.
I think that's Beyond Overlord. You should try Barabarossa to Berlin and Afrika Korps.
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I tried the 'CM:strike force' demo this weekend which should have a similar user interface and graphics that Normandy will have. Or at least close to it.
wow, nicely done is all I can say. I will definitely will be getting a copy of this when it comes out. I didn't think I would like the strike force game since it deals with modern combat, but ended up being surprised on how well it was done.
They've come a long way when comparing it to CM:AK..
Soda,
I didn't do any of the "modern" ones as they don't hold any interest for me. But after seein' your post, I think I will give
the demo for CM:SF a shot. It'll get me warmed up for the gameplay/interface for CM:BN.
I'm absolutely thrilled to see this new one coming out. It's been a LONG time since I got excited over a
new wargame release. Years, actually. I just hope my box has the horsepower to run it. I might be lookin'
at an upgrade. But that won't necessarily be a bad thing; maybe I can jack my AH detail sliders past the
halfway point for once. ;)
Regards, Oddball
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I have one of the Combat Mission games somewhere.....I loved the mission where you got Whitmann's tiger against a full British column.
Yeah, that one ROCKED...if you were drivin' the Tigers. :)
For me, the PBEM aspect is the most fun and the fact that it's set up so that there can be no
re-running of turns to get optimal results is crucial.
I particularly liked the way that the game was easily mod-able graphically and visually. There were
(and still are) literally hundreds of mods out there which greatly enhance the original releases
of the series. From uniforms, to weaponry, armor, terrain, and even skies.
I used to use the gridded terrain mods as it made discerning minor elevation changes much
easier. I wonder if that'll even be necessary once this release is finished.
Regards, Oddball
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Lets start a tourney for Barbarossa to Berlin and Afrika Korps... :aok
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I've never tried this series, but I'm intrigued.
In general, I steer away from real time stuff - not that good at the clicky-twitchy-move fast to win kind of stuff. My all time favorite wargames (in no order) are Panzer General 2, Uncommon Valor, Age of Rifles, and an old one you may not have heard of - MacArthur's War, an SSG DOS classic. (I'm a veteran of many Avalon Hill board games. Panzer Blitz anyone? Tobruk?)
So not a grognard, though might have been one at one time....I'm more into realism than RTS rushes.
Is this a play style I should look into? Is it tactically fun wargame, or more like a FPS with control taken one step back?
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I've never tried this series, but I'm intrigued.
In general, I steer away from real time stuff - not that good at the clicky-twitchy-move fast to win kind of stuff. My all time favorite wargames (in no order) are Panzer General 2, Uncommon Valor, Age of Rifles, and an old one you may not have heard of - MacArthur's War, an SSG DOS classic. (I'm a veteran of many Avalon Hill board games. Panzer Blitz anyone? Tobruk?)
So not a grognard, though might have been one at one time....I'm more into realism than RTS rushes.
Is this a play style I should look into? Is it tactically fun wargame, or more like a FPS with control taken one step back?
It's like a tactical game, with real time playouts of the actual combat. I never was much into rts at all, never could get into command and conquer or warcraft or any of that type. I haven't played any of them since beyond overlord, but I did absolutely love that game. You can take all the time you want to issue your orders and think up a strategy, but then when you hit the ready button, anything can happen, and you're powerless to stop it. Watching your guys walk into an ambush you never suspected is just agonizing. Losing a tank you were counting on is nerve wracking. It's just a great game man. I'm sure you'll love it. It's not a rush to build units and super fast click type of a thing at all.
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These are 1 minute turn based games. Historically accurate just dated in terms of graphics.
See if you can find the demo's and try them out, the full versions should be bargain priced.
<S>
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Beyond overlord was one of my favorite all times games.
(you can buy it for like 15 bucks)
This looks cool. Their modern version was ok, but not as fun as the WW2 stuff.
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I've never tried this series, but I'm intrigued.
In general, I steer away from real time stuffIs this a play style I should look into? Is it tactically fun wargame, or more like a FPS with control taken one step back?
Hi Sim,
This thing is a hybridized turn-based/real time tactical scale wargame. One issues orders to his various units hits the "go" button and
everything plays out in a one minute phase. It can be played against the computer AI, or TCP/IP (live, directly connected to another
guy's box) or even PBEM. (Play by electronic mail.) It's also got a built in editor so one can make up their own battles and
terrains from scratch. There are hundreds of user made scenarios availlable as well as hundreds of graphical and audio mods.
The latter two WW2 oriented games in the series, CM: Afrika Korps and CM: Beyond Barbarossa are much more robust
than the original, Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord. But, for whatever reason, the original is the one I find myself
playing the most.
It's not a 'real time' clickfest at all.
The coolest part for me of the game is that there is the ability to replay the "film" of each turn from virtually ANY part of the
battlefield and from any perspective. For example, say you're watchin' the turn play out and while you're watching one of
your squads attack an enemy machine gun section, you may hear an explostion and wonder what it was as it occured
out of your field of vision, or on a part of the battlefield you currently cannot see. In Combat Mission, you can "rewind" the
play of that turn and find out just what happened and see it unforld exactly as it did the first time; from the perspective
of the tank commander whose tank just got shredded or the German grenadier who just panzerfausted it.
There's never been a finer wargame series made, period.
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Soda,
I didn't do any of the "modern" ones as they don't hold any interest for me. But after seein' your post, I think I will give
the demo for CM:SF a shot. It'll get me warmed up for the gameplay/interface for CM:BN.
I'm absolutely thrilled to see this new one coming out. It's been a LONG time since I got excited over a
new wargame release. Years, actually. I just hope my box has the horsepower to run it. I might be lookin'
at an upgrade. But that won't necessarily be a bad thing; maybe I can jack my AH detail sliders past the
halfway point for once. ;)
Regards, Oddball
Yeah CM:SF didn't get very good game reviews but I thought they did well in many area's.
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I tried to download the demo for CM:SF from several sites, but kept getting corrupted file errors when I went to do the install. Anyone have better luck that can point me to a clean download source?
I am very interested in Beyond Normandy when it comes out, wanted to get an idea of the interface, etc.
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I think the one I downloaded from was the atomicgamer site
http://www.atomicgamer.com/files/88510/combat-mission-shock-force-demo-v1-30-nato
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Just downloaded CM: Beyond Overlord (from Amazon, for less than $9). Will be having some fun today!
Just have to decide how much of the manual to skim, and how much to ignore.....
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Just downloaded CM: Beyond Overlord (from Amazon, for less than $9). Will be having some fun today!
Just have to decide how much of the manual to skim, and how much to ignore.....
Make sure you get the other two games, as they are a little bit better graphic wise.
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:D.....Barbarossa to Berlin on its way in hard copy, for $8.35 including shipping...
Also hunted up some old games - as in "looks like cardboard counter on a hex map" graphics - so I'm sure Beyond Overlord will meet my low artistic standards!
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Dug CM:BO out of a box and reloaded it. Whittman FTW!!
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In Barbarossa to Berlin they have a Whittman in the East Scenario set at Kursk.
:D.....Barbarossa to Berlin on its way in hard copy, for $8.35 including shipping...
Don't forget Afrika Korps!
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Downloading the CM: Beyond Overlord demo this morning. Looking forward to it!
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Played my first scenario, got trounced - but main goal was to play with the interface and learn some tactics.
Second time through, major victory...and had a blast! Will be whiling away some hours in CM land, I'm afraid!
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Nef, Odd, and others:
I've been more of a Strategic to Operational level wargamer in the past, and the individual squad tactics aren't clicking as fast as I'd like. Do you guys have any general principles or tips for successfully managing units in this game? (So far just playing Beyond Overlord).
Obviously, use cover where available, and combined operations when possible. But I'm having trouble avoiding attritional traps, and I'm taking more losses than I'd like in achieving goals.
Dave
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Artillery is important in every move of every operation. Always set up Arty spotters in the best locations to see the entire battlefield and if necessary set up fire missions on the set up phase. Radio Arty is the best. Always keep a mortar team(s) with platoons or squads to follow them into the battle. They are no good if they can't see the enemy.
Always keep the Platoon Leader, or Company HQ near the fight. Orders transmit faster and the troops are less likely to run away should they be overwhelmed.
Combined operations and multiple attacks from different angles/directions are key just remember they will always be as slow as your slowest unit. Put slow units on the back of armor or vehicles, Heavy/Light MGs, mortars, Artillery Spotters, Flame throwers, Company HQ... This gets them to the front fast, but also makes them vulnerable.
Splitting Squads is good for small engagements.
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Do you guys have any general principles or tips for successfully managing units in this game? (So far just playing Beyond Overlord).
Sim,
You've mentioned cover and using combined ops. I would say of great importance in the one you've got: Combat Mission:Beyond Overlord
is the command and control factor. Keep your subordinate units within the command radius of their leader. (trees, hills, houses all have an
impact on this as obviously does distance. Basically if they can "see" the Platoon Leader, etc., they'll : have a higher morale and be
less likely to 'break' when things go South, and the delay factor with regards to them implementing their orders will lessen when
they're in contact with their C.O.
The latter games in the series bring in some wonderful changes such as assigning fields of fire to individual units as well
as specifically ordering some units to fire only at armor or infantry targets, having a unit go "hull down" to minimize its
exposure to fire.
There's been a whole lot of changes to the original, which you have. Here's a page listing all the changes made
that were incorporated into the second game in the series: Combat Mission: Barbarossa To Berlin, which is East Front
oriented; Germans vs Russians:
http://www.battlefront.com/products/cmbb/new%20features.html#arty (http://www.battlefront.com/products/cmbb/new%20features.html#arty)
Regards, Odd
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Thanks guys!