FYI for Combat Mission

[CountDeMoney]

I guess people like playing games that cover their part of history. So games about the Western Front with (mostly) U.S. and (to lesser extent) Commonwealth will have a bigger market in the west/English speaking countries. You don't get much treatment of the pre-1944 campaigns of French and Brits, either.

I think your average yuk yuk player would prefer the WF, what with Tom Hanks and all the Good Guys beating down The Hun, while you average harder-core grog prefers the Eastern Front.

[Syt]

I guess people like playing games that cover their part of history. So games about the Western Front with (mostly) U.S. and (to lesser extent) Commonwealth will have a bigger market in the west/English speaking countries. You don't get much treatment of the pre-1944 campaigns of French and Brits, either.

I think your average yuk yuk player would prefer the WF, what with Tom Hanks and all the Good Guys beating down The Hun, while you average harder-core grog prefers the Eastern Front.

I agree, but which of the two is the bigger market?

[11B4V]

Interesting that the WF is more pop than EF. I find the WF..well boring. EF was the two big evils slugging it out. Viscous and nasty. WF is kind of like..."Well, right tea time at noon. We'll give it another go with Jerry at 1400."

I guess people like playing games that cover their part of history. So games about the Western Front with (mostly) U.S. and (to lesser extent) Commonwealth will have a bigger market in the west/English speaking countries. You don't get much treatment of the pre-1944 campaigns of French and Brits, either.

Not including the Hardcores, but most casual Brit/Frenchy or "flavor of the month" gamers, would probably not find it interesting getting stomped again.

Personally I like the tough, hard, uneven fights in games. You(the opponet) most likely will win, but I'm going to make you pay and have a blast doing it. 

   

[Syt]

Depends on scoring mechanism. I generally think that historical outcome should equal a draw, at least in uneven scenarios. If you do better than your historical counterpart, you win.

[11B4V]

Depends on scoring mechanism. I generally think that historical outcome should equal a draw, at least in uneven scenarios. If you do better than your historical counterpart, you win.

Without a doubt.

[11B4V]

Interesting that the WF is more pop than EF. I find the WF..well boring. EF was the two big evils slugging it out. Viscous and nasty. WF is kind of like..."Well, right tea time at noon. We'll give it another go with Jerry at 1400."

One reason why the WF is more interesting than the EF:  Stuarts, baby.  Stuarts.

[Razgovory]

I'm confused by the new announcement.  Is this new Fortress Italy an addon or a separate game?  For instance if the game adds some of those crap French Tanks can they be used in Normandy (where some in fact were used).  I was hoping for simply extending the time line to end o the war, putting in snow  and autumn seasons, a few new units and Volkstrum militia.  I would have liked to fight Market-Garden, and the Ardenes.

Fortress Italy is a new "family" of Combat Mission games covering the Allied struggle to knock Italy out of the Second World War. This initial release deals explicitly with the battle for Sicily and sets the groundwork for future additions to simulate the hard fighting in the rugged terrain of "Europe's underbelly" up until the war's end in 1945.

Combat Mission: Fortress Italy does NOT require any of the previous Combat Mission titles to play. Both PC and Mac versions are available!

Stand alone Raz

Yeah, you can have a stand alone expansion pack.  For instance Company of heroes had an expansion pack that didn't require the original game.  Shame it only starts in Sicily though.  I like those Lee/Grant M3s.

[Razgovory]

Interesting that the WF is more pop than EF. I find the WF..well boring. EF was the two big evils slugging it out. Viscous and nasty. WF is kind of like..."Well, right tea time at noon. We'll give it another go with Jerry at 1400."

One reason why the WF is more interesting than the EF:  Stuarts, baby.  Stuarts.

Light tanks get no love.  Grogs are to entranced by big tank fights.  The little tanks like the Stuart were probably more useful then the big heavies like the Tiger.  I imagine there were many times when German infantry were unpleasantly surprised when a few Honeys showed up to support an attack through terrain they didn't think tanks could traverse.

[11B4V]

Interesting that the WF is more pop than EF. I find the WF..well boring. EF was the two big evils slugging it out. Viscous and nasty. WF is kind of like..."Well, right tea time at noon. We'll give it another go with Jerry at 1400."

One reason why the WF is more interesting than the EF:  Stuarts, baby.  Stuarts.

Light tanks get no love.  Grogs are to entranced by big tank fights.  The little tanks like the Stuart were probably more useful then the big heavies like the Tiger.  I imagine there were many times when German infantry were unpleasantly surprised when a few Honeys showed up to support an attack through terrain they didn't think tanks could traverse.

[11B4V]

Best Looking

Panther
T-34/85
Sherman Firefly

[Ed Anger]

Souma S-35.

[CountDeMoney]

Interesting that the WF is more pop than EF. I find the WF..well boring. EF was the two big evils slugging it out. Viscous and nasty. WF is kind of like..."Well, right tea time at noon. We'll give it another go with Jerry at 1400."

One reason why the WF is more interesting than the EF:  Stuarts, baby.  Stuarts.

Ground pounders never appreciate the armored angels on their wings.

See if I ever lay down smoke for you, pal.

[11B4V]

Interesting that the WF is more pop than EF. I find the WF..well boring. EF was the two big evils slugging it out. Viscous and nasty. WF is kind of like..."Well, right tea time at noon. We'll give it another go with Jerry at 1400."

One reason why the WF is more interesting than the EF:  Stuarts, baby.  Stuarts.

Ground pounders never appreciate the armored angels on their wings.

See if I ever lay down smoke for you, pal.

That's what the cannon cockers are for. 

[Ed Anger]

Smoke? Fuck that shit. CHARGE!

[Syt]

More info from this week's RPS Flare Path:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/06/29/the-flare-path-this-sporting-life/

Combat Mission: Wallet Assault

Only foot-to-ball fans as fanatical/ingenious as Battlefront would think to include a sly tribute to the Azzurri's redoubtable defence in the title of their next project.

Combat Mission: Fortress Italy was one of four upcoming CM games announced in a flurry of press releases and forum posts last Friday. Over the next 12 months, if all goes according to plan, the CMx2 engine will be...

a) Invading Sicily (the first game in the CMFI family)
b) Battling across Belorussia (the Operation Bagration focussed base of a CMBB sequel)
c) Going a bridge too far in the Netherlands (Module #2 of CMBN)
d) Exploring a hypothetical future falling-out between a Ukraine/NATO alliance and Russia ('CM: Shock Force 2′).

After years of fairly slow growth, the dramatic change of pace is as surprising as it is exciting.

Though the first instalment of CMFI (already in 'final beta testing') will only provide a two-legged Operation Husky (British, Canadian, and Fallschirmjager forces are due in later modules), the feature list makes enticing reading. Most Italian, German, and US unit types that shed blood amongst the blood-orange groves will be present. That means feather-festooned Bersaglieri, the baggy-trousered art lovers of the Herman Goering Panzer Division, and a host of unfamiliar/ungainly AFVs at our beck-and-call.

Just as significant as the new TOE are the promised engine improvements (also available separately as a paid update for CMBN). Back after an improbably long holiday are CMx1-style moveable waypoints, armour arcs, and target identification vagueness. Unit bases are still MIA but new icon categories, and a redesigned camera and orders approach, should make skirmishes considerably easier to handle.

Hopefully, there 'll be some first-hand Flare Path CMFI battle reports soon, but in the meantime why not read an official AAR and gawp at a screenshot featuring both WW2′s  loveliest lorry and its handsomest helmets.