| gaming |
|
Combat Mission Series
Posted:
21/3/03 by maroule
| Comments
(70)
War-huh What is it good for? Absolutely nothing Say it again
 |
| Popemobil, Russian version |
CM games are tactical simulations, involving rarely more than 40 ‘units’ a side per battle. One unit is made of anything between 12 men (an infantry squad) to 1 (one sniper operating alone), one vehicle (from the mighty Tiger to the puny Russian pocket size Tankette) or one support weapon (an anti tank canon, mortar, etc.). Any weapon that saw land action during WWII is represented, as are all nations that fought on these fronts. Naval, through shore bombardment, and air powers, through air strikes, get passing and marginal mentions.
CMBO and CMBB are very similar in form and spirit (although have significant differences in their game systems, the first one giving a larger role to infantry and artillery, the second to vehicles). Play proceed in the following sequence : you issue basic order to your units (variations around the concepts of ‘fire’ or ‘move’, for example crawling, advancing by leaps and bounds under cover, rushing madly, etc.), the other side (AI or human) does the same, and the respective orders are executed and resolved at the same time in a one minute video sequence where you’re a spectator (no influence on the actions carried out, you just roam around and zoom in/out at leisure). Next, rinse and repeat up to a maximum of 40 turns. Battles can be scenario (historical or not, with many new ones created by fans), campaigns, encounters randomly generated (‘quick battle’), or created by yourself through the editor.
 |
| BO, in the land of the CheeseEaters |
The most striking aspect of the game play is of course its realism. The level of modelling is breathtaking. Everything that could impact the battlefield is there, from relief, wood cover, morale, troop and officers experience, weather, temperature, type of ammo, building resistance to direct and indirect fire, etc. The modelling might not be perfect (some adjustments could still in be done, for example the grazing effect of small arms fire has been mentioned), but it’s there. Should your German Mark IV-G with its 75mn/43L cannon and veteran crew shoots, while moving, on a T-34 (M1941) Russian tank, on the side, where its lower hull armour is 45mm at 30 degrees, 345 meters away, you’ll get as close as possible to a ‘real’ result. Since you won’t have to do the computation yourself, but just know what weapons are used for what purpose/ in what context, getting into the nitty gritty details of statistics is pretty much your choice. But that’s a devious trap to us compulsive number crunchers, and you’ll probably end up knowing much more than you would need.
As a side note, at least some people reading this review went “what a simpleton, everybody knows the side lower hull armour of a T34 is at 0 degree, not 30”. They thus fail the addiction test.
Easy as Pi
 |
| Wam bam tank you ma’am |
Yet to the casual eye, this complexity is not apparent, and this is probably the main tour de force of this game interface. It looks simple, almost simplistic, as moving around your units initially seems fairly limited. Of course, once the AI starts beating the living Chirac out of you, you learn quickly : do not send tanks roam alone, units shot at will ultimately disband, the level of experience of your troops and the proximity of officers is crucial, etc. However, you can start enjoying simple pleasures right out of the box : blowing up a town with 155mm artillery, cleaning up a bunker with a flame throwing team, watching your crack squad rush a victory flag under a hail of tracing bullets, hammer your enemy mercilessly with your M7 Priest, and rule! Err, right.
|
|
|
 |
|
)
)