Combat Mission : Battle For Normandy

philstanbridge · 23 May 2011 at 13:43

Considered the ultimate WWII tactical battlefield simulation, check it out!
11 years in the making, it really is very, very good indeed.

This game depicts the battles around Normandy just after DDay, June 6th. Play as the US Army or German Wehrmacht with further modules due within the year.

Included in the base game are US Army Infantry, Airborne and Glider, Armored, Engineers of different types, towed and self-propelled anti-tank units, and more. For the German Wehrmacht, the TO&E includes Heer (Army) Panzergrenadiers, Pioniers, Füsiliers, Sturmgeschütz and Panzer formation, and more. Enough to get you addicted!

Overview of the game can be found here along with screenshots: http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=274&Itemid=457

Screenshots/movies here : http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=275&Itemid=458

Demo here : http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=277&Itemid=477

Check out that 'then and now' movie!

Kosmiche · 23 May 2011 at 15:26

Looks a lot like the theatre of war games, its much better I'm guessing.

philstanbridge · 23 May 2011 at 15:30

Eames said:
Looks a lot like the theatre of war games, its much better I'm guessing.

Yes, it does look a little like the TOW series granted, not that that is necessarily a bad thing, but it's so much better. Everything is modelled so much more efficiently. To give you a teeny tiny example - you can't unbutton your armour in TOW but you can in Normandy, as in real life. I've got all the TOW games except Korea, and all of the CM series. I like TOW as it is different, but CM is my true love.

D.Roberts · 23 May 2011 at 15:42

Hi there.

I to love CM I played for many hours against my bro

.

I then purchased shock force and they ruined the best part of MP play and that was the turn based game play.

Do you know if this one retains the original turn based system in MP and SP.

Thanks

philstanbridge · 23 May 2011 at 15:50

D.Roberts said:
Hi there.

I to love CM I played for many hours against my bro .

I then purchased shock force and they ruined the best part of MP play and that was the turn based game play.

Do you know if this one retains the original turn based system in MP and SP.

Thanks

There is real-time and turn based play in single player mode, but only real-time in TCP/IP, although you can play PBEM which I presume is turn based?

D.Roberts · 23 May 2011 at 15:52

God damn it why?.

Oh well wont be getting this then and yes PBEM is turn based but crap and slow.

Why the hell are they getting rid of turn based in MP they did the same in Shock force.

philstanbridge · 23 May 2011 at 16:04

D.Roberts said:
God damn it why?.

Oh well wont be getting this then and yes PBEM is turn based but crap and slow.

Why the hell are they getting rid of turn based in MP they did the same in Shock force.

Yeah I agree it's annoying but they have a good reason for it - there are pages of posts about it, I'll dig some up when I get time. I play mostly the AI anyway, so it doesn't effect me much.

Nieldo · 23 May 2011 at 16:06

Playing a PBEM game of the demo with someone now, it is a slow way to play the game, but it is workable. The game is good so far, don't let it put you off DRoberts.

I'm hoping they put in proper online turn based gameplay somewhere down the line.

D.Roberts · 23 May 2011 at 16:07

Nieldo said:
Playing a PBEM game of the demo with someone now, it is a slow way to play the game, but it is workable. The game is good so far, don't let it put you off DRoberts.

I'm hoping they put in proper online turn based gameplay somewhere down the line.

No unlikely tbh I was all so hoping for that in Shock Force and still nothing

.

philstanbridge · 23 May 2011 at 16:08

I've just done a very quick search about R/T LAN play - it is coming apparently but it is *very* difficult to implement in the new engine. However, that said some people have said you can play R/T via LAN using something called Hamachi?

D.Roberts · 23 May 2011 at 16:12

R/T = Real Time?.

philstanbridge · 23 May 2011 at 16:45

D.Roberts said:
R/T = Real Time?.

Ah hang on, sorry my confusion. I've just done some more digging. It's basically a fudge - it's basically the ability to 'share' a folder over a LAN or WAN with the PBEM file - which speeds things up considerably. So it is like playing WEGO multiplayer but only with the PBEM file. I'm sure you could use something like Dropbox just as effectively. But as it stands, WEGO is not available for multiplayer, only realtime - and then there is no pause command. So it's a bit of a mixed bag for the multiplayer but at least the ability is there for the smaller battles. To be honest, the small platoon sized engagements suited me playing against another human - but I realise it's nice the have the option!

D.Roberts · 23 May 2011 at 16:53

Ah thanks for looking into it.

Oh well I will stick with the old CM`s and play the turn based MP in them instead.

Personally it was a bad move but that's my point of view.

philstanbridge · 23 May 2011 at 17:11

D.Roberts said:
Ah thanks for looking into it.

Oh well I will stick with the old CM`s and play the turn based MP in them instead.

Personally it was a bad move but that's my point of view.

You are missing out on so much though seems a shame

The 1:1 representation alone is so much more advanced.

D.Roberts · 23 May 2011 at 17:27

philstanbridge said:
You are missing out on so much though seems a shame The 1:1 representation alone is so much more advanced.

I have Shock force and only every play it in Turn based mode or Wego as it is called in that game.

I love turn based eg X-Com

.

Shame it seems to be a dieing genre.

philstanbridge · 23 May 2011 at 17:33

D.Roberts said:
I have Shock force and only every play it in Turn based mode or Wego as it is called in that game.

I love turn based eg X-Com .

Shame it seems to be a dieing genre.

Yep same here! I do play real-time for the really tiny engagements as certain aspects of the engine suit real-time over WEGO. But I much prefer WEGO. Have you got the NATO module? It's probably the best release for it in my opinion. Try the demo at least for Normandy! It has serious improvements over SF. Every module or base game in the future will further add features and improvements, so every incarnation of the game should get better. I'm hoping the multiplayer aspect of it will be sorted in due course.

muttclugg · 30 Jun 2011 at 22:03

Holt thread revival Batman but did anyone get this in the end? Just got the demo this week and enjoying it so far. Certainly a lot to take it though.

philstanbridge · 30 Jun 2011 at 22:09

I did, obviously

I have to say, although I enjoy it, I prefer Shock Force at the moment for some bizarre reason. The hedgerows are a bit of a pain to negotiate in the game, although it is pretty realistic. I'm hoping that once the first patch is here and then the Commonwealth module is upon us it should improve somewhat.

philstanbridge · 8 Jul 2011 at 10:55

Does anyone else play this? I've started a campaign the other day and it's pretty epic. It's infantry-centric so you need to use tactics and strategy rather than raw force which is quite a novelty. It's much more balanced than Shock Force. It really shows the strength in the game. It's not a good start for a beginner mind you, because it is difficult and complicated, but it just shows you how versatile it is.

muttclugg · 10 Jul 2011 at 22:13

Purchased this afternoon. Had a few good games so far but there is a lot to take in. I think im trying to play it as you would Company of heroes.