Looking to get into the series

[Feier]

Hey I'm looking to get into the series and I was just curious if you all could give some thoughts on which title would be the best to start with. I like the modern setting and WWII, I would enjoy either. Do the developers update the older titles with new features and such or would I be dissapointed going for an older title due to the lack of new features?

[fivefivesix]

Hi Feier, welcome.

 

The best title to start with will be dependent on your particular interests. Each title has its own flavor and the terrain in each are vastly different from each other. I started with Battle for Normandy, because that was what I was most interested in tactically and historically. 

 

I ultimately found Fortress Italy to be my favorite title (so far), which was unexpected. The mountainous terrain is just so different from anything else. Theres nothing like fighting uphill against dug in infantry with artillery raining down - that will test your tactical abilities. 

 

As far as updates, BF have continued to update and produce new content for all titles back to Battle for Normandy. The Bulge module is due out for CMBN hopefully this year, and (I think?) that will bring the Western front all the way to the end of the war. CMFI, CMRT and CMBS all have modules in the works at some point in time. Engine upgrades that are released with new titles have also been made accessible for older titles (back to CMBN) as well, to keep everything up to date. 

 

Shock Force is a great game as well, but it does look dated graphically next to any of the newer titles. There was a tale of someday bringing it up to date with the newest engine, which would be fantastic - if it happens, it may be awhile from now. 

 

CM:Afghanistan is the only title I don't personally own, and as far as I know, it is static ie. not being further updated / developed. 

 

I would suggest trying the demos for each available game. You'll find out what suits you. A lot of folks on this forum will tell you (myself included), eventually you'll end up with all of the titles  .

[sburke]

Bulge is not going to be a module, but it's own standalone game covering NW Europe from the fall of 1944 to end of war.

 

For sheer content of the games that are continually updated CMBN - Normandy is your best buy.  Beyond that I am afraid you are just going to have to pick what you like most.  Try the demos.  Some are dated in terms of features but can still give you the gist of the game.  All the games are generally kept current though there might be a slight lag based on release schedule priorities.

 

Personally I am with fivefivesix, CMFI is pretty special though not everyone's cup of tea.

 

CMSF is not being updated but there is some talk that the game may see a re release of some sort to current engine standards - that would then be my favorite...There is just something about that game.  Even without all the features of the new games I probably spend as much time with it as any other title.

Edited September 5, 2015 by sburke

[db_zero]

I have all the series and been playing since CM1 days. Personally I like Market Garden the best, but thats just my taste and opinion. Really don't think anyone can answer your question. You are the only one who can answer it.

 

Like asking which is best for me? Blonde, brunette, redhead, black hair, exoctic, vanilla, thin, mean on bones...

 

I say try them all and then decide. At the end of the day you'll have a preference but you won't regret the fact you tried them all and you'll probably find yourself playing all of them.

Edited September 5, 2015 by db_zero

[John Kettler]

Feier,

 

Welcome aboard!

 

While I don't own CMSF (was no Mac version until very recently) ,CMF or CMA (still no Mac version and almost certainly won't be) , I do have the complete CMBN (CW, MG and Vehicle Pack) and CMBS. As you can read any number of places, I had a whole series of atypical difficulties getting into the CMx2 titles, and since all I had then to start with was the crude by current standards CMBN Demo as my transition from playing the CMx1 games since the beginning of 2000 on, it was pretty ugly.

 

Things got better once I had the actual game and improved considerably when we got first the 2.0 and then 3.0 optional upgrades, as well as the patches. When CMBS was in the offing, I found myself trying to decide between CMFI (by then with GL) and pre-ordering CMBS. CMFI was quite appealing to me because my spirits actually lifted from getting out of the claustrophobia inducing bocage, because of the wonderful high relief terrain , the transitional period for weapons (weird and wonderful American AFVs; Sherman very scary tank; German AFVs not in CMBN) and because, I freely admit, the Allies had cool looking camouflage paint jobs (never did much care for OD), too. Balanced against that was CMBS, which on the one hand had an inside track, but was also a somewhat scary unknown.

 

Not only do I go back to SPI's pioneering Modern wargames, but they helped me land a job as Soviet Threat Analyst, where it was something akin to being paid to play. 11+ year total immersion in all things Soviet and Warsaw Pact! Thus, while there was neither game nor demo, I had considerable core familiarity with the weaponry, though there'd been great advances since I left military aerospace. The other major factors lay in the ability to get both the DL and the DVD, at a reduced price, too, but the deal sealer was the set of physical manuals: one for CMBS and the other for the CMx2 3.0 game engine. I bought CMBS on pre-order, stuck my nose in it with a brief vs Computer QB in which I lost 40% of my force in little over a minute and went into shock. I then came back and tried again. Loved it!

 

I tend to overload quickly when lots of things are happening, and things can happen at a blinding pace in CMBS, as opposed to, I think, the more stately pace in CMBN. I was so flipped out initially that I seriously thought I'd spent my scarce funds on an unplayable game, but somehow I found it much easier to play than CMBN. Loved the sweeping expanses of the Ukrainian countryside, too! In fairness to CMBN, it bore the brunt of my protracted angst and floundering in learning to play CMx2, so that had a lot to do, I'm sure, with the fact that I was able to get into CMBS so quickly, for I wasn't starting from scratch in a rather shocking, even traumatic at times, game engine transition and the attendant radical differences in, well, pretty much everything.

 

CMBS and I just seem to work; we fit very nicely, and it was CMBS in which I finally got to the point where I could PBEM. Now, I play both games. Much as I dig WW II, I have a greater affinity for CMBS. It's especially engrossing to me because I worked on several of the weapons in the game: TOW and Maverick. Much of the Russian/Ukrainian armor, artillery, infantry weapons and such were in service, and others had been seen on the trial grounds when I was still a military analyst  scrutinizing them. Also, my father was successively on the Abrams DTV (Driver's Thermal Viewer) and was the lead engineer on the Thermal Weapon Sight. And during the Cold War I had a brother in the 2/11 ACR as a Master Gunner and Platoon SGT in Bradley CFVs sitting rright next to the Inter German border in the famous Fulda Gap. Consequently, you might say that such familiarity with high tech warfare created a sense of comfort for me. I much prefer CMBS, but understand the bias here in that I've played very little CMBN relative to what's there in the complete game. Most of those games were played when I was pretty much lost and often overwhelmed! Ultimately, it comes down to what moves you; to what excites you and gets your adrenalin pumping. And budget!

 

In terms of further releases, CMBN is done, with the exception of a possible Game Pack of some sort, whereas CMBS has just begun, with all sorts of juicy possibilities thereby. Truly, it really comes down to preference. There is no bad decision here. 

 

Regards,

 

John Kettler

Edited September 5, 2015 by John Kettler

[Kieme(ITA)]

Hello,

 

content wise, the old Combat Mission Shock Force will give you a lot to play with, considering all its additional expansions/modules. If you like the desert/arid setting you can play with that game using soviet equipment (syria), US equipment (Army, Marines), and NATO (Germany, Britain, Canada etc.), not to mention the amount of additional missions and campaigns made by the players.

 

If you want something different Combat Mission Black Sea is the most recent game, it has several features that are not present in CMSF above, but has a total less content, for now.

[Feier]

Thanks for the great replies, everyone. I will start working through the demos. I can't believe I haven't heard of this series before, I love war-gaming.

[Vergeltungswaffe]

Welcome to the series that will fulfill your wargaming needs for the rest of your life.

[Jim1954]

And take up what free time you thought you had.