Mugendo Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 Not taken away in a straight jacket, I mean i committed to actually purchasing A combat mission game. After months of playing the various demos (except the Red Thunder Demo that insisted I use an activation key), and watching youtube AAR uploads.....comparing versions, reading multitudes of reviews...and sifting the useful from the useless, and as we all know, there is a lot more of the latter to be found on the Interweb sites. I Really like the look of the Normandy theatre, lots of interesting and familiar battles I can relate to. But I had to put that on the back burner for now as the multiple addons and big pack offers were pushing the price up ...just one more...just one more.....just... Anyway I then looked at the latest offering Final Blitzkrieg, the Demo again gave an excellent feel of the game and theatre, but it was too cold and too many trees for my liking. So it was off to look at the Red Thunder (on youtube because of the activation key issue) that became my favourite, and I see it is a very popular theatre for support....and it had all the features anyone could want, troops riding tanks (contentious subject) and the flame throwers....plus all the campaigns and missions had already been designed with the AI keys implemented. And it had no DLC, so out of the box it was ready to go with all the content in it.....that was very tempting, But I kept coming back to the Fortress Italy theatre... Fortress Italy....The very much overlooked theatre of many wargames, and the Unique makeup of the Italian forces in the game really made manouvering as a cohesive force a special challenge. Spotters without radios, operating old French Tanks alongside the might of the German forces, A combination that gave me that extra dimension when ordering forces around....The Italians never had any reason to fight, Mussolini or Hitler in charge of the military forces .....talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place. With the varied terrain, different weather conditions in the campaign, changing forces depending on the timeframe.....it had just one thing missing....British forces...which is easily resolved with the Gustav line DLC that adds Commonwealth forces. Looking at the Battlefront site there is the offer of the Bundle pack, And that is what sold it for me......Fortress Italy with Gustav line is the one I purchased today, and looking forward to getting some decent spare time for gaming. ... Oh....and Hello everyone 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 (edited) Definitely my favourite of the WWII titles.....Couldn't tell you exactly why, but it is. Edited March 16, 2018 by Sgt.Squarehead 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 Weather is better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IICptMillerII Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 2 hours ago, Mugendo said: Fortress Italy....The very much overlooked theatre of many wargames, and the Unique makeup of the Italian forces in the game really made manouvering as a cohesive force a special challenge. Spotters without radios, operating old French Tanks alongside the might of the German forces, A combination that gave me that extra dimension when ordering forces around....The Italians never had any reason to fight, Mussolini or Hitler in charge of the military forces .....talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place. With the varied terrain, different weather conditions in the campaign, changing forces depending on the timeframe.....it had just one thing missing....British forces...which is easily resolved with the Gustav line DLC that adds Commonwealth forces. Looking at the Battlefront site there is the offer of the Bundle pack, And that is what sold it for me......Fortress Italy with Gustav line is the one I purchased today, and looking forward to getting some decent spare time for gaming. ... Fortress Italy is the hidden gem of the WWII titles. It is easily one of my favorite CM titles, and I've probably put more time into FI than any other single CM game. All the various goodies aside, there is something intriguing about the Sicilian campaign as well. Enjoy, and welcome! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PIATpunk Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 great choice to get the bundle. There's some cracking scenarios there. GL Elephants and tigers is one of my faves. cheers 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 The CM:FI Training Campaign is the best by far IMHO.....Great intro to the game. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 Welcome to the first day of the rest of your war gaming life. I hope you aren't married, divorce will be imminent. Mord. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozowans Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 Very good choice there. The Italians are my favorite. It's like playing a WW1 army almost. I had a lot of fun with that campaign where you have to counterattack the American beachhead in Sicily with masses of Italian infantry with lots of rifles and lots of little French tanks. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazing 88's Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 (edited) Good as place as any to pump the early wartime period I guess... ...1939 - mid 1944 are the only time periods I like when wargaming WWII, this is why I have not purchased CMFB. 41-43 whether it be in France, the desert or on the Eastern front are most immersable time periods for me. Hint, hint, hint BF... How about Vehicle packs for those time periods and let the community come up with the rest of the content?? I would easily pay the price of a CM game for early war vehicle packs. I could help with modeling the vehicles /equipment (freelancer with 3DS Max or Maya, Zbrush). Edited March 17, 2018 by Blazing 88's 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozowans Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 5 minutes ago, Blazing 88's said: Good as place as any to pump the early wartime period I guess... ...1939 - mid 1944 are the only time periods I like when wargaming WWII, this is why I have not purchased CMFB. 41-43 whether it be in France, the desert or on the Eastern front are most immersable time periods for me. Hint, hint, hint BF... How about Vehicle packs for those time periods and let the community come up with the rest of the content?? I would easily pay the price of a CM game for early war vehicle packs. I could help with modeling the vehicles /equipment (freelancer with 3DS Max or Maya, Zbrush). I would absolutely love some early war content, but why dislike the late war? Too many super heavy tanks? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazing 88's Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 (edited) 39 minutes ago, Bozowans said: I would absolutely love some early war content, but why dislike the late war? Too many super heavy tanks? Yeah, just me I suppose. I play German units only (most of the time), don't feel like commanding Volkssturm and hoards of panzerfaust armed Hitler youth, with dribs and drabs of armour here and there... Edited March 17, 2018 by Blazing 88's 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, Blazing 88's said: 41-43 whether it be in France..... Huh? We don't have partisans yet. Edited March 17, 2018 by Sgt.Squarehead 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozowans Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 12 minutes ago, Blazing 88's said: Yeah, just me I suppose. I play German units only (most of the time), don't feel like commanding Volkssturm and hoards of panzerfaust armed Hitler youth, with dribs and drabs of armour here and there... But you get loads and loads of StG 44s to play with! I suppose the heavy tanks are my biggest problem with the late war. IS-2s are cool and all, but those guns are so big that they'll vaporize an infantry squad in one hit. It's even worse in Black Sea, where if an infantry squad sticks their heads out for even a second, they take a super accurate air-bursting tank shell right in the face from miles away. When those things are around everything else kinda goes by the wayside. I love the light tanks and armored cars in CMFI. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vergeltungswaffe Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 1 hour ago, Bozowans said: I love the light tanks and armored cars in CMFI. Absolutely. I hope we get 40-42 in the desert somewhere down the road. I loved CMAK with early war tanks and AC's shooting and missing, a lot, at long ranges. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 Grey vs. Green in the east first.....Please! I really miss scaring puny-panzers with KVs. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warts 'n' all Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 11 hours ago, Mugendo said: Not taken away in a straight jacket, Perhaps I should be committed, as I seem to be the only person who ranks FI last among the WW2 games. Too many mountains for my liking. I only enjoyed the scenarios and campaigns set on the coastal plains. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazing 88's Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 3 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said: Huh? We don't have partisans yet. Oops. Well, a few posts above I did mention '39 - mid '44... sigh, but I digress. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOS:96B2P Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 9 hours ago, Vergeltungswaffe said: I hope we get 40-42 in the desert somewhere down the road. Yes. This would be a lot of fun. I don't remember Battlefront talking about North Africa for CM2 but I hope it's on their list. +1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 (edited) 10 hours ago, Vergeltungswaffe said: Absolutely. I hope we get 40-42 in the desert somewhere down the road. I loved CMAK with early war tanks and AC's shooting and missing, a lot, at long ranges. +10 But, it seems that we have to hope that modders do a job on CMFI to give us that experience. There is a basic DAK/North Afrika mod out there, but very few vehicles are suitable apparently. Could try adding to the "official Wish List" that BF creates more models in their future CMFI expansion that would be suitable for use by DAK/NA modders (even if BF didn't create a final product). But the era would be 1940-42 - earlier than current CMFI. Certainly, if BF sold that DAK/NA expansion as a module, I would pay quite a bit for it. Hope many others would as well. Edited March 17, 2018 by Erwin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 (edited) 9 hours ago, Blazing 88's said: Oops. Well, a few posts above I did mention '39 - mid '44... sigh, but I digress. Dude if we could do 41-43 in France I'd be well up for it. Partisan/UnCon warfare is my preferred 'cup of tea' and the CM engine does a bloody good job of it too.....It's well satisfying to use a dozen men or so to create utter chaos, then bug out through an exit zone before you get hit back (I've been trying with limited success to maintain this 'vibe' in my CM:A Blue campaign). Edited March 17, 2018 by Sgt.Squarehead 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoMac Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 (edited) On 3/16/2018 at 4:17 PM, Mugendo said: Not taken away in a straight jacket, I mean i committed to actually purchasing A combat mission game. After months of playing the various demos (except the Red Thunder Demo that insisted I use an activation key), and watching youtube AAR uploads.....comparing versions, reading multitudes of reviews...and sifting the useful from the useless, and as we all know, there is a lot more of the latter to be found on the Interweb sites. I Really like the look of the Normandy theatre, lots of interesting and familiar battles I can relate to. But I had to put that on the back burner for now as the multiple addons and big pack offers were pushing the price up ...just one more...just one more.....just... Anyway I then looked at the latest offering Final Blitzkrieg, the Demo again gave an excellent feel of the game and theatre, but it was too cold and too many trees for my liking. So it was off to look at the Red Thunder (on youtube because of the activation key issue) that became my favourite, and I see it is a very popular theatre for support....and it had all the features anyone could want, troops riding tanks (contentious subject) and the flame throwers....plus all the campaigns and missions had already been designed with the AI keys implemented. And it had no DLC, so out of the box it was ready to go with all the content in it.....that was very tempting, But I kept coming back to the Fortress Italy theatre... Fortress Italy....The very much overlooked theatre of many wargames, and the Unique makeup of the Italian forces in the game really made manouvering as a cohesive force a special challenge. Spotters without radios, operating old French Tanks alongside the might of the German forces, A combination that gave me that extra dimension when ordering forces around....The Italians never had any reason to fight, Mussolini or Hitler in charge of the military forces .....talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place. With the varied terrain, different weather conditions in the campaign, changing forces depending on the timeframe.....it had just one thing missing....British forces...which is easily resolved with the Gustav line DLC that adds Commonwealth forces. Looking at the Battlefront site there is the offer of the Bundle pack, And that is what sold it for me......Fortress Italy with Gustav line is the one I purchased today, and looking forward to getting some decent spare time for gaming. ... Oh....and Hello everyone Welcome aboard, my Friend. Yes, and as soon as your ready to play against a Very Green PBEM Opponent, then PM as I'm up for some more Fresh Meat...err, I mean a Challenge...Experienced Players not Welcome. Promise, I Don't Bit, Much :-) Edited March 19, 2018 by JoMc67 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 (edited) Mugendo, Welcome aboard! That has. to be one of the most entertaining, yet. thoughtful, first posts ever. Absolutely didn't. see the CMFI curve ball coming at all! I don't own CMFI, but I have followed the CMFI Forum, read AARs and such. One of the things I really like about it is the open space (and real mountains) after after the claustrophobic bocage. The scenery is simply stunning, the Sherman is pretty scary, and the Allies have cool camouflage jobs, too. There are some unusual Allied vehicles which provide variety you just don't see in CMBN. Have. no idea how the Germans operate sans Panzerschecks. and Panzerfausts. The former didn't debut until Anzio, when it blasted the Crab flail tanks clearing mines so the bridgehead breakout could begin. Regards, John Kettler Edited March 19, 2018 by John Kettler 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mugendo Posted March 19, 2018 Author Share Posted March 19, 2018 (edited) I used to play Combat Mission Hotseat with a friend back in 2000...wow....Eighteen years ago . I never read the instructions because the game was intuitive (for any semi intelligent gamer). But we had a blast battling away many evenings, oblivious to complexity of the game mechanics that far exceeded our understanding of battlefield tactics....after all it was the time of 'drag a box' tactics of the isometric 3D era. As time marched on....as it does.....I was distracted from 'real time physics games' into 'real need to step away from the screen life'. And I forgot the title of the game....but had fond memories of it when we sit around reminiscing old games we loved....erm....we all do that don't we ?? As stories go....' A few years later a chance encounter'...................I saw in a game store, ahem....while looking fora game for my son.....Combat Mission Shock Force, and like a bolt of lightning it all came back to me, the wonderful battles in the Bocage, the tense expectations of rolling my tank around waiting for it to explode. Yes... all those hotseat games were going through my mind as I stood in the queue waiting patiently to buy my copy of 'rose tinted glasses'. Getting home and loading it up certainly was a Shock Forced ..on me.... A few units standing on a piece of terrain modelled on sandpaper!!!!......that was a WTF!!! moment for me....my first realisation that Modern warfare is not for me. With my preconceptions blown away I grudgingly played a couple of turns until it crashed.....then froze...then....crashed again. I was running Vista at the time, and it was rare for any software to run without a blue screen....Vista even had trouble running itself. So my return to Combat mission was limited to a couple of incomplete battles in a theatre I did not enjoy.....So my impression of Combat mission became very negative and biased against it. As a casual gamer I still had no idea who wrote and sold the game title....and was oblivious to the fact it was a game engine being improved upon as it expanded into new theatres of combat. Now we are in the 'modern' world....to be honest we were 'modern' in the sixties too....we had a television set..two in fact, both black and white of course. One for the picture and one for the sound....My father was a 'make it work or do without kind of man'. . So I spent my childhood listening to Doctor Who while I waited for the 'picture' set to warm up and let me see the action!!! . But I digress.......I came across the newer Combat mission games about six months ago, and with mixed feelings from my love/hate issues with the original and shock force....I downloaded the Demo of CMBFN, and was impressed. All the fun of the original ...erm...with the same graphics ??!!!!....erm...the same graphics ??!!...really.... I was a beta tester and current Elite Dangerous Gamer, and comparing the new Elite Dangerous with the Original is Night and Day difference.....no lines flickering across the screen now, a full blown cockpit with module management in a fully immersive real scale Galaxy to play with.... . And Combat mission still wont allow me to get my hands dirty and change a tank track!!!! But, then I looked at the Price of the Games and saw the original could still be bought for a few Euros....problem solved, I just buy the original, same gameplay, same graphics, bargain basement price..................nice logic....until I actually looked at the original and compared it with the current game engine.....and I saw.....Combat Mission had also jumped ahead light years in development. Now I was ready to take a serious look without rose glasses or sandpaper scenario bias...and the only decision was, which one ?..as described in my first post. So, I am not really new to Combat mission, I am one of the 'founder' gamers who has returned to the fold.. and very pleased to find a welcoming, and sometimes critical community who strive to push the game series forward through 'polite requests' to the small team who make it all possible. And The Modding community is first rate, providing very impressive content changes with useful hints and advice....Often sprinkled with historical details.....Historical details, that reminds me of the stories my father told me when he was driving around in the Valentine self propelled gun (later a tank) .........but, another day for that. Edited March 19, 2018 by Mugendo spelling errors 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOS:96B2P Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 On 3/16/2018 at 3:17 PM, Mugendo said: Fortress Italy with Gustav line is the one I purchased today, and looking forward to getting some decent spare time for gaming. ... I think you will really enjoy CMFI. Not sure if you are aware but Battlefront is working on an expansion (Module) for CMFI, that will take CMFI to the end of the war. So CMFI will cover the most time of any of the WWII games, July 1943 to May 1945. It will also include some new nationalities. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger73 Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 14 hours ago, JoMc67 said: Welcome aboard, my Friend. Yes, and as soon as your ready to play against a Very Green PBEM Opponent, then PM as I'm up for some more Fresh Meat...err, I mean a Challenge...Experienced Players not Welcome. Promise, I Don't Bit, Much :-) Then after completing your initial hazing ritual, err, kind introduction to H2H play, check out The Few Good Men for other opponents to play as well - http://www.thefewgoodmen.com/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.