USArmyVeteran

Ha! CMAK fans are out in full force! I didn't dislike AK. I think I had played the games prior to death and had burned myself out. I didn't care for the wide open terrain either. But that's not my fault! I swear! I grew up watching movies about the Vietnam war, so I've always enjoyed small squad combat in heavy terrain with clever ambushes over tank warfare or large open expanses. I appreciate all the input...I really do. I'm actually quite excited that there are more of these games. This is literally years of potential entertainment.

I used to play these games quite a bit years ago when they first came out. I started with Barbarossa to Berlin, which I felt was probably the most detailed and thoroughly enjoyable games made reflecting that theater of WWII. I then purchased Overlord, which I enjoyed as well, then Afrika Corps, which didn't hold my interest for very long. I pretty much completely forgot about battlefront and the combat mission enterprise until recently stumbling across information on Fortress Italy. The engine looks vastly improved from the original game and to my absolute shock, it appears you can now play the game in real time. Playing combat mission style game in real time, with a full campaign was a dream of mine for a long time. I played a pen and paper style campaign someone on these boards came up with for Barbarossa, but that was the extent of it for me. So here's my questions if someone would be willing to help me out: 1) How is playing in real time? Is it equally as interesting as the turn based system? And can you play real time in the single player game? 2) How does the campaign work? Is there flexibility in selecting your troops? i.e. You have a pool of currency you can spend towards certain types of equipment similar to the way quick battles worked? 3) Does your equipment/troops carry over from battle to battle during campaign, so doing well in battles has rewards and advantages? 4) Is the game enjoyable/challenging as a single player? 5) Can you alter the events of WWII in the campaign? i.e. Can the Italians win/the Allies lose? Thanks for any input on this. I'm really looking forward to getting this game if some folks could give me some insight on it.