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To buy or not to buy CM:Battle for Normandy


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Hi all!

I need your advice. I am trying to decide if a have to buy CM:Battle for Normandy or not. I have CM:Fortress Italy and I like it. But almost all battles are done. I am seeking more. CMBN has more battles; it has mach more in the repository then CMFI.

But, as far as I know CMFI is the newest CM title. So I fear to miss some features that I like in CMFI.

Is it right that after latest patches and upgrades CMBN is the same game as CMFI from the features and engine point of view? Cat I treat CMBN just as new content to the game absolutely the same as CMFI?

PS. Just in case, sorry for my English. I am working on it :)

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My 2 cents...Personally I am struggling with CMBN and there is one reason for this. Bocage.

If you buy CMBN you need to be ready for bocage. As is to be expected, it is everywhere. Most of the scenarios and campaigns revolve around it.

I can't take it anymore. Once you see one hedgerow, you've seen them all. Feels more like a puzzle than a wargame. It is boring, tiresome and limiting. Not to mention that constricted spaces are not the best place for the AI to do it's thing...The tight terrain highlights small annoying issues with the engine like LOS/LOF, action spot placement of guns and MGs and pathing.

Now, this is actually praise for CMBN. Few games convey the feeling of "hedgerow hell" so vividly. But consider if you find it fun personally.

PS: I would assume a lot of the content on the repository features more open and varied terrain.

:D

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But, as far as I know CMFI is the newest CM title. So I fear to miss some features that I like in CMFI.

Is it right that after latest patches and upgrades CMBN is the same game as CMFI from the features and engine point of view? Cat I treat CMBN just as new content to the game absolutely the same as CMFI?

Check out this thread: http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=110700 I posted (#6) about how the games have been progressing and leap frogging each other.

In a nut shell: yes they play like they are the same game. Occasionally the tweaks and bug fix differences are detectable but no very often. The biggest difference is the environment as @Zebulon Pleasure Beast II (I feel dirty just typing that:-) said about hedge row hell brings up a point. The environment for the two games is very different. I think there are lots of scenarios in CMBN that are not as claustrophobic as some but it is a different environment.

If you like CMFI I feel sure you will like CMBN.

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Right. BTS is keeping all of the CMx2 WW2 games at the same level. Eventually we'll have games for the Eastern Front and the end of the war, but CMBN and CMFI will be kept up to their standards with patches. It is essentially one game engine.

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My 2 cents...Personally I am struggling with CMBN and there is one reason for this. Bocage.

If you buy CMBN you need to be ready for bocage. As is to be expected, it is everywhere. Most of the scenarios and campaigns revolve around it. ...

I can't take it anymore ...

Each to their own Mr. Beast, personally I have struggled to get into the Italian Campaign and enjoy CMBN far more than CMFI. There are, I agree, some seriously annoying niggles in the game-play when it comes to setting up MGs and the like behind bocage (as a recent AAR posted on here demonstrated), but into every life a little rain must fall.

Against that there are some superb campaigns and scenarios for CMBN (step forward for a bow the designers, especially Paper Tiger and George MC, whose work is particularly outstanding). Furthermore, with Commonwealth module it is possible to play without encountering much in the way of bocage at all. Frankly, when it comes to assaulting across open fields, a la Hill 112, or the bocage, I'll take the hedgerows any day.

As I say, each to their own.

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Hi all!

I need your advice. I am trying to decide if a have to buy CM:Battle for Normandy or not. I have CM:Fortress Italy and I like it. But almost all battles are done. I am seeking more. CMBN has more battles; it has mach more in the repository then CMFI.

But, as far as I know CMFI is the newest CM title. So I fear to miss some features that I like in CMFI.

Is it right that after latest patches and upgrades CMBN is the same game as CMFI from the features and engine point of view? Cat I treat CMBN just as new content to the game absolutely the same as CMFI?

PS. Just in case, sorry for my English. I am working on it :)

Firstly, dont be sorry for your English, its better than a lot of native speakers can manage in the UK these days!!!!:)

As to your question, each to their own but personally I have much more fun with CMBN, although I would caveat that with the fact that I have only played the FI Demo and not the full game.

For me, CMBN is where the action is, not a sideshow campaign. The games seem identical though but your right, there is much more content for CMBN which probably stems from it being that much more popular.

Bocage notwithstanding, there are a lot of excellent scenarios that have little if any Bocage out there, the units for me are more interesting and there are more and better Mods if your into that kind of thing.

In sum, I would say theres much more longevity and variety in CMBN.

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right now CMFI has a few more advantages than CMBN, namely a more updated engine because of Gustav Line, at least until MG comes out and the ability to play in all weather including winter (at least until Bulge comes out).

The biggest advantage though is the ability to play with 1943 kit since CMFI starts in july 43 as opposed to june 44 for CMBN. It may not seem like a big change, but it does give a different feel to the game.

I was never really interested in the Italain theatre, but CMFI/GL has made me a convert. I am reading a few books on the Italian campaign now.

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Thanks to all of you! I have decided to buy CMBN. Actually I already done this.

Bocage is just a new content that I was looking for. I am going to look at it by myself :)

Welcome to the jungle, son! Remember to start with the Road to Montebourg, which is the best of the two campaigns, in my opinion.

One thing you should know: the campaigns were designed when machine guns were weaker than they are now. This makes some of the maps much more difficult than they were designed to be. So don't despair :)

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Welcome to the jungle, son! Remember to start with the Road to Montebourg, which is the best of the two campaigns, in my opinion.

One thing you should know: the campaigns were designed when machine guns were weaker than they are now. This makes some of the maps much more difficult than they were designed to be. So don't despair :)

I'd recommend getting some Bocage practise in against the AI in QBs before starting in on campaigns. Much of the appeal of scenarios and campaigns is that you don't know what you're up against, so replaying them is less satisfying. If you get yourself in a pickle because Bocage doesn't work in-game how you thought it did, you'll have "wasted" a blind run at a scenario.

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I'd recommend getting some Bocage practise in against the AI in QBs before starting in on campaigns. Much of the appeal of scenarios and campaigns is that you don't know what you're up against, so replaying them is less satisfying. If you get yourself in a pickle because Bocage doesn't work in-game how you thought it did, you'll have "wasted" a blind run at a scenario.

Fair point, I found out most of those things by playing the tutorial campaign. But I didn't recommend that in this case, because the guy said he already have experience with Fortress Italy.

I'll change my recommendation to "start with the tutorial" then :)

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I would recommend picking up CMBN with the 2.0 upgrade. Regarding bocage: I would say some of the posters here are overplaying the importance of bocage in order to enjoy CMBN. Indeed, most of the battles and campaigns feature it extensively. It's a Normandy game.

Yet there's also plenty of scenarios in the repository - and some scenarios included - which feature much more open terrain. And they're also quite enjoyable :)

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I would recommend picking up CMBN with the 2.0 upgrade. Regarding bocage: I would say some of the posters here are overplaying the importance of bocage in order to enjoy CMBN. Indeed, most of the battles and campaigns feature it extensively. It's a Normandy game.

Yet there's also plenty of scenarios in the repository - and some scenarios included - which feature much more open terrain. And they're also quite enjoyable :)

I am in agreement here. Theres much much more to CMBN than Bocage and theres much more user made stuff available for it as well. Its the reason that I dont feel it necessary to buy the Italy game and after trying the demo I think I made the right personal choice. If you can only have one, then I would go with BN, however if you can afford it, then just get both.

Im saving my few remaining pennies for an Eastfront game and the MG Module.

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I am amused by how tortured some people seem to be over the purchase. CMBN isn't dental work, its fun! Its the price of two items of clothing at The Gap. If you don't buy the game you'll spend the same (and more) finding other ways to entertain yourself. Like $400 tickets to the Rolling Stones concert. ;) Think of CMBN as an investment, in the long run it'll save you from wasting your money on Vin Diesel films. :D

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