A Word on Follow-on Modules

[Bil Hardenberger]

I know everybody is excited and would like to know what is next after the Base Game... believe me we are all excited too!

As far as follow-on modules go.. yes several are planned, but what they are specifically we will keep to ourselves until after the game is released.  For now the focus must stay on the base-game for us, but feel free to conjecture and dream, I enjoy those threads, but we won't be confirming or denying anything until after this one is on the street.

Just so you guys know that we aren't ignoring you in those discussions, we are trying to stay focused and not get sidetracked so we can deliver this thing in time.

Cheers, Bil

[ratdeath]

This sounds great for the future
April can't be here soon enough!

[Dr.Fusselpulli]

For me, firstly a Germany Module for a War in Germany is important. So East Germany NVA troops against West German Bundeswehr.
I am not familiar enough with the NVA troops to know about details of their equipment, but for the Bundeswehr, I not only expect familiar vehilces like The Leopard 1 or 2 and the Marder, but also vehicles like the Luchs, the super quiet armored reconaissence vehicle.
The Wiesel was not available yet, but the American M48 was also used in the Bundeswehr as well as the M113 is a lot of variants.
Important is also the "StuG" of the bundeswehr, the KanonenJagdPanzer, also in its ATGM form as Jaguar.
As Trucks, there should be Unimogs, U404S and its sucessor U1300L, these are the working horses of the Bundeswehr.
Cars should be VW Typ 181 (Kurierwagen) and its sucessor the Iltis, which was still quite new at that time.
For air defense you need Gepard and from 1980 on also Roland. I think the Flakpanzer M42 is not so important.
For offmap artillery you need to have M109 and LARS2.

But other nations are important as well, British Forces, Netherlands, maybe France. On the Eastern side I would expect Poland and the Czechslovakia.

[Aragorn2002]

That's good enough, Bil. For now. 

[Sgt.Squarehead]

If this all turns out to be an April Fools Joke.....

[SimpleSimon]

Love to see a module featuring or focused on French forces of NATO... 

[Sequoia]

I first want to acknowledge the amount of work that goes into creating a game even excluding the coding. I think you're smart to remain focused on the base game for now, and not make promises regarding the future because no one in December 2019 could forecast what 2020 turned out to be.

I also want to extend huge thanks to making the game a multi-year setting so we can see the differences between the years. You didn't have to do it, but you did, but you did, but you did, and I thank you.

[MikeyD]

I recall back in my old hobby modeling days (last century) there would be these surveys asking what's the most popular military vehicle. Invariable the winner was 'not in kit form yet'. People demanded a Centurion kit - until they got a Centurion kit then interest waned. People wanted a Sturmtiger kit - until they got a Sturmtiger kit then interest waned. There's something enticing about that thing that's just beyond your reach. So there will always be fantasy module and title requests.

[Glubokii Boy]

I know this has been asked before and the answer has been NO at those times...but as this game is stated to be a...

'sandbox'

Something that other basegames never has been...have you guys considdered to realese simple TOE packs...and maybe terrain/flavour packs...as well as full modules ?

The vast scope of this basegame ought to make this a possibility ...

Releasing full modules will still be a Major undertaking i'm guessing but simple packs like these might...help to spred the conflict somewhat faster ...

 

 

 

 

 

[MikeyD]

42 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

If this all turns out to be an April Fools Joke.....

Release date: April first  

[Ivanov]

Israeli invasion of Lebanon as a crossover between Cold War and Shock Force modules 

[Sprocketman]

For my part, I really enjoy seeing many different armies represented, and my favorite Combat Mission games are invariably those which have more variety in playable nations (SF2, Normandy, FI) rather than less (RT, FB, BS). So I would really like to see a prioritization towards development of modules that add new nations. 

The #1 addition in that regard is probably West and East Germany for me, but that could very easily roll into Netherlands/Denmark, and eventually France/Britain along with other Warsaw Pact nations that would add something interesting to the mix. I realize most Warsaw Pact nations were 'Soviets but worse', but the same could be argued about the Commonwealth nations in Normandy/Fortress Italy.

The long-term desire for me would be an expansion of the game to include other theaters of war more incidental to the main conflict around Germany  For example, a Balkan/Mediterranean module with Italy and Yugoslavia, or stuff in the Middle East (Israel vs Arab Powers), or the Arctic (Finland/Sweden/Norway, possibly bring in Canada). But I would prefer these inclusions only be explored after a really solid fleshing out of the Central European theater.

And maybe a 'stretch goal' could be the inclusion of some more obscure conflicts... Bush Wars in Africa/Asia/Latin America, hypothetical scenarios that could involve Asian powers like a fictional Korean War 2.0, or a Sino-Soviet alliance and/or split that leads to Asia becoming a major theater of war.

Edited February 18, 2021 by Sprocketman

[Sgt.Squarehead]

48 minutes ago, Ivanov said:

Israeli invasion of Lebanon as a crossover between Cold War and Shock Force modules 

You'll need those well organised Uncons from CM:A too. 

[sburke]

2 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

If this all turns out to be an April Fools Joke.....

He'd be a might bit early and Bil is punctual.  

[slippy]

Whilst I am very happy to see the announcement of Cold War and possible follow on modules, and with past reference to further modules and battle packs for CMFB and CMBS also to be released, I was wondering when BFC may see another major upgrade to the game engine to CM3?

 

Bearing in mind the sometimes painfully slow release schedule, does the announcement of Cold War tie in production to the present engine for another 5 or 6 years when it is already 11 years old?

 

 

[Lukevan16]

I’m just hoping the tradition of adding the Canadians to these games continues, not many games let me play as them.

[Lukevan16]

Come to think of it, the Iran-Iraq war would be a cool module too, but the thing went on for so damn long I imagine the TOE would be a nightmare.

[Sgt.Squarehead]

3 hours ago, Lukevan16 said:

I’m just hoping the tradition of adding the Canadians to these games continues, not many games let me play as them.

I suspect there would be a mutiny if they aren't here in a module or two! 

1 hour ago, Lukevan16 said:

Come to think of it, the Iran-Iraq war would be a cool module too, but the thing went on for so damn long I imagine the TOE would be a nightmare.

It's a bit of a mixture and that's a fact. 

[Thomm]

Don't miss out on the fabulous Austrian army!

Hint: There is not much extra modeling work to be done!

Iconic equipment includes:

• The Steyr AUG.
• The 18 t 'Kürassier' tank hunter.
• Unique stationary tank turrets and bunkers!

Some links:

• Link 1
• Link 2
• Link 3

Seems that I shall have to pay a visit to the Museum of Military History here in Vienna.

Best regards,
Thomm

[Schrullenhaft]

Modules I'd like to see (staying with the European theater), that I assume could stand a chance of being realistically expected:

1. West Germany / East Germany

2. Britain (BAOR) / Poland / Czechoslovakia 

3. Canada / Netherlands / Belgium / Denmark (Centurions !) / Austria (?)

4. A module that brings in the timeline between '83 to '91. This would update all of the equipment and organizations for the previous modules/base-game. However this would be quite hard to execute with the current licensing scheme (with the desire to limit each module to not requiring other modules beyond the base-game). Winter textures would probably be appreciated too (covering modules and base-game content). Perhaps this module could be done first so that all follow-on modules would have all the equipment/organization of '79 - '91.

 

Modules that would probably be unlikely to be made, but would be cool if they did show up:

5. France

6. Italy / Yugoslavia / Romania / Hungary

7. Norway / Finland / USMC / Sweden (?)

 

I would assume that any content that goes beyond the European theater may warrant enough work to be considered its own base-game. However I could be wrong on that account. This entire game family would remain with the current engine (CM 2, Engine 4 and probably an Engine 5 Upgrade).

Edited February 19, 2021 by Schrullenhaft

[sburke]

Canada!  Am re-reading First Clash... again.

[Sgt.Squarehead]

9 minutes ago, Schrullenhaft said:

4. A module that brings in the timeline between '83 to '91.

I'd like the timeline to go backwards too.....Starting around 1949.

Come on, who wouldn't want to play with these guys:

[Schrullenhaft]

I agree. It would be awesome to bring the timeline back to 1955 or so. I just assumed it might be more work than what the team would want to do. There's definitely some very plausible conflict scenarios in Europe in this time frame.

I don't know the exact dates of some weapons systems being deployed, but this timeframe would probably give a significant tactical advantage to the Warsaw Pact forces at times.

[Sgt.Squarehead]

1 hour ago, Schrullenhaft said:

I don't know the exact dates of some weapons systems being deployed, but this timeframe would probably give a significant tactical advantage to the Warsaw Pact forces at times.

They'd have to be very careful to signal limited objectives though, the west had a significant nuclear advantage.

Thing is, opening up the timeline this far back, in theory at least, means we can place these units in other timeframes & places (assuming I'm correctly understanding the sandbox idea).....So for example (and assuming I've got this right) we could eventualy have accurately modelled (modded) IS-3s (from one module) in Egyptian service, against accurately modelled (modded) M48s (from another module) in Israeli service, even if no official Arab/Israeli wars game is ever made. 

Edited February 19, 2021 by Sgt.Squarehead

[The_MonkeyKing]

I say a Finland DLC will bring the most value to the table. 

Just think about that Finnish terrain, small roads, average LoS 100-200m. If you want a sneak peak of the units and terrain Armored Brigade has Finnish defense forces and has modeled significant part of the south-eastern Finland. Would be interesting to see these dynamic also in CM. It is very much like in WWII, Soviets are going to have surprisingly expensive time advancing.

Edited February 19, 2021 by The_MonkeyKing