Which Combat Mission do you think has the most fun gameplay and why?

[Erwin]

Most early CMSF1 scenarios seemed easy comparably.  However, CMSF1 and 2 scenarios can be very tough - especially where one is heavily penalized for even minimal, if any, casualties.  But, some designers have made CMSF Blue vs Red scenarios where the Red can do a lot of damage.  And if one wants a challenge play Red vs Blue, or even Red vs Red.

When I suffer from (regular) CM burn-out, CMSF tends to be the game where I rediscover the fun.  CMFB is also great as one has more opportunities to attack with Germans rather than be on the defensive as one is usually in CMBN, CMFI and CMRT as they are mostly late-war eras.

 

[MikeyD]

The 'favorite game' question is a bit subject to 'first girlfriend bias' where the first... um, game... you got your hands on is going to be the one against which all subsequent... um, games... are judged. 

[Simcoe]

Too true. I think for most of us our favorite changes week to week.

[ratdeath]

The one Bil Hardenberger does an AAR/DAR for on the forums

His AAR/DAR's are always a true inspiration for how to play CM.

There are also others that do great AAR/DAR's!

CMCW is my favorite CM! Why? Cold War!

[Ithikial_AU]

I've always leant a bit more towards WW2, largely due to the greater variety of units and formations on offer across the titles. Whenever a base game gets it's first module the replayability jumps up quite dramatically I think. CW module for CMBN, GL for CMFI and now FR for CMRT all seem to have that same effect on the game family. Now if only there could be titles set before mid-1943 to really bump up the variety even more.  

I certainly don't mind the modern titles but the more blink and you're dead lethality of the units in play plus the one sided nature of forces (in CMSF especially) can work against playing these games longer term. Now for the controversial part, I'm probably one of the few on these boards that has very little interest in the Cold War setting.  Early War WW2 > Cold War was always listed higher on my pipe dream wishlist agenda.

[absolutmauser]

It's a tough call but I'd say CMBN and CMSF are my favorites. Cold War is coming on strong though! 

CMSF has such a compelling problem of having all the firepower and toys on the NATO side but not being willing to take casualties. It makes what often seems straightforward become a meticulous and careful engagement to avoid a lucky RPG or ATGM hit by the opfor. 

CMBN is just loaded with scenarios and units with all the add ons, and the Normandy terrain (later Holland) provides such challenging situations. 

[slysniper]

cmsf is fun when I make my own scenarios. Red can be made to be a real challenge and I can make bloody affairs, none of that cannot afford losses stuff.

Their fun to a certain extent, but there is plenty of toys in that series to make up all sorts of what if's

[Sgt.Squarehead]

CM:SF2.....Even with buggy Red comms, it's still the best! 

[SimpleSimon]

Close call between Shock Force 2 and Fortress Italy. Both of them have really broad kinds of situation and the scenarios are constructed that felt more intuitive than usual rather than relying on scripting of some kind. 

[Bozowans]

On 10/13/2021 at 10:50 PM, Simcoe said:

Too true. I think for most of us our favorite changes week to week.

Probably true for me.

Though I'm tempted to say Shock Force overall. Some players don't like it because of the force imbalance, but that's exactly what I find interesting about it. The Syrians are the ultimate underdog of all the CM games. It's always fun seeing them pull off some fantastic ambush against overwhelming odds, wiping out a good chunk of the western forces before gloriously martrying themselves in the process.

I like the Middle Eastern setting, the modern stuff is fun to play with, and the gameplay is quite different from the slow, grinding industrial warfare of WW2. The insurgents/uncons are unlike anything in any other title. You get interesting units like technicals, IEDs, spies, suicide bombers, small bands of guerrilla fighters with stealth bonuses. Some of my favorite content is the Red vs Red stuff.

The game has become more interesting after everything that has happened IRL since the game was released. After spending years seeing real life major battles playing out over places like Aleppo or Raqqa, it's outright bizarre to see similar battles playing out in the game.

[Codreanu]

Red Thunder, but more for personal reasons of always having a deep fascination with the Eastern Front. I find it so easy to just get immersed in whatever battle I'm playing and feeling like I'm experiencing history in the making. Depending on how much content Cold War gets in a future and how much love it gets from modders I can see it becoming a new favorite because it's another bit of (alternate) history I find really interesting.

[JMDECC]

CMCW. Hands down. 

[Phantom Captain]

This one is so tough because ultimately it's more about what mood I am looking for.

That being said, I adore Black Sea.  Modern is just so much different and "better" in my opinion.  I really do fight different too depending on what side I am playing.  As the Americans it's so much fun to play with the tech and you really do fight a precision, high tech, low casualty, surgical type warfare that is noticeable.  However, on the other hand and to me, whenever I play the Russians or the Ukrainians it devolves down into some real bloody destructive warfare.  I guess I am less cautious with both and fight to their doctrines.  I really really enjoy playing both and have a thing for the Russian/Soviet tanks.  I love the modern T-72, as blind as it is, it does a superb job.  T-90s are just as fun and then playing the Ukrainian modern T-64s and 80s just does it for me.

Second, the BMP-3M.  I just LOVE the thing and it's insane firepower.  Too much fun.  I am ANXIOUSLY awaiting new content for Black Sea, can't wait.

I have a saved file of somewhere along in the Russian campaign of a T-90 backing up, under fire, shrugging off 3 incoming rounds with the ARENA system, and killing two and damaging a third UKR tank all in one minute, going backwards with all hell breaking loose in every direction.  Survived the whole thing without a scratch.  Good times.  I can only imagine the crew freaking out at their luck. 

But running closely behind all this is my love for SF2 as well.  All the different armies as well as the USMC is always soo much fun.  And now Cold War has immediately vaulted up very high as well.  I am highly anticipating more additions to come for CW too.  The funny thing is this all goes back to CM1 and playing only WWII.  Now, I hardly ever play WWII stuff. Modern all the way now. 

Edited October 25, 2021 by Phantom Captain

[Simcoe]

On 10/25/2021 at 4:33 PM, Phantom Captain said:

This one is so tough because ultimately it's more about what mood I am looking for.

That being said, I adore Black Sea.  Modern is just so much different and "better" in my opinion.  I really do fight different too depending on what side I am playing.  As the Americans it's so much fun to play with the tech and you really do fight a precision, high tech, low casualty, surgical type warfare that is noticeable.  However, on the other hand and to me, whenever I play the Russians or the Ukrainians it devolves down into some real bloody destructive warfare.  I guess I am less cautious with both and fight to their doctrines.  I really really enjoy playing both and have a thing for the Russian/Soviet tanks.  I love the modern T-72, as blind as it is, it does a superb job.  T-90s are just as fun and then playing the Ukrainian modern T-64s and 80s just does it for me.

Second, the BMP-3M.  I just LOVE the thing and it's insane firepower.  Too much fun.  I am ANXIOUSLY awaiting new content for Black Sea, can't wait.

I have a saved file of somewhere along in the Russian campaign of a T-90 backing up, under fire, shrugging off 3 incoming rounds with the ARENA system, and killing two and damaging a third UKR tank all in one minute, going backwards with all hell breaking loose in every direction.  Survived the whole thing without a scratch.  Good times.  I can only imagine the crew freaking out at their luck. 

But running closely behind all this is my love for SF2 as well.  All the different armies as well as the USMC is always soo much fun.  And now Cold War has immediately vaulted up very high as well.  I am highly anticipating more additions to come for CW too.  The funny thing is this all goes back to CM1 and playing only WWII.  Now, I hardly ever play WWII stuff. Modern all the way now. 

I love playing the Russians in Black Sea. I enjoy playing a modern army that doesn't have Javelins. It makes the game much more of a chess match and the Russian hardware is too sexy.

[Chudacabra]

I think my favourite battles have been in the modern games with scrappy forces (either Ukraine vs Ukraine or Syrian vs Syrians). But I really enjoy every Combat Mission game, especially against a human opponent.

[SimpleSimon]

On 10/20/2021 at 8:06 PM, Codreanu said:

Red Thunder, but more for personal reasons of always having a deep fascination with the Eastern Front. I find it so easy to just get immersed in whatever battle I'm playing and feeling like I'm experiencing history in the making. Depending on how much content Cold War gets in a future and how much love it gets from modders I can see it becoming a new favorite because it's another bit of (alternate) history I find really interesting.

I really wanted to put up Red Thunder-if for no reason other than Blunting the Spear-but a number of the vanilla campaigns and scenarios are really badly designed. I still really like it, because with the Master Maps and unit toolkit Ive still made great campaigns and scenarios for myself but like-that's a lot of work I didn't always appreciate and i'm sure if one tallies up their CM list under "most played by hours" than Red Thunder usually ends up near the bottom of my list. It just shipped too lean.

Battle for Normandy is great but also sort of obligatory-Normandy is totally overdone in gaming everywhere which is a shame because otherwise BN still has great campaigns and scenarios. What really revitalized it for me was the Market Garden module-but it needed that to stand out. 

Fortress Italy just had everything as far as the games went. It was great right off release and all its modules have done nothing but make it better. 

Edited October 28, 2021 by SimpleSimon

[The_Capt]

Gotta speak up, it is killing me.

So I am not going to plug CMCW as it has been covered and I whisper into the dark at night "CMCW is really good and is our baby...but not my first love".  Best CM games, in my opinion, were the CMx1 series and I have to go with CMAK as the highpoint of that series.  They had worked the kinks out and it was just so elegant and well balanced.  Of course I am pretty sure I have my rose-tinted on as it also takes me back to all the stuff in my sig (besides CMCW).  We did a multi-player meta-campaign over 15 years ago and it was still a highpoint of my gaming hobby.  And then we had the Rumblings of War tournaments, the Peng Thread, "This is my Hamster", "The Lurker" and oh so much more...I can remember this one time when we were trying to hold that Bridge in Sicily with a freakin platoon and single mortar.....mumble mumble.

But time does move on...

[danfrodo]

I've been trying to decide which is my favorite, and basically it comes down to this:

1. the one I haven't played in the longest time

2. great pics & AARs on the forum

So my fave varies.  Right now I'm playing SF2 and having a blast.  Then probably some CMBS. then back to WW2. 

But if I were stranded on a deserted island for eternity and could only take one game..... CMBN.

[Panzerpanic]

CMCW for me.
I always wanted a cold war combat mission though i wasn't sure what time would have been better.
The 79-82 timeline is a great choice.
I like playing with mechanized troops so the choice was simple!

[Simcoe]

Mechanized troops are always the most fun. Now that Cold War is out, you can play Russian and US mechanized units from WW2 through today.

I enjoy seeing their differences in strategy and how much has stayed the same over time. 

The US focus on firepower over manpower and the Russian close quarter swarms of tanks and artillery.

[chuckdyke]

Red Thunder for me, right now I am not interested in anything else. I enjoy playing Soviets as they are tactically the underdog when it comes to the C2. Get the contact intel to the Battalion or Regimental HQ asap. My name is not Zeus ruling the destiny of heroes from Mt Olympus aka the UI view. 

[SimpleSimon]

The lack of proper C2 certainly presents a new kind situation for CM players more accustomed to heavy subdivisions and unit tailoring. (ie: Half a platoon + engineer team + M10 for lulz) The Red Army was definitely the best "peasant army" in the world though as far as that all went. They just applied everything really heavily, or sent no one at all. Most Armies in the world were not like Central Europeans much less the Anglo-Americans with luxurious walkie talkies and ice cream trucks. Unlike lots of nations though Russia could actually provide the mass of arms to justify the sort of attacks that looked like 1918 all over again with high applied force density on a tiny slice of frontage. Of course it also helped that the Ostfront was like outer space with its infamous low troop densities and permeable frontlines. You could get a shocking number of men behind a frontline in one night and then just collapse a defense arrangement reliant on outposts and tripwire positions like the kind the Germans had to use everywhere. Sometimes you'll have disasters, but then the whole war is a bloody disaster isn't it? Pass the vodka comrade. 

Post war the appearance of radios does not seem to have changed much about this hard-headed but reliable method of launching attacks-I think that was mainly done to make HQs safer and decrease turnaround times with reconnaissance.  

[chuckdyke]

Red army attack is led by armored units they have the radios and binoculars. Artillery serves one purpose the footsloggers know where to go by just following the direction of the shrieking Katyushas. Besides the engine decks of T34's keep you warm during winter.