Jump to content

Should I get CMAK?


Recommended Posts

I play CMBB occasionally and I recently found CMAK in stores- wondering whether to but it. Are the changes from CMBB that diffrent or is this just a case of historical inrest in the period? Finally do the battles tend to play out diffrently and if so how?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nikalai,

The explicit modeling of dust alone radically changes the game dynamics. In CMAK, dust production is a function of ground dampness, atmospherics and vehicle movement. Here's the real kicker, though.

Artillery, rocket, mortar and bomb detonations also create dust and are quite capable of breaking LOS

in the process, resulting in off target support fires, blocked direct fire engagements, etc.

CMAK at least semimodels multigunned AFVs (a Grant

has a 75mm hull gun and a 37mm turret firing on the same target; CMBB has no such capability, hence no multiturret tanks in game).

The region covered is vast, not just North Africa,

but Crete, Sicily and Italy. For modders, the inclusion of early war Germans vs. Allies opens up all sorts of possibilities Greece (special contract version for Austalian military), Yugoslovia, etc. One guy

is doing a huge Poland campaign mod. Did you know the Poles had BARs and 155mm howitzers? Others are busily converting the hordes of CMBO scenarios into CMAK format, in order to take advantage of the much more realistic depiction of things like MG effectiveness, the previously missing dust effects, more realistic artillery modeling, etc.

Still others find the Italians make fine substitutes for the Japanese in their PTO mods.

If you enjoyed CMBB, then you'll love CMAK!

Regards,

John Kettler

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll dissent, to a degree. I agree, it's a great game, but other than the setting, it's not quite as different from CMBB as you might think, in my opinion. When I bought CMAK, I expected CMBB with Americans, and I think that more or less, that's what I got. Now, CMBB with Americans and Brits is totally cool, and I love it. But I thought that a lone voice of disagreement was, to some degree, in order.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you enjoy CMBB you'll enjoy CMAK. Think of it as a super-mega 1.5 gig expansion pack. About the same game (except no factories), about the same commands (except no 'human wave'), with English speaking background voices and a somewhat faster pivot rate for your Stugs. Each game has its own frustrations. Infantry looks pretty naked sitting in the middle of a big flat desert map (luckily there are lots of different maps besides flat desert), but then again you no longer have to wo®k with that maddening pre-'43 Soviet command hit that makes your units practically uncontrolllable.

[ March 06, 2006, 11:23 AM: Message edited by: MikeyD ]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I disagree with the disagreements. It is fundamentally a different game because you can have a balanced Armour war. Talking mainly about QB's of course.

In BB if you go the Allied you constantly have to fight for angle against ridiculously under-priced StuG's and have no real answer to Kitties until the late SU's.

In CMAK, if you play Allies (especially British), you can win the Armour war quite handily thank-you-very-much.

Also, the most common AT weapon - e.g. the 6pdr will penetrate a Kitty at < 500m without side angle, thereby giving the Allied player the same advantages as the Axis.

Your infantry get some decent AT as well, although still hamstrung without the gammon bomb for some reason at least they don't toss wine bottles at Armour as it goes by.

And of course, if you play the Axis you learn to lose your over reliance on StuG's and Kitties and actually get some tactics.

So yes. Buy it. It's fun. Fun plus VT artillery. What more could a man ask for?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...