Praise for CMBO

[DavidFields]

I know that CMBO is old stuff for most of the people in this forum, but, as a recent CMBO SE purchaser, I feel compelled to write about how pleased I am with my experience with the game.

I figure that compliments never get old.

I recently finished the Operation 29 Let's go. The map is, to me, utterly amazing. Again, the experienced players of this forum could probably point me to many other great maps. But that does not take away the fact that this one is so meticulous in detail. I presume it must have takes hours to design. The elevations roll gently. The terrain features present one tactical challenge after another. As the Allied attacker, I began getting the claustrophobic feeling after having to attack one hedgerow rectangle after another, separated at regular intervals by potentially lethal lines of woods. I was both relieved and saddened when the germans collapsed on the forth battle (another level of german reinforcements would have made the challenge complete). I went to the editor just to look at the last 500 meters of the map which had not been revealed yet.

Then I played the scenario All or Nothing. Besides having an excellent map, the balance of forces and, again, the variety of tactical situations was marvelous. Again, it must have taken an immense amount of time to orchestrate the entire situation. The rain was a great touch (after a day of hearing the ambient sound in this scenario, my wife said, "Wow, they are having terrible weather in your game".)

The AI was imaginative, agressive, and challenging. I know: it works best on defense, with intelligent default positions, when the human attacker has max FOW and does not know the scenario. And the FOW blinds the human to some of the less bright moves the AI makes. But, give it a break (or, give the programmers a break), I was challenged and exhausted until the german defense ran out of units in both scenarios. I didn't even have the guts to give the AI a bonus. The entertainment value is pulling off a victory and, frankly, the first run through these scenarios/operations I don't always do that even giving the AI even odds. (Despite myself, I was cranky for awhile when the AI punched me in the nose at points in those operations/scenarios).

CMBO, to me, embodies the best of the user-driven computer games/simulations. The game was evidently functional when it appeared. (Unlike EU2 and similiar games--which is also favorite of mine). It is just adaptable. (Reminds me of Civilization II--a totally different genre, of course).

I have no problem effusively praising a game like CMBO, because I know that, unfortunately, neither the designers nor the company is likely to get filthy rich. They have customers like me: who wait until prices come down and multiple enhancements are added before buying, then play the game for years. Whereas my son has consumed $50 PS2 games since Christmas as though they were meal-sized boxes of frosted cereal. It is not fair, but at least I feel better for giving a deserved pat on the back.

[Slappy]

Wait till you try CMAK, and I dont' mean the desert. AK portrays the European theatre in a whole new light, and almost all of the CMBO battles are transportable.

[Saedor]

I have to agree.

I actually purchased CMBB first, when I saw the Special Edition version on sale for $19.99. I hadn't really paid too much attention to the Combat Mission games before, as I was under the impression that they were "real-time strategy" games. While I suppose there's nothing wrong with RTS, it's not one of my favorite genres.

I bought CMBB anyway, due to the subject matter. I have some intrest in the Eastern Front, and thought the game would be an interesting diversion, if nothing else. Once I got it home and began reading the manual, I was stunned to find that the game was indeed a true wargame, not RTS. I was thrilled by the concept, having been a "traditional" wargamer for some 25 years. Finally, someone had gotten computer wargames right!

Well, naturally once I learned this I had to go find a copy of CMBO. Since I got it about a month ago, it's nearly all I play. Yes, someday I'll get CMAK, and someday I'll go back to CMBB, but for now, CMBO is my favorite wargame.

[HeinzBaby]

My sentiments too.

I have all three CM's [like a kid in a candy store and loving it ] but somehow I always keep going back to BO, must be the ETO.

Completely modded out thanks to the legion of skinners/modders out there, I sometimes forget which TO I'm in.

..Idiosyncronies like Mg's not aass supressive as BB or AK, Arty is deadlier or is it the SFX..insert evil grin.

Grab CMAK, last of the trilogy, much improved, it definitely has the Med flavour

[kingjames]

I am with you guys. I still crave my cmbo. I have had it for years but didn't start pbeming till this last year. When I heard cmak was coming out and I was going to get my Americans again, I couldn't wait. When I finally got it I installed for a few days but I had to finish my cmbo pbems that I had going, now a month or two later I am still trying to finish my pbems. I am losing all 5 of them and I am quite pissed. So I most likely will have to have rematches. I am not sure when I will get around to cmak. These are the only computer games for me. Anything else I have tried gets boring in a short period of time.

[Colonel J Lee]

I too am a new member. You have all spoken well of CMBO and I cannot agree more. The game is THE ULTIMATE IN WARGAMING. I also bought CMBB, but am desiring to become "experienced" and "knowledgeable" of CMBO before moving on. Believe me, I'm itching to get to CMBB, but I don't want to rush it as there is SO much in CMBO. I can't believe this game is already 4 years old!! Of course, I've started a CMBB scenario with a friend, both of us being amateurs in this "new" game, but I am focusing on "CM 101" before moving on to the "intermediate courses" of CMBB and CMAK. These are the only games I will ever be playing as far as I can see. I had two others I really enjoyed, but they became extinct overnight. GREAT JOB you guys at Battlefront! I hope you do get "filthy rich"....even if it takes some time. You have given many people there favorite recreation - WW2 strategy wargaming - in the ulimate form with nothing lacking! THANKS.

[Cwhit21]

Well just to say I have had CMBO for years too, and I am getting the kick back into it. If anybody is interested in CMBO pbem or TCP...drop me a line... until i get the new CM's it's CMBO for me.

[Sequoia]

Another new CMBO player here making his first post. I picked up the special edition two weeks ago and have to say this is my new favorite game. Why did I wait so long! I'm sure I will pick up CMBB and CMAK eventually but for the time being I am enjoying this game tremendously. Good work gentlemen! Also thanks to all the mod makers. Great stuff.

[Dave92270]

Hello all,

I rather out of the blue picked both CMBB SE and older CMBO SE over a week ago in local Gamestop store – I wanted something I haven’t try yet. I didn’t read any recent reviews before the purchase, but from the boxes description and illustrations I thought maybe I’d like it at least a bit; all I needed and expected was some shorter-term entertainment to get my mind off other things. I knew that games are not recent releases, but I was so disappointed with my later game purchases which were all big budget titles from well known companies. Both these games were together some $70 with tax, so not really a bargain – I usually don’t but anything without reading reviews first…looks like some higher power enlightened me.

After a bit of initial frustration mainly from rather simple 3d graphics (compared to ’04 standards) and turn based/real time mix, I was about to shelve the games, but for some reason I kept playing every day a bit – and I started to slowly like both games more and more, particularly after making custom scenarios and quick-games fitting better my taste (smaller engagements, 2-3 platoons of infantry with a few supporting pieces of armored vehicles/SP guns or a tank, maybe a few reinforcements on the way later, plenty of scenario time/turns). Now, after playing for 10 days several hours daily, I have to admit that BOTH games are ABSOLUTELY excellent! – in the past my main favorites in the genre were all in the Close Combat series, from later FPS/combat I like Ghost Recon series a lot, Vietcong, I enjoyed Operation Flashpoint and more … all these titles were maybe more attractive graphically, but usually (with some exceptions) lacking elsewhere.

Combat Mission bypasses in my opinion in its realism all of the titles I named above by huge margin; I got used to (and like them a lot now) 3D graphics with excellent camera/zoom movements; the audio part is top-notch, giving the game overall great atmosphere. To issue commands and then just watch them carried out is like watching a movie, or rather just like being right there. I like the very realistic outcome of encounters, realistic unit’s behavior, realistic ammo supply, everything. Computer player AI seems to be reasonably good, which means a lot in the game like this. AI seems to wait for reinforcements if there is time enough to do so, AI is not trying to blindly overrun position where can expect tough opposition, AI maneuvers it’s armor very respectably, and uses tricks which I’d normally expect from human player only….impressive. I keep switching between playing both theaters; while CMBB is improved in several areas, the CMBO holds it own. Now I only regret that I found these games so late after they were released… I’m thinking to try TCP/IP or PBEM (which I played last time many years ago with Steel Panthers series) at some point as well, but want to learn these battlefields a bit first before going multiplayer, since both games are very challenging in single player mode.

Anyway, my main reason for this post is to say big THANKS to the developers of this series, great work! I will certainly keep an eye on any future releases. One more thing: both games have absolutely no crashes/lockup or other problems common with most of the stuff being thrown at gaming market these days. Very rare, and indicates true dedication from the development team. I haven’t try any mods yet, but have installed couple hundred of MB of them – will enable some later when I’ll want more eye candy, or just something special.

(I just found this thread and so got encouraged to post my own message, which I wrote a few days ago, but felt kind of shy to post it actually)

Thanks again!

Regards

Dave

[DavidFields]

As an addendum, I figured out yesterday --yesterday-- how to actually make the SE mods functional. I had unzipped them, but did not notice that I did not put them in the bmp directory. Now, I think I am no dummy, and maybe all the regular CMBO players know the program so well that what I did (or, did not do) looks like a silly mistake. But, for those of us whose nerdy computer knowledge peaked with MS-Dos (ie: X-tree program), messing around with files can be a confusing and nerve-wracking experience. (Don't erase that critical .dll file!)

Anyway, the higher resolution textures make me feel as though I bought a new game. And my son finally became interested with the better graphics and tried the tutorial. (A total victory as allies, with only a little help from me--why is it that his Shermans seem to do so much better against Panthers than my Shermans?)

Edit: Answer--the tanks in the tutorial are, of course, not Panthers.

[ January 30, 2004, 09:36 AM: Message edited by: Rankorian ]