Summary of Battlefront Game projects March 2011

[Marc Anton]

Never really understood the fascination with the Eastern front. What is it about the Russian front (and CMBB i guess) that players like so much ?

All other fronts in WWII were really just side shows

Point, thats how it was !

[Sequoia]

Going by that release order and the historical release schedule of approximately 1 game/module released per year the Bagration game won't be out till 2019

As I read the tea leaves, the plan is to have three teams eventually going. Having two teams going gave us Afghanistan NATO and CMBN in relatively short intervals. Moon once mentioned the possibility of a Russian development team handling much of the work for the Eastern front.

It's too bad we won't see any modules for North Africa, Tunisia, Sicily and Italy. In particular I think Italy would be a challenging theater to play for either side, with lots of interesting units from various countries.

They didn't say they would never do North Africa/Italy again. They think there's greater interest there than France 1940 for example. If they do return to the Med I would guess they would work backwards, as they plan to do for the East Front, and start with Italy as much of the work will already be done.

[kipanderson]

Hi,

I think there is a good chance that they will do North Africa with CMX2 one day. Eastern Front winter 42/43 must be high on the list of likely titles for a “winter...” Eastern Front setting and that would mean Battlefront would have the models, AFVs, AT guns and such, readymade for North Africa.

But it will be a long-time off. With the now relative spotting engine it would be good.

All the best,

Kip.

[jakla1027]

So has anyone heard of what the first patch for CMBN would cover/fix/add. If i recall didnt the CMSF patches add a hand ful of new playable units? That would be great if we could get a playable M18 Hellcat or Hetzer TD in one of the patches.

[Sequoia]

No new units or vehicles in patches. For that you will have to purchase a module when they become available. We might get Hetzers and Hellcats in the Sept '44 Market Garden module. I think that's about when they became available.

[Wallybob]

Pity. I was REALLY hoping to have a "Fall of France" build. Not that I am unenthusiastic about the mentioned builds, but man, MK II's vs. Char D's. And the joy of burning FT-17's.

[harryr]

Hi I may be the only person on the planet that wants this but I think that an allies v Vichey French would be interesting. Lots of small action fire fights in exotic locations like Madagascar, Lebanon, and Syria. Where British, Australian, Palastine Jewish units, and British commandos duked it out with Senegalese and Algerian colonial forces. Boys anti tank rifles v Renalt tanks, and a British yeomanary cavalry regiment with sabres and molotov cocktails slung across their saddles as their anti-tank weapon. It was in this campaign that Moyshe Dayan lost his eye. I read this great book "England's last war against France : fighting Vichy 1940-1942 / Colin Smith." which deals with this period. Would go well with an 1939-1942 module as that would cover most of the units in these campaigns.

[beatmasta]

I kinda lost interest in these books when one novel mentioned Panzerfausts being used in 1941.

Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction. I once met a WW2 SS tank commander who ended up a Major in the Australian Tank Regiment and served in Centruions in Vietnam. A very nice guy he also liked doing sculptures and intricate wood carved furniture.

Yep, how about Finnish officer who served a while in the SS, won the highest award in Finnish Army (and in his company served a guy who would be president of Finland) and after the war moved to US where gained the rank of major in the special forces and was MIA in Vietnam and was portrayed by John Wayne in the movie Green Beret. Anyone quess who I'm talking about?

[bodkin]

Looks pretty accurate to me! For Bulge we are currently planning:

Module 1 = Commonwealth

Module 2 = Spring 1945

Module 3 = Misc. stuff

As for the content of Module 3 it's similar to the way we're planning Module 3 for CM:BN... we're keeping it flexible until we get to it. For the Bulge's Module 3 I could see things like Volkssturm, E-100, Pershing, IR Panthers, etc.

Steve

Does anyone know what period the 'Bulge' game will cover? Will it include the Alsace/Lorraine campaign or is that meant to be covered in CMBN?

If not Operation 'Watch on the Rhine' and 'Nordwind' would be covered but it would be nice if all the action wasn't in the snow.

I'm just thinking from a game improvement point of view. With each new release the game engine improves, so hopefully we can make scenarios without winter landscapes, just like CMAK was used to make Normandy missions.

[Wodin]

Hi,

I think there is a good chance that they will do North Africa with CMX2 one day. Eastern Front winter 42/43 must be high on the list of likely titles for a “winter...” Eastern Front setting and that would mean Battlefront would have the models, AFVs, AT guns and such, readymade for North Africa.

But it will be a long-time off. With the now relative spotting engine it would be good.

All the best,

Kip.

Bf already mentioned they will not be doing Africa. After the sales of CMAK it isn't viable, they already have enoug work for the next 15 years by my reckoning...so I expect someone will have to make a mod.

[MOSwas71331]

Will every unit / weapon / vehicle / terrain type added by a module be available to anyone owning that module and designing a new battle or campaign? Will someone else wanting to play a designed battle or campaign have to own all the modules owned by the designer?

[sburke]

Pity. I was REALLY hoping to have a "Fall of France" build. Not that I am unenthusiastic about the mentioned builds, but man, MK II's vs. Char D's. And the joy of burning FT-17's.

Seriously - recreating Stonne? That would be outstanding.

[ChrisND]

Will every unit / weapon / vehicle / terrain type added by a module be available to anyone owning that module and designing a new battle or campaign?

I'm not sure I understand your question. Why would they not be available if they bought the module?

Will someone else wanting to play a designed battle or campaign have to own all the modules owned by the designer?

If the scenario uses units or formations unique to a module, then a player must have that module in order to play the scenario. So, using the Commonwealth module as an example: A designer has the base title and CW module. He makes a scenario with German FJ in it. Anyone who wants to play that scenario needs the CW module. If the same designer makes a scenario with only vanilla US and German infantry in it, with no vehicles or other formations introduced with the CW module, then anyone with the game can play it, even those without the module.

[MOSwas71331]

I'm not sure I understand your question. Why would they not be available if they bought the module?

I meant, if the designer owns the game and modules A and B, is everything added by those modules available for a new battle or campaign, even if something in module A could not have been available at the time of module B? From your following quoted answer, the answer to the question you found puzzling seems to be "Yes."

If the scenario uses units or formations unique to a module, then a player must have that module in order to play the scenario. So, using the Commonwealth module as an example: A designer has the base title and CW module. He makes a scenario with German FJ in it. Anyone who wants to play that scenario needs the CW module. If the same designer makes a scenario with only vanilla US and German infantry in it, with no vehicles or other formations introduced with the CW module, then anyone with the game can play it, even those without the module.

Could a designer who owned CM:SF make a "Final Countdown" battle in CM:BN by importing an M1-A2 Abrams tank into Normandy? It might be fun to see how many Tigers and Panthers the Krauts would need to knock it out!

[Michael Emrys]

Could a designer who owned CM:SF make a "Final Countdown" battle in CM:BN by importing an M1-A2 Abrams tank into Normandy?

I doubt that will ever be possible. BFC has stated that games from different theaters and eras are not compatible.

Michael

[AG Erzherzog Josef]

. . . importing an M1-A2 Abrams tank into Normandy? It might be fun to see how many Tigers and Panthers the Krauts would need to knock it out!

if they get an abrams i want an imperial death star (the Mk II version where they fixed that silly vent problem)