What was the first game like Combat Mission you played on the PC.

[Hamilcar1967]

My first was T.A.C by Avalon Hill . Came out in 1983 I remember loving it but dont remember much about it. I have been racking my brain trying to recall the full list of tanks in the game. What was your first game in the same vein so to speak.

[Faelwolf]

Talonsoft's West Front. I also picked up Rising Sun, as I really like the Pacific Theater. I hear there are no plans for a PT based Combat Mission game though.

[chris talpas]

More 1st person, but how about M1 Tank Platoon by Microprose.

Chris

[LJFHutch]

It's probably only CMSF, haven't really played anything like it, not that I remember.

Though I'm fairly young and have been on a slow path of increased realism in my gaming.

[Magpie_Oz]

The first game like combat mission that I played was .... ummm Combat Mission, I had never come across anything like it before, it was for me the Holy Grail of ASL on the computer.

I did play some the early Steel Panthers and others similar to that who's names elude me now (old age) but none of them really came close to what I wanted.

I did write my own ASL for PC game once but I finished it about the time that VASSAL came out which was made by people who knew what they were doing.

[Agua]

Talonsoft's West Front. I also picked up Rising Sun, as I really like the Pacific Theater. I hear there are no plans for a PT based Combat Mission game though.

Same. CC series before I stumbled across the CM Demo. Somebody has got to do VoT & CE

[kmead]

"Computer Ambush" which was a top down platoon level game as on an Apple IIe, my first computer back in the 80s.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/computer-ambush

http://tacticalwargamer.com/computergames/computerambush/computerambush.htm

This was a WEGO turn based game as well and enjoyable if a bit tedious.

Here is a video:

I bet the BBS's of the time had the same arguments we do today about all the groggy issues.

[LemoN]

Close Combat 2 in 1997.

Yes, I was 9 back then.

[gunnergoz]

"Like Combat Mission?" I've played computer games since the 1980's but never ran into any game like it unless you count the tactical portion of X-Com or Close Combat, both of which preceded CM.

Since then I've tried other games but few have the charm or staying power of CM, or the ability to pull you into the action in the same way. Then too, I'm a sucker for WW2 so that helps.

Oh, and did I mention that they do it justice and have respect for their subject matter and for the people who buy and play their games? That's a biggie too.

[pagskier]

Close Combat 2 in 1997.

Yes, I was 9 back then.

I was 10!:cool:

[Paper Tiger]

I'd have to say M1 Tank Platoon as well. I loved that game. The glory days of computer wargaming were slow in arriving though. I remember playing a few SL type games which got me really excited when I read the manual but they failed to deliver with the gameplay. There was one I remember that allowed me to fight a battle on the beaches of Iwo Juma (I think) and the US could move through the Japanese line during the movement phase just because it had enough MPs to do so. That pretty much killed it for me.

[gunnersman]

Played and repeatedly lost all of Steel Panthers games.

Close Combat 2: A Bridge Too Far was a classic.

I think I wore out M1 Tank Platoon as well.

[Narsus]

Panzer Front for the PS1, I know, its not on the computer, but it was awesome, first game I ever played where you had armor penetration values, range and all that cool stuff that made WW2 tank combat so interesting. you controlled one tank directly and usually had a unit you could give orders to. Infantry was an afterthought sadly. Still play it today.

[Dadekster88]

First game ever that was sort of a tactical game was on an Apple II GS

Battletech: The Crecent Hawk Inception

for those that are curious.

After that was the familiar stuff - Panzer General, Silent Hunter, Steel Panthers, Close Combat etc.

[Sergei]

Lemmings - although in Lemmings my grunts had higher chances of survival.

[Erwin]

The original M1 Tank platoon was a classic. That lasted a long time on my HD. I have the newer version as well but as my joystick broke at that time I still haven't played it.

Steel Beasts was a more complex version - more like a sim than a game.

Steel Panthers was great in its day - also lasted a long time on my HD.

Close Combat was good, but I was never a big fan of the RT aspect.

But, nothing else has lasted for the 10+ years of CM1. I have saved probably thousands of dollars in NOT buying 5-10 short-lived (on my HD) games a year thanks to BF's CM series. Which is why their games could cost a lot more and would still be a bargain.

[Chops]

SEAL Team by Electronic Arts - was about SEALs in Vietnam

[Macisle]

I was playing CC3 when CMBO came out. I also got CC4, but didn't play it much. After a few days of CM, the CC series was unplayable for me. It just seemed too arcade in comparison.

As for general WWII games, I've played lots of demos, but actual purchased titles (again, not like CM, but WWII-based) include:

Panzer Elite (loved it and played the hell out of it).

Deadly Dozen (had some annoying aspects, but was overall quite fun).

WWII Online (played for awhile when it was pretty new. See more below.).

BF1942 (arcade FPS, but quite fun. This was actually the last video game I purchased, when it was still in stores. CMBN will be the first since then.)

I've always wanted to ask fellow CM players--and especially Steve, what they thought of WWII Online. To me, it really showed that no matter how accurate your modeling is, it will not help if you have a fundamental game design flaw. IMO, for that game to live up to its goal of having a full-scale, permanent game world, MASSIVE amounts of AI units are required. Without them, it becomes what the game is--WWII-flavored capture the flag where you might play for hours and never even see an enemy unit (well, infantry anyway). And how 'bout spending 30 minutes or more staring at a bunker wall hoping that an attacker might enter the door...

I've often daydreamed about a game where you could have two or three layers happening at the same time, combining a tactical layer (CMBN-like) with a 1st person layer (Ghost-recon like) and, taking it to the extreme, a strategic layer where players could control things at that level.

So, the strategic layer would make its decisions, then the resulting battles would be played out at the tactical level (sounding kinda' TW here). However, players wanting to play at the 1st-person level could command teams/squads and fight ala FPS, while doing comms with the tactical-level players (everybody playing RT at the same time).

I've read Steve say they're not interested in strategic to tactical level, but how about tactical/1st-person hybrid?

Could a future incarnation of CM take that on?

Macisle

[Abrams]

First Computer game , the scale of CM?

Hmmm ... CM:BO is the first and only added CM:AK and CM:BB at this scale ....

I had Knights of the Desert : North African Campaign of 1941-1943 published by SSI for the Commodore 64 in the early 80's ....

I had several of the SSI C64 games "back in the day "....

and then in the mid 90's , I moved up to a PC machine and I played MicroProse "Across the Rhine" until CM came along ...

Also played Panzer Elite ... but CM:BO put all of the others to bed ....

[MrSpkr]

Hmmm.

Steel Panthers. Steel Panthers 2; Steel Panthers 3.

Panzer General.

Close Combat; Close Combat 2; Close Combat 3.

CMBO; CMBB; CMAK.

CMSF.

CMBN.

I know I am missing a couple, but darned if I can remember them now. They were from pre-1995, and that would have been college or law school . . . . my memory is pretty hazy for those years.

Steve

[Broadsword56]

Close Combat 1 back in 1995 or 96.

[Krilly]

First wargame I remember playing on a computer has to be Desert Rats on the ZX Spectrum; http://www.flickr.com/photos/beaty/3787441817/

I remember the battles toom ages

And combat mission style game? Yeah prolly M1 tank platoon as well for me.

[jeffsmith]

"Computer Ambush" which was a top down platoon level game as on an Apple IIe, my first computer back in the 80s.

Same here, and I still have my copy

nothing to run it on but I have it

[StellarRat]

First wargame I remember playing on a computer has to be Desert Rats on the ZX Spectrum; http://www.flickr.com/photos/beaty/3787441817/

I remember the battles toom ages

And combat mission style game? Yeah prolly M1 tank platoon as well for me.

You had a Spectrum? I seem to remember drooling over that machine. Wasn't it a highly advanced box in its day? I seem to recall it was only sold in Europe??? I think it was more capable than a C64??? It been a long time. :-)

[Mr Ed]

I played M1 Tank platoon (1989) till the keyboard had no numbers or letters left