Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is this a whole new game or simply an expansion to Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin?

A: Actually, its both. While CMC could certainly be played without CMBB, it was always designed to work in tandem with it in order to allow the player to experience the challenges of operational level planning and strategy. CMC will allow you to "auto-resolve" tactical engagements but this is really meant as a time saving feature and the game was always designed for you to play out the battles, in person, with CMBB.

The best way to think of CMC is as an Operational Level Command expansion for CMBB although it is a new game in of itself.

 

Q: Did Battlefront design Combat Mission Campaigns? Did Charles Moylan (programmer of CM) work on CMC?

A: Partially, while Combat Mission Campaigns was developed, designed and programmed by the team at Hunting Tank Software, they have been given unprecedented access to the inner workings of the Combat Mission game engine. Charles coded up the interface between CMBB and CMC which allows for the great interaction between the two programs and the ability to "share" information, status and results with one another.

 

Q: Is CMC based on the new CMx2 engine or the older CMx1 (classic) game engine or something else?

A: Something else. It's a whole new game, coded by an outside developer (Hunting Tanks Software) but it adds the Operational Level Command component to CMBB which was a CMx1 engine based game.

 

Q: I am a little confused, when enemy units get close to one another in CMC, how are the battles played out in CMBB?

A: CMC handles all the work for you. It chooses the necessary map for the battle to be played on, sets up the correct weather and time of day and populates the battle with the troops and equipment with their experience levels, ammo load outs, morale and fatigue levels and more all intact. Once the battle is complete, CMBB sends the results back to CMC for proper processing and updating of the campaign.

 

Q. What multiplay modes and gameplay are supported?

A. At the Operational level you can play solo against the AI or Multiplay with numerous human players against other human players or a combination of both human and AI players. If you play out the tactical battles using CMBB you are restricted to normal 1 on 1 or single player vs. the AI.

 

Q: What campaigns will come with CMC?

A: Right now we are planning to include campaigns covering the following: Barbarossa, Stalingrad, Operation Mars, 3rd Kharkov, Kursk and Berlin.

 

Q: I can make my own though campaigns, right? CMC comes with an editor?

A: Yes! CMC ships with the same editors that we used to make the original campaigns. These include a Operational Map Editor, Turn Editor which allows for the game to run with several different turn lengths (in hours), including the allowance of different turn lengths for different times of day, a Time of Day editor allowing for different dark / light cycles in different regions of the conflict and a Weather editing program that allows historical weather conditions to be accurately reflected in the game.

There is also an Order of Battle (OOB) Editor that enables the selection of a range of German and Russian troop types and formations, as well as the creation of unusual or custom formations from scratch. Any formation created can be saved for use in a variety of scenarios.

 

Q: Does CMC allow you to create/play with some of the minor nations like Italy, Romania, Hungary, Finland?

A: Currently, only Russian and German forces are included although other nations may be added as a patch or future add-on.

 

Q: Will CMC be expanded to support Combat Mission: Afrika Korps or even the older Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord?

A: That is certainly a possibility depending on CMC's commercial success.

 

Q: How big can the campaigns in CMC really be?

A: Currently, CMC is designed and best enjoyed with campaigns up to a Division per side. WIthin those divisions, several human players could have individual commands.

 

Q: What's the smallest battles you might have in CMC, that would then be played out in CMBB or auto-resolved? What's the largest?

A: The smallest maneuver unit in CMC is a Platoon so you could have, for example, a small skirmish of just two enemy recon platoons or a massive battle with several enemy Battalions slugging it out.

 

Q: Will CMC have a "replay" feature?

A: Yes it will. You will be able to review what happened for all past turns at any time.This gives each commander the ability to review the historical progress of the game, including an ever improving operational view of 'what really happened'.

 

Q: Tell me about Fog-of-War and unit spotting. How have you dealt with that at the operational level?

A: Combat Mission Campaigns implements an exacting Fog of War system, showing limited information due to the visibility of enemy troops, but also takes into account the time to transfer information from one unit to another, the types of signals involved, and the inertia in large units being able to respond to new orders. This means it's even possible to lose situational awareness of subordinate units that are slow to report their current status and position!

 

Q: Does CMC offer any new tools to help with spotting or being spotted by enemy units?

A: Yes, it offers both. On the operational map, you can select any unit under your command and toggle both a "Who Can I See" and "Who Can See Me" mode which will shade various areas of the map depending on the visibility to and from that terrain.

 

Q: On the Operational Isometric 3D map, I see that it is made up of terrain squares. What's the size of one of those terrain squares?

A: The smallest terrain tile shown represents an area approximately 1km by 1km in size. Battlefields are made up of 4 of these small tiles, thus giving a 2k x 2k battlefield in CMBB.

 

Q: When is it coming out and how much?

A: When it's done and expected price will be about 35 dollars.

 

Q: Do you need beta testers or people willing to create new campaigns for the final release?

A: Not at this time. While we did seek for candidates earlier, we now have enough interested people offering to help. We appreciate the enthusiasm and excitement that this title has generated and will be contacting those people with more details shortly.