The greatest WW2 strategy game you may never have heard of...

[[AK]Faxman]

I picked up a game a few weeks back before my computer troubles called Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord. It is by far the finest WW2 strategy game I have ever played. Apparently, it was originally was released in 2000 as a web based downloadable game by a small studio that was unable to get a publisher. The game quickly attracted a faithful following, and the attention and glowing reviews of some prominent game reviewing sites, and gaming mags. It's finally got a publisher and has been released as a "Special Edition", which includes a huge mod pack of new high res textures, new vehicles and effects included on the cd. Also included, is a list of mod enthusiast websites, where you can get the latest updates for the game. I HIGHLY recommend installing the included mods as well as the community standard mods and rule sets. They'll add lots of mileage to the game, and really improve the look, and feel of the game. Also included is an easy to use, and powerful mission generator. There's also a great random mission generator, for the quick battle, or not-so-historical engagement. It's quite a bundle, and at $29.99 it's a fantastic buy, for all that's included.

Content: The game Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord takes place from the invasion of Normandy, until the end of the war, with focus on the western European theater. Today, there was another relase called Combat Mission 2: Barbarossa to Berlin, with the focus on the Eastern European theater, and the dread of Sargeant Schultz: The Russian front. Still another sequel is slated for the not-too-distant future. Combat Mission: Afrika Corps captures the essence of the Italian, and North African fronts in the early stages of the war. A must have Trilogy for any WW2 enthusiast, or strategy gamer.

Overview: It's a turn based game, where both side simultaneously plan their movements, and give their orders. Then comes the action phase, where the events play out in 60 second intervals. During the action phase you cannot give orders to your troops, but you can watch the events unfold from every concievable angle, and perspective. You have a toolbar that is similar to a VCR/DVD panel, where you can pan, change camera angles, take screenshots, and rewind, pause, etc.
The battles can be immense historical epics, or small skirmishes. Small skirmishes may put you in charge of 2 or 3 squads of airborne troops sent to clear a garrisioned village. Large battles, on the scale of Market Garden, or Battle of the Bulge will put you in charge of tanks, support vehicles, infantry, stationary guns---all historically accurate down to the smallest detail. Early models of Sherman tanks in the game accurately live up to their German moniker of "Tommy Cookers" by easily catching fire. Panzer tanks reflect historically accurate blast skirts, and shot traps. The designers went to great lengths to make this a historically accurate (and extremely fun) game.

The major downside is, Graphically, out of the box, the game is primitive. The sounds are a bit behind the times as well. But give it a chance, and install the mods. I wasn't too impressed before I installed all the high resolution community mods. The mods included on the CD will get you started, and the content on the fan sites listed on the CD will bring you up to speed, and add plenty of mileage to your gameplay. You'll also find some interesting explosion, fire, and smoke effects updates. I've included a few links at the end of this post, just in case you might be interested in picking a copy up. If anyone out there already has a copy, I'd love to challenge you to a game of online play.

Here's some links, and I'll post some screenshots once I get chance.
http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/237353.asp
http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/234950.asp

This is the major community mod hub for Combat Mission. The game designers themselves post mods here. http://www.combatmission.com/

The official website w/ screenshots (I think these screens are "out of the box" and low res textures:
http://www.battlefront.com/index.htm

Try a Barbarossa to Berlin demo!
http://www.3dgamers.com/games/combatmission2/
http://www.fileplanet.com/files/110000/112465.shtml

Try a Beyond Overlord Demo!
ftp://ftp.battlefront.com/pub/demos/...mbodemo102.exe

Barbarossa to Berlin Mod Samlples
Mod Vehicle Samples (notice the high res texture improvements in the mod samples):
http://www.combatmission.com/cmmos/D...einestall1.htm

http://www.combatmission.com/cmmos/M...jármuvek1.htm

Misc. Mod Samples (high res):
http://www.combatmission.com/cmmos/M...ellaneous1.htm

Panzers (high res)
http://www.combatmission.com/cmmos/Panzers/Panzers1.htm

Russian Tanks
http://www.combatmission.com/cmmos/S...Svinarnik1.htm
http://www.combatmission.com/cmmos/Tanki/Tanki1.htm

Romanian Tanks
http://www.combatmission.com/cmmos/V...e_române1.htm

Winterized tanks
http://www.combatmission.com/cmmos/W...fahrzeuge1.htm
http://www.combatmission.com/cmmos/Z...amuflyazh1.htm

Beyond Overlord Mod Samples

http://www.combatmission.com/mods/germantanks.asp
http://www.combatmission.com/mods/germansupport.asp
http://www.combatmission.com/mods/alliedtanks.asp
http://www.combatmission.com/mods/terrain.asp

Misc Screens:
http://www.combatmission.com/POTD/ostfront.jpg
http://www.combatmission.com/POTD/hetzerpotd.jpg
http://www.combatmission.com/POTD/mondaypotd.JPG

Wow, I did a number on those links.

If anyone is interested in buying this, don't hesitate to ask me any questions. I can also set you up with links to the latest mod manager, updater and rule sets if you're interested. I would say that to get the most out of the game, you should definately install the approved (CMMOS) mods. But be careful once you do...because you may get hooked!

[[AK]Choozoo]

Awesome, I'm in.

[[AK]Choozoo]

Also, don't forget about Battlefield Command, due out before HL2

Scanning for targets



Patrol



Panzerfaust



Setting up the mortar. That's right, I said mortar.

[[AK]Faxman]

Battlefield Command looks sharp, is there a demo available? Additionally, if you're going to pick up CM, let me know and I can get you started on some good mods.

[[AK]Choozoo]

as soon as i pick it up, I'll let you know.

no demo for BC yet, it's not due out for a while.

[[AK]StitchJones]

I'm headed to the mall today with Franks&Beans, Bribo, and Hollowpoint. I'm strongly leaning towards picking this up. I'm very very impressed with it. Plus, graphics don't make a game I still play Civ I from time to time. :-)

[[AK]Bribo]

Originally posted by [AK]StitchJones
Plus, graphics don't make a game I still play Civ I from time to time. :-)

I'll remember this quote the next time you start ragging on Counter-Strike!

[[AK]Choozoo]

Stitch is picking up my copy at the mall right now....

[[AK]Faxman]

Hey, cool. Let me know which version you guys pick up, and I can throw some links around based on the best mods. I've also downloaded a TON of Beyond Overlord stuff (a 4+ day effort). Most of it was CMMOs or Mod Manager compliant high res conversions. It was time consuming due to the fact that there was no "catch-all" mod pack and each mod had to be downloaded individually, so I'm going to put it all onto some CDs. I could mail a copy to one of you NY guys if you like, and save you some time. I'm looking forward to some online battles!

[[AK]Choozoo]

should I buy both?

they were sold out at the mall

[[AK]Faxman]

I have Beyond Overlord, and that's the one for which I have the complete Mod set. I'm going to pick up Barbarossa to Berlin this weekend. As for what to buy, I'd say it all depends on what you're interested in. Beyond Overlord features the battles of western Europe from Normandy untill the war's end. It features the American, British, Free French, Polish (Commonwealth), and of course German forces. Barbarossa to Berlin focuses on the German attack (and withdrawl) on the Russian front, with emphasis on the Eastern Bloc armies. Both game engines are identical, so I'd say chooz the game that has the armies, and battles you're interested in. Or buy both, and get the best of both fronts.

[[AK]StitchJones]

I have struck out at 4 stores and called 2 other's with no luck. One store said they 'may' have it in tomorrow. I'm really bummed, cause I played the demo earlier and I'm sooo hooked now. Choozoo keep me posted, if I trip over it, I'll nab you a copy.

[[AK]Leonidas]

I played CMBO for about six months when it first came out. It's every bit as good as Fax says. They came out last year with Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin, which I bought but didn't play much.

I don't think you'll find it in stores. The company is very small and keeps a low overhead, which means that they aren't willing to give a big cut to distributors. Unless they've changed their business plan, the only place to get it is from their web site, www.battlefront.com.

Fax is also right about the need for mods. The graphics out of the box are atrocious, but anybody can produce replacement skins for all the models that help things immensely. You can pick the kind of look you want depending on the style of mods you pick. I also like the gridded terrain mods, as they give a better sense of the hills and valleys on the map.

The only weakness in the game is that you end up spending a lot of time setting up the game and messing with mods. It's almost as bad as messing with Tribes scripts. But once you've got the look you want, you can do live TCP/IP games, or email games. When I was playing, they had a number of ladder web sites for PBEM games. It all works very well.

One other point: CMBO and CMBB are for WWII diehards. There are many, many choices to be made, and they're modeled with excruciating accuracy. If the SS had nine-man platoons that included a sub-machine gun and a light machine gun starting in October of 1943, while the Vokssturm didn't get SMGs until March 1944 (and never LMGs), that's exactly what you'll get in the game. (I'm just making up the details, but that's the level of detail you'll get.)

True Example: In one game I did an infantry assault on a German tank. The tank made a weird popping sound, and immediately the squad's morale broke and they ran away. I couldn't figure out what had happened. So I asked a friend of mine who's a real WWII history buff. He explained that it was a navertiedigungswaffe, which was a miniature mortar they put on late war German tanks. They would launch a little fragmentary shell right over the tank and spray the area with shrapnel. That's exactly what the game had been modeling, and that's why my men ran.

Edit: Thinking about this game some more, the reason I never went in for CMBB was that the mods hadn't come out and I couldn't figure out whether the CMBO mods would work on CMBB. But it should all be fine by now. So if you guys want to do either one, count me in.

Edit2: The balance is different between the two versions. In CMBO machines guns never really did that much, and neither did planes. Artillery ruled, as did the massive tanks. In fact, the ladder rules restricted the quantity of big artillery and big tanks that you could buy. In CMBB they made the machine gun much more realistic so that it could cut down massive waves of Russian conscripts. They also made the planes much more effective, which I didn't care for. They also did some stuff with the tanks to reflect the fact that Russians didn't put radios in them. I'm not sure where the balance is now after a couple of patches, but it was definitely different from the last CMBO patch to the first version of CMBB.

[[AK]Sonic Boom]

Originally posted by [AK]Faxman
Hey, cool. Let me know which version you guys pick up, and I can throw some links around based on the best mods. I've also downloaded a TON of Beyond Overlord stuff (a 4+ day effort). Most of it was CMMOs or Mod Manager compliant high res conversions. It was time consuming due to the fact that there was no "catch-all" mod pack and each mod had to be downloaded individually, so I'm going to put it all onto some CDs. I could mail a copy to one of you NY guys if you like, and save you some time. I'm looking forward to some online battles!

Why don't you put the mods on the AK FTP server? That sure would make it easier out here in Seattle...

[[AK]StitchJones]

Choozoo, Clifton Park EBgames has a copy of it in stock. I'm trying to sneak out to pick it up. Have you had any luck yet? Rocks/Faxman, you up for playing tonight? EDIT 6:04PM Sunday I got it! Clifton Park EB had a few copies. So I'm installing it right now as we speak. I have also downloaded the 3 patches for the game as well.