What CMBB will do however, is bring to the table another interesting chapter in the continuing evolution of the Tactical Wargame. For some this is about as important as The Queen of England Christmas speech but for many it will be the best wargame, at the Battalion level, they have ever played. In short if you liked CMBO, stop reading and go buy the game.
Sequel to the very successful Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord (CMBO), which rocked the normally somewhat “starchy” wargaming community, CMBB continues in the same vein but this time with noticeably more grit.
Where CMBO was revolutionary, CMBB feels more evolutionary. Set, as the title may suggest, on the Eastern Front during WWII, CMBB chronicles the struggle between the Axis Powers and the Soviet Union in what was the largest and most critical Front in WWII. This Front is often forgotten here in the west but I must say CMBB does give the player the bleak feel of “being there”.
CMBB, first of all is a much larger game..well ok it is huge. Covering the time period of 1941 to 1945 it provides every vehicle, infantry unit, weapon and brass button one could ever want in a wargame. One cannot find fault with Battlefront.com for historical accuracy, the attention to detail is downright frightening. Now taken across such a large scale, in time and area one can imagine the number of combinations and permutations such a game can provide to the dedicated wargamer.
CMBB allows play as the Germans and Russians of course but also the “Other” forgotten nations of the East Front. Finnish, Italians, Hungarians and Romanian forces all make an appearance and can be used in the powerful Scenario Editor.
As they did in CMBO the game comes with pre-made battle scenarios, operations (made from a series of battles strung together) and a solid Quick Battle option. Rounding this all out is the Scenario Editor which will allow the true aficionado to make any battle or operation they wish. More scenarios and operations are being made by the CM community all the time so it will be a long time until you have played them all.
The mechanics of the game at first glance may seem slightly different but to anyone who has played CMBO or even the Close Combat series, should be prepared for a few shocks. CMBB still carries out the patented (well not sure if it is, but it should be) WE-GO system. Essentially each player plots out the movements and actions of his or her forces and then a 60 sec movie is played in which both sides carry out their last orders simultaneously. This is a departure from the normal turn based wargaming where things happen more like a chess game and allows for some truly impressive firefights as both sides wail away on each other at the same time.
Now normally 60 secs of your units doing what you told them, while being shot at by the enemy, would be enough but CMBB also uses Tactical AI (or TacAI) which is essentially a little brain in each one of your soldiers. Here we see a Close Combat type of behavior, troops hit the ground, head for cover or panic when caught by fire in the open. Vehicles pop smoke and reverse when engaging a grossly superior enemy. All of this adds to the uncertainty of the game making for some truly freakish moments. Several battles still have me in therapy.
Now the big difference between CMBB and CMBO is the modeling of machine guns and more importantly their effect on infantry. Perhaps one of the biggest criticisms of CMBO was the over powering of infantry. Well I can say that these days are over. Machine guns are lethal in CMBB. They can suppress whole companies in the open where before only one or two units would get engaged. This small change has altered the entire dynamic of the game. Tanks, which before mostly were there to take out other tanks, are now lethal to infantry, due in large part to their machine guns. This means that battles are much more reliant on force balancing.
For CMBO veterans, I can only say be prepared for a shock and a change in tactics.
Now many other features have also been added. New Commands include; Move to Contact, Advance and Assault, which all provide more control of infantry. Vehicle commands include; “Shoot and Scoot” ( pretty much as the name implies and very handy) and “Seek Hull Down”, for those who hate having to find a good hull down position on their own.
Another very handy feature is the “Cover Arc” command. Which allows you so set a unit to cover an area on the map. This has replaced the Ambush Command and is far more effective. Particularly now that you can set it to cover armour only, no more having you tanks swing fire to a depleted infantry team just as a King Tiger comes around the corner.
There are more features but I think I can say that most, if not all, are good additions and should make for a better gaming experience.
So needless to say the nuts and bolts of the game are solid. Straight off the CD the game runs very well with few noticeable bugs and absolutely no show stoppers that I have seen reported. The only “problem” which has been noted is a slight scripting bug as you switch from the 3-D map to the menus when using NVida cards but the latest drivers are reported to have fixed this. Personally I play with the old drivers and hardly notice it.
CMBO was criticized by many for its graphics. One has to understand that more than 16 colors was a waste of processing power in the wargaming community up until even about 5 years ago. Going 3-D in the first game was truly the revolutionary step. The “Neon Nightmare” of CMBOs graphics was an epiphany to hardcore wargamers while many casual players wondered why they got blinding headaches.
Well I am glad to say that CMBB is a solid step forward in the graphics department. Vehicles are very beautifully modeled, terrain is fuller and has a richer, more 3 dimensional feel. The colors in particular are much more realistic. Now this is no Doom 3 contender, but it is pretty damn good…for a wargame The mod community is already out in full force so you can expect to be able to put your CMBB “under the knife” a few times in the life of the game and see even more graphic improvement over time.
COMBAT MISSION: BARBAROSSA TO BERLIN VERDICT
In conclusion, I highly recommend Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin. For the money you pay, you get a solid, fun and extremely in depth game with longevity to spare. Battlefront.com has put out another excellent product which has reset the bar in wargaming.
TOP GAME MOMENT
The exciting battle that wraps up the eastern theatre and the game; fighting on the streets of Berlin is absolutely exhilirating and unforgettable.
