Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord

Rating:
Summary: Grandaddy of excellent tactical-level wargames
Review: "Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord" (CMBO) was a legendary game for its time, which is a few years back pre-XP. It still plays well on my XP boxes with few glips, which is more than I can say for the majority of Win 98 prograns. The game was initially sold only by mail, and marketing was word-of-mouth. It quickly garnered all sorts of awards as a real breakthrough in computer wargaming, and, while its graphics are dated, it is still a superior product.

CMBO is not a first-person shooter like Battlefield 1942. Combat is modelled on a tactical level, based around infantry squads and individual vehicles and artillery tubes. On this level, battles consist of anywhere from several platoons to battalion scale. It resembles the battle sequences in the Total War series; your job is not to chuck the spear but manage the battlefield.

CMBO introduced a turn-based U-Go/WeGo model with the ability (found in the Total War series) to sweep around the battlefield and view the action from all angles. Orders are issued every "minute", after which the action follows in a real-time "movie" which can be replayed viewing different aspects of the battlefield.

The result is an immersive gameplay in which strategy and luck both are factors. The designers lovingly recorded the actual sound of each weapons system and modeled the armoured fighting vehicles. The human soldiers are a bit more abstract; the guy hefting the machine gune looks like he is carrying bagpipes, and the small-arms - well, not much there. A good sound system is a must as the battle brews up and takes a life of its own.

Cover, smoke, fog, bocage, armor and urban combat, all are here. American 155s and Nebelwefers do nastly things to infrantry caught out of cover. I learned to appreciate the quick turret transition and speed of the Sherman, although it a one-on-one with a Tiger it is nearly always bested. Fortunately the Germans always have to make do with less. The game impressively models the revolution in personal-antitank weapons in the last years of the war, particularly giving most German squads the ability to knock out almost any Allied armour from reasonably close quarters.

Tactical-level wargames are heavily dependent upon AI even when played against a human opponent, since each individual unit must be able to exercise independent judgment to target and survive, including ignoring orders if necessary (kind of like Asimov's three rules of robotics). This does not mean that squads will charge the enemy on their own without orders, but they may cut and run before assaulting that Tiger in the roadway. This aspect of AI was a key breakthrough over the "Close Combat" realtime games that preceeded it.

The two subsequent games, "Barbarossa to Berlin" and "Afrika Corps" are the same engine with more tweaks and superior graphics. I enjoy CMBO still due to its simplicity and speed, and the well thought out scenarios. This game also has the best scenario design engine in the business.

Rating:
Summary: best wargame system out there
Review: After many years of Board type wargames I finally found a realistic PC wargame. Very accurate and plenty of downloads out there with different scenerios.This is definately not a shoot'em up first person shooter, the onus is on you to make the right decisions ahead of time and deploy yor troops and equipment in the right place. If you like company/platoon level action this is the game. The graphics though not like a top level 3-D game are perfect for this all vehicles and equipment are rendered accurately...

Rating:
Summary: Excellent wargame.
Review: Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord does an incredible job of taking the wargaming genre and making an accessible, exciting game that doesn't rely on a board-game-like approach. The graphics are great for the genre, the battles are well-balanced and expertly built, and the mission editor offers even more replayability. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Series!
Review: I was going to write a lot more about this game, but all I can say is that it's excellent, as are are the titles in this series. It's not going to be a game for everyone - it takes some patience and a lot of thought to make the outcome work for you. It's not an arcade game by any means. There is a lot of detail where it counts. The human figures are very simplistic as they're meant to be representations of an entire squad and not screen actors. The tank/vehicle/artillery textures are nicely done to make up for this.

If you don't know how to best utilize your troops and weapons, this will be a way to learn. The AI is pretty sharp once you understand the Human limitations it's governed by - ie line of sight and sound detection, etc. If the enemy doesn't attack you at a point on the map, that's not an AI glitch, that's a tactical advantage. You found a breech in the enemy defenses. Hurry, before they find out. Divide and conquer works here too.

In most scenarios, there's a lot of trees and buildings blocking the view of both sides, as well as the formation of the landscape - exploit these. Think like a Commander of troops, because that's what you're playing at. You really can't afford too many losses, and you will suffer too many if you make poor decisions in your Strategy and Tactics. This game is based heavily on Historic reality not Hollywood's - indeed, it's intended to be as realistic as possible minus the gore and physical pain. Most scenarios are recreations of real engagements, and if you play them as-is, you will have the same limitations that the soldiers had that day - low ammo, fatigue, morale issues, weakened units, etc. Other scenarios are admitted to be fictive.

Give it a go. At these prices you shouldn't be disappointed. It really is a good game - all 3 of them! These are the kinds of games I only dreamed about back in the 80s when the state-of-the-art was an Apple IIe and the first Castle Wolfenstein. We've come a long way from ASCII. And computer games have finally caught up with my imagination. I'm like a kid in candy shop right now.



Rating:
Summary: Most realistic WWII game I have played so far
Review: I was never quite satisfied with computer wargames before this one. Some other games are rigidly turn-based and use "opportunity fire" and similar strange constructs to make the game appear real-time. Other games are real-time, but you can give very detailed orders to any unit at any time. Even if every squad or machine-gun crew has a radio (which they didn't in WWII), it still takes time for a commander to gather information and get the orders out there. In a computer wargame all this is done by the computer simply updating the map, but this is very difficult to do quickly in real life. Needless to say, both approaches outlined above make for unrealistic games.

Combat Mission feels more realistic because you can only issue orders every 60 seconds. As you can't micro-manage your units, you have to use real tactics that were actually used in WWII, like overwatch, scouting etc. HQ units also do a good job of simulating command and control. If a platoon gets broken up, it becomes very difficult to control the squads effectively and it may take some time to put it together again.

Having said all this, the graphics in the game are good but not state of the art. If you want a movie-like experience, go for one of the first-person shooters. If you want to experience what it was like being a company or battalion commander in WWII, pick up Combat Mission.

Rating:
Summary: Most realistic WWII game I have played so far
Review: I was never quite satisfied with computer wargames before this one. Some other games are rigidly turn-based and use "opportunity fire" and similar strange constructs to make the game appear real-time. Other games are real-time, but you can give very detailed orders to any unit at any time. Even if every squad or machine-gun crew has a radio (which they didn't in WWII), it still takes time for a commander to gather information and get the orders out there. In a computer wargame all this is done by the computer simply updating the map, but this is very difficult to do quickly in real life. Needless to say, both approaches outlined above make for unrealistic games.

Combat Mission feels more realistic because you can only issue orders every 60 seconds. As you can't micro-manage your units, you have to use real tactics that were actually used in WWII, like overwatch, scouting etc. HQ units also do a good job of simulating command and control. If a platoon gets broken up, it becomes very difficult to control the squads effectively and it may take some time to put it together again.

Having said all this, the graphics in the game are good but not state of the art. If you want a movie-like experience, go for one of the first-person shooters. If you want to experience what it was like being a company or battalion commander in WWII, pick up Combat Mission.

Rating:
Summary: Great War Game
Review: One of the best war games I have ever played. The graphics are not that great, but the gameplay is awesome. If you like the shot'em up type games then this game is not for you. If you like strategy and realistic type action this is the one.


Rating:
Summary: CMBO - Reviewed
Review: Part 1 = CM:Beyond Overlord ( Western Front )
Part 2 = CM:Barbarossa to Berlin ( Eastern Front )
Part 3 = CM:Afrika Korps ( Italian/Afrika Fronts )

The three games use the same game engine, with slightly improved graphics and Artificial Intelligence ( AI ) as the series progresses.

It is a turn based system based on the board game "Squad Leader" and offers three dimensional ( 3D ) graphics. You have a choice of opponents 'computer','Play By Email' ( PBEM ) and 'TCP/IP'.

The game makes all the laborious calculations, which previously had to be done manually, when playing the old Squad Leader board games. This by itself makes the game worth purchasing.

This game should not be confused with the many miltary first person shooters on the market. This is a true military strategy game, allowing players to use tactics to develop an overall strategy.

Although the game is quite playable and enjoyable, it does have it's limitations, in particular, average quality graphics.

The owners are aware of the games limitations and are rewriting the engine, code-named 'CMX2' from scratch, which is due to be released sometime during 2006. We are hoping big things for this engine. Our only hesitation is that the engine will be dummied down so owners of low-end computers will purchase the game.

Further information can be found on the owners homepage at battlefront.com, which also has a discussion forum and free downloadable demos. In addition, there is a Usenet group dedicated to discussing the game 'alt.games.combat-mission'.

If you are considering purchasing the game, start with Part 3, as it has the best graphics and AI of the trilogy.

We hope you enjoy playing the game!

Yours truly,

Sean Evans

[e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Engrossing
Review: The 60 second wait is for realism-just imagine trying to tell your men where to go based on map (grid) reference. what if they get lost? what if a machinegun opens up and they panic? it takes time for orders to be issued clearly, for commanders to get their men in formation. this game is so detailed it even takes into account the quality of steel of the tank rounds. the '60 second wait' feature is derivitive of the table-top wargame days and allows the game to be played mediculously and carefully-and over PBEM or play by email. this game is top notch strat sim--not an RTS--a simulator.

Rating:
Summary: Engrossing
Review: The 60 second wait is for realism-just imagine trying to tell your men where to go based on map (grid) reference. what if they get lost? what if a machinegun opens up and they panic? it takes time for orders to be issued clearly, for commanders to get their men in formation. this game is so detailed it even takes into account the quality of steel of the tank rounds. the '60 second wait' feature is derivitive of the table-top wargame days and allows the game to be played mediculously and carefully-and over PBEM or play by email. this game is top notch strat sim--not an RTS--a simulator.