ATTENTION NOOBS!

[Mordante69]

For all you new guys that are trying Combat Mission for the first time, welcome. It's a great series and a helluva a lot of fun. To get the most out of the games, RTFM, ask questions, and watch some tutorial vids and other people play. The more you put into the game the more you will get out of it. It's a very deep simulation and if you dig serious, tactical level games, where you can be the general down to the private, this is the one for you. And for you historical/WWII fanboys you are really in for a treat if you buy Battle For Normandy, Fortress Italy, Red Thunder, or the soon to arrive Final Blitzkrieg.

With that being said, I highly recommend heading over to Battlefront's website and joining their forums. The Battlefront forums are the main headquarters for all things Combat Mission, more so than any other place on the Internet. There's 14 years worth of CMx2 knowledge there, plus plenty of players, Devs and Beta Testers that would love to have you join, teach you the game and answer your questions. So, join up, participate, and enjoy your CM wargaming experience.

https://community.battlefront.com/



(Updated 6/25/21) Added Demo and SF1 scenario links.

[Mordante69]

MECHANICS: To get you started, here's some videos that will teach you the rudimentary mechanics along with some advanced game play. Keep in mind the basics such as movement and targeting will remain the same across all titles, barring the time period the game is set in. EX: Drones and precision artillery etc. won't exist in a WWII setting.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDEdar8MbcHCi2uJm4DthHYBEDUCuKzRf

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYvL90uFbwhOsyXZJ0wWuRdqLWIv1Bj6e

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsxt3aCMiH0CmW7nWh4u97CrKBhgP4zkF


TACTICS: (Again, regardless of setting most of these can be applied across titles):

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYvL90uFbwhOeuWbK_JRByaPl8yowy9To


https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmW_vcwM_qxukdDjpfUEerpICUzTrTKek

[Mordante69]

LISTS OF USER/STOCK SCENARIOS & CAMPAIGNS:

https://www.combatmission.lesliesoftware.com/

https://www.theblitz.club/scenarios/b-15.htm (Scroll down for CM titles)




SCENARIO & CAMPAIGN DEPOT:

https://www.thefewgoodmen.com/tsd3/category/cm-shock-force-2/cm-shock-force/


Forum link for old SF1 scenarios that will work with SF2. Includes around 800 scenarios and campaigns. Down load is in the first post.

https://community.battlefront.com/topic/133243-cmsf1-scenarios-campaigns/




MODS:

https://www.thefewgoodmen.com/cm-mod-warehouse/category/combat-mission-shock-force-2/

http://cmmods.greenasjade.net/





DEMOS
Keep in mind some of these will be using older versions of the engine, regardless they'll give you a good feel for game play features:



WORLD WAR II
---------------------
BATTLE FOR NORMANDY (Theater France/Holland June - Sept 44)
https://www.battlefront.com/battle-for-normandy/cmbn-base-game/?tab=demo


FINAL BLITZKRIEG (Theater France/Holland/Germany Oct 44 - May 45)
https://www.battlefront.com/final-blitzkrieg/cmfb-base-game/?tab=demo


FORTRESS ITALY (Theater Italy/Sicily June 43 - May 45)
https://www.battlefront.com/fortress-italy/cmfi-base-game/?tab=demo


RED THUNDER (Theater Soviet Union/Eastern Europe/Germany June 44 - May 45)
https://www.battlefront.com/red-thunder/cmrt-base-game/?tab=demo



MODERN
-------------
COLD WAR (Theater Germany Fulda Gap/National Training Center 1979 - 1982)
*No Demo Yet*


SHOCK FORCE II (Theater Syria 2008)
https://www.battlefront.com/shock-force-2/cmsf2-base-game/?tab=demo


BLACK SEA (Theater Ukraine 2017)
https://www.battlefront.com/black-sea/cmbs-base-game/?tab=demo

[reqweim1]

Thanks for all of the links man MUCH APPRECIATED!

[Mordante69]

You're welcome. Which titles do you play?

[reqweim1]

Originally posted by Mordante69:

You're welcome. Which titles do you play?

Currently Shock Force two, I have got my eye on Cold War but I really warm to the Second World War. I have only recently discovered the CM games and am lovin the realism. I will bookmark to my browser the battlefront site and will start investing more time into SF2 in the near future.
Thanks again for the links, much appreciated!

[Mordante69]

They are very deep games. Check out my posts (8 to 12) in this thread to get an idea of just how detailed they can be.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1502380/discussions/0/3106889614418363841/

Lots of fun to be had in the WWII titles. Battle for Normandy and Fortress Italy have the most amount of content upfront. But I'd recommend (as we all do) getting the theater that most interests you. You can't go wrong with any of them, though. I have them all and enjoy being able to explore the history on the various fronts.

[reqweim1]

Originally posted by Mordante69:

They are very deep games. Check out my posts (8 to 12) in this thread to get an idea of just how detailed they can be.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1502380/discussions/0/3106889614418363841/

Lots of fun to be had in the WWII titles. Battle for Normandy and Fortress Italy have the most amount of content upfront. But I'd recommend (as we all do) getting the theater that most interests you. You can't go wrong with any of them, though. I have them all and enjoy being able to explore the history on the various fronts.

I will get around to diving in eventually, I have bookmarked all of your links and will go back to them all for future reference. I will have a closer look at Battle for Normandy and Fortress Italy in the coming days but saying that I think I should start with having a solid understanding of SF2 before investing into further CM games. The fundamentals across all CM games seems to be the similar which is really cool.
Thanks for your links and your time much appreciated!

[Mordante69]

It's a great title. I don't know what you own for SF2 but I highly recommend getting all the dlc eventually. You'll find each nation plays differently and they're very educational as far as TO&E goes.

Funny thing is you are starting out, like most of us did, with SF but you are lucky enough to experience the updated version (14 years later).

When you finally do move to a WWII title you'll notice a big difference in play style. Same basic mechanics but vastly different experience and tactical acumen.

I wish you good gaming. Oh, and join the BF forums you'll learn a lot. I go by Mord there.

[ZigZack]

Originally posted by rybodhi:

Originally posted by Mordante69:

You're welcome. Which titles do you play?

Currently Shock Force two, I have got my eye on Cold War but I really warm to the Second World War. I have only recently discovered the CM games and am lovin the realism. I will bookmark to my browser the battlefront site and will start investing more time into SF2 in the near future.
Thanks again for the links, much appreciated!

Stick with one or two titles and improve in those. Don't go out and buy every single version.

I'm looking at you addicts from CM :P

[reqweim1]

Originally posted by Mordante69:

It's a great title. I don't know what you own for SF2 but I highly recommend getting all the dlc eventually. You'll find each nation plays differently and they're very educational as far as TO&E goes.

Funny thing is you are starting out, like most of us did, with SF but you are lucky enough to experience the updated version (14 years later).

When you finally do move to a WWII title you'll notice a big difference in play style. Same basic mechanics but vastly different experience and tactical acumen.

I wish you good gaming. Oh, and join the BF forums you'll learn a lot. I go by Mord there.

Yeah I have already got for the 3 DLC's for SF2 and as soon as I find the time I am really looking forward to ripping into it! I have gone over the manual however I am sure a question or two will pop up and I will look towards the forums for help. Rybodhi is my gamer tag and will be applied to the forums as well.

Thanks again man.

Hope to chat once again at some stage.

Take Care.

[Flip]

Dude, was thinking about buying this but tried the demos and was a bit out of my depths (and kept getting my units blown up) but this is really helpful, I will take the plung! Thank you for taking the time to share collate and share this information!!!! Take my points!

[Mordante69]

Originally posted by ZackTactical34:

I'm looking at you addicts from CM :P

I would be one of them. Yeah, you buy too many at once and you'll be ping ponging all over the place...which is a great problem to have!

Originally posted by rybodhi:

Thanks again man.

Hope to chat once again at some stage.

Take Care.

Any time. Have a blast, literally and figuratively.

Originally posted by Flip:

Dude, was thinking about buying this but tried the demos and was a bit out of my depths (and kept getting my units blown up) but this is really helpful, I will take the plung! Thank you for taking the time to share collate and share this information!!!! Take my points!

You're welcome. Glad to help. If you put in the time you will be rewarded. CM is a game, that if it gets a hold of you, you'll play for years. It's not the kind of game you "finish". It's basically a tactical sand box that you can play until you lose interest. A lot of us haven't got there yet. I highly recommend playing in WEGO mode (if you haven't already). It's a more laid back pace, you can learn much easier, and when something kickass happens you can watch it over and over again.

Thanks for the points.

[Flip]

Thanks! Is that the turn based mode? Yeah think that is what I wil start with, when I tried the demos went real time and was a bit overwhelming for my noobish skills. Still going through the videos...damn now I want the WW2 one to be one steam as well!

[Mordante69]

Yes, turned based. You plot the turn (taking as long as you want) and then hit go and it plays out for one minute simultaneously along side the enemy's orders. At the 60 second mark the game pauses and you repeat. You'll be able to watch that turn as many times as you want from any angle (fast forwarding, rewinding or pausing it). It's the best of both worlds. You'll see some stuff that will make your jaw drop (check out post #6 above, there's a link where I describe some of the deeper aspects and things I have seen in game).

Well, you are in luck. You can buy the CM WWII games from Battlefront right now and then sign up to Slitherine's site and they'll give you a Steam key once they add the WWII titles here. Cold War is the next game to be added, followed by Battle for Normandy. Eventually all the titles should end up here (at least that is their plan). I recommend buying through BF because you'll have access to both versions at no extra cost.

[Flip]

I had a look at the BF store, I think I will stick with SF2 for now, got a whole game and DLC to play with and tbh the price in BF store is high. I got the entire SH2 with DLC for $68 on steam which is high but a good price. Will probs look to get the new Coldwar one when it is released though, love the time period. Give me BMP2's!