Is this game even approachable?

[rolypoly]

I'm not at all learned in any kind of modern combat, not even really military war strategies, but I do enjoy tactical fantasy games, the ones with hexes, and move points, and various statistics for units and etc.

Would this game even be approachable at all for someone like me? I'm no stranger to learning new things and actually do enjoy it, but if I can't learn what I need from the game itself or various community additions (such as wikis), then I'm worried I'll be really lost. Like if I need to have some kind of modern military training to understand how to even begin to learn this game, this might be a tad too much for me.

Can someone advise?

[Cyber_Chupacabra]

Before I started playing CMANO
my only expiriance with similar games was Jane's Fleet Command. I also knew thing or two about military but Im far from being an expert.

Biggest thing that you need to overcome is specific UI that at the first glance can be discouraging. Having second monitor to have various extra windows open helps a lot.
Game has few tutorials that will help you get started and devs actively updating them.

You should absolutely look at great compilation of important informations and guides posted in Steam user guide sections, I cant post link on my phone but its the most viewed one.

I also strongly reccomend to look up units that you will use on the wikipedia (talking about actual real life info since the game database is based on real data) to know what your forces are basically capable of. Base knowledge about air, naval combat is recommended .

But you can experiment yourself in mission editor as well.
Do not hesitate to ask for help on the forums, game has a active community that will help you.

Getting started and familiar with how the game works was tricky but needless to say Im addicted to CMANO at this point.

[Nasder]

I've owned it for a while but was intimidated by it, so I never touched it myself while watching some play on youtube.

When I read that there were new tutorials, I dared to touch it, and it eases you in fairly nice. Granted, I've only done like 4-5 flight tutorial scenarios so far.

I honestly recommend watching someone play a smaller scenario on youtube, just so you get a glance at the UI and how it works. And then play the tutorials, it's not as intimidating as it looks once you do that.

[Avantare]

@Ivan The Kozal
Wrap your heaqd around it and learn. It's an absolutely incredible game.

https://wiki.baloogancampaign.com/index.php/Main_Page

[Half life Expert]

Originally posted by Ivan The Kozel:

I'm not at all learned in any kind of modern combat, not even really military war strategies, but I do enjoy tactical fantasy games, the ones with hexes, and move points, and various statistics for units and etc.

Would this game even be approachable at all for someone like me? I'm no stranger to learning new things and actually do enjoy it, but if I can't learn what I need from the game itself or various community additions (such as wikis), then I'm worried I'll be really lost. Like if I need to have some kind of modern military training to understand how to even begin to learn this game, this might be a tad too much for me.

Can someone advise?

First, no, you do not need any military training to play CMANO. I've never served in any armed forces, or anything close to that. I'm just an amatuer enthusiast. That being said, the reverse is actually starting to come true. There is a Professional version of CMANO that you and I cannot buy that is starting to be used by real militaries.


I think for someone like you, a major thing to consider is how interested you are in modern combat. It's perfectly fine that you don't know that much yet, but how interested in it are you to learn?

I suppose I might be in a sort of inverse situation as you regarding Fantasy games. If I were to go into a somewhat complex fantasy game, I would probably struggle, partially due to my complete lack of real experience with the genre, and due to that fact that I am just not that interested in the genre/subject matter.

Now obviously you have at least some interest in CMANO's subject matter, otherwise you wouldn't be posting here.

There certainly is quite a bit of complexity with CMANO, but there are also aspects of it that make things rather simple.

I do encourage you to ask as many questions as you like, especially with your gaming background seeming to be different than several other CMANO players.

I will also link you to my new player guide here on Steam, if you have not already seen it.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1081327870

[Cyber_Chupacabra]

I just need to add, there is no 3d representation of units in game, you play on the 2d map with symbols and vectors, range circles and so on that represents the battlefield (based on real military symbology).
You can download additional picture database of units to show up next to the unit description.
I think its very helpfull for someone who has not much expiriance with modern military equipment.

[Fries]

I picked this up last week when it was not on sale... I don't regret it because it's worth the money. Now that it is on sale, BUY IT! I have bad luck when it comes to strategy games like Total War or Company of Heroes; just not good at them. I spent the last week on a single operation that was 48 hours long. That's because I would make a plan, let it play for a few minutes and see the enemies reaction and change course. For the most part, weapon systems act very realistic, which is a plus for me because you can bring things like physics and logic into your strategy. You don't need a military background to enjoy this; every weapon system has a little stat sheet that gives all the details about it. If you are not within the launch parameters of a certain weapon, the game will tell you the reason which is nice.

[NimrodX]

This game is not abstracted to board game level like the other types of games you're talking about. It's a real-time discrete event simulator that can't be turned into a manually played board game. In that respect its similar to other RTS games but the focus is all on trying to make the simulation as accurate as possible rather than flashy 3D graphics like Wargame: Air-Land Battle (for example).

It requires a good bit of learning. The regular consumer version of the game isn't that different than the professional/academic versions.

With that said though the tutorial scenarios have improved greatly in the last year or two so you're less on your own than you would have been a few years ago.

I put together a guide with the goal of giving people specific steps for learning the game:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1374061499

[rolypoly]

Thanks guys, this has been very helpful to make me decide :)