CMBB and CMC actually share information back and forth so the disposition and status of troops, experience, fatigue, supply, terrain, weather, time of day and more are seamlessly integrated into both games. Plan your strategies, issue orders and deploy your maneuver units in a dynamic 3D isometric map and when units close to engagement ranges, CMC actually creates the battles (unit positions, status, weather, time of day etc...) to then be played in CMBB. Once the tactical battle is finished, CMBB then sends the results back to CMC and play is continued at the Operational level.
Put simply, Combat Mission Campaigns adds the Operational and Strategic elements that fans have always wanted in Combat Mission at an unprecedented level of detail!
CMC is in beta stage currently with a tentative release date of "when it's ready"... (but probably early next year)
Charles Moylan, co-founder and main programmer: Following the success of the Combat Mission games, many fans approached us with the idea of a "strategic layer" which would combine the tactical battles of Combat Mission into one big picture. One of the most clear, most detailed and exciting concepts came from Bruce Poon and his team at Hunting Tank Software; it was so exciting in fact that we quickly agreed to do our part to make this project come to life. Combat Mission Campaigns takes the Combat Mission series to that next level that many fans have hoped for! Starting with CMBB, it allows players to create and replay large historical and fictional campaigns on the Eastern Front using CM's tactical and CMC's strategic engines.
Bruce Poon, lead designer: What we are trying to do with Combat Mission Campaign is provide the operational level layer that Combat Mission players have always wanted. Every feature has been designed to be as realistic, complex and challenging as commanding troops really was back then, and to complement the realism in Combat Mission itself. If we can provide a realistic and fun game for Combat Mission players, we know that we have made a great contribution. It could not have been done without great support from Battlefront.
Features :
- Maneuver Elements of Platoon, Company or Battalion strength, including Tanks, Guns, Vehicles and Infantry.
- A total force strength of roughly a division on each side is playable.
- Commanders and their staffs rated for Leadership, Organization and Aggressiveness, which impacts on both the operation and battles they fight.
- The ability to define many roles within a single campaign, allowing the player to interact with both humans and AIs on both sides of the operation.
- An operationally focused Artificial Intelligence that can take over the troops for one or a number of roles within the game.
- Multi-Multiplay support that allows for numerous human players against either the AI or other people or a combination of both.
- A Multiplayer engine for coordinating the movement of multiple roles and players.
- The ability for a unit to gain experience with combat success and earn medals for successful actions.
- Tracking of casualties and awards throughout the campaign.
- The ability to save an Order of Battle at the completion of a campaign.
- The ability to preview what units will appear in Combat Mission, and their current state of readiness and experience.
- Accurate unit portraits based on Nationality, Division and Rank, and the ability to have custom portraits for specific officers.
- Readiness system that combines fitness, fatigue and the actions and battles a unit fights to determine an overall level of effectiveness.
- A range of commands including moving to attack, traveling, entrenching, resting and all round defence.
- A command that allows a unit to be in Tactical Reserve, ready to move to the assistance of other units in the area under certain circumstances.
- Artillery in support of other units, resulting in the appearance of Forward Observers on the battlefield.
- The ability to coordinate orders around 'H Hours' to move or begin an assault.
Transportation of troops using a range of vehicles such as Trucks, Horses, Bicycles, Half Tracks and Motorbikes. - The ability to direct subordinate commanders, human or AI.
- Exacting Fog of War system, showing limited information due to the visibility of enemy troops, but also taking into account the time to transfer information from one unit to another, the types of signals involved, and the inertia in large units being able to respond to new orders.
- The ability to review the historical progress of the game, including an ever improving operational view of 'What Really Happened'.
- The ability to send messages in between commanders, including the delay of those messages based on communication mechanisms used.
- Communications paths based on the use of radios of varying quality and type including telephones, vehicles, horses, skiers and runners.
- A 'who Can I See' mode which shows the areas of the operational map that are currently visible to each unit, and which therefore may contain visible enemy units (depending on their size, orders and current weather and time of day conditions).
- A 'Who Can See Me' mode which shows the areas from which each unit can be seen.
- Scalable Fog of War settings to increase or decrease realism.
- Tactical Battlefields of up to 4 square kilometers in size, and Operational areas of several hundred square kilometers.
- Victory Locations at the operational and tactical level.
- Varying weather and its impact on the Ground Condition, Movement and Visibility.
- Battlefield sounds that reflect the environment and conditions of the operation.
An Auto-Combat feature for battles, for when the battle is not worth playing out in CMBB. - Supply Availability and the gradual depletion of resources, including Ammunition; Petrol, Oil and Lubricants; and Basic Supplies such as food, water, medical supplies.
- Full Map, Order of Battle, Turn, Time of Day, and Weather Editors all included.
- Map Editor allows 9 Different Ground Conditions (Deep Snow, Snow, Light Snow, Deep Mud, Mud, Wet, Damp, Dry, Very Dry) plus a variety of terrain types including Cities/Towns,, Villages, Farmlands, Marshes, Light and Densely Rocky and Wooded areas plus Dirt and Paved Roads and Railways.
- Map 'extras' allowing the Operational maps to be adorned with extra detailed graphics like cows, sheep, telegraph poles and more.
- A weather editing program that allows historical weather conditions to be accurately reflected in the game.
- An Order of Battle Editor enabling the selection of a range of German and Russian troop types and formations.
- The ability to save and load standard formation types.
- A Turn Editor which allows for the game to run with several different turn lengths (in hours), including the allowance of different turn lengths for different times of day.
- A Time of Day editor allowing for different dark / light cycles in different regions of the conflict.
- A Briefings editor that allows for scenario briefings to be included for all players.
- Integrated Help Menus.