by Martin Turewicz

The graphic below has been generated by repeated firing of a US 76mm gun against a King Tiger. The different colors show various chances to achieve a penetration. Similar graphics will be included on the CD as handy reference for the player.

All this really only scratches the surface. Non-penetrating hits that can stun or injure the crew, unique characteristics of various tank models (e.g. soft spots on the King Tigers front armor) and much more is in the game. Pointing out all the details of Combat Mission's 3D engine over traditional 2D wargames is by far out of scope of this preview.

Now one would expect that such a detailed 3D setting can only show off all its glory in real time. Well, it does - but there are still "turns."

What this means is a mix between Orders phases (in which the game is paused and both sides issue their orders) and Action phases (with a real time execution of the given orders for BOTH sides simultaneously). Every action phase is 60 seconds of real time combat, and the players have no influence on the actions taken by their units during that time. Their units may or may not obey the orders given to them during the Orders phase, depending on the situations they find themselves in.

If you order a rifle squad to charge into a known MG position head-on without suppressing fire, you might find that the squad finds that a rather easy way to get killed - and instead chooses to rout away to the rear. What is happening here? Combat Mission is using fuzzy logic to determine the actions of your soldiers during the 60 seconds Action Replay. They may hit the dirt when facing heavy enemy fire, they may run away or heroically storm forward - the so-called "tactical AI" is leading the actions of your men during the action phase, based on your orders, the experience and training of the men and the situation.

The mix of Orders phase and real time Action phase indeed seems a very good compromise between the disadvantages of a pure turn system (with sometimes unrealistic and "gamey" ways to win games) and a pure real time strategy game (with little time to use in-depth strategy and tactics while the clock is ticking away). It also helps simulate "Fog of War", in that the player has no influence over his units for 60 seconds, thereby limiting his possibilities to unrealistically use his all-knowing "Über" position to micromanage the course of a game.

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One example.. no longer can you move one unit forward at a time, using the newly won intel to move the remaining units around enemy positions. You have to move them all together - and so does the enemy.

That doesn't mean, however, that the player has nothing to do during the action replays. In fact, he has a lot to do - moving the camera around the battlefield, clicking on units to see how many men they just lost from that artillery impact or that MG fire and if they panicked or became pinned. You must also track enemy movements to foresee the future strategies of the opponent, or you can simply enjoy the sights and sounds of a WWII battlefield. Various buttons make sure that you don't miss any action - you can reverse, fast forward and pause the action, very much like on your VCR.

If you think now that such a highly realistic and complex game must mean a high learning curve, endless tables and an interface overloaded with buttons and options - you're dead wrong. The designers of Combat Mission have put great emphasis on an easy to handle user interface, which conveys all the important info to the player but keeps things simple and overseeable.

All orders in the game are given by simply selecting a unit, calling up the unit orders menu and clicking on the one you want to issue. Movement and fire orders are then followed by clicking on the desired spot on the map you want the unit to go to or fire at. Hotkeys are available also for those familiar with the interface.

After the order is given, a color-coded line appears, showing which order has been issued. You can use waypoints for movement, too, by simply right-clicking (instead of left-clicking) on the map. In later turns, you can cancel or modify your orders, e.g. change a "crawl" order to "run." You can even move the pre-set waypoints within a certain area in subsequent turns, thereby changing your orders slightly to face a new situation and avoiding having to replot everything from scratch.

Go to Part III