Matrix Games Forums

Ok a couple of weeks in and I have to rate the CM series an EASY 9/10 and probably if we used a decimal it'd be 9.5ish
Pros...
1 a very true to life ballistics model.
2 as mentioned on their page...modeling "soft factors" is huge. Few do it well, CM does. Put in a company of the exact same composition against each other with one rated better in experience and leadership...that one will mostly always win
3 Ease of modding.
4 well designed AI at the TacAI level.

Really only a few "I hope this comes out" as "negatives"
1. The German armored cars I mentioned previously
2. The human guided AI in scenario editor *could* use more tweaks- but this also could be my inexperience as well
3. A "wish for"...some OOB accessible in game where you can look for a specific unit on a crowded battlefield full of the same symbols.
4. Another wish for. (And this may be already doable) AI don't *seem to* take advantage of terrain heights etc.. placing AT guns in places where there is no line of sight beyond 35m. This could be perhaps fixed by specifically making them an AI group and the scenario specifying exactly where to place them but I'm unsure how to access elevation etc info on the screen that defines AI group setup.
I will revisit this one later

Overall I purchased the entire series except Black Sea...nothing against that lol I just ran out of money
I purchased long ago the prior WW2 titles...and MAN has this engine come a long way....outstanding!!

My friends and I have been playing the CM series since the very beginning, 20 years ago. The CM games are the gold standard when it comes to tactical games. Back then there was one on North Africa.

We play them WEGO by PBEM rather than real time. About the only downside is there isn't much in the way of air power in any of their games even the more modern era ones like Cold War.

The base game of Final Blitzkrieg has the least number of scenarios of any of their games but they did just release an add on which has additional scenarios and vehicles.

Even though their games are pricey they are well worth the price.

I think with the release of Downfall and the introduction of CW troops, with the added equipment for both the Germans and Americans, we'll start seeing more designers add scenarios covering this period, even if only hypothetical it should be fun.

I resigned myself ages ago that wargames are pricey if only thought of as a one and done proposition, but I figure the hours I spend playing a game when translated into entertainment money makes it worth it.

Yeah it's pretty easy to spend $100USD for just a few hours of entertainment.. I got this entire series that will easily be hundreds of hours of entertainment for just a few hundred$.

The mods are great too...I've been exploring those for a week+ now.

I've already tried my hand at a couple of scenarios designs...I favor "huge" and there aren't many of them so I'm making a handful (2 in RT, 2 in BN and 1 in FB) with testing them and probably a dozen "reworks" it'll probably be autumn when they're finished but I'll get them.