Combat Mission new for 2024

[Gusington]

 

I was 26 when I started writing for Jim.

'Sunrise, sunset.'

[Zulu1966]

These discussions are priceless for the nostalgia. Brings me back to Golden Age of Wargamer. We were all so young then. How I miss those days so...  

  great post.

I am genuinely almost too scared to ask but genuinely want to know. How long is it now since the change and birth of GH ?

[Grim.Reaper]

These discussions are priceless for the nostalgia. Brings me back to Golden Age of Wargamer. We were all so young then. How I miss those days so...  

  great post.

I am genuinely almost too scared to ask but genuinely want to know. How long is it now since the change and birth of GH ?

Looks like first user accounts created and first posts on January 26, 2012, including a welcome to the grogheads post.  So just a little under 12 years now.

[Zulu1966]

These discussions are priceless for the nostalgia. Brings me back to Golden Age of Wargamer. We were all so young then. How I miss those days so...  

  great post.

I am genuinely almost too scared to ask but genuinely want to know. How long is it now since the change and birth of GH ?

Looks like first user accounts created and first posts on January 26, 2012, including a welcome to the grogheads post.  So just a little under 12 years now.

Jeez...where did that go... Was thinking. 6 or 7 in my initial thoughts maximum.

[Gusington]

^Yeah, crazy eh?

[Jarhead0331]

Yes, Grogheads was formed circa 2012 Anno Domini. What a trip it's been. 

[ArizonaTank]

Regarding BF decision on Black Sea, I am fine with their decision.

In my long history with wargaming, I can't think of any commercial computer, boardgame or miniature games published about a particular high intensity war while that war was happening. But I admit there are probably some outliers out there (low intensity conflicts like the war on terror for example). 

I think there are a bunch of reasons for this, and those reasons really aren't worth arguing over, IMHO. 

[nelmsm]

Regarding BF decision on Black Sea, I am fine with their decision.

In my long history with wargaming, I can't think of any commercial computer, boardgame or miniature games published about a particular high intensity war while that war was happening. But I admit there are probably some outliers out there (low intensity conflicts like the war on terror for example). 

I think there are a bunch of reasons for this, and those reasons really aren't worth arguing over, IMHO. 

GMT just put on their P500 series a game on the first attack by the Russians on Ukraine. Called Defiance: 2nd Russian Ukranian War 2022-?  https://www.gmtgames.com/p-1087-defiance-2nd-russo-ukrainian-war-2022.aspx

[Elvis]

Has the flow of the actual war in Ukraine done anything to highlight deficiencies in BFC's modelling of the forces of the region? I don't follow the actual war news (can't really say I consider footage of men dying to be entertaining, my focus is more history, stuff that happened in the past). I do, however, get the occasional current events lectures in my reserve unit, and some of the topics have focused on drone warfare and electronic warfare, stuff like questioning the need for large command posts full of electronic equipment. I get the sense that kind of stuff is relevant to CM but not a game-breaker (the same way not having landing craft or flyable gliders weren't gamestoppers for their Normandy game).  Has there been any other 'surprises' brought out in the actual fighting that might contribute to BFC reassessing their ability to model a war in that region?

I understand the "official" reason for the cancellation is apparently a moral one given the relationship of the fictional CM war to the actual war in Ukraine, but slightly curious if there might be more to it than that. I mean, when is the last time a content provider pulled back on grounds of good taste?

This is a weirdly cynical response to the announcement.  If inaccuracy was the issue, they could easily fix that with a patch.  Why not take them at their word for the reasoning behind the cancellation?

It is in fact a typically cynical Dorosh response to anything BF related...he has a long history of some weird kind of axe grinding.

I have seen much comment from BF in the forums about not modelling current wars...their issue is they have a habit of predicting them actually or nearly.

I believe the reason is entirely genuine and not related to any secret issue with the game they are trying to hide.

Am completely unsurprised Dorosh positions as such though.

As one of the people that was actually a participent in the discussions about this, both internally and discussions directly with Slitherine, I can tell you that the reason given is 100% the reason. No one internally felt it was right and Slitherine felt exactly the same. Right now, we aren't even entertaining the idea of running any tournaments with the already released Black Sea.

At the end of the day, it was an easy decision, despite the significant financial and time investment that had already been made.

[Grim.Reaper]

Can someone remind me what the planned new CMBS module was going to cover?  Something specifically based on current real world situation?  Just curious why CMBS main module and CMBS battle pack continues to be sold if company doesn't feel right about releasing new add-ons or even running tournaments with the released content.  Completely understand the sensitivity, just confused about the difference.

[MikeGER]

Can someone remind me what the planned new CMBS module was going to cover?  Something specifically based on current real world situation?  Just curious why CMBS main module and CMBS battle pack continues to be sold if company doesn't feel right about releasing new add-ons or even running tournaments with the released content.  Completely understand the sensitivity, just confused about the difference.

I dont remember the new contend details either.

The problem is that a new DLC, with whatever kind of contend, comes usually with a big marketing campaign, a sale, Let's plays on Twitch and YT and what not, tournaments also attract attention.

while letting CMBS just simmer gently in the myriads of games at Steam doesn't hurt.

if some hater stumbles upon it, and read relased long before the actual war he will realize there is no material for the social media outcry he want to generate.   

[Grim.Reaper]

Can someone remind me what the planned new CMBS module was going to cover?  Something specifically based on current real world situation?  Just curious why CMBS main module and CMBS battle pack continues to be sold if company doesn't feel right about releasing new add-ons or even running tournaments with the released content.  Completely understand the sensitivity, just confused about the difference.

I dont remember the new contend details either.

The problem is that a new DLC, with whatever kind of contend, comes usually with a big marketing campaign, a sale, Let's plays on Twitch and YT and what not, tournaments also attract attention.

while letting CMBS just simmer gently in the myriads of games at Steam doesn't hurt.

if some hater stumbles upon it, and read relased long before the actual war he will realize there is no material for the social media outcry he want to generate.   

I suppose but the original CMBS module was released around 2015 and there have been some level of conflict between Russia and Ukraine since like 2014.  Then the add-on battle pack was released in 2017.  And certainly it was big news (amongst the combat mission fans) when Battlefront agreed to release their games with Matrix and Steam (which exposed the game material to a greater audience with marketing), which Black Sea was released around April 2022 right after the start of the latest invasion. So if they wanted to downplay attention or gently let simmer, not sure releasing the game on steam the biggest gaming platform and releasing with matrix one of the biggest war game publishers is the way to go right after the last conflict heated up.  On top of that, they have a massive popular thread (where company participates) within the official release CMBS forum about the real world conflict, which in some ways further connects things and increases visibility (or at least keeps the discussion going).

Regardless, certainly the company can choose to do whatever it wants, just seems to be a little inconsistent (at least in my mind) but not a huge deal, the latest content wasn't something on my radar as I don't even know what it was supposed to be anyway.

[MikeGER]

Black Sea came to Steam end of January 21, the big Russian invasion started 24. Feb 22, so the release on Steam is not a problem

[Grim.Reaper]

Black Sea came to Steam end of January 21, the big Russian invasion started 24. Feb 22, so the release on Steam is not a problem

Ah, gotcha, somehow had 2022 as the release date.

[Uberhaus]

Battlefront originally released Black Sea on 04 Nov 2014, after the takeover of Crimea in February and March.
From the CMBS manual:

� Foreword
Sometime in 2009, we determined the setting for Combat Mission: Black Sea: a fictional future
conflict between NATO, Ukraine, and Russia in the year 2017. A few years later, the details of
this conflict were fleshed out and work began on creating the unique military formations and
equipment that would participate in such a conflict. In the midst of development, the
unthinkable happened, and conflict actually came to Ukraine during the spring of 2014.
After much internal discussion we decided to move forward with the development of Combat
Mission: Black Sea. We prefer that our Combat Mission releases cover historical or fictional
modern topics, and in that regard Black Sea is still a fictional story. However, the previously
written back story for the game was slightly altered to take into account 2014's real life events.
To be clear: Combat Mission: Black Sea is a hypothetical conflict between NATO and Russia
set in 2017, not a depiction of present day events such as the Crimean Crisis or the War in
Donbass.
War in real life is a terrible, horrible thing that should only be embarked upon as an absolute last
resort. Combat Mission: Black Sea is thankfully still a fictional story, and likely to remain so
unless our global leaders and populace collectively lose their minds. The stories that will be
created within this game can serve as a grim reminder of the human cost incurred when
diplomacy and decency fail

Hard to believe the game is almost ten years old.  An important update that I have noticed is that the icon on my desktop has changed from an advancing  Soviet T type tank to a tank hull with the turret beside it.