Combat Mission Final Blitzkrieg (CMFB) follows the Western Allies through the battles along Germany’s border and into the heart of the Reich itself. The game covers the October 1944 through January 1945 timeframe with a focus on the American sector of the Battle of the Bulge.
Combat Mission Final Blitzkrieg allows you to revisit the famous battlefields along the German border, with the wintery Battle of the Bulge as its main focus. It was a time and place where the Wehrmacht was still highly capable at the tactical level, yet fairly evenly matched against the American forces arrayed against it. The mix of harsh weather in an unforgiving rugged environment ensured the fighting was challenging for both sides.
Two expansive campaigns offer two very different experiences. One focuses on American forces pushing into Aachen, the first major German city to fall into Allied hands. The other portrays the famous drive of Kampfgruppe Peiper deep into the American lines. Also included are one training campaign, 25 standalone scenarios, and multitudes of Quick Battle maps that will test your tactical acumen and give you easy access to the full range of weather, terrain, and forces from this period and place in time.
Game Features
- Tactical warfare at battalion and below scale in a true 3D environment
- Command individual vehicles, teams, and squads
- Expansive simulation of “soft factors” such as Morale, Experience, and Leadership
- Innovative systems portraying Fog of War, Spotting, Line of Sight, Command & Control, and Objectives
- Unmatched realistic physics, ballistics, and battlefield effects
- Fight in a wide range of weather and lighting conditions, all of which realistically impact fighting abilities
- Unique hybrid system for RealTime or WeGo (turn based) play
- Full featured Editor for maps, scenarios, and campaigns
- Quick Battle system sets up deliberate or randomized battles based on player specifications
- Single player and head to head play, including Play By Email (PBEM)
- The final array of German heavy armor makes its first appearance in Combat Mission
- American forces also have much improved armor, including the M36 tank destroyer
- Organizational changes in the formations on both sides give even the most experienced CM player new tactical challenges and opportunities
- The winter weather and forested terrain set the tactical experience apart from all other CM games
- Three Regions within the game help set the mood with Dutch, French, and German accents
- Expansive maps with 1m x 1m resolution allow for short and long range action across complex terrain
- Buildings have explicitly simulated doors, windows, and floors
- Weather and ground condition modelling systems allow for everything from dry sunny days to muddy stormy nights, with visibility and mobility dynamically affected by the conditions. Some Combat Mission games include the full range of Winter, Spring, and Fall weather as well
- Line of Sight and Line of Fire are separately calculated, which means sometimes you can see something you can’t shoot and sometimes you can shoot at things you can’t see
- Soldier posture (prone, kneeling, standing) affects everything including spotting, cover, and ability to engage enemies
- The way a nation organizes its units has a huge impact on how they perform in combat, therefore great pains are taken to accurately portray formations as they are in real life for a particular point in time
- Lighting affects combat in no small way in real life as well as in the game. The correct lighting conditions are simulated based on time of day, time of year, and weather
