Subject: Combat Command Review (long) From: edmundfran@aol.com (Edmundfran) The following is excerpted from the August 1996 issue of Wargamers Monthly and is used with the permission of the publisher. Comments in brackets [] have been added by Ken Franken 8/20/96. Although I have deleted certain sections to try to keep the length of this post reasonable, I have taken pains to preserve the original tone of the review. A COMMANDING START A Review of Art of War's Combat Command by Bill Hesson I volunteered for the potentially awkward task of reviewing Combat Command: Danger Forward, the first wargame offering of Art of War Publishing, owned by the publisher of Wargamers Monthly. Fortunately, there is much about CCDF that is worthy of high praise, combined with enough to criticize to maintain my credibility. Bottom line, CCDF is well worth the money to any fan of traditional military boardgames who delights in an intellectual challenge, but it is far from flawless. CCDF is a windows-based game that loaded under Win95 without a hitch. The game is played within a set of windows in which strategic and tactical maps, a complete OOB, individual unit information, and combat results are displayed. Each of these windows may be opened full screen or pushed completely off to one side. [...] The game is played through a typical widows interface, with menus and dialog boxes that are reasonably intuitive. It is easy to get up and running quickly. The graphics are clean and attractive, utilizing NATO symbols to display the company-size units on a hex-based map with rich color and straight-forward terrain detail. This does not look like a guerrilla game. There are a few omissions: there is no ability to click on a hex on the strategic map and jump to that location on the tactical grid. The grid itself is not numbered, so it can be difficult to maintain orientation on the larger maps. When conducting paradrops or amphibious landings, you cannot scroll the underlying OOB display to assure that you are giving orders to the intended units. None of these represent major problems, and work-arounds are quickly developed. As noted, the units are company-sized. CCDF models multi-divisional operations in the Second World War. The scenarios range in size from the Tebourba scenario provided as a bonus to WM subscribers, which pits reinforced brigades against one another, to Anzio, in which four German divisions attack two British and two American divisions. The scenarios provide an interesting variety of tactical problems, including the amphibious assaults on Sicily and Italy, the air assault on Crete, the German counter-attack at Anzio and two Bulge scenarios, one from early in the battle (St. Vith) and one at the end of the German push (Celles). WM subscribers also receive the small north African engagement at Tebourba that was replayed in the July 96 issue. [The original review goes on to give an excellent, though somewhat lengthy, description of gameplay. In the interest of brevity, I am leaving it out. - kaf] [...] CCDF has an absolutely unique method of calculating who wins and who loses. The primary determinant of victory is the control of a majority of the victory hexes. Control is established by passing through the hex; it need not be garrisoned to be controlled. The level of victory, however, is determined by the ratio of reserve points awarded to each side. Reserve points are awarded for each full strength, undisrupted unit that is not in an enemy zone of control at game's end. The rationale for this condition is that it assesses the ability of the forces to continue the fight. The result is the first game I have ever played that directly rewards a player for rotating units and maintaining a reserve even at the end of the game. Too often, reserves are thrown in haphazardly by players desperately seeking some end of game advantage, even though those actions would be disastrous in a real world where the war continues after the allotted turns have all been used up. [...] Having described gameplay, it is now time for the reckoning. CCDF scores high for veracity. Although the design is based on companies with hit points maneuvering on a hex map, the combination of unit attributes and the command relationships provide a game that generates realistic results, The quality is in the little details. For example, if an HQ unit is destroyed, one of the subordinate units is automatically promoted. The new HQ, however, will have a leadership rating one notch lower than the destroyed unit, and will gain one disruption level, modeling both of the likely effects of such an unplanned change of command. CCDF also scores well on verisimilitude. The OOBs are highly detailed for the command level of the game and the scenarios are carefully designed. The included scenario editor will offer the true grognard the ability to make any corrections he believes necessary in the included scenarios and design any others he desires. CCDF accomplishes the obvious design intent. It offers the feel of a boardgame, but incorporates a large number of well-reasoned improvements only possible on the PC. As noted earlier, there is a strong fog of war. During daylight turns, only enemy units in direct contact with friendly units can be identified. Uncontacted units in clear terrain may be spotted, but no information is available about them. Units in cover cannot be spotted at all. During night turns, only directly contacted units may even be spotted, and no information is available about them. This fog imposes considerable caution, thereby providing insight into what may appear to have been excessive timidity on the part of many historical generals. The problems and concerns of the player are a reasonable reflection of the actual issues that would have confronted a divisional or corps commander. The longer, larger scenarios best hilight the depth and subtlety of the game design. There are weaknesses, however. The combat results window is not worth reviewing. It displays odds that are only partially adjusted and frequently prints the wrong information. For example, following one combat, the results reported that the defending unit and the attacking unit had the same unit I.D.s. Frequently, results are reported in this window that are at odds with the results obtained when viewing units on the tactical map. [The odds displayed in the combat results window are accurate, but they do not include column shifts due to armor. Extensive testing has been unable to reproduce the other faults described above. (Bill Hesson had access to a beta copy of Combat Command that used a slightly different format for saved games. Running a game saved under the beta format with the release version of the game might cause the types of problems he described.) While I accept that some might find the format of the combat results window awkward, to the best of my knowledge, the information displayed is accurate, with the exception of the column shifts for the odds. -- kaf] The greatest weakness for many gamers will be the absence of any convenient way to PBM or PBEM. Although, as a windows-based game, files can be saved and transferred through a different communications program without leaving the game, the turn phasing will require six transfers to complete a single turn, and there is no way of protecting against temptations to pierce the fog. [The omission of PBM and PBEM options was a design decision. It was felt that few people would miss them, and they seem to be the leading cause of problems with game setup. - kaf] The AI is fairly strong and aggressive, as AIs go, but there will need to be a steady supply of new scenarios, or a nearby friend who can play hotseat games, for CCDF to have an extended shelf life. [User response on the AI has been very positive. Dave Erickson is working on a new set of scenarios; they should be released by September 1996, and, as long as there is user interest, we will keep producing new scenario disks. - kaf] On balance, CCDF is an absolutely remarkable achievement for a version 1.0 of the first game from a new guerrilla. Personally, I think there has been a lot of stars inflation in these pages lately, but CCDF has as much right to four stars as any other game that has rated so highly in the past year, and more than most. It is the best guerrilla game I have ever played, and it beats all but a few of the best designers. TITLE: Combat Command: Danger Forward PUBLISHER: Art of War Publishing 12 Metric Road Iowa City, IA 52240 (319) 351-5396 Artwar@interserv.com SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: IBM 486/33 Windows 3.1 or higher 3.5" floppy drive Hard drive mouse 8 MB RAM RETAIL PRICE: $39.95 (+ shipping) WM RATING: Four stars