Combat Mission Fortress Italy

Combat Mission Fortress Italy brings wargamers to the quot soft underbelly of Europe quot a place that was anything but A very often neglected theater of war Fortress Italy starts with the Sicilian campaign from July through August1943 Sicily was the first test for the newly reorganized and improved American forces as they battled against grizzled vets of the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe as well as a wide array of Italian Army forces The arid terrain offers a unique experience for WW2 Combat Mission fans
Fortress Italy transports wargamers to start of the western Allies campaign to take the fight directly to the home turf of the Axis powers The combat forces include the full range of historically available American Italian and German forces that fought in Sicily Some of the highlights are elite formations such as Italian Bersaglieri American Rangers and the German Herman G ring Division In addition to the completely new Italian forces both the American and German organizations differ significantly from those found in other Combat Mission games Four challenging campaigns and17 stand alone battles provide engaging combat for control of Sicily To fight these battles you have at your disposal38 vehicles and loads of other weapons many unique to Fortress Italy
Players are assigned detailed missions to accomplish based on a richly diverse set of Objectives Missions can be played in either Real Time or our novel WeGo hybrid turn based mode introduced with the first Combat Mission game20 years ago WeGo allows each player to plan out60 seconds of combat and then watch as both sides commands are carried out simultaneously The WeGo system also allows for re-watching turn action and playing against another player by email PBEM or quot hotseat quot on a single computer RealTime and WeGo head to head play can also use TCP IP on a LAN or over the Internet Massive replayability comes from a unique Quick Battle system which allows players to purchase their own custom force and fight over the battlefield of their choice from a wide array of different maps A powerful map and scenario Editor allows you to create battles or campaigns for yourself and others
All units are portrayed one for one in11 scale in high resolution polygon3 D models with articulated suspensions animated hatches and other features that make them feel real Unlike other3 D tactical wargames Combat Mission combines real world physics with a thoroughly researched portrayal of forces right down to what the individual soldiers cary into battle Advanced vehicle damage modeling allows for tracking of each sub-system including the most realistic ballistics armor and post-armor effects available in any game Unlike other games that claim this level of realism Combat Mission actually delivers it across the whole spectrum of warfare including the interaction of weather lighting and terrain on how units and their weapons function
Perhaps the most important feature of Combat Mission is its detailed and innovative portrayal of quot soft factors quot Experience Morale Leadership and other elements operate at the individual soldier level and collectively transform how units behave As important as these battlefield concerns are most other games give them short shrift or don t bother covering them at all In the real world having the best weapons means nothing if the soldiers crewing them are balled up in fear or are too distracted to see what s going on around them
Weapon penetration values and armor protection are based on extremely detailed real life data and scientific algorithms that are specific to exactly what is seen in the game There are no arbitrary values hitpoints or precalculated resolution tables CRTs that so often produce frustratingly inaccurate results The advanced Tactical AI TacAI models the psychological state and inherent qualities of every soldier on the battlefield allowing for genuine battlefield behavior from every soldier as if they were their own free thinking individual
The simulation of independent soldiers is important in another regard because it allows Combat Mission to have what we call Relative Spotting This is a system which ensures that each soldier has their own unique view of the battlefield avoiding the quot Borg quot issue seen in many games where once one person has spotted an enemy automatically everyone else has spotted it and can fire on it as well Any wargamer worth his weight in gunpowder knows that Fog of War is one of the most important battlefield elements An unprecedented simulation of Command and Control C2 combines with Relative Spotting to realistically portray the flow of information and responsibility between soldiers as they share information with each other on what they can see on the battlefield
All of these elements and many more seamlessly fit together to create the most realistic battlefield experience out there The realism level isn t pushed in your face with lots of data and obscure references Instead players experience all of this with the3 D graphical environment Combat Mission s visceral game environment is what attracts players the richness of the gameplay is what keeps them playing for years on end.FeaturesTactical warfare at battalion and below scale in a true3 D environment
Command individual vehicles teams and squads
Expansive simulation of quot soft factors quot such as Morale Experience and Leadership
Innovative systems portraying Fog of War Spotting Line of Sight Command amp 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
Supported for the long haul with patches upgrades and expansions
The only Combat Mission Family to portray1943 formations and equipment
No other force in Combat Mission is as uniquely odd as the Italians with their mix of WW1 and1930 s equipment and organization Talk about tactical challenges
Find out what it s like to play as or against Germans who can t count on Panthers and King Tigers to save the day
Arid rocky sparsely wooded terrain produces an entirely different type of tactical setting
Expansive maps with1 m x1 m 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
Line of Sight is calculated from the quot eyeballs quot or quot sensor quot point not a generic value
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