What do you like best about your favourite CM2 titles and/or this series of games in Gerneral?
For me, it is about how well it simulates WWII combat at the tactical and grand tactical level. My opinion comes from a background of years of playing tabletop board and miniature wargames (with preference for the latter). As some of you will be aware, playing with miniatures means endless hours of learning rules, looking up rules, rolling dice and referencing charts. The more detailed the game the more time you spend looking up the rules and not actually 'playing'.
Then along came CMx1 following by CMx2. To me it felt like a highly detailed miniature wargame but on the computer with the bonus of not having to roll dice and reference charts. Of course, you play better if you read the manual. This is waaaaay better than on-table minis if somewhat less social.
The inclusion of an editor! Wow! Did I just die and go to wargaming heaven? I love 'making' stuff. Especially for games.
I wish that the Total War series would fight battles in historical formations. Medieval (Wars of the Roes) gaming was my first love.
Scourge of War Warterloo and Gettysburg computer wargames do a fantastic historical job of it but with a steep learning curve. (whoops I have digressed).
So, what's your love for CM games?
Carpe vitam.
Sitting at ground level in the middle of a heavy artillery barrage.
The one thing about these games you quickly grasp, is these truths. Topography is fate. Go where the water flows. Cover vs concealment. Flanking vs head-on attacks. Combined arms. Artillery fire and air-to ground attacks. CM does all this and more. In the next iteration of CM series, we will see how all these things will continue to come together.
For me it’s that CM doesn’t just tell you tactics matter — it makes you live with the consequences. 🪖 Terrain, timing, and combined arms suddenly aren’t theory anymore, they’re survival. I also like that it feels like playing miniatures without spending half the night checking charts. Good CM turns stick in your head long after the battle ends.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." — Vegetius
"Do not hurry to the sound of the guns without knowing why they are firing." — British maxim
"In war, the simplest things are difficult." — Clausewitz
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy." — Moltke
"The side that can most quickly exploit success is the side that will win." — Guderian
Some days you’re the hammer, some days you’re the nail. 🪖🎲
Looking for a game? Challenge me here:
For me it’s that CM doesn’t just tell you tactics matter — it makes you live with the consequences.
That is a great way to put it. I remember learning the game with CM1 and having trouble with a scenario. My dad (at the time an active infantry officer) gave me some advice on how I could approach my problem. It worked.
It was an eye opening moment.
That is the key but taking away the rule book and charts and having a true fog of war and no more hexes - CM just cannot be beat.