Combat Mission - Franchise celebration

Hi everyone,

We are excited to announce the acquisition of Battlefront, the renowned developers behind the Combat Mission series.

This strategic move underscores our commitment to the wargaming community and the legacy of Combat Mission—a franchise celebrated for its unmatched tactical and strategic depth. With over 1 million copies sold worldwide, Combat Mission remains a defining force in the genre, setting the standard for authentic warfare simulations.

This acquisition marks a new chapter for Combat Mission, as we plan to enhance the series with cutting-edge technology and innovative gameplay, all while preserving the core elements that have made it a favorite among wargamers for over 25 years.

Battlefront's entire team, including the original creators, will be joining Slitherine, ensuring the continuity and quality that fans have come to expect.

This partnership makes a milestone in wargaming, with Slitherine and Battlefront committed to delivering the best possible experience and ensuring the continued growth and success of the Combat Mission franchise.

Combat Mission titles will continue to be available on all current platforms, including Matrix Games and Steam. To help both new and existing players, we have updated our FAQ[www.matrixgames.com] and "How to Download My Games[www.matrixgames.com]" sections, making it easier than ever to access and enjoy the series.

To celebrate this exciting milestone, we're thrilled to offer discounts of up to 60% on all Combat Mission titles. This is a limited-time sale, available until September 3rd, so don't miss out: https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/sale/combatmissionfranchisesale


Additionally, we have organized a full day of streaming on our Twitch channel[www.twitch.tv]. The schedule includes a variety of Combat Mission titles, showcasing gameplay and strategies. Join us to experience our streamers in action and engage with our community.

We are also pleased to announce the opening of subscriptions for a new Battle for Normandy tournament[www.slitherine.com] featuring three brand new maps. These maps have been meticulously crafted, all starting from the master map of the Battle Pack 2.

Enjoy this Combat Mission milestone and celebration and don’t miss this perfect opportunity to expand your collection and dive into the acclaimed tactical warfare series at an unbeatable price.

Today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for our community as we launch our very first community activity on Discord. Starting today, every three days we will conduct a poll featuring various questions that will shape the design and creation of the next three fictional multiplayer maps for Combat Mission.

These new maps will be brought to life by the talented Usually Hapless, who will use the community's responses from the polls to guide his creative process. But that's not all – Usually Hapless will also create a video tutorial, providing an in-depth look at how he crafts these maps using the game's editor.

Once the maps are completed, we are thrilled to announce that there will be a special tournament featuring these community-inspired maps. This tournament will give players a chance to showcase their skills on the new battlegrounds and compete for a prize pool filled with coupon rewards.

Join us on Discord[discord.gg] today and help shape the future of Combat Mission maps. Your input is crucial, and we can't wait to see the incredible maps and intense battles that will come from this collaborative effort.

In a remarkable convergence of history and gaming, the highly anticipated Battle Pack 2 DLC for Combat Mission Battle for Normandy launches today, June 6th, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of D-Day. This latest expansion immerses players in the pivotal moments of the Normandy invasion, offering an authentic and richly detailed experience of one of World War II's most significant events.

https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/2971350/Combat_Mission_Battle_for_Normandy__Battle_Pack_2/

Get ready to play with three gripping campaigns, eight standalone scenarios, and six master maps. Experience D-Day from two perspectives: command the 1/506 PIR in a night drop and lead the 2/8 IR through the beach landing. Engage in key battles along the breakthrough corridor, facing terrain challenges and enemy resistance. Command the German 17SS PzG and 6FJR in a campaign to reclaim Carentan. Test your tactical prowess in eight standalone scenarios against friends or AI opponents. Explore six meticulously crafted master maps, spanning 63.7 square kilometers, inspired by historical locations.

You can also expand your gaming experience by purchasing the DLC: Commonwealth Forces, Market Garden, Vehicle Pack and Battle Pack 1, discounted for a limited time.

https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/2298410/Combat_Mission_Battle_for_Normandy__Commonwealth_Forces/

https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/2298411/Combat_Mission_Battle_for_Normandy__Market_Garden/

https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/2298412/Combat_Mission_Battle_for_Normandy__Vehicle_Pack/

https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/2298413/Combat_Mission_Battle_for_Normandy__Battle_Pack_1/

To celebrate the launch on Steam and Matrix Games, the bundle Combat Mission Battle for Normandy Complete Bundle will be discounted at 10% off for a limited time.

https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/bundle/31406/Combat_Mission_Battle_for_Normandy_Complete/

Anyone with a copy of the game purchased on Battlefront.com will also be able to redeem a Steam key HERE[www.slitherine.com] using their original game code. If you want to know how to do it, all details can be found here

To celebrate the launch of this new DLC, the entire Combat Mission series is discounted by 50%.

Last but not least, this afternoon we have a stream[www.twitch.tv] on our Twitch channel showcasing the new DLC, don't miss it; D-Day awaits you.

Utah Beach has been seen by many in the past as the ‘easy beach’, with minimal casualties experienced by Allied landing forces. It’s for this reason it is sometimes overlooked in favour of Omaha Beach as the go to Normandy D-Day wargaming experience. True, the landings at Omaha were infamously bloody with 2,500 killed, but Omaha didn’t have an Airborne carpet behind it. When factoring in the US Airborne losses in the Utah area, the casualties experienced was equivalent (or higher by some estimates) than those experienced at Omaha in the first 24 hours of operations. To say Utah was therefore ‘easy’ and a pushover so not worth wargaming is sadly misplaced.

Battle Pack 2: Utah Beach for Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy is aimed to provide a flowing narrative, following the first week of the invasion of Normandy from Utah Beach southeast towards and just beyond Carentan. The focus has been on historically recreating the situation in this part of the war in early June 1944, rather than trying to design perfectly balanced multiplayer or tournament scenarios. It’s the collection of some well-known engagements an Armchair General would like to play on a rainy Sunday afternoon with a glass of whiskey in one hand and cigar in the other.

Getting the Project Off the Ground
The pack, as you will experience it, had a different makeup at the proposal stage that influenced why Utah Beach was chosen. The initial design document was submitted, and Battlefront got back to me saying proposal had more the flavour of a Module rather than a collection of scenarios. Utah Beach and the surrounding area was chosen as the new elements to be incorporated could all be found in historical engagements that occurred in that area between the 6th and 13th of June. A Module-like release wasn’t going to work for Battlefront as they wanted to marshal their resources towards ++redacted++. I mean I was shocked by the news at first, that ++redacted++ existed and that it was going in ++redacted++ thematic direction. However, when you think about it, Space Lobsters was indeed the only way forward from here.

The Combat Mission Modules involve the work from the whole Battlefront team, while the Battle Packs have been largely the efforts of the Beta Testers, creating additional content using the tools at their disposal within a specific game family. A Module’s scenario content is dictated by the forces newly introduced with that release for that time and region. However, this leaves problems if you want to ever go back and ‘fill in the gaps’ that weren’t possible before. Battle Packs provide us with a chance to do that, go back and create historical scenarios that didn’t align with the content in the Base Game release or the modules that came after. In Battle for Normandy’s case this meant we could create content relating to the engagements between the American Forces from the initial release and the German Forces that were added as part of the Commonwealth and then Market Garden Modules.

After some back and forth, Battlefront liked the proposal as it would focus on mostly infantry centric engagements, where previous Battle Packs had lent more towards armored and mechanised warfare. Don’t worry, there is still a fair share of tanks to play with. The pack however was very Allied side focused, so the final request was to try and balance it out a bit more in terms of providing some German centric content. This meant the two planned campaigns became three.

A final surprise was the announcement of the Pack’s development to the community then and there, right at the beginning and before anything major had been done inside the editor. This was counter to the usual Battlefront process, but this may map help explain why it seems this one took quite a while.

Some of the print media uses to help. After all these years, the Osprey series still serves as a great jumping off point for any projectMaps, Maps and More Maps
The first major task was to make maps. A lot of maps. The planned scenarios to cover meant most of the terrain between the beach and Carentan had to be created. I’m very thankful that the Combat Mission Beta crew stepped up to help recreate some very iconic locations. In total, Battle Pack 2 contains just under 75km2 of brand-new maps. In comparison (but not to diminish that earlier effort), Battle Pack 1: The Great Swan, was released with around 25 km2.
The maps were mostly completed across the first nine months of development using aerial photography and Allied BIGOT maps from 1944 as source material. Master Maps are now a mainstay of any Battlefront release and Battle Pack 2 is no exception. Most of these maps will be provided in full to allow players to create their own scenarios on the same terrain. Variants will also be provided to include versions with German fortifications as per their historical locations. When you open the Utah Beach map itself and look at the fortifications, please have pity on my poor mouse and keyboard – it took a full weekend just to place all those fortifications in line with their historical locations.

A lot of fortifications...Though we’ve kept the Battle Pack historical, the maps are provided to allow players to do their own experiments and ‘What If’s?’. I encourage players to tinker and maybe replace the Americans with their British equivalents to see how maybe they would have got on at Utah Beach? What would have happened if the US beach landings occurred where intended and ended up in front of a German strongpoint?

The mapping effort for Battle Pack 2Creating the Army
While maps were being created, I also started preparing “Master Unit Files” for each of the formations taking part in the region of conflict. Most Battalions from the 2/506th of the 101st Airborne, through to the 1/919 Infantry Regiment of the 91st Luftlande were created in the editor and tinkered with to try and recreate them as they were on the morning of 6th of June. This allowed the appropriate formations to be merged and imported into each scenario when the time came speeding up development at this midterm stage.
This was especially important for the Germans manning the beaches and inland areas as you had to try and get the weapon systems in place for each company and strong point as close to reality as you can in the Combat Mission 2 engine. We’ve had to make some adjustments, but I think we got pretty close with the tools on hand.

What’s In
When you buy the pack you’ll receive, 8 standalone scenarios, 3 campaigns (2x Allied, 1 x German) and 6 master maps (63.7 km squared), plus fortification and destruction variants for some. There are also some added goodies in the form of mod tagged textures to add some flavour to the scenarios. Uniforms with appropriate patches for the 4th Infantry Division and horizons reflecting the coastline locale.

Airborne forces cross Bridge #3 on Purple Heart LaneBased on tester feedback so far, the players are progressing through the new content and they don’t appear too hard but not too easy either. A common piece of feedback is reporting trouble because they don’t have the right tools for the job. You’ll find yourself multiple times trying to solve a tactical problem, but you just don’t have that heavy artillery or armoured company on hand to help you blast your way through like in other releases. This is partly where I wanted the challenge to really come from, so you are fighting under the same conditions (or as close as possible) to the invading forces in early June. A sense of vulnerability for your poor pixeltrüppen as they try to push forward in those first few days of the invasion.

Most of the Purple Heart Lane Master Map. The edge of Carentan can be see in the top centreThose Left Behind
Sadly, releases can’t cover everything. If they did, then project creep would quickly become a problem, and you would never get a release. The boundaries for this pack were from almost day 1 to follow the actions of the 4th Infantry Division on D-Day and the 101st Airborne Division through to the 13th of June 1944. The 13th of June could be considered the end of the beginning for the Normandy campaign in this area of operations once Carentan was secured and a linkup between the American beaches had been made. It felt like a natural end point to focus towards. There are a few outliers however to mix it up a bit further, but like everything, a line had to be drawn somewhere.
The focus with going towards Carentan, as mentioned above, was due to the availability of German formations introduced in the subsequent Modules to the Base Game. Going in other directions meant covering content that had already been undertaken in one way or another. A key aspect in the decision making, and maybe overlooked by some, is a knowledge that some Combat Mission community members had already completed extensive work on making scenarios focusing on the 82nd Airborne’s actions in this time period. There’s no need to tread over old ground. It may seem small, but the time taken for a stock release like this, and a community release are the same given we all use the same tools. Releasing something ‘over the top’ of the Community’s own efforts is never desirable – particularly when it was done well. Saying that, it was somewhat surprising to me at least that the actions leading towards Carentan had never been undertaken and completed by the Community over the past decade.

Some things were ideas but had to be dropped to keep the project manageable. Though they still would have fit with the narrative of the Pack, the following were left on the proverbial cutting room floor for various reasons:

• The fighting at the La Barquette Lock. This one was going to appear initially, but sadly other maps took up more time than expected and we could never get to it properly. Side note, I was working on a scenario and map for this very spot many moons ago when I had a hard drive failure and lost everything. Given the signs this time around I didn’t want to test fate.
  
• The actions of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment and Glider Infantry Regiment flanking Carentan from the north. The focus of the Carentan story is always on the causeway and the 502nd. Reading about this secondary attack I did have an inkling of including their exploits alongside the existing scenarios for that campaign. However, it would have meant an awful lot more mapping and time was marching on. There are several times the Glider Infantry do get to shine in this pack and based on tester feedback, they operate differently to their more popular paratrooper cousins.
  
• The 506th Parachute Infantry on the 7th of June and their advance towards Saint-Côme-du-Mont. There are quite a few small company level engagements to play out here including the lead up to the doomed retreat and surrender of the I./6 Fallschirmjäger Battalion. Sadly, it just would have made the existing Carentan campaign far too long, while adding the material to the D-Day campaign as an end point would have been anti-climactic. Elements of this do survive as a few of the standalone scenarios.
  
• Revisiting Taskforce Raff. The end of the D-Day campaign slots very neatly into the start of the Taskforce Raff campaign from the base game. I did think for a short while do we slot those missions in at the back for the full D-Day experience over the first 24 hours, but it was revisiting far too much and took the attention away from Sainte-Marie-du-Mont objective.
  
• Joining everything up into one super campaign for the zealous lot. It was just too big and impossible to manage both as a designer and for a player. But the idea was there for about a day or so.

I list the above because I’m hopeful the community one day decides to step in and help ‘fill in the gaps’ we haven’t managed to get around to with this release. Alternatively, I’d suggest head south and build scenarios about the fighting around St. Lo and Operation Cobra as there is plenty in that area that the game family is yet to reflect. Okay that last one is a bit selfish on my part as I really want to play that!

Finishing Up
As the testing and tweaking continues, as the typos are found and briefing graphics created, it’s clear that it’s been a long road. The first email sent to Battlefront officially with the proposal was in July 2021. After multiple years of a few hours here, a few hours there, followed by frenzied activity to get things done, the finish line is in sight.
I’m hopeful that Battle Pack 2 provides the Swansong for the Battle for Normandy family after more than 13 years of entertainment. Battle Pack 2 is scheduled for release on the 80th Anniversary of
D-Day, the 6th of June 2024. (Seems kind of fitting).
What’s next? Well, I never thought I’d say this, but I now need to go and research crustaceans, their order of battle and TOE from the 23rd Century. I do wander what has better armor penetration against modern battle tanks, blue lasers or red?

Chad Lennerts

Get ready to commemorate history in the most immersive way possible as we unveil the release date for the next DLC. Combat Mission Battle for Normandy - Battle Pack 2 will be out on June 6th, 2024 - the very anniversary of D-Day.

With Battle Pack 2, players will be transported back to the heroic actions of the 4th Infantry Division and the daring maneuvers of the 101st Airborne Division, experiencing the pivotal days of the Normandy campaign firsthand. From the intense battles of June 6th to the critical junctures leading up to June 13th, 1944, you'll navigate the challenges and victories that shaped the outcome of this historic conflict.

The 13th of June holds particular significance, marking the "end of the beginning" for the Normandy campaign in this sector, as Carentan is secured and a vital linkup between the American beaches is achieved.

Don't miss your chance to be a part of this epic journey. Combat Mission Battle for Normandy - Battle Pack 2 launches on June 6th, 2024. Victory awaits.

https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/2971350/Combat_Mission_Battle_for_Normandy__Battle_Pack_2/

Dear partecipants,

we wanted to take a moment to express our sincere gratitude to each and every one of you who participated in the Grand Tournament series. Your enthusiasm, skill, and sportsmanship have made this event truly special, and we hope you enjoyed the streams, videos and articles we made for these tournaments

You know, for every competion there must be a winner, and here are the final results of the Grand Tournaments on Battle for Normandy, Cold War and Red Thunder.

Based on your remarkable performances in the Grand Tournaments, we are thrilled to announce the participants drafted for the Grand Invitational. These players have demonstrated exceptional skill and will be competing in the next level of our tournament series on Combat Mission Shock Force 2.

• Cargol
  
• Tyrandar
  
• lawran
  
• sohzaz
  
• MeatEtr
  
• Jackal2100
  
• AtlasActual
  
• Fizou
  
• MHerm
  
• Andrew Kulin
  
• Dawntaker
  
• Artkin

For the first time in the history of our Combat Mission tournaments, players will fight for a coupon prize pool. The amount of money will be given based on your final placement:

• Top 1: $60 Coupon
  
• Top 2: $50 Coupon
  
• Top 3: $40 Coupon
  
• Top 4-8: $20 Coupon (each position)
  
• Top 9-12: $10 Coupon (each position)

The Invitational Grand Tournament will start on March the 5th at 10.00 GMT.

The tournament will feature 3 different scenarios with 40-days round length:

• Round 1 : Wadi Armor Clash
  
• Round 2 : Into the Valley
  
• Round 3 : Ambush Alley

For this event we have prepared a series of contents for you:

• Round 1 and round 3 will see Richard Yorke and XTRG fight each other in a 1 vs 1 on our Twitch channel to showcase the scenarios.
  
• For round 2, UsuallyHapless will create one of his cool videos.

Last but not least, a big shootout to George McEwan (George MC), one of the greatest scenarios designers that created a lot of new content from scratch.

Once again, thank you for making the Grand Tournament series a tremendous success. We look forward to seeing the drafted players showcase their skills in the Grand Invitational.

The final round of the Battle for Normandy Grand Tournament is approaching, and the scenario you are going to face is called "No Exit". It depicts a fictional Company-level meeting engagement near an Autobahn interchange in Summer ‘45.

Once again, "Usually Hapless" has created a video about the battle, offering tactical advices and explanations regarding the situation, terrain, ORBATs, capabilities, strengths, weaknesses and multiple courses of action for each side.

In you haven't noticed, we have extended the rounds 2 and 3 of the Grand Tournament by 10 days, to ensure that every player can fairly finish their match.

In case you missed, a couple of days ago we released a video about the third round of the Red Thunder Grand Tournament.

The Grand Tournament is coming to an end, good luck and have fun, soldiers.

The Grand Tournament[www.matrixgames.com] for Combat Mission keeps going, yesterday we also streamed Cold War[www.twitch.tv], where we featured the mission you'll face in the second round. As happened for the first round, today we will have another video full of tips and tricks for all of you that have registered to fight in the Battle for Normandy Tournament.

“Usually Hapless” showcases the scenario, “Barkman's Corner”, the battle is set on the 27th of July, Barkman’s Panther was repaired during the night but before he could link up with main unit, the PanzerGrenadiere asked for his help.

During the video you’ll see the scenario, situation, terrain, ORBATs, capabilities, strengths, weaknesses and multiple courses of action for each side.

Have fun and good luck for the tournament, soldiers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TaRPxN3m4g