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COMMAND OPS - BATTLE OF THE BULGE

Bootie

Bootie

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This game has been released by Matrix Games. Im not sure why but it costs $90.00. That seems excessive in my opinion!!

The most realistic simulation of WWII operational command ever created!
Matrix Games, Slitherine Strategies (www.slitherine.com) and Panther Games (www.panthergames.com) are very pleased to announce that Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge is now available! This new release brings wargamers the pinnacle of historical accuracy and realism in operational command on the subject of one of the most intense and important engagements of the Second World War. Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge is wrapped in a very playable and modern interface and includes an extremely capable AI opponent as well as editing tools to make your own maps, scenarios and units.

Be sure to check out the Google Earth Battlefield Tour and Game Concepts video as well to get an in depth look at the gameplay and historical context for Battles from the Bulge!

David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, said “Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge has been steadily building up anticipation since it was first announced and it’s no wonder since Panther Games has brought gamers two award winning widely acclaimed titles, Conquest of the Aegean and Highway to the Reich! Years in the making, meticulously researched and polished with attention given to every historical detail, Battles from the Bulge sets a new benchmark in WWII wargames and models the Battle of the Bulge to a level of accuracy we have never seen before!â€

Assess, Plan, Order and React – The Decisions are Yours!

Acclaimed developer Panther Games brings us to the bitter cold of Western Europe during the Winter of 1944 with Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge. Although the Battle of the Bulge is ground that has been visited by wargamers before, it has never been done with this level of fidelity and historical accuracy. The most advanced and realistic model of command decision-making implemented to date in a commercial wargame, combined with thorough historical research on the battlefields and forces involved in this campaign sets Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge apart from the competition.

Set during the hard fighting of the Battle of the Bulge, Command Ops lets gamers assess, plan, order and react at the operational level just like a real Corps, Division and Brigade commander. Hundreds of hours of gameplay await armchair generals who will be challenged to fight their way across 27 scenarios that stretch from the initial German surprise offensive to the powerful Allied counter-attack.

Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge also sports some of the most advanced and impressive AI ever devised in an operational-level wargame! It is your choice whether to manage every detail of your army, or have the friendly AI manage the war on a lower level while you plan the larger scale maneuvers designed to make short work of your enemy. Just as a historical commander, you can choose where you need to step in and when you need to stand back and let your subordinates do their jobs.

The enemy AI will use its skill to launch well-timed and coordinated strikes as it probes your lines for weakness while realistically reacting to your movements! In addition, for the enthusiastic mod community awaiting Command Ops, powerful tools like MapMaker and ScenMaker allow for the creation of maps and scenarios further adding to already near limitless replayability.
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They have lowered the price for both the boxed edition and the download version by $20 dollars. keep in mind that in my case this is early days with the demo but I am more then a little impressed with what I am seeing. Command opps BFTB appears to be something of a hybrid, a top down title such as the hexed based games but using pause-able variable speed Real time....no hexs. GRAPHICS WARNING....If your looking for high tech graphics such as those found in CMBN as a priority you won't find them in this game. Units are represented in game as counters with NATO symbols.Another draw back is no PBEM, Multiplayer in Command Opps is via TCP/IP.

IF there claims for the abilities of the AI prove to be accurate or even close to accurate ( a situationally aware non-scripted AI )this title COULD be the best game released to date in that regard. The player can micro manage to his hearts content or issue orders to his HQs at whatever level he choses from corp.level on down and stand bye to make whatever adjustments one needs to. The developers claim that the AI can do a " Reasonable" job of taking care of business which if accurate would be a first in my opinion.

A good number of videos covering game play and concepts are available on You Tube

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=command+opps+battles+from+the+bulge&aq=f
 
I had Highway to the Reich (covering Market Garden), which is the same engine, although the Mediterranean and now this Bulge game have seen significant improvements since the first game. I enjoyed Highway to the Reich, the system is different from any other wargame I have played. As 7thcav says, you can get down to small-scale micro management or allow the AI to make the low-level situational moves for you and you can just push large formations around. And then jump in when you want to start pushing the smaller formations around. There is masses of detail in the game, down to ammo and vehicles/weapons etc for each unit. And there is a lot of AI book-keeping going on.

The graphics are top-down wargame fayre, no frills. All the effort has been sunk into gameplay and realism. I thought about getting the bulge game, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I liked the engine, things can get tense as you try and hold out or push on in the last few turns. It might not be everyone's cup of tea. The AI is said to be one of the best around for a PC wargame. The price put me off initially, but if it has come down, I might see about buying it. Or I might wait until Christmas and see if it and the Med game go on sale as a bundle.
 
Price tag is beyond what I will pay for a secondary interest game platform, even though I love anything having to do with the Battle of the Bulge.
 
Decided to run a little test last night using the demo. I set up the attack and let the AI do its own thing just to see what would happen if the AI was left to its own devices. On my far left we have B coy. of the 51st armored infantry which runs into trouble and is stopped by the German 3 coy. 27th Fusiliers. B coy. then proceeds to pull back and reorganize , in the mean time the AI calls in a fire support mission against the Fusiliers position. Upon completion of the fire support mission B company reengages and drives the Fusiliers back threw the woods and across the river........and does so under AI control with no input from me. This type of thing SEEMS to be reasonably consistent. In the four times I played through the demo the opfor AI never reacted the same way twice,however the demo is a fairly small battle across a narrow front. How it handles a large engagement remains to be seen. Dug out the old credit card and spent the $60 dollars on the full game this morning.....couldn't help myself.
 
Day 2 of the full version of Command Ops "Battles from the bulge "

A bit surprised not to find a campaign !!...game consists of 27 scenarios ranging in length from "Skorzeny's bid for glory" at 1 day and 12 hours ( game time ) to "Spearhead v Reich" at 14 days and 7 hours. I have chosen to play the later which is a semi historical battle pitting the German 2ns SS Panzer Division " Das Reich" against the US 3rd Armored " Spearhead" Division. In addition having found that the scenario editor is fully capable of creating scenarios from the Normandy landings to the battle of the bulge ( have to create your own maps and oob's but the equipment is there ) I am playing a community created scenario covering Monty's operation Epsom along side it.

The friendly and opfor AI continues to be impressive which will make for exceptional re-playability.

Word of warning if you chose to try the demo......Be patient !!!! realistic time delays affect both you and the AI . It will take the AI a few minutes to create its plan of attack and transmit its orders to subordinate units and get things moving.

Another word of warning ....READ THE BLOODY MANUAL !! He/she who fails to read the manual will be well and truly SCREWED !!
 
I remember from Highway to the Reich that there was no campaign. You could play each scenario in a kind of linear fashion as they occurred historically, but no linked campaign.

I may just have to get this before Christmas...
 
The biggest problem I am having coming to grips with this title is an ingrained distrust of the friendly AI. Despite the fact that in my opinion this is the best AI I have seen to date the tendency to distrust it is still there. This title pays dividends to those that think ahead, not just the overall tactical plan but down to the current orders you issue. What I mean by that refers to my tendency to take ground in small bites rather then issue one attack order against an objective . If you watched the videos I posted the link to above you see Dave plot an attack across the bridge into the objective area. In my case playing as I do would have made a series of 2 or 3 sets of orders to accomplish that same thing. Where the problem comes in is when you factor the order delay and reorganization times in to things you find your formations sitting static against an opfor AI that is very good with his arty for way too long. What I am finding is that if I do take too big a bite of the proverbial apple and my lads bump into something they cant handle they break contact and pull back to a reasonably safe distance giving me time to adjust my orders.

Air support: You do have air support in game but what kind,how much and when is built into the scenario you are playing. The choice of targets is yours.

Time of day ( lighting ) and weather are dynamic affecting visibility and fatigue.
 
The second Patch - which has had a quite difficult birthing - should be out next week or so. It fixes many of the weird things we could see regarding the AI (check the Patch 2 Progress and Notes threads on Matrix Games forums). In some respects, it will feel as a completely different game.

At some point after releasing the patch, we should get a non-free but relatively cheap "battle pack" which ports over to the BftB engine HttR scenarios (we will have to pay for them).
 
The first expansion to Command Ops Battles from the Bulge has been released. http://www.matrixgames.com/store/421/Command.Ops:.Highway.to.the.Reich

This new expansion covers "Operation market Garden" and if I am not mistaken is a conversion of an earlier Panther games tittle to the new Command Opps engine. Command Opps is a great tittle with in my opinion (for what ever its worth) the best AI I have ever seen. However I do wish they had added PBEM playability to the multiplayer side of this title. Don't get me wrong the existing system which is RTS with realistic orders delay does work well but battles can take 3 to 4 hours or more to complete depending of course on size.
 
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