Combat Mission: Market Garden
Combat Mission: Market Garden is an expansion module to Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy that covers the Allied airborne and ground offensive into Holland in September 1944. The game can be played either in real time or by using a WEGO turn system that resolves players’ moves simultaneously.
Market Garden introduces new units that are unique to the battle, including Polish paratroopers, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine troops. Perfected over the last five years, the Combat Mission 2.0 game engine accurately re-creates the terrain of the Dutch battlefield and the intensity of World War II tactical combat.
Every imaginable factor is integrated into the gameplay, yet what takes Market Garden to the pinnacle of tactical wargame design is its artificial intelligence. Each unit reacts realistically to the stresses of combat, especially enemy fire. Thus to win, players must understand and use proper small unit tactics.
Combat Mission: Market Garden is a detailed and historically accurate wargame that superbly captures the drama of this daring campaign. It is highly recommended.
Flashpoint Campaigns: Red
Flashpoint Campaigns: Red depicts World War III in Europe as the Cold War turns hot in the late 1980s. Players command NATO or Soviet forces, maneuvering platoon- or company-sized units across a 2-D map with hexes representing 500 meters each.
While this grand tactical wargame has many classic aspects, it also features a WEGO system with turns of asymmetrical length. Unit orders for the opposing sides are executed simultaneously, but sometimes a player can “get inside the enemy’s decision cycle.” This makes for a dynamic battlefield where players must anticipate the reactions of their forces as well as those of the opponent and then plan accordingly.
The game’s air and land units use sophisticated sensors to find the enemy, and the ensuing combat is fast and deadly. To win, players must orchestrate their combined arms forces to move and fire in concert, thereby achieving fire superiority.
Gamers will enjoy playing Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm. It is an innovative, challenging and fun game that accurately captures the essence of the AirLand Battle era.
Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Jeffrey Paulding is a lifelong student of military history and science. He has been playing wargames since he was a child.
Originally published in the July 2014 issue of Armchair General.
