As General’s Eisenhower and Montgomery sat aboard the Presidential Yacht U.S.S. Sequoia, sketching out the plans for D–Day on a small mahogany deck table, the two men understood that the operation they contemplated would be the pivotal, deciding factor of the war against Nazi Germany. If they failed to gain a foothold on the Normandy peninsula secure enough to reinforce and re–supply at will, they would never break through to the interior of France and Hitler would have been free to have turned his entire attention eastward against the Russians. Indeed, the mere threat of an invasion had forced Hitler to garrison the west with some of his best troops and afforded the Russians the time and space to mount a credible counter–offensive.
It is fitting that the fifth installment in the Close Combat series should focus on the Normandy campaign and the follow on breakout operations because this release is proportionally as critical to the long–term viability of the Close Combat franchise as the operations it portrays were to the Allied cause. Partially due to the dramatically decreased shelf life of many games, and supplemented by rising development costs, many publishers have skewed heavily away from original development to recycle tried and true game engines across multiple titles. This approach has positive and negative points for publishers and players alike, but it is most illustrative to segregate them by who controls which aspect of the process.
Publisher’s control which games will be made. From their standpoint, the positive benefits of recycling and updating to create a sequel, versus designing a new title from scratch are reduced time to market, the ability to hit a core audience with some potential for repeat purchase instead of building a base from scratch, and the opportunity to create a widely recognizable brand or franchise. Players control which games will be bought, thereby validating or invalidating the publisher’s decision. From a player’s point of view, the biggest downside of sequels is that they often lack innovation. Sometimes more is better, sometimes it is just more. Fortunately for the publisher and player’s alike, Close Combat V: Invasion Normandy proves that the series still has some legs under it.
For Green recruits, some background is in order before we talk about the new features in this release. The Close Combat series is based on Company level combat with three platoons of up to five squads each on a side. This is the force strength for any given engagement, though either or both sides may be supplemented by off–map supporting arms like barrages, naval gunfire support and close air support. Players define the composition of the Company that will go into battle from a larger pool of units from the Battalion sized parent formation. Predominantly, these will be infantry groups supported by some portable mortars, machine gun or other heavy weapons units, and occasionally some armor.
During battles, players have real–time control of the posture of the units under their command, from movement to contact, rushing to an objective without returning fire if contact is made, assaulting an enemy position, defending a static position or setting up an ambush. Unit posture directly affects the enemy’s ability to detect friendly forces, so choose wisely in keeping the tactical situation one faces. On the defensive, friendly forces default to ambush status, which minimizes their exposure to enemy barrages and direct fire until detected at much closer range or when they open fire at the player’s command, whichever occurs first.
A simple color–coded line and targeting reticule graphically portrays line of site between the firing unit and the target as well as a range of probability that the shot will be effective. This mechanic makes it very easy to set up overlapping fields of fire during the unit deployment phase (most appropriate on the defensive), and to ascertain when it is best to issue an open fire order to a given unit. Novices need also be advised of something veteran players are already well aware of, units often act of their own violation just as in real combat. A veteran unit that sees an opportunity will often act upon it. Likewise, a green unit in its first engagement might freeze up when taking enemy fire and not respond to the player’s repeated commands to perform a given action. As the French say, C’est la vie, C’est la Geurre (such is life, such is war).
New Battle Group screens permit players to manage their forces between each engagement much more realistically, rotating heavily damaged units off the line and supplementing surviving forces with fresh troops from that group’s pool of units, for as long as the pool remains viable. This ensures that critical map squares like the beach heads will be fought over for numerous game turns as both sides pour resources into the fray instead of being decided in a single engagement between fifteen units on either side. A total victory, destroying all of the enemy units on a map, can force an opposing unit to disband at the end of the current turn, but it is much easier to accomplish this against enemy forces that are otherwise cut off from the rear, such as against the airborne units that preceded the main invasion force on the beaches, than it is against the beach landings themselves.
Another nice new feature is dynamic map tracking. Casualties are removed from the field between battles but battle damage, including shell craters, destruction inflicted on structures like bunkers and buildings, vehicle wrecks and so forth, remains on the field from turn to turn. This creates opportunities for players to tactically interact with the terrain in fresh new ways. Remember the climactic engagement in Saving Private Ryan where the Allied defenders lured a tank down and narrow street to destroy it and block access to the bridge they were trying to hold? Now players can do the same thing in the game by setting up ambushes to engage the enemy at narrow chokepoints on the map. There will be other ways around, but forcing the enemy to alter their battle plan to take those routes, where one presumes the player has also prepared some nasty surprises, can be decisive in a given engagement.
Eliminating enemy armor early should be a priority in every battle, as not every unit one fields can be effective in doing so, even at close range. Finding yourself powerless against one or more enemy tanks because your only anti–tank capable units are already dead is not an enviable position to be in. Off’map support is best used against massed groups of enemy units in close proximity to one another, such as the jammed conditions on the beaches of Normandy, and early in each scenario when enemy units are crammed into a deployment zone and have not yet begun to disperse and move to contact. For the latter tactic, just make sure one or more friendlies are far enough to the front to spot enemy troop concentrations once the battle begins. With the exception of long range weapons fire against enemy armor, direct fire is best withheld in many instances after the enemy is spotted until they close the range somewhat. Remember, ammo is limited. And when you have achieved a margin of victory on the defense, don’t be too quick to push forward into enemy positions via a counter attack in an attempt to wipe out their few remaining units, it might prove more costly than it is worth.
Close Combat V: Invasion Normandy features four full campaigns, seven extended operations (mini–campaigns) and 44 stand–alone scenarios. Read that as, "This war won’t be over in a weekend." Replay value is furthered even more by a wealth of multiplayer options and matching services provided on Mplayer and MSN Gaming Zone. New recruits and veterans alike will be pleased with this release and, more importantly, it does leave one still wanting more. Hey SSI, why not take Talonsoft’s lead via Rising Sun and move your franchise to the Pacific Theater of Operations for the next release? The Close Combat engine is perfect for portrayal of the island hopping campaign that defined ground operations in WestPac. I am dreading the long wade ashore at Tarawa — already.
"Close Combat V: Invasion Normandy takes you directly to the beaches to engage in battles for freedom. Truly, a worthy milsim contender..."
