Changes: Combat Mission: Shock Force

Revision as of 17:33, 1 November 2019

256px-CMSF packshot low — Shock Force cover

Combat Mission: Shock Force was the first game in the series which used the new CMx2 engine. It was released in July 2007. It was the first Combat Mission game to be set in modern times, followed by Combat Mission: Black Sea in 2015.

General Information

The backstory of the game takes place in the summer of 2008. After a terrorist attack the Coalition forces, led by United States of America, invaded Syria in order to locate and punish those responsible. Task Force Thunder was given the most important task: to slice trough Syria with maximum speed in order to seal off pockets of resistance for other forces to mop up.

The game uses the new CMx2 engine which is technically better than before. It is able to render each soldier individually instead of abstracted units that Combat Mission-series used before. It also includes two campaigns (training campaign and Task Force Thunder) which the previous titles could not model. The outcome of some missions affect the following missions. Units also transfer between missions. A squad that has taken casualties carries them over to the next one. The game also has a real-time mode for the first time in the series, but playing WeGo is also possible. The base game also has 20 single scenarios.

The game has a distinct East vs. West feel to it. Syrian forces have old Soviet equipment like AK-47 rifles and T-72 tanks at their disposal. West is represented by the U.S. Army in the base game and uses equipment like M4 rifles and M1 Abrams tanks. There is an inherent unbalance between equipment quality, but it is usually balanced out by uneven amount of forces available. Unconventional forces are also represented in the game. Improvised explosive devices (IED) are also found in various scenarios and campaign missions. It is possible to play red vs. blue, red vs. red and blue vs. blue. Both sides have artillery support, but only the blue side has air support available. This represents the strategy in which West military gains the air superiority in the first days of war. Air support for Red side was added in NATO module however by popular request.

The game also has an in-built editor for scenario and campaign making. There are a lot of custom scenarios and campaigns available made by the Combat Mission-community. The most popular place to look for them is the repository at Battlefront.com website. The in-game editor permits the users to do everything that the developers themselves did on mission making. There are also mods available for the game also found on the repository. These mods include additional textures for the units and the enviroment in the game, different sounds and icons for the units.

Equipment

US Army

Branches:

Heavy Brigade Combat Team (HBCT): The U.S. Army's heaviest combat formation. Containing Abrams tanks and Bradley IFV's with mounted infantry companies. Significantly less infantry and infantry support systems, it has enormous firepower and strong armor to withstand the enemy. The main mission is breaking through enemy lines and mashing up any counter-attacks.

Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT): Medium force built around the Stryker vehicle family . Capable of handling the full spectrum of combat operations, best suited for missions that emphasize mobility over firepower and infantry over armor. Capable of standing up to even heavy force and defeating it. Utilizes the FBCB2 advanced command and control system.

Equipment:

Briefing for a scenario

Small arms

M4A1 Carbine
M4A1 Carbine w/M203 Grenade Launcher
M249 Squad Automatic Weapon
M240B Machine Gun w/Tripod
M110 sniper rifle
M107 sniper rifle
M136 AT-4 rocket launcher
Javelin Anti-Tank Missile System
M67 grenade

Stryker vehicles

Infantry Fighting Vehicles

Tanks

Gameplay — Giving orders to a platoon during the deployment phase.

Light Vehicles

U.S. Air Assets

AH-64D Longbow Apache
OH-58D Kiowa Warrior
F-16CJ Fighting Falcon
F-15E Strike Eagle
A-10 Thunderbolt II

U.S. Artillery Assets

Uncon fighters — Infantry is modeled in 1:1 scale

M777 Howitzer (155mm)
M109A6 Paladin (155mm)
M224 Light Mortar (60mm)
M252 Medium Mortar (81mm)
M120 Heavy Mortar (120mm)

Syrian Forces

Branches (Army):

Armor: Regular army has seven armored divisions and reserve army additional division. Qualitative step down from the Republican Guard unit.

Infantry: Usually reserve and militia units. Capable of defensive operations mostly. Worst of the units in quality.

Mech Infantry: Regular army has three mechanized divisions, the reserve army two motorized units. Qualitative step down from the Republican Guard unit.

Republican Guard: The most important force protecting the regime from internal and external threats. Consists of single oversized mechanized division that has the first pick on equipment and personnel. The training standards are higher and the leadership is promoted on merit rather than political favorism.

Special Forces: Considerable both in terms of numbers and capabilities. Training standard is high and the equipment best available. Seven independent SF regiments are spread all over Syria, tasked with protecting key areas from threats. 14th Special Forces Division consits of four other SF regiments and are more heavily equipped for operations in the Golan Heights. Rapid, flexible force capable of both offense and defense. Usually encountered in company sized forces.

Branches (Unconventional):

Combatant: Usually nothing more than armed civilians, these are people of Syria who have taken up the arms in order to fight the invaders.

Fighter: Trained foreign fighters, these are more formidable version of combatants. Usually they have an uniform to recognize them by.

Specialist: Specialists fighting for unconventional forces. Includes spies which report the movements of coalition forces to the uncon's. IED operators are also found in their ranks.

Equipment:

Small arms

PM pistol
AKM assault rifle
AKMS assault rifle
AK-74 assault rifle
AKS-74 assault rifle
AKS-74U personal defence weapon
AKS-74 assault rifle w/GP-25 grenade launcher
RPD light machine gun
RPK light machine gun
RPK-74 light machine gun
DShKM heavy machine gun
PK medium machine gun w/Tripod
PKM medium machine gun w/Tripod
NSV-12.7 heavy machine gun
SVD sniper rifle
RGD-5 hand grenade
RPG-7V1 rocket launcher
RPG-18 rocket launcher
RPG-29 rocket launcher
SPG-9 recoilless gun
AGS-17 Plamya automatic grenade launcher
AT-3B/C/D Sagger (9K11 Malyutka) anti-tank guided missile
AT-4A/C Spigot (9K111 Fagot) anti-tank guided missile
AT-7 Saxhorn (9K155 Metis) anti-tank guided missile
AT-13 Saxhorn-2 (9K115-2 Metis-M) anti-tank guided missile
AT-14 Spriggan (9K135 Kornet) anti-tank guided missile
Improvised explosive devices

Armored Personnel Carriers

Infantry Fighting Vehicles

Tanks

Light Vehicles

Syrian Artillery Assets

M-46 Field Gun (130mm)
D-30 Medium Howitzer (122mm)
2S1 M1974 Gvodzika (122mm)
Type 63 Rocket Artillery (107mm)
BM-21 Grad Rocket Artillery (122mm)
M1937 Medium Mortar (82mm)
M1943 Heavy Mortar (120mm)

Modules

Three modules were released for the game.

Base game with all the modules installed

Marines (September 2008)
British Forces (August 2009)
NATO (October 2010)

@@ Line 106: / Line 106: @@
 *AK-74 assault rifle
 *AKS-74 assault rifle
-*AKS-74U assault rifle
+*AKS-74U personal defence weapon
 *AKS-74 assault rifle w/GP-25 grenade launcher
 *RPD light machine gun