Command ops Battle for the Bulge

[Fetrik]

I never gave this game even a look because of the setting. Battle for the bulge might be my most detested scenario for a wargame.

A couple of years after release i see a video of the game and fall in love.
There was this game in the early nineties depicting the battle for Kharkov, i think. Could have been Kursk.
Anyway, you controlled the headquarters and gave them goals, it was up to the ai to implement them.
The game was severerly flawed and so on but when watching the video i saw what i have wished for ever since.
A game with a intellegent ai that implement your orders you give it. There are a ton of variables including options to skip rest, attack targets of opportunity and set start times....

Another thing that convinced me to buy was that there are a ton of scenarios during all the phases of that battle.

Sadly i haven't played it that much (recent buy) and due to often being too lazy to figure out a attack plan. But what i have played was absolutely fantastic.

Umm i guess i just wanted to add a game to the discussion that did manage to hide well below my radar.

[Lord Zimoa]

Thanks,

The game is indeed a hidden gem from Panther Games, as you have raised the question, some extra info for those interested:

Awards:

War-Historical Game of the Year 2010 Awards - Gold


Reviews:

• Armchair General - Review - Score 97%
• EuroGamer.dk - Review and a google translation - Score 9/10
• Sugarfreegamer - Review
• GamersHall.de - Review - Score 88/100 - Silver Award
• Out of Eight - Review - Score 8/8!
• CYBERSTRATEGE - Review - 8/10
• PCGAMER - Review - 84%

Command Ops: Highway to the Reich Coverage:

AAR/Review on Rock Paper Shotgun
7idgaming Review - 87%

Make sure you download the latest update that was released a few months ago:



A quick update to polish this operational hit before the release of its first expansion!

Matrix Games, Slitherine, and Panther Games are pleased to release the comprehensive 4.3.249 update for Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge.

The update comes only a few days before the release of the highly anticipated first expansion to the series, Command Ops: Highway to the Reich. The update includes several fixes and improvements like improved supply and some historical tweaks for scenarios.

About Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge

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.

Get the update here. The update is comprehensive and will bring all versions of Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge to 4.3.249. Get more information on Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge from its official product page.



And you might Consider the expansion: Command Ops: Highway to the Reich



Take to the skies over Europe and secure the Highway to the Reich in this new expansion.

Matrix Games, Slitherine, and Panther Games (www.panthergames.com) are thrilled to announce the latest addition to the award-winning Command Ops series, Command Ops: Highway to the Reich! This exciting expansion builds upon the award-winning Command Ops game engine, revered for its realism and modeling of command, to give players many new scenarios, much more modding ability, and even a mega scenario that can serve as a continuous mini-campaign!

Be sure to check out the brand new AAR at The Wargamer to see Command Ops: Highway to the Reich in action.


About Command Ops: Highway to the Reich

As the first official expansion pack for the award winning Command Ops series, Command Ops: Highway to the Reich from acclaimed developer Panther Games brings us to the setting of one of the most epic and controversial battles of World War II: Operation Market-Garden. The Highway to the Reich expansion pack is a set of 13 scenarios covering all of the major actions that took place during the Market Garden Campaign in Holland during September 1944.

The scenarios cover every major engagement along Hell’s Highway, from the surprise capture of Joe’s Bridge by the Irish Guards a week before the offensive to the final battles on “The Island” south of Arnhem. The dramatic parachute and glider landings of the US 82nd and 101st Airborne, The British 1st Airborne and the Polish Brigade are all represented on some of the largest maps ever created for the series and the largest “campaign” scenario in this system to date. More than just a conversion of the old scenarios to play on the new system, the Expansion Pack represents a major update of Panther Games ground breaking classic game Highway to the Reich, incorporating numerous corrections to Maps, Orders of Battle, Unit Compositions, Reinforcement Schedules, and overall game play.

Command Ops: Highway to the Reich is an expansion for Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge and requires the base game to play.

Get more information on Command Ops: Highway to the Reich from its official product page.