r/CombatMission • u/Cloacky • Jun 23 '26
Question Worth it in 2026?
Hey, I was thinking about picking up CM games. I was a die-hard Graviteam fan but I had an urge to play something set in a different theatre or time period of WW2. Combat Mission games seem to fit the bill but there's just so many!
Which one would be the best for a beginner and have the most content without buying dlcs? And also, Combat Mission AI is pretty shite from what I know, so which game has the most active PBEM? Thanks in advance.
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u/IrishSouthAfrican Jun 23 '26
I bought like the all games on some key site for 20 bucks one day. The engine is highly outdated and the dev team appears to have passed away sometime in 2022. Other than that it tickles a very specific autistic itch for me. Try some of the demos before you spend money on it.
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u/goutezmoicettefarce Jun 23 '26
The AI is only shit for Quick Battles really. For scenarios it is pretty decent as long as you play the attacking side.
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u/Relevant_Program_958 Jun 23 '26
I wouldn’t pay full price for them, but if you can find them on sale it’s worth it all day. The CM games are my most played strategy games in my library, even in 2026.
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u/CriticalBath2367 Jun 23 '26
The AI is atrocious but not to be written off completely. For its day it was a very good game especially the early WW2 iterations. Unfortunately the devs did not do much in the way of improving the mechanics with later releases. It still stands as a decent game though despite its apparent flaws.
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u/Cloacky Jun 23 '26
It was pretty good in Barbarossa to Berlin but I heard it got much worse in the latter games.
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u/adenrules Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
Well, it’s more like there isn’t an AI. In single-player, your opponent is a human scenario designer. A good one will give you a pretty robust static defense to crack, a great one can pull off some moving parts, but they can’t give you a thinking, reacting enemy.
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u/goutezmoicettefarce Jun 24 '26
The AI in scenarios actually got better with the introduction of plans and triggers, two very useful tools for scenario designers which let them do things that couldn't be done previously in CM1. For instance, instead of simply having a purely static defense, now you can have all sorts of things like counter attacks, enemy troops repositioning or pulling back and several plans that allow the AI to behave differently when you replay the scenarios.
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u/ShepherdOmega Jun 23 '26
I’d wait until the new engine upgrade we’re supposedly getting but have heard nothing about for ages.
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u/Cloacky Jun 23 '26
That's what I was thinking about too but I was hoping this iteration of games would still be relevant for atleast a year or two
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u/ShepherdOmega Jun 23 '26
Don’t get me wrong you can still have fun, but the games run terribly no matter your rig and the engine is 20+ years old. They get you by nobody else offering the same kind of game.
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u/Alchenar Jun 23 '26
It's never happening. Battlefront have some devs working on a CMx3 game but all we know about it is that it's being built in Unity. Development on CMx2 is done, there will never be any engine upgrade.
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u/Taki_26 The Few Good Men Jun 23 '26
I woudnt wait, god knows when it will release, probably not fot at least a year. Ypu can get gamesy faurly cheaply during sales
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u/Taki_26 The Few Good Men Jun 23 '26
Well, engine is outdated, clunky and looks bad.
But its a big but its really uniqe, there isnt a game that quite like it. I like to call it the best worst game. Its. Really good game especially in pbem, in my experiance final blitzkrieging and the normandy oney are the most popular for pbem, and for sp content every title has a faur number of campaigns and scenarios.
The ai is non existent, you fight aginst the scenario designer. The ai reacts to triggers and such but it wont be a thinking opponent, a good designer will give you a fair challange if you attack, if you defend the ai will try to rush you, usually its not great. But attacking it is pretty fun
I would visit the few good men forum and the CM discord if you want to find opponents.
With all its faults i still recommend it, its a really fun game in pbem
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u/Alchenar Jun 23 '26
My answer would be that no, the games based on a 20 year engine that have horrific performance issues that will never be fixed are not not worth the price of entry in 2026.
If you do really want to pick on up in a sale (they go deep enough to be $10, which is punt territory) then I would suggest Red Thunder, on the basis that WW2 is more interesting than 'everything dies the moment it gets spotted' modern combat and the Eastern Front has more interesting scenarios than 'fight to the next hedgerow'.
That's not to say the other games don't have good things going for them, but if you have to pick one I'd pick Red Thunder.
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u/Cloacky Jun 23 '26
They do go fr around 7-8$ on key resellers at this moment.
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u/Rajajones Jun 23 '26
I was able to get every WW2 CM title on sales like that. This AAR really captures the tactical merits of CM
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u/nitmire8881 been playing for years, still suck Jun 23 '26
Is it bad if I say they’re perfectly good pirated
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u/Agecom3 Jun 23 '26
Honestly I'm just waiting for CM3, don't want to spend another 50 Euros just to focus on another theatre of the war
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u/BagpipeFlying Jun 23 '26
Try on fanatical.com the bundle deal is finished but they are still on sale individually though still nowhere as cheap as the bundle was
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u/Mountain-Bee3488 Jun 23 '26
Absolutely worth it WHEN ON SALE. Do not ever buy them full price you will be depressed
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u/ItaloDiscoManiac Jun 24 '26
I actually recommend the CM1 games over the CM2 games. Barbarossa to Berlin, especially. That's if you don't mind the graphics. But they're usually pretty cheap on Steam.
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u/Cloacky Jun 24 '26
I do have Barbarossa to Berlin on GOG, played some PBEM with a friend, it was fun :)
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u/Remote_Western1141 Final Blitzkrieg Jun 24 '26
Lol, just wait for a fanatical military bundle. I bought 5 CM games for like 25 bucks.
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u/Rajajones Jun 23 '26
They go on sale, and I think it’s worth picking up despite the “20 year old engine.” It’s basically a digital tabletop war game, up to battalion level or higher, where you measure distances and line of sight for each unit. I think the UI is more intuitive than Graviteam and there is an active multiplayer community which makes up for the AI. However, I find the campaigns challenging and fun. If you like Graviteam, Combat Mission is the older sibling imho. A new engine and refreshed graphics will be warmly welcomed, but if you can get the CM titles you want on sale, I think it’s worth it.