Games PC CLOSE COMBAT III-THE RUSSIAN FRONT User Manual

M

Draft for Beta2 10/6/98

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Document No. X04-03133-1298

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Close Combat III:

The Russian Front

Contents

iii

iv Quicksktart!
1 Chapter 1:

Gearing Up for Gameplay

1 The Game
2 Your Objective
2 Scenario T ypes
3 Rank and Promotions
3 Installing and Starting

the Game

3 Entering Boot Camp

(Optional)
3 Choosing a Scenario
4 Viewing Historical

Information (Optional)
5 Assembling Y our Forces
7 Getting Y our Briefing
7 Choosing Game Settings

(Optional)
9 Starting the Game
9 Choosing Additional

Options (Optional)

12 Chapter 2: Fighting Battles,

Operations, and Campaigns

12 Surveying the Battlefield
14 Deploying Units
15 Starting the Battle
15 Issuing Orders
18 Interpreting Order Dots
18 Using Your W eapons

Effectively
20 T aking Prisoners

and Rallying

Separated Soldiers

21 Viewing Battlefield Status
21 Ending a Battle
22 Checking the Status of

Your Soldiers

22 Winning and Losing: The

Debriefing Screen

24 Chapter 3:

Strategy and Tactics

24 Determining Y our Basic

Strategy
25 Managing Y our T eams
27 Using T errain to Your

Benefit
29 On the Attack
32 On the Defense
34 Using Cover and Protec-

tion
35 Checking Fields of Fire
35 Clearing Mines and

Passing Through

Minefields

36 Chapter 4: Unit Tactics

36 Using Command Teams
36 Using Infantry Teams
37 Using Other Teams as

Infantry
37 Using Rifle Teams
38 Using Engineer Teams
38 Using Snipers
38 Using Support Teams
42 Using Armor Teams
43 Conserving Ammunition

43 Attacking Crews in

Vehicles

44 Chapter 5:

Building Your Own Scenarios

44 Starting the Scenario

Editor
44 Choosing a Game
45 Choosing Maps
45 Adjusting Game Settings
48 Editing Map Elements
50 Selecting Forces
51 Saving and Playing

Custom Scenarios
51 Copying Custom Games

52 Chapter 6:

Multiplayer Games

52 T ypes of Connections
52 Using an Internet TCP/IP

Connection
53 Using an IPX Connection
53 Using a Modem Connec-

tion
53 Using a Serial Connec-

tion
53 Using the MSN Gaming

Zone
55 Communicating with

Your Opponent

56 Index

Keyboard and Mouse Input

(inside back cover)

iv

Quickstart!

1.

Install the game and click Play Close Combat.

2.

On the Main menu, click Play A Game.

3.

On the Command screen, click the scenario you want to play.

Click Next.

4.

On the Requisition screen, review the troops you are going to take
into battle, and then click Next again.

5.

On the combat screen, deploy
your troops: Click and drag each
unit to a new position. (Or keep
the default deployment.)

6.

If you want to issue starting orders to any
units, right-click a unit and then click the
order you want. (The Defend or Ambush
orders are in effect by default.)

7.

When you have your units in position and have issued any
orders you want, click Begin.

On to victory!

Chapter 1

Gearing Up for Gameplay

June, 1941.
A huge German army waits on that country’s border with Russia. An

even more immense Russian army stands by on the other side. Both are
about to enter a massive four-year war unparalleled in history. From
Finland to the Caucasus Mountains, over 5 million Germans will fight
against the Russians while more than 30 million Russians battle the
Germans. German casualties will exceed 3 million; Russian casualties,
including civilians, a staggering 43 million.

It will be a conflict of contrasts: of warfare on endless plains and in city
streets; of disciplined soldiers against untrained, unequipped conscripts;
of exhausting summer heat and brutal winters so cold that rifle bolts
shatter. Whole armies will panic and run; whole divisions will stand and
fight to the last man. It will also be a conflict of similarities. On each
side, brutal dictators terrorize civilians and order soldiers to fight to the
death. Neither will stop until the other is completely destroyed.

It will be the greatest and longest land battle ever fought, starting as a
conflagration rolling east toward Moscow, blazing along a 3,000-mile
front, and then rolling back to consume Berlin. It will be a fire in the east
that heralds a new world order.

The Game

Close Combat III: The Russian Front transports you to the squad-level
war in the eastern arena of World War II. Your men in the trenches
respond like real soldiers—they react authentically to the stress of
combat and are affected by their fatigue level, ability, physical and mental
condition, and other factors. The game adds a role-playing element by
making you the commander of a fire brigade—a special company of elite
troops moving among hot spots on the Eastern Front. You are responsible
for keeping your men alive and for advancing your own rank, which, in
turn, increases the size and quality of your forces. As the four years of
conflict pass and both German and Russian technology improves, you
can add new and better weapons to your arsenal.

Chapter 1: Gearing up for Gameplay 1

Mausar Kar 98

German Rifle Teams

(Schützen including ErsatzSchützen)
Rifle teams were the backbone of the

German army. Armed with bolt-action
rifles that were accurate and effective
at short to medium range, soldats
(infantrymen) fought their way across
Russia—on foot. These teams had some
antitank (AT) weapons: cluster bombs
early in the war; Panzerfäusts later on.

You are in control of the scope and complexity of your game. You can
start simple—with individual battles—and then progress to operations,
campaigns, and finally, to the game’s Grand Campaign. You can also
design custom scenarios for battles. For example, you can set up a battle
in which you are surrounded and outnumbered but have an advantage in
firepower and experience over your opponent.

2 Close Combat III: The Russian Front

Russian troops firing at German
planes near Leningrad. The soldier
in the foreground is firing a
Panfilov antitank rifle. A holdover
from World War I, its high
velocity, 14.5mm slug was unable
to penetrate most mid- to late­war tank armor.

Your Objective

Your objective is to win battles by inflicting casualties
and capturing victory locations—points of strategic
importance—without wasting your men. You use your
skills on the battlefield and your abilities as a strate­gist to attain this objective. For example, you can win
battles by being aggressive and using frontal or
flanking assaults to capture the enemy’s victory
locations. You can also win by infiltrating the
enemy’s positions and launching surprise attacks. Or,
you can take a defensive stance, successfully protect
your victory locations against the enemy, and then
counterattack your weakened foe.

Your choice of an offensive or a defensive battle has
implications for the teams you choose and how you deploy them. If you
plan on attacking, you need teams capable of movement (infantry teams)
and of providing suppression fire (machine gun, mortar, and gun teams).
You’ll need to deploy some of your teams so they can suppress your
opponent while the remainder attack enemy positions. For defensive
tactics, going heavy on firepower and light on mobility is the rule.
However, you might want some mobile forces for rapid movement to
danger points or for counterattacks. For further information on choosing
teams and deploying them effectively, see Chapter 3, “Strategy and
Tactics.”

“You can no longer retreat across
the Volga. There is only one road,
the road that leads forward.
Stalingrad will be saved by you, or
be wiped out with you.”

— Russian orders to the troops in
Stalingrad

Scenario Types

You can choose from three types of scenarios in Close Combat III: The
Russian Front: battles, operations, and campaigns. Battles involve only
one map; an operation is a series of battles played one after another. For
example, the Roads to Moscow operation consists of four battles: Panzers
in the Snow, The First Fortification Ring, Next Stop Moscow, and Battle
for the Kremlin.

A campaign takes place on an even greater scale: it is a series of opera­tions played one after another. The game’s Grand Campaign comprises all
the operations in the game, covering the four-year duration of the war on
the Russian Front.

When you play operations or campaigns, the results carry over from battle
to battle. For example, a team other than a command team that is wiped
out in the first battle of an operation will not be available in subsequent
battles of the operation. However, units that survive successive battles
become better soldiers because their experience and cohesion improves
with time.

Between each battle of an operation or campaign, you’ll need to make
decisions regarding the units that make up your fighting force. You can

add new units to your surviving force, refit surviving units with new
recruits and equipment, or choose to rest surviving units for refit in a
later battle.

Rank and Promotions

When you play campaigns, you receive promotions based how you
perform during battles. Promotions are valuable because they improve
the quality of commanders. As a commander improves, he can ef fectively
command a larger area of the battlefield. Also, each time you are pro­moted, you can add a new unit to your fighting force. For example, if you
are a first lieutenant and you’re promoted to the rank of captain, you are
allocated 14 teams instead of 13.

Higher rank carries a price, however; you are expected to maintain higher
force strength and gain more victory locations than a commander at a
lower rank.

Installing and Starting the Game

1 Insert the game CD into the CD-ROM drive. Setup will run

automatically .
If Setup does not start, run Setup.exe from the Windows directory on

the CD.

2 When the Setup screen appears, click Install Close Combat.
3 Double-click the Close Combat III: The Russian Front icon.
4 On the introductory screen, click Play Close Combat. The introduc-

tory video plays, and the Main screen appears.

Chapter 1: Gearing up for Gameplay 3

MP-40

German Scout Teams

Aufklärungs - Assault
German scout teams often served as

“eyes” for the Wehrmacht. Armed
primarily with submachine guns, they
were particularly effective in close­quarters fighting (house-to-house and
forests). Although scout teams had no
antitank (AT) weapons early in the war,
they had Panzerfäusts later on.

Entering Boot Camp (Optional)

To get you started commanding troops, Close Combat III
provides Boot Camp, an online tutorial for learning basic
battlefield skills. To start the tutorial, on the Main screen, click
Boot Camp (Training).

Choosing a Scenario

You choose the scenario you want to play using the Command
screen. Close Combat III has built-in battles, operations, and
campaigns that are based on actual World War II scenarios. Or
you can create custom scenarios (see Chapter 5), and then go
back to the Command screen to start your custom game. You
can also play saved games; you can start an operation one day,
save it, and then pick up where you left off at another time.

To bring up the Command screen

• On the Main screen, click Play a Game.

Although they do not present a full picture of the
fighting on the Russian Front, the casualty statistics
help define the totality and scale of the fighting. By
war’s end, the Russians mobilize nearly 35 million men
and women into military service. Total Russian military
casualties in the war probably exceed 28 million—
nearly 9 million killed, 15 million wounded, and over 4
million captured or missing. Civilian deaths probably
exceed 15 million, which means over 25 million Russian
soldiers and civilians died on the Russian Front. By
comparison, total American combat deaths in World
War II, in both the European and Pacific Theaters, were
less than 600,000.

4 Close Combat III: The Russian Front

A battery of Russian ZP39 85mm
anti-aircraft guns. Although
originally designed solely for the
anti-aircraft roll, the ZP39—like
its German counterpart, the FlaK
43 8.8cm AA gun—found much
favor on the front lines as an
antitank gun. Its high velocity
85mm rounds were devastating
against even the heaviest of
German armor.

To choose a scenario type

• In the upper-left corner of the Command screen,

in the Game Types list box, select the type of
scenario you want to play: Historical Battles,

Historical Operations, Historical Campaigns,
Custom Scenarios, or Saved Games. (Saved
Games is unavailable until you play a game and

save it.)

To browse the scenarios

The box in the left portion of the screen contains a
list showing the type of scenario you chose in the
previous step. Click one and a thumbnail of the map

you’ll be contesting appears in the lower-left portion
of the screen. If you’re playing an operation, the screen shows all maps
you’ll be fighting for. If you’re playing a campaign, the maps for the
campaign’s first operation appear. For a saved campaign, you see the
maps for the operation you are about to begin.

To view information about another scenario, click it in the list box.
For more detailed information about any scenario, click the Briefing

button on the toolbar. The briefing is fully explained in “Getting Your
Briefing” later in this chapter.

To choose sides

• On the right side of the Command screen, click the flag of the side

you want to play.

FG-42

German Heavy Assault Teams

Kampfstaffel
These German infantry teams carried

heavy weapons: the hand-held assault
versions of the MG-42, the FG-42,
cluster bombs (early war), and
Panzerfäusts (later war). They laid down
heavy fire effective at medium to long
range, but were slower than other
infantry because of the weight of their
heavy weapons.

You can set other gameplay options at this time, as described in “Choos­ing Game Settings” later in this chapter.

To load the scenario you want to play

In the list box of scenarios, double-click the one you want to play. Or, if it
is already selected, you can click Next to bring up the Requisition screen.
For operations and campaigns, enter a name for the scenario in the dialog
box that appears. Your game is automatically saved under this name after
each battle.

Viewing Historical Information (Optional)

If you are playing an operation or campaign, you can view historical
information about it:

1 On the toolbar, click History. The History screen appears.
2 In the map, right-click the operation you want to read about. (Opera-

tions appear as red dots and are labeled with white text.)

Assembling Your Forces

On the left side of the Requisition screen is the Force Pool list box, which
displays the teams you can requisition. The teams in your fighting force
appear on the right side, in the Active Roster list box. An asterisk denotes
that a team is equipped for winter conditions.

Chapter 1: Gearing up for Gameplay 5

In single battles and in the first battle of an operation, all team slots in the
Active Roster except for one are already filled. As an operation or
campaign progresses, you are given more team slots and requisition
points—the currency you use to “buy” teams. The number of slots
depends on your primary commander’s rank; the higher the commander’s
rank, the more teams you’re allowed (up to 15) and the higher the quality
of the teams available to you. When you’re playing campaigns, winning
operations advances the rank of your commander, which gives you more
team slots for the next battle.

You are given a fixed number of requisition points at the beginning of
each battle, and you receive more as the operation progresses. Your
requisition points are displayed in the lower-right corner of the Requisi­tion screen.

Viewing Different Types and Quality of Teams

You can choose the type of teams in your force. Close
Combat III includes command, infantry, armor, and
support teams:

• Command teams provide command and control on

the battlefield; they improve the performance of
teams within their command radius.

• Infantry teams are foot soldiers armed primarily

with rifles, submachine guns, and hand grenades.
Infantry teams can also have heavier weapons,
including machine guns, flamethrowers, and
antitank (AT) weapons.

• Armor teams consist of tanks, tank destroyers,

self-propelled guns, and armored cars.

• Support teams include halftracks, field guns,

mortars, machine guns, flamethrowers, and
AT weapons.

To display a different type of team

1 Click the Team Types list box. The available team types appear.
2 Click Command, Infantry, Armor, or Support. The teams of the

type you chose appear in the Force Pool box.

Flammenwerfer 42

German Flamethrowers

Flammenwerfer Units
German flamethrower teams were used

against strongpoints, infantry, and
vehicles. Flamethrowers were employed
effectively in ambush or with plenty of
infantry support. Unfortunately, these
weapons were nearly as dangerous to
their users as they were to the enemy.
They were also very heavy, limiting
mobility.

A German 8cm mortar team. This
photograph clearly shows how
these teams could become
fatigued when moving on foot. The
three basic components (tube,
base plate, and tripod) had a total
weight of 124 pounds—without
ammunition.

6 Close Combat III: The Russian Front

8cm Mortar

German Mortars

Granatenwerfer 5, 8 and 12cm mortars
The German Army used mortars as close

support artillery: to support infantry
attacks, break up enemy assaults, lay
smoke screens, and shell enemy mortar
and artillery units. The 5cm and 8cm
mortar teams were mobile, but the 12cm
mortar teams were hard to move. The
Germans had to use mortar ammunition
sparingly because of the shaky supply
situation on the Russian Front.

To display a different quality of team

You can choose the quality of the teams in your force; Close Combat III
includes conscript, regular, and elite units. Conscript units have poor
training and adequate weapons; elite teams have the best training and
finest weapons.

1 Click the Team Quality list box. The available quality options appear.
2 Click Conscripts, Regular, or Elite. The teams belonging to the

degree of quality you chose appears in the Force Pool box.

Getting Information on Units

You can get both basic and detailed information about the teams displayed
in the Force Pool list box. This information is displayed in the Unit
Description box below the Force Pool list box.

To see a unit description

• In the Force Pool list box, click a team.

To see details about and the current status of a team

• With the team selected, click the Details button.
Detailed information and current status appears in the box. You can go

back to the information you saw in the previous step by clicking Info. Or
you can view details on another team by clicking it in the Force Pool box.

To get the sound and name of each weapon in a team

After clicking Details, click the picture of a weapon in the right portion of
the box. Often, the most important difference between infantry teams is
the types of weapons they carry.

Moving Teams to the Active Roster

When you choose teams, you move them from the Force Pool to the
Active Roster. After you fill all the slots or use all your requisition points,
you can choose more teams only if you retire one from your active force.
When you’re playing an operation or campaign, you might not want to
use all of your available requisition points for each battle; you can
accumulate them to use in trouble spots later.

To add a team to your active roster

• In the Force Pool box, double-click the team you want to add. The unit

moves from the Force Pool box to the Active Force box.

To retire a team from your active force

• In the Active Roster box, select the team you want to retire and click

the Retire button. You can also double-click the team you want to
retire. The unit moves to the Force Pool box.

To cancel all of your selections

• On the toolbar, click Revert. The Force Pool and Active Roster return

to their original state.

Chapter 1: Gearing up for Gameplay 7

Getting Your Briefing

The briefing includes a short description of the terrain and your disposi­tion in the upcoming battle or operation. You can view your briefing any
time prior to actually deploying troops and fighting.

1 On the toolbar, click Briefing. The Briefing screen appears.
2 Click the Battle Briefing button to display the battle briefing text or

the Operation Briefing button to display the operation briefing text.

Choosing Game Settings (Optional)

The game settings currently in effect appear on the right side of the
Command screen. You can use the default settings, or you can customize
your game.

To bring up the Settings dialog box, click the Settings button, located in
the upper-right portion of the Command screen.

Choosing Player Name and Side

Your default player and online name is Commander, but you can change
this name to anything you choose:

Marshal Georgi Zhukov
(1896–1974)

“…the only person who feared no
one. He was not afraid of Stalin.”

— Marshal Semyon Timoshenko’s
assessment of Marshal Georgi Zhukov

Zhukov is considered by the Russian people,
and by most non-Russian military observers,
to be the greatest military hero of the “Great
Patriotic War.” Zhukov’s military skills are
matched by a knack for politics and public

relations, which keep him in Stalin’s good
graces for the duration of World War II. For most of the war, Zhukov is
Deputy Supreme Commander in Chief of the Red Army.

In October 1941 Zhukov replaces Stalin’s crony Voroshilov in an attempt
to hold Leningrad, which the Germans have placed under siege. After
Zhukov strengthens the city’s defenses and arranges a supply system
that eventually breaks the siege, he is named Commander in Chief of the
Western Front, the force protecting Moscow.

In 1942, Zhukov commands the defense of Stalingrad and helps plan and
direct the counteroffensive in which the entire German Sixth Army is
surrounded and forced to surrender.

After the Russian victory in the war’s greatest tank battle at Kursk,
Zhukov takes command of all the fronts facing the center of the
German lines in June 1944. He directs these fronts to the Russians’
great breakthrough—the collapse of Army Group Center in
Belorussia. After the fall of Warsaw the Russians drive across
Prussia, slowed only occasionally by supply problems, to the Battle of
Berlin. The battle ends with Zhukov accepting the German surrender.

Following the war, Zhukov is given a series of obscure assignments by
Stalin, who fears that Zhukov’s great popularity makes him a political
opponent. Stalin’s grudging recognition of Zhukov’s monumental
military skills probably spare the marshal the fate suffered by
millions of Stalin’s political opponents. After Stalin’s death in 1953,
Zhukov’s reputation is somewhat rehabilitated, but the ascent of his
old rival Nikita Khrushchev assures Zhukov’s permanent absence
from Russian military leadership.

8 Close Combat III: The Russian Front

1 In the Settings dialog box, click the Battle Settings tab.
2 Type the name you want to use.
3 To choose which side you want to play, click either Command the

Russians or Command the Germans. You can also pick a side on the
Command screen by clicking the flag of the side you want to play.

Panzerschreck

German Antitank (AT) Teams

The Panzerschreck (“Tank Terror”) was
an electrically fired, hand-held rocket
launcher used against tanks, vehicles,
and other targets. This weapon’s design
was not unique; in fact, the Germans
based the design on American bazookas
captured in North Africa. Its weight
(about 20 lbs) and length (nearly 65 in.)
made the Panzerschreck cumbersome;
however, it was very effective at ranges
up to 125 meters.

“The effect of climate in Russia is
to make things impassable in the
mud of spring and autumn,
unbearable in the heat of summer,
and impossible in the depths of
winter. Climate in Russia is a
series of natural disasters.”

— Staff officer, German 12th Army

Choosing End Battle Options

You can choose one of three ways for a battle to end using the Battle
Settings tab. Your choice is an important factor in determining what kind

of battle to fight and which teams to select, as explained in Chapter 3,
“Strategy and Tactics.”

Fight to the finish The fighting ends when one side is wiped out; this is the
default setting.

When time expires The fighting ends when the timer runs out. You can set
the timer for 1 to 99 minutes.

After taking all victory locations The fighting ends when you capture all the
victory locations on the map. A further option—hold them for two
minutes—ends the battle only if you can hold the captured victory
locations for two minutes. If the enemy recaptures a victory location
before the two minutes expire, you must continue playing.

Battles can also end by either side calling a truce or fleeing as explained
in Chapter 2, “Fighting Battles, Operations, and Campaigns.”

Choosing Difficulty Level

On the Difficulty tab in the Settings dialog box, use the slider to set your
side’s strength:

Recruit

Your side is given every advantage in strength, morale, and

supplies.

Veteran

The sides are balanced as they were historically .

Hero

Your side is initially at a disadvantage in strength and, in campaign

mode, has far fewer resources available.
When you play your first few games, you might want to set the difficulty

level to Recruit. As your skills improve, try the tougher settings.
Difficulty levels affect the number of daily requisition points you receive

during an operation or campaign (at harder levels, you’ll get fewer daily
points). Levels also handicap your score by making battles more difficult
to win and, in a campaign, making promotion points harder to gain. (For
more information on scoring and promotion points, see Chapter 2,
“Fighting Battles, Operations, and Campaigns.”)

Choosing Realism Options

You use the Realism tab in the Settings dialog box to set the degree to
which you want the game to emulate a real battlefield. You can choose
realism options for both your side and the enemy.

Always see the enemy Enemy units will always be visible. (Normally, Close
Combat III gives you a limited—but realistic—view of the battlefield.)
You can’t see units that are hiding unless you click this option.

Never act on initiative Your units never act on their own; they act only when
you give them orders.

Always have full enemy info You will receive summary information on the
enemy teams (toolbar information, not Soldier Monitor information.).

Always obey orders Y our units will do whatever you tell them to do.
The realism rating is determined by the number of checkboxes you have

selected. This rating affects your tournament score, which is used on the
MSN Gaming Zone. Scoring is explained at the end of Chapter 2, “Fight­ing Battles, Operations, and Campaigns.”

When you play your first few games, you might want to make the battle­field less realistic. For example, making enemy units always visible can
help you plan your strategy and hone your tactics. As you gain experi­ence, you can make your game more like a real battlefield.

Starting the Game

To start the game, on the Requisition screen, click Next.
The combat screen appears. To begin deployment and battle, see Chapter

2, “Fighting Operations, Battles, and Campaigns.”

Choosing Additional Options (Optional)

The default gameplay options are adequate for most players. However,
you can change them to give Close Combat III the look and feel you
want. Unlike the settings described earlier in this chapter, you can change
most game play options while you are playing a game.

Chapter 1: Gearing up for Gameplay 9

“Military thought in the capitalist
world has got into a blind alley.
The dashing “theories” about a
lightning war, or about small
select armies of technicians, or
about the air war which can
replace all other military
operations; all these theories
arise from the bourgeoisie’s
deathly fear of the proletarian
revolution. In its mechanical way,
the imperialist bourgeoisie
overrates equipment and under­rates man.”

— Pravda (the official Soviet Communist
Party newspaper), February 1939

Game play options include general options, team info bar and
soldier outline options, and language options. Performance options
help Close Combat III perform best with your hardware and your
level of experience.

To begin setting game options

• On the toolbar, click Options.

The Options dialog box appears. You can also bring up the
Options box by clicking Options in the lower-left corner of the
Combat screen, or by pressing F8 from any screen.

In a little less than three months (November 19,
1942 to February 2, 1943) the German Army
Group South suffers staggering losses. The
Russians destroy over 30 divisions; the
remaining 16 divisions have 50% to 75% of their
strength carved away. Total losses in the Don,
Volga, and Stalingrad region amount to 1.5 million
men, 3,500 tanks and self-propelled guns,
12,000 guns and mortars, and 3,000 planes.

10 Close Combat III: The Russian Front

Choosing Overall Game Play Options

You can choose from the following overall game play options by selecting
the checkboxes on the General tab in the Options dialog box:

• Music.

• Beginning- and end-of-operation videos.

• Game sounds, such as gunfire and soldiers’ voices.

Choosing Language Options

You can choose to hear the soldiers’ voices in English, German, or
Russian using the General tab in the Options dialog box. Hearing the
voices in German and Russian lends authenticity to the game; however, if
you don’t speak these languages, you won’t understand the audio mes­sages sent by your teams. (Combat messages on the screen appear in
English no matter what language you choose for the audio messages.)

Choosing Game Speed Options

You use the General tab in the Options dialog box to set game speed
options. Game speed affects how quickly the game progresses in real

time. If you set it to a slower speed, your men will
move slower, giving you more time to think about
your tactics. If you set it to a faster speed, action on
the screen will be faster. To improve game perfor­mance on slower computers, choose the Slow option.

A Russian crew hauls their AT gun
through the snow. Red Army
soldiers were used to such
hardships, although the Russians
became more and more mecha­nized as the war continued.

Choosing Screen Resolution Options

You use the General tab in the Options dialog box to
set screen resolution options. Close Combat III must
be played at a screen resolution of 800 ´ 600 or
higher.

The game automatically detects which resolutions
are available from your video hardware and drivers.
If you experience slow play, bring their resolution
down.

If you change the screen resolution, you must restart the game for the
change to take effect.

Choosing Scroll Speed Options

You use the General tab in the Options dialog box to set the game’s scroll
speed. The higher the scroll speed, the faster you can move around the
map (without using the inset map).

Choosing Specific Game Play Options

You can choose from the following specific game play options by select­ing the checkboxes on the Game Play tab in the Options dialog box:

• Whether trees appear on the combat screen. (If you have a slower

computer, remove trees for better performance.)

• Whether soldiers killed in action appear on the combat screen. (If you

have a slower computer, remove soldiers killed in action for better
performance.)

• Whether to display team data; team data shows the status of every

team in your fighting force.

• Whether to display the soldier monitor; the soldier monitor shows the

status of a team’s individual soldiers.

• Whether to display the inset map. The inset map is a small map

displayed in the combat screen to facilitate movement around the
battlefield.

Note You can move the soldier monitor and inset map by right-clicking
and then dragging to the screen location you want.

Choosing Team Information Bar Options

Team information bars appear (by default) just above each team in the
normal view; you won’t see them if you zoom in or out. These bars
provide quick and easy-to-understand information about your units. You
choose the type of information you want shown. For example, if you
select Show Experience, the experience level of your teams appears in
the team information bars.

Chapter 1: Gearing up for Gameplay 11

MG-42

German MG Teams

Schwer
The MG42 was perhaps the best machine

gun of World War II. With its high rate of
fire and interchangeable barrels, the
MG42 proved devastating against
infantry and light vehicles. One MG42
team in a well-protected position was
more than a match against enemy
infantry. This machine gun’s relatively
light weight (25 lbs) made German
machine gun teams more mobile than
their Russian counterparts.

You set these options using the list boxes on the Options dialog box’s
Game Play tab. If you don’t want team information bars displayed at all,
select Do Not Show.

Choosing Soldier Outline Options

You can use soldier outlines to provide quick and easy-to­understand information about the individual soldiers in your
fighting force. For example, you can select Show Ammo to
have the outlines show supply of ammunition. Soldier outlines
appear only in the normal and zoomed-in views.

You specify soldier outline options using the Game Play tab in
the Option dialog box, as explained in the previous section.

The horrific losses in the first year of the war forced
the Soviet Union to mobilize the entire population. As a
result, women served in virtually every capacity in
the Russian military. Women filled then-traditional
roles as secretaries and nurses; however, Russian
combat nurses often served in a front-line role
similar to the American medic. Entire units of
transport and combat pilots were composed of
women. In fact, several units of women pilots flew
biplanes in precision bombing missions—at night. In
most cases, the only concession to having women in
regular Russian units was the addition of a gynecolo­gist to the medical staff.

12 Close Combat III: The Russian Front

5.0cm PaK 40

German Antitank (AT) Guns

PaK 37-43, FlaK 43
All German AT guns had a higher rate of

fire than the equivalent caliber gun
mounted on a tank. German AT guns were
especially important early in the war,
when Russian T-34 and KV1 tanks were
far superior to German tanks in both
firepower and armor. The Germans tried
to position AT guns where they were
sufficiently protected (buildings or
bunkers), camouflaged, and supported
by infantry, machine gun, and mortar
teams.

Chapter 2

Fighting Battles, Operations, and
Campaigns

After you have chosen the scenario you want to play, reviewed your
troops, and set any options you want, you are ready to march into battle.
This chapter provides information on the mechanics of game play:
surveying the battlefield, deploying your units and issuing orders to them,
and using your weapons.

However, remember that playing Close Combat III: The Russian Front
involves more than just mechanics. To best use the material in this
chapter, study the corresponding sections in Chapters 3, “Tactics and
Strategy ,” and 4, “Unit Tactics.”

Surveying the Battlefield

When you click Next from the Requisition screen, the combat screen
appears. You are now ready to examine the map and deploy your troops.

You can zoom in or out of the map, as well as scroll to different areas of
the map. You might want to zoom out prior to deploying troops to see a
complete picture of the map and determine potential areas of strength and
weakness.

To zoom in or out

• On the toolbar, click the zoom-in button (magnifying glass with a plus

sign) or the zoom-out button (magnifying glass with a minus sign).

“In a race with death, which had
no trouble catching up with us and
was wrenching its victims out of
our ranks in great batches, the
army was increasingly pressed
into a narrow corner of hell.”

— Joachim Wieder, author of

Stalingrad

To scroll through the map

• Move the mouse to the right, left, top, or bottom edge of the screen.

You can also use the arrow keys to scroll.

To view and move the inset map

• By default, a thumbnail of the map appears in the lower-left portion of
the screen. To toggle the inset map on and off, click the Map button.
To move the inset map to another location on the combat screen, right­click and drag it.

To bring a new part of the map into the combat screen

• On the inset map, click the location you want to view.
The combat screen repositions to show that area.

Chapter 2: Fighting Battles, Operations, and Campaigns 13

Deployment Zones

Note that different parts of the map are shaded. The unshaded area is the
portion of the map that you’ll control at the beginning of the battle. You
can deploy anywhere in the unshaded portion. The dark gray areas are
enemy-controlled and the light gray areas are neutral territory. After you
click the Begin button, the shading disappears.

Buildings and Terrain

Some maps include buildings as well as natural terrain features such as
hills, ditches, and foliage. Multistory buildings are indicated by numerals
(2, 3, or 4) representing the number of floors in the building. Building
roofs disappear as friendly troops enter and control the structures.

When teams (other than AT guns) enter a multistory building, they
automatically move to the highest floor.

To view details of a terrain element

• Right-click and hold on the element. Information appears in the lower-

left portion of the screen.

Victory Locations

Victory locations are buildings or terrain elements of strategic and tactical
importance. If you are zoomed into the map, victory locations are desig­nated by the flag of the side that controls them; if you are zoomed out or
are viewing the inset map, crosses identify German victory
locations and stars identify the Russian ones. (If both sides
are currently engaged in battle for a particular victory
location, half of each flag is shown.) Your objective is to
capture the victory locations belonging to the other side and
replace their flag with yours, while protecting your own
victory locations.

Find the victory locations on the map: Note the position of
the enemy’s victory locations in relation to your deployment
zone. If the enemy’s victory locations are relatively far away
and you’re planning to attack rather than defend, you’ll want
teams with mobility and long- to medium-range firepower.
For a defensive strategy, concentrate on protecting your own
victory locations.

Check the terrain around the victory locations. If buildings
surround the victory locations, bring in your teams with
short-range firepower and high rates of fire. If a victory location is
surrounded by open terrain, you’ll need long- to medium-range firepower,
as well as good support positions.

By September 1942, Russian losses are staggering. Military
losses in killed and captured are at least 6 million, and
perhaps as high as 10 million. Civilian losses are nearly as
high; over 1 million civilians in Leningrad starve to death
during the winter of 1941–1942. The territory lost to the
Germans was the home to over 80 million people; millions
die, tens of millions are displaced by one side or the other.
The territory lost produced over 80 percent of Russian
sugar, 70 percent of its pig iron, nearly 60 percent of its
steel and mined coal, and roughly 40 percent of its
electrical power, grain, and cattle.

SdKfz 250/7

German Halftracks

SdKfz 250/251 variants
German halftracks played a number of

roles. When armed with machine guns,
halftracks proved devastating against
infantry. When armed with mortars or
Wurfrahmen (medium-range rockets),
halftracks were effective as mobile
artillery. However, the halftracks’
relatively thin armor made them
susceptible to small arms and machine
guns at short range.

14 Close Combat III: The Russian Front

Red Army infantrymen fight
amidst the rubble of a Russian
city. The soldier in the foreground
is using DP 1928 machine gun, a
French design from World War I.

For more information on taking and defending victory locations,
see Chapter 3, “Strategy and Tactics.”

Minefields

Red spheres on the map (when it is fully zoomed out) depict
minefields; when you clear a section of a minefield, those
spheres become green. For information about mines, see “Clear­ing Mines and Passing Through Minefields” in the next chapter.

Deploying Units

The computer initially deploys your troops for you. Although the
default deployment may be satisfactory, you’ll probably want to
change it to fit your own battle plan. When deploying your units,
consider your basic strategy (attacking or defending), the
position of the victory locations, the type of teams you selected,
and the terrain. For example, the deployment for the relatively
treeless Kursk battlefield should be different than that for an
urban battle such as Red Square. For information on developing
your strategy, see Chapter 3, “Strategy and Tactics.”

You can move any or all of your units during deployment by clicking and
dragging. You can also move groups by selecting two or more teams
(group select), and then clicking and dragging. Teams retain the same
positions relative to each other at their new locations, and teams that will
be off the map at their new location do not move. For more information,
see “To issue the same order to a group of teams (group select)” later in
this chapter.

SdKfz 232

German Armored Cars

Armored cars were even faster than
halftracks. German armored cars were
normally armed with machine guns, but
were no match for tanks. They were
used primarily for reconnaissance or
against infantry targets.

To check fields of fire

All weapons except mortars and rockets require a clear line of sight for an
effective field of fire. To check a team’s field of fire during deployment,
click the unit while pressing the ALT key and swing the target dot across
the area of the map you want to cover. Note where the line changes color;
where it turns red, something is obstructing your shot. For more informa­tion on line of sight and using your weapons, see “Using Your Weapons
Effectively” later in this chapter.

To move your units to a starting position

1 Click the unit you want to move.

If you want to move units as a group (group select), click and hold a
spot near one of the groups, and then drag a rectangle around the units
you want to group.

2 Drag the unit or units to the location you want.

You can position your troops only on the unshaded areas of the map.
If you attempt to drop units on a shaded portion, they snap back to
their previous position.

Chapter 2: Fighting Battles, Operations, and Campaigns 15

To issue an initial order

• Follow the procedure described in “Issuing Orders,” later in this

chapter.

You’ll issue most of your orders during battle, but you can issue one order
to each team during deployment. The units will begin carrying out their
initial order immediately after the battle starts.

With the exception of the Move order with multiple waypoints (for more
information, see “Establishing Waypoints”), you can issue only one order
per team prior to starting the battle. Issuing a second order or redeploying
the unit cancels the first order.

Starting the Battle

To start the battle, click Begin.
Note that enemy units might not be visible at first. Like conditions on a

real battlefield, your soldiers cannot see enemy teams hidden from view.
Your opponent becomes visible only when one of your teams sees them;
however, smoke and muzzle flashes from enemy fire may be visible
before the enemy team members are visible.

When playing your first few games, try selecting the Always see the
enemy option as described in the previous chapter. You’ll be able to see
all enemy troops on the map after your opponent has finished deployment.

Issuing Orders

You use a menu to issue any of three types of orders: those that initiate
movement (Sneak, Move, and Move Fast), those that require a target
(Fire and Smoke), and those that have your units dig in and fight or
prepare an ambush (Defend and Ambush).

Any order you issue remains in effect until your unit carries it out com­pletely. Note, however, that the team might reject the order if, for ex­ample, their morale is low or they are being fired upon.

Panzer 35(t)

German Light Tanks

Panzer Mark II, Panzer 35(t),
Panzer 38(t)

German light tanks were used in the
same manner as armored cars and
halftracks, especially when the Germans
recognized the superiority of the
Russian T-34 medium tank.

If you issue a new order before the first one is completed, the first order is
canceled and the new one is carried out.

Note that you issue orders to an entire team, not to individual soldiers.
Also, you cannot issue orders to a separated soldier.

To issue an order

1 Right-click any soldier in the team you want to issue an order to.

The orders menu appears.

2 On the menu, click the order you want.

If the order requires you to designate a position or target (Sneak,
Move, Move Fast, Fire, or Smoke), click the location on the combat
screen where you want the order to take place or end.