Games PC COMBAT MISSION II-BARBAROSSA TO BERLIN User Manual
COMBAT MISSION II
Game User Manual
PDF Addendum
Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
1
Safety Information
A very small percentage of people may experience a
seizure when exposed to certain visual images, including
flashing lights or patterns that may appear in video games.
Even people who have no history of seizures or epilepsy
may have an undiagnosed condition that can cause these
.photosensitive epileptic seizures. while watching video
games.
These seizures may have a variety of symptoms
including: lightheadedness, altered vision, eye or face
twitching, jerking or shaking of arms or legs,
disorientation, confusion, or momentary loss of awareness.
Seizures may also cause loss of consciousness or
convulsions that can lead to injury from falling down or
striking nearby objects.
Immediately stop playing and consult a doctor if
you experience any of these symptoms. Parents should
watch for or ask their children about the above
symptoms.children and teenagers are more likely than
adults to experience these seizures.
The risk of photosensitive epileptic seizures may be
reduced by sitting farther from the television screen, using
a smaller television screen, playing in a well-lit room, and
not playing when you are drowsy or fatigued.
If you or any of your relatives have a history of seizures
or epilepsy, consult a doctor before playing.
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Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
Table of Content
Please note that parts of this manual are
contained on the CD in PDF format.
THE BASICS 3
HE INTERFACE 11
T
HE MISSION 26
T
HE ENVIRONMENT PDF 4
T
HE COMBAT 41
T
HE MEN AND MACHINES PDF 24
T
HE COMMAND 64
T
HE EDITOR PDF 63
T
HE CHALLENGE PDF 89
T
HE BEGINNERS TUTORIAL PDF 108
T
HE ADVANCED TUTORIAL PDF 123
T
HE OSTFRONT PDF 128
T
PPENDIX A HOTKEYS 73
A
PPENDIX B - ORDERS 76
A
PPENDIX C - TROUBLESHOOTING PDF 142
A
PPENDIX D - INDEX PDF 152
A
REDITS 83
C
UPPORT 86
S
Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
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The Environment
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.
General von Greiffenburg, Chief of Staff 12th Army
(War on the Eastern Front, the German Soldier in Russia 1941-
1945, James Lucas, pg 78)
The Environment
Many things can influence the outcome of wars, but
among these the environment where a battle takes place
be it the weather, the lay of the land, the ground conditions
and even the time of day is generally regarded as the
most influential in a military sense. The beginning of the
mud season, the near standstill of combat in the winter,
the unreliability of equipment in the hot summer months in
the steppe were all deciding factors in the outcome of the
struggle on the Eastern Front, at both the strategic and
tactical levels.
Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin simulates many
different environmental conditions, from the seasons to the
time of day, to the weather, temperature and ground
conditions. Each mix can be a unique challenge. From
fighting in a foggy night in deep snow, to struggling
through deep mud on a rainy day in spring, to sweating in
extreme heat on the steppe the possibility for scenario
designers and armchair generals are manifold. The
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The Environment
following chapter explains the various settings and their
effect on gameplay.
Terrain
There are many different terrain types in the game.
Each one has an impact on lines of sight, cover,
concealment, and movement. What you need to
understand to play the game is that what you see in the
game is merely a visual representation of the underlying
mathematical 3D battlefield and some abstractions are
necessary to keep the game (dis)playable.
Trees are one such abstraction. Although you see
individual trees on the map, their actual placement plays
no role for the game as such, as can be seen by the fact
that tree density can be toggled by the user to fit hardware
performance ability. What counts is the woods terrain
tile, as seen by the different kind of ground beneath and
around trees. Same applies to for example - brush
terrain, and graveyards.
Open ground, although seemingly empty, is not.
Bushes, small dips, high grass and other random features
are all taken into account, and so the LOS cannot be traced
endlessly even across open ground. More importantly,
weapons accuracy decreases dynamically with range, not
only because it is harder to hit something farther away, but
also because it is harder to see the target at all.
The LOS tool is a very useful aid to understand the
terrain on the map better, as it shows what kind of terrain
is used for the in-game calculations. You can pinpoint the
exact end of woods, the exact corner of a building, the
exact point where a wall or hedge starts, etc. Most of the
time such things are clear from looking at the map (and
your judgement will become better with playing
experience), but when in doubt, the LOS tool provides the
answer.
Terrain also changes with the different seasons. For
example, depending on the scenarios time and date trees
can be dense and thick (summer) or leafless (winter).
Grain fields also change dramatically with the seasons and
Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
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The Environment
weather. This has a direct impact on the concealment and
cover provided by such terrain.
Buildings
There are various types of buildings
in the game: wooden shacks
(considered extremely light buildings), small farm houses
(light and heavy), a tall light building (2 levels), a big
blockhouse (2 levels, heavy), a church (basically a special
type of the big blockhouse, i.e. 2-level heavy building), and
large factory complexes (considered 2-level heavy
buildings). Buildings have an impact on concealment and
cover, with heavy buildings being more protective than
light ones. Light buildings also tend to be reduced to rubble
much more quickly than heavy buildings, with a few high-
explosive rounds of 75mm caliber or higher being enough
to achieve this (one such round is often enough to destroy
a wooden shack). Any unit inside a 2-level building which
collapses will usually suffer serious casualties.
Lines of sight can be a bit tricky around buildings at
first, but most answers are easy when you think about it.
In order to be able to look outside of a building without
restrictions, a unit needs to be within a few meters of the
outside wall (i.e. to peer through windows or other
openings). If it is further away than about 5 meters, it can
still see a few meters into or out of the house, but not far
beyond that.
When a building or a unit in a building is fired at,
regardless if it is direct fire or indirect fire (from mortars
for example), most of the fire hits the outer walls of the
building. Units hiding within can still be hurt by the blast
from flying stones, glass, shrapnel or even just the blast.
However, some rounds can also make it into the building
and explode within, e.g. through holes in the outer walls or
roof, blasted doors or windows. Such shots can cause
severe damage. There is even a very small chance that a
round can make it into and THROUGH a building, exploding
on the other side!
The interiors of buildings are abstracted and included
into combat resolution calculations. Although you can trace
an LOS within a building without restrictions (though with
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Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
The Environment
limited range) the chance of enemy units hiding within the
same building and remaining unspotted is relatively high
(imagine them hiding in another room), but drops
dramatically the more time your units spend inside.
There are also two different height levels for buildings.
Level one, the ground level, simulates houses that are one
to two stories high. Level two simulates houses three to
four stories high. These are the only available levels for
Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin. You cannot place
units in church towers.
One thing to keep in mind with buildings is that they
are a confined space and can contain only so many soldiers
at a time. The general rule of thumb is one squad per
corner of a building. But if you try to put a whole platoon
into a small farmhouse, dont be surprised to find that one
squad has to leave and wait outside.
Watch out when you want to fire weapons with
backblast (like bazookas and Panzerfausts) within buildings
- this often suppresses the firing unit and there is a good
risk that the building will catch fire from the backblast.
Vehicles and guns are not allowed to enter buildings.
Mortars can enter a building, but cannot fire from it.
Building Damage
Buildings and bridges display damaged or heavily
damaged labels according to how much damage they have
received, and the Warning Labels option is on.
Additionally, theyre listed with a * attached, like light
building*, or a ** for heavy damage. The building will
begin to show damage visually after 40% of the structure
is damaged.
Rubble
These are the leftovers after a
building has collapsed. Vehicles may not
enter rubble. It provides excellent cover and concealment
for infantry. LOS is heavily restricted across rubble, but
only to a certain height (which is naturally much lower
than the building previously was). There are two forms of
rubble in the game rubble as it originates from a
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The Environment
collapsed building, with parts of exterior walls still
standing, and flat rubble, which can simulate debris piled
up on roads for example. The difference is visual only, as
both types of rubble behave the same and cannot be, for
example, entered or crossed by vehicles.
Scattered Trees
These are single trees with little or
no brush, standing in loose groups
together or along a road. Orchards fall
into this terrain type as well. They provide only light cover
and concealment, but are certainly better than open
ground. Do not expect miracles, especially in winter when
even a single squad has trouble hiding in scattered trees.
Note: Scattered trees can also be used to simulate narrow
paths in forests, allowing tanks and other vehicles to pass at a
slow rate and considerable risk of bogging down.
Woods
This is the usual woods terrain,
which includes mixed types of trees,
and fairly thick underbrush and bushes.
Woods provide good cover and concealment. No vehicles
are allowed to enter woods in Combat Mission: Barbarossa
to Berlin.
Tall Pines
Tall pines represents dense woods
terrain, but with only little underbrush
and bushes, and provide cover and concealment similar to
Woods, except that the pines are taller and so are more
likely to block elevated lines of sight from tall buildings or
hilltops. Movement through tall pines is faster than through
woods, and LOS can be traced further due to less
underbrush.
Hedges
This is the common type of hedge
and is about one meter high, planted or
naturally grown, and is passable for tracked vehicles and
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Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
The Environment
infantry (with some impact on speed, however). It provides
decent concealment for prone units, but little cover.
Stone Wall
A man-made stone wall, about 1 meter high, and thick
enough to block even a direct hit from a tank main round.
Walls are passable for tracked vehicles and infantry, albeit
at a lower speed. Vehicles behind stone walls can achieve
hull-down status, unless the enemy is on a higher
elevation. Stone walls provide good cover and
concealment, especially for prone units
behind it, but not when the attacker is
at a higher elevation or attacking from
the sides or rear.
Wooden fence
A man-made fence, usually to separate fields, but also
very often found in Russian villages around each house.
This is only a small obstacle to vehicles and infantry, and
can be crossed by all unit types with a small delay. It
provides nearly no cover and very little concealment.
Brush
Brush can be used to simulate
several things types of terrain such as
bushes, wild fields or low trees. It provides good
concealment and restricts LOS, but offers little cover. It
tends to catch and spread fire quickly.
Grain Fields
Grain fields are just that. The
concealment and cover they provide
vary with the seasons. Basically
considered open ground in winter with not much to hide
behind, they can provide decent concealment in summer
and less so in fall or spring. Cover, however, is almost
nonexistent. Grain fields also increase the chance of
vehicles bogging down in them, even with otherwise dry
ground conditions. This type of terrain tends to catch and
spread fire quickly.
Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
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The Environment
Marsh
Marsh is swampy open ground,
providing little more cover than some
bushes and grass. It is difficult to walk
on even for infantry, and cannot be entered or crossed by
vehicles or heavy support weapons of any type.
Soft ground
This can be a muddy field, a shallow marsh or a small
stream, and although passable to all units, dramatically
increases the danger of vehicles bogging down as well as
slows down all movement. It provides no extra cover or
concealment.
Rough
Rough represents heavily broken or rocky terrain,
impossible for vehicles to cross and
accessible only by infantry. It provides
good cover and concealment.
Rocky
Similar to rough terrain but more easily passable -
with usually a number of large rocks or debris to provide
decent cover and concealment, but also enough open space
for vehicles to pass through.
Roads
Roads come as two types: dirt and
paved. Dirt roads are the main type of
road encountered in Eastern Europe outside of the big
cities. There is no cover or concealment on a road, but
movement is fast.
Paved roads have gravel or hard concrete surfaces and
are relatively easy to drive on even during muddy ground
conditions or snow. However, besides some few main
highways and city streets, paved roads are not
encountered very often on the Eastern Front.
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Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
The Environment
Bridges
There are three types of bridges -
wooden bridges, often encountered
across small streams or creeks and two
elevations high; stone bridges, spanning small rivers at two
elevations high; and tall stone bridges, across major rivers
or valleys, four elevation levels in height which allow
vehicles and troops to pass under them.
Railroad Tracks
These offer little concealment and
almost no cover, and troops do not gain
much speed advantage on them (in fact, wheeled vehicles
are slowed down, and chances of bogging increase due to
the rough surface).
Water
Water tiles are used to simulate rivers or lakes, and
cannot be entered by any units except infantry embarked
in assault boats. Regardless if there is
snow on the ground or not, when
temperature is set to freezing and
below, water becomes frozen - vehicles
and guns are not allowed to enter, but
infantry is able to cross ice.
Fords
CMBB features two types of fords, which allow crossing
rivers on foot or with vehicles. Shallow fords can be
crossed (slowly) by all units, although the chances for
bogging down are high especially for non-tracked
vehicles. Deep fords can only be used by infantry units.
Slopes
These are inclines steep enough to
prohibit vehicular travel. Infantry can
still climb them, albeit slowly.
Cliffs
No unit is allowed to traverse a cliff.
Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
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The Environment
Steppe
This is a special type of terrain, found mainly in
Southern Russia. It consists of waist-high grass which
provides excellent concealment for hiding infantry, but very
little cover. The random map generator in Quick Battles and
the editor will use Steppe as the default terrain type for
all southern maps with rural and flat or gentle slopes
settings (see Editor). Of course Steppe terrain can also
be used to simulate high grass on any map.
Fortifications
Fortifications (bunkers, pillboxes, wire, and mines) are
available only for the defender, and never in meeting
engagement scenarios. They are granted to a side by the
scenario designer or can (and in the case of Assault type
battles MUST) be bought for Quick Battles. During the
Setup Phase of a battle, you are free to move and place
them within the constraints of the setup zones, but they
cannot be moved during the battle itself.
All forms of fortifications (including mines) may be
placed only within a valid setup zone. A minefield is 20m x
20m in size (except for daisy-chain mines, which represent
hasty laid mines not dug into the earth, and which are
slightly smaller than 20m in diameter), with the mine
marker placed in its center. The defender can place
minefields next to each other, thereby creating larger
minefields, but for game purposes CM treats these as
separate 20m x 20m elements. Once a minefield has been
spotted, the TacAI will try to move units around it during
the Action Phase, or simply refuse to enter minefields and
stop a distance away from them. You can not force units to
enter minefields, as the movement line will turn red trying
to do so, until these have been cleared by engineers using
demo charges.
Fortified Firing Positions
Bunkers and pillboxes have a firing arc inside which
they can engage targets through a frontal firing slit.
Outside of this arc, they are basically impotent. The rear of
a bunker or pillbox is its weak point - since this is where
the exit doors are located - and can be penetrated even by
light ordnance. From close range, however, a bunker/
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Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
The Environment
pillbox is always vulnerable to infantry, which can throw
grenades through firing ports. Flamethrowers are especially
useful for knocking out bunkers/pillboxes, as well as
grenade bundles, demo charges and molotov cocktails.
Additionally, ordnance can occasionally score a lucky hit to
a pillboxs frontal firing slit, possibly knocking out the
pillbox in the process. But this is generally only possible at
close range (within a few hundred meters).
Note: AT gun Pillboxes receive an accuracy bonus, vs. a
normal AT gun, because such fortifications have already
ranged in the area within their firing arc. Range
determination is one of the greatest contributors to aiming
accuracy, so predetermined and reliable range information
greatly increases accuracy (all else being equal).
Barbed Wire & Roadblocks
Wire can be crossed by infantry or
fully-tracked vehicles, but only at a
much slower pace. Roadblocks can be
crossed by infantry (at a slower pace) but are impassable
to vehicles. Roadblocks and wire cannot be placed on water
and marsh terrain, as well as not inside buildings. There
must be sufficient space to place wire and roadblocks, so
when two houses are too close together it might be not
possible to do so (or you will have to rotate the wire or
roadblock marker to fit in between).
Trenches and foxholes
Each defending infantry unit in an
eligible location (i.e. not on paved
surfaces, in marsh or water or other
unsuitable terrain) can dig in at the beginning of a battle,
creating a foxhole underneath. The foxhole remains on the
map for the duration of the battle (or operation), and can
be used by other units (including the enemy) to gain its
defensive benefits (mainly cover). Digging in occurs
automatically but the player can toggle it on or off with the
Dig In command.
Also, depending on the parameters of a battle or
operation, the defending player can create additional
fallback positions using the ALT-F hotkeys during the setup
phase of a battle. These additional foxholes can be created
Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
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The Environment
anywhere within a valid setup zone on the map by left-
clicking on the map while in ALT-F mode, and the number
of available foxholes is equal to the number of non-heavy
infantry units on the map. Left-clicking on an already
existing foxhole makes it disappear and return to the
foxhole pool. Hitting ALT-F again exits the foxhole
placement mode.
Note that in Quick Battles which are Meeting Engagements or
Probes, neither side is allowed to dig foxholes. And Assaults
are the only Quick Battles in which the defender may dig fall-
back foxholes.
In regular scenarios, neither side may dig in during
Meeting Engagements. Otherwise, the ability of the
defender to dig in is determined by the scenario author.
Trenches are similar to foxholes except they are much
larger and provide considerably more cover and
concealment for their occupants. Further, they may be
placed and rotated during the setup phase like any other
unit. In addition, they can be used by infantry to move
from one location to another while staying inside the
trench, thereby benefiting from its defensive bonus on the
way. In fact, it is possible to place a whole trench system
on the map by simply linking trenches together (placing
them adjacent to one another). Trenches can be rotated
like any other unit in any direction desired. Trenches
cannot be placed on unsuitable terrain (marsh, water, fords
and in buildings), and remain on the map for the duration
of the battle (or operation).
Only fully-tracked vehicles are allowed to enter or cross
trenches, but do so very slowly and at great risk of
bogging.
Mines
There are three types of mines in the game.
Antipersonnel Mines
Lethal to infantry and can cause several casualties
within seconds when stumbled upon. Casualties are higher
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Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
The Environment
for infantry units moving quickly through a mined area
than when crawling or moving slowly. Once spotted, a mine
marker appears in the area. Infantry will refuse to enter
such a minefield even when ordered to. They may,
however, enter it when in panic or rout. Since mines are
dug into the earth, they cannot be placed on paved
surfaces or in buildings, in water or marsh or rough terrain.
Sneak (crawl) is always less likely to set off a mine.
Mines are also much less likely to go off if theyre
*known* (i.e. one already went off, and your men are now
assumed to be paying more attention and doing things like
moving in a single line (or a couple of lines) to minimize
further explosions).
So the least mine explosions happen in a known
minefield to crawling units.
Note: Dug in mines are never spotted unless one actually
explodes!
Antitank Mines
Dangerous to tanks and all vehicles, and although not
always lethal, can at least immobilize them. Antitank mines
are harmless to infantry because infantry is not heavy
enough to detonate them. Since mines are dug into the
earth, they cannot be placed on paved surfaces or in
buildings, in water or marsh or rough terrain.
Daisy-Chain Mines
Hastily-placed anti-vehicle mines that are easily spotted
by the enemy because they are above ground. They do not
generally cause direct harm, but rather deny the enemy
certain approaches, generally across road surfaces. Their
real life advantage is that they can be placed MUCH faster
than normal minefields and hence were used often in hasty
retreats. Daisy-Chain Mines cannot be placed on water or
marsh, and not in buildings.
Clearing Mines
Engineers and Pioneers with demolition charges are
able to clear gaps through minefields. Simply move them
within 25 meters of the minefield and wait. It takes a few
Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
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The Environment
minutes (turns) to clear a gap through the mines. You can
of course also target the minefield marker manually.
Additionally, engineers can clear Daisy-chain mines
without the use of demolition charges. The number of
engineers and their experience affect their speed in
clearing mines. Generally a near full squad is needed to
accomplish clearing a particular mined area.
Minefields can be reduced or eliminated by shellfire
(though this will not be explicitly shown - you just have to
judge roughly by how many craters you see, and hope).
Weather
It is common military knowledge that weather can in
fact dictate the outcome of wars. The German progress (or
lack of it in the winter) during Operation Barbarossa - their
assault against Russia - is a good example. The Russian
ability to bring their air superiority to bear (with decisive
results) during periods of clear weather later in the war is
another. At the tactical level, bad weather means troops
tire more quickly and vehicles get stuck more easily.
Movement is generally slower during periods of rain or
snow, and visibility can be seriously impaired as well.
Simply changing a battles weather settings can
fundamentally alter the way the battle plays out.
Time of Day
There are four daylight conditions simulated in CM:
dawn, mid-day, dusk, and night. Visibility is reduced during
dawn and dusk and heavily restricted during night.
Nighttime fighting also creates a risk of misidentifying
ones own troops as enemy and friendly fire can result.
Keep this in mind when separating your forces and/or
moving close to enemy positions, and occasionally check
your units target orders to make sure they have not by
mistake decided to fire on their own troops.
Atmospheric Weather
Clear - a nice sunny day with few or no clouds, offering
good visibility across long distances. This is the only
weather type that allows airplanes to operate in the game.
Overcast - the sky is full with dark, low hanging
clouds. Visibility is somewhat reduced.
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Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
The Environment
Rain - Visibility is reduced substantially. Noises are
muffled and sound contacts are considerably more difficult
to obtain.
Fog - a light mist covers the battlefield and visibility as
well as noise are reduced.
Fog and Rain - a mix (or more like an addition) of the
two above. Visibility and noise are heavily reduced.
Thick Fog - you almost cant see your own hand if you
stretch it out in front of your face. Visibility is reduced to a
mere few meters and the fog reduces the chance for sound
contacts.
Snow - reduces visibility and has a slightly lesser
impact on sound contacts than rain.
Blizzard - very heavy snowfall reduces visibility and
noise substantially.
Ground Conditions
Very Dry - very dry ground conditions increase the
chance of fires substantially.
Dry - dry ground.
Damp - early in the morning or after several days of
overcast weather or fog, ground conditions are often damp.
This raises the chance for vehicles bogging down when off
dirt or paved roads.
Wet - after rain showers you tend to have wet ground.
The chance of bogging down when off roads is substantially
increased, and even the dirt roads pose some danger of
bogging.
Mud - when it has been raining for a few days, wet
ground will turn into mud. Vehicles tend to get stuck in
muddy ground (even on dirt roads) quickly and mud also
greatly reduces the speed of vehicles and infantry.
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The Environment
Deep Mud - after long periods of rain or melting snow,
the ground can become a quagmire, what the Russians call
Rasputitsa. Vehicles should stick to roads (paved if
possible) and even infantry will find the going slow and
tiring through such ground conditions.
Light Snow - a few inches of snow. The chance for
bogging is increased slightly and the snow affects
movement speed a bit, but most vehicles can handle it
well. Soft ground remains uncovered by snow during this
condition.
Snow - roughly 8 inches of snow. Wheeled vehicles will
get stuck frequently and even tracked vehicles will find the
going tougher. Infantry moves more slowly.
Deep Snow - 12 inches or more. Most vehicles will get
bogged eventually and infantry movement is slowed down
substantially.
Fire & Smoke
If there is anything to be found on a WWII battlefield
more often than casualties, it is smoke and fire, from
burning terrain or vehicles, or from smoke rounds used to
cover the attackers approaches or defenders line of
retreat.
Smoke
Smoke in varying sizes comes from burning buildings,
fields, woods, vehicles, and smoke rounds from tanks,
guns, or artillery. Small smoke shells or small burning
vehicles (e.g. Kübelwagen) degrade, but do not always
block, LOS through them.
Designers Note: Infantry smoke grenades, a source of smoke
commonly found in other WWII games is not available in
CMBB. Our research shows little credible evidence that this
type of smoke was used regularly at the squad level in WWII
for tactical purposes. Instead, it appears to have been used
for signalling mostly, and we have therefore decided to
exclude it from CMBB to prevent its potential unrealistic
overuse.
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Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
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Fire
The chance of a piece of terrain catching fire depends
largely on ground conditions and weather. You will see
fewer terrain fires during rain or with wet or snowy ground.
On the other hand, very dry ground increases the chances
for fires, and sometimes even tracer ammunition from an
MG can be enough to spark a blaze.
Terrain fires often start off small, and at this stage
have no effect on the game except for some smoke. But
small fires have the chance to grow and spread depending
on overall conditions. If a fire becomes big (the whole
terrain tile (20m by 20m) is burning) units located in that
tile are forced to exit the area immediately. If for some
reason a unit cannot do this (say it is immobilized), the
unit will be destroyed by the fire and any remaining crew
will abandon the vehicle/gun immediately and run to
safety. Units will also refuse to enter terrain burning with a
large fire.
Burning terrain and vehicles remain burning for the
duration of a battle (and can, in fact, cause adjacent
terrain to catch fire eventually). Fires and smoke will
cease, and burned buildings will collapse to rubble between
the battles of an operation.
Fog of War
Unless you choose to play with Fog of War: none (in
the Options menu at scenario startup), only friendly forces
will be visible on the map initially. Enemies must be
spotted by one of your units before they appear on the
map. Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin uses a complex
spotting model to simulate the limited knowledge of a
battlefield commander and what is generally known as Fog
of War.
Enemy units can be displayed on the map according to
five spotting levels:
No Contact - Level 0
No enemy unit is displayed. Its still out there, but you
cant see it, because none of your units are able to see or
hear it. Keep in mind, though, that the enemy might see
Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
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The Environment
you! If youre walking down a quiet road and the enemy is
hiding behind some hedges, he might have identified all
your units before you even catch a glimpse of him. In fact,
your units might be dead before they see where the fire is
coming from in such a situation.
Sound Contact - Level 1
Most wargames allow spotting only when a line of sight
exists between the spotter and the target. In Combat
Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin, sound also plays an
important role. If you are close enough, or if the target is
loud enough (e.g. a tank racing down a road at full speed
or an infantry squad firing its weapons), you can spot a
unit even when no line of sight exists. Such units are
displayed as generic gray icons, and clicking on them
reveals SOUND CONTACT in the unit info window. The
general type of the unit is displayed as well, e.g. infantry?
or tank?, but do not rely too much on this. Additionally, the
enemy unit is shown at a location which may be somewhat
incorrect (your soldiers are making their best guess by
listening), so dont be surprised if the enemy unit seems to
move through impassable terrain (or even off-map), and
then suddenly moves into line of sight in a different (but
nearby) location.
First Contact - Level 2
The enemy unit has moved into line of sight and one of
your friendly units has caught a glimpse of it or the enemy
has opened fire at you and you see the muzzle flashes. At
this point only sketchy details are available. When you click
on such a unit, a general unit type is given (Infantry? or
Tank?), but not much more than that. Enemy infantry units
are always displayed using one soldier figure, regardless of
the actual type. Enemy vehicles and guns are always
displayed with a generic grey model.
Contact - Level 3
If the enemy is close enough, is exposed, or has been
firing at you for a while, more information becomes
available. Enemy infantry units now are classified as
squads or teams (e.g. mortar teams, anti-tank teams) and
weapons can be spotted, too. Vehicle types - tanks or tank
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Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
The Environment
destroyers or assault-guns - are usually identifiable at this
stage.
Infantry is displayed with the corresponding number of
figures based on unit strength and vehicles are displayed
as a common model of vehicle for the identified vehicle
type and the given month and year.
Take careful note of the fact that sometimes your
troops - especially the inexperienced ones - can incorrectly
identify enemy vehicles, usually as something bigger and
scarier than they really are. However, once the spotting
reaches level 4 (see below) any mistakes are corrected
and the true identity of the vehicle is displayed.
Identified- Level 4
If the unit is sufficiently close or exposed, one of your
units will identify it fully. This means that the number of
soldiers in a squad or team are displayed in the unit
window, as well as the correct model of vehicle, experience
of the unit, and more. This is as much information as you
will ever get about the enemy.
Lost Contact - Generic Unit Marker
After a unit has been spotted, it is possible to lose
contact with it. The lost unit will be graphically replaced
by a generic unit marker (each nationality has its own
unique marker type- stars for Russians, crosses for
Germans, etc.), showing the last known position of the
enemy unit. Clicking on such a marker will display the last
available information about the unit.
These markers stay on the map until the same unit has
been spotted again (even if in a completely different
location) or if you approach near enough to the marker to
verify that the previously spotted unit is no longer there.
In such a case the marker disappears, regardless of
whether the enemy has been spotted elsewhere.
Option - Extreme Fog of War
With the option set to Fog of War: extreme it will take
a lot longer before your units are able to fully identify
enemy units, i.e. reach spotting level 4. Enemy units must
Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
21
The Environment
come into very close contact with your troops before
headcount, experience and armament become visible to
you, and many units in cover or far away will never be fully
identified for the duration of a battle. In fact, reaching
identification level 4 and even 3 will be a rare occurrence in
most situations. While more realistic, this option requires
more attention from the player, and is therefore not set as
default. Otherwise, this option works the same as Full Fog
of War, which is the default setting explained above.
Option - Partial Fog of War
With the options set to Fog of War: partial, enemy
units must still be spotted, but every spotted enemy is
automatically fully identified from this point on. This is a
good way for less-experienced players to get used to the
game system.
Option - No Fog of War
With the setting Fog of War: none, all enemy units on
the map will be shown and fully identified, regardless if
they are spotted or not. This is a great way for beginners
to get a feel for the game, but also for scenario designers
who wish to test a battle they made. Mind you though, this
works both ways, your opponent is able to see all of your
units also when this setting is in effect, even the computer
player!
SPOTTING
Units spot best when stationary. Movement, especially
running, means that a units field of vision is generally
restricted to the direction in which the unit is moving. The
same is true for vehicles, as the driver and tank
commander are (at least partly) focused on getting to their
objective without colliding with obstacles or bogging down.
Hiding units also spot worse, as their main task is to keep
their heads down, not watch for the enemy.
Spotting is always worst to the rear of a unit, and
panicked or broken units relay almost no useful spotting
information to the player.
Vehicles are generally much poorer spotters than
infantry, especially when buttoned up. In fact, most tanks
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Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
The Environment
have large blind spots within a certain distance around the
tank when buttoned up due to the heavily restricted field of
view. In CMBB, this has been abstracted into a general
rule: Buttoned vehicles have a blind spot for infantry
(which is NOT currently targeting the vehicle) within 15m
provided the infantry is not in the front 60-degree arc
centered on the turret facing.
So dont be surprised when one of your tanks with
closed hatches suddenly runs into an anti-tank team hiding
just a few meters away from it. Also dont be surprised
when YOU (as the player hovering above the battlefield)
can see a target that your tank simply will not engage.
What you can see is not necessarily what the tank can see!
Its often tactically wise to keep some units stationary
on overwatch duty while others advance. Unfortunately,
one cannot always afford the luxury of being cautious.
Designers Note: In order to prevent the abuse of bailed out
crews as disposable scouts, we drastically reduced their ability
to spot enemy units. Be warned that if you go moving your
crews off into enemy territory the first unit they spot might be
their last!
Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
23
The Men and Machines
In addition, a fire fight with Josef Stalin tanks should not be
undertaken at less than platoon strength; employment of
individual Tigers means their loss.
From Septemer 1944 issue of the Nachrichtenblatt der
Panzertruppen, report of a Tiger unit which had met the IS-II
Stalin tank in combat
(found in: Soviet Armor Tactics in World War II, Charles C. Sharp)
The Men and Machines
Units in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin represent
squads and teams of soldiers as well as individual vehicles
and guns with crew. These are (with a few exceptions) the
smallest tactical elements that can receive orders in
other words, in Combat Mission you are not telling every
individual soldier what to do, but issue orders from the
position of a squad or team leader to the whole group.
This is obvious from looking at your units although
you will see individual figures standing on the map, these
do not represent single men, but rather a group. In the
case of squads, usually three figures (two if you use the
reduced figures option) represent anywhere from 7-14
men. Teams (including HQs and gun crews) are usually
shown as one figure regardless of the actual team size a
design decision to keep squads and teams easily
recognizable.
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Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
The Men and Machines
Designers note: We would have loved to show every single
man on the battlefield, but have decided not to because of
restrictions of current computer hardware to display and
animate thousands of soldiers on the map, and in order to
keep the interface from getting clogged. Individual soldiers
and their positions on the battlefield ARE tracked with regard
to casualties, however, albeit somewhat abstractly.
Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin features a
tremendous number of units for each of the six nations,
including infantry formations, guns and vehicles and other
heavy weapons. Listing them all even with a brief overview
would be totally beyond the scope of this manual. However,
each units detailed information can be accessed from
within the game and in the editor, by clicking on a unit and
hitting the ENTER key. This opens the Detailed Unit
Information window in the upper left corner. Detailed stats
for each unit, its weapons, and capabilities are displayed
here. On the following pages you will find a short
explanation of what is shown and tracked by CMBB.
Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
25
The Men and Machines
Men
Nationality, Division and Type of Unit
This shows the nationality of the unit, its parent
division type, and the unit type, similar to what is shown in
the unit information panel described earlier.
Speed Class
The speed class determines the speed at which the
infantry unit is able to move. The speed class a unit
belongs to depends essentially on how much heavy
equipment it is carrying. There are three speed classes for
infantry units (there are some more for other units,
explained later in this chapter):
Slow - most heavy equipment (e.g. the MG42 heavy
machinegun) but also units carrying a lot of extra
equipment like artillery spotting teams without radio sets
Medium - light machineguns, light mortars (e.g. the
60mm mortar), and spotters with radios
Fast - squads, sharpshooters, and other small and
mobile infantry teams
Slow and medium speed units CAN use RUN movement
orders, but will tire a lot faster than FAST units; if you do
not want to exhaust your troops too quickly, RUN orders
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Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
The Men and Machines
should be given to slow and medium units to cover short
stretches in emergencies only.
Transport Class
Ranges from 1 to 9, with 9 representing the largest
heavy equipment in the game. Units can only mount
vehicles which offer at least the same or higher transport
class.
Leadership Abilities
If the selected unit is an HQ unit, its leadership abilities
(if any) are displayed as, for example, Morale +1 or
Command +2.
Special Equipment
If a unit is carrying special equipment (e.g.
Panzerfaust, rifle grenades, demolition charges, Molotov
cocktails, magnetic mines etc.), the type and quantity is
mentioned here. Hand grenades are NOT mentioned here
seperately. Also, if the unit has binoculars (greatly
enhancing its long range spotting and identifying abilities),
this will be noted here as - you guessed it - has
binoculars.
Weapons & Firepower
A list of available small arms for the selected unit is
displayed. Which weapons are available depends on the
nationality and type of the unit. Note that some captured
weapons can be assigned to units from game start,
depending on their documented historical use (the
Germans reportedly loved the Russian PPSh
submachinegun for example, and you will often find a
number of these assigned to German squads and HQ units)
As the unit takes casualties, individual weapons
disappear from the list, showing that the soldier carrying
that particular weapon has been put out of action.
Sometimes, however, soldiers can exchange weapons. For
example, if the soldier carrying a squads machinegun is
hit, another soldier of that squad might drop his own
weapon and pick it up.
Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
27
The Men and Machines
Beside the weapons listing, a firepower table shows the
firepower of each weapon according to the range to a
target. The firepower (FP) is shown for all weapons of the
same type, e.g. a German Rilfe 44 squad has 6 K98 rifles.
That means 6 x fp 3 at 250m = 18 fp. However, the
firepower as shown in increments of 40m, 100m, 250m,
500m, and 1000m is a reference for the player only - the
game engine uses a more precise system measuring down
to the meter.
Eligible for exit
If a unit is eligible for map exit (as part of a scenarios
victory objectives), this will be noted in the right upper
corner of the detailed unit info screen.
Info/Kills
By clicking on the white Info/Kills box in the upper right
corner of the info screen, you can toggle the display
between unit stats and a summary of how the unit fared in
the particular battle so far. To preserve the fog of war,
only verified kills are shown - so if your mortar team takes
out a squad hiding in woods and nobody sees it, the kill
will not be shown here until the battle is completely over.
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Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
The Men and Machines
Machines
Nationality, Division and Type of Unit
This shows the nationality of the unit, its parent
division type, and the unit type, similar to what is shown in
the unit information panel described earlier.
Maximum Speed
This states (in miles per hour and meters per second)
the maximum speed the vehicle can go on a paved road.
Cross-country movement is generally much slower.
Weight
Measured in tons (U.S. and metric).
Engine
The horsepower is used for speed and acceleration
calculations. Diesel-powered engines are slightly less likely
to catch fire when hit.
Ground Pressure
Measurement of the vehicle weight and the surface-
contact area of its tracks. Higher ground pressure increases
the chance of bogging down.
Silhouette
A numerical value representing the size of the vehicle,
modified especially by its height, that affects gunnery
accuracy and spotting against it. A value of 100 is medium
size.
Transport Class
A vehicle can only transport (tow) other units with the
same or lower transport class.
Passenger Capacity
Can be squad, team or none. Units may ride on the
deck of a tank for example, or within a passenger
compartment on transport vehicles like some halftracks
and trucks.
Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
29
The Men and Machines
Armor
The armor table gives the thickness and slope of armor
for various tank parts (usually turret, upper hull, lower
hull, and top) for the front, sides and rear. Other
information may include armor quality (values lower than
100% represent manufacturing and metallurgical flaws,
common in early Allied vehicles and some late-war German
vehicles). Special features like armor skirts (Schürzen) or
partly-open vehicles (open top and/or sides) are also noted
here, along with curved mantlets such as the famous
Saukopfblende of the German StuGIII, which can provide
an effective armor protection substantially higher than the
base thickness and slope indicate (depending on which part
of the curved armor is hit, thickness and slope can vary to
a large degree within a fairly small hit area). When you see
a value like 50+20, then the 50 represents the tanks
base armor, and the 20 additional bolted-on armor, either
as field modification or done by the factory. This increases
armor protection somewhat, but bolted-on armor is usually
a somewhat less effective than the armor of the same
thickness made from a single piece of metal.
Special Equipment
Smoke Dischargers - small chemical packets mounted
on the outside of a tank that can create a smoke cloud.
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Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
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