| Combat Mission: Black Sea | |
| Developer: | Battlefront.com |
| Publisher: | Battlefront.com |
| Designer: | Charles Moylan Stephen Grammont |
| Programmer: | Charles Moylan |
| Composer: | Daniel Sadowski Matt Faller |
| Series: | Combat Mission |
| Genre: | Turn-based tactics, real-time tactics |
| Modes: | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Platforms: | Windows Mac |
Combat Mission: Black Sea is a computer wargame by American studio Battlefront.com in the Combat Mission series of games that covers a fictional Russian invasion of Ukraine.[1] Since the events in Crimea and eastern Ukraine in 2014, the government in Kyiv and Russia have continued to clash over the status of the disputed regions. This confrontation culminated a few years later with Ukraine's dramatic announcement that it would join NATO and the EU. Tensions exploded as Russia, perceiving a direct threat to Russian citizens, once again massed troops on the Ukrainian border, while Western governments, welcoming the possibility of NATO and EU influence expanding eastward, also mobilized. The escalation continued until the summer of 2017, when a major firefight broke out between Ukrainian and Russian forces in the Donetsk region. The next day, fighting broke out on the border, and on a dark morning in June 2017, pre-positioned Russian and NATO troops entered Ukraine.
Players can command American, Ukrainian, or Russian ground forces in the increasingly complex and deadly environment of modern combined arms warfare. The Black Sea represents three modern armies in great detail, including the United States Army, Ukrainian Ground Forces, and Russian Ground Forces. This includes the combat formations and equipment used by infantry, armored, Stryker, motorized rifle and tank brigades.
Depending on the scenario, players can take command of forces ranging from a battalion and below in a true 3D environment.
Keeping true to the nature of modern conflict, several new features have been introduced, including electronic warfare, unmanned aerial vehicles, and laser-guided weapons. This game is so realistic that US drones can provide thermal imaging of the battlefield.
During the development of the Black Sea in early 2014, a real armed conflict broke out between Russia and Ukraine. In response to this event, Battlefront announced on its website:[2]
Game content included a campaign of several linked scenarios, pre-made scenarios ("battles"), and maps for the "Quick Battle" system which permitted random play in one or two player mode. Combat Mission: Black Sea features three story campaigns for all sides of the conflict:
The game shipped with a fully operational map and scenario editor, as well as a campaign creation tool.
An expansion, called Combat Mission: Black Sea - Battle Pack 1, was released in January 2021 on the Steam Store by Slitherine Ltd.[3] Combat Mission: Black Sea - Battle Pack 1 can be played and ran on Windows systems, requiring Combat Mission: Black Sea to play. The Battle Pack includes two new campaigns, one for the US and one for Russia, plus six stand-alone scenarios and 27 new QuickBattle maps.[4]
Numerous user-created scenarios, maps, and campaigns can be found at the Scenario Depot III. A wide variety of game mods can be found in the modification warehouses at thefewgoodmen.com and greenasjade.net websites.
Mainstream reviews have been slow to accumulate. Opencritic.com rated the game 8/10.[5] Rick Martin rated the game 95%.[6] GameWatcher rated the game as 8.0, Excellent.[7]
As has been the tradition with previous Combat Mission releases, a CM:BS demo was offered for free public download, with two playable scenarios and a tutorial mission, as well as a functioning scenario editor.[9]