Last year we were treated to a new partnership between Matrix Games/Slitherine & Battlefront which brought Combat Mission: Shock Force 2 to steam. This isn't the only modern-era WEGO tactical wargame that the studio has made, however, and today the pair have announced that Combat Mission: Black Sea will also be coming to Steam in late January.
Black Sea, one of our favourite Combat Mission games, depicts a series of escalations between Russia and the Ukraine resulting in open conflict in the summer of 2017 (the game was first developed in 2009, but wasn't actually finalised until after the real invasion in 2014). It is a fictional scenario, and thus is not supposed to resemble the real life event, nor can it simulate the events that have unfolded since then. In the game's narrative, NATO also deploys its rapid deployment forces to aid Ukraine.
What it offers is a way to play around with highly detailed and researched American, Ukrainian and Russian forces at brigade level, from mechanised infantry to the 'Stryker' brigade which is an important piece of NATO's response forces. Whereas Shock Force 2 depicts evolving warfare in the middle-east between NATO and a local power, Black Sea attempts to simulate more matched 'peer-to-peer' warfare, using the full spectrum of forces and capabilities both sides are capable of bringing to the field.
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If nothing else, Combat Mission Shock Force 2's move to Steam will make the game easier to patch
Broadening Horizons: Why Combat Mission: Shock Force 2 is making the leap to Steam
Opinion: The CM:SF2 Demo Is a Good Sign of Things to Come