Eastern Front, summer 1944
Combat Mission: Red Thunder covers the battles of Bagration and Poland, from the swamps of Belarus to the gates of Warsaw. You command either the Soviet forces or the German Heer at battalion and below scale, in a full 3D environment. The game models morale, experience, leadership, fog of war, spotting, line of sight, command and control, and objectives, alongside realistic physics and ballistics. Weather and lighting conditions change across fights and affect how well your troops perform. The setting is the period when the Axis' strategic ability to wage war was collapsing, and the tactical fights themselves stayed closely balanced.
Playing together
Red Thunder supports single player and head to head play, including Play By Email (PBEM+++). In a head to head match you and your opponent take one side each and command vehicles, teams, and squads against each other. The game uses a hybrid system that supports both RealTime and WeGo (turn based) play, so a group can settle on whichever pace suits them. Quick Battle lets players set up deliberate or randomized battles based on their own specifications, which makes it easy to match up without building anything first.
Before you start
There are two detailed campaigns: one puts you in the role of a Soviet commander carrying out the initial breakthrough and exploitation of a key sector of the German front at Orsha at the start of Bagration, and the other follows a successful German armored counterattack at Radzymin in Poland that largely stalled the Soviet push into Warsaw. Alongside these sit 18 stand alone battles and a large number of Quick Battle maps. A full editor covers maps, scenarios, and campaigns, and massive "Master Maps" used to build the campaigns can be reused to make your own battles across a wide range of formations, with 84 vehicle types and dozens of heavy weapons available.