Close Combat

About Close Combat

Close Combat (1996) is Atomic Games' real-time World War II wargame, born as Beyond Squad Leader, in which every soldier has a simulated psyche and may refuse orders, freeze or go berserk under fire.

Close Combat in Depth

It simulates short-range battles between the US 29th Infantry Division and Germany's 352nd Infantry Division in the six weeks after the Normandy landings, seen from a top-down view rather than the isometric view of games like Warcraft II. Players control infantry, crew-served weapons and armour on either side with six commands, move, fire, move fast, defend, hide and smoke, and must use cover, suppression and positioning, since soldiers are vulnerable in groups and when charging. Battles take place among bocage, open plains and towns such as Saint-Lô, in 39 single battles or a campaign from the landings to Saint-Lô, which the Americans win by taking the town within 43 days. Two players can also fight each other.

Each soldier behaves according to a simulated psyche based on fatigue, preparedness, experience and past success, turned into probability tables that change during play. Stress and fear make squads reluctant to move or shoot, or inaccurate, and soldiers under severe stress may become shell-shocked or berserk. Units often disobey poor or dangerous orders, such as leaving cover unprotected, and the AI lets even unattended squads keep fighting with sensible tactics.

Making Close Combat

Atomic began it in 1992 under Three-Sixty Pacific, then moved to Avalon Hill in 1993, which rebranded it Beyond Squad Leader, a tie-in to its million-selling board game. Zabalaoui aimed to capture the spirit of Squad Leader rather than its rules, which polarised the board game's fans, and the relationship with Avalon Hill was troubled, with delays that made it look like vaporware. After a high-profile departure at Avalon Hill, Atomic broke away, renamed it Close Combat and finished it with Microsoft, releasing it in July 1996. It was the 13th best-selling US computer game that month and sold about 200,000 copies, ten times Atomic's earlier games, though Zabalaoui found it "frustrating" next to other RTS sales. Computer Games Strategy Plus likened it to SimCity 2000 and nominated it for wargame of the year, and Computer Gaming World said it "looks, sounds and plays like nothing else", while critics faulted its slow scrolling and some called its psychological modelling a mistake. Atomic made four sequels and Close Combat: Marines for the US Marine Corps.