Close Combat 3: The Russian Front

One of the games I remember best from when I really got into gaming. Fondest memory is going head to head with an anonymous player in MP, who'd maxed up with Tigers and Panthers and just concealing AT teams at choke points, funnelling them down the map and waiting till the front tank exposed its rear, then retreating stealthily to the next choke point. He still won but had only one broken Panther left by the end of the battle. I hadn't fielded a single tank. No other game I've played since let you do stuff like this so well. Nice to see it being kept alive.

CC3 really is an excellent title that I've grown up with and return to again and again. It provided a more in-depth continuance of your troops as you are able to refit and repair them across the whole Eastern Front campaign. Promotions would be gained and experience remembered. A wide range of settings and challenges would be faced depending on the climate and required consideration when requisitioning troops. With four classes of troops to select from and three levels of experience you had the ability to create interesting combined arms teams and without the limitations of CC4 or Gateway to Caen. CC3 contains I think the strongest tank combat in the game with arguably clearer path finding and a good range of AFVs to use. The maps aren't too big or too small so pacing is well maintained and the variety of settings keep things interesting. Head on tank battles and sneaky ambushes are both supported, hunting panzers with flame tanks and desperate last stands will be encountered. Infantry are accurate, capable and lethal. If they are poorly trained however then they will need commanders near them otherwise they will desert. You'll soon learn the value of your infantry troops when the snow and mud set in and your tanks are slowed and immobilised. While not possessing the weight of modifications of CC5 the selection available for CC3 are still notable. While easier than CC2 it manages to be more challenging than CC5. CC3 managed to have its own identity within the series and for that I am glad and still come back to play it now, especially with Der Ost Front modification. For a full in-dpeth review: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/96044-close-combat-iii-the-russian-front-pc/reviews/164016

This is a fun but flawed title. During the time when these games were being released I was experiencing all of them via their wonderful demos. I was quite young and certainly not very pro, so the single missions you were permitted to play were a huge challenge to me which i played again and again (there is a good amount of variety in how the AI plays them out) I became closely acquainted with the screams and explosions, the crackling radio reports, the rhythms of a game in which every player controlled entity on the battlefield needs to take a few seconds to aim, prepare to fire, aim again, compress the trigger, wipe their foreheads and ultimately fire. The Russian Front was the best demo in the series (A Bridge Too Far a close second). The map is big, the vehicles more interesting and more powerful, the soldiers slightly faster thinking. The graphics slightly better, too. I played it again and again, and when I finally beat the Germans I fist pumped more than one time. In person. And I think that just about sums up what this game means to me. It is a great battle simulator. It is a less good war simulator. Spending a few hours on a carefully crafted level is fun. Spend many more hours on a series of levels with wildly oscillating design quality and it'll be less fun. I have got my hands on these games a few times, installed them, powered them up, revisited my demo levels then... abandoned the game within a day. The other levels are just not as tight as the showpiece levels. Really fun as far as it goes.

Close Combat in general is still one of my Favorite,if not the Favorite Strategy Series,cause im usually not much into RTS and Stuff. I played A Bridge too Far back in the Day,and thats where the Love started. CC3 has a unique Campaign System,sometimes i like it,sometimes not. Overall i prefer the System of the later Games. But this is the last Release where you could zoom really near to the Units,what i totally miss in the later ones.Also the Russian Front in general is more Interesting to me. In the End it Depends on which Front interests you more i think,but no matter what Title,you cant do anything wrong with CC. Also run well on Win10,having absolutely no Issues.

Ha, This game sparked in me a fascination with tactics and military history. Its responsible for a 20+ military career too. Madness.