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Keep your soldiers close, keep your enemies closer.

The Close Combat series has arrived, DRM-free and up to 65% off on GOG.com.
Bridge Too Far, The Russian Front, and The Battle of the Bulge, three legendary top-down RTS classics chronicling the gruesome battles of WWII are finally back, exclusively on GOG.com. Known for their snappy AI, realistic sound design and well-researched scenarios, Close Combat games let you side with either the Germans or the Allies as you pull off smart tactical maneuvers and desperate acts of heroism.

Additionally, two of the recent entries in the series, Gateway to Caen and Panthers in the Fog, bring a modern touch to your real-time WWII battles. Relive or change history as you experience the British assault on the aftermath of the Normandy landings and the ruthlessness of the desperate German counterattack at Mortain.

The discounts last until February 13, 2PM UTC.
Fantastic to see these great games here. I purchased them all from Slitherine/Matrix years ago and still love playing them today.

BTW, if you're interested in a bit of history about Atomic Games, the original developers of the Close Combat series, then you may enjoy the first part of my Atomic Games' Legacy video series (part 2 is still being researched). This video focuses on the V for Victory wargames that Atomic developed prior to moving onto Close Combat.

Post edited February 06, 2018 by ikrananka
After returning from a few battles with Close Combat 3 (A favorite of many) It's great to see Slitherine on gog, even if it's just a select few games.
Thanks a bunch for grabbing these. Humorously, my brother broke down and got A Bridge Too Far as a gift for me this past November. Figures, but at least I got the big box. Really cool stuff, this sets the year up nicely.
Oh hell yeah!

For anybody unfamiliar with the series (le gasp - and you call yourself a PC gamer?!), Close Combat is a highly detailed tactical simulator. To the point where professional army psychologists were consultants when it came to implementing troop behavior.

The Russian Front is still my favorite. Absolutely ecstatic to be able to get a copy from GOG (lost most of my CDs moving :( )

Edit: One purchase later... A bit curious - will the later re-makes also be available at some point, or remain Matrix exclusive?
Post edited February 06, 2018 by Lukaszmik
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IainMcNeil: Thanks for all the feedback guys. The GoG team had to go back to old retail masters and try and make them windows compatible as the source code for the original 5 games was lost many years ago before we acquired it.

They managed to get 2-4 working but are having issues with 1 and 5. We hope they'll be able to resolve them and add them to the list too at some point. Then there's the other 5 games we released. We don't have a firm date for when any of these will be available.
Appreciate the explanation, good luck to the GOG team with the other titles!

And I have to say, GOG impresses with its (usually) impeccable taste in titles to add. To me, Close Combat is a turning point in PC gaming, where the full capabilities of computers in real time simulation, from battlefield hardware to psychology, were finally applied to the detailed demands of wargaming.
Unfortunately I'm tight on money atm so I could only afford one. I got A Bridge Too Far because of nostalgia. A physical copy of it was the first Christmas present my best friend gave me.

Edit: Also is the first game not included or did I miss it somehow?
Post edited February 06, 2018 by RogueXanter
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RogueXanter: Unfortunately I'm tight on money atm so I could only afford one. I got A Bridge Too Far because of nostalgia. A physical copy of it was the first Christmas present my best friend gave me.

Edit: Also is the first game not included or did I miss it somehow?
Not included due to code issues; it may be resolved to be put on sale later.
Alright, I know these games, I heard of them, and I played the demos for 3, 4 and 5 a long time ago.

Which one do you recommend?
Nice, more Slitherine games. Actually I recommend their website if you like boxed editions, they cost a bit more, but are worth it in my opinion. Never had problems buying games on the Matrix Games website may it be digital or boxed..

The Decisive Campaigns Barbarossa boxed edition comes in a 300+ page hardcover book :).

PS And the games are DRM Free, as far as I know there some that reuquire a third party account for Multiplayer, but with many you can do even a play by email :).
Post edited February 06, 2018 by MaGo72
For a moment I was excited, seeing these games on GOG's front page. Somehow I thought they still were published by Microsoft...

Still a nice release! And good luck for preparing the two missing games.
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eiii: For a moment I was excited, seeing these games on GOG's front page. Somehow I thought they still were published by Microsoft...

Still a nice release! And good luck for preparing the two missing games.
The first two were published by MS, but I guess they were sold in their entirety, first to SSI and then to the current owners.

Great games, well the ones I have experience with anyway- the first 3 that is.

I played the first game using my CD boxed version a year or so ago...I remember getting it run fine and stable on 32 bit Vista and Win 95 compatibility mode. I found it to crash too often on 64 bit Win 7 though. Too bad GOG are having trouble getting it to go on modern Windows.
Post edited February 06, 2018 by CMOT70
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IainMcNeil: We'll have more games on GoG soon but they need to be selective to avoid overloading you! We have 300 strategy and wargames in our line up and release ~3 new releases a month.
I admit i havent checked any list, but 300 games at 3 a month would give non stop releases for 8+ years. I'm willing to bet that even i at the end of such intensive training would be able to take over the entire world! :)
I hope this means that complete versions of the Panzer Corps & the Field of Glory games will appear here eventually.
Yes! Yes! Yes! A Bridge Too Far!!
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IainMcNeil: Thanks for all the feedback guys. The GoG team had to go back to old retail masters and try and make them windows compatible as the source code for the original 5 games was lost many years ago before we acquired it.

They managed to get 2-4 working but are having issues with 1 and 5. We hope they'll be able to resolve them and add them to the list too at some point. Then there's the other 5 games we released. We don't have a firm date for when any of these will be available.
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HereForTheBeer: Thanks for the clarification. I'll surely be picking up at least some of these titles this week.

And I surely must take the opportunity to beg for a gOg release of the Steel Panthers games. ; ) Since you're here and all...

<beg-beg-beg-beg-beg-beg!>
I'd like to add my begging to HereForTheBeer for the Steel Panthers games.