Kampfgruppe Wargame
Strategic Simulations Inc. released versions of Kampfgruppe from 1985-88. The original Kampfgruppe was designed and programmed by Gary Grigsby for the Apple 2, the Atari 8-bits and the Commodore 64. Kampfgruppe was first released in February of 1985.
The 1988 Amiga version was programmed by Eric Hyman whereas the 1987 IBM PC version was programmed by Eric Nickelson and Edward Haar. The IBM PC version displays in CGA 320x200.
Kampfgruppe is a platoon-level turn-based wargame that employs combined arms tactics. In Kampfgruppe the player assumes the role of German or Soviet commander on the Eastern Front of 1941-45.
In the Deployment phase the terrain is surveyed and the units are positioned on the playfield. Each turn consists of an Orders phase and a Combat phase. In the Orders phase opponents issue orders to each of the units under their control, such as move, bombard and target. In the Combat phase each unit carries out its orders one at a time. The Combat phase is divided into four pulses each of which represents 30 seconds of battle. The object of Kampfgruppe is to destroy the opposing force's units and accumulate more Victory Points than the opponent.
Amiga Kampfgruppe is displayed in 2D top-down perspective in 16-colors at 320x200. The scrolling playfield consists of 60x60 square tiles each of which represents 200 yards of terrain, of which there are 50 symbol-types and nine kinds with unit-type movement costs. The display of units is side-on and can be toggled in order to isolate the terrain graphics.
Kampfgruppe features four historical scenarios as well as an "infinite" number of randomly generated scenarios. In RNG scenarios, the player tailors the year, battle size and battle-type (assault, pursuit, meeting engagement) as well as force-type and specific unit types drawn from a point-pool. There are also eight cover terrain density levels and a river is toggleable.
- Meeting Engagement East of Bryansk (July 7, 1942): 20 turns
- Attempted Relief of Stalingrad (December 17, 1942): 30 turns
- Attack Toward Kiev (November 3, 1943): 30 turns
- Attack Toward Berlin (March 22, 1945): 30 turns
Kampfgruppe features 8-way unit movement, 8-way screen-scrolling, 0-2 player modes, line of sight (field of vision), visibility level, terrain cost, suppression, entrenchment, dis/embark, off-map bombardment requests, firing on the move, formation orders, detailed unit engagement rules and complex to-hit and kill probabilities that factor in range, angle, cover and armor penetration.
There are over two dozen different armor and non-armor units in Kampfgruppe, each constituted by 8-10 stats. For example, in total there are 26 different tanks represented.
The Amiga version supports hardware mouse cursor. However, being a port of the C64 version the Amiga version does not even begin to take advantage of the Amiga's audiovisual capacities, yet it came out a few years after the 8-bit versions. Still, Amigans were grateful to have access to one of the greatest computer wargames of all-time.
- Kampfgruppe Manual: 25 pages
- Kampfgruppe copy protection: Manual reference
Kampfgruppe is the spiritual predecessor to SSI's Steel Panthers of 1995.
Overall, I give Kampfgruppe 9.8/10.
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