Close Combat: Gateway to Caen

Close Combat: Gateway to Caen is a strategy and tactical combat game about Operation Epsom, the British offensive to break through German lines west of Caen and cross the Odon River. You command both battlegroups on the strategic battlefield and squads in tactical battles, taking the roles of generals and platoon commanders. Play as the British, advancing across the Odon Valley with full support, or as the outnumbered but well-armed German Panzergrenadiers defending against the offensive.

Operation Epsom

After the Allied landings in Normandy, the German Army recovered and mounted a strong defense. Caen, a British D-Day objective, remained out of reach for Montgomery’s 21st Army for weeks. Operation Epsom was his first concentrated attempt to bypass the city and the Odon River and break through the German defenses.

Newly arrived British VIII Corps, supported by 700 Royal Artillery guns, attacked along a four-mile front between Rauray and Carpiquet. The 12th SS Panzer Division defended the area, while the German 2nd SS Panzer Corps—Germany’s last offensive reserves in Normandy—was committed to stopping the British advance along the Odon. You can try to change the course of the campaign as Montgomery and his commanders, or stop the British as the Germans and push them back.

Strategic and tactical battles

At the strategic level, you move and combine battlegroups across a battlefield with over two dozen individual battlefields. At the tactical level, you command squads in close combat, using small arms, mortars, machine guns, armored cars and tanks. You can also direct artillery and mortar barrages and air strikes. The game covers individual soldiers, platoons, battalions, brigades and battlegroups across single battles, operations and a grand campaign.

The battlefield includes over three dozen German and British battlegroups. British regimental histories inform the battalion names and organization, and you can deploy battalions as they fought in the struggle for the Odon. You can command British Churchill, Cromwell, Firefly, Sherman and Stuart tanks, among others; German Panther, Tiger and Stug tanks support the Panzergrenadiers.

Battlefield features

The game includes 30 new maps depicting the Odon Valley west of Caen, France, with terrain suited to the battlefield’s conditions. Tall cornfields and rainy weather that hinders movement through mud affect how you approach each fight. You can use rolling barrages, deploy dug-in and camouflaged tanks and anti-tank guns, and mount troops or guns on vehicles.

The game includes 65 vehicles, 36 infantry units and 77 weapons. New vehicles and guns include Churchill, Cromwell, M-10 Achilles and Firefly tanks, 17-pdr anti-tank guns and Loyd Carriers. It also features upgraded effects, an integrated multiplayer lobby and matchmaking forums, and an enhanced Scenario Editor for creating “what if” scenarios.