Flashpoint Campaigns: Cold War

Flashpoint Campaigns: Cold War is a grand tactical combat simulation set on the Cold War battlefield in Germany. As a force commander, you plan operations and issue orders and Standard Operating Procedures to battalion, brigade or regimental forces, directing them to maneuver according to your intent. Battles take place on rendered real-world maps, where each hex represents 500 metres of militarily significant terrain. Maps cover areas of 20 × 15 kilometres or larger, and battles span 4 to 24 hours of in-game time, across different times of day and realistic weather conditions.

Plan and command

The game uses asynchronous WEGO turns: you issue orders, then watch a variable amount of time unfold on the battlefield before issuing or adjusting orders in response. You try to outmaneuver the enemy while adapting your battle plan to events. Forces are organized into companies, platoons and sections, including tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, infantry squads and teams, reconnaissance forces, engineers, air-defense systems, anti-tank systems and helicopters. You can also call on off-map long-range artillery, rockets and airstrikes as force multipliers, and may face the choice of using chemical or nuclear weapons.

The battlefield

Combat models electronic warfare, air superiority and realistic weather, as well as line of sight and fire, terrain, elevation, smoke and mines. Unit effectiveness also reflects training, morale and readiness. Information dialogs, map overlays and range rings help you assess the situation and your forces’ capabilities. The game includes national characteristics, command parameters, orders of battle and era-specific equipment and troops, with period weapon systems such as guns, missiles, precision munitions and small arms represented.

Scenarios and campaigns

The game includes over 100 Cold War scenarios: more than 60 independent scenarios and 10 campaigns, which can focus on a nation alone or include allied nations. The campaigns and scenarios cover Germany across more than 80 maps, using military equipment from 1980 to 1989. The nations represented are the United States, Great Britain, France, Canada, Belgium, West Germany, Russia (Soviet Union), East Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Tutorials in scenario and documentation form cover basic, intermediate and advanced features, allowing you to learn at your own pace.

Each scenario offers multiple computer-player battle plans. The computer player can react and deviate from those plans, making battles dynamic. The game also features air assaults and a Tactical Transport system for coordinating planned movement of forces by helicopter or truck.

Tools and improvements

You can create scenarios and campaigns, and modify game data, artwork and sound effects; these modding tools are supported by detailed documentation. Other features include:

• Refined unit SOPs and order queuing, with an improved interface for new and experienced players.
• Illumination rounds that light the night sky and help reveal enemies.
• Improved AI and interface for formation movement and unit behaviors, including withdrawal and target selection.
• Refined ammunition resupply controls, including settings for critical munitions.
• Improved spotting and combat models.
• Refined information dialogs and map overlays that provide additional details.