Welcome to my Combat Mission Site. My name is Frederick Brandt, but I mostly go by the name 'Rick' or 'Fredrocker'. Wargaming has been a part of my life since 1970 when my Dad got me for Christmas a subscription to Strategy & Tactics Magazine (with the games included). I fell in love tinkering with the counters and learning the rules so much that in 1972 I took a trip via the LIRR to the offices of S&T to see what was all about. Funny, but I ended up getting a part time job that day (two days a week in the summer, as a runner and gofer).

LATEST FILES POSTED FOR DOWNLOAD 

• Han and Jam (CMBN - Rework) - 02/02/2024
• Small Nowhere Town (CMFB - New) - 02/05/2024
• Sektor Pieklo (CMBN - New) - 02/08/2024
• Breakout from Korets (CMRT - New) - 02/09/2024 Complete Rework
• Bloody St. Omer Capelle (CMBN - New) - 02/10/2024 Complete Rework
• Flooded Fields Forever (CMBN - New) - 02/13/2024 Complete Rework
• Onward St Jean de Daye (CMBN - New) - 02/15/2024
• Bridges for the 82nd (CMBN - Rework) - 03/28/2024 
  

The great thing about my job was I received free Magazines and Games and also got to hang around with gentlemen like James F. Dunnigan and Redmond Simonsen. I only worked for SPI for two summers making a whopping 50 cents an hour off the books, The money just covered my train and subway fares but I didn't care it was just plain awesome. I learned a lot about how a magazine/game got put together but, also the process of how games were developed and designed. This job was the influence that provided my path into a career of electronic publishing.

Over my 30+ year career in publishing I have worked on and directed projects that included: Sikorsky Aicraft's Maintenance Manuals, IRS - Taxpayers Informations Publications (TIPS), U.S. State Department's Foreign Policy Manuals, U.S. Department of Treasury Tax Stamps, Hearst Publishing 'Motor Books', The Mobil Travel Guides, U.S. Navy's Mips and Meps (Pacific Coast Fleet), Lots of Government Printing Ofiice Contracts, and many others some of which I cannot disclose.

I also was a representitive on the ISO 8879:1986 Committee for Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). SGML later led to the development and standards set for HTML which is the backbone of what the world wide web was built upon. I served on the technical committee ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34 which developed many of the standards for publications within the automobile industry.

All in all I enjoyed my 35 year career and it has now come full cycle, as I am back to playing and designing wargames...

IN THE WORKS (07/01/2024)

Task Force Baum (CMFB) 9 Battle Campaign (Click for Status)
Final Campaign Testing in the works - looks like an early August Release date

1. Wake up Laufach - Finished
2. Rothenbuch Proper - Finished
3. Quick Stop Rechtenbach - Finished
4. Bridges at Lohr - Finished
5. Skirts at ​Neuendorf - Finished
6. The Road to Burgsinn - Finished
7. Crossing Fränkische Saale - Finished
8. Hammelburg - Finished
9. The Bitter End - Finished

Take the High Road (CMFI - New)
The Aire Road (CMBN - Rework - Engine 4.x)
The Crossing (CMBN - Rework - Engine 4.x)
The Son of Major Nosov (CMCW - New - Campaign)
Hold until Relieved (CMBN -  Rework - Engine 4.x)
The Road to San Cataldo (CMFI - Rework - Just using orig. map, else all new)

The concept of Combat Mission by Battlefront came out in 1999/2000 with the game Combat Mission Beyond Overlord (CMBO). As soon as I spotted it on the internet, I bought it. Features of the game which I enjoy the most is the ability to create and design both fictional and pretty close to historical scenarios and campaigns. The ability to customize the game via mods has always intriqued me, and yes I dabbled with that but, map making and researching the OOB's for a battle is what really tickles my fancy.

In 2011 Battlefront released a brand new upgraded game engine and thus started the creation of my new games. The forerunner to this was Combat Mission Battle for Normandy (CMBN). Since that time I have purchased all their products and have every game patched to the latest version.

As of Janusry 2024, this is the third version of the site 'Fredrocker's Combat Mission Site' and hopefully better than the previous two. My goal for this current site is to provide many new scenarios/campaigns I have been working on, plus upgrading much of my old material to work with CM Game Engine 4.x as things such as artillery have changed immensely. Unfortunately the campaigns: The Boyz of FGM, Sie Kommen II,  (Axis and Allies) and Shimi's March will have to do with how they were originally designed. I am working on a large campaign for CM Final Blitzkeig which I hope to have out sometime later this year.

Anywho for those that know me or have downloaded and played some of my material know that I believe in Feedback; Good, Bad, or Ugly so you can always drop me a line via the feedback link.

Also check back often as there should be new material going up on the site on a regular basis.