From: KevinRohr@aol.com Subject: Review: TacOps for Windows (Long Post) A REVIEW OF TACOPS FOR WINDOWS by Kevin Rohrer "An OPFOR motorized rifle battalion clanks down the road, but suddenly loses several vehicles to an artillery-scattered mine field while enemy tank fire picks off others. Artillery booms in the distance and Improved Cluster Munitions rain down on the defenseless column after being spotted by a tiny Unmanned Aerial Vehicle that flits about the battlefield with impunity. Fighter- bombers roar overhead dropping cluster bombs on the hapless vehicles. Defending anti-aircraft units don't respond because they have been killed or suppressed by artillery and mortar batteries firing HE. All the while anti-tank missiles fired from helicopter gunships and concealed units zoom across the battlefield striking with pinpoint and devastating accuracy. Those few units who survive the carnage drive through artillery-delivered smokescreens and are picked off by anti-armor infantry teams firing at close range from improved positions." Is this a scene from the Gulf war or is it taking place in Lebanon? Actually neither. It is just a typical turn in Arsenal Publishing's modern armor simulation, TacOps for the Mac and PC. TacOps is the creation of a retired USMC major named I.L. Holdridge, the game being released for the Mac in 1994 by Arsenal Publishing and is now available for Windows. Did I say "game"? I meant "simulation", as TacOps is about as real as it gets without undergoing an MLRS strike! Recently, I along with several other avid wargamers were given the volunterred to betatest the Windows version. What I found (and what Mac gamers already knew) was an exciting, nailbiting, edge- of-the-seat simulation of modern armored warfare designed by someone with uncompromising standards. TacOps is a platoon level, tactical simulation of armored combat in the late 20th Century. Units from the US, Canada, and the Soviet bloc (referred to by the generic term: OPFOR) are represented. Each infantry counter may represent something as small as a single man or as large as an entire infantry company. A vehicle counter may represent one Hummvee or an company of fourteen M1A2 tanks. Fighter-bomber icons represent one aircraft, but helicopters might be one or a dozen. Game turns are one minute long, subdivided into fifteen second pulses, and the game scale is one pixel equals thirty meters. That's right, I said PIXEL, not HEX. TacOps is the first wargame I know of that is pixel based. Each of the nine maps included in the game are hand drawn pixel by pixel and movement from one pixel to another. The combination of fifteen second increments and pixel movement rates makes for a detailed, round by round tracked simulation, and for large playing areas without them seeming overly large. The scale is just right for modern, long range weapons to do their thing. Scenarios come in two flavors: small "Team" and larger "Task Force" battles where you might control as tiny a force as a few platoons or as large of one as several regiments plus supporting arms. TacOps has been compared to SSI's much earlier Mech Brigade. Brigade was a great game in its time, but its graphics are ancient and the AI too easy to beat. Both games are comparable because each dealt with modern armored combat on the platoon level, and TacOps can be thought of as the 1994 version of Brigade. Yes, I know it is 1996, not '94, but let's face it, TacOps for the Mac was released in '94 and the new Windows version is nothing more than a Mac port. The graphics are pure Mac, and the controls and screens look and operate almost exactly like the Mac version. I prefer to compare TacOps to the armor game that has set the standard for all games of this subject: SSI's Steel Panthers. I do this because they are exact opposites. SP is a GAME that sacrifices realism for the sake of great sound, detailed graphics, and ease of play. TacOps sacrifices graphics but not sound in favor of being a technically accurate and incredibly detailed SIMULATION. Each is excellent in its own way, and I own and play both regularly. But TacOps is in my mind more of what I want to see in an armored game: accuracy, ease of play, and excitement. There is nothing quite so satisfying as watching an enemy formation walk right into a ICM barrage, then fall victim to my carefully laid anti-armor trap, with short, medium, and long range anti-tank weapons flying across the battlefield, killing armor left and right. TacOps also does a much better job of matching weapons usage against intended targets. Unlike in SP where each tank's weapons waste ammo firing on other tanks where no possibility exists of getting a "kill", TacOps units fire only those weapons that have a reasonable chance of doing damage. That is what I call an intelligent simulation. What's In the Box The gray TacOps box has a full color picture of the above engagement taking place. Inside are a few floppy disks (sorry, no CD available) and a 240-page 6"x9" manual. The manual is profusely illustrated with hundreds of screen shots that fully explain all information and orders screens. Only email play isn't explained anywhere near what is necessary to start a game. You'll need read the accompanying article: TacOps PBEM Instructions to figure out the process. Appendixes are what makes or breaks a manual and this one definitely makes the grade. In addition to seven pages of well- written designers notes, there are six appendixes: A FAQ, tutorial based on the scenario Basic Training, how to get help, TO&E of the nations represents in the game, unit lethality values, a points guide for balancing scenarios, plus general strategy and tactics tips. Keyboard commands are listed in the back cover and on the outside of it the Unit Orders Windows (UOW) are displayed and explained. With the addition of a recommended reading list, glossary, and table of contents, the TacOps manual has it all! Let's Open the Map and See Where We Are Upon loading the game the box cover art is displayed, a drumroll plays and battlesounds are heard. You are presented with the Startup Window that lets you review available scenarios, pick one to play, and choose your play method. Here is one of the many areas that makes TacOps a superior wargame. You may play it against the computer, hotseating it against a human opponent, over the modem, across a network using a single copy of the game, and via email. What more can a true wargamer want? I should mention one caveat, as the modem option requires you to play the game and transmit turn files to your opponent using your normal telecom program, not one built into the game. I haven't played all sixty scenarios, but those I did have been holding actions, and most had the US on the defensive. This doesn't mean every battle is the same; there are no canned setups in TacOps as the starting locations for each unit is decided by the owning player. At the start of each battle the players are told to either setup their units within an outlines area on the map and give them orders for that turn, designate a point along one map edge where formations will appear at a certain time, or a combination of both. For example, in scenario Frolik-8, the US is given an area comprising half the map where he is told to place units from a reinforced USMC battalion in a effort to keep OPFOR from moving across the map and exiting at least 25% of his forces off the Western edge. The OPFOR player is shown a narrow band along the East edge and is told to click on spots where several battalions and one regiment will appear in the first half hour of the two hour game. Allowing players to determine their starting locations keeps each battle fresh and uncertain for the opposing player. But this isn't all that makes TacOps such a challenge game after game. Each scenario is entirely customizable, from the setup locations the amount of time a battle lasts, and the entry time of formations, to the unit types and off-map assets involved. In short, each of the included scenarios can be modified an unlimited number of ways to keep the game the situation new and unpredictable. There is no map designer due to each one being pixel-based, which is one of the game's few weaknesses. But new, two player scenarios can be designed and existing ones modified to the point they are unrecognizable from the original. I said two player only scenarios can be designed because the AI is designed to work with the stock battles only, which brings me to another of TacOps' strong suits. Ready For Orders, Sir! The AI has been designed to play each scenario several different ways, entering the board or setting up in several different fashions. The AI does a credible job on the offensive, varying its strategy from game to game, but is always going to do a better job on the defensive. You can beat the AI, but it won't be a walkover. Giving your units their movement and firing orders is so easy it's almost obscene. Clicking on a unit brings up its UOW. Here you assign movement orders, facing, digging in, firing smoke grenades, plus loading and unloading units by clicking on the map at each point you want something to occur; up to twenty orders can be given by clicking on the UOW icons. Combined with the WAIT 15- SECONDS command give players almost unlimited control. A movement example is as follows: A US Marine LAV-25 (light-armored personnel carrier) loaded with a two man M60 crew is sited on an East-West road. I click on the unit and bring up its UOW, then click on the road to the East where it bends South. I then click on the road at its Southeast leg where it bends back to the East between two hills. At that point I click on the LEFT arrow and DIG-IN, then twice on the WAIT 15-SECONDS icon. To finish up I then click on the road further east, the FIRE SMOKE GRENADES, then click on the edge of a woods that is on the North side of the road at that point, and lastly the UNLOAD and DIG-IN icons. When I execute this turn, the LAV will drive down the road at its road movement rate for one turn. On the next and subsequent turns it will continue down the road, turning South and stopping where the road heads East. The LAV will face east, seek whatever cover it can immediately find, then set and watch for 30-seconds, firing at whatever presents itself that is within the firing range I set (more on that in a moment). At the end of this period it will continue East until it reaches the road beside the woods. The LAV then fires its smoke grenades to hide it next move from prying eyes and wandering AT weapons. It turns North, enters the woods, unloads it passengers, and digs-in. But what if it is fires or is fired on during movement or once it reaches its objective? While the UOW is open, click on the SOP icon and that window opens. You can give a any or all units combinations of thirteen different orders, to include Stop If Fired On And Pop Smoke, Reverse After Firing ????-meters, Cross Minefields, and Allow Fire Support on Own Position. This flexibility makes a contortionist look like a quadriplegic and puts every other tactical game to shame. Firing orders show almost as much flexibility. You can set units to fire on a particular type (ex: BMP-2s), and/or a particular unit. You can also set a unit to fire on anything it sees within a certain radius of a pre-set point, which is called a Direct Fire Target Reference Point (DF TRP), and the range the firing unit should open fire at is also selectable. >From the UOW you can check the personnel and ammunition status and even resupply units low or out of ammo. This last feature is one sacrifice made to realism in the name of playability. Each side is given a set number of supply points that are used to replenish units. What you will find is the units with long weapons' ranges and low ammo counts (i.e. AT missiles and mortars) expend this ordnance early on and need to be replenished. I have even seen Javelin and TOW units busily going about the business of killing armor and needed to be continuously resupplied. A nice feature that many players probably don't utilize is the ability to check whether units have orders or not, which way they are facing, and whether they are exposed or dug-in. This is done with a simple keyboard command and lets you instantly check all everyone at a glance. It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Heading this Way! Artillery and mortar fire is handled simply but elegantly and is a pleasure to use. Open the Off-Board Artillery window or click on an on-map unit you want to fire, click on the MARK TARGET icon, then click on the spot you want shot to fall. You can and should use Adjusting fire that causes only one round to fall at a time and doesn't expend your limited ammo, as accuracy starts at "0" and takes at least five turns to get to the optimum "5" rating. Once a battery's accuracy rating reaches an acceptable level, switch to FIRE FOR EFFECT and subsequent salvos will fall on or close to where you want them. Target Reference Points (TRP) can be setup and are pre-sighted locations where accurate fire is landing on a spot that has been marked with a TRP marker. The firing battery can then cease fire or move to another location. When it comes back to the TRP, it accuracy level is only one less than it final value prior to the move. In some scenarios, one side is given some TRPs to set out. Fire targeted on any of them automatically begins at level-4. Batteries can fire HE, ICM, or Smoke, but have limited amounts of each, although most scenarios give each player a percentage chance of getting additional ammo. HE is of little use against armored vehicles and its capability decreases when fired into rough, woods, or towns. ICM is extremely effective against all targets but is in short supply and should be saved for use against multiple armored targets. Air support is handled somewhat like artillery in that you select the target area but not the loadout; aircraft are all considered to be carrying cluster munitions. Aircraft take a minimum of four minutes to appear over the target area and when they do they automatically spot all enemy units and bomb the closest group within 500-meters of their location. Of course every enemy unit that is within AA weapons' range gets a shot at them prior to dropping their "eggs", which can cause the drop to be off-target or aborted due to damage or being shot down. Due to each battle's short time frame (20-120 minutes) each fighter-bomber gets only one shot at its target, then it's Miller Time. Arty, mortars, and aircraft spotting markers can be moved from their location a set distance each turn, the accuracy values of the first two decreasing one number for each move. This allows you to walk the fire onto a new target while suffering a corresponding accuracy loss until the spotting unit can make corrections. For those who REALLY want to get into the nitty-gritty of modern weapons' systems, you can even check the hit probability vs. range and penetration factors for each unit's weapon, plus look at a photo of each weapon, all only a mouse click away. In short, you can do just about anything a real life commander can do with his unit. Helicopters are handled uniquely in that in addition to setting their movement path, you can also give them altitude commands: Land, Nap-of-the-Earth (NOE), and Medium. This means choppers can be ordered to slowly infiltrate the forward area flying NOE to minimize their exposure to the too-deadly AA weapons, occasionally popping up to medium altitude for a good look around, then returning to NOE and moving on. Since some modern missiles can shoot at aircaft flying low, landing them should break the missile lock. TacOps if full of small details that make the simulation incredibly detailed and fun to play. Examples are the ability to check Line of Sight, adding/subtracting/changing units, air, and arty, and the ability to bring up the scenario notes at any time. Other expamples are checking the game status, plus the ease in copyng commands, SOP settings, and engagement ranges to other units. Oh, and last but not least is Major H's already legendary support. He listens to users, responds promptly to questions, comments, and the odd criticism, plus fixes bugs and adds features as needed. Describing the game is all well and good, but does the game work? Happily, yes, TacOps plays like a commander's dream. Any method except PBEM starts and plays easily. You move smoothly through a few screens where you pick your play option: Single, Two Player, which side you take, and the scenario. The Major has obviously spent a great deal of time and thought into getting the game to be as easy to play as possible. Assign your units their starting positions, give everyone their orders, and let the battle begin. Depending on the unit-type and the terrain each is moving through, they either drive fairly quickly across the map or trudge aganizingly slow towards their final locations. Both sides move within sight of each other, and gun or missile fire is exchanged with units being suppressed, taking damaging hits, or being destroyed. Artillery fire rains from the heavens, and gunships clatter about the field turning enemy armor into smoking piles of junk, while airstrikes crater the ground. Within a short time the field is littered with burning vehicles and dead troops. Although this may sound terribly complex, it is easily controlled by players from turn-to-turn. TacOps has a definite tactical feel to it, even with the long range of modern weapons and coorespondingly large map scale. Units crawl across any but the smallest map and hide in broken terrain until they decide to pounce on an unsuspecting enemy. After firing they pop smoke and retreat from view, later to reappear in another spot to ambush other units. The game ends when one side fullfills its victory conditions, doesn't have enough units left to win, or time runs out. TacOps takes all the druggery out of managing a force while letting the player concentrate on the strategy and tactics needed to win. I've played the game at 800x600 on 17" and 14" monitors without having to scroll the map, but at 640x480 on the smaller monitor means constantly moving back and forth from your units to the enemy positions. There is no difference in the detail, so run the game at the higher resolution and save yourself some frustration. You're Slightly Off-Target There's not much to dislike about TacOps. At the beginning of each battle a Preferences windows appears where players can change any of eleven settings; these settings have a profound effect on game balancing game play. Examples are having smoke block line-of- sight, improved warheads for OPFOR, and adjusting the visibility range. Herein lies one problem with the game: the scenarios aren't balanced using the default settings. The defensive player is normally substantially outgunned and there is no way to know it or balance a scenario without checking the manual's points guide and doing some mental arithmetic. Other than the unbalanced scenarios, the only legitimate (although minor) complaint is that the number of terrain features is limited. There are only two levels (ground and hill), plus rough, woods, towns, rivers, and roads. This isn't realistic but gamers will be forced to "suffer" until Panzers East and TacOps 2 are released. Another minor point about the map is that colors are dull, drab Mac-style, and while the unit counters are functional they're not anywhere close to what you get in Steel Panthers. Morale is also not factored into the game. Other than units being suppressed after being fired on, units fight to the death and never run, hide, or surrender. TacOps is full of fresh ideas on how a military simulation should be run. The ease at which players can give even intricate orders to entire formations makes it a snap to play. Other designers should take note and everyone even remotely interested in the subject should get this game. Everyone is plaing TacOps, even our military. In addition to all the unofficial training it is being used for, the USMC has placed a large order for use as a training aid. What better endorsement can a tactical simulation get? A scenario disk for the Windows version is now out. You get about seven new maps and 39-scenarios. The cost is about $25 w/ shipping and is well worth money. The new maps are much better looking and include desert and building complexes. TACOPS, V1.04 for Windows and 1.5 for the Mac Designed by: I.L. Holdridge (MajorH1@AOL.COM) Published by: Arsenal Publishing (ArsenalPub@AOL.COM) 44901 Falcon Place, Suite-108 Sterling, Va. 20166-9531 Phone: 703-742-3801 Fax: 703-742-6020 System Requirements: 386/33DX, Windows 3.1, 4-megs ram, 8-megs hard drive space, SVGA monitor and card, mouse. Available by mail only from the publisher, playable demo available at: HTTP://WWW.ARSENALPUB.COM or FTP.ARSENALPUB.COM