TacOps 0.1.5

Pros: Easy to use; great balance between realism and playability; wonderful support; FUN!
Cons: Air support and artillery are abstract; no A-10 warthog [g]

If you're a fan of military wargames, or a Mac gamer looking for a top-notch strategy game, check out TacOps. It's an excellent sim that should satisfy hardened wargamers and rainy-day players alike.

TacOps is a tactical level wargame. Rather than managing an entire war, you're placed in command of a small force (no more than a division) and given a specific mission to complete. You can get down n' dirty, setting up ambushes and capturing objectives rather than bogging down in command of a huge number of troops.

When you begin a game, you're told your mission objective (capturing a town, defending a strategic airbase, etc.) and briefed on the strength of the opposing units. You're then taken to the main window -- a color topographical map of the battlefield. On that map, you give orders and watch the action unfold. Setting options for individual units is straightforward. Click on a unit icon in the map, and a window with unit options appears. Give movement commands, instructions for when to fire on enemy units, etc.

TacOps offers numerous missions and scenerios, from assaulting a small town to defending a critical airstrip or making your way past an enemy-held area. TacOps' computer opponent is crafty, and will give most new players a run for their money. In some scenerios, defeating the computer player is a challenge even to wargame veterans -- the AI has a collection of strategies that it can use on each individual mission, rather than relying on a single 'set' path, or simple reactions to player advances. TacOps truly shines in person-vs-person games. Oven an Appletalk network, two TacOps users can connect for a live battle against each other. More common are 'Play-by-Email' games, where players exchange moves via electronic mail on the Internet or online services like AOL. A group of TacOps fans have set up a web site that lists players interested in email games, complete with a ranking system to ensure fairly matched games. Check it out at http://PersonalWebs.myriad.net/backlash/TacOps.html

TacOps balances of realism and playability well. Although die-hard simmers have some minor quibbles with the way air support and artillery are handled, most agree that it does a great job of producing true-to-life results. When you use good tactics, you know it; when you use bad tactics, OPFOR takes advantage of it and beats you into the ground. I'm a perfect example -- since TacOps is my first real experience with wargaming, I entered the battlefield as a tactical neophyte. After several games, I had discovered the importance of spreading out my forces, keeping forward observers in protected positions, and setting up pre-planned 'kill zones'. Although hardened wargamers and military types take these concepts for granted, the fact that I was able to pick them up after just a few games says a lot about TacOps' ability to produce realistic combat results.

Major Holdridge, the author of TacOps, has alsoprovided excellent tech support via AOL and the Internet. he answers user questions and takes suggestions for future versions on the newsgroup comp.sys.mac.games.strategy and the AOL Mac Games message boards. In fact, he's already released several updates to TacOps in the past year. They included minor bug fixes, and many user-requested enhancements -- new unit types, changes in the operation of key features, and other modifications. If he DOESN'T implement a suggestion, he's honest about the reason -- it would either take too much time, would not improve the game, or is already planned for TacOps II. [g] This teriffic support has endeared MANY a user to TacOps and Arsenal Publishing... Big software companies, take note!

TacOps is the first strategy wargame that's held my attention -- let alone become an obsession! Arsenal Publishing has turned customer support into an art form, and the game's balance of realism and ease of use should keep users of all experience levels happy.