Computer Graphics Memory Disk Space
Minimum: 386 SVGA 4MB 7 MB
Max/Rec: 486/Pentium 8MB 8 MB
Control: Mouse, Keyboard
Sound: Adlib/Soundblaster
Notes: Not copy protected. VESA driver supplied with game.
Reviewed PC version 1.1 on: 486dx33 with 4 MB memory.
Reviewer recommends: 486dx33 with 4-8 MB memory.
Atomic's previous series, _V for Victory_ (V4V), yielded four exceptional titles published by Three-Sixty Games. Having switched publishers for WaW (Avalon Hill Games, arguably the most significant force in board wargaming for the last 25 years), Atomic appears to be intent on delivering what the not-quite-perfect V4V series promised.
In fact, the transition from V4V to WaW is not so much revolutionary as it is evolutionary. Veterans of the V4V titles will be quite at home with OC, although a careful reading of the manual is strongly recommended. This shouldn't be much of an ordeal, however, since the OC manual is one of the best written and visually pleasing that I've come across.
Installation is quite straightforward and the game occupies around 8 MB with sound files and 7 MB without (I recommend ditching them). OC is quite a memory intensive program and I've been running it off of a minimal boot disk (the documentation describes in detail how to set this up) since I only have 4 MB, which is just scraping by for OC (Atomic recommends 8 MB for this and future WaW releases). That being said, I have yet to exper- ience any memory related problems.
The OC interface is essentially the same (right down to the pinup in the calendar screen), although a handy button bar now graces the top of the map, organizing most of the important and heavily used functions. The graphics are still in gorgeous SVGA, and in a move of unquestionable sanity, Atomic has replaced it's directory of ten trillion VESA drivers with a universal VESA driver that worked smoothly on my system (nor have I heard any complaints about it on the Net). The player can now choose from three SVGA display modes: 640x480, 600x800, 1024x768. The latter will provide the most on-screen map area, although on my monitor each hex was shrunk down to about 0.5 cm in diameter! Since I don't have a magnifying glass in front of my screen (a la the movie 'Brazil'), I decided to stick with the conventional, easy to read/see, 640x480 mode.
Minimal (I suppose obligatory) sound card support is offered. The opening music is grating, and the sporadic sound effects during gameplay come from conventional (and uninspired) .wav files. But, hey, if you want multimedia then go play Myst...this is a wargame! Anyway, I much prefer to hunt the Desert Fox to the strains of the Clash or the Beastie Boys.
For those not familiar with the V4V series, OC is an operational level wargame (the predominant combat units being battalions) which possesses a structure very similar to conventional board wargames. A hex-agonal grid is superimposed on the map, with a scale of about 1 km per hex (it's not clear in the documentation) and all of the best elements of board wargaming are present, including: zones of control, unit stacking restric- tions, combat resolution by odds comparison, hierarchical command struc- ture, supply rules, etc. I've always felt that the V4V (and now WaW) series are as much board wargaming simulations as they are WWII combat si -ulations: they look so good that you feel you can pick up the unit counters and move them around the mapboard with your hands!
Of course, OC and its V4V predecessors go well beyond the limitations of board wargaming. Combat fatigue, dispersion, night effects, replacements, troop quality, and other such dynamic factors are handled effortlessly by the computer; in a board wargame, keeping track of everything that happens in OC would be a nightmare! Combining complexity and playability is one of the areas where Atomic's wargames really shine.
As well, options allow for limited intelligence and the fog of war. If the former is chosen, the player will only have absolute information about his own units, with intelligence gathered about the enemy through proximity to the friendly units, probing attacks and air reconnaisance. If the fog of war option is chosen, then he will also have limited intel-ligence about his _own_ units...with less information available about fa-tigued and out of supply units. Limited intelligence and fog of war are extremely well handled in OC, and I strongly recommend playing with both of these options on. Be forewarned, however, that enemy AI (Artificial Intel-ligence) does _not_ use these options, giving it a strong advantage.
Of course, one may argue from the V4V track record that the AI needs all the help it can get: enemy AI in the V4V games tended to be timid and not very imaginative. Take the AI in this game for granted and you may be in for a few rude shocks! Atomic deserves credit for significantly improving the AI in this game. In a number of instances, elements of the 21st Panzer division under the control of the computer aggressively tried to outflank my screen battalions to get at my HQ's and artillery concentrations. Very impressive. In other cases, I've been able to tie up the enemy through well executed diversionary attacks (OC includes dummy units on each side; dece -tion was a significant element of the Desert War and under limited intel- ligence/fog of war these units can be very effective). You do get the im- pression that the AI is actually _thinking_ a bit, and evaluating potential threats instead of just, well, _sitting_ there!
As an amusing side note, in one scenario against the computer (Hellfire Pass with the computer as the Axis), I launched an aggressively mobile encirclement of Italian defensive positions protruding from Fort Capuzzo. When my New Zealanders (now north and west of Capuzzo) cut off their supply lines (presumably from Bardia to the north) while at the same time my Bri -ish armour punched a hole in the Italian defences, the 'Italian AI' freaked out and almost the entire 55th Division left their fortifications and streamed out of the area by strategic movement, allowing itself to be am-bushed en masse by my Indian regiments to the east!
Now _that's_ what I call simulation! Thankfully, the game does not force me to have to deal with thousands of Italian POW's.
OC boasts an improved supply system; a hierarchical chain of supply now exists, going from individual unit through the various levels of HQ's to a supply depot and finally to an initial supply source. This structure is perfect for encouraging desert warfare-style strategies and tactics. A well fought scenario/campaign would have both sides engaging in sweeping mobile operations to outflank the other's supply lines, leading to devasta-ting effects on the morale and effectiveness of the affected combat units.
Air support in OC has been improved over V4V in that the player can now assign individual squadrons to air support tasks such as movement inter- diction and combat support. In addition to being a less abstract system than in V4V, there is a higher likelihood of requested air strikes occur- ing. Players must also wait for squadrons to be refitted before they can be reassigned to new tasks: nice touch. Conspicuous by its absence is the ability to use airpower to interdict enemy supply lines. Given the cru- cial role of supply in this theatre, it would have given the game an even richer atmosphere.
Another innovation present in OC is the ability of armoured units to per- form overrun attacks. This gives the game a nice tactical dimension lack- ing in the other operational level V4V games. One omission, but perhaps the designers felt it was too tactical for the scope of this game, is that German heavy flak (88) cannot conduct limited ranged attacks on British armour. Historically, these units could engage British armour up to a range of 1.5 km (2 hexes) across the flat desert terrain.
One of the nicer improvements to the game system is the fact that the player can now choose colour coded shadings on units to distinguish such things as unit type, supply status, and fatigue. This shading can be ad- justed in the main button bar. I find it particularly useful in making sure I haven't forgotten any stray artillery units hiding under other unit types (something I did a lot of in V4V!).
Play By Email (PBEM) capability is the most significant improvement in the WaW system. Players can now exchange move files with each other through email and review opponent's moves in a way that doesn't compromise anyone's intelligence situation. Unfortunately, the documentation on exactly _how_ to run a PBEM game is a little sketchy. The biggest problem is that the move files which are exchanged between players are binary. Therefore, in order to put them in a mailable ASCII format, they must be encoded by a program like BinHex (for the Mac) or uuencode (for the PC) and sub- sequently decoded back to binary by the other player. This is not explain- ed in the documentation and may prove to be a bit confusing for the less computer literate among us. It would be nice if Atomic could include a small encoder/decoder subroutine in its games so that move files can be handled more seamlessly by the player.
These minor problems aside, Atomic is taking an historic step in making their games totally PBEM friendly. This has been curiously lacking in the computer wargaming industry even though most players would prefer playing fellow humans rather than a significantly less-than-human AI.
In conclusion, Operation Crusader offers an outstanding wargaming exper- ience. It possesses the best aspects of the V4V games, while significantly improving on their weaknesses. It is an auspicious beginning for the new WaW series and sets the stage for future releases (expect Stalingrad to be the next WaW offering). Operation Crusader, while not perfect, is clearly at the cutting edge of computer wargaming. It offers a rich, com-plex environment while at the same time is organized to maximize playabil-ity and is robust enough to allow the player to experiment with tactics and strategy against (finally) an adequate AI opponent, or better still, against a PBEM human opponent.
Acknowledgement: I'd like to thank Andre Costopoulos, amateur Rommel his- torian extraordinaire, for his inestimable historical/technical advice.