Producer: CCS
Retail Price: £9.95
Author: RT Smith

A couple of month's back, CCS's Desert Rats was sent in for review and although I rated it highly, I neglected to allocate it a Crash Smash status. The reasons for this were actually pointed to by Mr RT Smith, the author, himself. He had had to compromise somewhat to fit such a complex game into the available memory of the Spectrum. The result appeared to be a flawed work of genius. Then two months ago, I speculated on what the game might have been like if only it had been used for the 128K Spectrum and made a general plea for games that would take advantage of this extra memory.

Now it appears that my cries have been heeded. An expanded version of the game has just been released by CCS. With two extra scenarios and some improved features to neaten up the bundle, I was left with no doubt that this was the game I'd been waiting for all along.

The game now begins in the period prior to Rommel's arrival in North Africa. These were the days when the largely unsung achievements of Wavell and O'Conner led to the swift demise of the massive but ill-trained Italian Tenth Army. With hindsight, many historians have questioned the wisdom of Winston Churchill in sending Wavell on to other theatres of operation and breaking up the crack force that had developed under his command. His subordinate, O'Conner came more unstuck still, after an over-tired staff driver got lost one night and led him straight into the clutches of a German patrol, resulting in a stay in a POW camp for the rest of the war.

This era is covered over two scenarios, Operation Compass and Bede Fomm. In Operation Compass, the British player has to capture Bardia and Tobruk from the Italians in a 45 turn limit covering the period from 9th December 1940 to 22nd January 1941. The objective of the Italians is to hold position in Egypt and keep the British out of Derna. Beda Fomm presents the British with the objective of capturing Benghazi and devastating the Italian Tenth Army while the Italians themselves must attempt to prevent this and control as much territory as possible. This scenario is the shorter of the two, lasting only 15 turns from 24th January to 7th February 1941.

The scenarios accurately give the player a taste of the Allies' better days in the North African Campaign, presenting the much more fluid nature of desert warfare that then prevailed. In Desert Rats, the pace of battle is set to reflect this. How much it contrasts with the far more stable days of Montgomery and his 'safety in numbers' philosophy! in play, this works very well and provides the less experienced or able player with a large scale but simple backdrop as an introduction to the game.

All of the scenarios from the first game are present but the main campaign game has been altered. The Desert War previously covered the period from Rommel's first attack in the Spring of 1941 to his withdrawal in December 1942. It was played over 624 turns. In this new version of the game, the scenario begins with the first British offensive in December 1940 and is now played over 736 turns.

There are several other modifications to the rules and presentation. The first that becomes noticeable is a joystick option for those with Kempston, Protek or Sinclair interface owners. The obvious ease that this brings to the movement of units across the screen, greatly enhances playability. There is also a demonstration mode available from the main menu, which is entered by holding down the 0 key when selecting the number of players. The demo mode may be left by holding down the M key at the end of a turn.

Mass mobilisations are made somewhat more difficult to organise with the stacking rules now only allowing ten points per square as opposed to thirteen in the earlier version of the game. However, logistical problems should be less severe with the supply range now increased from seven to ten squares and from five to seven squares diagonally. Lybian and Blackshirt units are treated as brigades in the game (despite the fact that they are organised as divisions) because they are disproportionally weak and need to be supplied from an HQ unit.

For those who were looking for a more competent computer opponent, this game doesn't come up with the goods. However, it offers so much in terms of variety of play and improved presentation and structuring that it has to be seen as a milestone in Spectrum wargaming. If more software houses follow the lead so clearly set by CCS, those people who are considering buying the Spectrum 128 will find themselves spoiled for choice when it comes to challenging quality software.

Producer: CCS
Retail Price: £9.95
Author: R T Smith

RT Smith won acclaim for his last game, Arnhem. His latest work, Desert Rats, outclasses Arnhem in terms of both scale and quality. Arnhem depicts a single battle, massive though it was in terms of the men and equipment deployed by both sides. Now Mr Smith has returned with a truly massive game covering the history of the North African campaign in a series of scenarios which range from a seven turn introductory game based on the British Battleaxe offensive to a six hundred and twenty four turn game depicting the conflict from Pommel's arrival in the Spring of 1941 up to his departure at the end of 1942.

There are no skill levels as such, but the matter of game complexity is dealt with in an innovative way related to the status of Malta. There are three different ways Malta's importance can be portrayed. The first is the historical setting, where Malta is used successfully by the British to increase their own supplies and cut off those of the enemy. The second, Operation Herkules, assumes that the Axis forces capture Malta and as a result their supply levels increase greatly during the latter half of 1942. The third option does not allow the British to use Malta or assumes that Axis suppression was severe enough to negate the advantages offered by Malta thus constantly increasing supplies reach the Axis forces.

The game can be played by one or two players, and in the one player game the computer can play either side. As usual, the excellent rules book is crammed with historical notes as if the author is urging you to test the validity of his game. Indeed, the booklet often provides an insight to good strategy and is worth reading even by those familiar with the historical context as a whole, because the information it contains is so relevant to the scenarios presented.

The sequence of play allows the British player to order his forces first, with the Axis player following. Movement and subsequent combat are handled simultaneously once both sides have issued their instructions and play proceeds to the next turn. As usual, reports are always available and the same variety of combat and movement modes as those found in Arnhem are employed successfully here.

Apart from the standard move/fight options available to a unit, the British player has the option to GO TO PORT at the rate of one unit per turn. The order allows British units to travel from Tobruk to Alexandria, or vice-versa, as long as Tobruk remains held by British forces.

Units are mainly in the form of brigades, battalions and HQs. Italian units are only depicted as divisions. Unit symbols are clearly marked for easy identification and each side has different representative colours. For those using monochrome monitors, Axis and Allied forces have opposite facing units and British units are also shown in outline.

The screen consists of four areas. The largest of these shows the map of the region over which the battles were fought. A small window in the upper right hand corner of the screen shows the date and time (the game is not 'real-time' however). Below this is a dual purpose window displaying order options and messages and finally, at the base of the screen, the identity of the unit currently being ordered is displayed.

Stacking rules are also employed, allowing balanced groups of units to make concentrated moves upon the enemy. Incidentally, as losses are inflicted on units, they may actually change their designation and become parts of other units - but such things are handled in a fairly straightforward manner so as not to burden players with too much irrelevant detail.

Logistics play an important part in the game. Various kinds of movement and attack orders deplete the supplies of units to varying degrees. The supply rules in this game are the most complex I've dealt with for some time. Unless attention is paid to the depletion of units' supplies, you will soon find yourself up a proverbial gum tree!

Although the game plays in a similar fashion to Arnhem, it is u reassuring to see that the author has decided not to rest on the laurels of his previous creation and has modified the rules system so the actual battle sequences play faster and yet more confusingly to add realism. The effect works well and enhances the feeling of tension prevalent throughout the game.

There are six scenarios in all. The first five are in chronological order whereas the last one attempts to cover the entire campaign. To be honest, there was no way that this last scenario could be played in time for the review schedule but from playing the others, I can only say that it looks very tempting indeed. To play the campaign to its conclusion would undoubtedly require several sessions at the computer. To master this game would probably require even more time. The only way to win the scenario is to destroy all the opposing units. At the same time, your own losses must be kept low. This is the only major point of contention I have with the game. As the author himself points out in the historical notes, the Axis powers withdrew before they suffered total annihilation and even then, inflicted massive losses on the Allies during the campaign. The other scenarios however, each have their own victory conditions and all of these reflect the difficulty of the actual situations.

One other area, not so much an inaccuracy as an omission, is the lack of airpower on either side. This can be accounted for, however, when you consider that rarely did the RAF or Luftwaffe have any decisive affect on engagements, and as the author himself reminds us in the designer's notes, there were some limitations imposed by the lack of memory - an incredible amount is packed into the game.

But this does lead me to the final point. Whilst the game excels in some areas, I feel that Mr Smith may have bitten off more than a Spectrum can chew. It may seem unfair to say this as the author is evidently a most capable programmer and a dedicated military historian. But the designer's notes are full of excuses for the things he couldn't put in - all because of the limitations of the computer rather than his limitations as a Programmer. Perhaps a modular series of games would have worked better. Air support rules could have been added for the sake of completeness. The scale could have been one that better suited the game and Mr Smith's apparent wishes. Then the Spectrum would have had a classic series of wargames, I'm sure.

What Desert Rats does offer is a massive game that strives to retain every historical point of accuracy despite limitations and ever present compromises. Perhaps these criticisms should be laid at the producers and not the author himself. Perhaps other factors prevented a series of games from being developed. Whatever the reasons, Desert Rats is a superb game that could have been even more substantial.

Publisher: CCS
Programmer: Bob Smith
Price:: £9.95
Memory: 48K

The desert war of 1941-1942 ought to be ideal computer wargame fodder. For a start, there were plenty of opportunities for both sides to mess it up, so that while the original outcome was, as in most wars, more or less inevitable, life is by no means so secure for the player.

Secondly, the deserts of North Africa are easy to represent on the TV screen. Lots of yellow, some areas of hills, thick red lines for cliffs and a black road running along the coast just about sums it up. The playing area stretches from El Agheila to Alexandria - about half of Libya and most of Egypt - which puts the game on the campaign level, as opposed to Bob Smith's earlier game, Arnhem, which is a more tactical affair.

Thirdly, the war in the desert remains one of the more popularly romantic episodes in a brutal period of conflict. It was the first major British victory, it was accomplished without the aid of American troops, and it involved two highly colourful antagonists - General Montgomery and the archetypal 'good' German, Erwin Rommel.

It was also the first wargame I ever played - Avalon Hill's Afrika Korps, a classic boardgame from the sixties. Nostalgic memories may bias me in favour of the scenario, but there's no doubt that the CCS simulation is quite superb, in many respects better than Arnhem, and streets ahead of anything else in the field.

The game begins with the ancient ritual of running through the options. You have a choice of one or two-player games, and six scenarios. Those include Rommel's initial campaign which bottled up the Allies in Tobruk; an introductory scenario based around the first British attempt to relieve Tobruk; Operation Crusader - the major British offensive to relieve Tobruk; Gazala - Rommel's push east of Tobruk which forced the Allies back to the lines of El Alamein; and El Alamein itself, where Montgomery decisively defeated Rommel. You can play each scenario in turn, or choose a grand game encompassing the whole war in a gigantic free-for-all.

The Desert War was a largely mechanised affair, and tanks play a crucial role. There are three types of tank unit - medium tanks, light tanks, and slow infantry support tanks. There are also recce units, motorised infantry, ordinary infantry, support groups, anti-tanks units and artillery. Some units are HQs and those are important in maintaining supply lines. On top of that, each unit can dig-in or even fortify its position.

When you come to move a unit, you can obtain a report on its strength, morale, and efficiency. Information is also given on its state of supply and particular ability at attacking.

There's a whole range of possible actions. Movement is carried out by shifting the cursor to the appropriate goal and pressing ENTER. Assault is similar but involves more aggression while Hold is an instruction to dig-in. Divide allows you to break grouped units into smaller divisions. Fortify strengthens a dug-in position and Travel enables you to move swiftly down a road if it's unblocked.

A special command. Go To Port, transfers troops between Alexandria and Tobruk, but only if both cities are occupied by a British unit.

Combat occurs when units are next to each other, and you get sound effects which can become pretty demoralising when the opposition lets off a sustained burst of screeching and all your units manage in reply is a muted belch. But although it's vitally important to ensure the correct right type of units are leading your attack, the game is ultimately won or lost depending on how you organise your supplies.

There are two types of unit - ordinary units and HQs. Supplies are handled very simply. Ordinary units must be next to their divisional HQ or any Corps HQ to draw supplies Any HQ must be within seven 'squares' - there's no formal grid on the screen but it's easy to judge - of a road to supply itself, but only if the road is clear of enemy units all the way back to your edge of the map.

If a unit is left without supplies it will start to deteriorate and eventually become useless. This is a simple and logical system which works well in the game, and forces players to centre the fighting around key points on the road, Tobruk being the most important. Reconnaissance units are particularly useful for cutting supply lines, and if you can succeed in sandwiching your opponent his entire army may collapse with heartening speed.

The graphics are simple and pleasant. Enemy units are not identified until they actually fight, and although life gets confusing if you stack or overlap a whole bundle of units together, that is no more than you should expect - good generalship is partly a matter of knowing which units are where and making sure they arrive at their destination in good order.

The El Alamein scenario is particularly confusing, with two enormous armies bunched together across a minefield. Before you complain, consider that Monty spent nearly six weeks training his troops in the precise tactics to be used - he even produced a traffic control system to organise a smooth flow of forces through the small gaps made in German lines. You can't expect to emulate that five minutes after reading the rules, and I managed to hand Rommel the whole of Egypt on a plate the first time I tried.

The map scrolls across two-thirds of the screen - the total area is about three and a half screens, which is ample for all scenarios except El Alamein. All the orders are contained in the right-hand screen third, and brief details of units are given in the bottom two lines, including occasional reports.

Historical accuracy is tempted by the inclusion of three 'skill' options. In reality the Allies used Malta as a base from which to destroy Axis supplies. If you want to play 'what if?'scenarios, you can choose to ignore Malta altogether, or allow the German Operation Herkules in 1942 to be successful, in which case you lose Malta at that point and Rommel receives extra supplies late in the game.

The system has the virtue of allowing you to make moves far ahead of a single turn. For instance, if you want to shift a unit all the way down the road - say, five turns worth of travel - you could move the cursor to the destination and then the unit will simply follow the original order for each move unless you change it.

That allows you to set long-term objectives and then adjust only those orders which become irrelevant - just as a real general would. The computer responds extremely swiftly, and although it sometimes plays a little passively, does not do anything obviously stupid which might break the illusion of authenticity.

Furthermore, the full campaign - which I recommend wholeheartedly, having spent a whole day playing it much to the disgust of old Scolding - provides plenty of authentic touches. Those include the withdrawal of the Australian units, after the war against Japan gets underway, and 'reorganisation phases' when there was little activity in North Africa because of events eleswhere. Those give you the opportunity to take a breather and build up reinforcements and new positions. They tend to push you towards re-fighting the actual battles of the war instead of the crazy all-out slaughter which some computer wargames allow.

Most important of all, it's easy to get into the game. The booklet of rules seems dauntingly long, but that is due to long explanations of the various commands and hints on how to use units effectively.

Half the booklet is taken up with an account of the various historical battles, so even if you're not possessed of a detailed knowledge of military history you can still follow the original tactics if you want.

Desert Rats is an example of what computer wargames should be about, and sets a new and impressive standard for others to follow. Bob Smith says it took him longer to write than the excellent Arnhem - we hope he has something even more spectacular on the drawing-board. In the meantime, get dug in with the Eighth Army and prepare for action - you won't want to pull your head out of the sand for many weeks.

Spectrum, £9.95cs
Amstrad, £9.95cs

The follow-up to the ever popular Arnhem, also written by R.T. Smith. Desert Rats is a one or two player wargame covering the campaign in the western desert from the arrival of Rommel in Tripoli to the final battle for El Alamein.

The same ordering system that was used in Arnhem is used again in Desert Rats, and why not? It is simple, efficient and very easy to work with. Desert Rats is a tough game to win and you're sure to spend a long time trying.

MACHINE: Spectrum/CBM64
SUPPLIER: Cases Computer Simulations
PRICE: £9.95 (tape)

This is the best of the three desert war games reviewed this month. Written by R. T. Smith, it has the same graphics style and extremely straightforward playing mechanism as his earlier Arnhem. But as the author says, it is far from being just "Arnhem in yellow" and is in some ways a better game.

Desert Rats' choice of battle sadly misses out O'Connor and starts with Rommel's first appearance in March 1941. It then offers the short, doomed, Battleaxe offensive (a good way to learn the game), Crusader, and Gazela. Oddly, it then jumps to Second Alamein, although its scale and mechanisms are not really suitable for this battle.

Intelligence is limited to showing the position of enemy units but not their composition, but completely hidden movement is not possible. The order-then-move system makes this a very good two player game, but as an opponent this program isn't even Montgomery. It defends well but is vulnerable to encirclement and will not initiate attacks. The British can win at Gazala, for instance, by doing absolutely nothing.

What makes this game outstanding is an extremely realistic command and control system, which does not prevent stupid actions but simply serves the player up with their result. Orders can be given to a division either as a body or broken down into brigades and regiments, so both concentration and dispersion are possible. But anyone who disperses his forces too much will find them being over-run. Similarly, failure to keep the elements of one Corps together in a reasonable way results in their running out of supplies at embarrassing moments.

Desert Rats gives a real command-in-chief's view of the desert war. It comes highly recommended by the Royal Tank Regiment. And by me, as well.

Spectrum
CCS
Wargame
£7.95

Of all the campaigns of WWII, that of the Western Desert is dearest to the heart of Englishmen. This is strange as for most of its course, it was marked by a series of disasters. Possibly it was the charismatic figures of Monty and Rommel, or the legend of the 7th armoured division, the eponymous Desert Rats.

Having chosen a strong subject, CCS have gone on to produce a rattling good game. Rob Smith, who Blitzkreiged the opposition with his first offering Arnhem, will have the foe raising the white flag with his latest tour do force.

This may impress the shoot-em-up fraternity not one jot, but perhaps if you feel that a strategy game is the answer to insomnia, this might make you think again. The whole campaign, from Rommel's arrival to his final destruction over an area from El Aglia to Alexandria is portrayed. This takes slightly longer than skimming through War and Peace, so perhaps you might opt for one of the smaller battles which you should polish off in an hour or so.

Where to start on a description of the mechanics: the sheer detail defeats such a task. Suffice it to say, if you want to do it, the game will probably let you. The system captures beautifully the stop/go nature of the war. Months of preparation followed by a week or two of frantic manoeuver whilst you try to resolve the conflicting problems of conserving your supply lines, cutting your enemies whilst concentrating your forces to avoid piecemeal destruction. You also get the army-on-a-spring effect. The further you advance, the more your supply line gets stretched, and even if completely victorious, you could still be stopped by the well-timed arrival of a fresh battalion.

If you've steered clear of strategy games 'til now, this game could make you a convert.

CCS
£8.95

Desert Rats is for those wargamers who put the game aspect above the war. More a version of chess with tanks than a blood and guts confrontation, Desert Rats is played out on smooth scrolling maps with vivid graphics and detailed settings.

The game spreads over six scenarios following accurately the North African Campaign of 1941 to 1942, beginning with Rommel's arrival in Tripoli and culminating in the Battle of El Alamein. Success in this game is all down to the careful deployment of forces and keeping your units fully supplied.

It is not a realtime wargame but uses the order/move system where you plan your moves and then sit back to take the consequences.

My skill as a general did not pose much of a threat to Rommel in the one player option but a game of this kind is perhaps best enjoyed when pushing a friend's forces back into the sea.

The game comes with a comprehensive guide which contains background detail on both the game and the real historical events.

If you are familiar with Arnhem, author Robert Smith's previous game for CCS, then you'll probably want to rush out (with strategic forethought) and buy it. For the non-wargamer it will provide a good first taste of simulated battle.

GOING TO BATTLE

War simulations are becoming ever more popular Tom Courtenay examines some of the best.

War games have come a long way from the time H.G. Wells wrote Little Wars at the turn of the century. He wrote it as a result of trying to regulate the battles on the Kitchen table against his friends involving a handful of pained tin soldiers. These days, war-gamers revel in the complexity and realism of their simulations - ify ou call it playing soldiers they would be very upset. Any game worth its salt will involve tape measures, dice, sets of tables, vast numbers of troops, or even cardboard counters representing regiments or divisions.

So it is scarcely surprising that the home computer was welcomed by the war-gaming lobby with open arms. Two approaches were taken: either the computer could be used to referee a traditional war game fought on a table-top in traditional manner, or the whole thing could be transferred to the computer.

The pioneer of the latter approach was Lothlorien, which began to produce war games written in Basic on the Spectrum. Obviously they look primitive by today's standards but they attempted to be accurate representations of historical events. To the mainstream games enthusiast, they played slowly and you could not kill anything.

The first truly modern game was Nato Commander from Microprose. It takes place in northern Europe and features that almost constant American obsession, the Reds pouring over the border and trying to take over Europe. The game covers the most critical period, between the initial invasion and the U.S. getting huge reinforcements to the front. Thus, the Nato commander is severely outnumbered and is fighting a delaying action, trying to hold on to as much ground as possible, and possibly inflicting significant losses on the Soviets.

However distasteful you may find the scenario, it is a very good game. Success depends on falling back in stages, each rearguard action allowing time for the forces to the rear to dig in, then fall back, and so on. In that way, the steam is taken out of the Soviet advance. Any Soviet forces not in contact with friendly forces may disappear from the map, depending on how many aircraft are flying reconnaissance missions.

Aircraft can also run air superiority or ground attack missions. It is important to keep open supply lines and make the best possible use of terrain. The computer opponent is fairly intelligent, although by following particularly outrageous tactics it might be very confused.

Microprose recently followed this with Decision in the Desert and Crusade in Europe. They are a real tour de force. Covering two famous campaigns in WWII, they are about as near to a board game on a computer as you are likely to see. Almost everything is there, the different strengths and weaknesses of units, use of terrain, supply - in both strategic and tactical senses - fog of war, and a two-player option.

Again, the computer could be a little lacking in the old grey matter, especially when called on to defend, but the two-player option is what the game was about. Both games feature several different scenarios which portray different battles within the campaign. Although the games can be long, the speed of play can be varied to slow things when things become difficult. Orders are made in real time - the battle does not stop while you input orders. Tactics are very subtle. All-out effort rarely works; you will just run out of supplies and exhaust your troops. It is all about probing for weaknesses and then exploiting them quickly. The games are on C64, Atari and Apple.

Microprose recently capped even that success with its chart-topping Silent Service, in the same three formats, with ST, Amstrad and Spectrum versions promised. It is a superb simulation of submarine warfare in the Pacific. Almost without being aware of it, the player is subject to many rules about sighting, detection, firing and hidden movement. It knocks spots off all the board games devoted to the same subject - and you can shoot things.

You command one submarine on patrol in the Pacific. After a convoy is detected, a quick squint through the periscope to see whether its worth the risk - how heavy is the escort? Then check the time. Should you wait until dusk? Check the speed and course of the convoy. What is the best attack course to evade detection? A little on the slow side for the shoot-'em-up fraternity but a superb and exciting simulation which will take some beating.

That is not to say British programmers are not starting to get their acts together. Particularly Robert Smith, who has produced two fine simulations, Arnhem and Desert Rats, published by CCS on the Spectrum and Amstrad.

Another company specialising in this field is PSS. It has attempted to popularise the genre by including an arcade element in most of its games. Unfortunately that tends to mean the realism of the game suffers - precious memory and development time is lavished on a rather tedious shoot-'em-up.

Neither is the company a stranger to controversy. Its titles include Theatre Europe, all about the jolly little subject of a European war escalating into a thermonuclear holocaust. The scenario is much the same as Nato Commander but the addition of a complex air war, the arcade sequences and the thermonuclear option has left in its wake a rather dull land game.

The game falls between four stools. Falklands '82 was another landmark of good taste. It features the Argentinians and the British locked in a struggle to save their respective governments from the wrath of the electorates. The game stayed mainly with the land campaign, and it aroused much anger as it demonstrated the possibility of the British losing - something fairly obvious to anyone of even a semi-rational disposition.

Possibly the company's best game to date is Battle of Midway, about the decisive carrier battle in the central Pacific in the middle of 1942 which effectively ended Japanese chances of winning the war. The player controls the American task forces in an attempt to seek and destroy the Japanese aircraft carriers protecting an invasion of the American base at Midway island.

Although the tactics employed would make most military historians turn pale, it is not a bad game. The player has to find, identify and then shadow the enemy task force as, his strike aircraft close in from his carriers. Naturally, the enemy is trying to do the same, or even get to grips with his surface units. The player must plan his raids, try to evade the enemy, and control the strikes, making sure they find their targets and have sufficient fuel to return to their carriers.

The same system was developed further in the PSS Battle of Britain. It covers the Luftwaffe attempt to destroy the RAF in the summer of 1940. The main pre-occupation of the player is to preserve his fighters, taking on the Germans only if he can do so on favourable terms. There are problems; after each interception the fighters must land, re-fuel and re-arm. The nightmare is that a German raid will catch the fighters on the ground. The campaign is fought through several turns, with the British meeting raiders as their losses permit. It is a long game, of slightly dubious accuracy, but a fascinating struggle.

On the same subject, Their Finest Hour from Hutchinson is a flawed attempt to be a real simulation of the battle. Although highly-detailed, some of the mistakes are almost laughable. First, defensive flak can zip from target to target as if on wheels; ME109s have huge fuel tanks, along with the Spitfires which also have inexhaustible ammunition. Time and again, a squadron can shoot down 200 aircraft and usually the Luftwaffe is defeated on the first day. It is a pity, because it had the makings of a fine game.

The most recent PSS game returns to the Western Desert, Tobruk, on the Amstrad, features an exceptional network option where two Amstrads are connected using the joystick ports so that two players can battle with highly-realistic Fog of War. Neither can see each other's pieces. The game design is a little artificial, with the British having fixed supply dumps and the Germans being able to zip around at will but it is a fine game which is great fun to play.

Most of the games have been set in WWII. If you crave for the age of the horse and the cannon, there is a grave shortage of quality material from that era. The Lothlorien Waterloo and Austerlitz are not bad. Although they lack detail, the games go some way to recreating the Napoleonic era, but if you are looking for dramatic cavalry charges, forget it.

Possibly the best thing Lothlorian has done to date is Jonny Reb, a semi-abstract simulation of tactics in the American Civil War, seen in retrospect as the transition from the Napoleonic to the modern era. As firepower became more formidable, so the only way to stay alive was to take cover. The infantry charge became a rather rare commodity. That is dealt with very well in this game. The Confederate army's job is to try to take a bridge from a small force of troops before a large number of Union reinforcements can arrive.

The tactic is to move up men with covering fire from artillery, then open fire with the infantry. If that does not work, send in the cavalry as a last resort - demoralised troops will tend to run rather than face a cavalry charge. Endless variations of troops and terrain can be tried with a kind of battlefield designer.

The major criticism is that such a complex game has completely inadequate instructions. The terrain is placed there with little explanation of its effects. Despite that, and the usual monumentally thick computer opponent. It is a game which will reward plenty of experimentation.

Computer war games have progressed a long way from their humble origins but they still have some way to go before they reach the level of accuracy and subtlety of most board war games. Perhaps the new generation of 68000-'based machines might just fulfil that potential.