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From: felixh@sandstorm.Berkeley.EDU (Felix Hack)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.games
Subject: Re: M1 Tank Platoon
Keywords: 3D Tank Game
Message-ID: <1990Oct19.083749.26351@agate.berkeley.edu>
Date: 19 Oct 90 08:37:49 GMT
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Reply-To: felixh@sandstorm.Berkeley.EDU (Felix Hack)
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  Speaking as a board wargamer who joined the Amiga community only recently,
my impression of M1 is extremely favorable.  Yes, the sound sucks.  Yes, the
graphics don't have 32/64/whatever colors.  But they do convey enough info
to let the player see what he's doing.  The external views are fantastic
in their cinematic effect.  It's also fun to be the gunner and try to kill
hordes of advancing tanks from a hull-down position.  There are several
different styles of play that a player can adopt, from strategic only, to
running one tank, to jumping around between tanks to try to improve their 
performance.  Thankfully once the NPC crews obtain experience they're good
enough to leave alone.  Only untrained crews raise the temptation to jump
in and take over, leaving the rest of the battle to develop itself.
  The realism of this game is outstanding.  For once we have hills and valleys,
real terrain to hide behind.  The systems interactions (various guns and shells
vs. various armor types at various ranges) feels quite accurate.  Gunfire 
control feels realistic: lock onto a target with laser rangefinder and the
turret automatically tracks the target.  This does not, however, guarantee
a kill.  You'll see shots drift to the left or right (especially the less
aerodynamic HE rounds) and miss.  So it's not an arcade game, but it's
not boring or auto-kill time either.
  Finally, the game benefits from a faster Amiga, if only in the smoother
animation.  The included readme file seemed to imply that if you ran
on a faster machine the internal speed is rescaled to allow more AI 
calculations.  Still, it's fine on a stock 68000 too.
  Overall, this is an outstanding modern armored warfare simulation at the
platoon level.  I'd love to see this kind of action for larger-scale actions,
say company or battalion level, but obviously you couldn't command that and
still expect to take over a tank just for fun.
  Serious wargamers or modern ground warfare enthusiasts may also be interested
Simulation Canada's game Main Battle Tank: Central Germany.  The game offers
no sound and no graphics, but then a NATO battalion commander never hopes to
see anything like hostile tanks personally, nor does he wish to hear their 
gunfire . . . .  You also get chemical warfare, airstrikes, and nukes.  You can
design your own scenarios, play either side against the computer or against
a human.  Your subordinate units may or may not carry out your orders, but
they will try to follow the doctrine you set at the beginning (engage at this
range, report this frequently, return fire if fired upon or wait until you
get close, etc.)
  It's definitely NOT something for your typical Amiga arcade gamer.  
  If you don't like such games, please don't flame me.  Just recognize there
are different tastes.  Yes, I too wish M1 had better sound and graphics, but
I'm very happy with what it is.