TacOps IRC CPXes: Q&A

[James Sterrett]

I'll try to explain what a CPX game is in this thread. Please feel free to ask questions. For particularly detailed information, please see <a href=http://www.battlefront.com/resources/tacops/HQ/text/CPX/cpx.html>The TacOps CPX Page</a> which has a pair of FAQs. Some bits of them may be out of date, though, for which I am to blame. 8)

What is a TacOps CPX?

A TacOps CPX is an umpired, double-blind, near-real-time game of TacOps played over IRC [internet Relay Chat].

How does it works?

One person, the Umpire, sets up the scenario and runs TacOps. The teams on the two sides send orders to the umpire; the umpire inputs the orders, and runs several TacOps turns. The umpire reports on the action to the players, the players come to new decisions, the umpire inputs these, and the process repeats.

What do I need in order to play?

* You need an internet connection capable of running an IRC client program: if you can run a copy of Netscrape or Internet Explorer from your computer, then you can do this. A good PC IRC client can be found at The TacOps CPX Page for FAQs on CPXes and for After-Action Reports as well.

[James Sterrett]

Replying to my own post - pretty pathetic! But I realized I'd left out one key thing in the above: an attempt to explain why it is fun. Imagine the following:

You're playing in a CPX; start time is coming up. Your command is a shiny new BMP-2 battalion. You and your four team-mates - one Regimental CO, and three fellow Battalion commanders - have sweated over the Plan for the past week and a half, wrestling with how to punch across the map and keep a corridor open for the follow-on forces.

Somewhere out there across the map is another team of 3 or 4 players. You think they have a USMC OrBat. You don't really know for sure where they are deployed - one of your fellow commanders volunteered to run the recce, and it's his job to find out. You don't know what the USMC mission is, though you suspect they are going to defend in place.

Scoot forward 30 minutes of game time. The recon has been transformed into flaming wrecks and broken bodies, but you're still unsure of the location of the enemy MLR after advancing 10km. Your neighbor to the north is getting savaged by a shoot-n-scoot defence run by an estimated mech company - the reports are too sketchy to be sure. Your southern neighbor is advancing even faster than you are, with no resistance to speak of. Sigint reports a rise in enemy radio traffic, and your CO is asking you to pick up the pace and see if you can help out your northern neighbor with a flank attack. At the same time.

Five minutes later, the umpire comes back: your missile overwatch on the northern flank has engaged a large group of tanks, apparently headed for the joint between you and your northern neighbor - or were they actually headed to ambush you from the flankand blundered into your fires? Maybe they thought you weren't there and were headed to outflank your neighbor. But you need to issue orders to your battalion now. Maybe the Regimental CO can allocate some arty fire support to you to help out....?

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The key things that make a CPX different from your normal PBEM game are:

- Teamwork. You are part of a larger organization.

- Fog of War. You will usually be uncertain of the enemy's OrBat and mission, as well as unsure of how much damage you have done.

- Time pressure. It isn't an RTS click-fest, but you haven't all day to ponder each move, either. The ability to give clear, concise orders is a real plus.