tacops and this

[noah]

hey there... what is the difference between this game ... combat command ... and tacops ... please help me out ... thanks

[iggi]

Hi, try a search using the words: Tacops Combat Mission.

Here's what I got trying that;

Another time-kiling MERC 10-10-1999 Combat Mission

TacOps Demo Is Up - See TacOps Topic MajorH 10-23-1999 Combat Mission

Modern Combat Mission? Doug Beman 11-21-1999 Combat Mission

Quantum Leap Computer Games Mikeman 12-31-1999 Combat Mission

Maybe I am Crazy .... Moon 01-16-2000 Combat Mission

Just curious about how many games y'all buy Los 02-09-2000 Combat Mission

BUG IN COMBAT MISSION! guachi 05-17-2000 Combat Mission

My card was charged!! Woohoo! MadDog0606 06-17-2000 Combat Mission

BTS how come your good press is not....... marcusm 06-27-2000 Combat Mission

Any of You play TacOps too? MajorH 07-17-2000 Combat Mission

Purchasing Combat Mission Bad Ju Ju 07-21-2000 Combat Mission

what do I want/ need to download? Wayne 07-31-2000 Combat Mission

Is Combat Mission like a 3D TacOps? Bruno Weiss 09-25-2000 Combat Mission

How did you guys first hear of CM? Gotcha 10-09-2000 Combat Mission

GamePen Awards nomination JonahFalcon 01-03-2001 Combat Mission

The CM Engine and the Future Big Time Software 01-10-2001 Combat Mission

[Juardis]

iggi, he's asking about combat command (a new game from shrapnel games), not combat mission. To answer the original question, I don't know.

------------------

Jeff Abbott

[jasoncawley@ameritech.net]

TacOps is modern, Combat Mission is WW II. TacOps is 2-D (with some elevations, to be sure, like a standard contour map), while CM is 3-D. In TacOps, the areas covered and the ranges of the weapons, and their lethality, are much higher than in CM. A typical CM map is 800-1000 yards on a side, and individual map "squares" (which will hold several units) are 20 yards. TacOps uses 1000x1000 meter grid squares, with ~200 yards the fineness of the deployments typically, and overall maps up to 10 kilometers on a side.

If you are familiar with the scales of older board wargames, TacOps is more like Panzerblitz scale, while CM is more like Squad Leader scale. The vehicle units in TacOps are platoons of 3-5 vehicles, although they can be split up into smaller individual units. Same with gun-like pieces.

Each game modules things with 60 minute simultaneous execution turns, and loses of single vehicles or men. Many of the tactical principles are similar, although lots of things are changed by the presence of modern ATGMs, ICM artillery rounds, thermal sights etc.

Infantry also tends to play a smaller role in TacOps, because of the scale and the power of modern weapons and the speed differentials. It ambushes, it sometimes redeploys on APCs to new locations and ambushes again. A dismounted infantry attack in TacOps rarely goes anywhere.

By contrast, infantry fighting is the heart of CM, with vehicles supplimenting it but the basic pace and scale usually set by the infantry. CM also models command and morale effects in much greater detail for related reasons.

If you think of TacOps as a modern version of Panzerblitz for the computer, made realistic rather than gamey, that is not far off. You can think of CM as 3-D Squad Leader.

Both share certain Battlefront innovations that work very well with the computer, like simultaneous order execution in one minute turns, excellent line of sight tools, and detailed modeling of all types of fire.

I happen to think highly of both systems, and I look forward to the planned CM2 covering the Russian front in WW II. The biggest "problem" I find with both is their proven ability to vaccum up time.