Posted on Jun 8, 2007 in Electronic Games

Theatre of War (pt.4) – Command & Control

Jim H. Moreno

Taking cover behind some dirty laundry wonâ€™t cut it, Kraut!
As the last enemy soldier falls, the second objective is met (take the village) and the game auto-pauses again.

Counterattack! Enemy soldiers appear in the distance and will be attempting to re-take the crossroads. Weâ€™ll have to act swiftly to prepare a defensive plan. With the game paused we again take a look at the enemy first.

We see three enemy soldiers, but no doubt there are more.

Clicking again on the little envelope icon, we check the next task in the briefing window. The order is to repel the enemy counterattack aggressively.

Our plan is to man the MG and look for an abandoned armored car which is supposed to be here somewhere, then meet the enemy headon.

There it is! We order three soldiers into the vehicle (including one with the best driver skill), and two to man the MG. The others get movement orders into good defensive positions inside the hamlet. The ability to pause and issue orders allows us to cheaâ€¦ahemâ€¦ micromanage as much as weâ€™d like.

The enemy is coming closer, but the combined firepower of the MG and the armored car should be more than enough to break the counter-attack.

The engine roars up and the car advances forward towards the enemy.

Moving the squad MG gunner into position as well. We want him over on the other side of the road to support the Heavy MG on the tripod located inside the buildings.

From his new position, the squad MG gunner spots several anti-tank guns just moving into position!

Weâ€™ve been lucky not to move the armored car too far forward or it would have had no chance against the enemy guns!

During the exchange of fire from both sides, we take a moment to enjoy the view from the enemy position back towards the hamlet. This would be a very difficult situation for our boys, if not for the timely arrival of the Soviet Air Force!