We were lucky enough to get a hold of an advance copy of Airborne Assault and give the game a test run.  Airborne Assault is a war game set during World War II's Operation Market Garden.  Market Garden has always held a special fascination to military buffs, as it was a daring plan to try to bring the war to a swift conclusion that ultimately failed.  Such operations are always rife with "what-if" scenarios, which make excellent fodder for simulations.

Market Garden has certainly been covered by war games before, but Airborne Assault will probably be different than any other computer games that have focused on the operation.  The game is set at an operational level with a full command and control system.  This means that you will be able to play the role of a general and issue orders to your HQ units in the field.  These HQ units in turn will be responsible not only for passing the orders to their subordinate units, but for developing a plan for carrying out your orders.  It's an interesting system that allows you to focus on an overall battle strategy while not getting bogged down in unit micromanagement.  You can easily manage large scale operations involving hundreds of units representing tens of thousands of men. 

This system can also be good for those new to military games who might not have a grasp of the tactics needed to succeed.  Grognards and other war gaming veterans should not dismiss the game at this point, though.  Individual units can be detached from the HQ units and given orders directly.  In fact, you can detach every single unit in the scenario and micromanage to your heart's content. 

Another interesting aspect of the command system is that individual commanders are provided for most of the units.  These commanders are modeled on their historical counterparts, and are rated on a number of factors including leadership, aggression, and judgment.  These ratings will affect how they lead their troops, including how they will develop the plans for carrying out your orders. 

You can issue a variety of orders to your HQ or individual units, as well as give them guidelines for following the orders.  You can specify the type of route they should take to a rally point (e.g. shortest, safest, covered,...), rate of fire, acceptable losses, and relative aggression level.  Should you want to have more control over the route selected, you can set waypoints along the way to the units' destination.  In fact, it is a good idea to set a waypoint before meeting the enemy with an attack order.  The last waypoint before the attack point will become a form-up point, giving the entire group of units under the HQ time to form-up and get into battle formation before meeting the enemy.

At first glance, Airborne Assault might appear to be a standard war game with units that look like the cardboard cutouts that war gamers pushed across hexagonal maps in the days when all war games were board games.  However, this is not the case, and you'll see nary a hexagon in the game.  The maps are vector drawn from actual World War II military maps, and are accurate down to four meters.  Movement is not constrained to moving from the center of one hex to the other; units can follow roads as they are laid out, move along terrain features, or make a beeline straight for the enemy.  The maps also support zooming with six levels of resolution, giving you an overview of the entire operation or a close-up look at an individual engagement.

Airborne Assault also differs from other war games in that it is not turn-based.  Battles take place in real-time, so you can watch your units begin to carry out your orders as soon as they are issued, see them form-up into attack formation, and watch the exchanges of fire as they meet the enemy.  The game clock includes several speed settings that will allow you to speed up the action during lulls in combat.  For those of you who really like to think through your actions before issuing orders, you'll be happy to hear that the game can be paused as well.  When the game is paused, you can still access units and issue orders as normal.

In addition to the scenarios shipping with the game, there will be a scenario maker included.  You'll be able to modify the game's scenarios or create new ones from scratch.  The editor will give you full control over the units included in the battle, objectives, and victory conditions.

After giving the game some play, it can be said that Airborne Assault is not your typical war game.  Watching larger battles unfold in real-time generates a sense of fascination that will make you a little disappointed when the scenario reaches its end.  The attention to unit detail and the good computer AI are sure to please most war gamers.  Look for Airborne Assault this Summer.