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A very clever two-hander, government vs. guerrillas in a third world country. The uniformed mob, working to a budget, get 20 combat units (infantry, armour, choppers, jets and artillery) plus support (engineers, trucks, intelligence, medics and command), while the black pyjama brigade make do with twelve service units (guerrillas with or without radios, flak and supply planes) plus spies, command, food and arms supplies.

Having picked their mix, both sides are placed on one of 100 maps showing villages, rivers, bridges, road, mountains, and jungles. Weather reports are given for the next (two week) turn and a more or less accurate forecast for the one after.

The guerrillas get some reports from spies, supply units, lay ambushes, give or take food from the locals, lay mines, recruit villagers or move. The government gets equally unreliable intelligence reports, does an aerial reconnaissance sweep, supplies, builds roads and bridges, fortifies villages, gives or takes food, uses transport or moves. News reports give out more unreliable information and, eventually, declares the winner.

A very useful print facility will provide copies of the map and unit breakdowns, useful stuff for serious players as it's very easy to lose track. As in real life, there are no quick short-cuts to victory and, with the guerrillas looking at a 30 turns deadline, both sides must try and accumulate a mass of small pay-offs that will add up to success. Getting all that detail onto a Spectrum window means that everything is pretty small, so you really have to pay attention to detail. Serious stuff.