Close In And Attank

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Tank Attack is a strategic battle game from CDS Software based on a war between four countries. It's based on the beloved hexagon board wargames, but with a computer as dice as mediator. Two, three or four can play. The absence of a one player option is what we expect from CDS Software after selling 70,000 copies of Brian Clough's Football Fortunes.

The object of the game is to capture your enemy headquarters, which isn't easy since your enemy is trying to capture yours as well. During the game you get reports on the weather and news on how well the war is going from a 'newspaper' on the computer screen. But after a while you get to know all the reports and what to expect from the weather. Tanks have three different strengths, light tanks, medium battle tanks and main battle tanks. And you have two types of armoured car. These make up your battle force which incudes two repair depots and one rebuilding yard shared between two allies.

The game is played out on the attractive map-board with little pastic tanks. The computer's role is to decide how far you can move each vehicle, how well you shoot and so on. The strategy's quite important, as there's always the odd random factor thrown in by the weather and so on.

This game will certainly appeal to the chess player or wargamer, rather than space mad, zap 'em boys or karate freaks. But the game can drag on, leaving you eager to get it over with. If you have the time and a willing friend, it's not a bad buy. But it you like action-packed thrills and spills or shooting innocent civilians, it's not for you.

Mark Swaby