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The year is, er, sometime in the last century. The place is somewhere in America. The scene is set (vaguely).

Fort Apache is one of those strategy games which require you to repeatedly click on hundreds of tiny icons on the side of the screen, then click on various pixels on the inevitable battlemap. Yes, it's one of those.

You control the US Cavalry who are based, naturally, at Fort Apache. Various baddies are sneaking around the area, fiendishly planning to attack the railway line to the north. Your job is to protect the trains and repel any bandits who might otherwise rob them.

The rail link runs the entire width of the strategic map - about fifty miles in game terms - so you're kept busy watching over it all. Making things harder are Indians (who take exception to your troops galloping with abandon across their sacred burial sites) and natural features like buttes, mesas and mountains. O-level geographers will have a field day (or trip).

Giving orders involves clicking on several icons and figures in the right order. Fiddlesome indeed, but once you're used to it things run smoothly, if slowly. When you're happy with your orders, click off the order phase and sit back to watch the action. When it occurs, you're informed, and the screen scrolls automatically to it. The scale of Fort Apache is such that combat is usually about five blokes on horseback versus eight. Once it's over, your regroup and decide where to move next.

Fort Apache makes some attempt to be atmospheric, with a dusty, Wild West look. This doesn't sit well with the on-screen icons and reports, which just look like icons and reports. The game response is good, which makes it quick to play, but there's little sound.

The scale chosen for Fort Apache is a little strange. Most wargames involve thousands of troops. The result is that this is a bit of a non-event. A small detachment of US troops wipes out a series of potential train-robbers while avoiding treading on the corns of traditional Indians. It's hardly How The West Was Won, is it?

1. Fort Apache is like Charge Of The Light Brigade or Ancient Battles without the momentous, history-making atmosphere.
2. If you're at home with the small scale, it's easy to get into and understand.
3. It's fast and responsive, which sets it above many bigger strategy games.