Brought to you by DVG – Thunderbolt-Apache Leader (TAL) puts you in the cockpits of the world’s best Close Air Support aircraft. In TAL, you’ll zoom through canyons hunting enemy tanks and troops while dodging their AAA fire and SAMs. This game is ideal for fans of military games that are looking for a solitaire game to play. There is the option as well to be played co-op (like DVG’s other Leader games) by splitting-up the aircraft and planning/resolving missions as a team.
The main rules are fairly intuitive to pick up and this should help if new to playing these types of games, whilst also giving a good variety of decision making options and tactical choices. The game places you in command of the pilots and aircraft of a squadron of U.S. Close Air Support (CAS) aircraft in hostile campaigns around the world. There are 8 campaigns that can be played. The aircraft and weapons available for each campaign are historically accurate for fan buffs of military wars.
For those that like strategy in their game play – a key part of the game is mission planning. You decide how to arm your aircraft and which pilots are best for the mission. Pilots are rated for skill level: Newbie, to Green, Average, Skilled, Veteran, and Ace! Deciding which pilots to fly each mission is a major consideration.
Your pilots will become tired with every mission. If you fly a pilot too often, his skills will degrade. Your pilots also gain experience with every mission flown. This makes for some tough decision-making. Should you keep flying the top pilots and let them further fatigue to get the job done, or fly the new guys to prep them for the difficult missions ahead?
While undertaking each mission, there are further decisions in terms how to best engage the enemy Bandits, SAMs, and AAA Sites. You’ll need to decide whether to hit the high value targets first, or take out the enemy SAM and AAA assets before they take you out!! As part of this you’ll need to factor in that the TALs can normally survive more than one attack as they are built to be rugged and made to soak-up damage. However if your aircraft becomes too shot up, you won’t be able to fly next day and complete your mission. Plenty of factors to take in to consideration and will come with experience as you play the game each time.
The game play is tracked through an operation combat sheet that shows the progress of enemy formations attempting to overrun your sector. You select the formation you want to engage each day and assign the air assets you think are best suited to the task. If you’ve previously played Hornet Leader or Phantom Leader, you’ll be fairly familiar to the game play of TAL. The game can typically take 30 to 60 minutes to play.
Do you have what to takes to manage your pilots as well as your aircraft to be a successful squadron commander? Available to buy here
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