Harpoon
Developer: Three-Sixty Pacific/AGSI
Price: £40 (Ultimate Edition)
Link: www.computerharpoon.com
Inspired by NAVTAG, a pioneering US Navy computer wargame, the turn-spurning Harpoon has appeared in many forms and helped train many nations' Nelsons during its 23-year PC career. Just last year, Harpoon 3: Advanced Naval Warfare was press-ganged by the Columbian Navy.
Past and present military users: Australia, Canada, Columbia, Mexico, Sweden.
Tacops
Developer: I.L. Holdridge
Price: £16
Link: www.battlefront.com
Developed by a retired US Marine Corps Major with a splendidly apt surname, this capable Combat Mission-influencing WeGo wargame allowed up to 50 tactics students to share the same battlefield. British and Dutch version were prototyped but never saw the light of day.
Past and present military users: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United States.
Decisive Action
Developer: Jim Lunsford
Price: £31
Link: www.hpssims.com
Destructible supply convoys, degradable command-and-control, simulation of battlefield engineering, modelling of electronic and NBC warfare... DA was born and raised in a modern military classroom and it shows. Master this heavyweight and that Sandhurst selection interview should be a breeze.
Past and present military users: Australia, United States.
Future Force
Developer: Jim Lunsford
Price: £12
Link: www.hpssims.com
Hat and shoulders festooned with gold braid? Feet usually found tucked under a massive desk? You're just the kind of soldier Future Force is aimed at. Created to help the CGSC's tutors teach big-picture decision-making, this is a game about managing resources, prioritising theatres, and grappling with over-stretch.
Past and present military users: United States
Close Combat
Developer: Atomic Games/CSO Simtek
Price: £20 (CC: Modern Tactics)
Link: www.matrixgames.com
After going a bridge too far in Holland, freezing its nuts off in the USSR and Belgium, and liberating Normandy twice, the exhausted Close Combat spent three blissful years loafing until CSO Simtek bundled it off to Iraq. Close Combat: Marines eventually found its way onto civvy street as Close Combat: Modern Tactics.
Past and present military users: United Kingdom, United States.
