Game #12: Special Operations (1984)
Well folks! Today's the big day.We are going to strike the compound. More specifically, we will drop you in the general area of the compound. You must find your way to it, then infiltrate the complex inside the compound and recover a sample of the new German Rocket Fuel!
Note that we have an aerial photograph of the compound, but no idea where the compound actually is. Good damn airmen sucking at communication once again! You'll drop in the general area and find it, I am sure.
This is an incredibly dangerous mission, and I will keep sending teams until one makes it through or until we run out of teams. Alas, all the real commandos are gearing up for a war-winning operation on some bridges in the Netherlands, so a good chunk of my pool of recruits comes from the nearby circus, but I am sure I can muster a barely adequate team with that.
Well, here we are! MC Lothlorien's Special Operations, a weird mix adventure game-tactical game cross-over. If you read my blog AND Jason Dyer's blog, this one is perfect for you. If you read only one of those two... Well, I don't know.
Encountering a patrol of two Germans, with the tactical section on the right. After the combat, more patrols will converge so I should move away ASAP on the strategic section (left):
Inspecting the bodies of the Germans:
I haven't finished it, but I found it quite fun, so let's go and let's hope it works!
A team is composed of 5 members: a leader and 4 specialists. Each "specialization" is a skill that can be activated at the appropriate time (and usually I have no idea when that is, but in my test I found locked doors for the locksmith and an opportunity to use a radio to eavesdrop on the Germans). Note that even say "sniper" is a skill (=not used in combat), though I have no idea when to use it. Again, the game has a strong adventure vibe.
- A specialist has its specialist skill and another random skill. These skills can be used as often as needed.
- The leader has the "Leader" skill (doh) and also another random skill. The "Leader" skill can imitate any skill (even the "midget" skill, in case something needs midgeting), but only 5 times. The strain of command and all that. For the purpose of the interactive AAR, the leader will also have final say in group decisions.
A final note: lethality is EXTREMELY high, both in combat and in the "adventure" aspect of the game. I will mitigate it a bit when it's really unfair, but just a bit.
Well who want to join the first group, and with which role.
Alright sure - I'll be a midget. I really hope we find something that needs midgeting (combinations like Midget Actor or Linguist sound like they could open titillating possibilities).
Sniper Andre Rastignak, at your service!
I just hope, my second skill won't be a midget - toting around a gun longer than yourself can be a bit inconvenient.
Considering that the location of the compound is unknown and that mapping is an essential part of 80s adventure games, I think it should also be the task of the first team. So, Cartographer Lynx reporting to duty.
I've not been agonizing for class selection this much since Bastard Bonds (great game despite being straight as a mountain road). So I'll pick at random....
I'll be Chemist Dayyalu.
A. The drop
Well folks, it's only the 5 of us, and no natural leader, so I'll join. Our fine team is composed of:
- Cartographer Lynx, also an accomplished Biologist.
- Dayyalu, our full-time Chemist, is going to be critical for the team given the nature of our mission. He is also an accomplished Diver.
-Baron André Rastignac, our team sniper and hobbyist/spare Chemist,
- And of course, our most important element: Gubisson, our Midget Photographer (I swear this was random),
- Finally, myself leading and serving as a cipher specialist.
As you know, we have 8 hours to recover a sample of the new German Rocket Fuel, in a complex, in a compound, in the middle of a frozen forest. Possibly, the Fuel is actually not in the compound but directly in the compound - I don't know.
So having two chemists was maybe unlucky but it might save us given the mission.
And without further ado, we are dropped in the middle of nowhere:
So, what's next you ask?
- We need to find the compound, so I let you decide whether to move through open terrain or hidden in difficult terrain, and in which general direction (not that you have any hint for now).
- Also, at any moment you can trigger a skill. Some are permanent, some have to be triggered at the correct moment, and I have no idea which is which and what they do (with some exceptions from my test) so if you think about doing something smart, tell me.
- Finally, we can "search", "wait" and "hide" at any moment.
This may end in a disaster, but the game is so weird and pretty reactive too so I had to try it.
Oh my, two chemists in one team? Dayyalu, do you think what I think?
We don't need this shitty Kraut Fuel when we can cook it ourselves!
Also, I'd say let's go cautiously to the south (it should be warmer there). If we find any German patrol, I can try my sniping skills on them.
If we try to apply logic here (even though the first impression suggests more of an absurdly weird than a logical game), there seems to a couple of clearings in the north which might be good candidates for a compound. So I propose that we take a route like this:
And then we could check out the clearings. Even as I am a biologist, I can't yet say are we dealing with Normandy-type of bocage or some other type of shrubbery and how the terrain affects the line of sight here.
Cartography sounds like a skill which would be permanent, so I guess my character is making a map as we move around. But I guess most of the skills would be triggered at the moment. We probably don't have need to search, wait or hide right now.
I think the most interesting questions at the moment are, does the game make use of all of the skills and how they are implemented.
The game probably completely lacks logic, so .... so.... Kitty's plan seems good. Stay hidden in difficult terrain.
H+0.30
Well, that was fast. Cartographer Lynx starts "Cartographing" - not sure what it does, but it remains active after a 10mn activation cost, which presumably represents the time to look for the pencil before realizing that he left it in his other parachute.
We move South based on Dayyalu & KK's instruction. After only one tile, we find a house on the right...
... and, er, a pothole to the South. Don't ask.
Should we get in the house. Should I try to use my leadership skill to picklock it if it is closed? Should we carry on heading South?
Get in the house! No lockpicking, just faith.
Second to break into the house. Even if it's locked, we can always drop our Photomidget inside through a chimney (we didn't forget him in these bushes, did we, guys?)
Hmm, there are a lot of questions waiting for an answer.
What is a house doing in forest like this? Is anyone living in there? If so, can we ask the occupant has there been seen any German compounds or V2 rockets around? Can we find any stuff which isn't nailed to the floor? Are there any pencils lying around? Do we even have an inventory in a game like this?
So, yes, let's go into the house (breaking in if necessary) and see if we can find any answers.
Quote from Operative Lynx on 21 May 2024, 12h57Hmm, there are a lot of questions waiting for an answer.
What is a house doing in forest like this? Is anyone living in there? If so, can we ask the occupant has there been seen any German compounds or V2 rockets around? Can we find any stuff which isn't nailed to the floor? Are there any pencils lying around? Do we even have an inventory in a game like this?
So, yes, let's go into the house (breaking in if necessary) and see if we can find any answers.
I can answer the last one: there's definitely an inventory!
I second that motion. Break in or, if that fails, lockpick. I can't think of any good midget puns or photography puns at the moment, but when I do, you'll be the first to know.
H + 5.12
We move to the hous which is, as expected, locked. As a leader, I skim through the latest research papers on lockpicking and become an expert lockpickers (available skill use: 4) and we get in the house...
... and end up in the middle of a Resistance meeting.
Instead of, you know, helping us, the Resistance holds us for one hour then leave. The rest of the house is empty...
We resume exploring the countryside, but we don't find anything, until we stumble upon a small patrol:
Combats are fairly pointless, or at least not worth making interactive. Each character selects a target and then gets to move twice. Once everyone has moved, all shots are resolved. No crouch, no weapon type. Shots are accurate, though not perfectly. One hit is a wound, two hits is death.
Given shots are very accurate, simultaneous and that if you can hit a target, it can usually hit you, the mini-game tempting the AI to shoot at a target while, after movement, said target is covered and another soldier is in position. Alas, I mix up the Spectrum commands (5 6 7 8 instead of arrows) and expose our favourite midget who receives a bullet.
Dayyalu pulling an incredible shot between 2obstacles and hitting the first German.
The good news is that we get to loot the Germans, getting 2 passes and 2 uniforms. 3 more are needed, ideally one of them from a kid.
I don't know if the Germans are smart enough to investigate. In any case, what's our next move.
Two notes:
- I misread the rules, we have 90 hours and not 9 hours to complete the mission, so a lot more than I thought 🙂
- Houses in my test were a lot more interesting.
Quote from The Wargaming Scribe on 22 May 2024, 0h54ideally one of them from a kid.
We need a child sized Nazi uniform for the midget?
And then they say gaming has not regressed.
What a huge waste of time for everyone involved. Let's check the South-West side, proceed methodically.
Does the "strategic" map scroll away, or it's single screen, and what we see now is all that's here?
Lynx's idea about checking large clearings seems logical, so maybe turn East and check there?
Quote from Dayyalu on 22 May 2024, 7h03Quote from The Wargaming Scribe on 22 May 2024, 0h54ideally one of them from a kid.
We need a child sized Nazi uniform for the midget?
And then they say gaming has not regressed.
What a huge waste of time for everyone involved. Let's check the South-West side, proceed methodically.
It's was a joke. I don't think the game takes into account the fact that one of the characters is a midget.
Let's proceed with the Baron's plan. Will my gunshot wound cause me to bleed out after a while if untreated? Guess we're about to find out! Can I trigger my photography skill in the meantime, so as to leave something for posterity?