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79-423: In terms of gameplay, as a real-time tactics game it is a realistic military simulator and only involves resource management of weapons and the fuel of airborne aircraft. The scenario defines the units that a player has at the beginning of the scenario, and the player can never have more than what they started with until the scenario ends. Like other real-time tactics games, losses cannot be replaced, which emphasises

158-495: A "real-time simulation of tactical combat". Likewise, Free Fall Associates ' 1983 title Archon can be considered an early real-time tactics game, built upon Chess but including real-time battle sequences. Archon was highly influential, and, for instance, Silicon Knights, Inc. 's 1994 game Dark Legions was virtually identical to it, adding only to Archon' s concept that the player, as in many table-top wargames, purchases his army before committing to battle. Drakkhen (1989)

237-461: A 2-D representation of the forces available is presented. This display also shows a representation of the sensor (radar, visual, sonar, etc.) ranges that any of his units have. Individual units are shown in a 3D rendering. If the player has selected the EMCON option, none of his units start the game with active sensors on; only passive sensors will be engaged. This can be an effective strategy for keeping

316-667: A 360 degree coverage, the radar antenna of the Chinese AWACS does not rotate. Instead, three PAR antenna modules are placed in a triangular configuration inside the round radome to provide a 360 degree coverage. The installation of equipment at the Il-76 began in late 2002 aircraft by Xian aircraft industries (Xian Aircraft Industry Co.). The first flight of an airplane KJ-2000 made in November 2003. All four machines will be equipped with this type. The last to be introduced into service

395-485: A Russian-made Ilyushin-76 cargo plane [also incorrectly reported as a Beriev A-50 Mainstay] with advanced Elta electronic, computer, radar and communications systems. Beijing was expected to acquire several Phalcon AEW systems, and reportedly could buy at least three more [and possibly up to eight] of these systems, the prototype of which was planned for testing beginning in 2000. In July 2000, the US pressured Israel to back out of

474-497: A broad arsenal of weapons including diplomatic, informational, military, and economic resources, whereas military tactics is more concerned with short-term goals such as winning an individual battle. In the context of strategy video games, however, the difference often comes down to the more limited criteria of either a presence or absence of base building and unit production. Real-time strategy games have been criticized for an overabundance of tactical considerations when compared to

553-488: A broader strategic level. In an article for GameSpy , Mark Walker said that developers need to begin looking outside the genre for new ideas in order for strategy games to continue to be successful in the future. In an article for Gamasutra , Nathan Toronto criticizes real-time strategy games for too often having only one valid means of victory—attrition—comparing them unfavorably to real-time tactics games. According to Toronto, players' awareness that their only way to win

632-414: A credit to the ingenuity of the software designers. The "mission editor" feature is simple to use and relatively uncommon in other game play software. The feature enables players to interface directly with the software and provide a relatively limitless amount of possible combat scenarios. The game is set in the late 1990s. The game focused exclusively on contemporary units. Units that were in service when

711-594: A detailed and faithful recreation of some of the most significant battles of the American Civil War that introduced large scale tactical battlefield command using 3D. Released in 1996 by Atomic Games , the Close Combat series is a simulation of squad- and platoon-type World War II combat tactics which introduced a higher degree of operational realism than seen before. Combat Mission went even further in this regard. Further, as Warhammer: Shadow of

790-512: A different installation was used to direct Bristol Beaufighters toward Heinkel He 111s , which were air-launching V-1 flying bombs . In February 1944, the US Navy ordered the development of a radar system that could be carried aloft in an aircraft under Project Cadillac. A prototype system was built and flown in August on a modified TBM Avenger torpedo bomber . Tests were successful, with

869-478: A major advance in capability, being the first AEW to use a pulse-Doppler radar , which allowed it to track targets normally lost in ground clutter. Previously, low-flying aircraft could only be readily tracked over water. The AWACS features a three-dimensional radar that measures azimuth, range, and elevation simultaneously; the unit installed upon the E-767 has superior surveillance capability over water compared to

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948-499: A major asset in an AEW aircraft. Following a crash, the US Navy opted to discontinue lighter than air operations in 1962. In 1958, the Soviet Tupolev Design Bureau was ordered to design an AEW aircraft. After determining that the projected radar instrumentation would not fit in a Tupolev Tu-95 or a Tupolev Tu-116 , the decision was made to use the more capacious Tupolev Tu-114 instead. This solved

1027-612: A maximum range of over 850 km at 9,000 metres (30,000 ft) altitude. The Swedish Air Force uses the S 100D Argus ASC890 as its AEW platform. The S 100D Argus is based on the Saab 340 with an Ericsson Erieye PS-890 radar. Saab also offers the Bombardier Global 6000 -based GlobalEye . In early 2006, the Pakistan Air Force ordered six Erieye AEW equipped Saab 2000s from Sweden. In December 2006,

1106-483: A pseudorandom set of frequencies and also have very short scanning rates, which makes them difficult to detect and jam. Up to 1000 targets can be tracked simultaneously to a range of 243 mi (450 km), while at the same time, multitudes of air-to-air interceptions or air-to-surface (including maritime) attacks can be guided simultaneously. The radar equipment of the Israeli AEW&;C consists of each L-band radar on

1185-669: A substantial AEW capability, initially with American Douglas AD-4W Skyraiders , designated Skyraider AEW.1, which in turn were replaced by the Fairey Gannet AEW.3 , using the same AN/APS-20 radar. With the retirement of conventional aircraft carriers, the Gannet was withdrawn and the Royal Air Force (RAF) installed the radars from the Gannets on Avro Shackleton MR.2 airframes, redesignated Shackleton AEW.2. To replace

1264-438: Is a subgenre of tactical wargames played in real-time , simulating the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics . It is differentiated from real-time strategy gameplay by the absence of classic resource micromanagement and base or unit building, and by the greater importance of individual units and a focus on complex battlefield tactics. Typical real-time strategy titles encourage

1343-466: Is a series of preset missions that contain certain objectives. These missions contain specific goals that must be accomplished in order to be graded successfully. They vary in difficulty from one star to four with four stars being the most difficult. A second game play theme is to play one of four provided scenarios. These are generally "wars" verses "battles" that require the player to win each successive challenge before continuing. The last type of game play

1422-512: Is an airborne radar early warning system designed to detect aircraft , ships , vehicles , missiles and other incoming projectiles at long ranges, as well as performing command and control of the battlespace in aerial engagements by informing and directing friendly fighter and attack aircraft . AEW&C units are also used to carry out aerial surveillance over ground and maritime targets , and frequently perform battle management command and control (BMC2). When used at altitude,

1501-460: Is based on essentialised battlefield movements of medieval unit types and, beyond its entertainment value, is intended to instill in players a rudimentary sense of tactical considerations. Today, miniature wargaming , where players mount armies of miniature figurines to battle each other, has become popular (e.g., Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40000 ). Though similar to conventional modern board wargames (e.g. Axis & Allies ), in

1580-530: Is considered to be both more capable and less expensive to operate than the older Boeing 707-based Phalcon fleet. In 2017, India announced plans to purchase six airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) ("AWACS") aircraft that can also perform aerial refuelling, with the first two AEW&C aircraft awaiting approval by Cabinet in 2020. However, in September 2021, it was decided to use six Airbus A321s acquired from Air India instead. On 3 June 1957,

1659-488: Is currently in service with Israel, Italy, and Singapore. Instead of using a rotodome, a moving radar was found on some AEW&C aircraft, and the EL/W-2085 used an active electronically scanned array (AESA) – an active phased array radar. This radar consists of an array of transmit/receive (T/R) modules that allow a beam to be electronically steered, making a physically rotating rotodome unnecessary. AESA radars operate on

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1738-411: Is militarily makes them unlikely to respond to gestures of diplomacy; the result being that the winner of a real-time strategy game is too often the best tactician rather than the best strategist. Troy Goodfellow counters this by saying that the problem is not that real-time strategy games are lacking in strategic elements (he calls attrition a form of strategy); rather, it is that they too often rely upon

1817-465: Is using a feature called "mission editing", where a player can input their own configurations and force strength and objectives. Preset mission objectives and goals can be input into the editor and displayed to the player at various intervals throughout game play. Input objectives can be configured in such a way that they must be completed in predetermined orders for the overall mission to be successful. The programming skills necessary are quite basic and are

1896-616: The Warhammer Fantasy Battle series. Games set in the future and combining elements of science fiction obviously are not constrained by historical accuracy or even the limitations of current technology and physics. Developers thus have a freer hand in determining a game's backstory and setting. Games that are set in outer space can also add a third, vertical movement axis, thereby freeing up new tactical dimensions. Airborne Early Warning and Control An airborne early warning and control ( AEW&C ) system

1975-763: The Indian Air Force (IAF) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) began a study of requirements for developing an Airborne Early Warning and Control (AWAC) system. In 2015, DRDO delivered 3 AWACs, called Netra , to the IAF with an advanced Indian AESA radar system fitted on the Brazilian Embraer EMB-145 air frame. Netra gives a 240-degree coverage of airspace. The Emb-145 also has air-to-air refuelling capability for longer surveillance time. The IAF also operates three Israeli EL/W-2090 systems, mounted on Ilyushin Il-76 airframes,

2054-659: The Italian Navy is operated from the aircraft carriers Cavour and Giuseppe Garibaldi . During the 2010s, the Royal Navy opted to replace its Sea Kings with a modular "Crowsnest" system that can be fitted to any of their Merlin HM2 fleet. The Crowsnest system was partially based upon the Sea King ASaC7's equipment; an unsuccessful bid by Lockheed Martin had proposed using a new multi-functional sensor for either

2133-674: The Napoleonic Wars are often played at a company or battalion level, with players controlling groups of sometimes hundreds of soldiers as a single unit, whereas recreations of modern conflicts (such as the Iraq War ) tend to offer control down to squad or even individual level. While most fantasy titles bear some resemblance to a historical period (usually medieval), they also incorporate fictional creatures, areas, and/or magic, and are limited by few historical constraints. The leading High Fantasy real-time tactics games belong to

2212-531: The Pakistan Navy requested three excess P-3 Orion aircraft to be equipped with Hawkeye 2000 AEW systems. China and Pakistan also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the joint development of AEW&C systems. The Hellenic Air Force , Brazilian Air Force and Mexican Air Force use the Embraer R-99 with an Ericsson Erieye PS-890 radar, as on the S 100D. Israel has developed

2291-702: The Thorn-EMI ARI 5980/3 Searchwater LAST radar attached to the fuselage on a swivel arm and protected by an inflatable dome. The improved Sea King ASaC7 featured the Searchwater 2000AEW radar, which was capable of simultaneously tracking up to 400 targets, instead of an earlier limit of 250 targets. The Spanish Navy fields the SH-3 Sea King in the same role, operated from the LPH Juan Carlos I . The AgustaWestland EH-101A AEW of

2370-487: The Turkish Air Force are deploying Boeing 737 AEW&C aircraft. The Boeing 737 AEW&C has a fixed, active electronically scanned array radar antenna instead of a mechanically-rotating one, and is capable of simultaneous air and sea search, fighter control and area search, with a maximum range of over 600 km (look-up mode). In addition, the radar antenna array is also doubled as an ELINT array, with

2449-584: The United States Navy , the Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye AEW&;C aircraft is assigned to its supercarriers to protect them and augment their onboard command information centers (CICs). The designation "airborne early warning" (AEW) was used for earlier similar aircraft used in the less-demanding radar picket role, such as the Fairey Gannet AEW.3 and Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star , and continues to be used by

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2528-416: The same strategy: produce faster than you consume. He also says that building and managing armies is the conventional definition of real-time strategy, and that it is unfair to make comparisons with other genres when they break convention. Wargaming with items or figurines representing soldiers or units for training or entertainment has been common for as long as organised conflicts . Chess , for example,

2607-406: The "classic sense", but was rather a "real time tactical simulation", lacking such features as resource collection. A developer of Nexus: The Jupiter Incident remarked on his game being called a "tactical fleet simulator" rather than a "traditional RTS", citing its focus on tactical gameplay and fixed units at the start of each mission. In general terms, military strategy refers to the use of

2686-513: The $ 1 billion agreement to sell China four Phalcon phased-array radar systems. Following the cancelled A-50I/Phalcon deal, China turned to indigenous solutions. The Phalcon radar and other electronic systems were taken off from the unfinished Il-76, and the airframe was handed to China via Russia in 2002. The Chinese AWACS has a unique phased array radar (PAR) carried in a round radome. Unlike the US AWACS aircraft, which rotate their rotodomes to give

2765-613: The 1930s, the British developed a radar set that could be carried on an aircraft for what they termed "Air Controlled Interception". The intention was to cover the North West approaches where German long range Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor aircraft were threatening shipping. A Vickers Wellington bomber (serial R1629) was fitted with a rotating antenna array. It was tested for use against aerial targets and then for possible use against German E boats . Another radar equipped Wellington with

2844-737: The AEW role. The "Mainstay" is based on the Ilyushin Il-76 airframe, with a large non-rotating disk radome on the rear fuselage. These replaced the 12 Tupolev Tu-126 that filled the role previously. The A-50 and A-50U will eventually be replaced by the Beriev A-100 , which features an AESA array in the radome and is based on the updated Il-476. In May 1997, Russia and Israel agreed to jointly fulfill an order from China to develop and deliver an early warning system. China reportedly ordered one Phalcon for $ 250 million, which entailed retrofitting

2923-503: The AN/APY-1 system on the earlier E-3 models. The E-2 Hawkeye was a specially designed AEW aircraft. Upon its entry to service in 1965, it was initially plagued by technical issues, causing a (later reversed) cancellation. Procurement resumed after efforts to improve reliability, such as replacement of the original rotary drum computer used for processing radar information by a Litton L-304 digital computer. In addition to purchases by

3002-513: The Chinese Air Force until the end of 2007. China is also developing a carrier-based AEW&C, Xian KJ-600 via Y-7 derived Xian JZY-01 testbed. The EL/W-2085 is an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) multi-band radar system developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and its subsidiary Elta Systems of Israel. Its primary objective is to provide intelligence to maintain air superiority and conduct surveillance. The system

3081-731: The Horned Rat was a translation of the Warhammer Fantasy Battle table-top system, so was 1998's FASA Studios ' MechCommander a translation of the BattleTech boardgame into a 2D computer game format. In 1997, Bungie released Myth: The Fallen Lords , which introduced radically larger battlefields than ever before and included a realistic (at the time) physics engine. In 2000, Creative Assembly created Shogun: Total War , taking map sizes to even greater levels, as well as introducing historical and tactical realism until then unheard of in real-time computer games. Ground Control

3160-575: The IAI/Elta EL/M-2075 Phalcon system, which uses an AESA ( active electronically scanned array ) in lieu of a rotodome antenna. The system was the first such system to enter service. The original Phalcon was mounted on a Boeing 707 and developed for the Israeli Defense Force and for export. Israel uses IAI EL/W-2085 airborne early warning and control multi-band radar system on Gulfstream G550 ; this platform

3239-829: The RAF for its Sentry AEW1 , while AEW&C (airborne early warning and control) emphasizes the command and control capabilities that may not be present on smaller or simpler radar picket aircraft. AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) is the name of the specific system installed in the E-3 and Japanese Boeing E-767 AEW&C airframes, but is often used as a general synonym for AEW&C. Modern AEW&C systems can detect aircraft from up to 400 km (220 nmi) away, well out of range of most surface-to-air missiles. One AEW&C aircraft flying at 9,000 m (30,000 ft) can cover an area of 312,000 km (120,000 sq mi). Three such aircraft in overlapping orbits can cover

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3318-551: The S-bands. Historically, UHF radars had resolution and detection issues that made them ineffective for accurate targeting and fire control; Northrop Grumman and Lockheed claim that the APY-9 has solved these shortcomings in the APY-9 using advanced electronic scanning and high digital computing power via space/time adaptive processing. The Russian Aerospace Forces are currently using approximately 3-5 Beriev A-50 and A-50U "Shmel" in

3397-716: The Shackleton AEW.2, an AEW variant of the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod , known as the Nimrod AEW3 , was ordered in 1974. After a protracted and problematic development, this was cancelled in 1986, and seven E-3Ds, designated Sentry AEW.1 in RAF service, were purchased instead. Many countries have developed their own AEW&C systems, although the Boeing E-3 Sentry , E-7A and Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye and Gulfstream/IAI EL/W-2085 are

3476-541: The US Navy, the E-2 Hawkeye has been sold to the armed forces of Egypt , France , Israel , Japan , Singapore and Taiwan . The latest E-2 version is the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye , which features the new AN/APY-9 radar. The APY-9 radar has been speculated to be capable of detecting fighter-sized stealth aircraft, which are typically optimized against high frequencies like Ka, Ku, X, C and parts of

3555-426: The amount of strategic gameplay found in such games. According to Chris Taylor , lead designer of Supreme Commander , "[My first attempt at visualizing RTSs in a fresh and interesting new way] was my realizing that although we call this genre 'Real-Time Strategy,' it should have been called 'Real-Time Tactics' with a dash of strategy thrown in." Taylor then went on to say that his own game featured added elements of

3634-466: The battles were in real-time, they were of small scope and player interaction was limited to deciding the initial troop disposition. Lords of the Realm , released in 1994 by Impressions Games , introduced real-time control of these real-time battles. Around 1995, computer hardware and developer support systems had developed enough to facilitate the requirements of large-scale real-time tactical games. It

3713-501: The capabilities of older hardware and software. Since most established rule sets were for turn-based table-top games, the conceptual leap to translate these categories to real time was also a problem that needed to be overcome. Avalon Hill 's 1982 release Legionaire for the Atari 8-bit computers was a real-time wargame of Romans versus Barbarians with game play reminiscent of the current real-time tactics template, called by one review

3792-449: The collection and conversion of resources into production capacities which manufacture combat units thereafter used in generally highly stylized confrontations. In contrast, real-time tactics games' military tactical and realistic focus and comparatively short risk/reward cycle usually provide a distinctly more immediate, intense and accessible experience of battlefield tactics and mêlée than strategy games of other genres. As suggested by

3871-442: The concepts of fleet level decision making during its Summer Seminar program. The staff of PC Gamer US nominated the game for their 1999 "Best Wargame" award, which ultimately went to Close Combat III: The Russian Front . They called the game "the perfect modern naval game for thousands of PWSHFOHTPH ('People Who Still Haven't Figured Out How to Play Harpoon ' )". Real-time tactics Real-time tactics ( RTT )

3950-432: The consequence of lessons learnt by the Royal Navy during the 1982 Falklands War when the lack of AEW coverage for the task force was a major tactical handicap, and rendered them vulnerable to low-level attack. The Sea King was determined to be both more practical and responsive than the proposed alternative of relying on the RAF's land-based Shackleton AEW.2 fleet. The first examples were a pair of Sea King HAS2s that had

4029-480: The expectation of players to complete their tasks using only the combat forces provided to them, and usually by the provision of a realistic (or at least believable) representation of military tactics and operations. This contrasts with other current strategy game genres. For instance, in large-scale turn-based strategy games battles are generally abstracted and the gameplay close to that of related board games. Real-time strategy games de-emphasize realism and focus on

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4108-593: The first of 2 HR2S-1W, a derivative of the Sikorsky CH-37 Mojave , was delivered to the US Navy, it used the AN/APS-32 but proved unreliable due to vibration. The British Sea King ASaC7 naval helicopter was operated from both the Invincible -class aircraft carriers and later the helicopter carrier HMS  Ocean . The creation of Sea King ASaC7, and earlier AEW.2 and AEW.5 models, came as

4187-719: The first of which first arrived on 25 May 2009. The DRDO proposed a more advanced AWACS with a longer range and with a 360-degree coverage akin to the Phalcon system, based on the Airbus A330 airframe, but given the costs involved there is also the possibility of converting used A320 airliners as well. IAF has plans to develop 6 more Netra AEW&CS based on Embraer EMB-145 platform and another 6 based on Airbus A321 platform. These systems are expected to have an enhanced performance including range and azimuth The Royal Australian Air Force , Republic of Korea Air Force and

4266-463: The game was released were featured, and units that were out of service or not yet in service were not featured. The game reflects that some of the world's military forces are more advanced than others. The game is a naval combat strategic training simulator. It covers the full spectrum of modern naval operations, including submarine warfare, surface warfare, naval aviation, and electronic warfare. Air Force, Marine Corps and Army units are also modelled in

4345-470: The game, although the Army units are generally static. Although the initial release focused mainly on the U.S. Military , it did include a wide variety of forces from nations around the world including the U.K. , India , Russia , China , and others. The actual forces under a player's command can include units from several nations (a multi-national force), or it may be limited to a selection of forces from just

4424-686: The genre's name, also fundamental to real-time tactics is real-time gameplay . The genre has its roots in tactical and miniature wargaming , where battle scenarios are recreated using miniatures or even simple paper chits. These board and table-top games were out of necessity turn-based . Only with computer support was turn-based play and strategy successfully transposed into real-time. Turn-based strategy and turn-based tactics were obvious first candidates for computer implementation ; but as computer implementation eventually allowed for ever more complex rule sets, some games became less timeslice-focused and more continuous until eventually "real-time" play

4503-480: The left and right sides of the fuselage and each S-band antenna in the nose and tail. The phased array allows aircraft positions on operator screens to be updated every 2–4 seconds rather than every 10 seconds, as is the case on the rotodome AWACS. ELTA was the first company to introduce an Active Electronically Scanned Array Airborne (AESA) Early Warning Aircraft and implement advanced mission aircraft using efficient, high-performance business jet platforms. In 2003,

4582-610: The most common systems worldwide. Boeing produces a specific system with a " rotodome " rotating radome that incorporates Westinghouse (now Northrop Grumman ) radar. It is mounted on either the E-3 Sentry aircraft ( Boeing 707 ) or more recently the Boeing E-767 ( Boeing 767 ), the latter only being used by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force . When AWACS first entered service it represented

4661-464: The one nation's military Arsenal. The game includes both aircraft carriers and land-based air bases. It maintains a level of realism in that aircraft that are limited to land-based operations in real life are similarly limited to land-based operations in the game. This prevents the player from having heavy bombers (like the B-52 ) taking off or landing from aircraft carriers, something that never happens in

4740-405: The original version of the game only included one campaign (since then, several replacement campaigns have been made by FC and NWP-FC enthusiasts). A stand-alone scenario is not linked to other scenarios like the campaign scenarios are, although they may be related in terms of setting, theater-of-war, combatants, alliances, fictitious or historical conflicts, etc. Once the player is in the scenario,

4819-402: The player to focus on logistics and production as much as or more than combat, whereas real-time tactics games commonly do not feature resource-gathering, production, base-building or economic management, instead focusing on tactical and operational aspects of warfare such as unit formations or the exploitation of terrain for tactical advantage. Real-time tactical gameplay is also characterized by

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4898-423: The player's ships undetected, but it also blinds their GCI and leaves them "groping in the dark", so to speak. If the player has AWACS aircraft and/or fighter jets available, these are often the first units deployed. The game was released the first time in 1999 by EA. EA licensed also from Jane's the "Jane's" name and the "Jane's Combat Simulations" logo, and the game was marketed under the "Jane's" name, much like

4977-430: The previous "Jane's Fighters Anthology ", also published by EA. On October 26, 2006 Strategy First re-released Fleet Command as SCS-Fleet Command , without the "Jane's" branding. It was released as part of a three-game retail package called Naval Combat Pack , which also included 688(I) Hunter/Killer and Sub Command and also includes a video CD A Century of Silent Service . The 2006 version of Fleet Command

5056-654: The problems with cooling and operator space that existed with the narrower Tu-95 and Tu-116 fuselage. To meet range requirements, production examples were fitted with an air-to-air refueling probe. The resulting system, the Tupolev Tu-126 , entered service in 1965 with the Soviet Air Forces and remained in service until replaced by the Beriev A-50 in 1984. During the Cold war, United Kingdom deployed

5135-540: The radar system on AEW&C aircraft allows the operators to detect, track and prioritize targets and identify friendly aircraft from hostile ones in real-time and from much farther away than ground-based radars. Like ground-based radars, AEW&C systems can be detected and targeted by opposing forces, but due to aircraft mobility and extended sensor range, they are much less vulnerable to counter-attacks than ground systems. AEW&C aircraft are used for both defensive and offensive air operations, and serve air forces in

5214-403: The real world. Moreover, only aircraft that are actually assigned to a particular class of aircraft carrier in real life are available on in-game carriers. This concept of realism in units carries through to the weaponry, ordnance, speed, accuracy, radar coverage, level of detection, and survivability of all of the units and weapons in the game. One feature that was deliberately kept out of the game

5293-563: The same radar. The Lockheed WV and EC-121 Warning Star , which first flew in 1949, served widely with US Air Force and US Navy. It provided the main AEW coverage for US forces during the Vietnam war. It remained operational until replaced with the E-3 AWACS. Developed roughly in parallel, N-class blimps were also used as AEW aircraft, filling gaps in radar coverage for the continental US, their tremendous endurance of over 200 hours being

5372-410: The same role as what the combat information center is to naval warships , in addition to being a highly mobile and powerful radar platform. So useful and advantageous is it to have such aircraft operating at a high altitude, that some navies also operate AEW&C aircraft for their warships at sea, either coastal- or carrier-based and on both fixed-wing and rotary-wing platforms. In the case of

5451-479: The sense of simulating war and being turn-based , the rules for miniature wargames tend to lean heavily towards the minutiae of military combat rather than anything at a strategic scale. Though popular as table-top games, tactical wargames were relatively late in coming to computers, largely due to game mechanics calling for large numbers of units and individual soldiers, as well as advanced rules that would have required hardware capacities and interface designs beyond

5530-717: The system being able to detect low flying formations at a range greater than 100 miles (160 km). US Navy then ordered production of the TBM-3W, the first production AEW aircraft to enter service. TBM-3Ws fitted with the AN/APS-20 radar entered service in March 1945, with 27 eventually constructed. It was also recognised that a larger land-based aircraft would be attractive, thus, under the Cadillac II program, multiple Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress bombers were also outfitted with

5609-472: The tactical environment of their selected period, the most common eras and situations being the World War II , Napoleonic warfare or ancient warfare . Numerically they make up the bulk of the genre. While the degree of realism is uniform, the scale of command and precise mechanics differ radically according to the period setting in keeping with the tactics of that period. So for instance, titles set in

5688-411: The value of units and the judicious use of them (though some scenarios make it impossible to save a particular unit). The military realism is emphasised further by such means as using some authentic NTDS symbology on the 2D tactical planning map. Much of the game and mission events are presented in the form of full-motion video sequences. Gameplay can be chosen from one of three different options. First

5767-568: The whole of Central Europe . AEW&C system indicates close and far proximity range on threats and targets, help extend the range of their sensors, and make offensive aircraft harder to track by avoiding the need for them to keep their own radar active, which the enemy can detect. Systems also communicate with friendly aircraft, vectoring fighters towards hostile aircraft or any unidentified flying object. After having developed Chain Home —the first ground-based early-warning radar detection system—in

5846-555: Was achieved. While some publications do refer to "RTT" as a distinct subgenre of real-time strategy or strategy, not all publications do so. Further, precise terminology is inconsistent. Nonetheless, efforts have been made to distinguish RTT games from RTSs. For instance, GameSpy described Axis & Allies (the 2004 video game) as a "true RTS", but with a high level of military realism with such features as battlefield command organization and supply lines. A developer for Close Combat said their game never aspired to be an RTS in

5925-876: Was also released in 2000, gaining much attention for its luscious visuals but earning developers Massive Entertainment few sales. In 2007, World in Conflict was also released by Massive Entertainment . The 2000s (decade) saw a number of tactical simulations developed in Eastern Europe . Examples include real-time tactics titles such as those belonging to the Blitzkrieg , Sudden Strike and UFO (not to be confused with UFO: Enemy Unknown by MicroProse ) series; as well as stand-alone titles like Nexus: The Jupiter Incident , Joint Task Force , and Codename: Panzers . Real-time tactics games with historical or contemporary settings generally try to recreate

6004-482: Was also released on GameTap in March 20, 2008. The November 2024 naval combat simulation Sea Power by MicroProse and Triassic Games is considered to be a spiritual successor to Fleet Command. The game received above-average reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings . Next Generation gave generally positive reviews. The United States Naval Academy had the game installed in computer labs and used it to introduce prospective students to

6083-462: Was in 1995 that the regimentally focused wargame Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat was released, groundbreaking not only in that it focused purely on the operational aspects of combat (with all aspects pertaining: regimental manoeuvring and formations, support tactics, terrain, etc.), nor only in that it was entirely real-time, but also that it introduced zoomable and rotatable 3D terrain. In 1997 Firaxis Games ' released Sid Meier's Gettysburg! ,

6162-504: Was noteworthy for combining the genre with RPG gameplay. Drakkhen allowed the player to micromanage four specialized fantasy units in a 3D battlefield during each random encounter. Another predecessor was Bits of Magic's Centurion: Defender of Rome (published for the PC by Electronic Arts in 1990), in which, similar to the recent Rome: Total War game, the game took place on a strategic map interspersed by battle sequences. However, though

6241-412: Was nuclear weapons. In a single-player game, the player starts by selecting a stand-alone scenario or a campaign scenario. Campaign scenarios are linked in that if the player successfully completes a scenario in the campaign, this unlocks the next scenario in that campaign for play. However, the game is limited in that it can only ever have the one campaign available to the player at any one time. In fact,

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