STRATEGIC CONQUEST

 STRATEGIC CONQUEST is the best pure-strategy game I've found. In your quest for
global domination (which, of course, is the only worthy goal for an armchair
commander), you'll control an army, a navy, and an air force. There's nothing
like acquiring real estate through sheer force of arms. (This review is based on
the Apple IIe version; Macintosh version notes follow.)

 Perhaps the best thing that can be said about any game is that it's addictive.

STRATEGIC CONQUEST is exactly that, and here's why: Every game is played on a
unique computer-generated map; each time, there are different starting locations
for both you and your computer opponent.

 The catch is that, at the outset, the world is unknown (except for the small
square indicating your starting city). Map sectors are revealed only by moving
your units into them. It's up to you to explore this world and tailor your
tactics according to your discoveries. Each situation requires subtle
adjustments in strategy. If you find yourself starting on a small, remote
island, you might want to build an aircraft carrier to transport reconnaissance
planes beyond the range of your air bases. If you share a continent with the
enemy, you'll want to put nearly all your initial production into armies, for a
conventional, front-line slugfest.

 In this game, production is the most significant function of cities: The more
cities you control, the more units you can array against your computer foe. Each
city is capable of producing one unit at a time, and at any point in the game,
you can specify which type of unit the city should build.

 Every city can produce armies, fighters, and bombers; coastal cities can al
produce a variety of naval units, including destroyers, submarines, transports,
carriers, and battleships. Each unit requires a certain number of game days to
produce, from four days for a basic army to 25 days for a battleship.

 What to build? First, you need armies, since they're the only units capable of
taking over cities. You'll also need fighters, because their long ranges help in
locating those cities -- and the enemy. Transports, too, are a must; amphibious
invasions are a staple of STRATEGIC CONQUEST.

 After that, it depends on the flow of the game. Each unit has different
capabilities: What's irrelevant in one game can make the difference between life
and death in the next. Just when you think you've got a foolproof production
plan, the enemy is likely to arrive in sufficient numbers to require a hasty
revision.

 STRATEGIC CONQUEST sounds complex, but the game's elegant command system makes
it easy to direct all of your various units. For example, in the Apple IIe
version, you can specify a destination for a whole stack of units simply by
pointing and clicking. The computer won't prompt you again until the unit have
either reached the specified destination or encountered the enemy. You can order
individual units to patrol along a specific or random route. The game also
allows you to put units to "sleep," so that the units held in reserve stay quiet
until you have a job for them.

 Another thing I like about STRATEGIC CONQUEST is the visibility rule: You don't
know the exact location of the enemy's units until you fly over or run into them
with your own. Even then, the units you've spotted only remain visible for a
limited number of game days afterward. This feature definitely enhances the
realism of the game. Like a true commander, you'll rely on constant probes and
patrols to stay abreast of the enemy's schemes.

 STRATEGIC CONQUEST has fifteen levels of skill. Despite an early debacle or
two, levels one through four do not seem particularly difficult to me. (That's
as far as I've progressed as of this writing.) Games can last from as little as
two hours to as long as ten hours, at the higher levels.

 You may save the game at the end of each turn, but restoring it can be tricky:
You must start a new game before you're offered the option of restoring a
previously stored position. Pay attention, or you'll end up saving the new game
on top of the old. It's more than a little annoying to erase a position you've
spent five or six hours building.

 Another caveat for Apple IIe owners: STRATEGIC CONQUEST was written first for
the Macintosh, so it's designed to be played with a mouse. Moving the pointer
around with the open-apple and arrow keys is, at best, tedious. Pull-down menus
are a similar pain for the mouseless. Note, too, that STRATEGIC CONQUEST plays
on a monochrome monitor, and the IIe version requires 128K.

 MACINTOSH VERSION NOTES

 I'm sure I must have played the different Macintosh versions of STRATEGIC
CONQUEST for well into the hundreds -- perhaps even thousands -- of hours.
Considering that just one game can last several hours (and I must have played
hundreds of games), that's fairly easy to do.

 STRATEGIC CONQUEST PLUS (version 2.005 for the Macintosh) is the latest upgrade
of this addicting war/strategy game. I played it on my black-and-white Mac Plus
(just like I played most of the other versions), but this time I was able to use
my hard disk. All the other versions were too heavily copy-protected: This one
has no copy protection at all -- a courageous step for the new publishers,
Premier Technology, Inc.

 Not only was I able to play it on my hard disk, I was able to do so without
worrying about turning off my disk cache or any of the many INITs I use. The
program seems to be completely bug-free. I would not have been able to say that
about any of the older versions.

 Instead of immediately giving you the choice to start a new game or resume an
old one, the program still goes through the process of starting a new game every
time it's booted. But that's the only complaint I have. Even this quirk can be
easily bypassed by clicking the saved game's icon rather than the program's
icon.

 Map and enemy positions are randomly selected each time the game is played, and
some games are easier than others, no matter which level you choose. Most of the
games last only an hour or two before you know whether you've won or lost, but
some can take quite a long time.

 You can play against the computer or a human opponent, either on an Appletalk
Network or on a single computer. There's also a "hide the game from the boss"
option.

 STRATEGIC CONQUEST is one of my all-time favorites on the Mac, and I recommend
it highly to all strategy/wargame lovers.

 STRATEGIC CONQUEST is published by Premier Technology, Inc.

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