Air Assault Task Force

Overview

Air Assault Task Force...

While the first military application of a helicopter took place in 1942, when the German Kriegsmarine began to use Flettner FL-282s as anti-submarine warfare platforms, the helicopter truly came of age as a battlefield weapon during the Vietnam War. Unlike the Second World War, which saw many battles in or near heavily urbanized areas, with easy access, the war in Vietnam was one of often remote jungle battles.Men could slog through the dense terrain, but it was a grueling process, and with few exceptions, vehicles would simply not be able to navigate many of the engagement zones. Enter the helicopter.

Able to transport ground troops, heavy equipment, and even provide fire support to even the remotest of the hinterlands, helicopters changed the nature of ground conflict. Now, hunters from the sky did not have to be dropped from huge aircraft, scattered all over the countryside, but instead could be inserted precisely where they were needed. Likewise, if need be they could be extracted just as easily.

Air Assault Task Force by ProSIM Company firmly places you in the boots and saddles of the air cavalry, commanding forces across decades of helicopter operations. From battling Charlie in Vietnam, to skinnies in Somalia, to Islamfascism in Afghanistan, Air Assault Task Force covers the spectrum of heliborne operations of recent times.

ProSIM is already known for their ultra-realistic modern "command-time" simulations (so known that they are used as a basis for real-world training sims!), and Air Assault Task Force continues the fine tradition as an evolution of past projects. Raising the bar even higher for how a real-time strategy game can actually have real strategy and not just a lot of mouse clicking, Air Assault Task Force is a highly playable, highly realistic simulation of the vertical battlefield.

More than just helicopters, players will coordinate infantry, artillery, armor, attack aviation, and more using equipment databases of utmost accuracy and detail. These forces are commanded in real-time, using a traditional "select-unit, select-order" paradigm, that allow users to quickly jump into the action on digital elevation maps that accurately mimic the real terrain the battles were fought over. Unlike most wargames with hexes, and the abstractions that brings, Air Assault Task Force maps make the player think like a real commander would, and not as a gamer.

Of course ultimately Air Assault Task Force is a game, and ProSIM has once again crafted a computer opponent that will mercilessly hammer the unprepared. When you're ready for another challenge you can move on to playing other live opponents, or craft your own scenarios. Owners of any (or all) of the ATF family of games will also be thrilled to know that Air Assault Task Force is fully compatible with previous titles, meaning that you could load up a scenario from The Falklands War: 1982 and have it instantly upgraded to the new standards that Air Assault Task Force brings!

Helicopters changed the way war was fought, and so what better way to herald in the new era of the most realistic commercial modern warfare simulations from ProSIM Company than by introducing the airmobile with Air Assault Task Force! So check your fields of fire, blast a little Wagner, and come in fast, 'cos this LZ is hot!

Praise!

What they're saying... *"With its highly sophisticated AI, Air Assault Task Force allows players to exercise as much control as they feel comfortable with, from company-level missions to "attack here" or "defend this" to micromanaging the activities of individual vehicles and teams. It is about the closest players can get to actual multi-echelon combined arms training without feeling the prop blast from a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter and the smell of JP-4 aviation fuel wafting through the air."

"In conclusion, Air Assault Task Force is a great wargame. It looks good and plays well right out of the box."* --Bill Macon, The Wargamer

"Air Assault is a great way for players to experience some of the danger and challenges of conducting an air assault without actually participating in the real thing. The game has a strong professional military pedigree, making it just as much a command simulation as it is a war game. This might seem a steep slope to climb for those without military experience, but once the player becomes familiar with the concepts, they will start to wonder why more war games aren’t designed this way." --Larry Levandowski, Armchair General

"There are many other positives about this game. The tutorial is excellent. It supports multi-player on a pretty decent web site. There are editors for users to create new scenarios. The second version of the ATF Engine is much better than the first version – the friendlier and more intuitive interface is welcome. The 130-page manual is fantastic. Not only is the game explained in detail (including every button in the interface), but there are notes on tactics and nice pictures of tanks. The CD contains two Army manuals on air assault tactics, and naked pictures of the developers’ wives. Well, maybe not that last one." --Tom Bitterman, GameZone

Features

What you can expect...

♦ Evolving from the acclaimed ATF engine, Air Assault Task Force is a completely new engine, continuing the ProSIM Company tradition of stunningly realistic modern wargame simulations on your desktop PC.

♦ "Command-time" play. Forces are commanded in pause-able real-time, using a familiar "select-unit, select-order" system (previous titles used a select-order, select-unit system).

♦ Brand new graphics using the latest in DirectX technology, in which form and feature combine to provide users with eye-pleasing, but completely functional, graphics. Play in a Window or full-screen, with supported resolutions of 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x800, and 1280x1024.

♦ Three full campaigns with four scenarios each (with scenarios playable in any order if so desired) in Vietnam, Somalia, and Afghanistan. Additionally, there are two "mini-campaign" scenarios set in the JRTC, which are also found in the demo.

♦ Improved UI means less time fighting the interface and more time fighting the enemy!

♦ Upgraded damage modeling allows individual weapon system destruction and personnel injuries.

♦ Already superb, the ProSIM AI has been enhanced with elements such as revised targeting algorithms, making the Air Assault Task Force enemy the toughest yet encountered.

♦ Detailed real-world databases of the forces portrayed, along with some of the most accurate (if not the) game maps of real geography. Unlike other games where you're fighting over terrain that some artist thinks what the battlefield looked like, with Air Assault Task Force you're truly fighting on the terrain.

♦ Full-featured scenario editing allows users to create their own missions and pass them along to their friends.

♦ Multi-player capability for playing against other human opponents.

♦ Full backwards compatibility. Unlike other wargame series with ProSIM your older titles are never rendered obsolete by the latest and greatest. If you own earlier ATF titles Air Assault Task Force will upgrade those scenarios to its standards. It's like experiencing those games for the very first time, again!

♦ All improvements to the system from the earlier ATF titles are present. Individual buildings, improved munitions modeling, variable weather, et cetera can be found in Air Assault Task Force.

♦ A thorough 100+ page manual (on real paper) that's informative and entertaining.

♦ Excellent support from the community and ProSIM.

♦ Find out why ProSIM simulations are the choice of real-world defense contractors, play Air Assault Task Force today!

More Praise!

They're still talkiig... "The inherent complexity of Air Assault Task Force won’t appeal to everyone, but gamers looking for a unique approach and a focus on helicopter operations will find a lot to like in this title." --James Allen, Out of Eight

*"Like all the ProSim games, AATF is about flexible planning. Simply flying your guys to the location and shooting it out never works. (Except for the “Blackhawk Down” scenario, which I won in two minutes by doing just that.) You have to know your troops and their capabilities and recognize the importance (and limitations) of indirect artillery fire. Scouting can be difficult, firepower can be neutralized by terrain and Washington has only given you so many guys to work with. So you make a plan, watch it move forward and then pause to adjust once things get hairy."

"But the ProSim series is easily the number one modern wargame system on the market today. AATF is a pleasant reminder that warfare is an unpleasant business."* --Troy Goodfellow, Flash of Steel

Overheard

Just snooping around... *"If you are truly a wargamer and you haven't tried AATF, well you are missing out - plain and simple."

"I tell you, I can't help thinking, while I'm issuing my commands, that I should be sitting in some Command and Control course at West Point. I really think that this is more than a game, it is a simulation of command doctrine."*

Source:

www.shrapnelgames.com (Publisher's website)

Air Assault Task Force Storms the World!

The sound you hear this Christmas won't be of a jolly fat man leading a team of reindeer from rooftop to rooftop, but rather the cacophony of modern death machines descending from the skies and vomiting forth Hell from their bowels. From the verdant jungles of Vietnam, the sun-baked desolate landscape of Somalia, to the Taliban infested mountains of Afghanistan, take a ride with the Air Assault Task Force and wage war in the most realistic simulation available commercially on your PC! Shrapnel Games is pleased to announce that ProSIM Company's Air Assault Task Force for Windows is now shipping!

Air Assault Task Force, available directly through Shrapnel Games for only $44.95, is a real-time simulation of airmobile operations of the past forty years. Featuring campaigns in some of the most infamous hotspots of the world (and training operations in the United States), players will command more than just air assault troops. Besides airmobile, operations include the use of light infantry, artillery, armor, attack aviation, and the whole range of modern land combatants, all fighting on real world terrain imported directly into the game using digital elevation maps. Other games can try and replicate the battlefield, but Air Assault Task Force gives you the actual battlefield.

The next generation of ProSIM games, Air Assault Task Force is the core engine that will be used in all future ProSIM titles and builds upon its predecessor, the ATF: Armored Task Force engine. Retaining all the realism and unparalleled accuracy of ATF, Air Assault Task Force makes a monumental change with the user interface. Previously users commanded their forces by selecting the order and then selecting the unit, whereas now in Air Assault Task Force a simple right-click on a unit will then allow that unit to be ordered. While seemingly a minor change, by creating a much more intuitive command structure Air Assault Task Force tears down the walls of difficulty that some gamers found with previous titles.

ProSIM veterans will also find a slew of graphical changes, with a much cleaner interface and brighter graphics that now support either full screen or a Windowed mode up to 1280x1024 using the latest DirectX technology. The damage modeling has been fully upgraded to allow precision system destruction, as opposed to the previous "live or dead" model. Improved munitions, variable weather, individual buildings, and other enhancements found throughout ATF: Armored Task Force are of course present.

Most exciting of all Air Assault Task Force is fully backwards compatible with the ATF: Armored Task Force line of games, and indeed actually will upgrade those games to take full advantage of the new engine. Essentially this means that players can enjoy their favorite titles like Raging Tiger: The Second Korean War and The Falklands War: 1982 with all the bells and whistles found in Air Assault Task Force. How many other developers are willing to go the extra mile and ensure that gamers don't have to abandon their old games because of the latest title arriving on the scene?

Like all ProSIM titles Air Assault Task Force comes with extensive documentation, a helpful user community, and the dedicated support of ProSIM.

Source:

Shrapnel Games press release (December 2006)