Battlefront

Battlefront is a video game in the strategy genre developed by Strategic Studies Group Pty Ltd. and published by Strategic Studies Group Pty Ltd. originally released in 1986. It is currently playable on Commodore 64, Apple II.

Battlefront offers corps-level command of beleaguered Axis and Allied forces in World War II. As corps commanders, players issue orders to up to a dozen regiments, who then attempt to carry them out against deadly opposition. Your objectives and timetable are already set; with an overview of the battle, you decide what role your regiments will play in achieving those objectives, while maintaining supply and command lines to keep them moving forward.

Turns represent six hours, in which you make your decisions, combat is resolved and troops are moved. The terrain of the map is resolved in square kilometers, controlled by individual battalions. There are fourteen types of battalions, from artillery to infantry, with different levels of experience and morale. The battalions, however, are not yours; you can only give orders to their regiment, whose commanding officer decides the best tactics based on his skill, the terrain and enemy pressure. To receive your orders, regiments must be connected to their division commanders. Orders are nuanced versions of attack and movement, which are selected from brief menus that occupy the bottom quarter of the screen with terrain and unit information. The remainder of the game screen is devoted to a scrollable map showing all units and terrain, aided by an included map card for each of the four historical scenarios. Although enemy movement is not invisible, information about enemy units depends on contact and cover.

Supply lines are crucial not only to command, but to combat effectiveness and reinforcements. Also key is air and naval support, which is accounted for as off-map resources allocated proportionally among regiments. Victory, however, is achieved only by reaching and holding territory on schedule. In addition to solo play with scoring disadvantages, a two-player game is available, along with an observation mode in which the computer takes both sides. The game includes a full scenario editor, unusual in that it allows the creation of new terrain types, and can even be invoked mid-game. Four different scenarios are provided: Crete (1941), Stalingrad (1942), Saipan (1944) and Bastogne (1944-45).

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