This is a picture of the much more complicated Tactial Combat Series(TCS) game system from multi-man publishing. This is the smallest TCS map and resulted in a game that took approximately 48 hours worth of game play(split up into about 8 six hour sessions).
In this game system you have to write orders in advance and then roll to see if you can implement them and your tactical moves have to follow and abide by your strategical written and implemented orders. Which leads to the occasional fits of frustration when your opponent has done something clever and you keep failing the implementation to counter it and he is free to exploit the hell outa you.
In this particular game the Japanese Player(yellow tokens) must be aggressive and plan way way in advance. If you do not attack from as many angles as possible as the Japanese(they start on the far left of the picture) you will find yourself where the player in the picture is....with far too few troops to take the ridge and the US artillery ripping you to a thousand little pieces.
The US player on the other hand has to spend the first few in-game days in utter panic. He has amazing implementation rolls and good troops but only two battalions vs three Japanese regiments. They will hide in the jungle, flank you and choke you out. If they kill your artillery it is probably game over for you as that is really the only thing you have that can stop them with any reliable success rates.
We played two games. The first one the Japanese player completely screwed up his orders and was in an un-winnable position by the fifth in game hour. The second one lasted the full game and looked like it would be his victory but once the US got all of its artillery it wiped out two whole regiments in about four barrages.
Probably the shortest and simplest TCS game around.
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