1C: Maddox Games, the creator of the acclaimed World War II-era flight simulation IL-2 Strumovik, is looking to attain a similar level of detail in its upcoming real-time simulation of WWII strategy, Battlefield Command. What we saw at Codemasters' E3 booth provided an indication of how technically impressive the game may be, with its extremely detailed and smoothly animated models for tanks and soldiers, deformable terrain, and real-time line-of-sight system that dynamically takes into account whether a building has just had a tank shell blow throw a wall.

　　Battlefield Command is a detailed tactical simulation of combat that takes place on photo-realistic maps covering a total of 10 square miles each, but your role in the battles takes place in the middle portion, which is one square mile in size. To give a sense of the larger war going on, you'll see engagements off in the distance when you zoom the camera out, but otherwise the scale is very much focused on individual units. Each soldier in the game is modeled much like an RPG character, with a full range of attributes, abilities, and personality characteristics that determine how he will behave in action if left to his own devices.

　　A major part of the gameplay is figuring out how to use the right man for the right job, and also nurturing the skills of soldiers so they become better at working autonomously. One key attribute is leadership, and if a given platoon is under the command of an able leader, the player won't have to micromanage the troops as much. Fallen soldiers can be replaced by nearby comrades, but they may not be prepared to do as good a job. For example, it's possible to replace a tank crew that's been killed without harming a tank, but it'll take time before ordinary soldiers can figure out how to drive the tank properly.

　　The control of infantry and armor units on the 3D maps is hardly more complicated than what you'd expect from an RTS game, but there are many additional options in the interface at the bottom of the screen, such as buttons to order soldiers to go prone or to set up static two-man weapons like mortars or machine guns. It's encouraged that you use the surrounding terrain to your advantage, including tall grasses or the occasional tree or cobblestone wall. There are a series of contextual orders you can issue to soldiers to take advantage of buildings, making them storm a defended structure or garrison one to take effective cover from tanks. Despite the tactical scale, you are definitely a part of a larger command structure and will be able to call for long-range artillery barrages, air strikes, paratrooper drops, aerial photos, and reinforcements.

　　Battlefield Command is a serious military strategy game, but it has impressively detailed graphics that anyone can appreciate. It's possible to zoom the camera in for a close-up look at fluidly animated soldiers and tank replicas that were taken from CAD models and are detailed down to the individual rivet. Battlefield Command promises many hours of gameplay, with more than 100 missions and a full range of multiplayer options that will support up to eight players. The game is due out in the first half of 2004.