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It's funny how playing games leads, sometimes by a roundabout route, to playing more games. Obtaining nukes in Hearts of Iron 2 led me to start watching films about nuclear war or possible nuclear conflict. Dr. Strangelove, an old favourite, was put on for the nth time. And a new one to me, Thirteen Days, based on the Cuban missile crisis. This led me to hanker for some nuclear war. "Why," I asked myself, "hasn't anyone made a game about Mutually Assured Destruction?" Then I realised someone had. Introversion made a game years ago, called Defcon.. It's rather fun. "I wish I owned that." I mourned. Than I realised I did, and had a game. The world is divided up into six areas (Asia, Russia, North America, South America, Africa, Europe) and given equal forces to fight it out. Radar sites lift fog of war, airfields can launch fighters and bombers, and silos provide air defence and launch nukes. Fleets consist of subs, carriers and battleships. Subs are slow, but can launch nukes and are usually hidden underwater except when launching. Carriers are good at looking for subs, and can launch fighters and bombers. Battleships are good at blowing up other ships. This is all represented by some very stylish 2D graphics, made to look like a stereotypical represntation of force movements in a bunker's war room: http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h109/FullAuto_2006/def1.jpg The countdown begins straight away, as you site your facilites and place your fleets. This is one of the great things about the game. The concept of MAD is inescapable, when you start there's nothing you can do to avert the war. It's just a matter of time. But you can't launch missiles until DefCon 1. Pretty soon, fleets bump into each other. DefCon 3 is reached, and aircraft can be launched. The fighting starts as air forces mesh and collide, fighters tackling fighters, bombers missiling carriers, fighters chasing bombers, air defence shooting down any enemy aircraft, subs slipping by or being discovered, battleships blowing everything within range to bits. http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h109/FullAuto_2006/fleets.jpg You probe enemy air space with your aircraft, trying not to be intercepted, looking for their silos, radars and airfields, predicting your missiles' trajectory and wondering what to take out and how: http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h109/FullAuto_2006/launcho.jpg But this is just to get to the real goal. The cities: http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h109/FullAuto_2006/sph.jpg By default, each territory has 25 cities, each containing a part of the territory's 100-million population. Obviously, this isn't realsitic, it's to provide balance. The cities vary in size, so if you turn London into a crater, this will kill more than if you nuke Maracaibo. The location of any nuclear launch site is immediately known to the other players, so what do you do? http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h109/FullAuto_2006/laudec.jpg Launch early, and hope that your silos can switch back to anti-missile duty in time to hit the enemy nukes as they come for you? Stay on the defensive, and leave your silos on anti-missile duty? Half and half, launching bombers to nuke his silos? Use a massive attack from your subs and silos and bombers to overwhelm him? Up to six players, human or AI, differnet game modes, alliances and betrayals, a very simple and elegant online system. Brilliant, if disturbing, audio, lovely visual style, simple controls (95% left click or right click). I lost this one: http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h109/FullAuto_2006/bah.jpg If anyone fancies a game, let me know. You can turn me (glowing) green with envy at your apocalyptic skills.