Introduction
Here at SimHQ, we have reviewed books in the past, so this is nothing new. What is new is that one of the most well known tactical gamers in our community, and one of our registered members at SimHQ, has wrote, edited, and published his own book. That book being something near and dear to most, if not all, of us tactical minded gamers.
“Dslyecxi”, a former Marine, (I know, no such thing as a former Marine, but he said that himself in the “About the Author” section of his book!), and the owner and operator of Shack Tactical, a highly respected Operation Flashpoint, and now Armed Assault gaming group, and an over all great guy and a best “online friend” (well we have PM’ed each other a lot, that makes us friends, right?) is the author of this book, along with his partner in crime, “Mofo8” who did the PDF layout, and the print prepress work.
About the Book
Dslyecxi’s Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures Guide is not a love story or even a war story. It’s a manual. Not just a game information manual, but a manual about using real world military tactics and procedures in the computer games we play. Its information can be applied to any and all military style games, but the main focus of the book is Armed Assault. This book covers everything from basic infantry skills to advanced combined arms and tactics, along with everything in-between. This book is nicely laid out, and easy to read and follow. It’s an encyclopedia of everything tactical. Every game clan or gaming group should have at least one copy of this book for reference and guidance on all the military clan / gaming group online operations.
The book can only be purchased online here. The price is $39.99. I just purchased a very similar in size, quality, and information book from Books-a-Million titled Infantry Squad Tactics for $24.99. But the quality and the information provided in Dslyecxi’s book makes the purchase worth it, and of course you’re helping out a fellow gamer.
The book is a well-made coated-stock paperback with a strong front and back covers that are laminated to reduce wear. No hardback version is currently available. The binding is a glued spine that made sturdy for the expected continual referencing. It is big enough for easy reading. Its 160 pages in length.
There are plenty of visuals including diagrams, and actual screenshots of Armed Assault. There is a well-organized table of contents and index (pictured at right). It’s includes a nice “recommended reading” section to further your knowledge. I always appreciate that in this type of book. Each section, four of them, is broken down by color keying so it is always easy to find area and topics of interest.
The four sections of the book are:
- The Basics
- Organization and Communications
- Standard Roles and Group Tactics
- Advance Roles, Group Tactics, and Vehicle Tips
The color keying of the sections can been seen in these images.
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There are a few issues with the printed version that need mentioning. The book was first published as a web sitehere. It not only has the excellent information and screenshots like in the book, but contains animations and video clips that of course couldn’t be imported into book. Of course, it doesn’t have the portability offered by the printed version.
Some of the pictures — mainly of in-game screenshots — are pixilated and have jaggies. This is due to the images being originally taken for the web site then reproduced for the book. It would have been nice to go back and get higher resolution screens for the book, but I fully understand the difficult task, and all the additional time necessary to do that would have caused publishing delays. The book was formatted and printed based-on customer demand. I would imagine that “Dslyecxi”, if he would have known how popular the information and his insight would become, would have provided for higher resolution images in the book.
While the glued binding is done well, I would have also liked to have seen a spiral binding version just so I could have the book opened flat to a page of interest while I gamed. I’ll probably do that myself at the local repro shop like I do with many of my PDF-based game manuals.
Speaking of PDF, I asked Dslyecxi about that possibility and he advised that there will be a PDF version at some point. It will probably be a pay version initially. $5-10 or so, as a sign of support for the work he has done, and the support of his web site.
Conclusion
The conclusion is simple. If you play Armed Assault, or any other of the main squad tactical shooters, then get this book. If you prefer to play your squad tactical shooters with proper military tactics and procedures, along with good teamwork, then get this book. If you just want to support a fellow gamer, and reward him for his dedication and hard work. Not just on this book, but at his personal web site and his Shack Tactical work, then buy a copy of this book.
Contest
If that wasn’t enough, I like and recommend this book so much for fellow gamers with my same desires of true tactics and true teamwork in Armed Assault that I’m going to give three away as part of our new contest.
All you have to do is email your favorite Armed Assault screenshot to me at magnum@simhq.com.
The screenshot must be taken by you while playing Armed Assault.
The screenshot can be submitted any original size, but all images will be reduced to a 950 pixels width for publication in the SimHQ Forums.
You can use any graphics editing program to enhance the image, but the primary elements in the image must be from Armed Assault.
In the title of the e-mail you must have in the subject line “Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures Guide Contest”.
In the body of the e-mail must be your registered SimHQ name because this contest is only for registered SimHQ members in good standing.
Only one entry per member of your best screenshot.
I will post all the submitted screenshots in one thread, so please do not post your screenshot.
The staff of SimHQ.com will determine the three winning entries.
The top three screenshots will get a free copy of “Dslyecxi’s” excellent book, Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures Guide.
Entries are due by 1800 GMT, on Friday, July 13th, 2007.
The submitted entries will then be posted for review by 1800 GMT on Sunday, July 15th.
The winners will be announced during the week of July 16th.
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