TaskForce: Naval Tactics and Operations in the 1980's

TaskForce: Naval Tactics and Operations in the 1980's is a two-player naval combat board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1981. It was designed by Joseph Balkoski, with graphic design by Redmond A. Simonsen, and models surface ship, submarine and air warfare with the weapons and tactics of the late 1970s. Its distinctive feature is a limited intelligence hidden movement system: each player has a separate set of three maps covering the Mediterranean Sea, the Caribbean Sea and the Iceland-Faroe Islands Strait, so neither side knows where the other task force is or what it contains. Both players take part in every phase of a turn, which runs through random events, air operations to search for the enemy, and an action phase in which a die roll added to a leader's strength gives action points for moving ships, anti-submarine warfare, gunnery, missiles, torpedoes and air strikes. Missile, torpedo and air attacks are resolved by comparing a die roll with the target's defensive factor rather than using a combat results table. The box offers introductory, basic, intermediate and tournament scenarios, and contemporary reviewers praised its flexibility and its search procedure while noting gaps in its treatment of Soviet land-based aircraft.