TacOps4 es una herramienta muy interesante y que ha envejecido con mucha dignidad. Puede conseguirse un repositorio completo del juego, en dos carpetas comprimidas, desde MyAbandonware.
Este software ligero y «doméstico» fue utilizado con éxito por el Ejército de Canadá, en palabras de J.M. Petryk (Lieutenant-Colonel; Director Army Lessons Learned Centre):
USING TACOPSCF TO ENHANCE OUR TRAINING
FOREWORD
With the fielding of JANUS and the Command and Staff Trainer (CST) in 1995, the Army took a giant step towards making better use of simulation to train more effectively. The success of the Joint Command and Staff Training Centre located in CFB Kingston has led the Army to establish JANUS Simulation Centres in each of our major base locations. Use of these simulations is paying significant dividends. Commanders, staffs and soldiers at all levels are demonstrating an increased effectiveness in employing operational planning procedures, coordinating fire and manoeuvre and applying tactics, techniques and procedures. JANUS and CST have permitted the Army to conduct training at the brigade and division levels in simulation, when time and resource constraints, as well as operational commitments, have prevented it from doing so in the field.
In 1999, the Army purchased and distributed a Canadian version of the computer program titled TacOpsCF, a tactical-level combat simulation that can be run on a personal computer. The intent of this purchase was to provide soldiers at all levels with an easy to use support tool that could be used to teach and practice, in simulation and at the individual level, the application of tactics, techniques and procedures. TacOps is not and cannot provide an alternative to JANUS and CST as it lacks the level of fidelity, particularly in terrain, offered by these simulations. TacOpsCF is, however, a tool that, when used with imagination, will allow soldiers who do not have access to JANUS and CST to conduct challenging, exciting and cost effective decision making and procedural training at the unit and sub-unit level as well as in the classroom.
The tempo of operational commitments, fiscal and resource constraints and the expectations of our increasingly technologically literate soldiers demand that we continue to increase and improve our use of simulation.
The intent of this volume of Dispatches will be to provide lessons learned and advice on how to make optimum use of TacOpsCF to achieve this. In developing this volume, we have borrowed experiences from the Army, the CF and our US allies. It contains valuable information, and I encourage you to use this knowledge in your efforts to constantly improve the effectiveness of our training.
A continuación, una muestra de los contenidos del repositorio.
Estos contenidos en formato pdf los podéis descargar, para su consulta, clicando en la imagen correspondiente. Tras su estudio, la decisión de descargar el repositorio completo, de instalarlo y de utilizarlo, queda en vuestras manos.
1. Un manual canadiense para utilizar TacOps4 en el entrenamiento militar.
2. El manual del juego.
3. Un tutorial.
4. Una amplia colección de escenarios (adaptables a otras herramientas).
y 5. Fuera del repositorio, como contenido extra, una Guía de consulta rápida sobre la herramienta.
