Designed, developed & published by MindSim Corporation, 2000 This CD-ROM from MindSim Corp. promises to be a wargame collector’s dream reference. It includes a complete database of wargames, with a separate database for computer games, as well as several books and articles for the grognard.

However, upon examination, the whole of this product is definitely less than the sum of its parts.

Upon starting the CD-ROM, one is greeted with a simple window with a single button, helpfully labeled “Launch HTML Button”. Once selected, this button starts Internet Explorer and opens the War Games 2000 homepage. This page consists of five icons representing the main sections of the CD: Books and Articles; Databases; Bibliographies; Games and Rules Sets; and WWW Web Resources.Selecting one of the icons opens the corresponding homepage.

The Bibliographies section consists of reference lists for Wargames, Military History, Military Decision Making and US Military Strategy.

The Games and Rules Sets sections includes rules for a number of different miniatures games, as well as demos for the computer games TACOPS, The Operational Art of War and the wargame utility Aide De Camp 2.

The WWW Web Resources lists weblinks for Clubs and Associations, Books and Magazines, Commercial Sites, Game Design, History and Resources, and finally Games and Rules Sets.

The Books and Articles section probably provides the greatest value of any of the sections. It includes, among other titles, complete electronic editions of The Complete Wargame Handbook (2 nd Edition) by James Dunnigan; Computer Game Design by Chris Crawford; The Art of War by Sun Tzu; On War and Principles of War by Carl von Clausewitz.

The Databases portion of War Games 2000 is a decidedly mixed bag. The database containing just computer wargames, the Computer Wargames Anthology, is available in HTML format and is by far the better of the two. Originally assembled by M. Evans Brooks for the magazine Computer Gaming World, it is a well-organized list of computer wargames sorted by era and subdivided alphabetically. Hyperlinks in most of the entries makes it easy to find similar games with just a mouse click. As an added bonus, there are a number of editorials by Brooks (including my favorite, The Worst In Computer Game Advertising).

Unfortunately, the database of most interest to readers of Simulacrum, the Ultimate Wargames Database, is the least satisfying part of the entire CD-ROM.

The first frustration encountered was the fact that it has to be installed separately, by running a setup program on the CD. After the clean HTML interface of the Computer Wargame Anthology, an external database was somewhat disappointing, but given the amount of data it contains, there was no realistic alternative. 3895 individual titles by 627 different publishers are included in the database.

In the first few minutes of using the product, I found an outrageous number of errors, omissions and curiosities, including reference to a computer version of Avalon Hill’s pirate game Blackbeard supposedly released in 1994 (and set in the year 2222, according to the game’s entry in the database) and a bizarre entry for the game MechWar2: Mercenaries from SPI (apparently an obscure title where World War 3 is fought across Europe by giant killer robots). Most entries contained only the most basic information, and often that was incomplete or incorrect.

Considering this is the primary purpose to the entire CD-ROM (and it is called the Ultimate Wargames Database), this lack of accuracy and completeness is unacceptable.

The search interface is clumsy and not intuitive at all, intended to allow the user to search the database by choosing a number of filter criteria including Game Info (publisher, copyright year, etc.), Time Frame (era and time period), Conflict (war, event, continent/ocean or area/sea), and Scope (environments, air combat, space combat, etc.).

In practice it proved confusing and difficult to use (the fact of no product documentation does not help). In addition, the filters themselves are poorly organized and edited. For example, there are five separate filters for SPI’s graphics godfather Redmond A. Simonsen under the Graphics filter.

One final fustration with War Games 2000 is the complete lack of entries for any Fantasy wargames. Historical and Science Fiction titles are well-represented, but if you are searching for information on such classics as War of the Ring or White Bear/Red Moon, look elsewhere. Ignoring such a large part of the wargaming world is an inexplicable choice by the creators of the database (particularly when other non-wargames, like the computer standard SimCity, are included).

MindSim positions War Games 2000 as a key resource for any wargamer. Unfortunately, it is a sorely disappointing effort from a company that is primarily a business strategy consulting firm. If you need an electronic library of essential grognard reading, with a functional list of computer wargaming info, a few demos and rules sets, and some web links thrown in, then this CD-ROM may satisfy your requirements.

However, if you are looking for an easily searchable and comprehensive database of board wargames, steer clear.

War Games 2000 can be ordered at www.mindsim.com.