By John F. Antal

Think you have what it takes to command troops in battle? Test yourself in this book by John F. Antal. Antal is an army Lt. Colonel at the Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. This is more than your regular old book. Subtitled The Captain's War: An Interactive Exercise in Company-Level Command in Battle, this is an interactive book. Your decision-making determines how the book ends.

You are Captain Casey, a tank officer out of Fort Knox Kentucky. The book is set in Korea during a real live shooting war. You are to command a mixed infantry-armor combat team taking over from the well-liked captain who has just been killed in action. Right off the bat you realize leadership is never easy.

Combat Team is a scrambled text. The book is not read in sequence from cover to cover. The book is divided into sections. At the end of each section you will be required to make a decision or in some situations roll a die. Yes, unfortunately, luck does play a part in combat. You will jump from one section of the book to another depending on your decision-making or luck. Each decision you make will affect the outcome of the battle.

There are many endings offering several degrees of success or failure. If you fail, meaning death or capture, you go back to the previous decision point and choose another path. There is only one path to decisive victory.

This is a great book. It can be enjoyed on many different levels. If you are a professional soldier it's a great instruction manual on command and small unit tactics. If you are a wargamer it's a game on command and small unit tactics. Many of the situations can be set up on a wargame table and gamed out. The book comes with maps and an order of battle for your command. Enemy forces can be guessed at where not precisely given. So, strap on your helmet, close down the hatch and get ready for a real test of your leadership and tactical abilities. I recommend this book highly.

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