Any war game that reminds me of either little plastic soldiers or Saving Private Ryan is good, and Squad Assault: West Front does both. Not only are the individual members of the squads realistic and action-oriented, they fit into the history of World War II precisely. The action takes place starting at Omaha Beach and proceeds from Normandy toward Paris, and each scenario is faithfully taken from the War College archives.

That historical accuracy makes the game more than just interesting, but a good war game also needs to bring those tiny toy soldiers to life. And in Squad Assault, when you zoom in from the aerial overview, you can see excellent full-size soldiers crawling, moving up, tossing grenades, sneaking through realistic trees and firing a variety of weapons.

Squad Assault is true to its name – it is squad-based, so you can’t break the teams apart. You set up your force at the beginning of each scenario, and there is huge flexibility there in picking from mortar teams, tanks, etc. You can re-configure each battle by selecting different teams, which adds immeasurably to the life of the game. Plus you can vary the time limit, set up for calculating points or just wipe out the enemy to the last man.

This title has an incredible variety of options to tweak; you can even switch between real-time and turn-based play. There is a multi-player option via LAN or Internet, through wargamer.com, although there don’t seem to be games constantly open to join in. If all else fails, there is even an editor to roll your own scenarios. Once the mods community starts cranking up, you can even share mods with fellow gamers.

The graphics are decent, the sounds are adequate, and after a bit of a lumpy learning curve, you’ll find a lot to enjoy.

Okay, some marketing bullets: Squad Assault is a fully 3-D, continuous-time environment. You can zoom in or zoom out, pan left, pan right, etc. The fighting men are authentic, detailed models for all those engaged in the French countryside in 1944, including American, German, British, Canadian, and even the Free French. The default is real-time strategy, but players can switch to the traditional turn-oriented play, using an auto-pause feature. There is a two-dimensional overhead map view with order entry that lets players view the carnage from above, and you can switch back and forth.

There were a few warts, but some of the initial problems may simply be due to getting an early copy and not finding the manual on the CD until it was too late. I had to make my own quick reference card of keyboard shortcuts, for example, and by the time I was a few hours into the Squad Assault, I had covered my gaming area with sticky notes. Your mileage, hopefully, will vary.

From the opening scene, it’s hard not to be hooked. Over grainy black-and-white footage from the Normandy invasion, the credits roll in a font that looks like it came from Marvel Comics. The music is martial and inspiring, and totally sets the mood.

The casual war gamer who hasn’t played G.I. Combat, Combat Mission, or Close Combat, among others, will want to work over the tutorials very hard before moving into actual war-time conditions. The tutorials are good, not great. Objectives are limited, but there is way too little interactive hand-holding. For example, you could issue order after order after order before figuring out that you need to click the Bugle to actually start the battle. Since there is no roll-over script for any of the icons, you just have to blunder your way through and start clicking to figure out the interface. I still prefer a game that anticipates the problems a raw beginner might encounter, but maybe it’s just too much overhead.

Similarly, until you click the oversized mouse pointer somewhere, anywhere, in the 2D map, the directional keyboard shortcuts don’t engage. It might be nice for the game to let you know that you will hit the forward and down buttons in futility until clicking in the golden zone of the screen…

However, all is forgiven when the play starts and it proves to be fun, and that’s what this game offers. You will cringe as your men fall to the enemy, and you will be itching to try new tactics with each failure. There are multiple tree lines to hug, abandoned farmhouses to hide in, and different ways to exhibit patience and timing. Rushing the enemy will rarely win, although squads do build in confidence as they rack up small victories. Your best bet is to use those long-distance weapons whenever possible.

You’ll be feeling pretty cocky as you make progress. The scenarios are increasingly intricate, and the game builds well. Scenarios can be timed to end after set periods, or left open-ended until every last enemy soldier is eliminated. For the squeamish, the blood can be turned off, but in order to thoroughly study war, would you want birds chirping in the background or the sound of whizzing bullets? ‘nuff said.

One more quibble is that the scenarios are listed in alphabetical order, so you have to scroll through to find Omaha Beach, which is the logical place to start. But prepare yourself for when you hit that bugle to start the action on D-Day, because literally, all hell breaks loose. It is loud and confusing and totally immersive. The sound of men crying out was almost eerie; it makes your pulse rise. I have to confess that the first time I sent my boys up towards the sea wall at Omaha Beach, it was a bloody slaughter. Yep, more study is clearly needed.