Me and my old tin can had been bouncing around a good part of Europe together for what seemed like about 20 years, even though the calendar said it was still only 1943. It was getting so I hardly even noticed the sweltering heat, and the stifling air inside, the jolting force of even the "smoothest" ride and the occasional earthquake of the 76mm gun.

We were moving in on a couple of PZK IV's (one heck of a lot easier to say than Panzerkampfwagen, at least if you were born in Brooklyn) when suddenly off to one side of the clearing a few trees just sort of fell away like a green and brown wooden curtain. Two Tigers roared out at us, while the outgunned PZK's shuddered away. We buttoned up quick. I thought I had seen it all. Hell, the war was just beginning....

The game is called T.A.C. which stands for Tactical Armor Command, and it's the best simulation of tank warfare this reviewer has seen on or off a computer screen. From the high-resolution display of the battlefield to the canny, computer opponent, just about every aspect of both simulation and play is tops.

When the game starts, the participants first give each side a nationality and assign purchasing points. The nationalities available are the U.S.A., Germany, Russia and Great Britain. The purchasing points are a way of controlling the complexity of the various scenarios.

With a side's 12 to 224 purchasing points, its commander can "buy" needed military equipment from a surprisingly complete assortment. Each nationality has light, medium and heavy tanks, assault guns (small tanks), field guns and infantry squads.

The tank lists are complete. Just as an example, the United States player may choose from Sherman, Cobra, M-10, Pershing, and Grant tanks as well as the M4/105 assault gun and the Greyhound armored car and, of course, supporting infantry. The computer rates each tank or unit not only for speed and maneuverability, but also such factors as the variation in armor thickness on front, back and sides and the area the main gun can cover.

Once each nationality is assigned its units, play can begin in any of the five scenarios. Each has a distinct flavor of play and calls for different overall strategies. The Meeting Engagement scenario is the simplest: a meet-and-shoot game. The Static Defense and Break-Out scenarios impose the idea of minefields and improved positions. The Rear Guard scenario is an Armageddon of suicide missions and striving for destruction, and the Stalemate scenario allows for either side to surprise the other.

Play begins on a beautifully executed battleground which is 15 screens in size. The entire field of battle stretches three video screens East and West by five North to South. Each of the screen-sized areas is numbered and represented on the record pad maps which accompany the game. On these record pads, each player can track the location of enemy tanks, as well as record any other useful information.

The first phase of play, the Search Phase, allows commanders to spot enemy units. Each friendly unit becomes active in turn, and the computer decides if the active force can see any enemies. When a unit is active, the player can see such information as the exact heading, the facing of its weapons, the maximum allowable speed, and the current speed. The unit itself is pictured on the screen from an overhead view. The gamer may examine any sighted units during the Tactical Sighting phase which follows.

In this Tactical Sighting phase, the player may scrutinize just the one sector or, as is often the case, switch to an overall but less detailed view of the entire battlefield. This is handy if the enemy is in a sector other than the one being viewed. When an enemy is sighted more info on the enemy is given as well as the pictorial view. The player may read the enemy's range from the friendly, active unit, the enemy's bearing in compass degrees from the active unit, as well as the enemy's weapon facing and current and maximum possible speed.

Once friendly forces sighted the enemy, the Maneuver and Fire phase ventures into the heat of battle. After entering the enemy's ID# the wargamer must decide if he wants to fire at the target or continue tracking it. Tracking will improve the aim to fire in a following turn. Once the direct fire is finished, enter the speed each unit should move in the next phase - up to each unit's maximum allowable pace.

Each unit's weapon facing can be changed, and such things as firing smoke mortars to block spotters during the next turn can be attempted.

At this point, the player can also plot indirect fire. Indirect fire allows the armchair general to move a cursor to anywhere on the battlefield and fire (but not within 700 meters of a friendly location or more than 45 degrees from the active unit's weapons facing). Either high explosive or smoke may be indirect fired. In this way, if one unit spots an enemy, others can join in on the fun. Or it can be used on a hunch that the enemy is hiding in that very suspicious grove of trees - blam!

The most innovative part of T.A.C. is its Movement phase. The skills of the arcade are used in order to achieve the frustration experienced by real-life battlefield commanders.

Each unit is individually moved by means of the keyboard. Four keys and the space bar control the direction the unit will travel. The active unit moves at the pre-programmed speed-but it is up to the gamer to steer!

At first, expect to run into a lot of trees and causing quite a bit of damage to the troops. Frankly, the first few games, this reviewer hated this method of moving. After all, the typical computer simulation just says, "OK, you want to move that piece? Here we go, it's moved." But, once mastered, it really put the gamer into the spirit of things. It really feels like driving the tanks and giving marching commands to the infantry. Now, I wish other such games had this feature.

Besides the tank to tank combats, other specialized situations are also simulated. Overruns of infantry squads (so-called "soft" targets), close assaults (by infantry on tanks), and firefights (infantry vs. infantry) are all in the game. The wargamer will also be able to take advantage of improved position rules and minefields, all of which add up to true reality simulation.

The sound quality of the game, on both computers, is also fantastic. While the Atari already has the built-in sound capability, owners of the Apple may want to investigate the plug-in Mockingboard printed-circuit board from Sweet Micro Systems. This game, as with many others coming out today, supports that accessory and delivers pounding sound effects (without the board, the Apple speaker delivers more stunted, but still acceptable, sounds).

About the only feature lacking is terrain. While the simulated "wooded plain" does have groves of trees in which to hide, such things as gullies and hills would have enriched the contest. Many of the board games which simulate such tank warfare take great advantage of the ability of tanks to hide. Granted, it's not easy to program.

Playing the game, you will be likely to develop your own strategy. But, keep in mind that the ability to indirect fire your guns makes your tanks very omnipresent on the board. And, that the enemy will usually have this same ability sure does make the groves of trees look handy.

And now. . . . Wait, what's that rumbling sound? Funny, the whole computer seems to be shaking. . . . And the wall, it's.... Oh, no, a Jagdpanther in the living room! Well, luckily I have a few Pershings lying around.