POWER DOLLS

Despite a rather flawed execution, I absolutely love what Power DoLLS is trying to do.

Using the ludicrous backronym “Detachment of Limited Line Service,” Power DoLLS is a hex-grid turn-based tactical war game that takes itself rather seriously but for one major hook: all of the mechs, airplanes, and self-propelled artillery units are piloted by attractive women. [I’d say “cute”, but that would imply “kawaii,” and these are more of the classic 80s/early 90s anime style].

You are given a talent pool of several pilots, each with varying stats, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Some are good at piloting mechs, others air support, while others are artillery specialists. You’re given several different highly customizable mech frames throughout the game, as well as moderately customizable fighters, bombers, and artillery.

Gameplay is similar to mecha-miniatures games, such as Battletech, but the computer medium allows for semi-realtime fog of war. Each turn represents 5 minutes of operations that can last several hours. Each unit has a number of action points it can use in that 5 minutes; action points are determined by a combination of the capability of the mechs and the women piloting them, and different actions use up differing numbers of points.

The air support, reinforcements and artillery available to you over the course of a mission are determined by the mission time; operations have scheduled phases that require you to time certain strategic and tactical maneuvering. For instance, your air support may not reach the mission area until a half hour after your first mechs hit the ground, and the fighters and bombers only have enough fuel to stay airborne over the battlefield to provide ground support for a couple hours before having to return to base. Calling in air-strikes and off-board indirect artillery bombardment can be tricky, because they are not instantaneous; an enemy you can see in combat will almost always be moving, so any strikes on their location will miss. Instead, you will need to call in strikes against general areas (highways and bridgeheads, usually) to create a blanket of fire in which you will hopefully be able to catch unseen enemies.