CATSS: Combined Arms Tactical Simulation System társasjáték

Angol leírás

CATSS is a military simulation system, a wargame, which aims to simulate modern and contemporary combined arms land warfare (from World War II to the present days).
CATSS stands for Combined Arms Tactical Simulation System.

CATSS is a game system.
The rules allow simulating most ground combat, of all intensities: from high-intensity warfare to guerrilla warfare and air-to-surface operations.

CATSS is played on 1/100,000 laminated operational maps. It is a wargame that uses real maps, by marking and drawing the symbols of units as Staff officers do.

CATSS is currently available in digital version.
Rules are available online.

Tables and maps are downloadable in PDF format (to print yourself or to play on computer with PDF files).
The game Modules are downloadable in PDF format.

Printed (paper) version of the rules, tables and maps will be available soon.

It is also possible to play on computer by drawing on scanned maps in PDF format and with the unit sheets updatable through PDF forms.

In addition, with CATSS App, it is possible to install the rules on your smartphone or tablet as a native application, which makes the consultation of the rules even easier and faster when playing.

There are 4 types of rules:

• the Basic Rules
• the Advanced Rules
• the Air Rules
• the Guerrilla Rules

For the moment, only the Basic and Advanced Rules are available.

Basic Rules: these rules cover unit activation, hierarchical organization, communications, morale, missions, deployment, movement, infantry fire, anti-tank fire, artillery fire, assaults, logistics (simplified).

Advanced Rules: these rules allow to simulate the more technical aspects of modern warfare. They cover special artillery ammunition, engineering, logistics (advanced), electronic warfare, guided munitions, trains and railways, breakdowns and repairs, etc.

Air Rules: these rules bring the 3rd dimension to the CATSS system. They cover air combat, ground support and bombing, detection, radar and anti-aircraft fire, aerial observation, helicopters, air transport, paratroopers and drones.

Guerrilla Rules: these rules allow to simulate low intensity fights. They allow to alternate, in the same scenario, between guerrilla actions and high intensity warfighting. These rules cover ambushes, raids, patrols, special forces, posts and garrisons.

The rules are currently only available in French. They will be available in English soon (in 2025).

CATSS is a sophisticated game system, meaning that it is possible to accurately simulate almost all types of military operations at the divisional level, but it does not sacrifice on gameplay.
The time required to play a scenario depends on the number of units involved and if the advanced and aviation rules are played; a scenario with a few battalions playing only the Basic Rules can thus be played in one evening, when a scenario involving multiple divisions and playing the Advanced and Aviation Rules may take several days (or more).

CATSS, in addition to showing the effects of fighting (an artillery barrage that surprises a Battalion advancing on a road is often deadly: it’s a fact) also allows to understand and apprehend the processes that cause these effects (what makes such a barrage lethal? in relation to which environmental and technical factors?).
So, when you have assimilated the rules and the game system, you will realize that you will have a much better understanding of the impact of contemporary weapons (modern and less modern) and the possibilities of action of fighting units on military operations.

Whether it’s infantry fire, anti-tank fire, artillery fire or air bombing, each type of fire has been very precisely modeled, taking into account the results of analyses, experiences and norms established by the military and experts in this field since World War II. For example, the volume of fire and lethality of an infantry company can be quantified and calculated in relation to the weapons used, the number of ammunitions spent, the duration of firing, the distance from the target and the terrain on which it is located. Regardless of the simulated period, because it is the types of weapons used and their use that determine their effects in relation to their environment.

For experienced wargamers who want to know where they are going, we could say that CATSS is the land-based side of Larry Bond and Chris Carlson’s Harpoon Naval warfare simulation (the paper version, not the computer game). The CATSS approach, both as a simulation and in-game, is very similar to Harpoon. You can therefore consider that CATSS is to air-land warfare what Harpoon is to air-naval warfare.

For those who want to classify CATSS in a type of game, let’s say it is a hybrid game and it lies halfway between miniatures wargames with complex and sophisticated rules, to more classical map wargames, and to semi-professional simulations, but with the particularity of drawing units and information directly on the Map.

CATSS is a rich, sophisticated game that is both simple and complex (but not complicated). It allows to understand and study modern fights in a precise and original way, with enough seriousness to pretend to be a simulation, but also with enough "fun" to pretend to be an exciting game!