Combat Command is a series of "interactive novels" by various authors, all edited by Bill Fawcett, the brainchild of the series. Each book's adventure is set within an existing sci-fi universe developed by authors within their own novels. For example, one of the books is set in the world of "Hammers Slammers" by David Drake, while another is set in the world of "Starship Troopers" by Robert Heinlein. There are three things that set the Combat Command series apart from almost every other gamebook. First, they are set up in "novel" format, with sections sometimes covering four to five pages. Another facet of this format is that the story does not put YOU in the role of the hero, but rather a character from the existing universe, like Emerald Sheller or Juan Rico, and you make decisions for that character. Second, these are sci-fi stories, while almost all other gamebooks are fantasy, or at best some sort of post-apocalypse story. Third, Combat Command puts you in charge of entire combat units, like an armored brigade or a fleet of starships.
With a name like Combat Command you can probably figure out what the focus of the stories is. You will fight a lot of battles, and the mechanics for combat are relatively simple and work well. Whenever you fight a combat, you total up the ORDNANCE VALUE of all units involved, and then you roll 2D6 and compare the result to a combat chart, of which there are seven, to represent different types of troop quality and equipment. The result will give you the number of enemy units to eliminate. The system goes back and forth until one side is defeated. If you lose units in a fight, they are gone, unless you have the ability to replace combat losses. This means that a hard-fought but successful victory in an early fight may leave you without adequate troops to successfully complete your mission.
Combat Command book 1, 1987, Dana Kramer
I like science-fiction. I especially like military science-fiction. Therefore, I liked this book. I mean, I get virtual command of an entire fleet of over a dozen starships. How can you not like that?
Cut By Emerald (which is based on events in the second book of Piers Anthony's Bio Of A Space Tyrant series) puts you in the shoes of Lt. Commander Emerald Sheller, in charge of a special task force trying to sneak around the flank of a pirate space fleet. You have exactly six hours to get in position to flank the pirates and destroy their threat to the solar system. Along the way you have myriad problems, from mechanical failures to pirate ambushes to encounters with ships from other nations, which provides a variety of challenges for you to overcome.
Things would be not too difficult if it wasn't for that six hour time limit. It is difficult to deal with all of the enemies you face and still get into position in time. After a number of tries, when I finally succeeded I barely sneaked in at five-and-a-half hours elapsed time. In fact, you rarely have to worry about losing your fleet to combat (though it can happen), but trying to get everything done in time is very hard. Of course, that's the point.
The things that make this book as good as it is are the use of the time limit and the varied encounters that you must deal with. You won't get bored, and the writing is rather good. The combat system works wonderfully and allows for a large variety of circumstances. There are even some sections where you get to make tactical decisions on how to maneuver your space fleet to engage or retreat from the enemy, which is ultra cool. No other gamebook I have read lets you do this kind of stuff.
There are some minor issues with the book, though. First, because of the "novel" feel to it, you don't make that many decisions. An average gamebook contains between 300 and 400 sections, but Cut By Emerald tops out at 105. This does not mean that the book is small, but it does mean that you will often read many pages at a time while action occurs. This brings me to a second issue; you don't have as much choice as you should. For example, in section 15 you run into a damaged civilian ship and you detach part of your fleet to investigate. However, you have no say in which ships are sent. The book chooses for you. I found myself wishing that I could make these kind of decisions, as that would provide another level of immersion that would make the book even better. And what if I don't want to send marines over? Why do I have to? I found this mildly annoying, though control freaks may be turned off by this and hate the book because of it. You have been warned.
Overall, though, the book was a very fun read and I recommend it to others. One note; there is some very adult language in the book, and it is not for children at all. This did not detract from my enjoyment of the book, but it is not be appropriate for everyone.