Gunship (game)

Gunship
Cover art (Sharp X68000)
Developer(s)	MicroProse
Publisher(s)	MicroProse
Director(s)	Andy Hollis
Designer(s)	Arnold Hendrick Andy Hollis
Programmer(s)	Andy Hollis Sid Meier Gregg Tavares
Artist(s)	Kimberly Disney Michael O. Haire Michele Mahan
Composer(s)	Ken Lagace
Platform(s)	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, FM Towns, MS-DOS, MSX, PC-98, Sharp X68000, ZX Spectrum, Sega Mega Drive
Release	1986
Genre(s)	Combat flight simulator
Mode(s)	Single-player

Gunship is an AH-64 Apache helicopter combat flight simulator video game that was developed and released by MicroProse in 1986. Simulating a helicopter gunship, players navigate through missions to attack enemy targets and protect friendly forces.

The game features missions in seven regions, including the US (training), Southeast Asia (1st Air Cavalry Division), Central America (82nd Airborne Division), Middle East (101st Airborne Division) and Western Europe (3rd Armored Division). After selection of region, style, and enemies, the pilot is assigned a primary mission and a secondary mission. These could include such objectives as "Destroy enemy headquarters" or "Support friendly troops" (i.e. destroy targets near friendly forces). The latter would be an easier mission, because the battle would be fought closer to friendly lines.

The pilot then arms the Apache helicopter gunship, usually selecting AGM-114 Hellfire Air-to-Ground Missiles (guided missiles that destroy "hard" targets such as bunkers and tanks), FFARs (Folding Fin Aerial Rockets; unguided rockets that destroy "soft" targets such as infantry and installations), and HEDP (High-Explosive, Dual-Purpose) rounds for the 30 mm cannon (an all-purpose weapon with a maximum range of 1.5 km); in Central America, the Middle East, and Western Europe, AIM-9 Sidewinders would also be standard equipment, usually as a backup air-to-air weapon in case of cannon failure.

Patient players might move in short jumps, crouching behind hills to block the enemy's line of sight and suddenly popping up to attack. More aggressive players generally fly fast and erratically to evade enemy fire, flying in low to deliver devastating cannon attacks at close range. Since flight time is a component of the mission evaluation, either method has its advantages. The latter, however, can be rather dangerous against 1st Line enemies whose fast reaction times can cause the chopper to be pummelled with relentless fire.