Tactical Operations (This Is The Police 2)

**Tactical Operations,** also known as "Tactical Missions" or simply "TacOps," are a mechanic introduced in This Is The Police 2. They are incidents that can appear on Sharpwood’s map that require the player to control completely, from each step to the last.

Unlike regular calls where you send officers to respond to it and they automatically manage the situation, the player must do this themselves, through commandeering of the officers they sent to the scene. Such calls usually have a high number of suspects on scene, requiring you to plan carefully in order to keep the situation under control with minimum risk and casualties.

## Mechanics

These operations are turn-based. You can direct your officers to move around the crime scene yourself, as well as take actions upon suspects within range of them. Once your turn is over, the suspects will take their turn. If the alarm hasn't been triggered yet, you will be able to observe their patrols. If it has however, they will actively attempt to hunt down and kill your officers.

You will have a chance to gain some preliminary knowledge beforehand, by witnesses that were on or near the scene at the time of the incident. This can be information such as what suspects can be located where, or if it's something a hostage situation, where said hostages may be being contained.

Most tactical operations start in stealth mode, with suspects patrolling around here and there. The suspects will never deviate from their patrol patterns, unless they have heard or seen something suspicious, such as an officer breaking a window or another suspect handcuffed. While this can sometimes be risky, it can be used as a way of luring suspects away from their allies and into traps prepared by your officers to pick them off one by one. Officers can usually get very close to suspects without the suspect spotting them (If approaching from behind, they can get adjacent). Make sure you have an officer able to stun, kill, or try to arrest the suspect before the turn ends. If a suspect has spotted an officer on your turn, they will immediately sound the alarm on their turn, if they have not been subdued. Some abilities can allow you a last chance to prevent this happening, but only if the officer with those abilities is within range.

However, some operations begin loud right off the bat, such as assaults, and operations that mislead the responding officers into an ambush. In these cases, the suspects will actively chase down the officers and take shots at them.

### Officers

Your officers have "Action points" that they used to either move, perform actions, or a combination of the two. When they have exhausted all their action points, they finish their turn. However, you can manually end their turn without using all their action points. However, they will not be carried over to next turn, unless the officer has been directed to use the "Patience" ability, provided they have it equipped. An officer can have up to three action points to use, per turn. When all the officers have used all their action points, your turn automatically ends. As mentioned, you can manually end your turn even if officers still have action points to use.

Your officers do not have infinite range. They have to be close enough to a suspect to see them. The suspect will be invisible otherwise, until either one or more of your officers can see them, or they move within seeing range of your officers during their turn.

### Evidence

There is usually evidence located on scene during a tactical operation, as well. These are located in enclosed cardboard boxes, and an officer will point them out once they spot the boxes, unless another officer can already see them. These can be transported to the police vehicle at the scene and secured that way. To do this, move an officer horizontally or vertically adjacent to the box. Then an indicator will show that they are able to pick up the box. This will cost an action point. Then once they have the box, direct them to the shaded squares next to the police vehicle and instruct them to place it down in one of those. This will secure the evidence. After the operation is won, the evidence will be added to your storage as loot.

Alternatively, you can have an officer holding the box when the operation ends, without them having to take it to the car. This will also secure the loot. While this skips the process of having to walk it back to the car, it can force you to continue without that officer, which can make it a dubious concept if you don't have a lot of people available. If an officer is attacked at any point while carrying the evidence, they will immediately get rid of it, in order to return fire.

To successfully win a tactical operation, all suspects must be neutralised, lethally or otherwise. Station equipment such as tasers, batons, and pepper sprays can be used to stun suspects if they're close enough. Moving an officer adjacent to a stunned suspect will give you the opportunity to handcuff that suspect without fail, provided they can do so before the suspect's stun debuff wears off.

### Combat

When a suspect has been stunned, a status effect will be displayed on them, with a number of segments. Each one of these equals one turn in which the suspect will be stunned. When the suspect's turn comes around, this decrements by one. If the suspect recovers from the stun status before they are handcuffed, they will automatically sound the alarm, if it hasn't already been sounded yet. Therefore, it's important to make sure you can get an officer to them in time and safely, before the effect wears off. When a suspect has been restrained, they will count as an offender caught at the end of the day and award you with caps accordingly.

If a suspect is shot, the time they have until bleedout depends on where they were shot. Like the stun debuff, the bleedout debuff is represented by the number of segments around it. Unlike stun however, when this reaches zero, the suspect will die. A head shot will instantly kill the suspect. A body shot will incapacitate the suspect, preventing him from moving or returning fire. An arm shot will disarm him but allow him to move and try to escape, while a leg shot will immobilise him, but still allow him to return fire. If you manage to secure victory in the operation, any incapacitated suspects will still be counted as caught offenders at the end of the day and award you with caps accordingly. If the suspect is shot in the head or bleeds out before the operation is concluded, they will be counted as an offender dead at the end of the day and award you with caps accordingly. A suspect can be silently and instantly killed with a knife, if the attacking officer is adjacent to the suspect. This can be used as a lethal response while in stealth, if you lack the equipment to stun the suspect.

Be warned that officers can be wounded just like suspects, too. Either by suspect gunfire, or by traps prepared by the suspects. If an officers springs a trap, they will be immobilised and start to bleed out. If the operation is concluded before they fully bleed out, they will be hurt and hospitalised. If the officer bleeds out or is shot in the head however, they will die and be unusable in both the rest of the operation and regular police work. Wounded officers can be rescued by other officers however, by picking up the wounded officer and transporting them to the police vehicle for medical evacuation. This will stop them bleeding out, but they will still be unusable for the rest of the operation and will be hospitalised afterwards, if the player secures victory.

If all officers are incapacitated or killed, or mission-critical events happen such as a hostage being shot or a bomb exploding, you will fail the operation, and be given a chance to replay the operation to try again. You can choose not to play again, but this will count as a failure, and any officers hurt or killed will carry on as such back to the main portion of the day.

Officers are all equipped with standard-issue revolvers and knives. The knives are guaranteed kills at close quarters, while the revolvers are best used for long-range problems and attacking suspects in areas that are too dangerous to engage them close up. Each cop has 6 shots they can fire before they need to spend time reloading. You can order an early reload if necessary. Reloading uses action points.

### Cover

There are two types of cover in tactical operations: Partial, and Full cover. In cover, your officers are practically invisible, if in stealth. If the alarm has gone however, suspects will be aware of their location and attempt to attack from an angle they are not covered against. You can check if a spot offers cover by selecting an officer and mousing over the chosen cell to see if any shield icons show up. Full cover is indicated by a fully shaded shield, while partial cover is indicated by a shield with only the bottom half shaded in.

Full cover would be things such as walls or vans that are tall enough to completely obscure officers and suspects from view. People behind full cover cannot be attacked, unless the attacker is approaching from an angle they are not covered against.

Partial cover is things such as cars or fences that are not tall enough to completely obscure officers and suspects from view. People behind partial cover can still be attacked from that direction, but the attacker is more likely to miss. These probabilities can be manipulated based on your officers equipped abilities.

## Outfitting your officers

Before the operation begins, your officers on scene can be equipped with up to four different abilities to give them an advantage in the operation. They will have access to the equipment provided to them at the start of the day, and cannot change this. Therefore, it's a good idea to play to their strengths and make sure to pick your responding officers carefully, before responding to the operation. Some equipment's effectiveness can be determined by the wielder's stats. For example, an officer with a high strength stat is best suited with a baton, while one with a high shooting stat is best suited with a taser.

Each stat has multiple abilities that can be unlocked from it for officers to use. These abilities are brought to use in operations. While level 2 and 3 of a stat unlock only one ability, level 1 will unlock two abilities. So it's usually a good idea to try and make each officer have at least one point in each stat. Mouse over each ability to read its effects:

* Strength
	+ **Strength level 1:** Unlocks Battering ram and Knockout.
	+ **Strength level 2:** Unlocks Jumper.
	+ **Strength level 3:** Unlocks Atlas.

* Intelligence
	+ **Intelligence level 1:** Unlocks Burglar and Sentry.
	+ **Intelligence level 2:** Unlocks Hunter.
	+ **Intelligence level 3:** Unlocked Awareness.

* Speed
	+ **Speed level 1:** Unlocks Volley and Ferret.
	+ **Speed level 2:** Unlocks Patience.
	+ **Speed level 3:** Unlocks Athletic.

* Stealth
	+ **Stealth level 1:** Unlocks Shadow and Chameleon.
	+ **Stealth level 2:** Unlocks Silencer
	+ **Stealth level 3:** Unlocks Ninja.

* Shooting
	+ **Shooting level 1:** Unlocks Interception and Shooter.
	+ **Shooting level 2:** Unlocks Lucky Shot.
	+ **Shooting level 3:** Unlocks Aimed Shot.

* Negotiation
	+ **Negotiation level 1:** Unlocks Force surrender and Interrogation.
	+ **Negotiation level 2:** Unlocks Freeze, buddy!.
	+ **Negotiation level 3:** Unlocks Negotiation.

Multiple officers can have multiple skills in common with each other (Example, two officers having Lucky Shot equipped). Before you begin, you will have a sketched-out layout of the area, including where doors and windows are marked. You can trade items in your storage to gain preliminary knowledge on certain things, such as what areas may be blocked off by barricades, where certain loot is, or even how many suspects are in what area and where they're patrolling. Kitting out your cops in response to this is crucial, as it can mean the difference between victory and defeat.

### Loadout guidelines

As a general rule of setup, it's a good idea to have some officers specialise in some things and other cops in others. When you're bringing your officers through an area together, it's advised to try and include the following in your team where possible:

**While in stealth...**

* A sapper (Able to detect traps using Hunter)
* A lookout (Able to spot enemies from further away with Sentry, and use Awareness and Interrogation to highlight them all)
* A disruptor (Able to disrupt aware suspects efficiently through the use of Ninja, Interception, and/or Freeze, buddy! or any combination of the three. Silencer can be considered as another ability to use. If not in stealth however, replace Ninja with Force surrender and Freeze buddy! with Patience)
* A stunner (An officer outfitted with a baton and pepper spray at least. Can also use knockout to assure longer stun durations)
* A scout (Able to silently open doors and windows with Burglar, and also get some insight into enemy movement safely by using Shadow)

**While loud...**

* A sapper
* A lookout
* A courier (Able to get wounded officers out of the firing line quickly and maybe even to the car for evacuation. They use Battering ram and Atlas to quickly get around obstacles, get the wounded (Or the evidence), and get out)
* A sharpshooter (Equipped with Shooter, Interception, and Aimed Shot at least. Best at digging out suspects in cover)
* A suppressor (Basically the opposite of a sharpshooter, they are able to lay down suppressing fire for couriers to move, for example. They use Volley and Lucky Shot to provide a barrage of attacks upon target suspects)

If possible, including these optional specialists in the team can make some situations easier to control.

* An overseer (Similar to a lookout in abilities, but can also use Negotiation in hostage and bomb situations)
* A stunning specialist (An officer with high strength and shooting stats outfitted with a baton, pepper spray, and taser with a cartridge, to stun from all ranges. Also brings knockout to ensure longer stun durations with the baton. If a taser and cartridge cannot be provided, two stun bombs should be equipped instead)
* A transporter (An officer outfitted with Atlas, Athletic, Patience, and Jumper. Able to move quickly around the field as well as move wounded officers or evidence to the car quickly. Intended to be more passive than other specialists and hang slightly further back)
* A kiter (An officer outfitted with Chameleon, Ferret, Athletic, and Shooter. They are adept at keeping enemies distracted firing in their direction, while being well-shielded and hard to hit, even in partial cover. They can also fire at suspects in their own cover with an improved chance to hit them. They are also good at reaching injured officers in a crossfire - unlike a transporter - and moving them to safety, as long as they use cover all the time)

**Note: All above loadout guidelines are just that - guidelines. You should not feel forced to use these concepts. They are merely suggestions, and you are free to use whatever you see fit for whomever you see fit. You can also merge specialists that have similar traits (Example: Sapper and Lookout), if you so desire and you have an officer that is able to use all the abilities/equipment listed in the specialist description.**

## Hints

* **Be warned about sending disloyal officers to tactical operations!** They will not take orders from you, and will instead move around the field in the way they feel. While sometimes they may move in the direction you actually intended, other times they may put themselves in danger, especially during firefights. If you don't want to risk disloyal officers compromising the operation, do not send them. You can still assign abilities to disloyal officers. So if you have one in an assault for example, it may be prudent to outfit them with defensive abilities, such as Chameleon and Ferret, to improve the chance of them looking after themselves.
* Gaining as much preliminary intel as possible beforehand can be crucial in your planning. Always have your storage stocked up with at least one of each item possible, so you'll usually be able to trade your loot for intel you think may be useful, even things such as where evidence is stored if you're not sure where to look. Remember, sometimes you have to spend money to make money. Except in this case, it's spend loot to get loot.
* The sniper can be sent to a tactical mission as well. His shot will instantly kill the target suspect. However, be warned that his gunfire cannot be suppressed, and so the alarm will immediately be sounded if he takes a shot. If the alarm has already been tripped however, or if you know it's loud from the start (Such as an ambush), then the sniper can be used with impunity. He can take one shot per turn, which can be useful if you're getting attacked from all angles, as it can take the strain off one direction by picking off suspects in that area. Using a sniper working in tandem with a kiter or lookout/overseer can be a major tide-turner.
* Make sure each responding officer has at least a baton or a shocker equipped, so they can stun and arrest suspects alone. Officers without any inventory won't be able to stun suspects, so they'll either have to be backup to one who can stun, or use a knife or silenced shot to kill the target, which doesn't bring in as many caps as an arrest does.
* Sometimes, it can be worth spending a few turns to observe suspect patrols in stealth and find the most opportune moment to strike. Obviously, this should not be done in operations including bombs. At least not without an officer who has Negotiation available to delay the explosion. In such operations, remember to bring an officer with Hunter equipped, as they can safely disarm the bomb.
* If looking for evidence, try to make sure you have a clear route to the car at all times. If necessary, station a lookout in the route between the evidence and the car.
* Suspects have difficulty seeing your officers out in the dark, but it's a different story if your officers have to move through well-lit areas. Remember that officers walking under street lamps for example, dramatically increases the range at which they can be spotted. Try to wait until nobody's looking before moving under a street lamp. Or if that isn't possible, try to find a better route to approach the situation from, if you cannot get close enough to the suspect(s) to stun them. If all else fails, clear every other area on the scene, and then launch a stun bomb at the suspects, with your officers following behind, to try and control the situation quickly.
* Most tactical operations have an infinite number of turns you can take. Don't rush needlessly. Be patient and wait for the right moment in stealth, or hold a chokepoint while loud. Don't go chasing the suspects - they will come to you. Holding a chokepoint bottlenecks suspects into coming through one entrance, so your officers can be ready to cut them down or stun and arrest them.
* While arresting all the suspects in an operation can provide a huge supply of caps at the end of the day, remember that you can also risk getting your officers hurt or even killed. If it's risky to get close to a suspect to arrest them, either try to incapacitate them, or kill them. Prioritize your officers' safety above everything else except perhaps a hostage in danger. Even then, it should be handled carefully.
	+ An officer with Force surrender can be the bridge between incapacitating and arresting suspects, since injured suspects are much more willing to give up to an officer with Force surrender. Remember that injured suspects and officers have bleedout timers however, so work quick, if you choose to orient your approach this way.