Take command of the battlefield — Gottlieb’s 1992 Operation: Thunder is a military-themed four-player designed by Ray Tanzer, notable for its Domed Power Plant in the upper-right corner: a spinning turntable that vaults the ball around targets and against the side of a pop bumper, a distinctive mechanism that gives the game its signature feel. With a Mitchells-and-David-Moore art package and an approximate run of 2,513, it’s one of the last machines from Gottlieb’s storied run, carrying alphanumeric scoring into the early DMD era.
The strategy centers on the missions and that domed turntable. Mission three is a multiball that begins with a timed extra ball lit on the lower left, giving an alert player a valuable window to grab a free ball before settling into the multiball action. The eight drop targets, the vari-target, the spinner, and the four holes give the playfield plenty of objectives to work through on the way to the missions, while the Power Plant dome adds an unpredictable, kinetic element as it flings the ball around its turntable. It’s a machine that rewards a player who learns to manage the mission progression and capitalize on those timed opportunities.
Operation: Thunder holds a quiet place in history as one of Gottlieb’s final efforts before the company wound down, and that makes it a poignant deep cut for collectors who cherish the Gottlieb legacy. The domed turntable is a genuinely novel toy, and the mission-and-multiball structure gives the game real shape. Work the drops, ride the Power Plant dome, and grab that timed extra ball when mission three lights up. It’s a fitting, characterful sendoff from one of pinball’s most historic names.