The Operational Arts of War III

[old_pop2000]

Following the two threads on Fall Gelb, I decided to dust off my copy of TOAW III and try my hand at blitzkrieg warfare. I didn't choose an easy one, I chose France 1940.

My first attempt, I had to terminate after the fifth turn due to external factors... namely a wife who wanted to go shopping.

My second attempt, I improved my skills... or at least remembered what I had forgotten and did better.

My third attempt was executed today. I decided to do some advanced operational planning. I had to knock the Belgians and Dutch out of the action quickly. A side benefit to that was the BEF decided that it would quickly lose its ports for re-embarkation to England, so it bailed out on the French and went back to merry ole' England. Great, three Allies gone and the whole northern section open, plus now I had reached a draw level in the game.

So, the time was at hand, to go after the French by gathering victory points, so I turned loose my panzers. One thing I learned was to put my fighters on air superiority missions, not close support or interdiction. I left the Stuka Geshwader's on combat support and the bombers and ME-110s on interdiction. This greatly hampered the movement of the French forces and kept my troops from being attacked from the air. It worked to perfection.

So, by the 19th turn, Reynaud had quit as Premier, Petain had taken over, Gamelin was gone and I managed an astounding victory level. So, Guderian I am not, but I can rival Hoth, Reinhard or maybe Erwin Rommel.

Now, after a long battle, IT'S MILLER TIME!!:D

[Ed Rotondaro]

Following the two threads on Fall Gelb, I decided to dust off my copy of TOAW III and try my hand at blitzkrieg warfare. I didn't choose an easy one, I chose France 1940.

My first attempt, I had to terminate after the fifth turn due to external factors... namely a wife who wanted to go shopping.

My second attempt, I improved my skills... or at least remembered what I had forgotten and did better.

My third attempt was executed today. I decided to do some advanced operational planning. I had to knock the Belgians and Dutch out of the action quickly. A side benefit to that was the BEF decided that it would quickly lose its ports for re-embarkation to England, so it bailed out on the French and went back to merry ole' England. Great, three Allies gone and the whole northern section open, plus now I had reached a draw level in the game.

So, the time was at hand, to go after the French by gathering victory points, so I turned loose my panzers. One thing I learned was to put my fighters on air superiority missions, not close support or interdiction. I left the Stuka Geshwader's on combat support and the bombers and ME-110s on interdiction. This greatly hampered the movement of the French forces and kept my troops from being attacked from the air. It worked to perfection.

So, by the 19th turn, Reynaud had quit as Premier, Petain had taken over, Gamelin was gone and I managed an astounding victory level. So, Guderian I am not, but I can rival Hoth, Reinhard or maybe Erwin Rommel.

Now, after a long battle, IT'S MILLER TIME!!:D

Sounds like you're redy to stand in the turret of a PKIII and lead the tanks onward.

[old_pop2000]

Sounds like you're redy to stand in the turret of a PKIII and lead the tanks onward.


I am , but three infantry divisions have cut into my two roads leading to the Meuse for my panzer corp and now there is a traffic jam. It's a real mess, hope the French don't realize what's going on or we are toast. I can't believe Army Group A developed this movement plan, it stinks. Even Reinhardt's corp is jammed on its two roads. 41,390 vehicles jammed on two roads. Amazing this whole operation is actually working.

[keschofield]

Norm Koger's Operational Art of War is still the best computer wargame ever devised as far as I am concerned. I have been playing it constantly ever since the original came out. However, I believe "Operational Art of War: Century of Warfare" is superior in playability to its successor "Operational Art of War III".

Glad to see you having some fun with it Dennis. I play almost every day. Right now I am refighting WWI's European theater successfully as the Central Powers. Of course, contrarion that I am, my strategy has been to hold on the Western and Italian fronts and knock the Eastern entente powers out the war. Romania, Serbia, and Greece are now history. The last Russian armies in the north are totally demoralized and the Czar has abdicated. I am now massing my released forces for the blow to know Italy out of the war. Once that's done, I'll go after the French. I can't wait.

BTW, my favorite OPW scenarios are France 1940, Operation Bagration, WWI, and Final Battle for Germany. Some of these are not included on the CD, so if you'd like I can send them to you. They are for OPW:COW however.

[old_pop2000]

Norm Koger's Operational Art of War is still the best computer wargame ever devised as far as I am concerned. I have been playing it constantly ever since the original came out. However, I believe "Operational Art of War: Century of Warfare" is superior in playability to its successor "Operational Art of War III".

Glad to see you having some fun with it Dennis. I play almost every day. Right now I am refighting WWI's European theater successfully as the Central Powers. Of course, contrarion that I am, my strategy has been to hold on the Western and Italian fronts and knock the Eastern entente powers out the war. Romania, Serbia, and Greece are now history. The last Russian armies in the north are totally demoralized and the Czar has abdicated. I am now massing my released forces for the blow to know Italy out of the war. Once that's done, I'll go after the French. I can't wait.

BTW, my favorite OPW scenarios are France 1940, Operation Bagration, WWI, and Final Battle for Germany. Some of these are not included on the CD, so if you'd like I can send them to you. They are for OPW:COW however.

I have TOAW:COW also, and just reloaded it last night. I will try France 1940 in that version. Do you get your scenarios from Wargamer community? They have lots of scenarios for this game. Are the scenario's for COW compatible with Version III?

http://www.wargamer.com/gamesdepot/

This is great, now we can swap war stories ..... or lies, depending on how you look at it. :p. I am going to try to start keeping a more detailed AAR. I also found out that I can play the game on my first monitor then have the manual open in the second. Works like a champ.

[Warship NWS]

With the improvements to the AI, combat mechanics code, and other related items I think TOAW3 is what TOAW should have been when it was first released - and then updated/patched "for full price" with a line of Talonsoft upgrades/expansions/etc. The "TOAD" team did a very good job with the engine after they got their hands on it IMHO. If anyone has not tried TOAW3 I would recommend it - and we do have it on our online store. ;)

[Ed Rotondaro]

Norm Koger's Operational Art of War is still the best computer wargame ever devised as far as I am concerned. I have been playing it constantly ever since the original came out. However, I believe "Operational Art of War: Century of Warfare" is superior in playability to its successor "Operational Art of War III".

Glad to see you having some fun with it Dennis. I play almost every day. Right now I am refighting WWI's European theater successfully as the Central Powers. Of course, contrarion that I am, my strategy has been to hold on the Western and Italian fronts and knock the Eastern entente powers out the war. Romania, Serbia, and Greece are now history. The last Russian armies in the north are totally demoralized and the Czar has abdicated. I am now massing my released forces for the blow to know Italy out of the war. Once that's done, I'll go after the French. I can't wait.

BTW, my favorite OPW scenarios are France 1940, Operation Bagration, WWI, and Final Battle for Germany. Some of these are not included on the CD, so if you'd like I can send them to you. They are for OPW:COW however.

Kurt:

Isn't that what Germany did historically in WWI?

[keschofield]

Kurt:

Isn't that what Germany did historically in WWI?

Yes, but not by design. They intended to hold in the east and take out the French via coup de main in the west.

[keschofield]

I have TOAW:COW also, and just reloaded it last night. I will try France 1940 in that version. Do you get your scenarios from Wargamer community? They have lots of scenarios for this game. Are the scenario's for COW compatible with Version III?

http://www.wargamer.com/gamesdepot/

This is great, now we can swap war stories ..... or lies, depending on how you look at it. :p. I am going to try to start keeping a more detailed AAR. I also found out that I can play the game on my first monitor then have the manual open in the second. Works like a champ.

Wargamer.com is where I've gotten most of my scenarios (those not included in the game). There used to be more sites but they've gone away over the years as the game has aged.

Some COW scenarios worked on my version III, some did not. You just have to try them.

Have fun Dennis. OPW, Warship Combat, Railroad Tycoon (old DOS version), and Civilization (old DOS version), are always installed on at least one of my computers. Other games have come and gone, but these stalwarts have "stood the test of time". Oh, I forgot two others - Football/Baseball Mogul and Dave Koch Sports Football.

[old_pop2000]

Wargamer.com is where I've gotten most of my scenarios (those not included in the game). There used to be more sites but they've gone away over the years as the game has aged.

Some COW scenarios worked on my version III, some did not. You just have to try them.

Have fun Dennis. OPW, Warship Combat, Railroad Tycoon (old DOS version), and Civilization (old DOS version), are always installed on at least one of my computers. Other games have come and gone, but these stalwarts have "stood the test of time". Oh, I forgot two others - Football/Baseball Mogul and Dave Koch Sports Football.

Many of the good sites have come and gone. I do have the new version of civilization and Warship Combat. But my favorites are the Steel Panthers series, SPMBT and SPWAW along with SAS. Medieval II and Rome Gold Edition are fun. I still have many of the old games. I setup a Win98 Virtual PC on my system so I can play them.

[Antonin]

Nice thread; I will have to reinstall my copy of TOAW this weekend.

In the past year or so, I've spent more time with winSPMBT and winSPWW2. Great, great games.

[old_pop2000]

Here is my sitrep at the end of my successful victory.



***NEWS***
May 10th, 1940
German forces invade Belgium and Holland!
Refugees clog roads behind allied lines.
Civilian targets bombed in the German town of Freiburg.
Churchill meets with French leaders in Paris.
Enschede has been reduced to ruins.
GERMAN capture Enschede.
Roermond has been reduced to ruins.
GERMAN capture Roermond.
May 13th, 1940
Germans occupy Luxemburg! Luxemburg surrenders.....
ALLIED successfully defend Liege.
Antwerpen has been reduced to ruins.
GERMAN capture Antwerpen.
Liege has been reduced to ruins.
GERMAN capture Liege.
Location 58,18: Urban area has been reduced to ruins.
May 17th, 1940
Luftwaffe bombs Rotterdam. Thousands die.
Dutch surrender after terror bombing....
Refugees clog roads near The Hague.
Dutch army demobilizes.
German victory level increased for defeating Dutch!
Namur has been reduced to ruins.
GERMAN capture Namur.
May 20th, 1940
Germans occupy the Hague!
Germans capture Calais.....
British Expeditionary Force is withdrawn to England!
Germans occupy Rotterdamn....
German forces march into Amsterdam....
German victory level increased following BEF withdrawl!
May 24th, 1940
Dutch surrender.....
May 27th, 1940
Charleroi has been reduced to ruins.
June 3rd, 1940
Germans capture Dunkerque....
Belgium surrenders!
Faced with a growing German threat, Belgium capitulates!
Belgian army demobilizes....
German victory level increased for defeating Belgium!
June 7th, 1940
Germans occupy Lille.....
Refugees clog roads near Lille.
BRUXELLES has been reduced to ruins.
GERMAN capture BRUXELLES.
June 10th, 1940
Germans capture Bruxelles.....
Refugees clog roads near Bruxelles.
General Weygand is named French Army Commander in Chief.
Italy declares war on France.
U.S. President Roosevelt condemns Italian actions.
Paris is declared an open city.
Heavy fighting in Bruxelles....
June 14th, 1940
Premier Reynaud reorganizes French cabinet.
Marshal Petain is appointed vice Premier.
June 21st, 1940
Boulogne has been reduced to ruins.
St. Quentin has been reduced to ruins.
ALLIED successfully defend St. Quentin.
June 24th, 1940
GERMAN capture St. Quentin.
June 28th, 1940
Laon has been reduced to ruins.


Notice how the Brits headed home after Calais fell. Great Allies.

Notice how I tended to flatten cities. Like we used to say during the Vietnam War; " well there goes another friendly village" Heh Heh!!

"What General Weygand has called the Battle of France is over, The Battle of Britain is about to begin".

[old_pop2000]

Nice thread; I will have to reinstall my copy of TOAW this weekend.

In the past year or so, I've spent more time with winSPMBT and winSPWW2. Great, great games.

Great, we can swap war stories. Ya know, lies about our victories. The slaughter has just begun.:D

[Christian Schwietzke]

A week or so ago I went for some quick, easy fun with the Desert Storm scenario. Much to my surprise, I managed to destroy every single Iraqi ground unit. I mean, victory is one thing, but that...?