Operational Art of War 2: Modern Warfare

[yin26]

Anybody have this game? I just ordered it and should be playing within a week or so. It would be nice to have somebody to discuss it with here.

Gamespot rated it as 8.7 and says:

quote: Wargames, once a dominant force in computer gaming, are undoubtedly in a slump. You can count on one hand all of the 1999 historical combat games, with a finger left over to salute the narrow-minded publishers who are abandoning the niche markets. So when games as fine as The Operational Art of War Volumes I and II come along, there's considerable reason for rejoicing. Wargames may yet emerge from the desert, and if they do, The Operational Art of War will be an example of how it's done right.

As for the wars covered:

quote: The result is the creation of 14 massive modern battles, some historical, some hypothetical, with new game mechanics reflecting the rapid pace of modern battles and the overwhelming power of the air force. The scenarios include three Arab-Israeli wars, three Vietnam battles, three hypothetical NATO-Warsaw Pact encounters in Europe, the Second Korean War, Desert Storm, and hypothetical Indian-Pakistani, American-Cuban, and Chinese-Russian wars. Oddly, no Balkan scenarios are included. Almost all of these are large, involved, time-consuming battles.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I have TOAW1... which is pretty damned good. It can get a bit boring in the loooong drawn out games (200+ turns ) but still pretty good.

[yin26]

Anyway to convince you to buy the Modern Battles? This baby DOES have PBEM? And with your previous experience, you'd beat me quickly enoughly so we can play a few games before 2005.
[This message has been edited by yin26 (edited March 15, 2001).]

[Eternal]

I have it but I don't play it much, because I'm not very good at it and it has a huge learning curve and lots of things to keep track of... I liked trying to take over South Korea though.

[yin26]

Yeah, I mainly bought it for the Korea scenario as well since I live so close to the DMZ. Maybe if I get good at the game, I can act as a field general if North Korea attacks.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I might be tempted to buy #2, but I have 'Black and White', 'Tropico', 'Out of the Park Baseball 3', and 'Arcanum' lined up for purchase .

Oh, yes and READ the manual... there is a big learning curve, but it is worth it (wargames are supposed to be complex).

[yin26]

LOL I'm a bit worried, of course, because Gamespot rated the learning curve as "Impossible"!

[Eternal]

Believe it, man. Believe it.

[Kautilya]

I read the great reviews, got all excited and bought the game. But it's so damn complicated and long that I have barely played it at all. I think an average scenario has a several hundred units which is really too many for my taste. Now that I have EU it will be a while before I ever get to TOAW if ever.

BTW if you do buy the game I suggest you buy the Century of Warfare edition which has TOAW 1 and 2 along with bonus WW1 scenarios. It sells for only 20 bucks now.

[yin26]

Yes, I'm rather angry at myself for buying the wrong game. Still, I don't care much for the earlier battles, so I guess I'm o.k. other than the fact that CoW is now the default for PBEM. Anyway, I might try this game a few hours and decide it's too much work from the sound of things.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Long scenarios aren't too fun (unless you can see the battle going anywhere, which sometimes is hard because of the whole 'square on chessboard' feel). Short ones are good. I really liked playing France '40 as the Germans (only 29 turns).

[Leonidas]

Yin26: You're a pretty smart fella - so I don't think it will take you too long to catch onto this game. I have both TOAW I and II. They are complex - but if you can handle SMAC - you can handle these. I think there is an option to turn off a few things to keep it simplified at first, then gradually add more realism as you get better at the game.

The wargamer has a ton of new scenarios to download for TOAW and there are some excellent strategy guides available there as well (just click on one of the other tab buttons to find out where the strategy guides are located). There's one scenario for TOAWII that covers ALL of World War II! A big, strategic game.

The TOAW series of games are very thoughtful, satisfying games. If you invest a little time in this game, you will be richly rewarded. Once at the site, choose "scenario archive" and use the pull-down menu to select TOAWII:
http://www.wargamer.com/

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Go tell the Spartans, passerby:
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.
[This message has been edited by Leonidas (edited March 23, 2001).]

[yin26]

Leonidas:

Hey, an ENCOURAGING post! And I didn't know about that site, either. I really appreciate your taking the time to fill me in a bit. I should be getting the game delivered to my house within the next week, so I really look forward to playing it. Maybe we could PBEM one day? Thanks again.