Do You Like Wargames?

[Leonidas]

Originally posted by Keygen
You have post some nice links here Leonidas.

I liked a lot what I saw when I visited SuperPower's web site.
Looks like a powerfull game

Keygen: Thanks for the kind words

I'm just having fun. Superpower does look pretty good. But the proof is in the product. I'm kinda getting tired of games that are just tactical in nature and/or are just real-time clickfests. Superpower's scope and size is a welcome change.

So, when I see companies developing big, historical strategy games, I sit up and take notice. There are several big strategy games on the horizon, so I'm optimistic about the genre's future

[Leonidas]

Originally posted by Haupt. Dietrich
Good stuff there Leonidas. Looks like Shadow President is worth a look.

Haven't started a new Korean War game yet. What little time I had this weekend went to trying to finish a Civ ToT game I currently have going. Rest assured though the North Korean's will be back!

Haupt. Dietrich: Best of luck with the Korea scenario. It would be great to start a challenge game as the North Koreans, with the sole objective being to capture Pusan. Might be interesting

I'm always on the look-out for a decent game. Shadow President is a bit different. It's a lesson for everyone in the priorities with which a world leader needs to contend. High school history and political science classes should be using this simulation as a teaching aid.

In my current "serious" game of Shadow President, I was doing pretty good: I had an approval rating of 69%, was sending aid to the needy countries, making peace with Russia and China, etc.

Then Iraq invaded Kuwait. I threatened Saddam, imposed an economic blockade, issued statements condemning him, and took my case to the UN. But to no available. Iraqi troops poured into Kuwait looting, pillaging. . .

So I declared war on Iraq, and called up the reserves. Both Turkey and Kuwait offered to host my troop deployment. . .

Casualties mounted on both sides. So, in a desperate situation, I decided to use a single, tiny, insignificant, "you wouldn't notice it if you passed it" nuclear missile, on Iraq. . .

Well, the world was shocked at this

Then out of the blue, China hit me with nukes. . .

Soooo, I hit China with 60 nukes. . . 108 million casualties. . .

The world was appalled. . .

The UK then nuked China. . .

China then nuked the UK. . .

Not to be out-done, France nuked both the UK and the USA. . .

Sooo, I nuked France - twice. . .

China stated that in the "interest of peace" it would no longer use nukes and called on the world to unite against me. . .

So, in the "interest of peace" I nuked China with only 5 nukes instead of 50. . .

Assassination attempts were committed in China, UK and USA. . .

I met my glorious end when, thousands of protesters wisely marched on Washington and called for my removal. . .

So I was impeached. . .

I'm bad. . .

But the game definitely shows you what happens once the nuclear genie is released from its bottle. . .

Similar to what happens on TV in the movie, "Wargames":




The situation can escalate quickly, and once you step over the brink, it is almost impossible to step back. . .

[Cookie Monster]

Wow! That game sounds pretty deep.


You must have had a big stockpile of nukes to be hitting everybody like that!

[Leonidas]

Originally posted by Haupt. Dietrich
Wow! That game sounds pretty deep.


You must have had a big stockpile of nukes to be hitting everybody like that!

Haupt. Dietrich: It certainly gives you a global perspective on things, which is sorely lacking in most games these days.

I thought there were a lot of nuclear weapons in my "in-game" stockpile. Maybe too much? I think the USA has about 4,300 nuclear missiles/bombs in the game Shadow President.

So I checked on some statistics and this is what I found:


1) Number of nuclear weapons currently in the US stockpile (1997):

12,500 (8,750 active, 2,500 hedge/contingency stockpile,
1,250 awaiting disassembly)

(Source: Natural Resources Defense Council, Nuclear Weapons Databook Project)


2) Projected U.S. nuclear warheads and bombs
after completion of the START II reductions in 2003:

5,000

(Source: U.S. Department of Defense; Natural Resources Defense Council, Nuclear Weapons Databook Project)


3) Additional warheads the military wants to hold
in inactive reserve to "hedge" against future threats:

2,500

(Source: U..S. Department of Defense; Natural Resources Defense Council, Nuclear Weapons Databook Project)

So I think the game Shadow President is right about the number of nuclear weapons being present. There's no doubt, those babies can do a lot of damage. . .

[Keygen]

Originally posted by Leonidas
I'm just having fun. Superpower does look pretty good. But the proof is in the product. I'm kinda getting tired of games that are just tactical in nature and/or are just real-time clickfests. Superpower's scope and size is a welcome change.

So, when I see companies developing big, historical strategy games, I sit up and take notice. There are several big strategy games on the horizon, so I'm optimistic about the genre's future

I have pretty the same point of view.
Though I do like civ games I only play multiplayer now (with the exeption of civ3 of cource) I had enought with the unrealistic nature of the current strategy games.
Only Europa Universalis can claim some reality.

However SuperPower if implemented as the developers describe it then it will be a true realistic strategy game in many aspects.

I am looking forward to its release but as you said the proof will be in the product itself

[Leonidas]

Originally posted by Keygen


I have pretty the same point of view.
Though I do like civ games I only play multiplayer now (with the exeption of civ3 of cource) I had enought with the unrealistic nature of the current strategy games.
Only Europa Universalis can claim some reality.

However SuperPower if implemented as the developers describe it then it will be a true realistic strategy game in many aspects.

I am looking forward to its release but as you said the proof will be in the product itself

Keygen: Yes, if Superpower can live up to its grand scope, then it will be quite a game. If the game is successful, I hope it starts a trend in the direction back to the big strategy games. . .

Just think: As the leader of a great nation in Superpower, enormous power will be at your fingertips

[Leonidas]

After going through a site update (with its forums being off-line for almost 2 weeks), Matrix Games is back on-line:

Home Page:

http://www.matrixgames.com/insidemg/

Forums:

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/

[Leonidas]

I was just curious if anyone has any suggestions for another scenario to play in The Operational Art of War.

There are a ton of them out there. Has anyone played any that they would recommend? I really enjoyed the Korean scenario, but I have played the heck out of it. So I'm interested to know if there are any other good scenarios worth playing.

[Cookie Monster]

Brother Leonidas!

I recommend my personal favorite, Israel 1967. Playing either side IMO is fun so no favorite here. If you have TOAW2 or ACOW then don't miss this scenario.


Here's a brief rundown on the situation. The Israeli army is poised for action on the Sinai front (Israel-Egyptian border). They have the best airforce and should use it to cripple the Egyptian Airforce on the ground in their first turn. Then the battle for Sinai begins. After a couple of turns (the turns are 6-8 hour increments) the Jordanians enter the war. Then eventually the Syrians come in as well. You must juggle your forces accordingly and is a big challenge for the Israeli player.

If you want to play as the Arabs then you really have your work cut out for you. Despite their overwhelming numerical superiority their force quality is very low. They suffer from other handicaps as well but a skilled player should be able to blunt the Israeli advance and even push them back.

The only thing about this scenario is that the wait time between turns is always > 1.5 minutes. Haven't figured out why as there are certainly bigger scenarios than this one out there. The wait time is long even if you load the scenario using the Opart300.exe program.

Give it a try and tell me what you think!

[Leonidas]

Originally posted by Haupt. Dietrich
Brother Leonidas!

I recommend my personal favorite, Israel 1967. Playing either side IMO is fun so no favorite here. If you have TOAW2 or ACOW then don't miss this scenario.


Here's a brief rundown on the situation. The Israeli army is poised for action on the Sinai front (Israel-Egyptian border). They have the best airforce and should use it to cripple the Egyptian Airforce on the ground in their first turn. Then the battle for Sinai begins. After a couple of turns (the turns are 6-8 hour increments) the Jordanians enter the war. Then eventually the Syrians come in as well. You must juggle your forces accordingly and is a big challenge for the Israeli player.

If you want to play as the Arabs then you really have your work cut out for you. Despite their overwhelming numerical superiority their force quality is very low. They suffer from other handicaps as well but a skilled player should be able to blunt the Israeli advance and even push them back.

The only thing about this scenario is that the wait time between turns is always > 1.5 minutes. Haven't figured out why as there are certainly bigger scenarios than this one out there. The wait time is long even if you load the scenario using the Opart300.exe program.

Give it a try and tell me what you think!

Haupt. Dietrich: Many thanks for the recommendation brother warrior

It sounds like a good scenario to play considering the events going on in the Mid-East right now.

It sounds like fun. Do the Arabs stand a chance of winning, in your opinion?

I do have TOAW II as well. I have played the Israel 2000 scenario. Very interesting game. The events include the use of chemical and nuclear weapons. It's also a big one

Thanks again! I'll have to give it a go.

[Cookie Monster]

Leonidas:


I think you'll definately find the Israel 1967 scenario enjoyable. Like you I tend to read books about the battles I play. I read "Six Days in June" by Eric Hamel. It's a great book for giving you the military details of this war on all the fronts. It is a little biased politically but other than that a great read.

IMHO you can win the war as the Arab League, however don't expect to win it by wiping Israel off the map. The best I've been able to acomplish is a marginal victory and this was done by denying the Israelis their objectives in the Sinai and Syrian fronts. The battle is really tough on the Jordanian front. Keep in mind though that the last time I played this scenario it was not with the knowledge I learned from you playing the Korean War Scenario. You may have better luck than me and I'll have to replay this scenario again myself. I still need to try the Korean War again too. Oh boy, too little time......too many great games/scenarios out there to play!

I haven't tried the Israel 2000 scenario. There's another one I'll have to look into.

[MattyBoy]

Case,
here is a site with various TOAW links. Not sure if you will find what you want.

[Case]

Thanks for that link.

BTW, I'm hugely enjoying the game - its probably the best value I've gotten for $19 in a long time

[Leonidas]

Originally posted by Haupt. Dietrich
Leonidas:


I think you'll definately find the Israel 1967 scenario enjoyable. Like you I tend to read books about the battles I play. I read "Six Days in June" by Eric Hamel. It's a great book for giving you the military details of this war on all the fronts. It is a little biased politically but other than that a great read.

IMHO you can win the war as the Arab League, however don't expect to win it by wiping Israel off the map. The best I've been able to acomplish is a marginal victory and this was done by denying the Israelis their objectives in the Sinai and Syrian fronts. The battle is really tough on the Jordanian front. Keep in mind though that the last time I played this scenario it was not with the knowledge I learned from you playing the Korean War Scenario. You may have better luck than me and I'll have to replay this scenario again myself. I still need to try the Korean War again too. Oh boy, too little time......too many great games/scenarios out there to play!

I haven't tried the Israel 2000 scenario. There's another one I'll have to look into.

Haupt. Dietrich: Sounds great! Many thanks. It looks like I'll have my work cut out for me playing as the Arabs.

I agree: so many great games; so little time. . .

[Cookie Monster]

Brother Leonidas:


Well I started another Korean War scenario. I thought I'd try out a little experiment though this time.

After launching a couple of superficial assaults across the border I decided to run for the border (the Manchurian border that is). I was hoping to draw in the Chinese and possibly the Soviets into the war early to give me some extra strength. It didn't work the way I had hoped though.

I ran full speed north and let the UN forces take Pyongang. My forces gathered at the Chosin reservoir and we received reports that the Chinese were threatening to intervene. My generals thought cool, now we'll launch a surprise attack and encircle these foolish UN forces! Well after 27 turns nobody showed up to my party and I was left with an overwhelming defeat! I guess my little trick (or perhaps you could say cheat) doesn't work. I'll have to experiment again.