Elmer's bombardments in first round

Norm Koger's The Operational Art of War III is the next game in the award-winning Operational Art of War game series. TOAW3 is updated and enhanced version of the TOAW: Century of Warfare game series. TOAW3 is a turn based game covering operational warfare from 1850-2015. Game scale is from 2.5km to 50km and half day to full week turns. TOAW3 scenarios have been designed by over 70 designers and included over 130 scenarios. TOAW3 comes complete with a full game editor.

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r6kunz
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Elmer's bombardments in first round

Post by r6kunz »

I notice that on the first round of combat Elmer attacks almost exclusively with bombardments. Has anyone else noted the same? I seems to me that this depletes the artillery supply/capability with not much return. But Elmer must know what he is doing. Right?
Any comments?
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sPzAbt653
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RE: Elmer's bombardments in first round

Post by sPzAbt653 »

Maybe 'softening up' ? Or trying to knock the defender out of entrenched status before attacking ?
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r6kunz
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RE: Elmer's bombardments in first round

Post by r6kunz »

That is the theory, but it seems to me it is more cost-effective in TOAW to use artillery to support ground attacks. I get the impression Elmer disagrees...
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Vietnam Combat Operations by Stéphane MOUTIN LUYAT aka Boonierat.
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shunwick
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RE: Elmer's bombardments in first round

Post by shunwick »

Difficult to get Elmer to play it correctly I suspect. Sometimes it is worth it and sometimes it isn't. It's not easy for the player to make that decision so poor old Elmer stands no chance unless he can see the results prior to making the initial bombardment.

Actually, would not be a bad idea to let Elmer cheat in this way. Generally speaking, I am not against Elmer cheating if it makes him a tougher opponent.

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Steve
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golden delicious
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RE: Elmer's bombardments in first round

Post by golden delicious »

ORIGINAL: shunwick

Actually, would not be a bad idea to let Elmer cheat in this way. Generally speaking, I am not against Elmer cheating if it makes him a tougher opponent.

So, the PO's biggest weakness is his inability to shift troops effectively between fronts. This means in any scenario above a certain size, the correct approach is to massively overbalance one flank while refusing the other, destroy the forces there, and then roll up the rest of the line.

As it stands, one can exercise self restraint in abstaining from the above approach, and thereby get a broadly plausible match. But if the PO is given artificial advantages which make it more potent in direct combat, then the player will be obliged to exploit this unrealistic approach to win.
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shunwick
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RE: Elmer's bombardments in first round

Post by shunwick »

ORIGINAL: golden delicious

ORIGINAL: shunwick

Actually, would not be a bad idea to let Elmer cheat in this way. Generally speaking, I am not against Elmer cheating if it makes him a tougher opponent.

So, the PO's biggest weakness is his inability to shift troops effectively between fronts. This means in any scenario above a certain size, the correct approach is to massively overbalance one flank while refusing the other, destroy the forces there, and then roll up the rest of the line.

As it stands, one can exercise self restraint in abstaining from the above approach, and thereby get a broadly plausible match. But if the PO is given artificial advantages which make it more potent in direct combat, then the player will be obliged to exploit this unrealistic approach to win.

Ben,

What on Earth are you talking about?

Best wishes,
Steve
I love the smell of TOAW in the morning...
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shunwick
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RE: Elmer's bombardments in first round

Post by shunwick »

ORIGINAL: shunwick

ORIGINAL: golden delicious

ORIGINAL: shunwick

Actually, would not be a bad idea to let Elmer cheat in this way. Generally speaking, I am not against Elmer cheating if it makes him a tougher opponent.

So, the PO's biggest weakness is his inability to shift troops effectively between fronts. This means in any scenario above a certain size, the correct approach is to massively overbalance one flank while refusing the other, destroy the forces there, and then roll up the rest of the line.

As it stands, one can exercise self restraint in abstaining from the above approach, and thereby get a broadly plausible match. But if the PO is given artificial advantages which make it more potent in direct combat, then the player will be obliged to exploit this unrealistic approach to win.

Ben,

What on Earth are you talking about?

Best wishes,
Steve

Ben,

My apologies, it was way past my bed time and I did not read your post correctly.

It is possible, if you allow the PO unrestricted cheating rights, to create a monster for the solo game that effectively forces the player into specific anti-PO strategies.

But the PO already has some cheats programmed into it and I am not sure that allowing it to judge pre-attack bombardments (Is it worth it? Is it not?) would damage the solo game that badly. Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't.

Best wishes,
Steve
I love the smell of TOAW in the morning...
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golden delicious
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RE: Elmer's bombardments in first round

Post by golden delicious »

ORIGINAL: shunwick

But the PO already has some cheats programmed into it and I am not sure that allowing it to judge pre-attack bombardments (Is it worth it? Is it not?) would damage the solo game that badly. Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't.

I recently read (well, skimmed) a paper which described a process for a computer to play arcade games by testing multiple outcomes at every frame. It was effective but a real CPU hog.

Of course it's all pretty academic unless and until development actually starts again. Until then, play PBEM.
"What did you read at university?"
"War Studies"
"War? Huh. What is it good for?"
"Absolutely nothing."
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