Understanding the Operation in One Game, Playing it in Another ...

I am a fan of the Panzer Campaigns series. However, I struggle to plan at the operational level in titles of this series where corps-sized formations are spread over 70 kilometers or more. I have no issues moving a thousand counters, but if I don't see the whole corps and its operational objective/s in one single snapshot, I just don't get it.

To be completely fair, Panzer Campaigns has a zoomed-out view, even a jump map that shows big chunks of terrain and troops at once. But the structure of armies and corps is difficult to grasp in those. The zoomed out view in Panzer Campaigns even obscures some roads in certain types of terrain.

An scenario of Panzer Campaigns Tunisia '43. The 2D map view in the background is rich and detailed, but doesn't allow you to see too much of the road ahead for the British brigade seen in the map. The Jump Dialog map offers the whole picture view, but details like place names are gone.

For playing other titles of the Panzer Campaign series I was in better shape to circumvent the above mentioned shortcomings. I read about the operations and I mimicked the real life operation. In the case of Tunisia '43 I'm ill-prepared and un-read. Books are on order and my interest on this campaign is now very high. On the meantime, I'm reading whatever I can find and consulting The West Point Atlas of War for a quick reference on operational movement during the battle. 


Another thing that is helping me a lot to understand the "big picture" is other game from John Tiller, War on the Southern Front. This game is at the pure operational level, and the units are regiments/brigades (compared to companies and battalions in Panzer Campaigns) and above. Also each terrain hex corresponds to 10 km (compared to 1 km in Panzer Campaigns).

The War in the Southern Front scenario counterpart to the one shown above.

So, I'm going back and forward between both games now and this is helping me quite a bit to understand the operation from the top-bottom, the bottom-up and anything in between ...

Cheers,

Pride of Nations - An Homeopathic Preview - Dose One

Disclaimer: images and comments below are from a preview copy of the upcoming Pride of Nations grand strategy game from AGEOD/Paradox. These images and content may not reflect what we will get in the final release version.

This is a game that I have been aching to play.

I got a preview copy and after a couple of hours of playing through the tutorials, it looks like a great game. I'm going to take it easy in my posts, because Pride of Nations appears to be a couple of notches more involved than the latest Revolution Under Siege. Thus, if you don't mind the homeopathic delivery of content ...

Right off the bat, I noticed some stuff that may have been in other AGEOD releases (I apologize if so), but that is new to me. I thought of sharing some screenies with you.

Those merchant ships are animated. They keep running while you plot your turn's moves.

The military situation in Europe at the beginning of the game. Note the forces icons ... they have NATO size symbols now!

When zoomed out, the maps offers a great, un-cluttered view of the main military units. 

Military Mode tutorial. On the job training: crush the rebels!

Cheers,

Maneuver Warfare: OODA Cycles - The Most Important One is Yours - Part 3

This series of blog entries are about the so-called "maneuver warfare" as explained by William Lind. The writings of Robert Leonhard will also be included. I claim neither expertise in the subject nor devotion to this way of waging wars and thus I am not trying to convert you into anything. This series is not an analysis or a review of all ideas about maneuver warfare but rather some explorations about the topic based on computer war games and simulations. Future entries will be delivered based in readership.


Continued from part 2.


Mi right (south) flank is retreating. Very slowly through the forest southeast of their previous position. At least they are out of sight of the enemy.


The Soviets don't waste time pushing towards my rear, where everything left are tactical headquarters and fire support units. I order these units not to contest the enemy's advance, but to keep an eye on them. All I hope is to have enough time to reorganize my fighting units after their march through the woods ...


Aerial support shows up. First in the form of a two-ship flight of A-10s, but it has started raining and they pull out of our sector. Fortunately the storm clears half an hour later and two more A-10s are tasked with a CAS mission right where the main Soviet body is located. I receive reports of 5 Soviet main battle tanks killed.


My maneuver units have not cleared the woods yet.


Two hunter-killer teams of Kiowa-Apache helicopters make their arrival and turn hold the red tide. I keep the helicopters engaging at maximum distance and for two hours they fight with gallantry. The Soviets stop on their tracks. 


Encouraged by the performance of the attack helicopters, I decided to send one flight towards the enemy's rear. During all the debacle on the north, my extreme south flank was screened by three two-M3 Bradley teams. Eventually they pushed through the river and towards the enemy's rear and detected enemy activity. Great opportunity to deprive the enemy of their command and fire support. 

A hunter-killer helicopter team taking care of a SAM unit. This team later destroyed a self-propelled artillery battery and two HQ units. Note my units moving through the woods.

It's 1700 and I still can't reorganize my remaining forces. Maneuver units stuck in the woods. Command structure is paralyzed and jammed. The only fires delivered onto the enemy come from off-map artillery and the helicopters.


Suddenly, the game stops because I achieved victory (!?)

Whaat? Move aside officer, I have units behind your window ...

Pyrrhic victory, I've lost 60% of my units. But the enemy has lost 80% of his ...

Sectors control and number of individual vehicles left.

Take home lesson from this battle is to keep a mean and lean OODA cycle. I screwed mine by not understanding the time needed to reinforce the front line. When I realized my mistake it was too late and after that I had virtually no command over anything other than a sluggish retreat through no-tank country and directing air support units towards hot spots.


Cheers,

Maneuver Warfare: OODA Cycles - The Most Important One is Yours - Part 2

This series of blog entries are about the so-called "maneuver warfare" as explained by William Lind. The writings of Robert Leonhard will also be included. I claim neither expertise in the subject nor devotion to this way of waging wars and thus I am not trying to convert you into anything. This series is not an analysis or a review of all ideas about maneuver warfare but rather some explorations about the topic based on computer war games and simulations. Future entries will be delivered based in readership.

At around 1330, although our casualties are very light, I can feel the worse is to come. I start moving the reserve company in penny packets towards the north and south defensive positions. They move too slow, or maybe the urgency of the situation makes it look so.

A second Soviet regiment arrives at the bridge, adamantly ignores the two previous hours of butchery and proceeds to attack my left (north) flank positions. Two of my tank platoons ran out of ammo and retreat, giving the Soviets the two microliters of tactical oxygen needed to ignite the Lanchesterian inferno I feared the most.

The Soviets have broken through my north position (yellow icon). Note how the US tank platoons in the left (north flank) are pulling back from their original position.

The few tanks and IFVs that I sent from the reserve company towards the left (northern) flank make little difference. They are caught moving up the hill and end up joining their brother retreating units in a knife fight against the Soviets, who by this time have totally cleared the northern defensive position. Some exhausted and low in ammo, others eager to enter the fight, a mess of retreating and reinforcing Iron Dukes fight the good fight at point blank ranges. Correctly planned, this would have been an elegant reverse slope defense. As it turns out, it is a sloppily planned reinforcement mission from which the only claims I can make are blunting the Soviet spearhead and buying one hour of time. It was a somber spectacle to witness the collapse of my left flank.

The company in my right (south) flank makes some hill-to-hill shots towards the north. But acquiring targets gets increasingly difficult now that the Soviets can move with impunity in my left (north) flank. My units spot some Soviet tanks well west of my previous line of defense. I am being turned and I order a hasty pull back of the remaining forces.

When it rains, it pours. My staff is unable to process my orders! Just in time for the most dangerous time in the fight. Note how the Soviets (red icons) are approaching the road that runs northwest-southwest. Also, below the message window, note the yellow lines for the move orders to my remaining forces.

 To be continued ...


(Sorry for the short entry. I am very tired after a long day at work. I hope it doesn't show too much in what I wrote). :)

Cheers,

Pride of Nations - The Next Grand Strategy Game from Paradox is Revving Up

Take a look a this interview with Philippe Thibaut, head honcho of AGEOD.



All the recent buzz means one thing and you know it ... Release is close!

Box art looks fantastic, BTW. You don't mess with this guy!

Cheers,

Maneuver Warfare: OODA Cycles - The Most Important One is Yours - Part 1

This series of blog entries are about the so-called "maneuver warfare" as explained by William Lind. The writings of Robert Leonhard will also be included. I claim neither expertise in the subject nor devotion to this way of waging wars and thus I am not trying to convert you into anything. This series is not an analysis or a review of all ideas about maneuver warfare but rather some explorations about the topic based on computer war games and simulations. Future entries will be delivered based in readership.

It is just another day in World War III and I am in command of the 2 Battalion 67th Armor with orders to defend in sector, some 3 km northwest of Norderfurt.


It is 1100 and intel of what to expect coming our way is sketchy at best. But for sure nothing less than a Soviet Motorized Regiment.


My sector is west of a river, and the decision of placing two full tank companies in two hills over watching a bridge was a no brainer.


Aggressive patrolling south of these positions by 6 M3 Bradleys revealed nothing of interest and when the Soviet advance guards showed up in the bridge, it was hard to believe how lucky I was to have two full tank companies with gun tubes aiming just there.


The bridge created a choke point and the vehicle-killing fest was on. 

Click the image for a better view. US forces' icons are green and Soviet forces' are red. West of the river, I have two companies in the hills north and south of the road that runs west from the bridge. It's a pity that this game doesn't have icons for destroyed vehicles so you could see how my forces destroyed almost a full Soviet battalion as it tried to establish a bridgehead. The green line represents fire from one M1 Abrams platoon targeting a Soviet mechanized infantry company trying to ford the river.

When the tide of battle is favoring him the mostest, the commander should be thinking hardest ...


In the screenshot above, note the company that I have in reserve west of the two hills where all the shooting is happening.


It was around 1300 and with all the butchery of enemy metal at the bridge I was in full pompous ass mode. If I can stop the Soviets so easily at the bridge, where should I commit my reserve for the final blow against the enemy? How can I mess the OODA cycle of the Soviets? I envisioned the most daring maneuver warfare fantasies, like keeping the enemy futily engaged in the "A" (action, cross the bridge) of the OODA cycle, while counter attacking from a flank so to give him another headache in his "Os" (observation and orientation of a new threat).


Then I started to notice my front units' fire slackening ...

Click the image for a better view. Clicking on the icon of one tank platoon revealed what it was a widespread issue with the units I have in contact: after 2 hours of continuous combat, they are tired and low in ammo. Enemy units are obscured by the smoke of artillery fire.

Troops need ammo and rest, I've learned. I have not planned for this and it is obvious that by the time the second wave of Soviet forces arrives, the tide of battle will likely brush aside my front line if I don't do something.


Whose OODA cycle is messed up now?


To be continued ...


Cheers,

John Tiller Software's New Panzer Campaigns: Tunisia '43

This release caught me by surprise. Got it last night and played a bit.

JTS appears to be on fire! Three releases since Tiller (sorta) parted ways in December 2010.

These are the last throws of the Allied campaign in Africa, but not less exciting than other battles in Africa. The game covers (in separate scenarios) from around November 1942 through mid-May 1943.

Some screenshots follow. Click on them for an expanded view.

Cheers,

John Tiller's Squad Battles Modern War - Collateral Damage

If you are playing Tiller's Modern War, have you noticed the grey icons that look like objectives, named "collateral"? A while ago I was just shooting at whatever insurgent would dare to stay in those. Bad idea: these are "avoid collateral damage objectives" and every time I order my troops to shoot at their location I get negative points for the victory calculation.

 

These collateral damage objectives can generate some tough situations like the one above. A company-sized infantry force (US Army, green counters) has gained a foothold in an Iraqi city (don't wan't to disclose exact location so not to spoil the scenario for you) and has to push northwest. Two objectives have been already taken (small green square thingies in the middle of the screen, labelled 20 and 50). Highlighted with yellow circles, the insurgents in those two locations. If I order fire at them, I will get anything between 10 to 30 victory points taken from my tally. Yet I have to advance.

Cheers,

War Games and Flight Simulators Manuals Need to Catch Up with the Times

I'm looking at my Falcon 4.0 printed manual as I write this. Hundreds of pages of quality writing for ubiquitous enjoyment: the lap of the virtual pilot while he flies, the table of the lunch room at work, the bed during those last minutes of consciousness before succumbing to sleep. Games and flight simulators have an extended life beyond the computer that runs them, and reading the manuals is a big part of it.

If we were to speak of a non-disputed death in the gaming genres we entertain ourselves with, that would be the death of the printed manual delivered along with the game.

We now get pdf files for manuals and while they are convenient in some aspects (searchability and reduced physical/shelf storage space), they are attrocious in others. In my case, I really don't like alt-tabing out of my flight simulators to check the manual.

Right now, the sim du-jour is DCS A-10C and many fellow simmers have chosen to print the 600+ pages of the manual. I read somewhere that in the near future the DCS A-10C printed manual will be available for sale somewhere. I will probably order a copy when it comes out, but I am not overly enthused at the prospect of buying or printing a copy of manuals that I already have in other format.

A solution for reading the manuals without alt-tabing from your game/sim is to have another computer showing the manual. A laptop is a natural choice, but it lacks in the portability department. Comfortable reading portability, I mean: it feels like cumbersome web browsing instead of actually book reading.

In this brave new digital world, there are now ultra-portable readers for digital media: the tablets and the e-book readers. If you are in the market for one, please make sure that the device can display native pdfs. In the limited research I have done, pdf manuals can be shown and read decently in only two devices: the Amazon Kindle DX and the iPad. These cost $379 and $500 respectively (although now that the iPad 2 is around the corner you can get 1st generation iPads for $350 from the Apple store).

Can't afford those but if I would have the money, I would aim for the iPad because in the long run is more bang for the buck (internet browsing and the other super-duper apps). In addition, I have a sizeable collection of technical papers in pdf format that I would love to have ready without having to boot up a laptop. Ey! This is actually a great excuse to present to the wife ("See? Its for work!). :)

Another choice would be the now cheaper e-book readers. But again, not all of them can show native pdfs in a decent way. If it's not the screen size (a screen real estate of 7" is a tad small to read a pdf document that was intended to be printed and read at double that size), it's the native pdf issue (not all devices read native pdfs and need to be converted/re-flowed resulting in loss of figures or even text). E-book readers are intended for reading things formatted as e-books from scratch, after all.

So, here is to hope that someday our beloved game/sim developers will someday publish their manuals in a format that can be read into inexpensive e-book readers.

Cheers,

Postcard from the Front: Dear NATO pilot, Wish you Were Here ...

Playing this WWIII scenario in The Operational Art of War 3 (published by Matrix Games) had to chuckle at how always opportunity strikes me when I am not prepared.

0600, May 9th 1990. Surprise attack by the Soviets into Germany. NATO divisions caught unprepared and frantically travelling towards the border. This scenario features the sector in southern Germany where NATO tries to held the red tide before it reaches Munich. Seen below, a small area of the scenario where the 11 Panzer Grenadier Brigade is holding up the Soviet 9th Tank Division in the city of Deggendorf (145 Km northeast of Munich, 50 Km southwest of the border with Czechoslovakia).

Click the image for an expanded view.

I have pulled almost all the reconnaissance companies from the border and I am trying to hold the Soviets as much as I can at the Donau River. I have blown many bridges and some 10 kilometers north of Deggendorf, the 9th Tank Division is coming out of the woods.

Click the image for an expanded view. A close up of the tactical situation at Deggendorf.

See the pile-up of red counters in the image above? These are great targets for a battlefield air interdiction mission.

Alas, there is no NATO air assets available ...

What a flight of 4 A-10Cs could do here?

On a side note: did you know that the US Air Force has chucked the battlefield air interdiction mission from its doctrine?

Cheers,