Operation Typhoon

[Tzar]

I'm looking at playing Operation Typhoon. Since the original Operation Typhoon scenario included in the game did not seem to be well done, I've downloaded another one made by Brian Topp.

Any comments on this? Should I play this one or the original one?

[Richard]

If you mean the Battle for Moscow game- I have played both.

Brian has done an amzing job, much bigger scale than the CD game

The CD game is a good scenario- but Brians is heaps better

Cheers

Richard

[Tzar]

The only thing weird in Brian's scenario is that Moscow is stuck up high on the map, in the upper right corner... It's not possible to encircle Moscow by going around it from the North side, you need to attack from the South.

[Richard]

Not strictly speaking true

I played this one once as germans- managed to encircle moscow totally and destroy the red airforce. Put every bomber on interdiction and slowly tightened the noose all winter.

Didn't quite take moscow- but i was only one hex away by the end and he only held about 40 hexes total on the whole map in a small oval around moscow

The terrain north of moscow didn't encourage mobile warfare- lots of dense forest and bottomles swamps

Cheers

richard

[Tiberius]

Are you guys talking about athe smae scenario?
There is an old scenario by Topp called Operation Typhoon which places Moscow in the very North-East corner of the map and which covers primarily Guderians portion of the drive. It is based on a board game: the first game of the "operational combat system" by OSG (I think called "Guderian's Blitzkreig")
There is also a newer scenario by top called "Battle for Moscow 1.0" with which I am not familiar.
My question is: how is the human vs. human balance of these games?

[Tzar]

Originally posted by Tiberius
Are you guys talking about athe smae scenario?
There is an old scenario by Topp called Operation Typhoon which places Moscow in the very North-East corner of the map and which covers primarily Guderians portion of the drive. It is based on a board game: the first game of the "operational combat system" by OSG (I think called "Guderian's Blitzkreig")
There is also a newer scenario by top called "Battle for Moscow 1.0" with which I am not familiar.
My question is: how is the human vs. human balance of these games?

What you describe must be exactly the scenario I've stumbled into...Moscow is completely placed in the upper right corner. As you say, it really covers Heinz Guderian's drive.

[Richard]

Ah, I see my error

I am talking about Battle for Moscow

Apologies

Richard

[Brian Topp]

There are two different versions of this scenario.

This is pretty much my favourite scenario -- based on what is certainly my favourite wargame.

"Operation Typhoon" is my take on The Gamers' "Guderian's Blitzkreig". As noted above, it focuses on the southern portion of the Typhoon battlefield and thus is basically a study of Guderian's share of the battle. You end up with Moscow in the upper right and that always frustrated me too. Thus I was very pleased to do...

"Battle for Moscow", which is my gleeful take on The Gamers' "Guderian's Blitzkreig 2" -- covering the entire Typhoon operation. Great fun -- a perfect seesaw battle, with each side playing both offense and defense at different points.

I've been accumulating fixes and rebalancing ideas for the latter scenario and really should return to it soon. It took a long time to do, and so I put it aside and have been playing "Operation Flashpoint" for quite awhile now instead, for fun. (OF has a great scenario editor, too. I've been tinkering with a couple of relative big unit battles in there for awhile, a use that OF is definitely NOT designed for, but very interesting and immersive).

If anyone here has spotted things that need fixing in "Battle for Moscow" I'd be very grateful for 'em.

Best,
bt

briantopp@rogers.com

[Chuck?]

Brian,

Are you working on a new scenarios?

[Brian Topp]

I haven't been doing anything new in COW lately, I must admit. Intead I've been riding around in M1A1s and sneaking around as a sniper, in "Operation Flashpoint".

I do have two COW projects in mind for the near-term, though: the clean-up of "Battle for Moscow" mentioned above and, maybe a bit down the pipe, a retrofit of "Operation Zitadelle".

[Here's what that's about: With a lot of much-needed help from other guys I embarked on the project of conveying the wargame "Fire In The East" (east front 1941, our "Operation Barbarossa") and "Scorched Earth" (1942, our "Operation Blau") to TOAW, and then I tried to carry forward through 1943 ("Operation Zitadelle") and 1944-45 ("Operation Bagration to Berlin"). Thus supplying the whole eastern war in four roughly 30-turn scenarios on a scale I find playable, with a hopefully challenging PO.

[About two-thirds of the way along, a design colleague contributed a better map. I then began re-executing everything on it. I have "Barbarossa", "Blau" and "Bagration" on that map but not "Zitadelle", and I'd like to do so, completing the series.]

bt