Observations, Notes and Reports...

[Heinz57]

Guessing this would be a good time to get reports from participants on how their games went. It's not so important whether you won or lost, as much as whether you have a better understanding of the game and learned from your experience. I know some games are still in progress - do continue them - these forums will remain open.

For those who have finished, provide an idea of what you think is the most difficult element of TOAW to learn; things that you thought might be difficult but were easier than you anticipated; as these relate to the game engine.

There are a few players entirely new to wargaming, generally - not just TOAW - so it would also be good to hear what you've learned and still want to learn in relation to strategy and tactics.

Do include whether you won or lost, and I will update the roster periodically to reflect the final results.
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General Staff deserves EXTREME THANKS for an excellent job as Axis Team Commander. WestPointer and Jean-Luc provided great support for the team forums and rosters. As well, recommendations for going with a smaller and shorter scenario were justified and I appreciate their convincing position to avoid running with the scenario originally intended.

It seems to me that the workshop idea is functional and worthwhile for helping new players get into the system faster than a solo-approach. Future workshops should have a few more veterans on each side to better spread the load - some ideas planned were dropped as a result in this series. I dropped the ball on the Unit Focus articles - sometimes it is hard to write about things and I was getting self-conscious...so...um...that's that...

My general recommendations for possible future workshops is to divide them into two parts. The first part should last no more than two weeks and would involve veteran players contributing in-depth notes and responding to questions; the second part can be an open-ended "Tactical Advice"...instead of a Dear Abby...it'd be more like, "Dear Colonel Abby...my opponent has broken through my lines to a depth of 30 km with a bulge 15 km wide, and my only reserves consist of an MP battalion, what should I do?"

Well...maybe not exactly like that, but in the forums what we have really never seen very much of (outside a tournament setting) is players posting their .sal's and asking for advice. A tactical corner for players may be useful.

I've been in and out of commission with broadband problems, an operating system in Russian, a Windows SP 1, and intermittent ability to post or get into my e-mail for the past week and wanted to get this out a few days earlier. Anyways...enough of my talking - we want to see your experiences and notes, and ideas for future workshops.

[Hank2]

Has anyone finished yet? L'Emmeurdeux and I are up to move 10 and if we continue at the same pace, in a week or week + 1/2 we should be done.

Just curious who's finished

Hank

PS - this workshop was a great idea ... I've learned so much more than I ever could just stumbling along on my own. Thanks To ALL !!!

[Hank2]

The game between L'Emmeurdeux is finished.

Observations on Allied play:
* the Allies must be very very aggresive in the first move or two
* taking the Pegasus bridge is important to open up an early flanking attack east of Caen (he did this but did not pursue a flanking attack vigorously)
* taking Carentan and Bayeaux in the first two or three moves is critical
* if the Allies had punched though a lot of holes and pockets my line would obviously have been longer to fill in with reasonably strong units; I was able to keep a fairly straight line from east of caen to carentan throughout the game

I think this sce is much harder as Allies for a newbie (like me) to play. Imho its more of a challenge to attack with TOAW than to defend. If you don't know all the intricacies of how TOAW works, attacking can be very difficult to be successful.

Also, I think we all have had troubles learning about how to use Arty and air support; coming to terms with combat rounds; keeping units in supply and how to use HQ's to their best; when to use limited attacks; etc etc. There's lots to learn to be good and I think to be on the attack successfully is more difficult if you don't know how to use these tools effectively.

I think billy and I are fairly evenly matched which I would think puts him at the disadvantage in this sce.

any comments and opinions are welcome

[Secadegas]

I think this sce is much harder as Allies for a newbie (like me) to play. Imho its more of a challenge to attack with TOAW than to defend. If you don't know all the intricacies of how TOAW works, attacking can be very difficult to be successful.


I'ts my opinion also (and i know the system for years)


I think billy and I are fairly evenly matched which I would think puts him at the disadvantage in this sce.


Again i agree
but note that a efficient defense in TOAW terms is a flexible defense where counter-attack should be used almost every turn. My felling is attack is more powerfull that defense in this system. Even if dificult to manage.

[L'Emmerdeur]

Hank played a great game and had me locked up for the first 4 turns or so - blowing bridges (especially near Carentan) and forming a line very early. He was able to restrict my ability to manouvre very early on so it was very hard for me to pick up momentum in the second half of the game.

The battle around Caen was brutal but from my point of view, too much of a static battle. As allies given the number of turns, you can't afford to let the Germans force you into a static fight as you waste too much energy and resources. I kept trying to get a breakout at various points around Caen (especially East as I held the Pegasus Bridge area for the whole game) to then outflank him was not successful.

I did better on the Peninsula and eventually captured Cherbourg and generally routed his units in that area.

As I am new to wargaming and TAOWIII I was not too disappointed and it was a lot of fun - completely different to playing the PO on the same scenario.

I did learn as I went however so that I could think back and decide I would have done things differently in the earlier rounds if I played over again.

Lessons for me -

Really need to read and understand the manual to get a grip on the complexity and breadth of the game (still haven't achieved that one).

Really need to understand combat rounds and how to maximise your results (only just starting to get a grip with that).

Really need to develop a feeling for attacks and what is likely to be successful and what isn't (comes with practice).

In this scenario inparticular, really need to use overruns well as they can be very effective, especially inthe early turns.

You need a plan and strategy to go with it (mine was too loose and ill defined so I allowed myself to get bogged down).

I really need to get to grips with force cooperation, what the different loss settings do etc.

All in all, lots of fun. Any prospect of another one with another scenario adding a bit more complexity?

Our last turn attached.

Congratulations and thanks to Hank for playing.

[Hank2]

Is there a stat on game results yet? (Allies-xW vs Axis-xW)

How many games are over?

My game with Mangus may or may not conclude. He's having RL issues. I left it up to him to decide whether to continue or not. I have no problem waiting.

thanks
hank