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Duncan Maggs -> Tao3 (8/24/2003 2:16:56 AM)
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I am not happy with the Ardennes scenario (TAO3) in Korsun Pocket as it stands. Admittedly I have only played it once against Rob during the playtesting of KP but it rapidly became a slugfest. The extra realism imparted by the updated and much improved game interface which were primarily designed for KP have not imo made TAO3 a better game.
The weather prevents most of the German 7th Army attacking at all in the first few days because combat across a river is forbidden in mud turns. This was a n offensive relying on surprise! I have no problem with the concept of a slow build up e.g. by clearing away US strongpoints along the river line but units should have some chance of attacking even at low odds.
Now that armour units may dig-in this skews the game defensively as does the extra step (fourth) for many of the US units. Retreat results were vital to dislodge a defender. I know that overruns are possible against more units than before and at lower odds but this doesn't redress the balance.
On the plus side the new reserve activation system is good and would enable the German to make a fight of it if he could reach Bastogne but Houffalize was as far as I got!
This is not a gripe from an old gamer who is stuck in the world of TAO2 and regards it as perfect because I'm not and I don't. However it did have a fluidity of play which i think captured the early stages of the Ardennes battle. The Korsun Pocket scenarios manage to maintain this tradition of weak defender and strong attacker despite the problem of forming the pocket.
I am willing to play anyone at TAO3 with me as the US player and see how far they get as the German player. The new version favours the defender and I do not see that the attacker has been given any new weapons in his armoury.
I am sure there will be much debate about this game and its possibilities and i hope that we can tweak it and it may continue to evolve. i haven't explored the editor yet so maybe I will be able to change things so they are more to my liking!
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