Nuclear Weapons

[Vaevictis_386]

Some artillery units are listed as having nuke capability, but I can't figure out how to use it. No prob with aricraft and missiles, but 1 hex range art. doesn't seem to ever get the nuke attack option even if it is nuke capable.

Does anyone have info on Nukes in general? They seem very mysterious and hard to use effectively, and manual says very little about em.

[golden delicious]

Nuclear artillery has its strength boosted if your force has been allowed a nuclear release. I don't think there's a specific attack option, it's just incorporated in the regular attack.

The trouble with nuclear weapons in TOAW is that they've never actually been used in a battlefield situation so it's very hard to know the best way to use them, or what their impact would be. In my limited experience, they are most effective against soft targets. Strikes against airfields are particularly effective since aircraft are the most high value soft targets. Also enemy nuclear assets (if any) are a major target, and obviously major offensive concentrations.

[nemo69]

In some instances nukes could be used in CoW to slow down an potential enemy offensive. I remember playing a Next War 1979 scenario where I used them to kill soft targets and also bring to a grinding halt armoured and mechanised spearheads of the Warsaw Pact. It certainly didn't kill many tanks or IFVs, but brought them down to a movement allowance of a single hex.

Note that it's a double-edged sword: you better resort to this while defending the main VP locations as you'll have a hard time taking the offensive on the ground you've just vitrified.

Take into account also that the bug affecting the radius of nuclear detonations has been removed in TOAW III. Areas rendered essentially unusable should cover quite larger surfaces now.

[golden delicious]

ORIGINAL: Nemo69

Take into account also that the bug affecting the radius of nuclear detonations has been removed in TOAW III. Areas rendered essentially unusable should cover quite larger surfaces now.

It depends on the scale. The scenario where the bug was uncovered- Steven Stevens' Berlin Crisis '61- had the blast radii being too large, not too small.

[nemo69]

ORIGINAL: golden delicious

ORIGINAL: Nemo69

Take into account also that the bug affecting the radius of nuclear detonations has been removed in TOAW III. Areas rendered essentially unusable should cover quite larger surfaces now.

It depends on the scale. The scenario where the bug was uncovered- Steven Stevens' Berlin Crisis '61- had the blast radii being too large, not too small.

Indeed you're right, that's an aspect I had overlooked.

[Dr. Foo]

[font="times new roman"]Nukes in TOAW are indeed very limited as outlined above. Using them against front line units is not as effective as you would think especially if the formation has NBC rated tanks and vehicles; however, make no mistake they will cause damage. As mentioned above I think the best way to use them it to take out or limit your opponent's ability to use them against you. Hit the airfields, ships, and launchers.[/font]
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[font="times new roman"]In a modern North Korea scenario where you know that they might just be crazy enough to launch them taking them out with low-yield nukes might be a good idea.[/font]
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[font="times new roman"]I have never used them in any instance during play even when the option presented itself. I never felt that nukes would turn the tide or I have never had my back so far up against a wall that it was the only option. On the flip side no opponent I have play has ever nuked me, therefore, either they do not offer any real strategic value or they are so disastrous why use them only to be victorious over an irradiated landscape and most of the time using them will cost you major VP's.  [/font]
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[Executioner Five]

I've used them a couple of times.

Once, in the NATO-Warsaw Pact 1962 scenario.  I was playing as the Russians...I managed to break through and run a couple of mechanized divisions through a small gap to capture Frankfurt.  The PO was sending stuff towards Frankfurt for a counterattack.  As I wasn't going to be able to get enough help to the city in time to hold, I nuked the approaching NATO forces.  End of counteroffensive.

The other case was just earlier today .  Playing the 1973 Yom Kippur War scenario, the Syrians wrecked my lines on Turn 1.  I asked for nuclear release straight away, and then on Turn 2 dropped one nuke on Damascus, two on Syrian armor, and the other one I believe was a Syrian airbase.  That should take care of things there long enough for me to get some reinforcements there and stabilize the front.

[Catch21]

I always wondered why I wasn't attracted to anything WWII/Korea+. Now I know. You sure live up to your handle. [;)] Enjoy. And I thought I was fairly ruthless...

[golden delicious]

ORIGINAL: General Staff

I always wondered why I wasn't attracted to anything WWII/Korea+. Now I know.

Nuclear war in TOAW can be rollicking good fun. Certainly spectacular.

What's really interesting is that ideas about nuclear war area even more theoretical than ideas about conventional war between modern armies. Largely, you have to make things up as you go along. Obviously, concentration for attack isn't such a hot idea if the other guy can wipe the whole thing out in one blow.