TOAW COW

[Mike Carroll]

I totally lucked out and found a copy in the old games bin at EB games and got if for $5.00. Take 2 has it as well no problems in XP. I am currently playing three games of the WWI PBEM scenario and they are great scenario's - some of the best games I have played. There is also a new WWI strategic scenario out that has some really good honour rules and gives a much more realistic rep of the naval war. I am hoping to start a game of that soon.

If you get it and want to try the WWI I am open to playing you. I really wish Matrix would update this game! It is a classic and will be on my hard disk for many years to come.

[*Lava*]

ORIGINAL: Mike Carroll

I really wish Matrix would update this game! It is a classic and will be on my hard disk for many years to come.

Amen to that. Best darn wargame and editor I ever did see. It's still on my HD...

Ray (alias Lava)

[Hexed Gamer]

I am not so sure it is that it needs to be "updated", as much, as it needs a producer that actually wants it.

TOAW seems to be the offspring no one really cares about. It's available not available, on sale then mysteriously gone.

I consider myself lucky I was able to get the purchase I did when I did.

It's no more cutting edge anymore than is Steel Panthers, but just as with Steel Panthers, it was a significantly excellent game when it was released, and it went on to create numerous great secondary creations.

It needs a home an owner that genuinely wishes it to be one of the regulars.

[Mike Carroll]

It is an excellent game. But there are a couple of tweeks that need to happen. The naval rules need to be updated abit and the air could be enhanced abit.

But you are right as far as a gaming system goes it is as good system for us old "board-gamers" as you could want.

There are small enhancements that you could want but this is a game that has grabbed and kept my attention for years. Far to many games end up coming off the computer after a couple of weeks or months.

I wish someone would take ownership and continue to develop and publish the game. This is the kind of scale I really like.

[Hexed Gamer]

I have always lived by the philosophy if it is done right the first time, it is just a matter of keeping it in supply for all that weren't there on day one.

TOAW is a good example of a game that was largely done right on day one.

It is not an easy act to follow, nor an easy game to replace.

With the TOAW CoW release, I can literally play almost any well known board game from WW2 and post WW2 right through to Modern and hypothetical stright out of the box.
The fact it has oodles of user created options is just more icing.

Some say the game fails on this or that level, but really, I can't think of any wargame I have ever played that actually came out as totally absolutely 100%.

I have though, almost no need for a computer wargame, to replace large scale operational level wargames.

TOAW quite simply aced this genre. The only thing left for new producers of new wargames at the operational level, is to create programs that employ greater easier to use interfaces.

Battlefields for instance, unless this game really and truely revolutionises the experience, anyone owning TOAW is unlikely to find it worth the cash, when there is no shortage of other good wargames in other genres/scales lining up for one's money.

Thus Battlefields, will really only be a game of interest to a non TOAW CoW owning player.

Not to say that Battlefields is or will not be good. But there is only so many redundant wargames that I need

Same could be said of the Highway to the Reich design. They aced that game setting, and now, quite frankly, I don't see any value in wasting money on joe copy cat producer. That scale and mode clearly now belongs to that games producer.
And they earned it

[Mike Carroll]

To some extent I have to agree. ACOW is a game that to me has really aced the operational level game. I do wish that there were some improvements. I think that there should be some way of creating a supply point in-game (beachhead at Normandy). I do think the naval portion should at least allow an "Intercept" of moving naval forces. Alot of these problems can be overcome by honour rules and a good scenario designer. There are some really excellent scenarios out there, especially for the guy looking for a game similar to SPI's "War Between the States" or SPI's old "War in Europe". This game even has a 19th century database mod and there are scenarios covering the Civil War and some other conflicts in the 19th Century. Personally I am playing 3 games of the WWI Grand Strategy (hate to say I am sick of WWII right now) and they are some of the best games I have been in - ever.

Have room for another[:D]

[Hexed Gamer]

I have to date, only seen one serious contender in competition for what TOAW delivers.

Schwerpunct's (god I hate spelling that name ) game Russo German War, and their up coming release Allied German War.

Of course, these are counter pushing fanatic's games. I don't recommend them to people that don't get glassy eyed looking at operational scale wargames that look like board games

[Ludovic Coval]

Hexed Gamer,

I played both TOAW and BF (and eventually wrote the second too [;)]) Both games cover similar era (at least TOAW vol I), looks like the same but one is IGO-UGO and other WEGO, thus BF emphasize more the planification aspect. This turn both games to call for differents gaming approachs (beta shown clearly that usual TOAW strategies/tactics simply dont work).

LC

[AlvinS]

I have the original TOAW Vol 1 and it runs fine on my XP machine. Is it just the later versions that have trouble on XP? Because I have considere buying COW if I ever find it in a discount bin somewhere. If it does not run I will not bother.

I love the original TOAW and still play it, although not as much since I bought WITP.[8D]

[Mike Carroll]

Have not heard of Russo German War, guess I will have to search it out and see what it looks like. I will probably look at Battlefields, but I think it is a different scale. There is some talk on some of the Boards about Battlefields finally killing TOAW. But I doubt it, it offers games at a smaller scale than alot of the games I am playing in TOAW.

I tend to like games at the Brigade/Division level with 10 to 50 km hexes and roughly weekly turns. This is at the upper end of TOAW's scale, but it does a really good job with it. And of course it can go much lower.

I have WITP and it is a massive game and works well for the theatre, but I just do not see how you could realistically play a PBEM to conclusion. - Daily turns! I enjoy computer games but I also have a life. Well I will probably try playing it anyway[:D]

In my WWI TOAW games we do one or two turns a week and the turns take between 2 to 8 hours to complete (It is a massive scenario in its own right). But at a couple of turns a week we have a reasonable chance of getting done in a couple of years - and still be able to do other things.

[Mike Carroll]

I am using XP for ACOW and have had no problems. I am using the NOCD patch from one of the websites which I think is version 1.04. Version 1.06 has some problems that Norm needs to work out I think.

Problem is that ACOW is just not available anymore. You can find it at Take 2 for $40, I think, but not really in the discount bin anymore. I got mine for $5.00 a couple of years ago and I have TOAW II which I bought for the full price. There is a 19th Century version out there on some of the gamer websites that let you play Civil War and Napoleon Scenarios as well.

[Hexed Gamer]

Ludovic what was the "BF" in your post?

AlvinS you actually got TOAW Vol 1 to run in XP, that impresses me hehe. I only bought the CoW release so it WOULD run in XP.
And as it cost me serious cash to get, I am sure I had exhausted all the parameters.

My TOAW Elite Vol 2 (both are elite editions) runs in XP, but not as efficiently.

[wodin]

BF I think IS Battlefields.

[Ludovic Coval]

Hexed Gamer ,

Ludovic what was the "BF" in your post?

As Wodin guess, BF is Battlefields!.

LC

[AlvinS]

AlvinS you actually got TOAW Vol 1 to run in XP

When I get home I'll check what my settings are, patch version etc... , but I don't recall having much trouble setting it up. Maybe I just got lucky because I have other older programs that I cannot get to run.

[Hexed Gamer]

Confusion over BF = Battlefields, is I was not aware it was even on sale yet.

Or have you had the opportunity to help with testing?

[AlvinS]

Hexed Gamer

I checked my settings and I am not running in any compatability mode. I just installed it and it runs fine.I am running Windows XP Professional on a 2.66 Ghz machine with 512 meg ram, Nvidia 5200 video with 128 meg ram. Also have the lates version of Direct X.

The game is TOAW Vol 1 patched to 1.07.03.


Sorry I cannot be of much help. I love this game.

[Hexed Gamer]

What can I say, everyone likes a happy ending Alvin hehe.

[wodin]

Hexed gamer looks like Lud is the BF developer.

[Hexed Gamer]

Hmmm yeah his name is all over the credits

Did not pick up on that (been a while since I wandered about the game's forum).