Rating: 
Summary: Wargaming at it's Best
Review: After playing now-archaic paper and cardboard wargames for years, and now addicted to historical computer gaming, I ordered Operational Art with trepidation. After playing numerous scenarios, this collection is definitely among the best! The variety of scenarios, ease of introductary play, and potential variations make this a favorite with me. I already play Talonsoft's Civil War and Napoleonic games, enjoy them mightily, and recommend this set for any gamer interested in adding playable, enjoyable WWI, WWI, and modern wargaming scenarios to their collection.Although, I have the impression the computer "cheats" when he's getting beaten pretty badly, I continue to play some scenarios that I never would have imagined I would be interested in! After five tries, I continue to search for a winning strategy for the Germans to "win" France 1914. Who would have thought WWI could be so interesting? Try this one. There are so many options, you will find an instant fit. And, you might find some of the esoteric scenarios, like the Balkans 1912, a future favorite.
Rating:
Summary: Art of War: Century of Warfare
Review: All I can say is WOW!!! If you want realism, here you go. Once you get past the learning curve and have become comfortable with the controls, you won't find a more realist wargame out there. I know there are a lot of games that are really good at simulating one or 2 aspects of warfare, but CoW hits all the marks. If you are thinking about getting it, stop thinking and buy it!! You won't regret it!!
Rating:
Summary: Art of War: Century of Warfare
Review: All I can say is WOW!!! If you want realism, here you go. Once you get past the learning curve and have become comfortable with the controls, you won't find a more realist wargame out there. I know there are a lot of games that are really good at simulating one or 2 aspects of warfare, but CoW hits all the marks. If you are thinking about getting it, stop thinking and buy it!! You won't regret it!!
Rating: 
Summary: This Game is NOT Fun
Review: All right. This game is way to complex to be even mildly entertaining. If you can get through one turn--and actually know what you're doing--you've done better than me. The game is hard to follow, hard to understand, and pretty near impossible to enjoy. It's just a poor product.
Rating:
Summary: Great game
Review: An excellent game that details the operational art of war. A bit hard to get used to when you come from the Doom generation, but after a while it becomes intuitive. Go out and wargame!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Military Strategy Game...
Review: For those who like serious military strategy games this is the one for you. I have played numerous titles and to date, have found this one to be the best.
Rating:
Summary: too complicated
Review: I love war strategy games and played clash of steel, panzer general series, etc. countless times, but AOW is just too complicated for me. The interface is busy and there are hundreds of tiny icons. You just can't tell how good or what a unit is without clicking on it. I tried to learn the game twice over a year and couldn't even do the tutorial. I'm sure its good if you can figure out how to play.
Rating:
Summary: Bookcase Wargame for your PC
Review: If you played bookcase games by Avalon Hill, SPI, GDW, etc, you will immediately be at home with this computerized version of hex-based and turn-based strategy games. You are already familiar with the lengthy manual concept, and this game is no exception. In fact, most of the game is NOT in the manual, which makes it important for you to get in contact with the community of gamers who play this game (search for "toaw forum" on the net to find them!). There are so many websites dedicated to understanding this game, and it can be so involved that it doesn't surprise me some folks are turned off by the complexity. However, most veteran players admit they too were turned off at first by the learning curve - and only those who fought through the manual were able to emerge on the other side to what is undeniably the best operational/strategic computer wargame in existence. This game has a healthy design community, and there are over 500 scenarios available recreating such notable events as Normandy 44, Barbarossa Campaign at battalion level, Europe 39-46, Japan 41-45, as well as scores of tiny battles you never heard of. In short, you can put your whole collection of bookcase games on back on the shelf, because most campaigns depicted in those games are also available as a scenario in this game. There are literally hundreds of players who play-by-email and this is where this game really shines. Playing the PO (programmed opponent) is one thing, but pales in comparison to playing against a live, unpredictable human opponent. If for nothing else, the PBEM element of this game makes it a must have for those of us who seldom found live opponents for the carboard games (or who lacked the table space required of them!). If you can find this game, and if you like hex-based wargaming, you will not be disappointed with this purchase. Especially once you get online and see how many others are out there right now playing against each other. A fitting tribute for a game that is several years old! Just recently (March 2003) a new patch for the game has been released by Norm Koger which includes full support for WindowsXP.
Rating:
Summary: The best of the lot
Review: If you're a wargamer and still haven't bought any of Norm Koger's "The Operational Art of War" series games then go past the first few installments and pick this one up. Everything in the first two versions is here plus extras. The game comes packed with tons of scenarios from World War I battles to speculative modern day conflicts in Korea. And the scale is eqaully diverse, in the Kasserine Pass you're commanding companies and battalions over a map that extends 100km at most, in Barbarossa 41 you're commanding hundreds of divisions in a front stretching from Finland to the Black Sea! The game also comes with a scenario editor which is user friendly and filled with equipment, Koger reaches back into the mid 1870's and claims the game can be used to recreate battles back to about 1870, Franco-Prussian war anyone? The only real danger is that you might find this game sucks up an enormous quantity of your time as you play with it! Graphics are pretty much like the old paper maps, hexes (which can be made invisible but they're still there) and square counters. Visually, they are not stunning but they're functional enough and represent the "operational" viewpoint the game takes where you're a division, corps, theater commander giving orders to your units as opposed to a first person shooter or platoon commander. All in all, if you want a good 20th century strategy game, don't look any further than here.
Rating:
Summary: The best of the lot
Review: If you're a wargamer and still haven't bought any of Norm Koger's "The Operational Art of War" series games then go past the first few installments and pick this one up. Everything in the first two versions is here plus extras. The game comes packed with tons of scenarios from World War I battles to speculative modern day conflicts in Korea. And the scale is eqaully diverse, in the Kasserine Pass you're commanding companies and battalions over a map that extends 100km at most, in Barbarossa 41 you're commanding hundreds of divisions in a front stretching from Finland to the Black Sea! The game also comes with a scenario editor which is user friendly and filled with equipment, Koger reaches back into the mid 1870's and claims the game can be used to recreate battles back to about 1870, Franco-Prussian war anyone? The only real danger is that you might find this game sucks up an enormous quantity of your time as you play with it! Graphics are pretty much like the old paper maps, hexes (which can be made invisible but they're still there) and square counters. Visually, they are not stunning but they're functional enough and represent the "operational" viewpoint the game takes where you're a division, corps, theater commander giving orders to your units as opposed to a first person shooter or platoon commander. All in all, if you want a good 20th century strategy game, don't look any further than here.
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