NATO Commander: Chemical Ahab

 

Scenario #2, which I'm going to play on Difficult mode with Divisions is an awful lot like scenario #1. In fact, the starting units are in pretty much the same locations. The principal difference is that political points matter now, which means no more unrestricted chemical warfare.

Or does it?

Turns out there's a quirk in the original Atari version of the game. No idea if later ports fixed it.

When you order a unit to attack, you have a choice between using accelerated, regular, and chemical attacks. However, when you give the order for an accelerated attack, the engine claims you are using a chemical attack. And when you give the order for a chemical attack, the engine claims you are using a regular attack!

The "chemical attack" order does, unlike accelerated attacks, cost you political points which can shake the NATO alliance if used too much, but it is unclear to me what the actual effect of either is; only that both seem to be more effective than regular attacks. I don't know if the chemical and accelerated attack bindings got swapped, or if it's just the unit status that reports attacks incorrectly, but either way, the "accelerated attack" command seems to have little downside.

Day 1 

 

Familiar setup, familiar tactics. The Berlin Corps retreats, and I try to assemble everyone to the front. Engagement will use the mysterious, politically cheap "accelerated" attacks exclusively, but only when we can attack at a 2:1 advantage, not counting helicopters. Wings focus on air superiority today.

 

Day 2

 

Lack of recon means there are certainly any number of WP units in the fog of war between the forming column and my retreating infantry, but my wings remain focused on air superiority.

Our first ground kill is scored today near Hanover, but more armor comes.

 

EOD: 20,200 NATO casualties, no units lost. 40,700 WP casualties, 2 units destroyed. NATO Air superiority achieved, 2 cities taken by WP.

 

Day 3

  

Air wings have switched to ground support, but the first Berlin Corps is lost, and my choppers are about to be threatened.

Dutch and German reinforcements are incoming, and one East German mech division that snuck past my line heads for the other choppers - I direct some of the reinforcements to intercept.

EOD: 18,400 NATO casualties, 3 units lost. 44,300 WP casualties, 2 units destroyed. NATO sustains air superiority. 1 city retaken, Yugoslavia abandons WP.

 

Day 4

Two more NATO units are lost in the wee hours in an unsuccessful encircling maneuver, but Moscow folds this day in spite of materiel gains.

 

Scenario stats:

NATO losses: 49,200 troops, 1,034 tanks.

WP losses: 117,900 troops, 2,874 tanks.

3% of Germany penetrated, 2 cities overrun.

Final score: 23,450.

This outcome, by the way, completely blows away my performance in the last scenario in every regard, and without the huge benefit to frontage that Brigades mode provides. Therefore, I wonder if Meier might have not only accidentally swapped the Accelerated and Chemical attack function keys, but also assigned the political points loss function to the wrong attack type.