A Modern Total War? (Discussion, Oppinions)

[Nelson]

For the tactical game to mesh properly with the strategic game the scale of forces needs to work. TW simulates battles covering small distances that could be controlled by one man and fought within hours to a decision. As players, we become that man. The game convincingly recreates period tactics using a few percent of the actual troop numbers typical in history. Two armies that historically might have had about 30,000 men each are fought with 2,000 to 3,000 men in the game. It works. There are no fronts that are hundreds of miles long. Until the late 19th century armies collided and outcomes were decided in a day. Perfect for the TW design approach.

The scale of modern combat is far too vast for the TW system to work tactically. How would it be implemented? How would Stalingrad be done? How could commanding a few platoons simulate the battle of Kursk? Not to mention needing to handle aircraft somehow. A battle could start on a front 50 miles wide. Small scale skirmishes could be portrayed no doubt but how could that be extrapolated to represent a million men struggling for weeks? TW can’t do that and scale back to the map in any sensible way that I can imagine.