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The Ancient Art of War in the Skies

DOS - 1992
Also available on: Amiga - Atari ST

In 1992 MicroProse published the brothers' last game in the series, The Ancient Art of War in the Skies, which disappointed fans because it introduces arcade elements into the game, isn't as deep as its predecessors, and is riddled with bugs (sounds familiar?).

Although it's not the perfect ending to a great series, The Ancient Art of War in the Skies nevertheless offers hours of fun with a staggering number of scenarios, plus cool digitized voices of your opponents. Opponents you will face include Kaiser Wilhelm II, General Foch, Lord Kitchener, Sun Tzu / Albert Ball, George Guynemer, Oswald Boelcke, Lou P. Deloupe, Baron Manfred von Richthofen (aka The Red Baron), Rene Fonck, Mick Mannock. Wingman AI is none too bright, but they do help you out in tough times.

Overall, not a stellar finish to a classic series, but is still worth a look especially for casual strategy gamers who don't mind arcade elements in their games.

Review By HOTUD

Comments and reviews

FlightDreamz 19 Jan. 2026

@TIAGOSOARES try https://archive.org/details/ancientartofwarintheskiesmanual/AncientArtOfWarInTheSkies-Manual/ for a download of the Ancient Art of War in the Skies manual

1
mobilehead 24 Nov. 2023

I fondly remember this game. Quite a gem however highly underrated probably due to the fact of long loading times when playing from floppies.

2
joe joe 27 Oct. 2021
Top comment

aaaaaaaaand after scrolling 152 pages in the strategic section and losing faith finally I found it!!!!
I was just remembering few images of this game and now here it is!
found other gems in the process

6
Trusteft 31 Aug. 2019
Top comment

I only played the ST version, at least from memory, and I don't remember any bugs or crashes. Perhaps they were only on the DOS version?
Anyway, this was a fun real time strategy game, set in WW1, something extremely rare.
You tried to help your ground troops (the double lines) advance and defeat the enemy. By attacking directly the enemy troops, or special targets, which lead to action sequences. Though I have to say I believe they were optional, or not, I haven't played the game in almost 30 years.

6
Kill me 01 Apr. 2018

Fix your sistam jarks

-3
A Wise Old Man 19 Feb. 2013

MicroProse used to promise a bug fix disk on their website, but never came through on the promise. A couple of the bugs could be fixed by changing two hex addresses in a data file, but that wasn't enough to keep it from either crashing or suddenly having your video go haywire. The game wasn't as fun as AAOW, so it didn't sell as well, and canned a planned "Total AAOW", which combined all three games into one big game that would have predated Command & Conquer insofar as wargames with micromanagement that didn't ruin gameplay would go.

4
TiagoSoares 06 Jun. 2012

I constantally asked a word from the manual. Does anyone knows how to bypass this?

1
loop 28 May. 2011

I was looking this game for many time. Thanks

1

No comment nor review for this game at the moment.

Downloads

DOS version

Install Disks
United Kingdom English
5 MB
Game file
United Kingdom English
3 MB

Amiga version

Game file
United Kingdom English
6 MB

Atari ST version

Game file
United Kingdom English
3 MB

Extras

Manual Manual 3
Extra file
DOS 14 MB English English
Extra file
Amiga 18 MB English English
Extra file
Amiga 29 MB German German
Misc Misc 1
Technical Supplement
DOS 3 MB English English

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