The Operational Art of War IV
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The Operational Art of War IV (TOAW)
My original intention was to write a review on Warplan. This game is looking good and I believe it will mature into a fine game but is, arguably, going through a public beta phase. So I decided to have a look at an older title, TOAW IV. TOAW owners would have been happy to see a recent update to the game (13 Dec 19).
TOAW is based on the classic board games of the past with its familiar unit icons, hex based map and turn based play. However, under the bonnet are sophisticated algorithms that calculate battle outcomes, supply, etc. Being based on “operational†level combat the player does not have to get involved with research, diplomacy, technological development, political personalities, etc that are a feature of many modern games.
TOAW is a wargame engine on which players can design scenarios from just about any time-frame. WW2 tragics will pleased to know that it is well represented with five categories (all WW 2 West Front scenarios not displayed below). Combat is not limited to land with naval battles included in the mix.
Scenarios range in complexity from unit numbers in double figures to multi-thousand unit epics.
To date I have limited myself to the easier end of this scale as I learn the mechanics of the game. Those who are familiar with this style of game will be able to play the tutorial scenarios quickly and muddle their way through. But like all games that hold your attention, the devil is in the detail and that will take some time to become proficient let alone master.
In an era where wargames are becoming more focused it is refreshing to have an all-rounder that has scenarios from different wars and battlefields. Plus you do not have to commit to a multi-month epic although that option is well catered for.
Familiar NATO counters with Attack and Defence factors displayed. These factors are not static and the player has the option to select five other factors that can be toggled via the M key – these include: Stack Anti-Personnel and Stack Defence, Engineering, Rail Repair, Anti-Tank and many more. The HQ 10 16 is selected – note yellow circle. The units with the grey disk are sub-units. The units with the orange stripe are disorganized and are unable to move this turn.
Summary
If you have an itch for a classic style wargame that needs scratching this could be the title for you.
My original intention was to write a review on Warplan. This game is looking good and I believe it will mature into a fine game but is, arguably, going through a public beta phase. So I decided to have a look at an older title, TOAW IV. TOAW owners would have been happy to see a recent update to the game (13 Dec 19).
TOAW is based on the classic board games of the past with its familiar unit icons, hex based map and turn based play. However, under the bonnet are sophisticated algorithms that calculate battle outcomes, supply, etc. Being based on “operational†level combat the player does not have to get involved with research, diplomacy, technological development, political personalities, etc that are a feature of many modern games.
TOAW is a wargame engine on which players can design scenarios from just about any time-frame. WW2 tragics will pleased to know that it is well represented with five categories (all WW 2 West Front scenarios not displayed below). Combat is not limited to land with naval battles included in the mix.
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To date I have limited myself to the easier end of this scale as I learn the mechanics of the game. Those who are familiar with this style of game will be able to play the tutorial scenarios quickly and muddle their way through. But like all games that hold your attention, the devil is in the detail and that will take some time to become proficient let alone master.
In an era where wargames are becoming more focused it is refreshing to have an all-rounder that has scenarios from different wars and battlefields. Plus you do not have to commit to a multi-month epic although that option is well catered for.
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Summary
If you have an itch for a classic style wargame that needs scratching this could be the title for you.
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I imagine most of us at FGM have experience from the cardboard days of wargaming. Bit surprising that TOAW IV has not found a home here. If you have the game I highly recommend getting the "boardgame" look mod - huge improvement IMHO - https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4380544 dated 1 Jan 20. There are others if you are picky.
Rather than recreate the wheel, the following link is useful re the User Interface.
TOAW IV UI - https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4380544
The Report panels drive the game. Formation and Unit Reports being key, Very important to fight the battle by formation and understand the level of cooperation available between them.
If you get interested the manual is available for download.
Perhaps in the tradition of boardgames the manual is comprehensive if something of a wall of information to climb over to get a grip on the mechanics of the game. It has some clever mechanics that are not the most intuitive. My aim is to provide a "soldier's five" on getting into the game.
Rather than recreate the wheel, the following link is useful re the User Interface.
TOAW IV UI - https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4380544
The Report panels drive the game. Formation and Unit Reports being key, Very important to fight the battle by formation and understand the level of cooperation available between them.
If you get interested the manual is available for download.
Perhaps in the tradition of boardgames the manual is comprehensive if something of a wall of information to climb over to get a grip on the mechanics of the game. It has some clever mechanics that are not the most intuitive. My aim is to provide a "soldier's five" on getting into the game.
TIME AND MOVEMENT POINTS
Perhaps one of the challenging concepts in the game is understanding how time is expended. Unlike traditional board games time is not one turn and is linked to unit movement allowance (MA).
The Situation Briefing declares the number of turns in the scenario and what the turn interval is. In the Kharkov 42 scenario there are 12 turns and each turn represents one day.
The Unit Panel for each unit has five sections:
1 Date, Force Roundel
2 Unit stack, parent formation, unit name and deployment.
3. Health, attack (anti-pers and anti-armour), defence strength, original and remaining movement allowance.
4. Unit proficiency, readiness and supply level.
5. Current round and progress pane.
Chap 13 - Individual battles are resolved in a series of Tactical Rounds. Each player Turn is divided into ten Tactical Rounds, and individual battles begin on the Round most closely corresponding to the proportion of the attacking units Movement Allowance (MA) expended before the combat.
Example 1: 30 Cav Div has 12 MA, moves 4 MA, the attack would begin on round 3 to take into consideration the time it took to reach the attacking position. The tactical round bar will be adjusted after the battle is executed. When executing their turn, it is the goal of the player to achieve the maximum number of tactical rounds per turn.
Perhaps one of the challenging concepts in the game is understanding how time is expended. Unlike traditional board games time is not one turn and is linked to unit movement allowance (MA).
The Situation Briefing declares the number of turns in the scenario and what the turn interval is. In the Kharkov 42 scenario there are 12 turns and each turn represents one day.
The Unit Panel for each unit has five sections:
1 Date, Force Roundel
2 Unit stack, parent formation, unit name and deployment.
3. Health, attack (anti-pers and anti-armour), defence strength, original and remaining movement allowance.
4. Unit proficiency, readiness and supply level.
5. Current round and progress pane.
Chap 13 - Individual battles are resolved in a series of Tactical Rounds. Each player Turn is divided into ten Tactical Rounds, and individual battles begin on the Round most closely corresponding to the proportion of the attacking units Movement Allowance (MA) expended before the combat.
Example 1: 30 Cav Div has 12 MA, moves 4 MA, the attack would begin on round 3 to take into consideration the time it took to reach the attacking position. The tactical round bar will be adjusted after the battle is executed. When executing their turn, it is the goal of the player to achieve the maximum number of tactical rounds per turn.
| The image at right has the 295 Rifle Div selected (note yellow disk) and has the movement allowance (ma) displayed (0). The Unit Panel indicates that the turn is in the 6th tactical round of Turn 2. This unit has 0 of 5 ma, ie it has expended its ma. It cannot attack or move for the remainder of the turn. Other units with ma >0 may attack provided they have the proficiency. Movement will depend on the cost to move to the next hex and their remaining ma. Note the artillery unit to the north of 295 Rifle Div has an orange Health icon (top right). This indicates it has probably executed a bombardment in the previous tactical rounds and its supply and readiness has reduced. It is usually a good idea to conduct bombardments in the first tactical round. If a unit has not moved or attacked in the previous tactical rounds it will also be at tactical round 6. So, when conducting movement it is necessary to consider how this expends time as well as ma. Burning through all of your ma in one tactical round probably will limit the number of tactical rounds you achieve per turn. Generally, you should aim to achieve 3 rounds per turn. I hope this fast tracks your understanding of time and movement allowance in the game. |  |
Did anyone else totally abuse airborne troops in the original waaaaaay back in the day? Those poor suckers.....unfortunately realistic
@Wellsonian - LOL - in a dark humour sort of way!
@Zero - Kudos, that is a giant commitment!
I have the basics figured out but still have a way to go before taking on something like that!
@Zero - Kudos, that is a giant commitment!
I have the basics figured out but still have a way to go before taking on something like that!
When starting to learn the game it can seem more complicated than it really is. We all eventually figure out a sequence of actions. Following is how I start a turn (at the moment!).
Pressing H or selecting the HQ button will bring the HQ unit to the top of the stack. In the image below HQ 39th Gd. Rifle has been selected (yellow disk) and the hexes with units in this formation have grey disks. Obviously, keeping track of your HQs and their subordinates is important to maintain co-operation levels.
After the HQs, the next most important units are the artillery. Pressing H again will bring the artillery units to the top of the stack. Pressing U displays the Unit Report. The range for this unit is 4 hexes. What a coincidence, the NATO unit is in range! The two dots on the left of each unit icon are Loss Tolerance Pips and are moderated by selecting L. 1 pip - minimise losses, 2 pips - limit losses, 3 - ignore losses. For artillery units the pips represent battery duration - short, medium, long - keep an eye on your supply on the Unit Panel.
After checking all the artillery units the next item of interest is recon ability. The artillery unit has a Recon level of 31%, which is not too bad. I'm sure many of you would recognise the cavalry/recon unit icon. They have a Recon value of 99%.
As mentioned in the previous post, expending movement points is expending time. Rule of thumb; first tactical round, bombard with units in range (ie no movt), then other arty and recon move, then the heavy hitters (infantry, mech inf), then mobile units if an exploitation is possible. Broad brush, but I'm sure you get the point. Units can attack more than once if they have the movement allowance, supply and proficiency (fatigue level).
Pressing H or selecting the HQ button will bring the HQ unit to the top of the stack. In the image below HQ 39th Gd. Rifle has been selected (yellow disk) and the hexes with units in this formation have grey disks. Obviously, keeping track of your HQs and their subordinates is important to maintain co-operation levels.
After the HQs, the next most important units are the artillery. Pressing H again will bring the artillery units to the top of the stack. Pressing U displays the Unit Report. The range for this unit is 4 hexes. What a coincidence, the NATO unit is in range! The two dots on the left of each unit icon are Loss Tolerance Pips and are moderated by selecting L. 1 pip - minimise losses, 2 pips - limit losses, 3 - ignore losses. For artillery units the pips represent battery duration - short, medium, long - keep an eye on your supply on the Unit Panel.
After checking all the artillery units the next item of interest is recon ability. The artillery unit has a Recon level of 31%, which is not too bad. I'm sure many of you would recognise the cavalry/recon unit icon. They have a Recon value of 99%.
As mentioned in the previous post, expending movement points is expending time. Rule of thumb; first tactical round, bombard with units in range (ie no movt), then other arty and recon move, then the heavy hitters (infantry, mech inf), then mobile units if an exploitation is possible. Broad brush, but I'm sure you get the point. Units can attack more than once if they have the movement allowance, supply and proficiency (fatigue level).
Thx @MOS:96B2P If you have Steam, put it on your wishlist and wait for a sale. If you are a graduate of the cardboard days, this will be immediately recognizable. There are stack limits (9) and all those old rules we used to battle with. The dots to the left of each icon deal with stacking. Green being ok - reaching limit, and progressively deteriorating through to red. The stack rating is related to loss penalty if attacked. Green having a multiple of 1, and red a multiple of 2 with graduations between.
Had a little chuckle with Panzercorps2 recently. It has the same mechanic as TOAW with anti-tank guns. An ATG will provide support to adjacent units that are attacked by Armor units (best way to deploy them).
If you can remember spending hours poring over bits of cardboard doing your turn, then you will understand TOAW. @Zero mentioned he is playing FITE2 (Eastern Front WW2), making a turn must take a considerable amount of time. All those units and possibly four rounds per turn.
Map 548x595.
Units 3693/7899
Turns 450
Max rounds per Turn: 4
Only for the committed!
Had a little chuckle with Panzercorps2 recently. It has the same mechanic as TOAW with anti-tank guns. An ATG will provide support to adjacent units that are attacked by Armor units (best way to deploy them).
If you can remember spending hours poring over bits of cardboard doing your turn, then you will understand TOAW. @Zero mentioned he is playing FITE2 (Eastern Front WW2), making a turn must take a considerable amount of time. All those units and possibly four rounds per turn.
Map 548x595.
Units 3693/7899
Turns 450
Max rounds per Turn: 4
Only for the committed!
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And look what I found buried in a computer desk drawer. It has been a long time since I played this game but it was one of my favorites back in the day. To bad it won't run on Windows 10. My computer would probably do something rude like spit it out if I even tried. If I recall Norm Koger was involved with this when it first came out. Before Steam and direct downloads etc. 
I don't see a number in the title on the disc so maybe it was the first Operational Art of War? It has a copyright of 1999.
I don't see a number in the title on the disc so maybe it was the first Operational Art of War? It has a copyright of 1999.
Here you go lads, an easy to follow chart.
:shocknaz:
LOL! I thought you would like that. Found it on the Matrix forum. Apparently there is a new version coming out if you have to know the in's and out's.
Even without studying the above you get an idea of the interplay between factors.
Even without studying the above you get an idea of the interplay between factors.
I thought this detail on attacking might interest a few players and perhaps remind them of tactics of the bad old days.
With previous titles there was a well-known tactic of draining the defenders supply by triggering their counter-battery rule. In brief, the technique was to attack an enemy unit with a ground unit at foolish odds (did not matter to the attacker that it maybe destroyed in the attack or the subsequent turn), provide artillery support, often with bonus for bombarding in concert with a ground attack. The overall aim was to trigger the defence to counter-battery and use their supply at full rate. All along a line this could drain a defender of significant amounts of supply.
To prevent this in TOAW IV they have introduced an Assault Ratio check. Basically, attacker assault strength is divided by the defender defense strength. There are more factors in computing the AR, have a look at the manual if you are interested (p. 90).
Then the following table is consulted:
If the Combat Report is Attack, the Assault Ratio (AR) was greater or equal to a random number between 1-100 (The AR is displayed in the Attack Planning dialogue). Obviously the larger the AR the higher probability of passing the check.
If during the first round the AR fails the check, then a second check is undertaken. Eventually, if the AR fails both tests the ground attack is disallowed and the artillery attacks as if it was a normal bombardment.
Another layer of interest in the attack feature is "like attack like". If an armored unit is attacked, only the attackers anti-armor factors are considered. If a defender was 50% Soft and 50% Hard, then the attacker would use 50% of their anti-tank and 50% of their anti-pers factors. The attack/anti-pers numbers on the icons only represent their potential to attack at those factors. The eventual figure depends on the characteristics of the defender.
BTW for the true hard core, there is a strong rumour (ie fact) that Gary Grisby is releasing War in the East 2 this year.
With previous titles there was a well-known tactic of draining the defenders supply by triggering their counter-battery rule. In brief, the technique was to attack an enemy unit with a ground unit at foolish odds (did not matter to the attacker that it maybe destroyed in the attack or the subsequent turn), provide artillery support, often with bonus for bombarding in concert with a ground attack. The overall aim was to trigger the defence to counter-battery and use their supply at full rate. All along a line this could drain a defender of significant amounts of supply.
To prevent this in TOAW IV they have introduced an Assault Ratio check. Basically, attacker assault strength is divided by the defender defense strength. There are more factors in computing the AR, have a look at the manual if you are interested (p. 90).
Then the following table is consulted:
If the Combat Report is Attack, the Assault Ratio (AR) was greater or equal to a random number between 1-100 (The AR is displayed in the Attack Planning dialogue). Obviously the larger the AR the higher probability of passing the check.
If during the first round the AR fails the check, then a second check is undertaken. Eventually, if the AR fails both tests the ground attack is disallowed and the artillery attacks as if it was a normal bombardment.
Another layer of interest in the attack feature is "like attack like". If an armored unit is attacked, only the attackers anti-armor factors are considered. If a defender was 50% Soft and 50% Hard, then the attacker would use 50% of their anti-tank and 50% of their anti-pers factors. The attack/anti-pers numbers on the icons only represent their potential to attack at those factors. The eventual figure depends on the characteristics of the defender.
BTW for the true hard core, there is a strong rumour (ie fact) that Gary Grisby is releasing War in the East 2 this year.
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The Campaign for South Vietnam 1965-75 sounds interesting. Have you played any of TOAW IV Vietnam scenarios? Below is a cut and paste from a review for CSV.
The ability to tailor the US commitment and the associated political cost is awesome. It also forces you to engage with the VC to drive down their influence in the various provinces to keep their victory point total down. In my previous game I had just gone after sizeable units my theater recon revealed. Now I found myself having to scour provinces with air and ground forces to reveal those pesky little hex-converting NLF units.
So starting out in Jan '65 (this campaign uses the 1-week game time = 1-month calendar system) you begin with a smattering of MACV units and a bunch of garrisoned or reserve ARVN units. You get a handful of useful maneuver units like ARVN Rangers and Paras, too. There's a penalty for committing too many US forces too quickly,
The ability to tailor the US commitment and the associated political cost is awesome. It also forces you to engage with the VC to drive down their influence in the various provinces to keep their victory point total down. In my previous game I had just gone after sizeable units my theater recon revealed. Now I found myself having to scour provinces with air and ground forces to reveal those pesky little hex-converting NLF units.
So starting out in Jan '65 (this campaign uses the 1-week game time = 1-month calendar system) you begin with a smattering of MACV units and a bunch of garrisoned or reserve ARVN units. You get a handful of useful maneuver units like ARVN Rangers and Paras, too. There's a penalty for committing too many US forces too quickly,