The Operational Art of War IV

[Lethal2615]

There is a very good range of theatres and scenarios. Many include historical notes, game author notes in addition to changelogs in the TOAW IV directory. Usually more detail than is displayed solely in-game. Shame they could not have been incorporated in the game itself, I imagine many players would not look in the directory.

I have limited myself to WW2 land warfare at the moment as I get to grips with the details and try to figure out why the AI crushes me so easily! I would recommend a small scenario called Arracourt 44 as the Germans to cut your teeth on. Has supply issues, mixed land combat, terrain to consider, and supply issues - did I mention supply before! Next I am considering another WW2 West scenario - the Battle of the Bulge. I have watched the 1965 movie in preparation! Perhaps in the coming weeks I will provide an AAR. Just need a little more time with the mechanics.

 

[Nathangun]

Here you go lads, an easy to follow chart.

I think I need glasses.

 

[Nathangun]

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.

Reminds me of a board game called Fire in the Lake a COIN game (Counter Insurgency) were influence and popular support are just as important as military victories.

I have watched the 1965 movie in preparation!

I would have gone for the Bulge episodes of Band of Brothers.

I have TOAW III but never really got into it.

 

[Lethal2615]

Band of Brothers! How could you go past this cast?! Oldie but a goodie! As I am looking at the Ardennes Offensive I thought it would be worth looking at Engineers.

The German 6:4 Engineer unit, 846 Brucko (J) is selected (yellow disk) and the movement arrow is directed at the town of Gemund (red circle). The hex pop-up (black box) provides all the characteristics of the hex and provides a view of the hex (blue circle).

U displays the Unit Report. This unit has 7 movement points (MP) and the cost to move into Gemund is 7 – displayed on the map and hex pop-up. Engineer units have special abilities – 846 Brucko has Foot movement, Reconnaissance, Engineering and, Minor and Major Ferry capability.

An Engineer unit can build a bridge in one turn (10 tactical rounds). The probability of successfully building a bridge is equal to its Engineering rating, i.e. 96% in this example.

The river is classified as a Super River. Land units usually cannot enter a Super River. On the image, note the 16:9 and 19:11 units to the north of Gemund and the 17:10 unit to the south. These units have Engineering and Minor Ferry capability, normally they would not be able to enter super rivers unless the weather was Frozen 3. The weather report indicates conditions are Frozen 2, so this placement must have been at the scenario designer’s discretion. Engineer units with a Major Ferry capability greater than 10% can create temporary crossing points on Super Rivers.

The (super) river hex is also classified as badlands. Non-road badlands hexes block the Line of Communication and hence supply. So a bridge will have to be built with the Engineer Unit to: 1. establish supply to the west and 2. provide a route across for the bulk of the force on the eastern side of the river. The first goal for this section of the front is to clear the Ami unit on the escarpment to the south-west. I would initially be looking at the 19:11 unit to do this.

All this type of detail will be familiar to those conditioned(!) to the cardboard days when half the enjoyment of the game was spent reading the manual and doing your best bush lawyer act to convince your opponent that they cannot do that!

 

[Nathangun]

I heard TOAW can be used as a CM Campaign tool, might be worth looking into.