Octopus Overlords

Many years ago, I was absorbed with paper wargames and when I finally switched over to computer wargames, The Operational Art of War by Norm Koger was one of my favorites. However, times and tastes change and when the "III" version of the game came out in 2006, published by Matrix Games, I didn't put all that much effort into it. Now, however, it might be time to jump back into the series as The Operational Art of War IV is going to be released on November 16th.

Matrix Games has put up a page with an image of the printed, full color manual (a download version will also be available) and a forty page extract of that manual. There will be over 200 scenarios in the released game, a list of which can be downloaded here.

I am all over this. I will likely spring for the manual as well.

Given the low likelihood of a discount for a good long while, the price point will help determine whether or not I get it. Of course, that information won't be available until release.

Nice looking manual. Will probably just spring for the download version though. Looking forward to it since I've enjoyed playing all sorts of hypothetical scenarios in the previous two versions of the game. One of my favorites was a user made scenario where our would be NATO allies turned against us and invaded the US. Kicked their eurotrash asses. Florida got nuked but no biggie.

$iljanus wrote: ↑Tue Nov 14, 2017 4:06 pm Florida got nuked but no biggie.

Hey!!!

Here is a link that downloads the FAQ in PDF form, which may answer some questions folks may have.

UPDATE: One of the items in the FAQ is that TOAW IV (or TOAW4) will not be coming to Steam at this time.

jztemple2 wrote:

$iljanus wrote: ↑Tue Nov 14, 2017 4:06 pm Florida got nuked but no biggie.

Hey!!!

Well for what it's worth I took back the non-irradiated portions.

It looks like this one supports widescreen and HD resolutions. Anyone heard anything about that?

November 16??

Last I heard--and this was only a few weeks ago--they were still in beta and had no release projection. This is a big surprise.

I was impressed with TOAW III when it was released, and I really want this be a worthy successor. (I think I've bought every version since TOAW I in 1999, actually.) It has been in development a long, long time, and I hope it's ready. If the news is that it's so, I'll be all over it.

Was Norm Koger involved? And whatever happened to him? I loved Age of Rifles and Tanks! Last time I checked he had done a game on the Japanese Russo naval war, I think but I don't believe he's done anything since then. I really like his games, especially Age of Rifles because it was full of obscure 19th century colonial battles. Wonder what happened?

Grifman wrote: ↑Wed Nov 15, 2017 10:47 am Was Norm Koger involved? And whatever happened to him? I loved Age of Rifles and Tanks! Last time I checked he had done a game on the Japanese Russo naval war, I think but I don't believe he's done anything since then. I really like his games, especially Age of Rifles because it was full of obscure 19th century colonial battles. Wonder what happened?

Stormpowered happened to him.

This looks pretty yummy too http://www.matrixgames.com/products/676 ... .1940-1942

em2nought wrote: ↑Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:38 pm This looks pretty yummy too http://www.matrixgames.com/products/676 ... .1940-1942

I don’t know, if it doesn’t have a rule that you can transport dead camels but not live ones, it probably doesn’t have the complexity I need.

What about fuel evaporation rules based on each army’s storage solution?

em2nought wrote: ↑Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:38 pm

Grifman wrote: ↑Wed Nov 15, 2017 10:47 am Was Norm Koger involved? And whatever happened to him? I loved Age of Rifles and Tanks! Last time I checked he had done a game on the Japanese Russo naval war, I think but I don't believe he's done anything since then. I really like his games, especially Age of Rifles because it was full of obscure 19th century colonial battles. Wonder what happened?

Stormpowered happened to him.

Sorry but that reference went right over my head!

Grifman wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2017 2:09 am

em2nought wrote: ↑Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:38 pm

Grifman wrote: ↑Wed Nov 15, 2017 10:47 am Was Norm Koger involved? And whatever happened to him? I loved Age of Rifles and Tanks! Last time I checked he had done a game on the Japanese Russo naval war, I think but I don't believe he's done anything since then. I really like his games, especially Age of Rifles because it was full of obscure 19th century colonial battles. Wonder what happened?

Stormpowered happened to him.

Sorry but that reference went right over my head!

He made a very bad choice of partners in my opinion, and now his latest intellectual property is held ransom if I had to guess. http://www.stormpowered.com

I didn't realize StormPowered was still a thing.

The price is a fairly reasonable $39.99 (which is low for Matrix). The boxed version is quite a bit more, but the printed manual looks high quality. You get an immediate download even if you buy the physical copy, but they said the physical copies are shipping around two weeks later.

MonkeyFinger wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2017 10:16 am I didn't realize StormPowered was still a thing.

It isn't.

They appear to have deleted their old forums. I just now checked, and it appears that they launched a new forum in August.

Taking all categories together, there are four posts on it.

First impressions of TOAW IV over at Matrix seem to be very good.

Some of you folks might find this User Interface Guide useful if you have gotten the game or if you haven't, it will help you understand it a bit more. It a PDF you can download from this posting over on the Matrix Games TOAW IV forum, User Interface Guide

Also found this, a series of three YouTube videos, The Operational Art of War IV Tutorials

Holman wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2017 11:38 am

MonkeyFinger wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2017 10:16 am I didn't realize StormPowered was still a thing.

It isn't.

They appear to have deleted their old forums. I just now checked, and it appears that they launched a new forum in August.

Taking all categories together, there are four posts on it.

Yeah, was going to mention their extremely dead forums.

baelthazar wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2017 10:42 am The price is a fairly reasonable $39.99 (which is low for Matrix). The boxed version is quite a bit more, but the printed manual looks high quality. You get an immediate download even if you buy the physical copy, but they said the physical copies are shipping around two weeks later.

I didn't realize that besides the $15 USD increased price for the "boxed" version, the one with the printed manual, there is also a $10 USD shipping charge . Still, I might as well admit that I'm getting more and more drawn to buying this, since I'm burning out on Assassin's Creed Origins

After watching the videos I have to ask, what's different enough to cough up that much money?

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2017 1:46 am After watching the videos I have to ask, what's different enough to cough up that much money?

The product page has more details and of course you can visit their TOAW IV forum.

I broke down and ordered this since I was just going to go round and round about it anyway . I got the boxed version as it will be the first time in years I've gotten a printed manual from Matrix and I figure if there is going to be any game to get it for, it ought to be this one

There are new blood coming to TOAWIV but I think the battlefield timestamp stuff is foxing them.. (and me too) so I'm trying to divine the simplest explanation...

spelk wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2017 7:00 pm There are new blood coming to TOAWIV but I think the battlefield timestamp stuff is foxing them.. (and me too) so I'm trying to divine the simplest explanation...

Did you check out the tutorial videos?

So I've been playing Tannenberg 1914 which is one of the "tutorial" scenarios. I normally don't play on the computer with my reading glasses but after a couple of hours last night I was having trouble. Thankfully today I found a mod already posted over on the Matrix forums which alters all the font settings (which of course I could have done each one manually) and it is much, much easier to read all that text and all those numbers.

I last played TOAW III about eight years ago, but after a couple of hours I was getting back in the swing of things. As someone in the forums noted, this version is easier to play because there are so many reports and pop-ups and right-click context menus that you really have a better idea of what the hell is going on.

Since I had to wait a couple of hours for my wife at the dentist today I brought along my printed out manual and gave it a good looking over. There is a lot of information there and it can be daunting, but I've found that just like before, the best thing to do is skim a bit of the manual and then move some pieces around in a game scenario. And I'll read some more and play some more. And the AI (or, more accurately, the Programmed Opponent(PO)) is no slouch in the game; it handles tactics pretty decently, not like a really seasoned player, but at least one who is reasonably familiar with the best ways to attack and defend.

So if anyone has questions, post them here and I'll try to give a response.

Been a while since I've done a proper computer wargaming AAR and I've just started my TOAWIV one, with the setup for The Battle of Cambrai 1917 since its on its centenary this week - seemed fitting. No wonder I couldn't get on with TOAWIII very well, I didn't understand the fundamentals of its time based rounds per turn. Hopefully I've got a better grasp on it for this one!

http://sugarfreegamer.com/toawiv-the-ba ... 917-setup/

I liked playing the Cuba 62 scenario to get myself reacquainted with the game. It has amphibious landings, airborne drops naval support and it's all on a small landmass so you don't have tons of units to move around.

Although Cambrai was an obvious choice given the timing, its a tricky scenario to play out, there are so many 8 and 9 unit stacks that just don't move very far. So keeping track of units and their associated formations is a bit of a Formation/Composition dialogue box dance. I know you can switch the unit panel to display hex Composition of up to the 9 stacked units, but its so tiny, and you lose the status information, unless you keep selecting another unit and toggling the setting.

Probably too small and dense a scenario.. I should have realised, I was just overjoyed to be doing Cambrai as my learning one.

Managed to get Turn 1 written up
http://sugarfreegamer.com/toawiv-the-ba ... 17-turn-1/

spelk wrote: ↑Mon Nov 27, 2017 8:42 am Managed to get Turn 1 written up
http://sugarfreegamer.com/toawiv-the-ba ... 17-turn-1/

Wow, that's quite a nice couple of articles you have done there! Very well presented. If you haven't already, you ought to post links to them over on the Matrix TOAW IV forum, folks would find them very helpful to understand the game better.

And how are you finding TOAW IV? Getting a better grasp of it than TOAW III? I'm still finding a lot of small things on which I need to do better.

I've installed the game but am waiting for the physical manual to read. I don't do well with on line manuals.

jztemple2 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 27, 2017 11:22 am Wow, that's quite a nice couple of articles you have done there! Very well presented. If you haven't already, you ought to post links to them over on the Matrix TOAW IV forum, folks would find them very helpful to understand the game better.

Thanks for the kind words jztemple2! Appreciated. I have posted the links to them in Matrix TOAWIV AAR forums.

jztemple2 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 27, 2017 11:22 am And how are you finding TOAW IV? Getting a better grasp of it than TOAW III? I'm still finding a lot of small things on which I need to do better.

I'm definitely knee deep in its systems now, so that is a major step forward compared to my attempts to play TOAWIII years back. I'm still not sure I'm au fait with all the important factors when trying to make decisions. There seems a lot to consider before you even move or plan an attack. The UI is much improved on the original, and is better than even the later re-incarnations of TOAWIII, but I'm still finding the box based popup stuff tricky to get to grips with in a fluid natural way. Everything is toggling and opening/closing info, and I think this scenario where every hex is filled chocka block with 9 units and they're all 4 or 5 hexes deep from the front line... finding where your cavalry troops are involves lots of clicking about or the need to open the OOB and start scrolling around.

The time based stuff was what really interested me, but although I get the concept, it's not easy to put it into the decision process. And I found myself rather than trying to think it all through, just wanting to fire up the Combat Planner and get some attacks squeezed into the remaining rounds.

I'm intrigued to see how the 17 turn Cambrai scenario plays out, especially how the German counter-attack is organised within the scenario.. but I'm sort of expecting to be trounced because of my weak knowledge of all the little parts that go together to make the whole. Perhaps I should have tackled something shorter with less units, and more space to move about in.

spelk wrote:Managed to get Turn 1 written up
http://sugarfreegamer.com/toawiv-the-ba ... 17-turn-1/

Did a quick skim on my phone but I think it's something better read on my iPad due to the pics you've included. Very detailed and looking forward to reading it thoroughly.

Turn 2 of Cambrai 1917 is up!

http://sugarfreegamer.com/toawiv-the-ba ... 17-turn-2/

Not part 3 of my TOAWIV AAR, but... A bit of a giveaway... if any of our OO Wargamers are interested...

The computer wargaming sub-reddit I run/moderate has hit 2000+ subscribers, Matrix Games have kindly ventured into a celebratory event offering a chance to win a $50 voucher for their store.

If you have a reddit account, sub up and post a reply to this



And your name will go into the list. The random winner from the list will be announced/notified after the deadline Friday 26th January @7pm GMT

Even if you're not a fan of reddit, it's a chance to get your hands on a wargame of your choice for free..

Finally got my hard copy in, after it was delivered some where else. What a great manual. Hardcover and very professional.
Now I've ran out of excuses and I'll have to read it.