Misc. Queries from New Player

Norm Koger's The Operational Art of War III is the next game in the award-winning Operational Art of War game series. TOAW3 is updated and enhanced version of the TOAW: Century of Warfare game series. TOAW3 is a turn based game covering operational warfare from 1850-2015. Game scale is from 2.5km to 50km and half day to full week turns. TOAW3 scenarios have been designed by over 70 designers and included over 130 scenarios. TOAW3 comes complete with a full game editor.

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decaro
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Misc. Queries from New Player

Post by decaro »

I've read, re-read and played through most of the tutorials, but I still have some unanswered questions.

Advanced Rules lists New Turn Order and Supply Rules, both of which are switched off.
I know the new turn order has something to do with patrols, but should I turn both of these options "on" as I amusing Advanced Rules?

And what exactly is the PO and what is its relationship with something called "Elmer"?

Rest assured that there will be more questions.
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Numdydar
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RE: Misc. Queries from New Player

Post by Numdydar »

PO is Programed Opponent. I'm not sure about Elmer. Although it could be a reference to Elmer Fudd from Bugs Bunny fame since that is about the level of the AI [:D]
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RE: Misc. Queries from New Player

Post by Curtis Lemay »

ORIGINAL: Joe D.

I've read, re-read and played through most of the tutorials, but I still have some unanswered questions.

Advanced Rules lists New Turn Order and Supply Rules, both of which are switched off.
I know the new turn order has something to do with patrols, but should I turn both of these options "on" as I amusing Advanced Rules?

And what exactly is the PO and what is its relationship with something called "Elmer"?

Rest assured that there will be more questions.

In your main TOAW III folder you will find a "What's New.pdf" file and a "What's New.doc" file. I suggest you open either and read through it. The New Turn Order and New Supply Rules are both additions made during the 3.4 update and are described therein. New Turn Order eliminates a lot of the asymmetry between player-one and player-two's turns. New Supply Rules uses a more rational supply-line model.

Whether you should use them is scenario-dependent. There are some who argue that they should not be used unless the scenario explicitly says to. I think that's too harsh, since few of the vast suite of existing scenarios have been modded post 3.4's release. My policy is that they should usually be used unless the scenario has been identified as malfunctioning under them - and there are some cases of that.

As already stated, PO stands for Programmed Opponent. Elmer is a slang term for him.
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RE: Misc. Queries from New Player

Post by golden delicious »

ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay

As already stated, PO stands for Programmed Opponent. Elmer is a slang term for him.

I always thought of Elmer as the hardcoded tactical AI, and PO as the objectives written for him by the scenario designer.
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RE: Misc. Queries from New Player

Post by decaro »

Do we know what TOAW scenarios don't work under the new player turn and supply rules.
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RE: Misc. Queries from New Player

Post by Curtis Lemay »

ORIGINAL: Joe D.

Do we know what TOAW scenarios don't work under the new player turn and supply rules.

I'm can only remember one: Burma Campaign 1942-1945. The Japanese supply points are under exclusion zones. Old supply traced out of them, but not new supply. So the Japs have no supply under the new rules.

But many scenarios haven't even been looked at under the new rules. But a preliminary tryout should reveal if there are any obvious problems like the above.
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RE: Misc. Queries from New Player

Post by Falcon1 »

Should we assume that scenarios developed before 3.4 (for instance, the classic folder) were not developed with the new rules in mind so we should probably not use the new rules for them? Seems to make sense...
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RE: Misc. Queries from New Player

Post by golden delicious »

ORIGINAL: Falcon1

Should we assume that scenarios developed before 3.4 (for instance, the classic folder) were not developed with the new rules in mind so we should probably not use the new rules for them? Seems to make sense...

The new rules do significantly improve supply distribution in most cases even for scenarios which haven't been designed for it, whilst not really changing balance in normal circumstances.

I'd open up the scenario and play a couple of turns hotseat and see if it goes wrong. If not, you're fine.
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