The Operational Art of War III receives a final update… and a sequel!

[Daniele]

First published in 1998, this legendary series of operational wargames has seen six releases, including the latest Operational Art of War III, released to the wargaming audience in 2006. Now, as we conclude The Operational Art of War III, we are also taking a new step to continue the series into the future. Publisher Matrix Games and the TOAW Development Team have been working behind the scenes for nearly two years to take this landmark brand to new heights.

First, a long-promised update… with development for The Operational Art of War once again in full swing, many months of development both past and present have allowed us to complete the final update for The Operational Art of War III, version 3.4.1.9! This update allows us to bring the TOAW community a parting gift for TOAW III, including a feature enhancement, quite a few bug fixes and new and revised scenarios, while also laying the groundwork for a new release, The Operational Art of War IV.

The Operational Art of War IV started as an update intended to be TOAW III version 3.5, but when we were able to re-start full development on the series, it allowed us to do much more in the way of significant improvements than we had originally considered and it kept growing until it became a full release plan. As a result, we’ve invested the time and resources to continue the series while also continuing support for TOAW III and the TOAW community in the form of this update. As many bug fixes as possible, basically anything that was not too tightly intertwined with new features and code, were removed from the Operational Art of War IV process and are included in this 3.4.1.9 release.

The Operational Art of War IV is scheduled to release late this year and includes a complete graphics and interface overhaul, major new gameplay and design features such as full naval combat modelling, improved supply handling, numerous increases to scenario parameters to better support large scenarios, and integrated PBEM++. It also includes tweaks and improvements to the underlying mechanics based upon player feedback that are sure to bring TOAW’s proven gameplay to a new level. The many improvements in Operational Art of War IV are also aimed at growing the community by making TOAW more accessible for a new generation of wargamers.

The Operational Art of War IV will fully support modern computer hardware and operating systems. This will make it more user-friendly and able to scale to higher resolutions, especially in terms of font and button size. It reorganizes and adds functionality to many very useful screens and dialogs to make them more informative and easier to use. Once released, TOAW IV will continue to be supported for some time, hopefully leading to many more updates and improvements. TOAW IV will be the new base point for the TOAW series and future updates will be based on this new release.

For a complete list of changes for the 3.4.1.9 update, check here

You can download the patch here

Get more information about TOAW III from its official product page.

[zakblood]

looking forward to IV

[tex_ka95]

This announcement totally made my day! My year! TOAW is in my top 5 of all time favorite wargames!

[Bison36]

Holy shmoley!

[vvidas]

Can't wait. My first pc wargame and one of my favorites that opened the whole world of wargaming.

[danlongman]

Oh you made me happy. This is something I have waited for.
I hope to live to see it on this here monitor. My cat Pip
was also waiting for this announcement but a couple of years
back he passed away in a freak Slip'N'Slide accident. I would
like to think that somehow, somewhere he knows about this event.

[redkraken]

Wow, that's great news (on both versions)! This is a game I've been wanting to see upgraded for years. Definitely on my "must buy" list.

[shunwick]

Wazzappinin Dudes?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfGDvDGE7zk

Best wishes,
Steve

[derwho]

Wow, this is big news.

[modrow]

ORIGINAL: drwho

Wow, this is big news.

+1. Great idea, great project! Thank you !!!

[Toby42]

I had the original when it first came out. I was thinking about picking up III, but now I'll wait until IV comes out!

[lecrop]

Great news!

[TigerTC]

Great news!

[Emx77]

Will there be any changes regarding hex scale for TOAW IV? Smallest possible hex size is now set to 2,5 km. I would like to see 0,5 km or at least 1 km for TOAW IV?

[Rokossovskiy]

Half kilometer would not work I think. You would need line of sight and this game has none. Probly the same for 1 km. At 1.5 km you would be pushing LOS. At 2 km you would be ok without. At least that's how it seems for WW1 and WW2. Modern LOS could be in effect out to a handful of km with all the imaging stuff and internal fueled ordinance.

[Silvanski]

Most excellent! I used to be on the TOAW III test team. I may return

[mike1984]

This is incredible news.

[Falcon1]

ORIGINAL: Emir Agic

Will there be any changes regarding hex scale for TOAW IV? Smallest possible hex size is now set to 2,5 km. I would like to see 0,5 km or at least 1 km for TOAW IV?

Well, according to the manual, "operational" level means just beyond the scale where the different ranges of direct fire weapons are significant. Since tiger tanks were known to toast T-34s at a range of 2000 meters, I would say 0.5km is way too small of a scale for this type of game.

[Freyr Oakenshield]

Could someone explain - what is this "PBEM plus plus" thing? How is it different from ordinary PBEM?

[lecrop]

ORIGINAL: Freyr Oakenshield

Could someone explain - what is this "PBEM plus plus" thing? How is it different from ordinary PBEM?

Is the Slitherine's server based PBEM system, more info here