A primer for players new to the classical boardgame style of war games and TOAW IV in particular. Readers should download the TOAW IV manual to get the best from this tutorial series. The best source of TOAW IV tutorials and discussion is the forum at Slitherine.

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Click here for the Slitherine TOAW IV tutorial

Unit counters are the principal source of information about unit characteristics. The image below is from the Arracourt 44 scenario.
Green counters denote US units and grey German.



7.12 Standard Unit Icons, p. 31
Type. The symbol in the centre of the counter denotes its type. These are discussed on p. 96 of the manual. The counter above is an Engineer unit.
Health. The health of the unit is displayed in the upper right corner. Green denotes 86-100%. See 7.11.2 Advanced Rules.
Size. The size symbol is located at centre top of the counter. A single bar indicates the unit is a Company. p. 32
Orders Emphasis. At the left of the unit type are black dots that indicate the unit’s loss tolerance/order emphasis. The range being: one dot – Minimize Loss, three dots – Ignore Losses. The Engineer unit is set to two dots – Limit Losses. See 8.2.10 Unit Loss Tolerance Orders
Deployment Orders. At the right of the unit type a letter maybe displayed. This indicates the unit’s deployment order. L indicates the unit is in Local Reserve status. See 8.2.8 Unit Deployment Orders.
Combat Factors. The default Combat factors are: left – Attack: Anit-Personnel; and right – Defence. So, for the engineer unit: Attack 11 and Defence 16. There can be six levels of factors to view via the “M” key. See 3.3.4.3 Counter Display Editor and 7.13.2 Additional Unit Numbers options.



Stacking, p. 48; 13.10 Target Density, p. 86
Up to nine units of all types may occupy a location/hex. In general play it is best to limit stacking to three units of each type (Land/Sea/Air) per hex. Densely packed hexes will likely suffer supply reduction due to transport congestion and increased risk of loss if attacked.


Note the yellow and green dots next to the unit counters in the image above. The dots indicate target density. A yellow dot indicates excessive target density and combat losses will be multiplied by 1.4 to 1.7. See p. 86.

HQ and Artillery
It is always a good idea to keep track of where your HQ and artillery units are. Press "H" once to bring all HQ to the top of their stacks, a second press will bring the artillery units to the top.

Centering Map on a Unit
Select a unit [LMB], then numpad 5, to centre the map view on the selected unit.

To view more information about a unit either right mouse button [RMB] a counter and select Show Unit Report or [LMB] a unit then use the shortcut "U".


The Unit Report above is for the US Army Combat Command A Support, 94th Artillery Battery (Battalion level). This unit has a range of 7 hexes. Note that the range can be extended to 150% of its base value. Barrages over the designated range, in this example 7, are executed at 50% effectiveness, p.41. Units that do not have a range factor displayed can only attack adjacent enemy units.

Note that Deployment and Orders Emphasis, discussed previously, are displayed in the Unit Report and can be changed in this view.

Select a constituent unit for its characteristics.


The 12/12 M12 HMC SP Gun gives the 94th Artillery Bty its capability to fire 7 hexes (15 km). The bombardment range of a unit can be displayed on the map by using the "I" key. DBR is detailed in 7.14 Displayed Bombardment Range (DBR), p. 33.

Unit Panel
By default the Unit Panel appears in the top right of the screen.


In this example, the US Army armoured unit 37th Tank Company has been selected. The left Unit Panel is the default view. Note that this hex has two units in it. To view the units in the stack (also known as Group Composition), [RMB] on the Unit Panel. The panel to the right will replace the default view.

When the Unit Panel is in Group Composition mode, mousing over other stacks on the map will reveal their composition in this panel. Group Composition of a stack can also be viewed by [LMB] a stack, [RMB] then select "Group Composition".

The gold flags indicate these units are from the same formation and will co-operate at 100% - Unit Cooperation p. 48.

Formation Report
[RMB] a unit, then select Show Formation Report or [LMB] unit then select "F" to view.


Note that the 1st Company of the 37th Tank Regiment has divided into three squads. Hence, 1st Squad, 1st Company, 37th Tank Regiment - 1st/1/37 Tank. Division of this type can be elected by the player or caused by combat results.

2nd Company, 37th Tank will appear on turn 2.

Formations are discussed in 8.6, p 47.

Movement allowance is shown in the Unit Report and Formation Report. The cost to enter terrain is based on the unit's movement characteristics (foot, horse, motorised, etc) and the equipment assigned to it, see 8.4.1 Equipment Characteristics and Their Effects, p. 40.

11.9 Land Unit Movement Costs, p. 75
Terrain type and weather effect movement cost. For example, movement along roads vary from 1 to 3, depending on the number of vehicles and horse teams in the location (hex). Mud increases movement costs along unimproved roads by 1.

Hills cost Mixed and Motorised units an additional 2 movement points. Rocky terrain - Foot movement +1, all others +2. See p.76

Some terrain prohibit movement or impose additional costs for entry. For example, Alpine - not allowed, except along a Road or Improved Road; Bocage/Hedgerow - +2.

Enemy Adjacent
Moving adjacent to an enemy unit will incur an additional cost of 12.5-25% of the terrain cost for entering that hex. The cost will vary according to the unit's Reconnaissance Capability. This penalty is doubled if moving from one adjacent hex to another. The cost in this instance is when leaving the adjacent hex.

Terrain is considered to be friendly or enemy controlled. Entering enemy controlled terrain incurs a penalty of up to 10% of the terrain cost. Movement into friendly terrain by enemy units is not automatically visible to the friendly side. Detection of enemy incursion depends on the friendly Theatre Recon Level.

11.9.4 River Movement Costs
Rivers normally add 2 to the cost of entry. Bridges negate this additional cost. Any unit can destroy a bridge. Only bridges with a road/railroad crossing them can be destroyed. Only units with Engineering Capability can build bridges.

River crossing cost is also moderated by the presence of Engineering units with Minor Ferry Capacity at the location.

See 11.9.3 Additional Land Movement Costs

13.12 Environmental Effects on Combat, p. 87
Terrain and environmental conditions have a strong effect on combat. Terrain primarily benefits defending land units.


13.12.1 Defensive Anti-Armour Strengths
Defending units benefit from increased Anti-Armour Strengths in some terrain. Effects are not cummulative, only the strongest modifier is applied. For example,

• Fortified Line Hex or Fortified Deployment: x5
  
• Dense Urban, Mountains, Entrenched: x3.5
  
• Urban, Bocage, Marsh: x2

Similar defense advantages apply in certain terrain for motorised, infantry and static equipment. A table of defense modifiers is available at 13.12.6, p. 88

Sometimes referred to as "Fog of War", the player never knows the location of all enemy units. The amount of information available to the player will vary according to the type and location of reconnaissance assets and local environmental conditions.

Levels of Information
There are three levels of location (hex) visibility:
Unknown The player has no information regarding the presence of enemy units.
Observed The player knows whether enemy units are present or not, but their identity and strength are not.
Spotted The player knows an enemy unit is present and its identity and strength.

Reconnaissance Assets
Units - All units have the ability to detect enemy units. Some have the ability to evaluate unit strength.
Internal Security - Friendly terrain is either Observed or Spotted.
Theatre Reconnaissance - This represents everything from spies to recon aircraft and provide the player with "Observed" level information. The quality of information depends on environmental conditions. Theatre Reconnaissance is more likely to observe locations with Roads, Anchorages, Airbases or large concentrations of Motorised equipment. It is less likely to observe units in Hills, Badlands, Mountains, Dense Urban, Light Woods, Jungle or Forest terrain.

Visibility Updates
Generally, units can only "observe" into adjacent locations. Mountain peaks allow units to observe up to 40 km and this is reported immediately a unit occupies the location. Visibility from mountain peaks will deteriorate during night turns.

A unit on an escarpment is more likely to spot a unit lower than itself and is less likely to be spotted itself from units lower down.


The HQ unit in the image above is going to move along the road then into the cropland. Note the Tooltip - it costs one movement point (MP) to move along the road and 2 MP to move into the cropland for a total of 3 MP. The cropland has Spotted status, ie, we know no enemy unit is located in it. SP 18% = Supply factor is 18%.

13.12.9 Environmental Visibility
Environmental visibility affects Air Units. The ratings are:
Fair - no clouds
Hazy - 100% for "all weather" equipment, 66% otherwise. Hazy locations that have flat clouds in them.
Overcast - 66% for "all weather" equipment, 33% otherwise. Hazy locations that have puffy clouds in them.

Night and Day - AM 100%, PM 66% for "all weather" equipment, 33% otherwise.

The long term effectiveness of air units is inversely proportional to their apparent visibility over the battlefield.

The goal of part 1 has been to introduce the reader to unit counters, unit reports and terrain. While unit counters may not be as glamorous as icons of tanks, infantry etc they provide the player with a host of information at a glance that icons do not. The factors discussed to date will be found in any classical style board wargame, e.g., Gary Grigsby Games, John Tiller Software, Paradox games, etc. The format may vary but once you understand the value of counters it is difficult to compromise with mere icons.

Part 2 will be dedicated to combat

Part 3 will discuss the all-important issue of Supply.

This guide primarily discusses land based operations. The goal is to provide a grounding in the important aspects of classical board wargaming and a relatively quick introduction to the TOAW IV manual.

Attack is conducted by moving a friendly unit into an enemy occupied location. You may initiate as many attacks as you desire.

Simple Attack


The German Battalion has been selected [LMB] - note yellow disk - and the mouse hovered over the British Commando Company. The tooltip provides information on the terrain the British unit occupies and provides the option - "right click to order assault".

After [RMB] the British unit an orange arrow appears in the German unit to indicate it has been ordered to attack that location. [RMB] the attacking German unit to invoke the unit menu. Here you can set the Order Emphasis, whether it is a Single Unit attack or the entire stack (Group) will participate or even Abort the attack altogether.

16.4 The Attack Planner
However, when first playing the game it would be advisable to use the Attack Planner.


Double [LMB] an adjacent enemy unit to invoke the Attack Planner (AtkP). Select eligible units [LMB] that can participate in the attack. [LMB] again to deselect. The AtkP provides a probable result of the attack. The AtkP can be invoked by the shortcut key "P". Order Emphasis can be set in this menu by [RMB] on a unit icon. Note that supporting artillery, air and naval units can be included in the attack via the Support panel.

13.20 Assault Ratio (AR)
Note the Assault Ratio (AR) in the battle prediction. The AR tests the eligibility of artillery to participate in the battle, bonus and rates of expenditure. The AR is the Attacker Assault Strength (AAS) divided by the Defender Defense Strength (DDS) multiplied by 100.

The AAS includes:

• direct ground attack factors, no support, i.e., artillery, air, naval.
  
• only includes active equipment of the attacker,
  
• of that equipment, it totals the AP and AT versus the DDS.

If the defender is all armoured equipment, only the attackers AT factors are totalled. If the defender is mixed armour and soft equipment, the attacker AT and AP factors are divided as per the defender ratio. Table from p. 91.


If the AAR is less than 100 there is a chance that the attack will be reduced from full to partial. Note for partial attacks the defender does not have to expend 10 supply points.

10.5.2 Retreat Before Combat (RBC)
An RBC check is undertaken if there is a large difference between the Attack and Defence Strength. A Flanking Check is made, which is based on the quantity of "active defender" equipment of the combatants versus the map scale. If the defender does not have enough equipment to defend its frontage there is a chance that the attacker will turn the flank of the defender.

There are two types of RBC. If the defender fail a Quality Check, they will simply retreat. Depending of their Loss Tolerance Orders, units passing the Quality Check may still RBC to avoid likely destruction. This is more likely if the unit has the Minimise Losses order. Units retreating with these orders are treated more favourably than others.

A unit with Ignore Losses is less likely to retreat.

The attacker may want to avoid giving the defender the chance to RBC, aiming for total destruction of the enemy. In this case the attacker should use the Combat Planner rather than SImple Attack.

Each turn is divided into ten Tactical Rounds (TR). Individual battles are resolved in a series of TR (tenths). Essentially, the TR take into consideration time expended to complete various tasks, i.e., movement, combat. For example, a unit has 18 movement points. It spends 6 MP getting adjacent to an enemy unit and then attacks. The battle may start at TR 3 of 10 to take into consideration the time it took to get into position.

Battles are resolved in the following order:

• Local Bombardment,
  
• Anti-Armour, then
  
• Anti-Personnel combat.

During Local Bombardment:

• Supporting units fire their Bombardment strengths,
  
• Air units are subject to interception and anti-aircraft fire.

Anti-Armour - Friendly anti-armour units fire on enemy armoured units.
Anti-Personnel - Friendly anti-Personnel fires engage enemy units.

Retreat from Combat
After each Combat round, all involved units check for disengagement. The chance to disengage depends on:

• losses,
  
• Order emphasis,
  
• coordination difficulty,
  
• duration of the individual attack.

Attacking units that disengage cease attacking.
Defending units attempt to retreat.

Supply and readiness levels are reduced after each round of the battle.

If after disengagement units remain, an Assault Strength Ratio will be calculated for the next TR. Combat and terrain modifiers are also included in the calculation.

Reserve Units
After the disengagement check, any defending Reserve units that can respond will move toward or into the defender's location. It is possible that these units arrive as other defenders are retreating.

Battles continue until all units of one side have disengaged, but not beyond TR 10. Battles tend to last longer if one of both sides have Ignore Losses Order Emphasis.

Managing Time (Tactical Rounds)
At the bottom of the screen is the Information Panel. Hover the mouse over the Progress Pane to see the percentage of the Turn Used and Planned Attack percentages in the Information Panel. For example, Turn Used (20%) and Planned Combats (40%) means that the previous series of battles left 20% of the turn remaining, and at least one planned battle will begin on TR 4.

Units need supply to operate effetively. As units move and fight they expend supplies on hand, these mus be replaced. Replacement supplies flow through lines of communication from the force stockpile, through Formations, to individual units.

Lines of Communication
A Line of Communication (LOC) is a path from one location to another. LOC are blocked by enemy units, locations adjacent to the enemy and not occupied by friendly units, or terrain that is not passable by land units. A unit without a LOC is marked as unsupplied.

Unit readiness is limited to no more than the Unit's Supply Level or minimum Readiness (33%), whichever is higher.

9.1.71 Overextended Supply State
Between "Supplied" and "Unsupplied" state is "Overextended". This prevents units from "pressing on" when they are in the red supplied state. Units in this state face the issue of weakening through desertion. This rule only applies to those scenarios where the designer has employed this feature.
Overextended hexes have a different supply font colour.

Unit Supply
A unit's supply level strongly affects its Capabilities. When necessary units draw new supplies from their Force Supply Stockpile, through their Formation supply system.

Desertions
Unsupplied units with very low Supply and Readiness are subject to Desertion effects. Deserting troops and equipment are lost forever. Desertion starts when the unit supply level drops below (100-unit proficiency).

The level of supply possible for a unit increases by 50% if a cooperative HQ unit is located with or adjacent to a unit.