Software needed?

[autir]

Hello all.

I am seriously thinking of getting involved in TOAW. I would like to know exactly what I should download/purchase in order to be 100% ready. In other words, which are the versions of the game and which ones are played the most?

After playing with Google a little bit, I found out the following titles:
1) Operational Art of War, Volume One (plus additional BattlePack)
2) Operational Art of War, Volume Two (plus additional BattlePack)
3) Operational Art of War, Wargame of the Year Edition (*1)
4) Operational Art of War, Century Of Warfare (*2)

(*1) I assume that this is what you call TOAW-WOTY
(*2) I assume that this is what you call TOAW-COW/ACOW

I) Are these all versions/expansions of the game? Is there anything more?
II) Which ones share the same engine and differ only in scenarios? What are the "inside" differences between each?
III) What must I purchase in order to play with ppl here in WarfareHQ without problems?

Thank you very much.

P.S.: IMHO it would not matter creating a sticky post/announcement in order to keep new gamers informed.

[Alexander Seil]

TOAW I - the original game, covering 1939-1955 period
TOAW II - a stand-alone "sequel", covering the 1956-2000 period and incorporating some new features
WOTY - TOAW I updated with sequel's features

COW - the definitive compilation. Both TOAW I and TOAW II completely integrated, plus additional WWI scenarios and an expanded database that basically covers the entire 1900-2000 period exhaustively. All you need is the 1.04 patch.

I never owned anything but COW, but to my knowledge, combat resolution model underwent a drastic change in TOAW II. In TOAW I, combat was calculated from cumulative anti-personnel, anti-tank, anti-aircraft and artillery strengths of the units involved. TOAW II introduced a system where interaction between different weapon systems is modelled in detail. This is an excerpt from the online manual -

"Combat resolution in TOAW Volume I was based on cumulative mass fire. This is still true of artillery fire, but anti-tank and anti-personnel fire are now handled at the level of individual weapons firing at individual targets. Each item has a maximum of from one to three shots on any given round:


MAXIMUM RATE OF FIRE, PER ROUND OF COMBAT

EQUIPMENT CHARACTERISTICS ATTACKING DEFENDING


MOTORIZED,LONG RANGE,HELICOPTER 3 shots 3 shots
STATIC OR FIXED 1 shots 2 shots
EVERYTHING ELSE 2 shots 3 shots

Individual weapons try to engage appropriate targets. There is some randomization, but the toughest targets will tend to draw fire from the most lethal enemy systems.
Note that this has numerous side effects. Among them: Large towed anti-tank weapons are now much less effective on the attack than before. AFV's are relatively more lethal than before. Losses to very large forces attacking very small forces will be smaller than under the original TOAW I system.

The actual number of shots fired by engaged units is dependent upon relative overall engaged strength in each individual combat, but will not exceed the theoretical maximum sum expected for all weapons based on the table above. All shots actually fired by anti-personnel weapons are assumed to be lethal. In most cases this will give results very similar to those expected in the original version of TOAW I. Anti-armor fire is quite different. In order to be lethal, any given anti-armor shot must first hit the target (see targeting below). Each hit must then be able to defeat the armor protection of the target equipment. Each armored target has one strength vs. HEAT weapons and another vs. kinetic weapons (also includes top-attack weapons), although the two values are identical for almost all TOAW I period armored vehicles. See the Equipment database for effective armor values."

I am also pretty sure that airmobile (heliborne) operations were introduced in TOAW II (I see no reason for them to have existed in TOAW I, given the time span covered).

[JAMiAM]

#4, is the best choice. It is the most recent version and the one that most newer scenarios are being created under.

[CyberRanger]

A Century of Warfare is what you want. Buy it here (http://store.yahoo.com/take2store/centuryofwarfare-pc.html) or you can sometimes find copies on E-Bay.

[autir]

A Century of Warfare is what you want. Buy it here (http://store.yahoo.com/take2store/centuryofwarfare-pc.html) or you can sometimes find copies on E-Bay.

In the link you provided TOAW-COW is described as a collection of both older versions (1 & 2) plus all previous scenario packs. Isn't COW a single, standalone game?

[JAMiAM]

In the link you provided TOAW-COW is described as a collection of both older versions (1 & 2) plus all previous scenario packs. Isn't COW a single, standalone game?
It is both. It is the evolutionary refinement of the TOAW system, incorporating the scenarios previously released on the earlier versions, updated to the latest release of the game engine.