Tips and Tricks

Karri

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Copied this form matrix games.

HOTKEYS
I'll start with hotkeys, they are there but one either forgets them after reading the manual, or doesn't read the manual at all(or the readme's that come with updates).

Anyways, here's a few very useful ones I use constantly:

A - brings up the Air Unit Report. Really useful when setting up a million bridge attacks. Or changing bombers to interdiction, etc etc.

C - Place the mouse over a stack and press c, brings up the Group Composition view. Very useful when checking those enemy stacks, no need to click through them.

Also, if you have say 3 bomber units on an airfield and decide to use all of them to attack some separate targets, all you need to do is select one of the units, go to the target, set up the attack and then press C. This brings up the group composition in the airfield hex and you can just choose another air unit. Saves a lot fo 'sweat and time' if you are for example attacking 3 bridges that are close to each other.

U - Shows unit report. Faster than right clicking.

F - Shows formation report. Again faster than right clicking. I usually use this to check where the other untis of that formation are. For example if I have a division and on the regiment reconstruct I press F, choose one of the other units and voila there they are, now I now where to move the reconstructed unit.

. - yeah, the dot. A 300x300 map and you have no idea where the units that you embarked on train last turn are now? No problem, press the dot. It will take you to the embarked units. Press it again and the unit disembarks.

D - Personally, I don't use this. It digs in the unit and then moves to the next one...if only it wouldn't move to the next unit it would save a lot of time.

I - toggles counters on/off as well as showing the air and artillery unit ranges. I use it mainly to toggle counters off so I can what the terrain/tailines/bridges look like. Or avoid the range circles altogether by right-clicking on the Unit Icon button - it cycles through the button in reverse order - clears the units, then left-clicking brings them back, without ever seeing a circle.

Artillery&Tactical reserve:
It doesn't really matter whetever the artillery unit is dug in(defending, entreched, fortified) mode ir in tactical reserve mode when defending, it will still support all battles within range. And unlike normal units it won't move to the battle itself when in Tactical Reserve.

However when attacking the artillery is best placed on tactical reserve which means that it will again support all combats in range. This is rather useful when the HQ has expended all it's movement points and you can't use it in 'direct attack'. This way you can move it up as the battle progresses and not waste combat rounds, or attack without artillery support.


Armor on the defence:
One excellent trick for armor on the defence is to use it as a turn burner. Set your armored unit behind the hex you think will be attacked on Tactical Reserve. This naturally means that when the enemy attacks the hex, the armor will join the battle and hopefully burn the enemy turn.
This is even more likely if a strong enemy infantry unit attacks on ignore losses. The infantry unit canno't inflict enough losses to beat the armor nor does it suffer enough losses to break off the attack.

Defence in depth:
When you defend you naturally want to have a line the enemy canno't break through. This can only be achieved by defence in depth. This means that you want to have at least 2 hex deep line. The 2nd line doesn't need to have an unit in every hex, you simply need to position the units in such a way that there isn't a single hex not covered by your Zone of Contol.
 

Heldenkaiser

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Defence in depth:
When you defend you naturally want to have a line the enemy canno't break through. This can only be achieved by defence in depth. This means that you want to have at least 2 hex deep line. The 2nd line doesn't need to have an unit in every hex, you simply need to position the units in such a way that there isn't a single hex not covered by your Zone of Contol.
If the enemy has high recon and your second line units low recon, he may slip through though. If I use units this way, I try to make sure they're high recon--scout cars &c. :)
 

Karri

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If the enemy has high recon and your second line units low recon, he may slip through though. If I use units this way, I try to make sure they're high recon--scout cars &c. :)
Well, the purpose is to prevent encirclement, and slow down the breathrough. A single unit, or a few untis slipping through is not catastrophical. And of course, if possible it is best to have a complete second line, this however is not possible always.
 

Mantis

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Great thread idea Karri. I believe ER Chaser compiled a FAQ very similar to this sometime back that would be quite relevant. JL, any idea where this can be located these days?
 

Silvanski

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I didn't mean RD is defunkt.. very much alive and kicking

those articles used to be on other sites which are no longer accessible
 

Silvanski

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I'm thinking about compiling all old articles, maybe sort them by subject and convert them to PDF ... and then either available in the downloads section or upon request
 

L`zard

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Sil,

The only reason there isn't a thread with all this goodness, is that there may be some copywright issues.......I was waiting for Wyatt to clarify this.

You'll note the 'sticky' "TOAW FAQ/Resources ", eh? And that it's locked?

Go head on, bro! I'll just dump my stuff under your leader thread, LOL! I've got a bunch of files (that because they were for my own use only)are lacking accreditation to authors, eh?

I'll just put in a request that the authors post thier names against the quoted matierial, AND AWAY WE GO!

They can't stop 'a free press', eh? "All Power to the People"!!!!

"To the barricades.....!!!"

:clown::clown::clown:
 
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Veers

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Unlocked. Post away, I will try to edit what is posted in a uniform manner and add it to the first post as time goes by.

Don't worry about copyright, unless expressely requested in the document you have or that you want to link to. If someone finds that we have their stuff up there and they don't want us to, they will let us know.
 

Veers

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Damnit, I said, post away, not spam me!! :laugh:
Honestly, though, giving it to me only guarentees it not seeing the light anytime soon. Feel free to post it into the FAQ/Resources Thread. I will clean up that thread as we go along.
 

L`zard

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Something every NuB should know:

Command Line Switches (original article applies to Cow 1.04, but seem to work in ToaW III)


TOAW has a number of hidden features that can only be turned on by use of the command line. Most are only useful for scenario designers. Two: polog and toawlog, can be useful to players who might wish to "look under the hood" after a gaming session. The po_log.txt and toaw_log.txt files can be examined using any text editor that can load large files. It is not uncommon for the log files to exceed 10 MB in size.

To insert a command line parameter into a shortcut used to launch TOAW you will need to right click on the shortcut (details vary slightly depending upon which version of Windows you are using and how you have your shortcuts set up) and select "properties".

In the "target" field, enter a space after "exe", followed by the command line switch you wish to use. Separate multiple switches by a space. If the target field appears within quotes, place your command line switch outside the quotes.


nodelay – Useful for debugging scenarios in computer vs. computer play mode, this option turns off many of the small timer controlled delays and animations in the game. The effect is most noticeable on faster machines. ( advised for play, really speeds up group movement animations, especially by rail!)

noupdate - Useful for debugging scenarios in computer vs. computer play mode, this option turns off many of the screen updates in the game. The effect is most noticeable on slower machines. This option should not be used when playing the game, as some of the updates are necessary for normal play purposes. A combination of nodelay and noupdate can speed computer vs. computer scenario test dramatically.


nosound – Turn off all sound.

norandom – Turns off system time based initialization of the random number generator used in TOAW.

polog – Turns on the programmed opponent logging feature. This will generate a po_log.txt file in your game directory. The log file is a detailed record of programmed opponent decision making during a game.


toawlog – Turns on the general game logging feature. This will generate a toaw_log.txt file in your game directory(usually in 'saves'). The log file is a detailed record of many game management functions, including loading and unloading of resources and combat resolution. (you must copy to another txt file each time, as toawlog is replaced with every end-turn)

nointro – Turns the introductory cinematic off. ( This is almost a mandatory add!)

uberdude – Increases the amount of feedback from the event engine and other game functions for debug purposes. Many event engine actions that leave no trace in normal mode will fully document themselves in the news report if you use the uberdude switch. This can be used during normal play, but is really intended for scenario designer use. It has a tendency to clutter the news report and certain graphics areas with information that isn’t needed during normal play.

******

An example: right click the toaw 'launch' icon...hit 'properties' = "C:\Matrix Games\The Operational Art of War III\Opart 3.exe" (the named short-cut)...followed by a 'space' add: -nosound -nointro -nodelay -uberdude -toawlog

YMMV, lol!

******
For those playing against the PO (Elmer), remember this from the 'what's new' file:

"The Caps Lock key will toggle between fast and regular speeds in the resolution of Elmer’s moves. The Shift key will speed up his resolution while depressed. The Spacebar will pause his resolution wile depressed."

Hope this helps.......



 
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Silvanski

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In the "target" field, enter a space after "exe", followed by the command line switch you wish to use. Separate multiple switches by a space. If the target field appears within quotes, place your command line switch inside the quotes.

outside the quotes for XP users aye
 

L`zard

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In the "target" field, enter a space after "exe", followed by the command line switch you wish to use. Separate multiple switches by a space. If the target field appears within quotes, place your command line switch inside the quotes.

outside the quotes for XP users aye
Yeppers, my bad!

At least that works for me, eh?

:OHNO:

Just more proof that Silvanski doesn't sleep.........!
 
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Silvanski

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no problem, I thought I had it wrong till I went to check it ;-)
 
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