The OCS is definitely one of those games that separates superb players from others. This article will look at a few skills master players use when confronted by this system-skills you can use in any OCS game.

The Flip-Flop

A "flip-flop" can kill an unaware player. A flip-flop occurs when the turn sequence initiative rolls allow one or the other player to move twice. Novice OCS players can be fooled into thinking that a flip-flop spells doom and "He who moves first, wins." This is not so. The skilled OCS player is more aware than the beginner that flip-flops happen and is more prepared to "weather the storm" or take advantage of unforeseen opportunity.

It is important to remember that a flip-flop for one player automatically sets the stage for the enemy to return the favor. Let's say you moved second last turn. You win initiative this turn and determine to go first. By going first you will get to move twice in a row; however. you set your opponent up for a 50% chance of doing it to you (with glee, I might add) in the next turn. A weak OCS player might hope to get initiative on that turn, also, but that only sets up an endless spiral of required initiative tests which he must pass. A skilled player will pass on initiative (unless prepared to deliver a knock-out blow) and go second in the turn to set himself up for a flip-flop next time; unless conditions are right, the skilled player will keep his opponent on the edge of a flip-flop. Even if the skilled player loses initiative, he still is in good shape as he guaranteed there will be no flip-flop against him. If the enemy forces him to take two moves in a row, it will only take a skilled player a turn or two to return things to the way he likes them. Played properly, this system can minimize the number of negative flip-flops in a game while leaving the threat of a flip-flop hanging over the enemy's head. If the enemy is inexperienced, he will further his demise by demanding to move first whenever he wins initiative.

To ride out a flip-flop, the player must keep adequate reserves and maintain forward dumps to deal with any threats that might emerge in the double move. The key is to avoid panic. Inexperienced players usually blanch at the thought of a double move and you can frequently induce them to throw in the towel if one happens. Again, the double-moving side will do some damage during their two moves, but a skilled player will insure the damage is not catastrophic and he can absorb it without losing the game. Remember, you can pay the other guy back with a flip-flop of your own in the next turn and make him atone for his sins. Wait it out and crush his overextended forces.

Flip-flops happen to both players-be ready for them, ride them out, and never convince yourself that all is lost. Use them to your advantage and do what you can to mitigate the benefits they give to the enemy.

Praying for a Flip-Flop

We have all had to do it, and about 50% of the time they come through. Envision this situation. You are the second moving player and you tried to accomplish too much. Now you are praying for a flip-flop to pull yourself out of the lion's mouth. Poor players tend to count on flip-flops to save themselves. You do not want to be in that position. It is OK to set yourself up to take advantage of a potential flip-flop, but avoid needing initiative to save yourself.

Initiative Dilemmas

All the above leads to the basic question of whether a player should choose to go first or not. While no iron-clad rule of thumb exists, I contend that unless you need to address matters of critical importance and game victory rides on the balance, it is best to make the enemy go first. De-fusing the flip-flop is always a good idea.

Some players have pleaded the case for an initiative system affecting the die roll that determines who goes first. This usually involves attack counting, or something similar, that claims to show which side has the "initiative" and therefore the right to move first or second on demand. Such systems are unnecessary. The players all know who is reacting to whom and who is calling the shots; there is no need to interject an abstract game mechanic to represent this. This system shows initiative the way it happens in real life-one side is making things happen, the other is reacting to them. Also, the ups and downs (especially the unexpectedness) of flip-flops separate the best players from the average ones-the pro is more able to ride out the bad and take advantage of the good. Otherwise, I see a system that awards initiative to the player who punches the right buttons and then uses it as a crutch to compensate for shallow play. No thanks-such gimmicks are for weak game systems.

Supply

A flip-flop or some small mistake can cause the inexperienced player to watch his armies evaporate due to attrition when momentarily cut off. This causes many a player to quit. It need not happen and is generally easy to avoid. First, try to ensure that all organic trucks are always loaded and with their divisions. If they have been emptied for some reason, position these trucks where they can load and run to their division should things go sour. The provisioned organic trucks will allow their divisions that little bit of fuel and ammo they might need to cut their way out of some skimpy One-turn Gambit pocket. Avoid using internal stocks-addiction to internals is much like excessive use of credit cards: the pay back period can be awful. At the usual 2:1 exchange rate, real supplies are more cost effective than internals and excessive use of internals can ruin your supply situation.

The next step in preparing for the worst is to establish forward dumps. These dumps should have about 3 or 4 SPs and be in various far forward locations. The danger of "emergency dumps" is that you may later face a situation in which they inhibit rapid movement because of reluctance to destroy SPs (let alone give them to the enemy). In a world of excess, I would advocate loading the emergency dumps on trucks-but no one has that kind of truck force to spare. It takes some care and planning to balance the needs of emergency dumps, their locations and defense, and the limited resources available to your side. Skill at these assessments separates a poor player from an expert. It is a feel that you can only develop over time; there are no fixed rules about what works best.

Air Campaigns

Many players ignore air operations or treat them as a secondary issue. Run an air campaign and win it if at all possible. Run air campaigns according to U.S. Grant's art of war: "Get at the enemy as quickly as you can with as much as you can. Hit him as hard and as often as you can and keep moving on." Once engaged in an air campaign, you cannot ease the pressure until you have full dominance of the air. Wherever possible, be the first to strike a blow and keep hitting until you win. Pick your fights carefully; you want to put him, not you, on the slippery downward slope. Generate losses in his fighter force and keep pressure on them until they cannot contend with the superiority you will develop. By the time the enemy realizes that the force ratio has changed decisively, it will be too late.

You can use the Put Up or Shut Up rule to your advantage. Establish a good PU/SU stack during your Movement Phase and announce it at the end of it. If he fights, muster serious strength against him. Once you damage his fighter force, he will begin to decline and run. Next, you want to be able to hammer his air bases in the Exploitation Phase. When doing this, avoid expending your whole force and risking being caught on the ground yourself.

A properly run air campaign begins slowly and speeds to a rapid conclusion. It is layered throughout the turn and consists of up to three strikes per enemy air base per turn. Once you begin, never allow the enemy a rest to regain power. Once you have him on the slope, try to make small strikes against single or double stacks of fighters. If you can catch and hammer a "single" air unit with little risk to yourself, do so. In time, these little attacks will begin to add up as his fighter force finds itself outclassed.

You will know when you begin to strike a real blow in the enemy's air force. At first, he will run instead of fight. Next, he will begin to complain that your air force is too strong (implying that a game imbalance-not your skill-is at work). When you have established air dominance, he will be unable to execute GS missions or confront your CAP stacks.

If you are the Russians, do not think your inferior air force will always be on the receiving end of the above. You have superiority of numbers in your favor. Use them to get advantage when you can. If you can get him on the ground, hit him. If you can jump a small number of fighters with a great number of yours, do it and use what good fighters you have to their best advantage. Isolate and kill the weak links in his air force. And, of course, if you can comer a Ju-87d, kill it. Never think you are out of the running because your air force is inferior quality-there is always something you can do. (Giving up is not an option.)

One-Turn Gambits

Given a player afraid of Flip-flops, with no emergency dumps, and convinced that all is lost, a One-turn Gambit can work. In any other circumstance, it won't. A "One-turn Gambit" is an attempt to win the game in a single turn; since these rarely fulfill the victory conditions, it is really an attempt, in a single turn, to convince the enemy that he cannot win.

Generally, One-turn Gambits take the form of an encirclement; the player hopes to cut a large portion of the enemy army off and kill it while it languishes out of supply. Against prepared players, these plans invariably offer vast numbers of supposedly victorious enemy units as easy kills. The one thing to remember when confronted with one of these plans is to keep a coot head. If you have properly protected your force, some reserves, and decent emergency dumps, you will probably be in a position to dispatch enormous numbers of enemy units. One-turn Gambits aim to make the player throw in the towel-not the player's units. The threat of what a player thinks will happen to his units is enough to cause some players to quit.

Don't.

Look at what he has done. Realign your force to deal with it, then go out and butcher his units. You will feel better in the morning than you will if you quit.

Against the One-turn Gambit of a real pro, there may be no way out. In that case, kill what you can and dig in your heels for a tough fight. Make him earn it-you will be surprised at how hard it will be for him to do it instead of just handing him victory. He may even break off and cut his losses when he sees that you haven't "just quit." Of course, if he is a real pro, he isn't just bluffing-and he will barbecue you. But at least you will die with your boots on!

The Addiction of Action Ratings

There comes a time when each of us tries something that has no reasonable right to work, but does anyway because you have a five rated unit. Both of you see this: you come to the conclusion you can do anything because you have fives-and so does your opponent. You remember those big six column shifts in your favor, and so does the enemy. Some players become accustomed to this and start to expect it-even to the point of being disappointed when it does not work.

Fives develop a life of their own. If you have them, you start thinking they can do anything. If the other guy does, you start thinking they cannot be stopped. In its most advanced form, the guy with the fives makes stupid attacks banking on his surprise rolls to pull them through. The enemy quakes in fear at the thought of attacking a stack with a five in it. Then it happens-and both players find out that fives put their pants on like everyone else: one leg at a time.

Mitigating the waterwalking abilities of fives, like everything else in the system, takes planning, skill, and a cool head. If you have the weaker force, you can do a number of things to help his fives come back to earth. Carefully use your good units so that he bumps into fours at critical instances. Use the hedgehog effects to good advantage and DG a five whenever you can-remember a DG'd five is not a five, it is a four. (That's pretty obvious, but sometimes players forget fives can be defrocked.) Use odds to your advantage. So what if he gets the average shift back (three columns) when you max out the table. Also keep in mind that the guy addicted to fives will rarely, if ever, choose anything else for his action rating unit-that makes a five the first dead every time. That is a fact you can use against him. There just isn't much a five can do to save its skin when you max the combat table; it is DG'd, and he has no way to retreat. That is when killing fives can be fun.

If you have the fives, remember they cannot do it all. They cannot make up for silly attacks on the bottom combat table. Sure, they might get lucky now and again, but do not count on it. Use the five as a bonus, not a requirement. Surprise should be the icing on an attack or defense, not the thing that saves it. Always remember (from both sides of the fence): fives do not work miracles on demand-they just get lucky sometimes!

The Psychology of Losing

You have mastered the ups and downs of Flip-flop shaving them work out to your advantage as much as possible. You have worked the air campaign to its conclusion-and hopefully come out on top. You have learned to deal with (and kill) One-turn Gambits, and you have avoided being seduced by fives. Now, you are well on the way of becoming a master of the OCS-a pro. As I mentioned above, quite a few things happen that can cause the inexperienced player to quit. These are things the pro not only takes in stride but turns to his advantage. There is always something that you can do. Even after the most major disaster, life goes on-you can recoil from the blow and live to return the favor later. Work your force. If you got creamed in your own air campaign, learn to fight without air support. It can be done. Use what you still have to its best advantage, and above all, never quit.

The players who toss it in will never know how much success they could wring from their battered formations. Who gets more respect as a player? The guy with all the advantages, OR the one who pulls off a credible show when everything goes against him. It is the latter case that allows a pro to strut his stuff. Anyone can win with all the advantages, but the master can still dish it out after a catastrophe. As the salty pro knows, there are many ups and downs in the game-the worm will turn in his favor later, and he will be ready for it.

I have had the opportunity to see numerous OCS players in action-some good, some not so good, but I have seen only one complete pro and master of the highest order. I wish to be as good, someday. Maybe, if I pay enough attention, I might learn ... right, Ice?