ADLG V4 Six Years On

Introduction

I’ve been looking forward to writing this post for a while, and this week I finally can: the online database now shows more recorded Art de la Guerre (ADLG) V4 games than V3. Each version has surpassed 20,000 competitive games from events worldwide.

Contents

Having reached this significant landmark, it seems a good time to:

• look at the history of ADLG,
• highlight any differences between V3 & V4,
• revisit the super army debate,
• discus what's happening with V5.

A timeline for ADLG

In what follows "player games" will be used: each game produces two player games, one for each side.

• ADLG V3 was released in English translation in 2014,
• Roll Call 2015 was the first UK recorded ADLG event,
• The last of 41,779 player games of V3 took place in 2020,
• ADLG V4 was released in 2021,
• The first UK event (post-Covid) was held in mid-2021,
• Work on ADLG V5 started in mid-2026,
• V4 overtook V3 on 20 September 2026 with 42,484 player games,

Differences between versions

Looking at the live dashboard for both versions it is clear that:

• The most popular period changed from the Classical period (V3) to the Late Middle Ages (V4).
• The top four periods remained the same, but the order differs significantly between V3 & V4.
• The Classical & Roman periods declined in popularity under V4 (especially the former).
• The Late Middle Ages & Feudal periods gained in popularity under V4.
• The spread in popularity between the top four periods is much reduced under V4 compared to V3.
• Players used fewer armies, more often under V3, or players used a more armies, less often under V4. Take your pick.

The super army debate

I have written about this four times before. The last time was in 2022 when not much data was available for V4. Even so, the emerging pattern looked reassuringly familiar. Four years later the pattern is clearer and it looks like there aren't any super armies under V4 either.

This table below shows the efficacy of armies with over 500 player games. With this volume of games list choices, player skill, and dice luck should even out leaving just the inherent differences (if any) between the lists:

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Given that the standard deviation of efficacy for V4 is 9.62%, none of the above are statistically better than the overall average of 50.00%. However, if I partly close my eyes (and squint a bit) I can just about spot a trend where popular armies with a lot of shooting seem to do ever so slightly better (Nikephorians, Samurai, Ordonnance, Ottomans).

What will ADLG V5 bring?

At the moment this is the big unknown. Details are scarce. The only thing I know is that North Star have said V5 will be released "sometime in 2027".

On the practical side, I'd like a PDF option. The army lists just add bulk to the rulebook and aren't used during play. I'd much prefer to buy a PDF and get the rules section printed and spiral bound (using doxdirect.com or similar). I would print any lists as I needed them at home.

Clearly, there's not a lot wrong with the rules. Going by what happened with V4, I'm sure there'll be a new troop type, or two, along with a few tweaks to the lists. This sort of things seems to refresh players enthusiasm if nothing else.

My heartfelt wish is that they improve the organisation of the rules to help casual, and new, players. The English text lacks clarity in too many places and could use tightening. Plus the current structure has been tinkered with too many times: it's creaking somewhat and could be so much better. There's a need for a proper review not just textual tinkering.

I have written about what I'd like to see in V5.

One marker of success will be how quickly the "but we didn't play it that way under V4" threads are resolved on the ADLG forum. I also hope that the new version will go some way to reducing the circular, and generally unhelpful, arguments so often seen on the ADLG forum. I think the latter is a vain hope, but you never know.

Closing remarks

I haven't played ADLG since last October and I have no immediate plans to resume. I'm enjoying the break more than I thought; which has surprised me somewhat. Even so, I hope V5 will be ready in time for the 2027 King in the North competition and that this will motivate me to enter. Fingers crossed on both counts.