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Software Presents Part 1 of the UMS Docs Thanks once again to DR.J (U.S.A.) THE UNIVERSAL MILITARY SIMULATOR By Rainbird Software FORWARD Originally, the "Universal Military Simulator" was just the working title for a very unusual piece of software. That was about 15,000 lines of computer code ago. Simply put, the program you just purchased will simulate a conflict between any two opposing forces, from history or fantasy, displayed on a three dimensional battlefield that can be viewed from any perspective, while you zoom in on the action, command the smallest unit and change any variable. Of course there's more. The Design Map section will help you create three dimensional maps of anything you wish: battlefields, D & D worlds, castles or maps for reports. If you're out of ideas UMS will even randomly generate maps for you. The Create Army section will allow you to design armies of any description. The Universal Military Simulator comes with 18 pre-defined unit types, from charioteers to armored cavalry. If that isn't enough you can create "wildcard units" with the characteristics you wish. The Create Scenario function will help you put any two armies together on any battlefield. Literally, any two armies. It is possible, for example. to simulate a conflict between Alexander and Napoleon with their respective troops on the fields of Gettysburg. Again, your imagination is the only limitation. UMS also possesses a unique Artificial Intelligence that "perceives" opposing armies as geometric shapes and interconnecting lines of force while individual fighting units are maneuvered as a cohesive army striving towards a common goal. Furthermore the 14 actual variables evaluated by UMS to resolve combat may be viewed by the user after all hostile contacts thereby eliminating "the fog of war" that other wargames hide behind. Over seven years in the making, the Universal Military Simulator is as revolutionary as it is evolutionary. UMS will certainly be the standard that all wargames are measured by for many years to come. CHAPTER I - GETTING STARTED THE MAIN MENU The Universal Military Simulator consists of four sections that help the user create new maps, design armies, create new battle scenarios and run battle simulations. These sections are accessed from the main menu that first appears after running the program. To select a section, position the arrow cursor over the desired box and click the left mouse button once. To terminate the program select QUIT. You will be returned to the GEM desktop. To create new armies, or to edit an army that has been previously saved to disk, select DESIGN ARMY. The Universal Military Simulator contains a powerful three-dimensional typographical design tool that is accessed by selecting DESIGN MAP. This function is not limited to creating battlefields, but may be used to design maps of all kinds including fantasy worlds from role-playing games and computer text adventures. CREATE SCENARIO allows the user to place two armies from any time period together on a field of battle. There are virtually no restrictions and the combinations are nearly infinite. Selecting RUN SIMULATION allows the user to participate as the Universal Military Simulator's Artificial Intelligence routines supervise the conflict. The user may play against the program, against another human opponent, or even influence the computer's decisions while viewing the battlefield in complete 3-D. CHAPTER II - RUNNING A SIMULATION THE SELECTION SIMULATION MENU The Universal Military Simulator disk contains five battle simulations. They are: ARBELA, the battle that decided the conquest of Asia Minor, fought in 331 B.C. between Alexander the Great and Darius of Persia; HASTINGS, the great clash of the Medieval Ages between two claimants to the English throne in 1066; MARSTON MOOR where Oliver Cromwell saved the young Parliament's Army; WATERLOO, the last card played from the Emperor Napoleon's hand and GETTYSBURG, where General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia reached their highwater mark under the summer Pennsylvanian skies of 1863. To select a scenario click the left mouse button once over the desired simulation. Other scenarios from Universal Military Simulator Scenario Disks, or user created scenarios, may be read from disk by selecting the READ SCENARIO FROM DISK option. After clicking the left mouse button once over this option a dialog box will appear requesting that the user specify a disk drive by clicking the left mouse button once over the appropriate drive box. Two floppy disks and two hard drives are supported. Double click the left mouse button over the desired file. Selecting CANCEL returns to the last menu. THE BATTLEFIELD WINDOW The Universal Military Simulator take full advantage of the GEM capabilities of the Atari ST. The battlefield window contains drop-down menus (discussed in detail in the following pages), a close box located in the upper lefthand corner of the window, and dialog boxes that appear throughout the simulation to receive user input. At the bottom of the window two status lines are displayed that indicate the current three-dimensional perspective, the current simulation time (in military time) and the present 'active army' or side that is currently capable of receiving commands and firing weapons. Clicking the left mouse button once inside the close box will end the simulation after the program has confirmed the user's intentions. THE SCENARIO PHASES The RUN SIMULATION section is divided into two phases: the ISSUE COMMAND PHASE in which orders are given by the user to all desired units of both armies and which is terminated by selecting END COMMAND PHASE from the drop- down menu or by pressing the letter Q on the keyboard; and the MOVEMENT/ BATTLE PHASE. At the end of the COMMAND PHASE the user is requested, through a series of dialog boxes, to select the desired computer battle logic. (For more information see the Battle Logic section in this chapter.) The MOVEMENT/BATTLE phase is divided into eight equal segments. Selecting NEXT SEGMENT from the drop-down menus, or pressing the letter N on the keyboard will advance the scenario time and update the battlefield. After the MOVEMENT/BATTLE phase is completed the COMMAND PHASE is repeated. THE DROP-DOWN BATTLEFIELD MENU Located at the top of the battlefield GEM window are six drop-down menus. All functions of the Universal Military Simulator may be accessed through these menus. Many functions may also be activated by a corresponding keystroke. The left most menu, FILENAMES, when selected, displays the actual filenames used for storing the maps, scenario and armies for the current simulation. This information is quite helpful when editing a scenario. Three-dimensional viewing perspective is controlled by the drop- down menus underneath NORMAL and ZOOM IN. Moving the mouse over any of the titles above the window will cause the drop down menu to appear. Clicking the left mouse button over a highlighted item will cause the map to be redrawn within the battlefield window from the perspective selected. Selecting NORTH, for example, will create a map drawn from the point of view of someone south of the battlefield looking North. Selecting a perspective from the ZOOM IN menu will draw a map with a corresponding close in aerial perspective. The EXTREME ZOOM IN menu controls highly magnified viewing of a selected areas. Selecting the item EXTREME ZOOM IN under the menu heading will create a flashing 10 grid point by 10 grid point box. (Color monitors will also show woods and unit directions arrows in reverse.) This flashing square is under the control of the mouse. Any directional change of the mouse will be immediately copied by the flashing grid. Clicking the left mouse button will cause the map area beneath the grid to be greatly magnified. Clicking the right mouse button will cancel this function and restore the map. After EXTREME ZOOM IN has been activated the enlarged area may be scrolled by either selecting the desired direction from the drop-down menu or by pressing the four cursor arrow keys on th right hand side of the keyboard. Pressing and holding an arrow key will cause the screen to scroll continuously in indicated direction until the border of the map is encountered. (IMPORTANT: to avoid confusion only movement arrows that begin and end within the zoomed in area are displayed.) AUTOMATIC ZOOM works like a toggle switch and may be turned on or off. When AUTOMATIC ZOOM is enabled the computer will automatically zoom in on any important activity on the battlefield during the simulation. A check mark (tick) indicates that the function is on. The BATTLE menu contains many of the functions required to fully utilize the Universal Military Simulator. Selecting ISSUE COMMANDS TO UNITS either from the drop-down menu or by pressing the space bar on the keyboard will allow the user to give specific commands to each unit on the battlefield. This function is discussed in complete detail in the following pages. SWITCH SIDES is used in conjunction with ISSUE COMMANDS to select which army is currently active or capable of receiving commands. This 'active' side is shown in the display at the bottom of the battlefield window. SWITCH SIDES is also used in conjunction with FIRE RANGED WEAPONS to select firing targets. Again, the 'active', or firing, army is displayed at the bottom of the window. Selecting END COMMAND PHASE, either from the menu or by pressing Q on the keyboard signals the program that the user has moved all desired units. See the Battle Logic section in this chapter for complete information. The FIRE RANGED WEAPONS function (which becomes operational after selecting the END COMMAND PHASE) allows the user to fire units with long range capabilities. This is discussed later in this chapter under Combat. The SAVE SIMULATION function is activated from either the drop-down menu or by pressing the letter S from the keyboard. After entering the desired filename, select the drive for storage by clicking the left mouse button over the appropriate letter box. To restore a saved simulation use the READ FROM DISK option on the previous menu. All simulation files end with the .SIM extension. A hard copy print out of the battlefield window may be obtained by selecting PRINT MAP from the drop-down menu or by pressing P on the keyboard. The Universal Military Simulator supports both the Atari 1280 line format or Epson 960 dots per inch format. Select the desired format by clicking the left mouse button over the appropriate box. The user may also add one line of text at the top of the printout. After hard copy printout has been 'formatted' using this function, additional screen prints may be made at any time throughout the program by pressing the ALT and HELP keys simultaneously. The ORDER OF BATTLE command will display all units currently within an army. If the display continues for more that one screen, pressing the left mouse button will show the next page of units; pressing the right mouse button will cancel the display and return the user to the simulation. The DISPLAY OPTIONS MENU allows the user to control the features that are displayed on the battlefield map. The options are 'toggle switches' and may be turned either on or off. A check mark indicates that the option is active. The options are: BATTLE MARKERS, which indicate points where hostile contact between units has occured, MOVEMENT ARROWS, which indicate the future movement of all units, TOWNS & LANDMARKS that mark points of interest on the battlefield, WHITE FLAGS and BLACK FLAGS which will hide from view one or both armies, and FAST DISPLAY MODE. When FAST DISPLAY MODE has been toggled on, the Universal Military Simulator will only briefly display contact between hostile units and computer-controlled long range fire. This considerably speeds up the viewing time of a simulation. For more information see the section on Combat later in this chapter. DEMONSTRATION MODE Selecting DEMONSTRATION MODE instructs the Universal Military Simulator to take over all army command functions and viewing perspectives. To activate DEMONSTRATION MODE press the CONTROL key and the letter D on the keyboard simultaneously. A warning box will appear to confirm this choice. DEMONSTRATION MODE can be activated at any time during any simulation, including user-designed simulations. The five simulations that come with the Universal Military Simulator, however, will automatically receive special instructions to recreate the actual battles. These battles will follow the guidelines as described in Appendix A. ISSUE COMMANDS All units participating in a scenario may be given specific commands that control the unit's movement and status. The ISSUE COMMANDS function is activated either from the drop-down menu or by pressing the keyboard space bar. After selecting this option the COMMAND BOX appears and the active unit's vital information is displayed along the left hand side of the battlefield window. A copy of the unit's flag is also displayed surrounded by the eight compass directions. If AUTOMATIC ZOOM has previously been selected the area immediately around the active unit will be enlarged. To move a unit either click the left mouse button over the desired compass direction box or position the mouse cross-hairs over the intersection point on the map. Units move from adjacent point to another. To scroll the map (when in EXTREME ZOOM) click the left mouse button over the appropriate arrow key in the lower right hand corner of the battlefield window. NEXT UNIT and LAST UNIT will de-activate the current unit and activate another unit for commands. Pressing the right mouse button will also advance to the next unit. QUIT erases the COMMAND BOX. If AUTOMATIC ZOOM has previously been selected the map will be redrawn to that last full perspective selected. A unit may also be ordered to assume one of the following statuses: MANEUVER (which allows for maximum movement but leaves the unit vulnerable to attack and defense), ATTACK (which reduces a unit's mobility but greatly increases its value in battle), DEFEND (which halts all further movement by the unit but increases the unit's ability to withstand attack), and RESERVE (the unit may not move, and is vulnerable to attack; however the unit's morale factor will be increased after one full eight segment movement phase). BATTLE LOGIC To access the Universal Simulator's Battle Logic, select END COMMAND PHASE after all desired units and commands have been made. The Universal Military Simulator may be instructed to assume command of either one or both armies or run in a 'supervisory' mode and simply referee the simulation and decide the outcome of contact between hostile units. The first dialog box that appears after selecting END COMMAND PHASE requests that the user assign commanders for both the black and white armies. If both armies are placed under HUMAN COMMAND the Universal Military Simulator will not request any further information and will activate the MOVEMENT PHASE. Selecting either NEXT SEGMENT from the drop-down menu or pressing the letter N on the keyboard will 'step' the units on the battlefield to their ordered positions and increase the time appropriately. If, however, either army is placed under COMPUTER CONTROL the Universal Military Simulator will display a series of dialog boxes requesting specific instructions, or limitations, for the command of those forces. The BATTLE LOGIC dialog box is now displayed. Any one of the following options may be selected: ALLOW COMPUTER TO DECIDE STRATEGY (the computer will make the decision to attack or defend after analyzing over 10 factors per unit in both armies), FORCE COMPUTER TO ATTACK (the computer will decide and execute the attack with the greatest probability of success), FORCE COMPUTER TO DEFEND (the computer will not attack but will assume the defensive, and, if possible, move units to a more secure position), LEFT FLANK, RIGHT FLANK, ATTACK IN CENTER and DOUBLE ENVELOPMENT require the Universal Military Simulator to execute the desired attack plan. LEFT FLANK and RIGHT FLANK attacks may also be supported by the opposite half if the army. Dialog boxes are displayed to receive user input. Click the left mouse button over CONTINUE, or press RETURN on the keyboard, to continue. CANCEL de-activates the BATTLE LOGIC and allows the user to give orders to units. IMPORTANT: The Universal Military Simulator's Battle Logic will not move units that have already received commands from the user. This allows for the movement of some specific units while the rest will receive computer orders. COMBAT Combat occurs during the MOVEMENT PHASE when units from opposing armies move onto adjacent points. Some units have long range weapons (artillery, armor and archers, for example) and can enter into combat at greater distances. See the Fire Ranged Weapons section in this chapter for details. When combat occurs the two opposing units flash. If AUTOMATIC ZOOM has previously been selected the area immediately surrounding the combat will be greatly enlarged. If FAST DISPLAY MODE had previously been selected the units will flash 20 times and the results of combat calculated. No combat results will be displayed, however, and the Universal Military Simulator will continue moving units and updating the battlefield map as previous. If FAST DISPLAY MODE had not been previously selected the two hostile units will continue to flash until the right mouse button is pressed. The vital statistics of each unit and the combat results are now displayed on the screen. Clicking the left mouse button in SEE EQUATION box will display the values and equation used by the Universal Military Simulator to determine this particular combat result. Starting with the original unit strength, eight different modifiers are evaluated. NOTE: A retreat path is calculated for the losing unit, and displayed. FIRE RANGED WEAPONS The FIRE RANGED WEAPONS routine is activated from either the drop-down menu or by pressing F on the keyboard. It is only active during the MOVEMENT/BATTLE PHASE. If both armies are under COMPUTER CONTROL the Universal Military Simulator will make all Ranged Weapon firing decisions. The army capable of receiving firing instructions is indicated in the display at the bottom of the battlefield window. The active army may be changed by selecting SWITCH SIDES from the drop-down menu. If AUTOMATIC ZOOM has previously been selected, the area directly surrounding the active unit will be greatly magnified. IMPORTANT: do not use the AUTOMATIC ZOOM function when issuing firing orders to units with a firing range of greater than five; it may be impossible to select the desired targets. The FIRE RANGED WEAPONS box is now displayed. Clicking the left mouse button over the NEXT UNIT or LAST UNIT will de-activate the current unit and activate the next appropriate unit in the army. Only units capable or ranged weapon fire will be activated. To select a target, locate the mouse cross-hairs over the grid-point where the enemy unit is located and press the left mouse button. An arrow is drawn and the results are displayed at the bottom of the screen. This function may be repeated until all units under HUMAN CONTROL have fired. A unit may fire only once per movement segment, or a total of eight times per MOVEMENT/BATTLE PHASE. ANALYSIS OF BATTLE TO DATE & FINAL BATTLE ANALYSIS At the end of the MOVEMENT/BATTLE PHASE the ANALYSIS OF BATTLE TO DATE screen is displayed showing an updated casualty and battle report. After clicking the left mouse button in the CONTINUE box a message is displayed indicating that the COMMAND PHASE is again active. When the simulation has reached the previously designated end time, or when all units from either army have been eliminated, the FINAL BATTLE ANALYSIS screen is displayed. A hard copy of all units, from both armies and the last unit strengths may be printed if desired. The user may return to the Battlefield Window or to the MAIN MENU by clicking the left mouse button over the desired box. CHAPTER III - CREATING NEW ARMIES THE UNIT SELECTION MENU The UNIT SELECTION MENU is displayed after selecting the DESIGN ARMY option from the MAIN MENU and either selecting an old army to edit or entering a new army name and pressing RETURN. Clicking the left mouse button over CANCEL will return the user to the MAIN MENU. This section of the Universal Military Simulator allows the user to create new armies for use in simulations, or to modify existing armies. Selecting QUIT from the UNIT SELECTION MENU will return the user to the MAIN MENU. A previously created army may be loaded and edited by clicking the left mouse button over the LOAD box. The user is requested to select a drive. The Universal Military Simulator supports two floppy disk drives and two hard drives. Double click the left mouse button over the desired filename. Selecting CANCEL will return the user to the UNIT SELECTION MENU. To save an army to disk click the left mouse button over the SAVE box. Enter the filename and click the left mouse button over the desired drive. All Universal Military Simulator filenames end with the .ARM file extension. Selecting CANCEL will return the user to the UNIT SELECTION MENU without saving the army file to disk. To enter a new unit to an army click the left mouse button over the desire flag. ENTERING A UNIT'S VITAL STATISTICS The Universal Military simulator stores a great deal of data on each unit used in a simulation. Some items (morale, status, location, marching orders) are acquired during a simulation, or at the time the scenario is created (see the chapter on Creating a Scenario for details). The rest is entered at the time that the unit is created. Enter all items requested at this time. To change a unit's efficiency click the left mouse button over the box containing the desired rating. Click the left mouse button over CANCEL to return to the UNIT SELECTION MENU without saving the unit. To advance to the next line press either TAB or position the mouse cursor over the desired line and click the left mouse button once. After all data has been entered, click the left mouse button over CONTINUE. If the user has neglected to enter all necessary data the Universal Military Simulator will display a gentle error message and return to this screen. The entire army's ORDER OF BATTLE is now displayed. If there are more units within the army than can be displayed on one screen, pressing the left mouse button will continue to the next screen. Pressing the right mouse button will cancel the display and return to the UNIT SELECTION MENU. ORDER OF BATTLE An army's ORDER OF BATTLE is a graphic depiction of each unit within that army and the accompanying vital statistics. The ORDER OF BATTLE function may be activated from the drop-down menu in the BATTLEFIELD WINDOW, from the UNIT SELECTION MENU or automatically after a unit has been created. Pressing the left mouse button will continue the display; pressing the right mouse button will cancel the display and return to the previous activity. The ORDER OF BATTLE is continuously updated during a simulation and reflects the current unit strengths. EDITING A UNIT Selecting EDIT UNIT from the UNIT SELECTION MENU allows the user to change the vital statistics of a previously created unit. Clicking the left mouse button over the NEXT UNIT or LAST UNIT boxes will de-activate the current unit and replace it with the requested unit. Selecting CANCEL will return to the SELECT UNIT MENU. A unit may be removed from the army's ORDER OF BATTLE by clicking the left mouse button in the DELETE UNIT box. The Universal Military simulator will request confirmation before removing the unit. Unless the deleted unit had been previously stored to disk it will now be irretrievably lost. Click the left mouse button over EDIT UNIT to change any of the vital statistics. The window will now display all current statistics of the unit and they may be edited using the method described on the previous page. Selecting CANCEL will return the user to the previous menu without storing any edited statistics. Select CONTINUE to keep the data for the edited unit. CREATING A WILDCARD UNIT An army may contain up to six 'wildcard' or user-defined units in addition to the 18 pre-defined units. A wildcard unit may be any type that the user needs or can invent. A wildcard unit may be defined, for example, as a squadron of B-52 bombers, a wizard, or an air cavalry company. The only limitations to a wildcard unit is the user's imagination. A wildcard is selected from the UNIT SELECTION MENU in the normal manner by clicking the left mouse button over the desired unit. Enter the UNIT TYPE data from the keyboard. To enter the UNIT VALUE data either press TAB or click the left mouse button over the field. The UNIT VALUE is a rating of the firepower of this unit type. Some of the default unit values are: Unit Type Unit Value -------------------------------------- Light Infantry .75 Heavy Infantry 1.0 Archers 2.75 Knights 4.5 Armor 15.5 Once a wildcard's values have been defined, all subsequent units of this type will automatically acquire them. It is only necessary to define a wildcard's values once. Each army may have six different wildcards; consequently a scenario may contain 12 wildcards (six wildcards each from two armies). An army may be created entirely from wildcards. CHAPTER IV - CREATING NEW MAPS THE DESIGN MAP WINDOW The Universal Military Simulator contains a powerful three-dimensional mapping utility that is accessed from the MAIN MENU by clicking the left mouse button over the DESIGN MAP box. The user may create virtually any map from history, fiction, adventure or fantasy. These maps may be used as a battlefield within the universal Military Simulator and role-playing adventures. The filename of the map currently being designed is displayed near the top of the window. Clicking the left mouse button in the upper left hand corner CLOSE BOX will end the map designing function. The current three- dimensional perspective is displayed at the bottom of the window. A series of drop-down menus are at the top of the window and are activated by moving the mouse cursor over the titles and clicking the left mouse button over the desired item. Many of the drop-down menu functions may also be activated by an appropriate keypress. THE DESIGN MAP DROP-DOWN MENUS Clicking the left mouse button over the NEW MAP item will erase the current map. The filename displayed at the top of the window will be the default NEW MAP. All Universal Military Simulator map files end with the extension .MAP. Sixteen different perspectives amy be selected with the options underneath the NORMAL and ZOOM IN titles. Selecting Northeast, for example, will cause the map to be redrawn from the viewer perspective of someone southwest of the map looking northeast. Selecting EXTREME ZOOM will cause a flashing 10 grid point by 10 grid point box that is controlled by the movement of the mouse. Pressing the left mouse button will cause the highlighted area to be greatly magnified. Pressing the right mouse button will cancel the EXTREME ZOOM function. Selecting PRINT or pressing the letter P on the keyboard allows the user to obtain a hard copy printout of the current map and perspective. The Universal Military Simulator supports both the Atari 1280 D.P.I printer and the Epson standard of 960 D.P.I. Select the desired format by clicking the left mouse button over the appropriate box. The user may also add one line of text at the top of the printout. After hard copy printout has been 'formatted' using this function, additional screen prints may be made at any time throughout the program by pressing the ALT and HELP keys simultaneously. A previously created map that has been stored to disk may be edited by using the LOAD MAP function selected from either the drop-down menu or by pressing the letter L on the keyboard. A map may be stored on disk by selecting SAVE MAP from the menu or pressing S on the keyboard. both functions support two floppy disk drives and two hard drives. Selecting CANCEL during either function will return the user to the MAP DESIGN WINDOW. THE TOPOGRAPHICAL MENU The topographical menu is displayed after a map grid point has been selected. The active map grid point is highlighted by a three-dimensional cube. A large section of the map can be activated by clicking and dragging the mouse from one grid point to another. All topographical features can be PLACED or CLEARED. Click the left mouse button over the desired window. All highlighted grid points will receive the selected landscape feature. When entering a landmark, click the left mouse button over the text line of the desired landmark type, enter text and press RETURN when done. THE RANDOM MAP FUNCTION Random maps can be generated by selecting this function from the drop-down menu. Hills, Ridges, Depressions and Forests can all be computer generated. For each item either enter a minimum and maximum number of select RANDOM for a completely random number of features. CLUMPING controls the way that the features appear on the map. A very low number will create a scattered pattern, higher numbers create a more ordered landscape. The default value is three. Calculating time is proportional to the complexity of the map. If OVERLAY is off (default) the old map is erased before a new one is generated. When OVERPLAY is on (highlighted) the old map is not destroyed, but overlayed with a new random map. SELECTING TOWNS & LANDMARKS The Landmarks, Cities and Towns menu is reached from the Topographical Menu. To select the desired landmark type, click the left mouse button to the left of the desired landmark inside the editable text field. Use the keyboard to enter any seven letter name and press RETURN when done. Landmarks have no importance other than a historical one during a battle simulation. A map may contain 30 different landmarks. CHAPTER V - CREATING & EDITING SCENARIOS THE EDIT SCENARIO WINDOW Scenarios are created, or edited, by assigning the unit displayed in the upper left hand box to a map grid point location. This location is selected by clicking the left mouse button over a map grid point. A message above the box indicates whether this unit currently has a location on the map. The unit in the box may be changed by either pressing the right mouse button, selecting NEXT UNIT or LAST UNIT from the drop-down menu or by pressing the keyboard letters N or L. Perspective may be changed selecting the desired view from either the NORMAL or ZOOM IN menus. Selecting EXTREME ZOOM IN will cause a flashing 10 x 10 grid on the map that is controlled by the mouse. Pressing the left mouse button will greatly enlarge the area underneath the flashing box; pressing the right mouse button will cancel this function. Select SAVE SIMULATION or press the letter S on the keyboard to save a simulation to disk. Enter the filename (the .SIM extension will be added for you) and click the left mouse button over the desired disk drive. Selecting CANCEL will end this function without saving to disk. The Simulation Time and the Long Ranged Weapon data may be edited by selecting EDIT TIME/RANGES from the drop-down menu. Click the left mouse button in the CLOSE BOX in the upper left hand corner to end this function. EDITING SCENARIO INFORMATION The starting time of the simulation, end time, the length of segments, and the message that appears at the top of the Battlefield Window are entered by clicking the left mouse button over the appropriate text field and entering the data from the keyboard. Pressing ESC clears the line; TAB advances to the next line. If an old simulation is being edited, the current information is displayed in the text field. Click the left mouse button over CONTINUE when done. A gentle reminder will be displayed if the fields are incorrectly entered or left blank and the user will be returned to this menu to correct the data. EDITING RANGED WEAPON DATA Some units may possess long range weapons capability (they are able to fire at units that are not on adjacent grid points). These units are Archers, Catapults, Field Artillery, Horse Artillery, Armor, or Wildcard Units. To enter a range click the left mouse button over the desired text field, press BACKSPACE if necessary, and enter the data. If a wildcard unit had been previously defined, its type will also be displayed. The maximum effective range is 50 grid points. APPENDIX A RECREATING HISTORY WITH THE UNIVERSAL MILITARY SIMULATOR ARBELA To accurately recreate the battle of Arbela, place the White Army (Darius) under Computer Control and select FORCE COMPUTER TO DEFEND. Place the Black Army (Alexander) under Computer Control and select RIGHT FLANK ATTACK with the SUPPORT WITH LEFT FLANK option. This is necessary because Alexander's forces are outnumbered by almost a two to one margin and The Universal Military Simulator's Battle Logic will not attack at such odds. After about two hours of simulation time have elapsed switch the White Army to ALLOW COMPUTER TO DECIDE STRATEGY. A general melee will ensue now (both sides completely controlled by the Universal Military Simulator) that quite accurately reflects that fateful day in 331 B.C. Best viewing perspectives: For the first hour or two of simulation time select NORTHWEST ZOOM IN or NORTHEAST ZOOM IN and turn off the AUTOMATIC ZOOM function. It is also advisable to put the Universal Military simulator in FAST MODE. Within the first three hours of combat over 125 individual battle will erupt and watching them all in detail can become a bit tiring. HASTINGS Place both armies under complete computer control by selecting ALLOW COMPUTER TO DECIDE STRATEGY and step back to 1066. The best viewing perspective for the first two or three simulation hours is NORTHEAST ZOOM IN. Remember it is quite possible for the Normans (Black Army) to utterly destroy the defending Saxons on the hill and only achieve a marginal victory (the type of victory is decided on a comparison of the percentage of casualties for both armies - if the Normans suffer many casualties they could win the battle and still lose the war). The armies have been accurately recreated. To even up the play-balance (at the expense of historical accuracy) use the EDIT ARMY function to give the Saxons another 2000 peasants. Then place them in position using the EDIT SCENARIO function. MARSTON MOOR Put the White Army (Royalist) under Computer Control and select FORCE COMPUTER TO DEFEND while the Black Army (Parliament) is ordered to execute a DOUBLE ENVELOPMENT. All of the Zoom In perspectives offer an excellent aerial view of the battlefield. To see the Universal Military Simulator's Battle Logic in action, place both armies in ALLOW COMPUTER TO DECIDE STRATEGY mode and watch how the Black Army threads its way through the intervening ditch to attack the Royalist forces. WATERLOO The Universal Military Simulator is not aware of the Emperor Napoleon's precarious political position and consequently must be instructed to attack the seemingly impregnable positions of the Anglo-Allies by placing the Black Army (French) under Computer Control and selecting FORCE COMPUTER TO ATTACK. Leave the AUTOMATIC ZOOM on and let the Universal Military Simulator highlight the action as it develops. To create a more equal play balance - and to increase Napoleon's chances of winning at Waterloo - use the EDIT ARMY function to add the French Corps described in Appendix B. GETTYSBURG As at Waterloo, the political consequences of victory for the smaller army greatly outweighed sound strategic thinking. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army must win at Gettysburg even though they are outnumbered by the Union Army. To recreate Gettysburg, place the Union (White Army) under Computer Control and select FORCE COMPUTER TO DEFEND. The confederates should be assigned to FORCE COMPUTER TO ATTACK. There are a number of exciting perspectives of the Gettysburg battlefield including ZOOM IN NORTH, ZOOM IN SOUTH, and ZOOM IN NORTHEAST. To increase the Confederate odds of victory add J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry corps as shown in Appendix B.