Shareware Overload Trio 2

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Text File | 1993-10-04 | 50KB | 1,000 lines

================================================================ C O N T E N T S ================================================================ 1 I N T R O D U C T I O N 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Requirements 1 1.3 Running the Game 1 1.4 How to Win 1 1.5 Map Display 2 1.6 Using the Menus 3 1.7 Screen Saver 3 1.8 Set Up 4 1.9 Sequence of Play 4 2 D E C I S I O N P H A S E 4 2.1 Movement 4 2.2 Armies 5 3 M A I N M E N U 5 3.1 Main Menu 5 3.2 Recruit 6 3.3 Variable Recruits 6 3.4 Ships 7 3.5 Invasions 7 3.6 Move Orders 8 3.7 Next Turn 8 3.8 Inform (Reports) 8 3.9 Options 9 3.10 Utility 9 3.11 Files 9 4 O P T I O N S 9 4.1 Options Submenu 9 4.2 Cancel 10 4.3 Fortify 10 4.4 Join (Combine) 10 4.5 Supply 10 5 U T I L I T Y 11 5.1 Utility Submenu 11 5.2 Redraw 11 5.3 Side 11 5.4 Solo/2-Player 11 5.5 Graphics 11 5.6 Sound 12 5.7 Display 12 5.8 Balance 12 5.9 End Game Conditions 12 5.10 Victory Condition Override 12 5.11 Random Events 13 5.12 Vary Start 13 5.13 January Campaigns 13 5.14 Max Recruit 13 5.15 Enemy Aggression 13 6 M O V E & C O M B A T P H A S E 13 6.1 Computer Decisions 13 6.2 Army Movement 14 6.3 Combat 14 6.4 Income Update 16 7 D E S I G N E R N O T E S 16 7.1 Game Concept 16 7.2 Victory 16 ================================================================ 1 I N T R O D U C T I O N ================================================================ 1.1 Introduction =================== The VGA Civil War Strategy Game is a 1 or 2-player graphic strategic level wargame of the American Civil War. The game requires VGA, and will not work without it. It is provided "as is" without any warranty of any kind. It has been tested on several types of IBM compatibles (from XT to 386) but it is impossible to try all the many combinations of equipment that exist. The object of the game is to accumulate as many victory points as possible. The game is played in turns of 2 months during which both sides perform their actions. Decisions are made using menus which are described below. 1.2 Requirements =================== The program requires the following files: CWS.EXE - the game program CWS.CFG - your customizable configuration file CWS.INI - initialization data file CWSLEAD.DAT - army leader data file CITIES.GRD - city data file CWSDOC.COM - online help file CWS.DOC - this documentation file HISCORE.CWS - high score file NOTE: The program requires VGA. 1.3 Running the Game ======================= Type 'CWS' at the command line prompt. The title screen display will appear while the game initializes. You can skip opening music and graphics by typing 'CWS Q' at the command line prompt. The option to load a game or begin a new game is given at the beginning of the game, in addition to being available during the game. 1.4 How to Win : Victory Points ================================= You get "victory points" for (1) capturing cities, (2) capturing armies, (3) winning battles, and (4) special events. Each city you control gives you a certain number of victory points (and a like amount of income). This varies depending on the city. For instance, a large city such as Philadelphia is worth much more than a smaller city such as Fort Donelson. To see the number of victory points each city is worth, use the "Inform" option to access the "Cities" report. - 2 - Capital cities are worth an additional bonus of 50 victory points in addition to the normal victory points. If you lose your capital, you permanently lose the bonus income. If your capital is threatened, you may move it if you have enough money, via the "Utility" option of the Main Menu. If your army defeats an enemy that has no route for retreat or causes enough casualties to crush the enemy, you capture the army and receive a bonus of 25 victory points. Eliminating the enemy fleet also results in bonus victory points. For each battle you win, you receive 1 victory point. Under some circumstances, special events (such as the Emancipation Proclamation or Lincoln being re-elected) result in extra victory points for one side or the other. If the Union does not crush the Rebels, the South will win by default after a period of time (determined by end game conditions). When this happens, the score for both sides is reduced to 70% of the original level. As play progresses, the score will not instantly track the performance on battlefield, but rather will "lag" slightly. The game continues until one side achieves an end game condition. (See End Game Conditions under the "Utility" submenu). The side that triggers the end of the game receives an additional bonus of 100 victory points. If your score is one of the top 5 scores for the side played, you name and score are entered into the high score file. 1.5 Map Display ================== The title screen will clear and a map of the eastern U.S. will appear along with a menu entitled 'Main'. This is the Main Menu from which you choose most of your options. Above the menu is a flag showing which side is currently selected, Union or Confederate. At the very top of the screen on the right is a bar graph which shows how the current side is doing, along with information on victory points and level of difficulty. The small colored circles on the map display are cities or other key locations. There are a total of 40 such locations. Blue circles are Union controlled; gray ones are Confederate controlled. Red circles are neutral cities (not controlled by either side). Two of the cities are CAPITAL cities, and their circle is marked with a small yellow cross. If the graphics option is ON, the connections between the cities will be shown by dashed lines. - 3 - If the circle representing the city is surrounded by a HOLLOW BLACK box, it is a FORTIFIED (FORT+)location; if surrounded by a SOLID BLACK box, the location is HEAVILY FORTIFIED (FORT++). Any level of fortification tends to improve resistance to enemy attacks. A small box appears in the right of the display with the letters 'PHIL' underneath. This represents the port of Philadelphia. The city of Philadelphia itself is the right most circle at the top of the screen. You will see a small ship icon in the "PHIL" box which represents the Union navy. Small flag icons appear next to some cities. Each flag represents an army. Mountain and rivers features are also shown on the map. 1.6 Using the Menus ====================== You may move the highlighted menu option by pressing the "up" and "down" arrow keys. Pressing 'Enter' will select the currently highlighted option. In most cases, you may exit from a menu without selecting any option by pressing the "escape" or "esc" key. In a few cases you must select an "EXIT" option to leave the menu without selecting any option. Hot keys" are provided to speed menu access. The first letter of each command will immediately select the item without having to move the menu bar. WARNING: In responding to city locations, watch out for cities that have the same first letter. Using the hot key will select the FIRST city on the menu that begins with the letter you press. If you wanted to select another, you must use the up/down arrow keys. Example: You have the option to recruit at either Fort Donelson or Front Royal, both of which begin with "F". If you press "F", Fort Donelson will be selected because it comes first alphabetically in the menu list. If you want to select Front Royal in this case, you must use the arrow keys. If there had been no other cities beginning with "F" except for Front Royal the hot key would have worked fine. Note that some menu items have had to be changed slightly to avoid duplicate first letters. For instance, "Inform" has replaced the earlier "Reports" menu item because there is already a menu item on the main menu beginning with "R" (Recruit). The menu cursor placement has been made more consistent for the Option and Utility menus. The cursor now stays on the submenu if there are more choices available for the item currently being selected (e.g., more troops to be supplied). Otherwise it returns to the main menu and stays on the Option or Utility item. 1.7 Screen Saver =================== - 4 - +=========================================================+ | There is a SCREEN SAVER accessed by pressing "Ctrl-B". | | (The "B" may be either upper or lowercase). | | The screen will instantly blank and random geometric | | designs will appear. | +---------------------------------------------------------+ | To restore the game map, press "Ctrl-B" again. | +=========================================================+ 1.8 Set Up ============= There are several setup options available which can be accessed from the "UTILITY" option of the Main Menu. You can swap sides, select 1- or 2-player options, control sound and graphic options, and adjust difficulty. When you save a game, the configuration file is automatically updated to the current set of options you have chosen. 1.9 Sequence of Play ======================= Play proceeds in the following sequence for each game turn (representing 2 months): A. Decision Phase Side 1 Decisions (Union if 2 players ; Human if 1 player) 1. Recruit 2. Naval Actions (Resolved Immediately) 3. Move Orders 4. Other Decisions (Combine, Fortify, etc.) Side 2 Decisions (Rebel if 2 players ; Computer if 1 player) 1. Recruit 2. Naval Actions (Resolved Immediately) 3. Move Orders 4. Other Decisions (Combine, Fortify, etc.) B. Move & Combat Update Phase (Move Orders Carried Out) C. Turn Update Phase 1. Income Updated Based on Cities Controlled 2. Unit Supply Updated ================================================================ 2 D E C I S I O N P H A S E ================================================================ 2.1 Movement =============== Movement is from city to city (point-to-point movement) by armies. Any number of friendly armies may stack in a city. Armies that move to a city occupied by an enemy army must fight the enemy, and either drive off the enemy (to capture the city) or be forced back themselves. - 5 - Moving into an enemy city that is not occupied by an army results in automatic capture of the city. Movement into a neutral city automatically captures the neutral city. The city will change colors to indicate you have gained control. Capture of a fortified city will reduce the fortification by one level. (Thus, a FORTIFIED+ city would be reduced to an unfortified city.) 2.2 Armies ============= Armies have several attributes of importance. These will change as the game progresses, and it is important for you to understand how they influence the outcomes. STRENGTH - the number of men in the unit; the prime attribute in combat LEADER - ability score of the unit leader, from 1 to 10. Greatly affects the unit's effectiveness in battle and movement. EXPERIENCE - the number of battles the unit has won (0-10). More experienced units are more effective in combat. Each battle won increases the experience level by 1. SUPPLY - the current state of food and equipment (0-10). Units use 1 unit of supply each turn, except in summer and autumn harvest months. Capturing cities and capturing enemy armies increases supply. Moving and fighting accelerate use of supplies. Units that are 'out of supply' (supply level=0) fight at 50% effectiveness, and move more slowly. Units that are out of supply are now marked with an "S" to make them easier to locate. Armies in port cities are always in supply if the city is not blockaded. ================================================================ 3 M A I N M E N U ================================================================ 3.1 Main Menu ================ +=============+ | Main | +=============+ | Recruit | | Ships | | Army Moves | | NEXT TURN | | Informs | | OPTIONS | | UTILITY | | Files | | Help | +=============+ - 6 - This menu shows the primary decisions you can make. At the bottom of the menu are symbols that tell you what setup options are active, and a reminder that F4 is a shortcut key to go to the next turn. The "music note" symbol tells you that music is ON. 'Snd' tells you that sound is ON. The "G" symbol tells you that graphics are ON for combat scenes. The number '1' or '2' tells you whether this is a 1- or 2-player game. When graphics are turned ON, the connection links between cities are shown. Also, there are displays for battles and special events, such as the surrender of an army. Play will be slowed slightly by when graphics are ON, due to time required to draw these displays. 3.2 Recruit ============== Allows you to recruit new armies or build up existing armies. Each recruitment requires 100 money units. If you do not have enough money, you cannot recruit. You will be given one or more randomly selected cities where you may recruit (only ones that your side currently controls). If the city is vacant, a NEW army is placed there, along with a commander and his corresponding abilities. Adding recruits to an existing army increases its strength, but does not change the commander. Each side has 20 commanders available to lead separate armies. As the game progresses, the number of available commanders will be reduced as commanders are captured or are occupied leading other units. If the list of 20 preset commanders is exhausted, there is list of "generic" commanders provided so you can still recruit and finish the game. Generic units are given Roman numeral identifiers. For instance, Union army 12 is designated Union XII. Rebel army 22 is designated Rebel II, and so forth. Newly created armies MAY NOT move this turn, while they train and organize. Existing armies that are increased in strength CAN MOVE in the current turn. At the balanced play level, newly created stand alone armies are 7,000 men. Additions to existing armies are 4,500 men. Experience level of recruits will be low (varies slightly, with slightly better levels for Rebel armies). NOTE: Once you have begin to recruit, you should NOT change sides or number of players, since the cities to recruit in are already selected for that part of the turn. - 7 - 3.3 Variable Recruits ======================== ADVANCED FEATURE: Variable Number of Recruits. It is now possible to link the size of recruited armies to the size of the city where the recruiting takes place. Instead of fixed values for number of recruits, a toggle is provided in the Utility menu ("Max Recrt") to make more recruits available in larger cities (e.g., Philadelphia) and fewer available in smaller cities (e.g., Fort Donelson). When the toggle is OFF, the number of recruits for new or existing armies is fixed at the levels in the basic game (7000 for new armies; 4500 for additions to existing armies). When the toggle is ON, the number of recruits varies based on the value assigned to the city in the CITIES.GRD data file. For cities with values in the 10-15 range, the number of recruits will be about the same as with the toggle off. However, the number of recruits will be larger than normal for bigger cities and smaller than normal in smaller cities. 3.4 Ships ============ Allows you to build and move fleets and bombard enemy cities. Each side has one fleet, consisting of 1-10 ships. Ships can be added to the fleet only in friendly port cities. Each new ship requires 100 money units. Ships can be moved to any port city. This means ships may move much more rapidly than armies, but their effect is different. If the two fleets meet in a port, they will engage in combat. During each round of combat, the attacker has the option to press the attack or retire. Each ship can take 10 enemy hits before it sinks. The current number of hits remaining is shown below the ship icon. Combat continues until one fleet either retreats or is eliminated. At the end of the turn, there can be only one fleet in a given port. Ships do not transport armies, but can bombard enemy cities to damage defending armies or fortifications, or to drive the city to neutrality. If the city has an enemy army, the bombardment will damage the enemy. The fleet will also blockade the enemy army in the port, reducing his supplies. Fortified cities may have the forts damaged or reduced. However, forts may sink attacking ships. Unfortified cities not occupied by a defending army may become neutral as a result of the bombardment. The human player cannot move to a port and attack the port on the same turn. However, the computer opponent is allowed to do this. 3.5 Invasions ================ - 8 - INVASIONS : The Union player ONLY may invade neutral cities if (1) there is more than one ship in the invading fleet and (2) there are still available Union commanders. The fleet size will be reduced by 1 and the new army will seize the neutral city. The invading army is small (3500 men) and vulnerable to attack. However, the captured city is eligible for possible recruiting later. 3.6 Move Orders ================== Allows you to select an army to move and where to move it. A menu will cycle through all your armies that are able to move this turn. Armies that already have move orders, or that have been combined this turn, or that have built fortifications this turn, or newly created armies are not eligible to move in the current turn. Once you select the army to move, the choice of all possible connecting destinations for that army are shown. Selecting a destination will result in a white dotted line from the selected unit to the destination. Note that the army does not move immediately. Rather, it will attempt to move during the move and update phase. If an army with move orders is attacked during the move and update phase, there is a chance that it will not be able to carry out those orders. If it is defeated, it must retreat, but even if it wins it may have its orders cancelled. During the month of January, you may not carry out any land campaigns (i.e., attack enemy or neutral cities). You may move armies to friendly cities, fortify, or conduct other land operations. Naval operations are unaffected by the January restriction. 3.7 Next Turn ================ When you have completed your decisions for the current turn, select this option to continue with the game sequence. Note that once the game sequence progresses, you cannot back up. Thus, when you select this option, you will be asked to confirm before the turn actually progresses. 3.8 Inform (Reports) ======================= Six different reports are available : 1) Friendly Army report Shows the status of all your armies, and other useful statistics on the progress of the game. After the first turn, it will also show the total strength of the enemy forces. 2) Enemy Army report Shows information similar to Friendly army report, except that it shows less complete information on the enemy forces. - 9 - 3) City report Provides information on the cities, their worth, status, and so on. 4) Force summary Shows on the map the strength of all armies (in 100's of men). 5) Intelligence report Provides an on-map summary of attributes of all FRIENDLY armies (strength, leadership, experience, and supply). 6) Battle Summary report Shows number of battles won and casualties incurred for each side. There is no cost for any of the reports. 3.9 Options ============== See Options Submenu for a description of the choices. These generally relate to special options available for individual armies. 3.10 Utility ============== See Utility Submenu. These provide overall game options that allow various features of game play to be modified. 3.11 Files ============ Allows you to load or save games and to quit then program. There is only one saved game file, named "CWSTRAT.SAV". If you wish to maintain additional saved game files, you must use DOS commands (e.g., COPY and RENAME). When the game is started, the base game is automatically initialized, configured according to the current CWS.CFG settings. ================================================================ 4 O P T I O N S ================================================================ 4.1 Options Submenu ====================== +============+ | Options | +============+ | Cancel | | Fortify | | Join | | Supply | | MAIN MENU | +============+ - 10 - 4.2 Cancel ============= Allows the move orders for unit selected (menu with eligible units will be displayed) to be cancelled - in case you change your mind before you go to the next turn. 4.3 Fortify ============== If ALL the following conditions are met, you may fortify a city: 1. City is occupied by a friendly army 2. City is not already at DOUBLE FORTIFIED ++ level 3. You have at least 200 money units All cities meeting these conditions, will appear in a menu of candidates. Selecting a city to fortify will cause the city icon to be updated on the game display. The army occupying a city that is fortified loses its turn (it is presumably busy building fortifications) and will be shown as 'Resting' in the Army report. An army may increase a given city's fortifications by 1 level per turn. If there are 2 units in a city, each army may add 1 level of fortification in a turn, thereby double fortifying the city. 4.4 Join (Combine) ===================== Up to a certain level, friendly armies may be combined to create larger and more powerful forces. In order to combine, armies must start the turn stacked in the same city. Stacked armies are indicated by a small gold circle on the flag icon. Selecting 'Combine' will result in a menu of candidate cities in which armies are stacked. Selecting a city will cause all armies in that city to attempt to combine, up to a maximum level of 125,000 men. Army attributes for combined armies are averaged, and the best commander of the armies combined will assume leadership of the combined forces. (His leadership ability will be reduced slightly to account for the increased difficulty of commanding the larger forces.) 4.5 Supply ============= On occasion, you may need to manually allocate additional provisions to units that are out of supply. These units may be seen on the map marked with an "S" to make them easier to locate. At the end of the move and update phase, units will automatically receive 1 unit of supply, assuming enough money is available. Automatic update of supply costs .002 money units per 1,000 men in the army unit. (For instance, a 22,000 man unit would require 44 money units to resupply). This automatic resupply is done in numerical unit sequence, so that higher numbered units are supplied last. If there is not enough money to supply all units, or if the unit expends - 11 - more than expected supplies, or is blockaded in a port, some will eventually get out of supply. Note that in the months of July and September, units are resupplied without cost (except for blockaded units). To manually resupply, you must have enough money to provide the supplies, which depends on the size of the army being resupplied. Each unit of supply requires .001 money units 1,000 men (cheaper that automatic resupply). However, the computer will attempt to allocate as much supply as possible to the unit selected, up to a maximum of 5 units of supply. If you do not have enough money to allocate at least 1 unit of supply, none will be provided. ================================================================ 5 U T I L I T Y ================================================================ 5.1 Utility Submenu ====================== +============+ | Utility | +============+ | Redraw | | Side | | Solo | | Graphics | | Sounds | | Display | | Balance | | End Cond | | Events | | Vary Start | | Jan Cmpgn | | Max Recrt | | Aggress 1 | +============+ 5.2 Redraw ============= Allows you to redraw the display map. 5.3 Side =========== Toggles between the Union and Rebel side for the 1 player game only. 5.4 Solo/2-Player ==================== Toggles between 1- and 2- player game. 5.5 Graphics =============== Adjust level of graphics. Four levels of graphics are now allowed, designated G0 through G3. G0 = no additional graphics (BASIC level) - 12 - G1 = show city connections G2 = show city connections and city names G3 = show city connections, city names, and additional combat graphics Higher graphics levels will slow the game somewhat while the screen is redrawn. 5.6 Sound ============ Toggle between Sound & Music, Sound Only, and Quiet. 5.7 Display ============== Sets display speed for messages displayed, from fast to very slow. 5.8 Balance ============== Set Play Balance from Rebel++ (large Rebel advantage) all the way to Union++ (large Union advantage). Play balance affects the relative resources allocated, along with the handicap received in combat. 5.9 End Game Conditions ========================== Shows the conditions that will determine when the game is over. These are specified in the input file CWS.INI, and can be changed by changing that file. Up to 5 different preset conditions may trigger the end of the game: Time (Month & Year) % Cities Controlled by Either Side % Income for Either Side Capital Capture By Either Side * Ratio of Total Army Strength In addition, the total elimination of either side's armies will trigger a victory condition. Active conditions are marked with an "√". These may be toggled either off or on (active) using this option, but the VALUES themselves can only be changed in CWS.INI (see "Files" section below). If ANY of the active conditions are achieved by EITHER SIDE, the game will end. If there are NO active end game conditions, the game will continue indefinitely. * Note: If BOTH sides lose their capital in the same turn, the game does NOT end even if this condition is active. 5.10 Victory Condition Override ================================ There is an override option when victory conditions signal the end of the game. This allows you to keep playing if you choose instead of abruptly ending the game. Each time the override is used it increases the victory condition that was triggered. For example, suppose the % cities controlled - 13 - condition is triggered. Suppose it is currently set at 32 (80% of total), and that the end game condition is overridden. The number of cities required to trigger the condition is increased to 33 (or 82.5%). If it is overridden later, it increases to 34 (85%) and so on. 5.11 Random Events =================== Control over random events has been extended in the Utility menu option. Random events can be toggled OFF so they do not occur. If random events are ON, the degree to which they favor one side or the other can be controlled: Favor Union (70% of random events help the Union) Neutral (50% help the Union; 50% help the Rebels) Favor Rebels (70% of random events help the Rebels) If random events are ON in a 1-player game, they will default in favor of the computer opponent if they are not 5.12 Vary Start ================ Selecting this option at the beginning of the game will give different starting conditions. 5.13 January Campaigns ======================= Toggle to allow/disallow January campaigns. 5.14 Max Recruit ================= Toggle to link number of recruits available in a given city to the city size (as represented by the income level in the CITIES.GRD file). 5.15 Enemy Aggression ====================== This option applies only for 1-player game. By repeated selecting this option you may cycle through enemy aggressiveness levels from 0 (least aggressive) to 5 (most aggressive). The default level is 1. At the lower levels, the enemy will be more cautious and defensive, preferring to build forts and make attacks only when the odds are favorable. At the higher levels, the enemy will attack more often, perhaps even to the point of foolhardiness. ================================================================ 6 M O V E & C O M B A T P H A S E ================================================================ 6.1 Computer Decisions ========================== If you are playing a 1-player game versus the computer, you will see the computer decisions being made. The computer does not 'cheat' by taking advantage of knowledge of the moves you have selected. If the side played by the computer has an advantage in play balance, it will be a more - 14 - difficult opponent because it will get more resources, and will receive a combat handicap. You will be prompted to "press any key for month /year events". During the update phase, the message "UPDATE" will appear in the lower right of the map area. The computer will move the armies, provide information on battles, state of supplies, and so on. From time to time the display will pause to give you time to read the messages. You can press any key to move on. 6.2 Army Movement ==================== When you see the message "press any key for (current month and year) events", the move and update phase has begun. During this phase both sides have their move orders carried out. When enemy armies meet in the same city, combat occurs. After combat, only one side will continue to occupy the city. The side that was driven off loses the battle. The order in which armies move depends on (1) ability of the leader (better ones tend to move first), (2) supply (out of supply units move last) and (3) a random factor. Armies carry out their orders one at a time. The flag icon will move from the starting location to the destination city. 6.3 Combat ============= If combat occurs, a set of statistics will appear on the right of the screen giving important information on how the battle will be resolved. The information for both attacker and defender begins with a base calculation, which goes through a series of adjustments to arrive at a final value for this battle. Item Meaning ---------- ----------------------------------------------- Base Base combat strength, obtained by dividing unit strength by 10,000 and rounding up. Thus, an army with 23,000 men has a base combat strength of 3. The base for defenders is increased to account for their reduced exposure to fire. Ldr/Exp Base combat strength, adjusted for leadership and experience. Armies outmanned by more than 5:1 will usually not receive this adjustment. However, elite armies with experience levels of 8 or more automatically receive a bonus, even if hopelessly outnumbered. Small Adjusted strength after penalizing for very small forces (i.e., small force has less than 1,500 men). Outman Additional adjustment if the opposing army is much larger than this army proportionately. This - 15 - occurs for the attacker if outnumbered by more than 5:1 or for the defender if outnumbered by more than 10:1. Supply Additional adjustment if unit is out of supply (will be in contrasting color). Out-of-supply units fight at half strength. Difclt Additional adjustment based on difficulty level. Fort (FOR DEFENDERS ONLY) - Additional adjustment if location is fortified and defender has not moved or fought previously in this turn. NOTE: Occasionally an exceptional commander will get the fort bonus even if he has fought previously in the turn. The exact combat adjustment for outmanned armies has been is shown below: +-------------------------+---------------+---------------+ | Attacker/Defender Ratio | Attack Adjust| Defend Adjust | +=========================+===============+===============+ | 1:10 or worse | set to 1 (min)|set to 20 (max)| +-------------------------+---------------+---------------+ | 1:10 to 1:5 | set to 1 (min)| + 2 | +-------------------------+---------------+---------------+ | 1:5 to 1:2 | - 2 | + 2 | +-------------------------+---------------+---------------+ | 1:2 to 2:1 | 0 | 0 | +-------------------------+---------------+---------------+ | 2:1 to 3:1 | 0 | - 2 | +-------------------------+---------------+---------------+ | 3:1 to 5:1 | + 2 | - 2 | +-------------------------+---------------+---------------+ | 5:1 to 10:1 | + 2 | set to 1 (min)| +-------------------------+---------------+---------------+ | 10:1 or better |set to 20 (max)| set to 1 (min)| +-------------------------+----------------+--------------+ Note that this is in addition to any other combat adjustments, such as leadership, fortification, supply, etc. All combat adjustments are made sequentially, and the final result is the one actually used in the combat calculations. The final result for both the Attacker and the Defender is shown in a highlighted box. The final values can never be less than 1 nor more than 20. A calculation of the odds of an attacker victory are also given as A GUIDE ONLY. The computer actually resolves the combat separately from this calculation of attacker odds, but it should provide a good indicator of who is likely to win the battle. The actual results of the battle will be displayed after you press a key. The winner is announced at the bottom of the screen. Casualty information (numbers and percentages for each side) are shown at the top of the screen. Notice that - 16 - an army can win the battle but suffer greater losses than the enemy. The loser must retreat to an adjacent friendly city. The human player is given the option as to which city to retreat to if a player-controlled DEFENDING army must retreat (if there is more than one choice for retreat). If there are no retreat options, the loser will surrender. Even if there is a retreat option, a unit may be so outnumbered and reduced in size so much that it can no longer function. Such shattered units will also surrender. When units surrender, their commanders are PERMANENTLY removed from the game. If there is more than one defending army in a city, the attacker must defeat each defender one at a time until all defenders are driven out before occupying the city. 6.4 Income Update ==================== After all combat and moves are resolved, the supplies are distributed, and income and victory points are updated based on present game situations. Note that the Union side always receives income from other parts of the country outside the region shown (e.g., Boston, New York, Chicago, etc.) Thus, the Union in effect has an income bonus. Supplies are distributed based on cash remaining, to the armies in numerical order. ================================================================ 7 D E S I G N E R N O T E S ================================================================ 7.1 Game Concept =================== The game takes a strategic military point of view. There are essentially 3 theaters of war, the Mississippi River, central Tennessee, and Virginia. Combat revolves around the power of defensive (particularly fortified) positions, and cutting lines of retreat to isolate and capture armies. The Confederates must move quickly early in the game before superior Union resources overwhelm them. Likewise, the Union must press to victory (normally taking the Rebel capital) before time expires and the Rebels earn a victory by default as the European powers recognize them. The game is intended first and foremost to be fun, and is basically a 2 player game. The computer AI ability is limited, and results may be quite ahistorical. The 2-player option offers more possibilities, but even here, historical accuracy is not claimed. 7.2 Victory ============== The game checks for active victory conditions and automatically ends when they are met. You will get a good indication of how the game is going for your side from the information in the upper right hand part of the screen.