I. OVERVIEW

GAME BASICS

SCALE

SEASON TURN LENGTH
Summer -> 1 week
Fall, Spring -> 2 weeks
Winter  -> 1 month
 

MAP LAYOUT

TERRAIN SYMBOLS

Forest       Marsh        Mountain
 
 

STRATEGIC RESOURCE SYMBOLS

City         Capital City Fortification

Port         Oil               Mine
 
 

 UNIT SYMBOLS

    Head Quarters (HQ)

   Corps

   Army

   Tank Group

   Air Fleet

   Strategic Bombers

   Rocket Detachments

   Battleships

   Cruisers

   Carriers

   Subs

   Transport
 
 
 

II.   REFERENCE

GENERAL UNIT CHARACTERISTICS

*This characteristic does not apply to naval units, since they cannot be entrenched
 

Each unit type will also have combat values for:

· Spotting
· Strike Range
· Soft Attack
· Tank Attack
· Air Attack
· Naval Attack
· Strategic Attack
· Soft Defence
· Tank Defence
· Air Defence
· Naval Defence

Note:  These values can be improved through research and development.  Please refer to the Research and Development section for further details.
 

LAND UNITS

HQ

Examples:

HQ & COMMANDER RATING
Rommel 8
Zhukov 8
Patton  7
Wavell 7

The higher the commander rating of an HQ, the higher the readiness value for all units attached to his HQ.

In addition to influencing the readiness of units under its command, HQ’s can also pass on a combat morale bonus depending upon how well units perform in the field.  Any unit that performs well when attached to an HQ will increase that HQ’s command experience and subsequently increase their combat morale bonus at the same time.  While if units under an HQ face some sort of disaster, then this HQ’s command experience is reduced, in turn reducing the combat morale bonuses for all units under its command.

HQ’s can also increase a unit’s supply value when extended from other supply resources.
 
 

AIR UNITS

Air Fleets can be used to attack any valid land, air, or naval targets, while their strategic attacks are limited.  Air Fleets are very useful in a defensive role when placed in the immediate vicinity of either tactical or strategic targets and will be automatically activated in a defensive role for all friendly units adjacent to them within their flight radius.

STRATEGIC BOMBERS

Bombers can be used to attack any valid land, air, or naval units, but are very useful in attacking strategic resources.  The bombing of enemy cities and other resource areas can reduce their operational strengths, which in turn reduces the overall number of MPP’s collected at the end of an enemy’s turn.
 
 

NAVAL UNITS

Battleships can be used in regular naval combat as well as in shore bombardments.  Shore bombardments can be commenced upon regular land or air units as well as strategic resources.

CRUISERS

Cruisers can be used in regular naval combat as well as in shore bombardments.

CARRIERS

With an effective strike range, Carrier units can be extremely useful in advanced strikes upon land, air and other naval units.

SUBS

While subs can only be used in regular naval combat, research and development can greatly enhance this potentially effective naval unit.

TRANSPORTS

Transports can be used to transport land units across fixed bodies of water.
 
 

MILITARY PRODUCTION

· United Kingdom
· France
· USA
· USSR
· Germany
· Italy

A country’s production can only occur in those cities or ports that can trace a direct line of land hexes back to their capital city.  For example, since the sea effectively cuts off London from the mainland, the United Kingdom could never build units in mainland Europe.  Rather, they would have to build them in England first, and then transport them there if it was so required

Strategic bombing, air attack, naval bombardment, or rocket attack can reduce the operational strength value of any valid strategic resource.  This results in strength losses and directly affects the number of MPP’s collected at the beginning of each round.  On the plus side, for each turn that a strategic resource is not attacked, the operational strength for that strategic resource is re-strengthened by +1 point automatically up to their maximum attainable value.  This simulates rebuilding and repair.
 
 

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

· Anti-Tank Weapons
· Heavy Tanks
· Anti-Aircraft Radar
· Long Range Aircraft
· Jet Aircraft
· Heavy Bombers
· Sonar
· Advanced Subs
· Gun Laying Radar
· Rockets
· Industrial Technology

Each research type has a maximum level of 5 and a maximum number of 5 research points that can be put against it.  At the beginning of each turn, each research point has a 5% chance of returning the next level of research (so 5 research points in anti-tank research will give you a 25% chance per turn of getting the next level), so the more research points put against a particular type of research, the better the chances of achieving the next level.  Also, depending upon the type of research, a variety of results can be achieved with each new level.  The following is a breakdown of the benefits for each type.

ANTI-TANK RESEARCH

Increases the tank defence and maximum strength values for both Corps and Army units.

HEAVY TANK RESEARCH

Increases the tank attack, tank defence and maximum strength values for Tank Groups.

ANTI-AIRCRAFT RADAR RESEARCH

Improves the air defence values for all Strategic Resources.

LONG-RANGE AIRCRAFT RESEARCH

Increases the spotting, action points, and strike range values for both Air Fleets, and Strategic Bombers.  Also, every new level of long-range aircraft research increases the spotting, strike range, and maximum strength values of Carriers.

JET AIRCRAFT RESEARCH

Improves the air defence, and air attack for both Air Fleets and Carriers, while the air defence value for Strategic Bombers is increased.  In addition, the maximum strength value for Air Fleets is increased.

HEAVY BOMBER RESEARCH

Improves the strategic attack and maximum strength values for Strategic Bomber units.

SONAR RESEARCH

Improves the naval defence values of Battleships, Cruisers and Carriers when attacked by submarines.

ADVANCED SUB RESEARCH

Improves the naval attack and maximum strength values for submarines.  Also, submarines in general have a 25% chance of successfully diving from either naval or air attack, but with each new level of advanced sub research, this percentage improves by +5%.

GUN LAYING RADAR RESEARCH

Improves the naval attack, naval defence and maximum strength values for both Battleships and Cruisers.

ROCKET RESEARCH

Improves the attack values and strike range for all Rocket Detachments.

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH

Every new level of industrial technology decreases the cost of production for each unit by 10%.
 
 

POLITICS

The following political options will be available:

· Random – Randomly enter the war within a historical context
· Neutral – Remain neutral throughout the war
· Historical – Enter the war at the historical time

Note:  For Russia, the Historical option is not available since they did not enter the war until Germany invaded in June of 1941.

An important note on the random option with respect to the major countries is that it is greatly affected by the game play of either the Axis or Allied side.  Aggressive game play by the Axis for example, may be rewarded with an early entry to the war by Italy, yet, overly rampant aggression may backfire since Russia and/or the U.S. could enter the war earlier than expected on the Allied side.  While on the other hand, if playing as the Allies, aggressive declarations of war may also backfire with the U.S. delaying its entry into the war.

The neutral and historical options will play as expected regardless of how the Axis or Allied sides choose to conduct the war.

MINOR COMBATANTS

All other countries in the European Theater are treated as neutral until attacked by either the Axis or Allied side, but for the historical Axis and Allied minor countries like Canada, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia etc., they also include the same three political options for randomness, neutrality or historical entry.  Once again it will be the random option that can create many new ‘what if?’ scenarios within a historical context for the game.  Expect to see countries such as Spain or Turkey, both with close ties to Germany, to join the Axis side if the UK is sufficiently knocked out of the war, or perhaps Hungary and Romania may not join the Axis Alliance if Germany attacks its fascist ally Spain.  These and many other ‘what if’ outcomes are all possible when playing in in the Axis/Allied Minor random mode.
 
 

III.   GAME PLAY

TURN BREAKDOWN

Turn Phase (No Specific Order)
· Orders – Move, Attack, Reinforce etc
· Politics – Declare War
· Production – Purchase Units
· Investment – Research and Development

Calculation Phase II
· Test for liberated countries
· Test for country surrender
· Test for historical dates and random joins
· Test for partisan activity
· Test for research and development (current side only)
· Calculate military production points (MPP)
 
 

MOVING UNITS

LAND MOVEMENT

REGULAR MOVEMENT

Whenever an active land unit has been selected with a left mouse click, its full movement range is highlighted on the map as shown below.

Then depending upon the current mouse position, the upper left hand corner of the screen will display the total movement cost including all associated terrain penalties as well as an additional action point penalty if attempting to move through two or more adjacent enemy units.  Left clicking on a destination hex will complete the movement.

OPERATIONAL MOVEMENT

An operational movement for land units consists of rapid transfers via rail or other land transport from a unit’s current position to any valid city or fortification.  Valid destinations include only those from which an unbroken path of friendly land hexes can be followed from the selected unit to final destination.  Thus, land units cannot be operationally moved over water and not while trapped somewhere behind enemy lines.  Other restrictions include sufficient MPP to pay for the operational movement (10% of unit’s current production cost), the unit’s supply value must be >= 5, and the destination city or fortification must have an operational efficiency of >= 50% as well.
In order to operationally move a land unit you must right click on the unit and select Operate from the drop down menu.  Left clicking on any one of the highlighted destination hexes will complete the movement.

NAVAL TRANSPORT

Naval transport consists of loading a land unit onto a transport in order to move across a body of water.  In general, all land units can be transported except rocket detachments and the cost of transport is 10% of a unit’s current production cost.

In order to transport a land unit, the unit must still be active and located adjacent a friendly port.  Then by right clicking on the unit and selecting Transport from the drop down menu, the land unit will be replaced by a transport icon either directly on top of the port hex or right next to it.  This step can then be repeated until all water hexes adjacent the friendly port have been filled up.  The transported unit can then be immediately moved to within the limit of it’s action point radius.  On your next turn, the unit can be unloaded either into a friendly port or onto friendly or enemy territory.  See the Amphibious Landings section under Naval Movement for further detail.
 
 

AIR MOVEMENT

RE-BASING

Since air units must be able to re-locate themselves as frontlines continuously change, they can be re-based up to the full range specified by their action points value.  Unlike land units however, air unit movement is not penalized by terrain costs or enemy unit positions and can thus be re-based to any friendly hex, including those behind enemy lines or even across bodies of water.

In order to re-base an air unit, select any active air unit and then left click on one of the highlighted destination hexes to complete the movement.

OPERATIONAL MOVEMENT

An operational movement for an air unit consists of the rapid transfer of an air fleet or group of strategic bombers from one battlefront to another.  Since air units are not penalized by terrain or enemy unit positions when moving, valid destinations can include any friendly city or fortification with an operational efficiency of >= 50%, regardless of its map location.  Other restrictions include sufficient MPP to pay for the movement (10% of the current production cost), as well as a supply value of >= 3 for the selected air unit.

In order to operationally move an air unit, right click on the unit and select Operate from the drop down menu.  Left clicking on any one of the highlighted hexes will complete the movement.
 
 

NAVAL MOVEMENT

REGULAR MOVEMENT

All naval units can be moved by first selecting the unit and then left clicking on any one of the highlighted destination hexes.

AMPHIBIOUS LANDINGS

A transported land unit can be unloaded in one of two ways:  either in a friendly port or onto friendly or enemy territory.  When choosing to unload in a friendly port you must first move the unit to the desired port hex and finish its movement.  The unit will remain active however, but you will only be allowed to unload it by either left clicking on it again, or by right clicking and selecting Unload from the drop down menu.  Left clicking on any one of the highlighted landing hexes will complete the movement.

The obvious advantage of unloading a transported land unit through a friendly port is that the entire sequence can be completed in a single turn.  The only other option which takes two turns would be to move the transported unit next to the territory you wish to unload to and wait until the next turn to actually unload the unit.  Also when unloading onto enemy territory there is a 40% chance that a landing casualty penalty may be incurred.  The landing casualty penalty can be a loss of anywhere between 1 and 5 strength points.
 
 

COMBAT

LAND COMBAT

REGULAR COMBAT

Regular combat is whenever a land unit has been selected to attack another unit without moving first.  This can be achieved by left clicking on a unit and then moving the mouse cursor over an enemy unit until a valid target is found.  Valid targets are those that are within strike range of the attacking unit.  Once a valid target has been found, both the attacker and defender information is shown at the bottom of the screen as well as the expected combat losses at the top middle portion of the information bar.  This can be seen below:

In general, the distance from which any unit can attack is limited to its strike range.  While most land units have a strike range of 1 hex, rocket attachments can achieve greater range through research and development.  See the Research and Development section for further detail on developing rocket technology.  The only other consideration for land units is that HQ units cannot attack since they are administrative in nature. See the Land Units section for further detail on HQ units.

BLITZ ATTACK

A blitz attack is when a land unit first moves and then attacks an enemy unit.  The same limits on strike range apply but they are calculated from the final attacking position of the land unit and not from its original position.  Also whenever a unit is used to attack, in either regular or blitz attack, this finishes its movement until the next turn.
 
 

AIR COMBAT

INTERDICTION

Both air fleets and strategic bombers can attack ground units as part of their regular combat capabilities.  However, air units can only attack if they have not yet moved and the enemy target is located within their strike range.  An attack by any air unit completes its movement for that turn.

STRATEGIC BOMBING

Both air fleets and strategic bombers can attack strategic resources including all cities, fortifications, ports, mines, and oil production areas.  In general, the effects of strategic bombing can greatly reduce an opponent’s ability to wage war and can thus be extremely valuable when properly executed.

Primarily, strategic bombing will reduce the operational efficiency of a strategic resource and can have the effect of rendering it almost useless for those units that depend on it for supply.  Also, if a city or fortification is sufficiently damaged (operational efficiency < 50%) then it will be excluded as a valid destination for operational movement.  The final benefit from strategic bombing is that it will not only immediately reduce an opponent’s MPP based on the amount of damage incurred, but will also reduce the number of MPP an enemy can collect at the end of their turn.  This of course can affect the production power of any country that has been effectively targeted through strategic bombing.

ESCORT DUTY

Air fleets may be automatically activated in an escort role when a strategic bomber run is likely to encounter enemy interceptors.  This will happen whenever an escorting air fleet is within action point range of an attacked unit/resource and if the escorting air fleet has not yet moved with a strength value >= 5.  Generally, this duality makes air fleets extremely useful when properly located on the map.

DEFENSIVE ACTIVATION

Air fleets may be automatically activated in a defensive role whenever an enemy’s air unit is attacking a friendly target.  This will happen whenever a defending air fleet is within action point range of an attacked unit and if the defending air fleet has not yet moved with a strength value >= 5.  Generally, this duality makes air fleets extremely useful when properly located on the map.
 
 

NAVAL COMBAT

REGULAR COMBAT

A naval unit that attacks another naval unit within its strike range prior to moving is considered part of regular naval combat.  The strike range for naval units can vary and depends on the type of unit involved.

ADVANCED STRIKE

An advanced strike is whenever a naval unit has moved and then attacked.  This type of attack can be extremely effective since it greatly increases a naval unit’s strike range with respect to its original position.  Carriers for example, can often strike deep into an enemy’s territory when participating in an advanced strike.

SHORE BOMBARDMENT

Shore bombardment can be commenced at any time and at any land or air unit as well as strategic resources.  The shore bombardment of defensive units can be helpful in the preparation of an amphibious assault, while bombardment of strategic resources is treated the same as strategic bombing of resources by air units.