BATTLE OF BRITAIN V.1 COPYRIGHT W.JORDAN 1991 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA Requires 1 Meg RULES INTRODUCTION Battle of Britain is a 2 player strategy game based on the infamous World War 2 battle. The computer can play the roles of the German and/or British players. HOW TO WIN The game consists of 5 days. The German player wins if more than 15 targets have been completely destroyed at the end of any day, the British player wins if less than 11 targets have been destroyed at the end of the game, else it is a draw. Partially destroyed targets count towards victory conditions. In the limited version, the game only goes for two days. The Germans win if more than 6 targets have been completely destroyed else the British player wins. This version is likely to be less balanced than the full version. THE MAP The map consists of a square grid representing parts of southern England and northern France. Radar stations are represented by triangles, cities by black circles, British bases by orange circles and German bases by solid orange circles. THE UNITS Planes represented are spitfires, messherschimtts and heinkels. All types of German planes are represented by black crosses while British planes are represented by orange, blue and white circles. AA GUN DEPLOYMENT The British player distributes the 2000 available anti aircraft guns amongst the radar stations airbases and cities. They are only deployed once per game and cannot be moved. Simply type in the number, then press return, for each location. The location is highlighted by a black border. AIRCRAFT DEPLOYMENT Aircraft are deployed at the start of each day. Aircraft are divided up amongst the units in any way the player wishes. AUTO DEPLOYMENT Each player has the option of auto-deploying his units, in which case the computer will deploy for him. This speeds up play but has the disadvantage of the loss of flexibility in deployment. BOMBER DESTINATIONS At the start of a day, each bomber is given a single destination. The German player chooses a destination by clicking on a base, city or radar station. A screen will then appear showing the approximate damage to the target (if any) and the number of bombers already plotted there (if any). You may change your choice by selecting NO. A bomber unit will automatically move towards its destination then return to its original base. THE TURN A game consists of up to 5 days. Each day consists of a maximum of 10 turns. The game ends at the end of the fifth day, or earlier if the German player has won. Each player can see game information by choosing OBS, INFO or MAP before clicking on MOVE. OBS This shows the current numbers, destination etc. of each unit of the current player. INFO This displays information about the planes of both sides, including the total number of aircraft of each type, available at the start of the day. MAP This gives damage level, aa-guns etc. of British cities, airbases and radar stations. Germans recieve distorted information. MOVEMENT Bombers move automatically towards their target and return to their original base after they have bombed. Bombers move 1 or 2 squares a turn. The fighter unit whose turn it is to move is highlighted by an orange border. Fighter units are moved by clicking on the map. Fighters have a maximum move of 3 squares in any direction, including diagonally. Any number of units (of both sides) can be in the same square. RADAR Undestroyed radar stations detect German aircraft within 3 squares in any direction. Radar gives an estimation of the total number (not types) of German aircraft in a square, plus or minus 10%. Only German units within radar range are actually displayed on the map during the British players turn. COMBAT Combat occurs whenever opposing aircraft move into the same square. If there are both German bombers and German fighters in the same square, the British player has the option of which type to attack first. German fighters then counterattack, then bombers use their defensive fire (if attacked). The square of the current combat is highlighted by a black border. Rarely, the attacking force will not find the defending force. AAGUNS AA guns fire at bombers in the same square before they bomb. AA guns are never destroyed. BOMBING Each surviving bomber does 1 point of damage (2 against a radar station). A target is destroyed when it has recieved 100 or more damage points. Destroyed targets cannot be used. FUEL Bombers have unlimited fuel. Fighters have a limited number of turns in the air. German fighters not arriving at a German base by the time their fuel runs out are destroyed. British fighters need to get to any square in Britain. Fighters at an airbase can refuel and take off again. Fighters can take off on any turn they wish. REINFORCEMENTS At the start of each day each player recieves reinforcements which are added to their force pool. German reinforcements are a constant, while British reinforcements depend on bombing to cities. TIPS Both sides have different problems. The German player has to decide which target he will concentrate on first. Bombing cities reduce British production, bombing radar stations will restrict their ability to respond while bombing airbases will limit their ability to deploy effectively. Small units (e.g. one aircraft) of either side, can confuse the opponent. AA guns are not very effective, but concentrated may surprise the Germans and in any case may be sufficient to reduce bombing below 100% effectiveness. The German player has to be careful not to undersize his bomber forces. German fighters are equal to British fighters in combat strength, but the British player has the tactical advantage of attacking first. Bombers are fairly weak in defensive fire, but a large group of bombers has a fair amount of defensive power. All aircraft of the same type in the same square are combined for combat purposes. The German player can hope to ambush the British player with large numbers of fighters, as he can never force combat. The British player with have to decide whether to concentrate his fighters (much more effective in combat) or to attack at the first opportunity. A very important decision is whether to attack bombers first or attack the fighter escort first. The former will destroy more bombers but lose more British fighters. The decision will depend on both the current tactical and strategic position. Allowing fighters to run out of fuel is a great way to lose fighters! Late in the game the situation will become very critical. CREDITS Graphics are hardly up to commercial level, but neither is the price! It is a long program (about 40K source code) and took a long time to write. If you would like to see me develop it further and remove some rough edges (and give a higher priority relative to other projects) then drop me a line, with any feedback, suggestions etc. It should play ok though, and the computer opponent should provide a moderate challenge. If anyone has been sucessful in playing IFF Sound Samples within Amigabasic, I would be very interested. For the full (and latest) version of this game plus a print-out of these rules, send $25 to the below address. William Jordan 25 King William St Fitzroy, Vic 3065 Australia Playtesters: Richard Jordan Mark Entwhistle Andrew Harding