DDAY The 6th Of June From Ark Royal Games --Order Of Battle-- In new game, player selects order of battle consisting of no more than 45 of the units listed on the screen. Each unit has its own cost, the amount of which is deducted from the total points(1400) in the upper right when a unit of that kind is selected. Note the position of the cursor. It is in this position that the unit will start play, depending upon the turn it is to arrive. The small number "1" in the upper right of the blue field(water) names the turn that unit will arrive. Player may advance cursor to the right by using the right arrow key. He may not move it to the left. Except for FTR-BMR SQ's(Fighter Bomber Squadrons), unit selected will be placed above the cursor, which will then automatically advance to the right. To get the feel of this, press "R" (Ranger units) 5 times and note the 5 American flags. You now have 1250 points and 40 units for selection remaining. Now press an "F". Nothing happened except that 100 points were deducted from your total. FTR BMR's UNITSdo not count toward your UNIT total; so the number of units available to be selected remains at 40. Now press any other letter shown in front of the unit name, or press the arrow key to fill the line. As soon as the cursor reaches the end, the flags are erased and the number 1 becomes a 2. Units selected now will arrive turn 2. To advance the turn either before or after units are entered, press . Try it. Now press a "P" for parachute battalion. Nothing. That's because para units may only enter on turn 1. This is one restriction. The other is that Ranger battalions may only be selected to arrive on turn 1 or 2. Press Q to quit the selection. The Cadre screen is displayed. Depending on how many units player has entered, he will see his order of battle and the combat strength of these units, as well as the number of air units he has, friendly and enemy losses and reserve points. ENTER to continue. Reserve Points will be used to order up reinforcements. Though these may be accrued during play, at start they are the remaining(if any) points from his initial 1400. The computer asks if this is okay? Naturally it isn't, so press "N" to start over. --PLAY-- Once player has accepted his order of battle, the Germans set up and play begins. The beginning screen shows the lower portion of the map, a multitude of German Swastikas and all American units slated to arrive turn 1. The small black boxlike objects close to the water are pillboxes(PB). The Command Box at the bottom tells player the following: The unit number and name, how many air units are available, the turn, the strength of the displayed unit, its moves, and how much Naval support is available that turn. Note that unit number 1's flag is no longer displayed but rather its unit symbol. If the first unit you selected was a Ranger BN then the unit symbol is crossed swords. Press "L" to enter the Scrolling mode. Use the up or down arrow to view the battlefield. At any point that you wish to see units, press "D". Entering "S" will stop the scrolling. With no units displyed, however, player will note 8 towns and several airfields, which look like elongated "X"'s alomost on their sides. A bridge exists almost in the middle of the map. Rivers are blue, rough terrain is orange with white dots. Clear terrain is represented by white areas and sometimes light green dots. Other times the green dots are rough terrain. Dark green areas are woods. The reddish area north of the bridge is a high mountain range. This map bears little resemblance to France, where the original D-DAY took place. --COMMANDS-- RT Arrow advances cursor to next unit LT Arrow moves cursor to 1st movable unit N calls naval barrage* I calls air strike* A calls artillery barrage*-** E disbands unit K locates artillery*-** S enables supply depot D displays unit type M prepares unit for moving P Recon patrol C cadre screen L scroll Q quits turn (*If available.Air and Artillery must be a part of your order of battle.) (**May only be fired from dry land) --OBJECT-- To collect victory points(VP) by ELIMINATING 5 pillboxes WITH GROUND UNITS and by CAPTURING 4 airfields and 8 towns. Each PB is worth 1 VP, each airfield, 2; each town, 3. Note that a total of 37 VP's are possible. Player must get 34 VP's or more to win. There is no turn limit. --GERMAN AIRFIELDS-- Though there are several German airfields only four are victory objectives. Will not change from game to game. Besides being victory objectives, these airfields are starting locations for German reserves(as are German controlled towns) and represent German aircover during play. To create this aircover affect, each airfield adds a negative(-1) modifier to all American land unit strength in all combat. This deducts from the normal American operating modifier of +2. Thus at start there is a -2 modifier to American units in combat. There are two ways to prevent this.(a) Allow one air unit to conduct a mission or (b) destroy German airfields. By calling an air strike (a) player neutralizes German aircover that turn, but by destroying airfields, he reduces the negative effect on his normal bonus by one. Ex: American player starts with a -2 modifier due to German aircover. By launching an air strike, he reduces that to zero THAT TURN. Once he destroys an airfield, however, a +1 is added back for each airfield destroyed. This result is permanent. After 3 airfields are destroyed, American has a permanent positive modifier (1). When 4 airfields are destroyed he has a permanent modifier of 2 added to all land combat. --THE GAME-- On the turn a unit arrives it is invading. Invading units have the turn they arrive and 3 more turns to establish a beachead before begin automatically eliminated. In addition, invading units receive a negative combat modifier. To move a unit, press "M", and then the direction arrows. Pressing an "E" in the movement phase ends the move. Units moving next to an enemy unit will force combat. PB's have a wider range of combat (ROC) which extends 3 locations out from the PB: Normal ROC CCC PB ROC CCCCCCC CXC CCCXCCC CCC CCCCCCC Where "X" is the unit and "C" is where combat occurs. Naturally, combat also occurs at the unit location. Player's unit will be retreated in all normal combat if the enemy unit is not destrpyed. German units suffer a temporary loss of movement for from 1 to 3 turns after combat. Combat modifiers are added to combat and movement depending on the unit(s) involved and the situation. Movement modifiers: Only Rangers have unrestricted movement through water. All others have 1 move in water. Infantry type units and RECON units may move through rough terrain at will. Tank units have from 1 to 4 moves depending on your luck, Artillery 1-2. Observe that at certain locations in the river units are not stopped. Consider these fjords. Movement Allowances: Rangers,artillery and airborne (2);Infantry (3); Armor and Recon (4). Combat modifiers are more complex. All American units have a nomal attack bonus of 2. Rangers receive a bonus when attacking PB's. Armor and recon units receive a bonus when attacking infantry. Non armor units receive a negative modifier when attacking armor. Artillery units receive a negative modifier when attacking in the normal (move-next-to-an-enemy-unit) context, but not when firing at an enemy. All units receive a bonus when attacking an enemy from 'above' the enemy; all units suffer a harsh penalty when attacking from the water. Modifiers are cumulative. Ex: A ranger BN attacks a pillbox from a river above the PB. He receives a negative modifier for being in water, a bonus for attacking from above, a modifier for being a ranger unit attacking a PB, a normal bonus and, depending on German airfields, a bonus of from -2 to +2. Combat odds are figured by the ratio of enemy to player's unit strength. Battle losses are displayed afterwards. The strength of the German unit contacted is displayed above battle losses. A cumulative total of losses is displayed on the Cadre screen. After all units have moved, turn will automatically end. --PATROLS-- Only infantry units may be sent on patrol. Press "P" instead of "M". Movement is conducted just as before except that a) combat does not end movement(unless the move that brought it into contact was the last move), and b) both enemy and friendly units can lose only 0 or 1 strength points during combat. --CALLING SUPPORT-- While in the Non movement command phase, player may call for artillery, air or naval support.(Provided he has these available.) Press A, I or N. --ARTILLERY-- To fire artillery, player must have an artillery company on land and it must be in (vertical) line with its target, north or south. A cursor will flash in the approximate middle of the screen. Press any key except and the cursor will jump to a position in line with the artillery unit, usually one location north. Now press the up or down arrow to move cursor to a position underneath target. When ready to fire, press . Artillery is accurate to a position on or to the left or right of the target. --NAVAL BARRAGE & AIRSTRIKE-- Unlike artillery, airstrikes and naval barrages are not represented by visible units but are considered 'off board'. Both airstrikes and naval barrages are handled in the same way, though vertical aiming is not a criteria. Move cursor anywhere on the screen. Press to fire. Airstrikes hit the target and to either side. Naval barrages are less accurate, striking any of the 8 locations surrounding the target or the target location itself. Air strength may be reduced from 1-7 points per strike. Once the air unit is reduced to zero it ceases its availability. NO MORE THAN 3 AIR UNITS MAY BE SELECTED. Air units are called in their order. Unit 1 goes first, unit 2, next; unit 3 last.(If you have that many).Thus if unit one is eliminated you will have to call an air strike twice to get a response.All supports fire affects all units; German and American. --OBJECTIVES-- To capture a town or airfield, friendly unit must end it's turn at that location. Tone will sound. Points are awarded automatically. To receive points for PB's, PB must be destrpyed by land units. Knocking them out with Air, Artillery or Naval Barrages will eliminate obstacles but won't win victory points. PB's should be 'softened up' with support fire, however. German units reinforce uncaptured towns(*by starting play there) as well as the 4 airfields. Reinforcement occurs during play as well as between turns during German movement. Occassionally, German units counterattack. Once an objective is captured German reinforcement capability ceases, and player will then use captured TOWNS ONLY(not airfields or PB's) to receive replacements. Victory points are kept in the Cadre screen. *German units also enter from the far northwest corner of the map. This area is not a victory objective. --RESERVE POINTS(for Reinforcements)-- Reserve points are accrued 4 ways. 1) From left over points during setup. 2) Whenever a town or airfield is captured. 3) From disbanded units. 4) Every 10th turn whenever German losses exceed player's losses. Amount received in (4) is calculated INT(Gerlosses-Amlosses/12). --SUPPLY DEPOT-- Once a player has 5 plus random(5) VP's, he may build a supply depot at any captured TOWN location occupied by any unmoved unit. Press "s". A tone signals that the supply depot has been built. No tone means that you haven't enough victory points or aren't at a captured town location and must try again. The unit building the supply depot losses its trun. Afterwards, player will use the supply depot to receive reinforcements. Only one supply depot may be built during game. --DISBANDED UNITS-- There are times when a player suits his purposes, or any unit whose strength has been reduced so low as to render it inoperative, though in this last case player may choose to add replacements instead. Ranger and airborne units, with their low movement rates are 'shock' troops and may not want to be used where infantry are more effective. Unit may dispand only while on land. Disbanded unit strengths are added to the reinforcement pool of reserve points at a rate of random (strength +3). Note that you usually come out ahead disbanding units whose strength is 1 or 2. Disbanded unit strengths are not figured in with combat losses. --REINFORCEMENTS-- Once a supply depot has ben built it may be then used to muster from 0-3 reinforced (new) units a turn. Reinforcements are brand new units formed from eliminated units without penalty by pressing "R". Only infantry, tank and recon units are formed. Infantry reinforcements always start with 15 strength points, tank and recon 8. The reserve point total is reduced by 15. If fewer than 15 points are in the pool, then no reinforcements may be called. Reinforcements enter play at the supply depot. All reinforcements entering play next to a German unit will be counterattacked that turn. --REPLACEMENTS-- Replacements are awarded automatically any unit with a strength of less than 8+ unit ID when it enters a captured town. The ID number of units is thus; Rangers-1, Airborne-2, Infantry-3, Recon-4, Tank-5, Artillery-6. Thus a tank unit may be receive replacements if it has a strength of less than 13 while an infantry unit must have less than 11. The amount of replacement depends upon the type of unit it is, with more being awarded to armor than to rangers, for instance. Movement ends immediately, but unit may be 'Moved in Place' turn after turn to garner more replacements until the amount exceeds that mentioned above. (Press "M" and "M" again). A tone will sound when unit has reached the correct location, but replacements are awarded only if the unit's strength is less than stated above. --Display Units-- To display the actual type of American unit, press "D". --Artillery Locator-- There are time when player will want to use artillery right away. Press "K" to avoid having to hunt and peck to find it. --GAME SAVE-- At the end of any turn player may save the game. Prepare device, press "s". Select any single character(code) for use in identifying the game saved. Files created with be A()/DAT, GAME()/DAT,etc., whereby the () represents the character code chosen. To play a saved game, press "F" at the beginning of the game and the character code. --STRATEGY-- A lot is decided during the Order Of Battle development. Though there is no 'correct' setup, a few things should be observed: Armored units in water are highly vulnerable and should not be brought on until beachead is secure. For those who don't believe this, go ahead and try bringing them on early...you'll only try it once. The 3-turn rule requires all units get ashore as quickly as possible and precludes units(except rangers) from adjusting their position. A headlong, frontal assault is about all you can do in the opening, and using the proper units will reduce casualities. Remember that you do not have to bring units on all at once. You may skip turns before bringing on the next wave. Support fire is nice, but remember that artillery is out--you must get ashore to use it--and naval support is limited, unavailable, and innacurate. Air support is the most dependable, but it is expensive. The player who depends on support to get ashore often will find himself dead in the water. Rangers are the best most effective against pillboxes. Dropping airborne units behind the line, both to sandwich shore defense and to spearhead a quic assault on the central town, is good idea if you can afford it in your set up. Once a beachead is established player should do his best to capture a town and seek out an airfield or two. Two of the latter must be captured before you even reach modifier parity with German units--unless you don't mind using up your own air strength. Spearhead assaults in rough terrain with Recon units; mop up stragglers with infantry. Artillery and tanks will provide the might to capture any town, though you may have to spend time moving units back and forth to replacement centers. Don't forget to check your Navy every turn. It costs you nothing to call in naval barrages and they will wipe the heck out of concentrated enemy positions. use pincers; if you don't know what pincers are find out. You'll need them. Germans will counteract. When assaulting a victory objective(and getting into position to do it) player should interdict any enemy counter offensive with advance units. Remember that patrol contact and all support fire also negates German movement 1 to 3 turns as does regular combat. Make good use of all your units. Combined arms tactics is the key to winning the game. There is a lot of rough terrain, which, in the long run, will make infantry as mobile as armor. With no length of game penalty, player will want to take the time to manuever into favorable attack positions. Just remember that the Germans will be doing the same, unless their movement has been frozen by contact. There also is no penalty for having enemy units behind the lines, though often they will get in the way of something important if left alone too long. Set up an Operational plan and stick with it. Good Luck!