The Time: 0200 hrs. 21st November 1942
The Place: Under a parachute over occupied France.
Your mission: To parachute into occupied France disguised as a German officer, infiltrate the secret arms laboratory there, steal the plans and prototype of a new bomb, and make good your escape back to Blighty. Be careful if you are caught; you will probably be shot as a spy.

Wings of War is an adventure game for one player. It is the first in a series of two adventures, although either may be played on its own. The sequel is The White Cliffs of Dover.

Lt. Roger Wilcoe looked rather smart in his new German uniform. He stared at the ground far below as he swung gently on the straps of his parachute. It seemed incredible that mere hours ago he had been lounging in the Officers' Mess of the Special Task Force, playing chess with Out, the wonder dog.

Suddenly, the Task Force Commander, 'Hawkeye' Ohlson, had sauntered into the mess. Wiping the mess from his feet, and glaring coldly at Out, he gave us the bad news.

"Right chaps," he exclaimed cheerfully. "We need a volunteer for a highly dangerous mission. Decide amongst yourselves, and then report to me in my office."

As he left, everyone stared at each other.

"I volunteered for the last one," said Buggles.

Carruthers piped up with, "All my socks are in the wash, I'm afraid."

"Woof!" woofed Out the Wonder Dog.

Reggie didn't say anything. His eyes rolled back in his head, he swayed a little, and crashed silently to the floor.

"Mmmppphhhh!!" grunted Wilcoe, as the others bound and gagged him, dragged him down the hall, and dumped him unceremonially on the floor of the Commander's office.

"Glad you could make it, Roger," said Hawkeye. "We've had a tip from the French Resistance. It appears that the Jerries are working on some sort of new bomb thing. We want you to infiltrate their chateau and bring back these."

He handed over a list which read:

1. Black Box
2. Ignition Switch
3. Blueprint
4. Operational Guide
5. Manual
6. The Bomb

Now the ground was approaching rapidly. Wilcoe readied himself for the landing. Just before he touched down, his parachute snagged briefly as he hit the ground hard...

You are Lt. Roger Wilcoe, reluctant hero. You are in a wood near a large chateau. You must gather your equipment which was scattered through the woods during the rough landing, infiltrate the chateau, get the six listed items, and find a fast escape route back to England.

0200 hrs, 21st November 1942

Under a parachute over occupied France.

Wings of War uses a formatted display. On the left hand side of the screen is a description of the place you are currently in. Just below this is a section which tells you what exists are available to you (e.g. N, S, UP, DOWN). On the right hand side of the screen is a display which lists all the items you are carrying. You are only allowed to carry up to five items.

Below this is a section which tells you how many moves you have used so far. These displays are always shown so that you don't have to keep asking the computer for this information. The bottom lines of the screen are reserved for user input and the computer's responses.

Wings of War is an adventure game. As such it is up to you, the player, to find your way round the chateau, carrying and using any items you find, as appropriate. To do this, you must issue instructions to the computer. These instructions take the form of a verb and a noun, separated by a space. An example would be TAKE WRENCH. When you've finished typing the command, press ENTER and the computer will respond.

When referring to items that you find in the rooms, only the last word should be used to refer to the items. For instance, the IGNITION SWITCH would be referred to as SWITCH.

Most words can be abbreviated to three letters, for example, REPAIR and TAKE can be shortened to REP and TAK. The only exceptions to this rule are when giving directions. The cardinal compass points may be shortened to a single letter (N, S, E or W). When giving directions, the verb GO is also optional. Thus, the instruction GO NORTH can also be typed in GO N, NORTH or just N. The other exceptions are UP and DOWN, which must be typed in full (but you can still say DOWN instead of GO DOWN).

At any point during the game, you can save the current situation by typing the command SAVE GAME. Because of the way the Dragon 32 saves files, your cassette must have motor control to use this feature. Before you save the game, make sure that the cassette you are using is correctly positioned. To restore the game to the saved position, you can issue the instruction LOAD GAME at any time during the game.

1. Keep track of where you are and where you've been
2. If the computer doesn't understand one command, try another
3. Don't take anything for granted. Some useful looking items may be no good at all, and vice versa
4. Try some lateral thinking if you get stuck. Don't be afraid to do stupid things
5. Don't go around doing stupid things all the time
6. Be observant
7. Don't just save the game when you quit a session. It can save time later if you save the game at various points

There is no HELP facility for Wings of War. If you get really stuck, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Salamander requesting the Wings of War helpsheet.

CLOADM (ENTER)

When the program has finished loading, it will run automatically.