World War 1: Background

On 28th June 1914, the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, were assassinated at Sarajevo, Bosnia in the Austrai/Hungarian province. The assassin was a Serbian nationalist called Gavrilo Princip. What followed was a chain of events which inevitably led to the First World War. Austria sent an ultimatum to Serbia. Serbia could not agree to the Austrian proposals. Consequently, Austra declared war on Serbia. Following this, Russia mobilized her armies to help Serbia. Germany declared war on Russia and France declared war on Germany. Germany invaded France via Belgium. Britain demanded that the Kaiser's troops should withdraw. They refused to do so, and on 4th August 1914, Britain declared war on Germany.

In this game you are able to influence the outcome of this global conflict.

Your War Begins

Britain is one of the Entente Powers, allied with France, Russia, Belgium and Serbia. The Central Powers are Germany, Austria, Hungary and Turkey. Each country will depend on its population for recruitment, and its industrial base for the production of the means of war. Each side has its own munitions and its own level of morale. These will be automatically renewed at a rate depending on the extent of control of industrial areas. Armies are composed of Infantry, Artillery and Machine Gun Emplacements. Naval fleets are made up of Battleships and Cruisers.

In general, battles are fought at the tactical level. Each side may lay down a challenge to battle when hostile armies or fleets are close to each other. If accepted, the action will shift to tactical mode, the field of action will appear on the screen, and forces will appear in random form. After the battle action will shift back to the strategic level. It is possible for battle to take place at the strategic level, but in this case the attacker is at a disadvantage unless the defending force is relatively weak. It is advisable to make battle at the tactical level. The command cursor(s) are the flashing red or yellow crosses (BBC) or flashing red or blue squares (SPECTRUM). These are moved using the joystick or keyboard.

Giving Orders (Both Strategic And Tactical Levels)

Move the cursor onto one of your army or naval icons and press Fire. The computer will emit two tones (BBC) or one tone (Spectrum) and await the next part of the order. The icon will flash to show that it is awaiting a command. If the Fire button is held down too long (and the computer emits three tones) the order will be rendered ineffective.

The order can be to "Move" or to "Attack".

To Move: Direct the cursor to the required position, and press Fire again. Two tones will follow, and the icon will stop flashing.

To Attack: Move the cursor onto an enemy icon and press Fire. The range is five squares at the strategic level, and six squares at the tactical level. The order will be acknowledged with two tones, and the enemy icon will be pursued until attacked on the order is changed. At the strategic level, it is possible to embark an army onto a naval vessel. The army icon must be adjacent to a naval icon. Order the army to embark in the normal way. The army will then go on board, and this will be indicated by a "Y" when the strength of the fleet is reported. The fleet carrying the army can then be ordered to move. Don't forget, if the fleet is lost, the army will go down with it!

Battle At The Tactical Level

Each army and naval icon has its own strength and ammunition rating. The ammunition rating is reduced by one point after attacking the enemy, and by a variable amount when defending. An army without ammunition will be unable to attack an enemy army. The modes of operation of artillery, battleships and cruisers are similar. If ordered to attack, they will move (at different speeds) to within range of the enemy icon (G squares) and fire a barrage. When infantry are ordered to attack, they will move adjacent to the enemy, then engage in combat. Machine gun nests will automatically open fire on any adjacent enemy icon, provided they have ammunition. They can be ordered to move, but movement is slow and they will not attack enemy icons. Artillery or machine guns *cannot* move into towns, trenches, forests or into the sea! An infantry icon is stronger against attack when in towns, trenches or forests. All combat in this game is governed by a slight chance element. This is most crucial when the unit icons are large and of roughly similar strength. However, don't trust to luck - your tactical skills matter most of all. Another element of uncertainly is that the strength of unit icons is revealed only when they are given an order, or after an attack. You must remember the strengths of your opponent's icons.

Moving From Strategic To Tactical Level

Before you can change levels, the following must all be true:

1. 3 minutes must have elaped,
2. Your cursor must be placed on one of your unit icons,
3. Either the COPY of the SHIFT LOCK keys must be pressed,
4. An enemy icon must be immediately adjacent to your chosen army or naval icon.

Moving From Tactical To Strategic Level

Before you can change levels, the following must all be true:

1. About two minutes must have passed
2. The COPY or the SHIFT LOCK keys must be pressed.

Game Controls

One Or Two Player Games

If both players agree, a rapid move from the tactical level to the strategic level, then this can be achieved by simultaneously pressing the COPY and SHIFT LOCK keys. Two players may play the game, using keyboard or twin joysticks. There is an option for a single player to take the part of the Entente Commander, against the computer, which plays on the side of the Central Powers.

Pressing 1 for player 1, or 2 for player 2 toggles between strategic and tactical, if the cursor is over a unit adjacent to an enemy unit and the appropriate time has elapsed.

Symbols

At the strategic level, the following abbreviations are used to describe the strength of the Armies and Fleets. (Strength 1-10 points.)

Mor = Morale (1-10)
Mun = Munitions (1-10)
Art = Artillery Units (1-10)
Mac = Machine Gun Nests (1-10)
Inf = Infantry Units (1-10)
Bat = No. of Battleships (1-10)
Cru = No. of Cruisers (1-10)
Abd = Army Aboard Fleet (Y/N)

Loading

Tape: CHAIN"" (RETURN)
Disc: SHIFT-BREAK