Cavendish Field
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Cavendish Field
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Cavendish Field is a tactical land battle, fought between two medieval armies. Like most computer wargames, Cavendish Field displays a map showing the disposition of the two armies and the terrain. The players (in this case, you and the computer) act as the commanders of their own units, and must make decisions on strategy, and issue appropriate commands to their men.

The player is given the option of issuing new orders to each unit, or leaving them as they are. The game proceeds by taking turns to organize the disposition of the troops, which may or may not result in conflict. The outcome of any conflict is determined by the relative type and strengths of the combatants — plus a certain amount of luck. Play continues until one player has reduced the other's forces to an untenable level.

The starting positions of the opposing sides' units are at different ends of the map — the player's starting at the southern end (the very bottom of the screen display), and the computer's starting at the northern (the top of the display).

There are a number of factors connected with your troops which will affect the way they perform on the battlefield:

1. the unit's current order (what you told them to do last time)
2. the direction of current movement
3. weaponry
4. armour
5. initial strength
6. current strength
7. morale or attitude
8. position
9. terrain



Playing Instructions
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After the game has finished drawing the map and placing the opposing units it's time to start building your strategy. A series of prompts appear in the text 'window'. Starting from unit one, the unit number and description, knights for instance, along with the current orders, e.g. halt, are displayed. The unit is also identified on the map by changing its colour. The player is then asked: Change (Y/N)?

If the answer is Y, a menu of order options is displayed: Fire, Halt, Move or Status. The Fire option is only open to the archers, so any attempt to make another type of unit fire will make the message 'No Bows' appear, and the machine will wait for another choice. If the Move option is chosen, the prompt 'Which way (NSEW)?' appears, ready for the player's choice. Status responds with a description of the current state of the unit.

This process is repeated for each unit. Once you have issued instructions to all of your units the computer will do the same to its units and the map will be updated. The result of any conflicts will be displayed in the text window.



Notes
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There are three versions of the game on the disc:

1. an easier version where the computer's moves are more random
2. a harder version where the computer's moves are more intelligent (this requires shadow RAM or a second processor)
3. a cut-down harder version for the standard model B (the 'Status' option has been removed)

On running the disc it will ask whether you want an easy or hard game and will load the appropriate program for your machine.

Originally published in Input #40, page 1254