Introduction

People's Tactics

Hex based turn based strategy

People's Tactics is a freeware turn-based strategy game and scenario editor programmed by Victor Reijkersz, with graphics by Joshua Ross. The game operates at an abstract tactical level and combines the features of empire-building and war games. This may make the game look daunting at first, but take heart, most of the game's complexities are handled behind the scenes and there are actually very few rules for you to take in to account.

The game play basically breaks down in to two distinct theaters: The home front and the front lines. On the home front, the player must decide which new technologies to pursue, decide which military units to place into production, hire and organize his officer-corps and form new combat units and headquarters. The front-lines sees the player making strategic decisions about the composition of his forces, managing supply lines, maneuvering his armies and formulating the tactics required to defeat his adversaries.

People's Tactics is a game that rewards patience and long-term planning. Solid, consistent victories cannot be achieved with overwhelming force alone, smart tactics are required to win. Enemy units must be isolated, supply lines cut and harbors blockaded if you wish to defeat a larger or equal sized opponent. A smart general will tailor his research and production to most benefit his master plan -- producing a badly organized army, or being forced to disband and restructure often may prove fatal in a close-pitched battle.

An archive of the official website and the community forums can be found at the Wayback Machine.

Credits

Victor Reijkersz – Programming, game design, scenario design, documentation

Joshua Ross – Graphics, scenario design, documentation

Testing and feedback by:

Koen Fasten, Chris Garden, DavidSHQ and Panzeh

Interface

Menu bar

There are three menus in the menu bar: File, Info and Preferences and Editing. The Editing menu will only be displayed if the option is ticked under the Info and Preferences menu and, only being relevant to scenario creation, will not be discussed in this section.

File

Load - This command will open the file browser in which you may select the scenario or save file you wish to open. By default, these files are located in the scenario folder. If you already have a scenario loaded, you will have to exit that before you may load a new one. To begin playing a scenario that you have loaded, select the 'start' command from the menu.

Save - Selecting this command will save the current state of the scenario. If you were in the middle of the game, this will save your progress, if you were in edit mode, it will save the state as a new scenario.

Start - This option is only available when a scenario is loaded. Selecting start will bring you to the Start Game Window (more about this below) in which you'll be able to configure a number of options and begin playing People's Tactics.

Random Game - This option will bring up a window that will allow you to configure a game on a random map.

Surrender - This command surrenders your regime. When playing against humans (as in a PBEM game), it is much more polite to surrender first rather than to just stop playing. If it is a PBEM game you are playing, you should email the save file after surrendering.

Exit Game - This option is only available once you have started playing a scenario, selecting it will clear all memory and take you back to editing mode. This is the de facto "quit" command.

Info and Preferences

Show/Hide Grid - This option will put black lines between the hexes on the map, making it easier to see exactly where everything is, although making the map less aesthetically pleasing.

Show Most Recent Enemy Actions -

Sight Range - This option shades the hexes you cannot see, helping you work out where best to explore.

Show supply - This option displays a number above each formation/THQ showing the amount of supply it consumed last turn. The color of the number indicates the quality of supply to the unit. Red indicates poor quality, whilst green indicates good quality.

Show Status Report - This option opens the status report window, which has lots of useful information on the hex, your units and your supply and production.

Show Editing Menu - This option makes the editing menu available, making scenario creation possible.

Start Game Window

Here you can configure a new game. You can set the following options:

Play By Email - Enables you to save the game before starting your opponent’s turn. You will have to manually email the file, however.

Use Passwords – You must select a password before you first turn. On every one of your following turns, you won’t be allowed to play without once again entering it.

Fog of War - If this option is turned off, you will be allowed to see your enemies units and statistics. For a realistic game, always have this option enabled.

Fog of Exploration - If you turn this on, all unseen territory will remain black and shrouded. This is advised for playing random scenarios as it adds some extra difficulty.

AI gets production bonus – Experienced players can use this option to add some additional difficulty to their games by giving the AI regimes a production bonus.

AI or Human? - If you don’t enable human, the computer AI will play the regime in question.

The Map

People's Tactics map image

Units are displayed on the map as icons, the colour of which is unique to the regime. The little colored square on the top left corner is a visual indicator of the Chain of Command, starting at the THQ level (i.e. each THQ has a unique color code). There is no coloured square for SHQs or for units that are not assigned to a THQ

Unit type

The symbol in the middle of the unit icon represents what type of unit it is: air formation, sea formation, artillery, infantry, motorized, armour, THQ or SHQ. THQs are represented by a cross.

Whether a unit is artillery, infantry, motorized or armour depends on the respective ratios: Artillery, if the total Artillery Attack Value (Ranged, not Front, Artillery Unit Type)is higher than the sum of the Soft and Hard Attack and Defence values of Armour or Infantry (whichever is highest), and the formation does not have enough carrying capacity for it to become Motorized; Infantry, if the sum of the Infantry’s Soft and Hard Attack and Defence values is higher than the Armour’s, and the formation does not have enough carrying capacity for it to become Motorized; Motorized, if there is enough carrying capacity to offset the total weight of Infantry and Artillery (Ranged OR Front Artillery Unit Types); Armour, if the sum of the Armour’s Soft and Hard Attack and Defence values is higher than the Infantry’s, and the formation has enough carrying capacity for it to become Motorized.

Values

These values depend on whether it is a land, sea or air formation . Respectively, they represent Attack/Defence, Combat/Cargo, or Dogfight/Interdict. If Fog of War is enabled, other regime’s icon values represent the average of the fore-mentioned numbers, with a random variation thrown in: the number may be anywhere from 80 to 120% of the actual value.

The Unit Information Panel

People's Tactics unit panel image

Name - The unit’s name. The important thing here is that the player may change the name, by clicking on it. Within a maximum of 20 characters, there is very little in the way of limitations on the characters the player may use (the one that comes to mind is that a name cannot start with “).

Parent organisation - In the case of a Formation, the THQ. In the case of a THQ, the SHQ. In the case of a SHQ, the Regime.

People's Tactics readiness icon image Readiness - The current readiness of the unit. Readiness can go from 10 to 100, and starts at 50 for new units. This is an average of the readiness of the Unit Type items that have combat value. If you transfer items from another unit (the SHQ, for instance), it will probably change. A unit gains readiness by sitting still, and loses readiness by moving, attacking or being attacked. If a unit is not being supplied, it will lose readiness even by sitting still.

People's Tactics experience icon image Experience - The current experience of the unit. Experience can go from 25 to 150 points, and starts at 25 for new units. This is an average of the experience of the Unit Type items that have combat value. If items are transferred from another unit (the SHQ, for instance), it will probably change (and even if you don’t believe in Murphy’s Law, the change will most likely be for worse rather than for better). A unit gains experience automatically up to 50 experience points (6 points each turn, which means that a unit at 49 XPs may be at 55 XPs next turn), or by winning or losing a combat (as in most things in life, winning is best).

People's Tactics movement points icon image Movement Points - The current Movement Points (MP) available to the unit.

People's Tactics movement type icon image Movement Type Used - In the SHQ panel, this represents the carrying capacity available to that SHQ. For other units, Movement type may be Artillery, Infantry, Motorized or Armour (for land formations), Air (for air formations) or Sea (for sea formations). In the case of land formation, the percentage behind it denotes the percentage of mechanization of the unit. 100% denotes that it will move at the speed of a mechanized unit (trucks, tanks, etc...).

People's Tactics weight icon image Weight, or in case of a naval unit, the amount of weight it can carry

People's Tactics supply icon image Percentage of supplies received out of what is required (in the SHQ panel, this indicates the number of supply points in stock)

People's Tactics fame icon image The fame of the Commanding officer

People's Tactics retreat icon image Percentage of Retreat. The higher the number, the sooner the officer will retreat his unit from combat

People's Tactics skills icons image The ground, naval and air skills of the commanding officer

TOE Panel

TOE is a military acronym standing for Table of Organization and Equipment. The TOE panel is the bottom middle part of the game screen. If a SHQ is selected, it shows the inventory of Unit Type items of that SHQ. If another class of unit is selected, it shows what Unit Types are part of that unit, and how many of each.

When a land formation or a THQ are selected, some additional information (over the Unit Type graphic) is shown: in the top right corner, in red, the percentage of each Unit Type items that will take part in the first round of combat; in the top left corner of an Infantry class, in yellow, the percentage of Infantry items that take part in the first round of combat and that are protected by Armour items (i.e., if Armour and Infantry are present in the same combat formation, a part of the infantry will take losses only after all armour in that formation is destroyed); in the bottom row of an Artillery class, in light blue, wether the Artillery type is a front line item, or a ranged artillery item; if this last, the maximum range in hexes that can be fired at.

The Terrain Panel

All info on selected hex is given in this window

People's Tactics terrain panel detail image

The first percentage denotes the amount of supply this hex receives from the best SHQ. The x,y coordinates show the number of steps this hex is away from the best SHQ and what the maximum number of steps is it can be away before receiving no further supply. The last graphic denotes the type of supply. In this example it is normal land supply.

Command Bar

Hex Commands

People's Tactics attack button image Attack

To attack a hex containing enemy units, you must first select this attack command. After that is done, you must select friendly, adjacent forces to participate in the attack. You do this by clicking on a friendly formation and then clicking on the single hex picture left of its name in the info box below the map. Keep in mind that a unit must have 2 Movement Points available in order to attack. You may select as many friendly units as you wish to join the attack, once you are done, click the “do attack” button located at the top of the screen. Or, to cancel, select the “cancel order” button.

People's Tactics new unit button image New Unit

Once you have clicked this button, a dialog will pop-up asking you which sort of formation you wish to create. Different formations require differing amounts of political points to create. Once the formation is created, it must be assigned to a chain of command (unless the formation you created was an SHQ). The new formation will also need units transferred in to it or it will disappear (Once again, this only applies to formations which are not SHQs).

People's Tactics production button image Production

This option can only be selected when a hex containing a city or town is highlighted. Once pressed, a window will open giving you command of what units you wish this city to produce. Note, you can also assign the city to generate Political Points instead. On the right hand of the window, you are able to instruct which SHQ the units shall be delivered to.

Formation Commands

People's Tactics move button image Move

Selecting this command will highlight a unit’s maximum range and allow you to move. A unit cannot move into the same hex as an enemy unit. To do that, the attack command must be used.

People's Tactics change command button image Change Command

This command is used to assign a new chain of command to the selected unit. In the case of a regular formation you select a new THQ to be its boss. In the case of a THQ you select its new SHQ. Once pressed, you must locate the new HQ for the unit and then confirm the choice with the buttons that appear at the top of the screen. Be advised, the unit that has its command changed will become less effective for a while and receive negative modifiers.

People's Tactics transfer button image Transfer

Once you have pressed this button, select the formation you wish to transfer units to and then confirm your choice with the “do transfer” button at the top of the screen. After you have done that a window will open in which you can select the quantity and the unit types that you wish to transfer. Keep in mind that normal formations can only transfer to other units within the hex they occupy. SHQs can transfer to formations or other SHQs beyond their own hex, but this is only as long as they have enough MOBCAP ( MOBility CAPacity for land transfer) and CARGOCAP (CARGO CAPacity for sea transfer). Another important point to remember is that units can only be transfered to other units in the same chain of command.

People's Tactics fortify button image Fortify

After clicking this command, you will have to select a neighbouring hex with which to fortify the border with. You need equal engineer and supply points to build the current level. Note that there are three levels of fortification possible. You must already have built 1 before you can upgrade it to level 2, and same for 2 to 3. The more engineers you have the less MP it costs you.

People's Tactics disband button image Disband

Removes the selected unit from play.

Naval Formation Extra Commands

People's Tactics load unit button image Load Unit

After selecting this command, you will have to select a unit you wish to load on to the ship and then confirm your selection with the buttons at the top of the screen. A ship cannot transport a unit if that unit exceeds the ships weight limit.

People's Tactics unload unit button image Unload Unit

After clicking this button the unit will unload if the ship is in a port, otherwise you will have to select a neighbouring hex as an unload destination and confirm this action by clicking the button at the top of the screen.

Air Formation Extra Commands

People's Tactics interdict button image Interdict

After clicking this button you will have to select an enemy formation that you want to interdict. After selecting this formation you will have to confirm this action by clicking the big button at the top of the screen.

People's Tactics strategic bombing button image Strategic Bombing

After clicking this button you will have to select a town hex that you want to bomb. After selecting this hex you will have to confirm this action by clicking the big button at the top of the screen.

People's Tactics airlift/airdrop button image Airdrop/Airlift

After clicking this button, PT might prompt you to select which formation you want to airdrop/airlift in case you have two land formations in the same hex. Otherwise it will assume you want to airdrop/airlift the only land formation in the hex. You must then select a destination. After selecting this hex you will have to confirm this action by clicking the big button at the top of the screen. The difference between airlift and airdrop is that if you select a friendly town as a destination it is an airlift, while if you select a (possibly enemy) non town-hex it is an airdrop. Keep in mind that only unit types with the “paradrop” ability can be airdropped.

People's Tactics air supply button image Air supply

After clicking this button you will have to select the formation that you wish to receive the air supply. After selecting this formation you will have to confirm this action by clicking the big button at the top of the screen. Keep in mind you can only select formations to receive air supply that are completely out of supply, and that are in open terrain.

General Commands

People's Tactics officer pool button image Officer Pool

This button will open up a menu that will allow you to manage your regime’s officer pool. You can spend Political Points to hire a new officer, you can fire an officer from the pool (that will teach him the price of failure!) or you can assign a different officer to the selected formation. Note, the selected formation is whichever one you had highlighted before you clicked the Officer Pool button. Keep in mind that your officers have different skill levels for ground, sea and air. You will want to assign the best possible leaders to your various formations, not assign a naval-genius to lead a panzer division!

People's Tactics research button image Research

This command will open a dialog in which you can select which fields of research to spend your Political Points. Each field will lead to new unit types that you will be able to produce in a friendly city. The most potent units in the game are usually found several fields deep; so don’t neglect your research!

People's Tactics diplomacy button image Diplomacy

This button will bring up the diplomacy screen, which is utilized in some scenarios for declaring war and making peace. Changing your relationship with a foreign regime costs Political Points.

People's Tactics end turn button image End Turn

This command will end your turn.

Command & Officers

People's Tactics has a command, supply and transfer system that is the envy of many commercial games. Without a chain of command, your units will not be able to receive supply, be directed in battle or be reinforced (via transfers). The basic chain of command is that a formation has a tactical HQ, that a tactical HQ has a Strategic HQ and that towns deliver their production and supply to the Strategic HQ.

Command hierarchy

Strategic Headquarters (SHQ)

The Strategic Headquarters (most frequently refered to as SHQ) is a non-combat unit the highest level of command hierarchy. Supply and production is delivered from towns to SHQs. Regimes need at least one SHQ to do anything and can have up to fifty. SHQs are always land units.

Tactical Headquarters (THQ)

The Tactical Headquarters (most frequently refered to as THQ) is a combat unit in the middle of the hierarchy. THQs receive supply and reinforcements from SHQs, and must be assigned to one in order to function effectively. An SHQ may have assigned to it as many THQs as the player sees fit (there are working/efficiency restrictions, that we will discuss later, but at this moment there is no design limit). THQs are always land units.

Formations

Formations are combat units at the bottom of the hierarchy. Formations receive supply from their THQ, and must have one assigned. Formations receive reinforcements from SHQs, but can only receive reinforcements from the SHQ that their THQ is assigned to. A THQ may have assigned to it as many Formations as the player sees fit (there are working/efficiency restrictions, that we will discuss later, but at this moment there is no design limit). Formations may be land, air or sea units.

Changing command

People's Tactics change command button image Change Command Button

You can set the chain of command for formations and THQ’s using the change command button. Doing this will use up the rest of the unit’s movement points, also, it will give a readiness penalty and increase the disruption of the unit. When the command of a THQ is changed, all formations assigned to that THQ will receive disruption, but no readiness penalty.

It is vital that you set up a THQ for each formation, a SHQ for each THQ and a SHQ for each town. The counters of formations that have a broken chain of command will turn red to warn the player they are not receiving enough supplies to sustain them.

Officers

The chain of command is not abstract. Officers play an important role in Peoples Tactics and are defined by the following characteristics: Name, Land/Naval/Air combat skill level, Reputation(Fame points), Retreat level and, if applicable, the Disruption level in the Chain of Command (the white numbers that appear over the Officer’s portrait). Of these characteristics, only Reputation and Disruption change during the game.

Officers have skill levels between one and nine in three different theatres of war. As a rule of thumb, a unit with a level nine officer will be one-and-a-half times more effective than a unit with a level 1 officer.

Next to that, fame points also have an effect. 1 fame point is about 20% improvement, 10 fame points about 60% improvement and 25 fame points about 100% improvement. Fame points are earned by destroying enemy units in combat. The higher the officer’s body count, the more skilled and deadly he will become. Reputation increases at the rate of 1 Fame point per each 4.000 points of net losses inflicted in one combat (in the default rules). Once gained, it is never lost and has no maximum limit.

Disruption is caused by replacing an officer, or by defeat in or retreat from combat. Disruption may grow up to 75%, but no further. It will decrease each turn at the following rate:

Int [ DISRUPTION * ( 1 - OFFICERSKILL/20 ) ] - Int [ Sqr ( OFFICERFAME ) ] - 10

In this formula, Int() and Sqr() are the Integer and Square root functions, and OFFICERSKILL is the applicable Officer’s skill, i.e. the commanding officer of a Land Unit uses his Land skill value, the commanding officer of a sea formation uses his Sea skill value and the commanding officer of an air formation uses his Air skill value.

During a battle, all the officers in the chain of command are taken into account. The officer of the formation has a 50% influence, the THQ’s officer has an influence of 33%, and the SHQ’s officer has an influence of 16%. For a Formation, the lowest level, the impact of the Chain of Command is given by the formula (1*SHQ+2*THQ+3*UnitCO)/6.

Each officer also has a retreat value. This is expressed as a percentage (i.e. a value between 0 and 100). The lower the value, the less likely the formation is to retreat, the higher the value, the more likely the formation is to retreat. Again, all the officers in the chain of command, not just the one in direct control, influence the unit in combat.

The Officer Pool

People's Tactics officer pool button image Officer Pool Button

The Officer Pool enables you to buy new officers (costing Political Points) and swap officers between the pool button and the currently selected unit. It is possible to store officers in the officer pool (for use later), or to dismiss them forever. To change the commanding officer of a unit already on the map:

Select the unit whose commanding officer you want to change
Click on the “Officer pool” button
Select an officer from the pool
Click on the “Swap Officer” button

Disruption occurs when you play with the chain of command. So make changes in officers and bosses sparingly otherwise your whole army will become disrupted and fight poorly. Furthermore, due to the Chain of Command, disruption at an higher echelon extends to the units of lower echelons.

In larger scenarios it is an intelligent strategic choice to put your best people as high in the chain of command as possible. 16% bonus (SHQ) over 20 units or 33% bonus (THQ) over 4 units is more than 50% bonus over 1 unit.

Supply

Without adequate supply your units cannot recover readiness. Without adequate supply, or with no supply at all, your units will lose readiness, even when doing nothing. It is vital for your military to have and maintain good lines of supply.

People's Tactics supply type icons image

Basically, a hex can be supplied in one of three different ways. The first, and easiest to maintain, is through a traceable land route. Secondly, through a traceable land and sea route in which case both a sending port and receiving port are under your control. The third method is through a traceable land and sea route but with only a sending port under your control. This method is known as “amphibious supply” and it carries a 50% penalty due to the difficulty of the medium

The line of supply is traced from a formation to their SHQ. If you have multiple SHQs, there will be multiple lines of supply. A formation uses the SHQ of its THQ for supply.

If there is not enough supply available in the SHQ to supply all its formations it will send partial supply to all.

A SHQ can save up to a certain amount of unspent supply. This can be used in the future or used for air supplying units.

A SHQ has a certain maximum limit to where it can supply formations. Formations further than half this limit away get penalties. If they are out of limit they will get no supply and their counter will turn orange as a warning for the player.

Keep in mind that units that do nothing will use almost no supply, while units that move and battle a lot will use lots more of supply.

Keeping your formations too far away from their respective THQs will result in supply loss.

Use the hex info button in the status report to get detailed info on how a hex is supplied. Especially if you have multiple SHQ this could be interesting and affect your strategy.

Production

Without production, no supply will be produced for your units, nor new troops and equipment. Each town automatically produces supply and sends it to its SHQ, as long as there is a land or sea (using 2 harbours) connection.

Next to this, you can set the production of a town, either to Political Points or to a specific unit type. Any units produced in the town will be delivered to your choice of SHQ (see production screen). The selected SHQ must be within a land supply line to the town, however, having a town sending production to an overseas SHQ will not work. The game will show a little red “N” in the bottom of the town hex to warn you if this situation might occur.

If a town has no reachable SHQ set, even using ports, it displays a little red “NP” in the bottom of the hex indicating that it cannot produce anything since it cannot deliver the production anywhere.

Not every people can produce every unit type depending upon the scenario you are playing.

Units

Formation step-up

You can customize your formations during play and make different kind of formations for different tasks. Each formation can consistent of up to 4 types of unit types.

Type of unit	Land unit types	Sea unit types	Air unit types
1	Infantry	Warships	Fighters
2	Mobile	Cargo ships	Transporters
3	Artillery	Aircraft carriers	Bombers
4	Armour	Submarines	N/A

Due to this system, it is not possible to put light infantry and heavy infantry in the same formation. It is possible to put light infantry, humvees, mortars and light tanks in the same formation. The best mix of unit types will depend on the scenario and your tactics. The reason to mix unit types is so that they can work together. Mainly:

Land Mobile

Mobile and armour types can tow or carry infantry and artillery types. Thus increasing the number of movement points of the formation.

Land Support

Artillery types with range=1 participate in a supporting role in land battles. They add to the firepower of the unit, and can only be destroyed if the unit is forced to retreat. They are overrun on the moment they are left without infantry or armour accompaniment. The same goes for mobile unit types, which are purely supportive in the movement and recon area, but bring no combat value whatsoever.

Armour Cover

Infantry will take cover inside armour during battle if possible. Infantry inside or behind vehicles still participate in combat, but they can only be destroyed after the armour they are covered by is destroyed.

Long Distance Artillery

A land formation which has long distance artillery (distance>1) is considered an artillery formation. Infantry and Armour added to the unit can only be used defensively. All attacks the formation participates in will be through indirect fire.

Escort Role

If air units are interdicting, transferring, airlifting of bombing the fighters in the same formation will always escort the other aircraft (transporter or bomber) and engage enemy intercepting fighters. Only after all escorts are destroyed will the transporters and bombers have to fight with the enemy escorts.

Unit type characteristics

Unit Types are the “building blocks” of People’s Tactics and are defined by the variables discussed below. The Unit Type characteristics may be checked, during a game, in two ways: if present in a unit that is not a SHQ, by clicking on its picture (this also works for the characteristics of other player’s Unit Types); if it is a Unit Type that has been researched (or that was available from the start) but not yet built, the City Production Panel has a button that allows to do so.

Name

Unit type name.

Weight

Air formations and land formations (including THQs) have a maximum weight allowance, which limits the number of items that can be placed in those formations. Sea formations do not have a weight limit, or to be more precise, all the naval Unit Types have a weight of zero.

In the default game infantry types (such as light infantry) weigh 100 units, and the maximum weight allowance is 30000. This means that a unit can have a maximum of 300 infantry. A unit with 300 infantry would be full and have no room for say, a tank.

Carrying capacity

Land Mobile (Trucks and Humvees) and Armour Unit Types have carrying capacity. This is used to transport Infantry and/or Artillery types and, if there is enough carrying capacity, the unit’s movement type is upgraded. The Transporter (Air Unit Type), Cargoship and Light Carrier (Naval Unit Types) also have carrying capacity, but it works in a different way: air formations and sea formations transport land units (only one at a time, and it must have Movement Points available at the time of embarkation). Sea formations may also carry air formations, which will adopt the role of naval aviation if the formation includes at least one Light Carrier (and due to the one unit limit, will preclude the transportation of another unit).

Movement allowance

This is the maximum movement points available to the Unit Type. When there is more than one Unit Type in the same formation, the formation’s movement allowance will usually become the lowest of all present. The exception, as noted before, is for land formations (including THQs) that have enough carrying capacity to upgrade to a higher movement type.

The movement allowance for light infantry in the default game is 3, whilst the movement allowance for trunks is 6. If a formation has enough trucks to carry all the infantry (see carrying capacity), the formation will have 6 movement points per turn.

Soft attack value

This characteristic is used to determine how much damage is done to an enemy formation's infantry when attacking.

Soft defence value

This characteristic is used to determine how much damage is done to an enemy formation's infantry when defending.

Hard attack value

This characteristic is used to determine how much damage is done to an enemy formation's armour when attacking.

Hard defence value

This characteristic is used to determine how much damage is done to an enemy formation's armour when defending.

Artillery attack value

This characteristic is used to determine how much damage is done to an enemy formation when attacking with ranged artillery unit types.

Artillery range

This is the maximum distance at which a Ranged Artillery Unit Type may fire, measured in hexes.

Reconnaissance ability

This characteristic is relevant only when the Fog of War option is enabled. It is dependent on a basic reconnaissance level set in the scenario editor (50 points, in the standard set). The number of reconnaissance points of the Unit Type items in a given formation is tallied, to ascertain the reconnaissance ability of the formation. If more than one formation belonging to the same Regime is in a given hex, those formations abilities are added, to give a total “hex” reconnaissance ability.

In order to see as far as X hexes away (for X greater than one, because it is allways possible to see into hexes adjacent to units or terrain owned by a player), the following (minimum) reconnaissance points must be available: Reconnaissance Basis Points * X * X / 2 (e.g., to see 3 hexes away, with the standard set BRP of 50, you would need 50*3*3/2 or 225 recon points). There is one restriction to this formula: it is not possible to see farther than the highest theoretical movement allowance present at the hex (e.g. an air formation filled to capacity with Recon planes will not see more than 12 hexes away, as 12 is the movement allowance of Recon planes).

Supply need

The maximum ammount of supply that a given Unit Type item will require, once it is assigned to a combat formation (i.e., once it leaves the SHQ).

Engineer skill

The skill required to build fortifications, available only to Infantry Unit Types. The number of engineer skill points of the Unit Type items in a given formation is tallied, to ascertain the engineering capability of that formation. Fortifications may then be built (level 1) or upgraded (levels 2 and 3), if there is enough engineering skill, supply points and movement allowance to do so.

Fortifications represent static defensive works built on the side(s) of an hex, and as such are independent from each other, e.g. there could be a level 1 fortification on the East facing side and a level 3 fortification on the West facing side of an hex.

The successive levels of fortification require 250, 750 and 1,500 engineering skill AND supply points (these are deducted from the SHQ stock), and each must be built in one go (i.e., it is not possible to build, say, 2/3 of level 2 in one turn and finish it in the next turn). The unit building the fortification must also have at least 1 MP left (or 2 MPs for the third level).

Anti-air ability

This characteristic is used to determine how much damage is done to an enemy air formation operating (interdict/strategic bombing/airlift/airdrop) within a certain radius of the formation. The radius is 2 for the default game. Only land and sea formations may have an anti-air ability.

Hit points

The amount of damage a unit type takes before it is destroyed. Along with the soft and hard defence values, this is an important factor in combat resolution.

Frontsize

A brilliant concept (no, this part of the manual was not written by Victor). In real life, men and equipment occupy a given amount of real estate. When two forces engage in combat, not all elements on each side are able to squeeze into a line and have a shot at each other (at least, not anymore). This represents that space limitation. In the standard set, Infantry types take 1 unit of space, Artillery takes 10 units of space, and Armour takes 20 units of space. Mobile types don’t engage in combat and thus have no frontsize. As ships and aircraft don’t fight the same way as land units, they have no frontsize, either.

Strategic bombing

Combat related characteristic, reserved to aircraft, and then only to those of the bomber sub-class. Strategic bombing will come into play when doing a bombing raid on a production site. The strategic bombing statistic determines the amount of damage (in prodcution points) done to a production site.

Dogfighting

Combat related characteristic, reserved to aircraft, and then only to those of the fighter and transporter sub-classes. This is the attack value of an aircraft when engaging another aircraft in air combat.

Naval interdiction

Combat related characteristic, reserved to aircraft. This is the attack value of an aircraft when engaging naval units.

Cost

The amount of production points required to build one item.

Creating a new unit

To create a new unit:

Select a hex of territory that you own, by clicking on it
Click on the “Create unit” buton
A pop-up window appears, with the type of unit available — a sea formation may only be built at a Port, or at sea in the same hex of an existing sea formation belonging to the same player. If there are not enough Political Points to build a given type, that type’s button is greyed out
Click on the type wanted;
The unit counter appears in the map. If the unit is a SHQ or THQ, a pop-up window will appear asking for the unit’s name, otherwise an automatic name will appear (new units get a sequential number, beginning with 2, followed by “Bataljon” — Dutch for Battalion, the default unit “size”, unless the scenario designer defined a different one)
Assign a Chain of Command to the unit, by clicking on the "change command" button, on the upper echelon unit and then on the “Do new THQ/SHQ for [unit_name]” button;
Transfer some Unit Type items to the new unit (or it will disappear by next turn).

Movement

To move a unit, the usual procedure is to click on the unit, then on the movement button, and finally on the destination hex. After clicking on the movement button, the hexes into which the unit may enter appear in a lighter color. At this point, if you move the pointer over a map hex, either the total movement cost or the “No movement possible” message appears in the message box. WARNING: there is no Undo button. This is by design and will not be changed. Be careful. Be very careful. Be extra careful. After you click on the destination hex, Murphy’s Law rears its ugly head and strikes.

Movement allowance and rate of expenditure

The maximum movement allowance for a given formation depends on the mix of Unit Type items:

SHQs have a fixed maximum allowance of 1 MPs.
Air formations and sea formations can move as far as the slowest Unit Type item in their TOE
THQs and land formations can move as far as their Movement Type allows them (see below)

MPs are expended at various rates, depending on the formation and the terrain:

Sea formations expend 1 MP per hex, and may only move in sea or port hexes (a port hex is a town on the coastline)
Air formations expend 1 MP per hex, but this happens in one of two ways: AIR WINGS are actually Air Bases, that can physically move from one (land) location to another, or attack another formation within their current Movement Allowance

THQs and LAND FORMATIONS:

Spend 1 MP per hex of Grass or Town
Spend 2 MPs per hex of Forest or Swamp
Spend 1 additional MP to cross a river, or to enter an enemy (or neutral) controlled hex
Spend 2 additional MPs to enter a Forest, if the formation’s movement type is Truck or Armour
May not enter Sea or Mountain hexes
May enter a Swamp hex if, and ONLY if, they do NOT have any Mobile, Artillery or Armour Unit Types in their composition
If there is a road linking two hexes AND the formation is already on one of those hexes, it can move at the expense of 1 MP regardless of the type of terrain (but not of the ownership: the 1 MP penalty for entering enemy/neutral territory still applies). This is the only way a unit may enter/stop/cross a Mountain hex
SHQs spend 1 MP per hex, and are only subject to the Sea, Mountain and enemy ownership limitations affecting THQs and land formations

Another constraint to movement, related to the ownership of a given hex: a player can only move into an hex owned by another player if they are at war with each other.

A final constraint to movement: no more than three units may be in the same hex. Units on board sea formations do not count for this limit.

Movement type

The THQ/LAND FORMATION’s movement type is related to the mix of Unit Items and the ratio of “Carrying capacity” to “Weight needing to be carried”. If there is only one class of Unit Type items in the mix, the movement type is the one associated with that class. The movement allowance of a formation is that of the slowest unit type that is not transported.

If there is enough carrying capacity to offset the combined Infantry and Artillery weight, the unit is Mobile, and has a movement allowance equal to the minimum movement allowance of the mobile or armour types. For example, a unit containing infantry, artillery and enough trucks so that carrying capacity is equal to or greater than the weight of the infantry and artillery, will move at the speed of the trucks (6 in the default rules). However, if a Royal Tank is added to this unit (which has a movement allowance of 4 in the default rules), the movement allowance of the land formation would be 4.

If there is enough carrying capacity to offset only Artillery weight and the unit contains infantry as well, the unit will have a movement allowance of the infantry unit type (3 for most unit types).

Airdrop and airlift movement

Land formations and THQs may be moved by air. For this to happen, three things are required: an air formation with sufficient movement allowance and carrying capacity (i.e., enough items of the Transporter Unit Type), the unit to be transported has to have at least 2 MPs still available, and both must be in the same hex.

Airlift differs from Airdrop in that: any unit may be Airlifted, but the destination must be a friendly town hex; only units with Airdrop capabilty may be Airdropped, but the destination may be any hex that the unit could normally enter (no Airdrops into the sea or mountains) and that the player doing the Airdrop may see (Fog of War and Shroud of Discovery restrictions). To conduct Airdrop/Airlift, click on the AIR WING, then on the Airdrop/Airlift button, then select the unit to transport (if more than one present; otherwise PT assumes it is the other one on the hex), then on the destination hex and, finally, confirm the movement by clicking on the large button “Do Airlift/Airdrop”.

Amphibious assault and sea transport

Land formations and THQs may also be moved by sea. For this to happen, three things are required: a sea formation with sufficient carrying capacity (i.e., enough items of the Cargoship or Light Carrier Unit Types); the unit to be transported has to have at least 1 MP still available; they have to be either in the same hex or in adjacent hexes.

Amphibious Assault is different from Sea Transport only in that the hex where a unit is disembarked is occupied by an enemy unit, and combat then occurs.

To conduct Sea Transport, click on the sea formation, then on the Load button, then on the unit to transport and finally on the large “Load unit” button). Move the sea formation for as many turns as desired. To disembark the unit, click on the “Unload” button, then on the destination hex and, finally, confirm the movement by clicking on the large button “Do Unload”.

One important difference between transport by air and transport by sea is that a unit may stay on board ships, while transport by air is always done in the same turn.

Combat

Possibly the most important part of the manual is how combat is actually resolved. Actually it is quite easy. All formations going in to battle have their strength calculated on their actual combined stats (of all their unit types * their quantity or number of men). The following modifies these:

Modifiers

It is interesting to note that the below modifiers have already been calculated in to the approximate attack and defence values listed on the unit’s counter on the map.

Experience modifier

Experience reflects the training and frontline experience your men posses. The higher the experience of your formation, the better that formation will fight. A unit with XP=100 fights 50% better as a unit with XP=50. And a unit with XP=50 fights 25% better than a unit with XP=25. Usually, when you receive new men, they will have low XP. This low number is slowly built up over time through training, but once a unit reaches the maximum experience value allowed through training, only participating in combat will raise this number.

Readiness modifier

The higher the readiness of your formation the better it fights. It reflects the fitness and battle-readiness of the troops. The tactical implication is the more battle a formation does the more disrupted, dispirited and unorganised it will become. The lower the unit’s readiness value, the easier it will be to overcome that unit in battle. So, it is wise to monitor the readiness values of your units and allow heavily unorganised units time to rest (if possible) before throwing them back in the fray.

Officer bonus

The officer’s relevant skill (land/air/sea) becomes a bonus. An officer with skill 9 fights about 2 times as well as one with skill 1. Having fame points gives further bonuses. The officers in the entire chain of command play a part, not just the officer in direct control! The ratio for how much influence an officer has on the unit is 3:2:1 for the Formation’s officer, the THQ’s officer and the SHQ’s officer.

Disruption Modifier

If a unit is disrupted it gets a penalty on its fighting ability. This reflects the impact of having organizational problems during battle.

Combat Mechanism for Land Battles

All land types have 5 prime stats: Soft Attack, Soft Defence, Hard Attack, Hard Defence and Hit Points. The basic combat procedure is as follows:

-An attacking formation counts up all its Soft Attack and divides this by the Hit Points of defending infantry to determine defending casualties.

-A defending formation counts up all its Soft Defence and divides this by the Hit Points of attacking infantry to determine attacking casualties

-An attacking formation counts up all its Hard Attack and divides this by the Hit Points of defending armour to determine defending casualties

-A defending formation counts up all its Hard Defence and divides this by the Hit Points of the attacking armour to determine attacking casualties

Taking in mind the following extra rules:

Front-size limitation

There is a maximum number of men and equipment that may participate in combat with an enemy unit. Just because a formation has x amount of infantry, doesn’t mean that all of x will fight in a given battle. This rule reflects the impossibility of attacking with everybody in one go.... You can see a prediction of which % of your forces can attack in 1 round in the top right bottom of your unittype pictures.

Landscape modifications

Some landscapes favour infantry defence and give penalties to armour. Forests obviously give good defence and urban areas provide even better bonuses.

River penalty

Attacking over a river gives a large penalty.

Tactical Bonus Modifier

If you attack an enemy hex from different sides you get a bonus on each attack. From the more sides you attack from, the higher the bonus will become. The defender gets half this bonus for every covered flank.

Coordination Bonus Modifier

If you attack from different sides you get the tactical bonus, but if you also have formations from the same THQ attacking from the different sides you get an extra bonus on top. The defender gets half this bonus for every covered flank.

Amphibious/Paradrop penalty

If the attacker has been unloaded from a cargoship it gets a large penalty if it meets resistance on the beach. The same applies for airdropped troops that land on top of an enemy formation. This is done to reflect that for a while the attackers are sitting ducks.

Fortification penalty

If the attacker has to attack through a line of fortifications its attack strength is greatly diminished.

Retreat

If a unit has lost enough in the opinion of its leaders (Chain of Command) it will retreat. The consequences of retreating are usually more severe for a defending unit than an attacking unit. Consequences are loss of readiness, mobile type and artillery-type.

Combat Mechanics for Artillery Attacks

These attacks occur if a land formation with long distance artillery attacks, a naval unit bombards a unit on the land, or if a naval unit bombards another naval unit from a distance. The calculations for this type of attack are extremely simple. The attacker will destroy a defender number of hit points equal to its artillery power. However there are two exceptions:

Submarine invulnerability

Subs cannot be destroyed by artillery fire. Indirect artillery fire is too sluggish to hamper the sub in diving.

Armour protection

Artillery is only half as effective against armoured unit types as against the other land unit types.

Combat Mechanics for Naval Battles

The mechanics behind naval combat is the same as a two sided artillery duel, except that the submarines have no invulnerability. Retreating is not an option in naval battles. If your warships have long-range guns, it is advisable to bombard from a distance.

Combat Mechanics for Amphibious Invasion

Is handled as a normal land attack except that there will be severe penalties for the attacker and also the attacker will not be able to retreat. It is not possible to amphibiously invade a town that has warships in the harbour.

Combat Mechanics for Air Missions

Every Air mission, being it airtransfer, interdict, bombing or air supply will first suffer from Interception and A-A Fire. After that the actual mission is executed.

Interception

All enemy fighters with adequate readiness and within range of the mission target will intercept the attacker and use their dogfight value to do battle. An air unit could be intercepted by multiple formations.

A-A Fire

All unit types with AA capability within range of the target will open fire on the attacker.

Interdict

Fighters and bombers use their Soft Attack and Hard Attack to strike at enemy. Soft Attack for Infantry, Mobile, Artillery, or Aircraft on the ground and Hard Attack for armour. Fighters and bombers use their Naval Interdict score to strike at enemy naval vessels and submarines. Take in to mind that submarines can still dive, but usually have a lesser chance to do so than against naval attack.

Strategic Bombing

Bombers use their Strategic Bombing value to cause damage to a town and thus diminishing its production and supply generation.

Combat Mechanics for Air, Navy units attacked in towns by land units

You should avoid this at all cost. Air formations can hardly defend themselves against a land attack. Naval formations in a harbour are also extremely vulnerable to land attack. The expression sitting duck could be used for the defender in this type of attack. Evacuate the formations instead of letting this type of attack occur.

Example of Combat Mechanics and Modifiers at work

Here will be explained how the various modifiers work against each other, to illustrate, here an example of a combat report featuring battle between two land formations.

The amount of casualties the attacking unit will inflict on the defending unit is based upon the Soft Attack value against soft targets (infantry) and on Hard Attack against hard targets (armour). The amount of casualties the attacker will suffer depends on the Soft Defence and Hard Defence values of the defender. All 4 values are initially calculated by just totalling all the unit types respective stats (soft attack and hard attack for attacker, soft defence and hard defence for defender).

However, there are quite a few rules to give some realism and to give some tactical options to the players.

In the above example the attacking unit has a Readiness value of 100, so it gets no readiness modifier. If it were to have a readiness value of 80, it would be 20% less effective in attacking. It has experience value of 50, so it fights with only half the potency that it would have done had an Experience value of100. It gets a bonus of 59% for the officer(s) in the chain of command who are controlling the unit. It gets no disruption mod, but if it would have been disrupted say 25% it would then fight with 25% less effectiveness. This attacking unit gets a whopping 70% penalty on its remaining strength due to attacking over a river! However, it gets a tactical bonus mod of 30% since the attacking is done from 3 different sides, and a further 15% coordination bonus on the remaining strength is given since the attack from 2 of the 3 sides is executed by formations belonging to the same THQ. Fog of War is on, so the only thing we can see about the defender is the end values of its defensive strength after all the modifications have been calculated. However, we can see here it gets a 30% bonus due to fighting from a forest.

Transfers

Using the transfer command, you may transfer units from one formation to another. Transferring between non-SHQ units can only be done in the same hex, while transferring from SHQ units can be done over great distances provided you control the territory or the sea. At the start of the turn, the MOBCAP and the CARGOCAP of each SHQ is calculated on the basis of the number of mobile types (usually trucks) and cargo ship types in the SHQ. MOBCAP is spent by transferring over land and CARGOCAP is spent transferring over sea. You can only transfer to an overseas formation if there is a connection using 2 harbors (i.e. there is no version of amphibious supply for transfers). Transferring between units does not decrease the unit's built up experience; sending troops back to an SHQ, however, does.

Scenario Editor

Step-by-Step Scenario Creation using an existing ScenarioSet

This is the easiest way to craft a new scenario, very useful if you want to create a PBEM map to play with a friend.

Before we start, you will need to enable the edit menu through the preferences menu-item.

Create the scenario

Clear the Memory and get a blank map. Leaving remnants of past edits can lead to errors, so pay attention! Go to menu > New Scenario and then specify the map size (measured in how many hexagons for length and width).

Import

Import the basic data the scenario will use (this is also called a scenario set). Go to menu > Import and then select a scenario You could also elect to define your own unit types, research fields and peoples. But that is an advanced topic that is currently awaiting a tutorial of its own! Anyhoo, I advise you open the “Battle for the Center” scenario In order to load the most basic data.

Add the regimes

Go to menu > Regimes Press Add Regime to add a regime and then make sure to fill in:

Name of the Regime
Regime land color, which is the hex-color they use. Specify a value between 1-15, each hex-color also comes with its own counter set! Experiment to find your favorites!
People, which is the people that run this nation. Pick a valid people number 1-5. People are as follows: 1, Groschken (German); 2, Atlantean (British); 3, Neutral; 4, French and 5, Italian.
Portrait set, which is the set of portrait officers that will be used by this regime. Specify a number between 1-5. Portrait sets are as follows: 1, German; 2. British; 3, French/Neutral; 4, not-used and 5, Russian.
A small text describing the regime and/or its role in this scenario.

And press OK to leave this window.

Draw the Landscape

Select a landscape in the landscape list in the bottom-right corner and press the landscape button. If you now click a hex it will paint this landscape. Note: rivers are very tricky! To correctly draw a river, you have to draw it in 2 different hexes since it is a border thing… You also must take care to select the correctly angled pieces. It may seem difficult at first, but play with it a moment and you’ll get the hang of it. I promise, don’t sue me!. Roads only appear after you have clicked on 2 the neighbouring hexes whilst placing them. Also notice that by clicking on the same hex again, the road or river will vanish. Its magic!

Draw Regimes

There is a small textbox above the regime button and if you fill in the regime number there (or 99 for neutral) then that is the color you will place on the map once you click the “regime” button. This is used for defining the borders on the map.

Place Towns

To place a town, you must first select a hex and then click the “place urban” button. A prompt will appear asking information about the town, fill it in. In most scenarios, 500 people should be the minimum living in a town and 5000 the maximum.

Set Victory Condition

Menu > General Game variables Set the number of people in your regime needed for a victory in the textbox at the top of the form and press the button right next to it. Also, it could be nice to give a little story in the textbox about the scenario. Press OK to leave this window.

Create new units

You place units on the map in much the same way as you form new ones in the regular game: with the gear button. This will create an empty unit just like in the game, you can then fill it with men and machinery by selecting “edit current unit” in the top-of-the-screen edit menu.

Make sure Chain of Command is in place

Have you created SHQs and THQs? If not you had better do that, and assign units to them as you would during a regular game!

Assign SHQ to towns

Make sure the towns within a regime’s territory have an SHQ selected… This will prevent supply problems on the first turn of a game!

Save

That's it! Save the scenario now, as you won’t be able to edit it again if you press “Start game” instead. Engine Variables (only touch if you really know what you are doing)

This is a list of all the engine variables available for change in the editor, in the order they appear. The variables are grouped into fifteen sections.

One

Grass Movement Cost for Land Unit
Forest Movement Cost for Land Unit
Urban Movement Cost for Land unit
Sea Movement Cost for Land unit
Swamp Movement Cost for Land unit
Mountain Movement Cost for Land unit
Extra MP for mobile unit in forest
Extra MP for land unit to cross river
Extra MP for entering enemy land
Sea Movement Cost for Sea Unit
Urban Movement Cost for Sea Unit
Air Movement Cost per Hex

Two

Supply MP cost for Grass
Supply MP cost for Forest
Supply MP cost for Urban
Supply MP cost for Sea
Supply MP cost for Swamp
Supply MP cost for Mountain
Supply MP cost for Road
Weight of Supply

Three

Minimal Soft Att value to occupy enemy land
Maximum Unit Size in Weight Pts
Supply cost for Level 1 Entrenchment
Supply cost for Level 2 Entrenchment
Supply cost for Level 3 Entrenchment
Attack modifier versus lvl 1 entrenchment
Attack modifier versus lvl 2 entrenchment
Attack modifier versus lvl 3 entrenchment

Four

Population Divider (POP/PD = Supply production)
Distance 0 from THQ ... Supply%
Distance 1 from THQ ... Supply%
Distance 2 from THQ ... Supply%
Distance 3 from THQ ... Supply%
Distance 4 from THQ ... Supply%
Distance >5 from THQ ... Supply%
Supply% if no supply through port but through shore
Supply generated for SHQ * this value = max supply stock
Always allowed supply stock for SHQ
Readiness Attrition if IN supply
Readiness Attrition if OUT of supply
Always readiness gain = XP / this value
Minimal Readiness allowed if OUT of supply
Minimal Readiness allowed if IN supply
Basic Readiness gain by supply
Bonus Readiness gain by XP / this Value
Automatic XP increase until this XP Value
Automatic XP increase
SHQ Range … min 10 or so … and max 50 (longer calcs with longer range)
Pop needed for 1 Political Point production
Recon Points needed to look 1 hex away. Succesive exp
Hex Dammage recup in %pts per round
Ammount of ProdPoints to destroy to get 1 Fame Point
/100 = extra readiness loss absolute for artillery per combat round

Five

Multiplier of supply if you set supply production
Unitdivider; Unit softatt+hardatt/etc.. /unitdivider = counter

Six

Readiness loss modifier% for unit that is interdicted
Readiness loss modifier% for unit that interdicts itself
XP gain modifier% for unit that is interdicted
XP gain modifier% for unit that interdicts itself
Read loss modifier for attacked unit in normal land battle
Read loss modifier for unit attacking itself in normal land battle
Xp gain modifier for attacked unit in normal land battle
Xp gain modifier for unit attacking itself in normal land battle
Read loss modifier for land unit attacked by artillery
Read loss modifier for artillery unit attacking land unit
XP gain modifier for land unit attacked by artillery
XP gain modifier for artillery unit attacking land unit

Seven

Sea unit attacked by interdict. Read loss mod%
Unit interdiciting sea unit. Read loss mod%
Sea unit attacked by interdict. Xp gain mod%
Unit interdicting sea unit. Xp gain mod%
Sea unit attacked in harbour by land unit. Read loss mod%
Land unit attacking sea unit in harbour. Read loss mod%
Sea unit attacked in harbour by land unit. Xp gain mod%
Land unit attacking sea unit in harbour. Xp gain mod%
Sea unit attacked by sea unit. Read loss mod%
Sea unit attacking sea unit. Read loss mod%
Sea unit attacked by sea unit. Xp gain mod%
Sea unit attacking sea unit. Xp gain mod%
Sea unit attacked by artillery attack. Read loss mod%
Unit artillery attacking Sea unit. Read loss mod%
Sea unit attacked by artillery attack. Xp gain mod%
Unit artillery attacking Sea unit. Xp gain mod%

Eight

Air unit interdicted on land. Read loss mod%
Interdicting unit attacking air on land. Read loss mod%
Air unit interdicted on land. Xp gain mod%
Interdicting unit attacking air on land. Xp gain mod%
Dogfighting attacked. Read loss%
Dogfighting attacker. Read loss%
Dogfighting attacked. Xp gain mod%
Dogfighting attacker. Xp gain mod%
Air unit attacked on land. Read loss mod%
Land unit attacking Air unit on land. Read loss mod%
Air unit attacked on land. Xp gain mod%
Land unit attacking Air unit on land. Xp gain mod%
Air unit attacked by artillery/AA. Read loss mod%
Unit artillery/AA attacking air unit. Read loss mod%
Air unit attacked by artillery/AA. Xp gain mod%
Unit artillery/AA attacking air unit. Xp gain mod%

Nine

Xp gain modifier if Xp 75-100
Xp gain modifier if Xp 101-150
Read loss modifier for units with readiness<30
Read loss modifier for units with readiness 30-60

Ten

Minimum pop for almost smallest town sprite
Minimum pop for small town sprite
Minimum pop for medium town sprite
Minimum pop for large town sprite
Minimum pop for largest town sprite

Eleven

Officer Skill Creation. d100 .. below this number skill= 8 or 9
Officer Skill Creation. d100 .. below this number skill= 7
Officer Skill Creation. d100 .. below this number skill= 6
Officer Skill Creation. d100 .. below this number skill= 5
Officer Skill Creation. d100 .. below this number skill= 4
Officer Skill Creation. d100 .. below this number skill= 3 or 2. Above = 1
Officer creation. Basic retreat%
Officer creation. + Random retreat % (retreat=basic+random)

Twelve

Air Wing interdicts within this many hexes range … min 1 … Max 2
AA guns participate from hex distance ... Min 0 … Max 5
Sub dive chance divider if attacked by aircraft
Softdef modifier for Grass
Softdef modifier for Forest
Softdef modifier for Urban
Softdef modifier for Sea
Softdef modifier for Swamp
Softdef modifier for Mountain
Softdef modifier for Swamp
HardAtt mod for Grass
HardAtt mod for Forest
HardAtt mod for Urban
HardAtt mod for Sea
HardAtt mod for Swamp
HardAtt mod for Mountain
Softdef modifier for defending against amphibious invasion/airdrop
HardAtt modifier if doing an amphibious invasion/airdrop
Number of combat rounds
Minimal cost in MP for battle
Max MP unit may have left after battle
Attack modifier for attack over River
100 + % attack modifier for each extra multipronged attack
Frontsize limitator in # of unittype frontsize points
Readiness modifier% if Attacking unit breaks off attack
Readiness modifier is defending unit flees
Readiness modifier per combat round a def.unit cannot flee
Disruption for new commander
Disruption for making new unit
Disruption caused by retreat
Disruption caused by attack breakoff

Thirteen

Transfer cost divider for over land transport
Transfer cost divider for over sea transport
Transfer cost divider for land transport after sea transport
Cost for new Land Unit
Cost for new Sea unit
Cost for new Air unit
Cost for new THQ
Cost for new SHQ
HQ TYPE COUNT .. howmany different types can be in shq

Fourteen

Lose mobile loss divider for attacker if offensive fails
Lose artillery loss divider for attacker if offensive fails
Minimum readiness needed to intercept enemy aircraft

Fifteen

AI Forbidden. If = 1 then AI is forbidden to play in this scenario
/ 100 = the XP/Readiness value of production points with loss.calc
neutral hex= 0 means neutral hex join auto and 1 means they dont
Campaign? 0=no, 1=yes
Campaign: Fog of Exploration?
Campaign: Block if loaded by user 1=yes, 0=no
Experience & Rdn modifier. higher is less xp/rdn drain, lower is more

The most important aspects about editing events in the People’s Tactics editor are the “Show this event #” and “UPDATE” buttons. To view or edit an event, enter the number of the event into the “Events:” box and click “Show this event #”. Make changes by entering information into the boxes below and then click “UPDATE” to store the data. If you do not click “UPDATE”, your changes will be lost, along with your faith in humanity. You have been warned!

When the event type is changed, the parameters will not appear in the “DATA” and “DATASTRING” areas. First click “UPDATE” to store the fact that you’ve changed the event type, then click “Show this event #” to update the display.

ALL events in People’s Tactics MUST be accompanied by a message dialog. This means that the event will NOT occur if “SHOWALL”, “SHOWREG1” or “SHOWREG2” are left at 0 or if “SHOW STORY” is left blank.

Event parameters are entered in the “DATA” and “DATASTRING” areas. To change the value of a “DATA” parameter, put the number of the parameter in the “at#” box and the value you want to change it to in the “Val#” box and click the adjacent “OK”. To change the value of a “DATASTRING” parameter, put the number of the parameter in the “Dat#” box and the value you want to change it to in the “Str” box and click the adjacent “OK”.

Triggers

Triggers can be used by themselves or in conjunction with other triggers. If used in conjunction with other triggers, BOTH (or ALL) must be satisfied for the event to occur.

=> TURN

If the turn number is greater than or equal to this number, the event will happen.

=< TURN

If the turn number is less than or equal to this number, the event will happen.

X,Y=OWNER

If the hex defined by the X and Y coordinates is owned by the regime number X,Y=OWNER, then the event will happen. The regime number corresponds to “Edit Regimes and Peoples” window.

GAMEWINNER

If the regime number of the winner of the scenario is equal to this value, the event will happen. The event will happen the turn after the turn when victory is declared on the start screen, due to the way events work. The event will be displayed every subsequent turn (counter to expectations), unless specified otherwise using the ONLY ONCE? trigger modifier. The regime number corresponds to “Edit Regimes and Peoples” window.

NOT GAMEWINNER

If the regime number of the loser of the scenario is equal to this value, the event will happen. The event will happen the turn after the turn when victory is declared on the start screen, due to the way events work. The event will be displayed every subsequent turn (counter to expectations), unless specified otherwise using the ONLY ONCE? trigger modifier. The regime number corresponds to “Edit Regimes and Peoples” window.

RANDOM100

This trigger is probability based, a percent chance that the event will happen. If set to 1, there is a 1% chance of this event happening each turn, if set to 100, the event will happen each turn.

ONLY ONCE?

This is not a trigger, but a modifier that, if set to 1, will ensure the event only occurs once.

BOOKVAR => #

If the bookvar specified by BOOKVAR # has a value greater than or equal to this number, the event will happen. This will not work as a trigger if left at 0 (i.e. you can't test to see whether the bookvar value is greater than or equal to 0).

BOOKVAR =< #

If the bookvar specified by BOOKVAR # has a value less than or equal to this number, the event will happen. This will not work as a trigger if left at 0 (i.e. you can't test to see whether the bookvar value is less than or equal to 0).

IFAIREGIME

If the regime corresponding to this number is controlled by the AI, the event will happen. The regime number corresponds to “Edit Regimes and Peoples” window.

IFPEACEWITH

If the regime corresponding to this number is at peace with the regime corresonding to the number in SHOWREG1, the event will happen. The regime number corresponds to “Edit Regimes and Peoples” window. SHOWALL can be set at the same time as SHOWREG1, enabling the trigger to work and the message to be displayed to all players.

IFWARWITH

If the regime corresponding to this number is at war with the regime corresonding to the number in SHOWREG1, the event will happen. The regime number corresponds to “Edit Regimes and Peoples” window. SHOWALL can be set at the same time as SHOWREG1, enabling the trigger to work and the message to be displayed to all players.

DIPLASTTURN

If this value is not '0' then IFWARWITH and IFPEACEWITH are only checked if the the EVENTSHOWREGIME regime went to peace or war the last turn with the specified IFWARWITH and IFPEACEWITH regime (this way you can react to declaration of war or peace the turn after this was done).

Events

There are 8 types of event available in the People’s Tactics editor:

Show story

This is the simplest of the People’s Tactics events. When the triggers are met, a dialog box is displayed showing text and a picture. This kind of event can add plot depth to a game, so for example if the trigger is a city being in enemy hands, the message may say something like “Our front line city has fallen, we are all doomed”.

To use this kind of event: set the trigger and leave “THEN EVENT TYP” at 0. “SHOW SPRITE #” should be set to the number of the image you want to accompany the text. In the default game, these are numbered 2001 to 2009 and can be perused using the “Sprites” tab of the “Edit Scenario and Rules” window or by looking in PT/default/type, where they are numbered event1.bmp to event9.bmp (the 2000 is added by the editor). “SHOW SPRITE” may be left blank, resulting in a grey space next to the dialog text.

The event dialog can be shown to all regimes, one regime or two regimes. To show the event dialog to all regimes, set “SHOWALL” to 1. To show the event dialog to just one regime, set “SHOWREG1” to the number of the regime desired. The regimes are numbered according to their number in the “Edit Regimes and Peoples” window. To show the event dialog to two regimes, set “SHOWREG1” to the number of the first regime and “SHOWREG2” to the number of the second regime. It is possible to show the event to just one regime by filling in just “SHOWREG2”, but there is no benefit in doing it this way.

Enter the text you want to be displayed to the player in the “SHOW STORY” box. The character limit on what will be displayed is about 730, including spaces, but this will depend on the text. It is possible to put more text into the “SHOW STORY” box than will be displayed in the dialog, so make sure you playtest.

New formation

The new formation event does exactly what it says on the tin: it makes a new formation. To use this kind of event: set the trigger and set “THEN EVENT TYP” to 1. Set the relevant parts of the show story event. Click “UPDATE”, then “Show this event #”.

The following parameters area available in the “DATA” area:

1) X – the x coordinate where the formation will be created 2) Y - the y coordinate where the formation will be created 3) No function, so leave blank 4) THEATER – the type of formation, (0 for land, 1 for sea and 2 for air 5) READINESS – the readiness of the formation, ranging from 10 to 100 6) XP – the experience of the formation, ranging from 25 to 150 7) GEN SPRITE – the sprite of the officer for the formation - in the default game these are numbered 1 to 75 and can be browsed in PT/default/officer or the “Sprites” tab of the “Edit Scenario and Rules” window, where they are numbered 1801 to 1875 8) GEN LAND – the land value of the officer of the formation, ranging from 1 to 9 9) GEN AIR – the air value of the officer of the formation, ranging from 1 to 9 10) GEN SEA – the sea value of the officer of the formation, ranging from 1 to 9 11) GEN RETREAT – the retreat value of the officer of the formation, ranging from 0 to 100 (0 has a lower chance of retreating, 100 has a higher chance of retreating) 12) GEN FAME – the fame value of the officer of the formation, ranging from 0 to infinity (according to the official manual, although exercise caution with putting fame values at greater than 25) 13) REGIME OF UNIT – the regime of the unit, using the numbering of the “Edit Regimes and Peoples” window 14) OVERRIDE ENM HEX – if this is set to 0, the unit will not be placed on enemy territory, if this is set to 1 it will and will change ownership of the hex. 15) to 19) No function, so leave blank 20) INFTYP – the type of infantry the formation contains, using the numberings of the “Edit unttypes” window 21) INFQTY - the amount of infantry 22) MOBTYP – the type of mobile the formation contains, using the numberings of the “Edit unttypes” window 23) MOBQTY - the amount of mobile 24) ARTTYP - the type of artillery the formation contains, using the numberings of the “Edit unttypes” window 25) ARTQTY - the amount of artillery 26) ARMTYP - the type of armour the formation contains, using the numberings of the “Edit unttypes” window 27) ARMQTY - the amount of armour

The following parameters area available in the “DATASTRING” area:

1) NAME OF FORM – the name of the formation 2) NAME OF GEN – the name of the formation’s officer. If this is set to “random” the name of the officer will be generated in the normal way.

If the destination hex for the new formation is already full (i.e. 3 formations) then the formation will be place on neighbouring hex, unless these are all full. If the destination hex is enemy controlled, the “OVERRIDE ENM HEX” is set to 1 AND the hex contains an enemy unit, the formation will be placed on a neighbouring hex unless these also contain enemy units or are full.

If the event is not executable it will try next turn again if the trigger conditions still apply that turn.

Political Point Grant

This event changes the amount of political points of a regime. To use this kind of event: set the trigger and set “THEN EVENT TYP” to 2. Set the relevant parts of the show story event. Click “UPDATE”, then “Show this event #”. The following parameters area available in the “DATA” area:

1) REGIME 2 # - the regime number of the regime to change the political points of, using the numbering of the “Edit Regimes and Peoples” window 2) PP MUT 2 +/- - amount to change the political points by, this can be negative. If the resulting amount of political points is negative, the amount of political points will be set to 0.

Change Bookvar

Bookvars are variables where numbers can be stored. There are 200 bookvars available. The value of a bookvar can be used as a trigger and changed by an event.

To use this kind of event: set the trigger and set “THEN EVENT TYP” to 3. Set the relevant parts of the show story event. Click “UPDATE”, then “Show this event #”. The following parameters area available in the “DATA” area:

1) BOOKVAR 1 # - the number of the first bookvar to change, ranging from 1 to 200 2) VAR1 MUT +/- - the amount to change the first bookvar by, this can be negative 3) BOOKVAR 2 # - the number of the second bookvar to change, ranging from 1 to 200 4) VAR2 MUT +/- - the amount to change the second bookvar by, this can be negative 5) BOOKVAR 3 # - the number of the third bookvar to change, ranging from 1 to 200 6) VAR 3 OVERRIDE – the number to change the value of the third bookvar to 7) BOOKVAR 4 # - the number of the fourth bookvar to change, ranging from 1 to 200 6) VAR 3 OVERRIDE – the number to change the value of the fourth bookvar to

There are effectively two ways to use the change bookvar event: VAR1 MUT +/- modifies the existing bookvar value, whilst VAR 3 OVERRIDE sets the bookvar value regardless of its previous value. The modification of the existing value might be useful for counting how many cities are taken, whilst setting the value might be useful for resetting a count to 0.

Choice

This is perhaps the most complicated and most powerful event available to the scenario designer. With this event, the dialog box displayed to the player has up to five buttons on it. Clicking these buttons can change different bookvars and hence different outcomes.

To use this kind of event: set the trigger and set “THEN EVENT TYP” to 4. Set the relevant parts of the show story event. Click “UPDATE”, then “Show this event #”.

The following parameters area available in the “DATA” area:

1) CHOICE 1 BOOKVAR # - the first bookvar to change if choice 1 is selected 2) CHOICE 2 BOOKVAR # - the first bookvar to change if choice 2 is selected 3) CHOICE 3 BOOKVAR # - the first bookvar to change if choice 3 is selected 4) CHOICE 4 BOOKVAR # - the first bookvar to change if choice 4 is selected 5) CHOICE 5 BOOKVAR # - the first bookvar to change if choice 5 is selected

6) CHOICE 1 MUT +/- - the amount to change the first bookvar by if choice 1 is selected 7) CHOICE 2 MUT +/- - the amount to change the first bookvar by if choice 2 is selected 8) CHOICE 3 MUT +/- - the amount to change the first bookvar by if choice 3 is selected 9) CHOICE 4 MUT +/- - the amount to change the first bookvar by if choice 4 is selected 10) CHOICE 5 MUT +/- - the amount to change the first bookvar by if choice 5 is selected

11) CHOICE 1 BOOKVAR #2 - the second bookvar to change if choice 1 is selected 12) CHOICE 2 BOOKVAR #2 - the second bookvar to change if choice 2 is selected 13) CHOICE 3 BOOKVAR #2 - the second bookvar to change if choice 3 is selected 14) CHOICE 4 BOOKVAR #2 - the second bookvar to change if choice 4 is selected 15) CHOICE 5 BOOKVAR #2 - the second bookvar to change if choice 5 is selected

16) CHOICE 1 MUT2 +/- - the amount to change the second bookvar by if choice 1 is selected 17) CHOICE 2 MUT2 +/- - the amount to change the second bookvar by if choice 2 is selected 18) CHOICE 3 MUT2 +/- - the amount to change the second bookvar by if choice 3 is selected 19) CHOICE 4 MUT2 +/- - the amount to change the second bookvar by if choice 4 is selected 20) CHOICE 5 MUT2 +/- - the amount to change the second bookvar by if choice 5 is selected

The following parameters area available in the “DATASTRING” area:

1) CHOICE1 – the button label for the first choice 2) CHOICE1 – the button label for the second choice 3) CHOICE1 – the button label for the third choice 4) CHOICE1 – the button label for the fourth choice 5) CHOICE1 – the button label for the fifth choice

Load next campaign scenario

This event is an essential part of a campaign scenario. When this event is triggered, the next scenario file is loaded, so this event should be associated with the victory condition.

To use this kind of event: set the trigger and set “THEN EVENT TYP” to 5. Set the relevant parts of the show story event. Click “UPDATE”, then “Show this event #”.

The following parameters area available in the “DATASTRING” area:

1) FILE TO LOAD – this is the filename of the file to load

Change Diplomatic relations

This event changes the diplomatic relations between two regimes and sets the cost, in political points, for the player to change it.

To use this kind of event: set the trigger and set “THEN EVENT TYP” to 6. Set the relevant parts of the show story event. Click “UPDATE”, then “Show this event #”.

1) REG1 – first regime to change the diplomatic relation of, using the numbering of the “Edit Regimes and Peoples” window 2) REG2 – second regime to change the diplomatic relation of, using the numbering of the “Edit Regimes and Peoples” window 3) NEWDIPREL – relationship to change the regime to, 0 for war, 1 for peace 4) NEWCHANGCOST – the cost to change the new relationship, ranging from 0 to 999

Regimes will not be able to change their relationship in the turn that a change diplomatic relations event occurs. This event can be used to modify the cost of changing the relationship without actually changing the relationship making it easier/harder to declare war/make peace.

Set Gamewinner To

This event makes a particular regime the winner of the scenario. This should be used with a victory condition as the trigger (e.g. capturing the enemy capital city).

To use this kind of event: set the trigger and set “THEN EVENT TYP” to 7. Set the relevant parts of the show story event. Click “UPDATE”, then “Show this event #”.

The following parameters area available in the “DATA” area:

1) SET GAMEWINNER TO – the number of the regime to make the winner, using the numbering of the “Edit Regimes and Peoples” window

PBEM

There is currently one issue with playing by email. Certain web-mail clients will to corrupt the .pt1 save file. A workaround for this issue is to zip your file before you email it.

Shortcuts

M	Move
A	Attack
T	Transfer
P	Production
C	Change Command
N	New Unit
L	Load Unit
U	Unload Unit
I	Interdict
E	Entrench
S	Strategic Bombing
O	Officer Pool
R	Research
F	Airdrop/lift
Y	Air supply
SPACE	Confirm (Move/Attack)
ESC	Cancel
F1	Toggle sound on/off

Introduction

Table of contents

Credits

Interface

Menu bar

File

Info and Preferences

Start Game Window

The Map

Unit type

Values

The Unit Information Panel

TOE Panel

The Terrain Panel

Command Bar

Hex Commands

Formation Commands

Naval Formation Extra Commands

Air Formation Extra Commands

General Commands

Command & Officers

Command hierarchy

Strategic Headquarters (SHQ)

Tactical Headquarters (THQ)

Formations

Changing command

Officers

The Officer Pool

Supply

Production

Units

Formation step-up

Land Mobile

Land Support

Armour Cover

Long Distance Artillery

Escort Role

Unit type characteristics

Name

Weight

Carrying capacity

Movement allowance

Soft attack value

Soft defence value

Hard attack value

Hard defence value

Artillery attack value

Artillery range

Reconnaissance ability

Supply need

Engineer skill

Anti-air ability

Hit points

Frontsize

Strategic bombing

Dogfighting

Naval interdiction

Cost

Creating a new unit

Movement

Movement allowance and rate of expenditure

Movement type

Airdrop and airlift movement

Amphibious assault and sea transport

Combat

Modifiers

Experience modifier

Readiness modifier

Officer bonus

Disruption Modifier

Combat Mechanism for Land Battles

Front-size limitation

Landscape modifications

River penalty

Tactical Bonus Modifier

Coordination Bonus Modifier

Amphibious/Paradrop penalty

Fortification penalty

Retreat

Combat Mechanics for Artillery Attacks