PC Shareware 1997 November

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Steel Panthers 3: Brigade Command Demo Copyright SSI 1997 All rights reserved. Getting Started: To play the demo, open a DOS window or start from DOS. At the prompt type: 'Steel3d'. Note that in Win95 the DOS box that comes up after setting sound is inactive. We strongly recommend that you proceed through the tutorial step-by-step. This scenario is specially written to make you familiar with the rules, menu screens and "tricks of the trade" in a Steel III battle. Also please check the Readme.txt file for the latest information. This demo contains two scenarios you can play - the Tutorial and Beda Fomm. There is no music in this demo. IMPORTANT NOTE: do not hit keys during the AI turn as this is how you quit playing... Do hit any key to end (at the next break in the action) a scenario during the AI turn. Starting the tutorial Even if you are experienced with the Steel Panthers system you should play the tutorial scenario to become acquainted with the new tactical level and features involved in this game. The tutorial has step-by-step instructions to allow quick familiarity with the screens, unit types and options you can set. For individual unit information, the Encyclopaedia screens will provide detailed information by nationality for the individual units. The Selections screen leads to the various elements of this demo. Click on the button for your choice. Start is used after selecting the tutorial scenario. Clicking Battle begins a computer vs. computer demonstration game constructed with the Battle Generator. Preferences takes you to the Preferences screen where the rules, parameters and options for gameplay can be controlled. The exit button will take you out of Steel III. Tutorial: The battlefield from 1939 onwards has become an increasingly technical and complicated challenge. Reading and playing through the following tutorial will give you the tools to win in Steel III. The first step for this tutorial is to establish the parameters of the scenario; this is done in the Preferences screen. From the opening Selections Screen select Preferences. The Preferences control screen will come up. The upper left section of the screen contains preferences such as sound effects (on or off) music on and off. For the tutorial set music however you like, also freely set sound volume to your taste. Please set all other buttons to conform to the list below. PREFERENCE SETTINGS. Set: Music Your choice (but no music exists, so...) Sound FX Your choice Hex Grid Your Choice Animation on Hex info on Objective flags on Auto rally on Move radius on Fast Artillery on Unit number all units AI level xxx Sound volume Your choice Animation level 4 - (all the way to right) Message delay 10+ Small Icon xxx Breakdowns on Ammo limit on Command on Morale on Move & shoot on Mines on Country training on Control on Hidden Fire off Searching 100 Hitting 100 Rout/Rally 100 Troop quality xxx Tank toughness 100 Infantry toughness 100 Battle points xxx Air sorties xxx Troop types Foot infantry Exit the preferences screen. Left click Scenario and then left click on the top selection on the list at the left of the screen - Tutorial. Then left-click the Start button. The player control screen will come up. Make sure the German side is set to human player, and the American side to the computer player. Click on Start Turn. The Main play screenwill appear with a red hexagon around your Headquarters unit. This unit represents you - the battlefield commander. Orders and leadership stem from this unit, so protect it well! On the right side of the screen is a button with a picture of a clipboard on it. Click this and look over the unit info screen. Notice that units I0 - Panther D and J0 Panther G are listed as Ready under Status, but with yellow script. This means that these units are ready to fight, but not on the map at this time. These will enter later as reinforcements. Note, too that the Headquarters, unit G0, has a Status of Immobilized. This is to remind that this unit does not move. Some of the other units are listed as Dug-In. These units are more than Ready! They are displayed on the map with special markers to show their enhanced defensive positions. Left Click on the button marked with unit # D0. This will take you to the location of this unit, centered in the game map. Use the Magnifying Glass buttons or the (+) and (-) hotkeys to zoom in and out on the map. When zoomed in over D0, note the 'sandbags' that surround D0 and the nearby Marder tank destroyers. These are the dug-in markers. Left click on unit D0, the right click on it. This screen shows details about the unit. For now, look at the lower left hand area of text and find the line that reads "Set Range". Click on this line of text. A dialog pops up where you can enter the maximum range at which you wish to have the unit fire. Type 2, and then the enter key. This Anti-tank gun will now wait until a visible opponent comes within two hexes - 400 yards - before firing. It's an ambush. To do the same for units CO and C1 nearby, use this method: There are two units in formation C. Clicking on the tent, hot key 'H', brings up the Headquarters menu. Click on the line of text that says 'C>Maj. Schwartz' and note the information on the left. In the center group of buttons is one that allows range to be set for the whole formation. Click this and enter 2 and your blocking group of anti-tank weapons will all be set to ambush at range 2. Exit this screen. Steel3 has a number of display options for your units. You may have already noticed that selecting a unit causes the number on the unit to 'color cycle' - that sort of strobing effect. All units in the same formation do this together. Locate and select unit B0. Note that after a few seconds the numbers on the four tanks all cycle together, on the main map screen and on the small strategic map screen. This is to help locate the various elements of one formation, since formations may have from one to many icons on the screen. When you click on B0 note that this formation has a rather limited objective, hex 9,22. Let's send this powerful armored formation where they can do more good - the front of the fight. Make sure B0 is selected. Left click the bright green blob in the center of the strategic map. This will center the main map screen on the set of objectives near hex 47,19. Click on the single flag button to set a new objective for the B formation. The objective set screen will come up. Left click on hex 47,19 to place the formation objective there. Press ESC and leave the screen. Your whole B formation should have the orders: "Advance to 47,19". Click once again on B0, hit the A hot key or the All Formation move button, and send the Panzer IV's up the road together by clicking as far as the move radius is highlighted - somewhere near hex 12, 7. Note that the move radius is highlighted in a rough cone; brighter hexes show where a unit can move without using any orders. If orders are available a unit can move within its movement point limit to any hex. To do so click on the hex where you wish to move. Note that this constitutes a major change to how one moves from previous Steel Panthers games - you will use orders for <each mouse click> when moving 'out of the cone'! The units will move one at a time toward their common goal. Click the All Formation move button or press A again to turn off all-formation move - it is best not to leave it on, lest you move undesired elements of a formation accidentally. Now you can set up an artillery bombardment. You first pick the unit that is spotting for the fire. The A0 unit is often a good choice, as it contains officers skilled in spotting and designating artillery fire. If, however, the A0 cannot see the target hex, the fire is considered unspotted and the effect is halved. In this case, use the F0 unit -it is right there. Also note that the following instructions represent a ruthless and dangerous use of artillery fire - if your own troops are this close, you will take casualties from your own fire. Willingness to do so is a hallmark of two military types: fine infantry and ruthless officers. Draw your own conclusions. Click on the Bombardment button or Hotkey 'B'. Left-click on hex 43,19 and then click on the 'bombard' button - to the right of the 'eye' button - for unit K0. Now do the same for K1. For K0, click on the shift fire mission button (4 way arrow) and left-click on hex 45,19. A bonbardment marker will appear there. Click K0's shift fire mission button again and move the mission to hex 47,19. Repeat the process for K1's fire mission. When you end your turn the enemy units will begin to move, and some will get caught in this bombardment. On the right of the row of small buttons is a number. Hopefully this is 0.2. This shows the delay until the indirect fire selected comes in. 0.0 means immediately after your turn, 0.1 through 0.3 are delayed, but will fallduring the enemy turn, 0.4 and 0.5 fall after the next enemy turn, 1.0 or greater is the number of full turns before the fall of this indirect fire.Repeat the process for K1's fire mission. When you end your turn the enemy units will begin to move, and some will get caught in this bombardment. End your turn at this point by clicking on the end turn button. The U.S. force will begin to advance and your Volksgrenadier position near 45,19 will come under attack by armored cars (at first!). Your lads will defend themselves as best they can and if all goes well you will swap casualties, but not have more than one unit displaced. At the end of U.S. turn a message will pop-up announcing the arrival onboard of the two Panther units we looked at earlier in the unit menu. These (say thank you!) arrive in hex 15,0. They have orders to support your forward positions, so move them along the road by selecting one unit, then clicking on hex 24,7 while holding the shift key down. The shift key allows you to move into a hex already containing other units - friendly or enemy. (Assuming you do not get shot up on the way!) Advance your Pz IV's in Formation B, they should be close behind the Panthers. The Volksgrenadier position has probably taken a bit of a beating. One or more units will have taken suppression. Use the command capabilities of your units to reducethis suppression. Here's how: Click on the most important unit (in your judgement - probably a unit still in place) and click the Rally button or press R on the keyboard. If the rally is successful, a message will pop-up saying that your officer has reduced suppression. Each success cuts suppression in half. Keep clicking until the attempt fails (which will be indicated in a message) or your suppression drops below 2 - Rallying is not permitted below 2 suppression, although a single point of suppression can be removed by certain combat successes. Once everybody is rallied as far as possible, attack where you can. Your units may close assault if adjacent to enemy vehicles, or shoot if not. Select the unit you wish to have attack, then move the cursor over the enemy unit. The cursor will become a 'crosshair' indicating possible attack. After one attack and any enemy responses you may want to rally units again, if they can still do so. It may not seem to do anything to shoot armored cars with guns that cannot punch through their armor, but any hit has some suppressing effect. The main thing is that putting units under fire slows them and reduces their ability to spot enemy. End your turn. The Volksgrenadier position will pretty much fall apart at this point. Save what you can, it can annoy and delay the enemy. Should a unit get completely bypassed, rally it if you can and send it toward the enemy objectives near 70,12. The general theme of the enemy attack should now be clear: They are driving west down the road with flanking elements to north and south. Bring the Panthers up to the defensive position with the Marders and the Anti-tank gun. The important thing here is to get the Panthers, who have the most potent main gun in this scenario, out away from the first wave of the attack. Put the Pz IV's up - they will end up stemming the first armored charge. Keep B0 the Headquarters of the tank company back, and use it later to swing behind the enemy after they are committed.. This unit will lose the capacity to generate orders if it becomes heavily suppressed, so - out of harm's way. End your turn. Life will now be brutish and short for the remaining Volksgrenadier units. When the U.S. turn ends, rally where necessary and look to your flanks. In addition to their tanks the American forces have infantry and anti-tank guns that can cause you trouble. The best way to deal with them is to shoot the halftrack carrying them, with incipient loss of men and morale. Take good shots at seven hexes or less, particularly at enemy flanks. Wrecks help slow enemy movement and lower their morale. Especially watch for chances to lurk on the flanks of the road approaches - check hex 30,21. This is prime Panther real estate. If any Stuart or other light armor preceded the general advance, try jumping them at range 2 with a couple of Pz-IV's. Don't get closer, the light guns might hurt you up close! Do what you can cautiously. There are good overwatch chances fron hex 27,19. Note that it is better to alternate shots at the same target from multiple firing units if possible. Your chance to hit improves with each of the first three shots at a target (not close assaults). By possibly causing the enemy to change targets you lower your risk while not diminishing your accuracy. Then end your turn. By Allied turn #7 the Jumbos will arrive. These are heavily armored tanks with a good, but not great, main gun. These tough American tanks now become your chief concern. Do not close with them unnecessarily, and move so you shoot them in the rear and sides. Even then you will have a challenge. Try to bring them into contact with the dug-in troops and move around them. Some tanks will undoubtedly get entangled with other non-tank American units. Run them off now, hunt them later. Eventually other U.S. forces will attack you in the town. Close assault from the protection of the urban hexes. Rally your lads constantly and hang on. You should win the fight at the ambush point, and those units can help later. You are own your own from here on. Later you may enjoy trying the American side. Happy hunting! One major new feature of Steel Panthers III: Brigade Command is the command control element. What follows here is a brief synopsis of the rules for command control. If you wish, you can turn of the Orders portion of the rules by setting Control to Off in the Preferences menu. I. COMMAND CONTROL & ORDERS Certain actions performed by units in the game require the use of 'orders'. Each formation leader (A0, x0 - any '0' unit) has orders which a unit in its formation may use if the unit is in contact with its leader. A unit may also use the orders from a higher HQ if it has contact with the higher HQ either directly or through indirect contact through it's formation HQ. Example: Let's assume we have a battalion formation with b0 as the battalion HQ and units c0,c1,c2 and c3 as a company formation belonging to b0's battalion. Unit c1 could use the orders of unit c0 if it is in contact with c0. If it is in contact with b0, or if it has contact with c0 and c0 has contact with b0, it could use the orders of b0. If it is in contact with a0, or if it is in contact with c0 which is in contact with a0 either directly or indirectly through b0, then it may use the orders of a0. When a unit is active, it determines which HQ it thinks it should obtain its orders from at that moment, and that HQ's letter designation and the number of orders the HQ has available is displayed in parenthesis at the bottom of the screen. If a unit has multiple HQ's it can draw orders from, the selected HQ can change during the turn as orders are expended. At the beginning of each turn each leader has a chance to gain new orders. Some unused orders may also be carried over from the previous turn. 1. GAINING ORDERS At the start of each turn leaders may receive new orders. The number of new orders a leader may receive is equal to: (COMMAND RATING + RANDOM(10) -40 + NATIONALITY COMMAND RATING) / 10. Thus a German leader in 1941 (Nationality command rating 0) with a command rating of 74 would receive 3 orders 60% of the time and 4 orders 40% of the time. Every leader will receive a minimum of one new order per turn. Leaders may also retain unused orders from the previous turn and add them to the newly received orders. The maximum number of unused orders a leader may retain is determined by the leaders rank: Private 0 Corporal 0 Sergeant 1 2nd Lt. 1 1st Lt. 1 Captain 2 Major 2 Lt.Col. 2 Col. 3 Gen. 3 The total number of orders a leader may have available at the start of a turn is equal to his retained orders plus his newly received orders. 2. ADVERSE MORALE STATES After the number of available orders has been calculated this number may be reduced if the leaders unit is in an adverse morale state: Buttoned orders halved Pinned orders halved Retreating orders reduced to zero Routed orders reduced to zero 3. UNIT STANCE Each unit in the game may be assigned either an ADVANCE or DEFEND stance. Units assigned an ADVANCE stance that are not in an adverse morale state may be moved or fired by the owning player. Units assigned a DEFEND stance may fire but may not be moved, and will attempt to create entrenchments if they are either infantry, infantry weapons teams, or vehicles (i.e. gun units cannot create entrenchments) and they do not fire during the turn. If a unit with a DEFEND stance is forced to retreat, it will change its stance to ADVANCE. The number of turns it takes to entrench is based on the experience of the unit and its suppression level and can be sped up by adjacent engineer units. It usually takes several turns to reach an entrenched state. 4. FORMATION MOVEMENT OBJECTIVES Formations may be assigned movement objectives. Whenever a new objective is selected for a formation, units then in contact (physically or by radio) with the formation HQ will be given the new objective. Units not then in contact will not be given the new objective but will receive the new objective whenever they begin a turn in contact with their HQ. Objectives can only be given for the entire formation, but units within a formation may have different objectives depending on whether they have been in contact with their HQ as new objectives have been selected. Units with an ADVANCE stance may move toward their formation's movement objective without their leader expending any orders. Only hexes the unit can each without expending orders will be highlighted, although the unit may be able to move to other non-highlighted hexes by expending orders as long as the player is not in all-formation mode. A unit that attempts to move in a direction that is not towards it's formation objective will require a leader in the chain of command to spend one or more orders. If a unit does not have access to any orders, it can only move to highlighted hexes. Units with a DEFEND stance may be given movement objectives, but may not move until they have changed their stance to ADVANCE. Use the single flag button to set an objective for a formation by moving the cursor over the hex you want to be the objective for the current formation and pressing thesingle flag button (in the deploy phase you can use , to set all formations to one objective). 5. UNIT ACTIONS THAT REQUIRE A LEADER TO SPEND ORDERS Certain unit actions require a leader in the chain of command, that is in physical or radio contact with the unit, to expend one or more orders. If none of the leaders in the chain have the required orders then those actions may not be performed. Listed below are the orders costs for each type of action: (PHYSICAL CONTACT WITH HQ / RADIO CONTACT WITH HQ single unit movement - not toward objective - (1 / 2) request an indirect fire bombardment (per artillery unit) - (1 / 1) change formation movement objective - ( 3 / 3) change mission - single unit - (1 / 2) change mission - all units in formation - (3 / 3)