Games PC STRATEGIC COMMAND-EUROPEAN THEATRE User Manual

STRATEGIC COMMAND

EUROPEAN THEATER

USER MANUAL

CONTENTS

I. OVERVIEW

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..3 Game Basics………………………………………………………………………….3

II. REFERENCE

General Unit Characteristics…………….……………………………………….…...6

Land Units……………………………………………………………………………6 Air Units……………………………………………………………………………...8

Naval Units…………………………………………………………………………...9

Military Production……………………………………………………………….…11

Research And Development………………………………………………………...12

Politics………………………………………………………………………………16

Unit Formulas……………………………………………………………………….17

III. GETTING STARTED

Playing A New Game……………………………………………………………….21 Loading A Saved Game……………………………………………………………..21

Options……………………………………………………………………………....22

Choosing Your Side………………………………………………………………....23

Hotkeys……………………………………………………………………………...23

IV. GAME PLAY

Turn Breakdown…………………………………………………………………….25

Moving Units………………………………………………………………………..25

Combat……………………………………………………………………………....28

Purchasing Units…………………………………………………………………….31

Reinforcing A Unit………………………………………………………………….32

Renaming A Unit……………………………………………………………………32 Disbanding A Unit…………………………………………………………………..33

Conducting Research………………………………………………………………..33 Declaring War……………………………………………………………………….34

Intelligence Reports…………………………………………………………………35

Ending A Turn………………………………………………………………………36

Saving……………………………………………………………………………….36

Quitting The Game………………………………………………………………….36

V. SPECIAL RULES

Vichy France………………………………………………………………………..37 Moving Capitals………………………………………………………………….…37

Surrendering Nations……………………………………………………………….37 Surface Raiders……………………………………………………………………..37

Production In Occupied Territory…………………………………………………..38

Gibraltar…………………………………………………………………………….38

Victory Conditions……………..………………...………………………………….38

VI. STRATEGY & TIPS

Axis Strategy………………….….…………………...…………………………….39

Allied Strategy………………………………………………………………………39 General Tips……………………………………………….…………………….…..40

VII. CAMPAIGN EDITOR

Creating A New Campaign……….…………………………………………………41

Opening An Existing Campaign….…………………………………………………41

Saving Campaigns……………….………………………………………………….41 Activating Countries…………….…………………………………………………..41 Changing Hex Control………….…………………………………………………...42 Adding Units………………………………………………………………………...42 Setting Up Research Levels…………………………………………………………42 Editing Campaign Data……………………………………………………………...43 Editing Units………………………………………………………………………...43 Limitations…………………………………………………………………………..43

VIII. TROUBLESHOOTING

Installation Issues……………………………………………………………………44

Video Issues………………………………………………………………………….44

Sound Issues…………………………………………………………………………45

IX. TABLES

Abbreviations………………………………………………………………………...46

Combat Target Values……………………………………………..…………………46

Terrain Values………………………………………………………………………..47

Supply Values………………………………………………………………………..48

X. TECHNICAL

Hardware Requirements……………………………………………………………..49

XI. CREDITS

………………………………………………………………………………..50

I. OVERVIEW

INTRODUCTION

Total War is not a succession of mere episodes in a day or a week. It is a long drawn out and intricately planned business, and the longer it continues the heavier are the demands on the character of the men engaged in it.

– General George C. Marshall June 1941

Strategic Command – European Theater is WWII Grand Strategy at its best. As the

supreme commander of the Axis or Allied forces, the player shapes the fates of the nations at war during the Second World War in Europe. Political options, research and upgrade of equipment, management of supply and resources and the strategic employment of one's armed forces are some of the keys to success. With limited phase restrictions and wide-open turns you are in complete control to try many different approaches and entertain just as many possible outcomes. The future of Europe and perhaps ultimate glory is in your hands.

GAME BASICS

SCALE

Each hex represents about 80 kilometres or 50 miles. Turns vary in length and are dependant on the time of year.

SEASON TURN LENGTH

Summer 1 week

Fall, Spring 2 weeks

Winter 1 month

MAP LAYOUT

The map covers an area that stretches horizontally from the east coast of North America to the Ural Mountains in Russia, and vertically from just below the Arctic Circle to the North Coast of Africa.

Each of the major combatants is represented by a different colour on the map, essentially representing the territory controlled by that particular country. The colour scheme is as follows:

United Kingdom & Allied Minor

France

USA

USSR

Germany & Axis Minor

Italy

Neutral Countries

SYMBOLS ON THE MAP

Each type of terrain or resource can have several different properties depending upon whether or not a unit is attacking or defending on that particular hex. Please refer to the Terrain Values Table for further detail on terrain values with respect to combat.

TERRAIN SYMBOLS

Forest Marsh Mountain

STRATEGIC RESOURCE SYMBOLS

City Capital City Fortification

UNIT SYMBOLS

Port Oil Mine

Head Quarters (HQ)

Corps

Army

Tank Group

Air Fleet

Rocket Detachment

Battleship

Cruiser

Carrier

Sub

Strategic Bombers

Transport

II. REFERENCE

GENERAL UNIT CHARACTERISTICS

The following table outlines the six basic characteristics for all units:

CHARACTERISTIC MAX VALUE

Strength 10 (max 15)

Supply 10

Experience 4

Readiness* Determined by Formula

Action Points** Unit’s AP Value

Entrenchment*** Terrain’s Maximum Value

*Refer to the Unit Formulas section for further detail **Refer to the Combat Target Values Table for further detail on Action Points ***This characteristic does not apply to naval units, since they cannot be entrenched

Each unit type also has combat values for:

• Spotting

• Strike Range

• Soft Attack

• Tank Attack

• Air Attack

• Naval Attack

• Strategic Attack

• Soft Defence

• Tank Defence

• Air Defence

• Naval Defence

These values can be improved through research and development. Please refer to the Research and Development section for further details.

LAND UNITS

Land units are vital in defeating enemy land forces as well as in capturing enemy territory and resources. The effective use of land forces can be the difference between total

victory and bitter defeat. The following is a breakdown of the different land units found in the game.

HEADQUARTERS

Both land and air units are attached to an Army Group Commander specified by a Head Quarters (HQ) unit. This can be seen in the command breakdown diagram given below:

Note: Unit attachment to an HQ is limited to the five closest ‘home’ units that are within at least five hexes to an HQ. If there is more than one HQ in the area then the game will attempt to allocate attachment as best fits the above requirement.

Army Group Commanders are available in a pool at production time with a predetermined commander rating.

Examples:

ARMY GROUP COMMANDER COMMANDER RATING

Rommel 8

Zhukov 8

Patton 7 Wavell 7

The higher the commander rating of an Army Group Commander, the higher the readiness value for all units attached to his HQ. Please refer to the Unit Formulas

section for further detail on calculating combat readiness.

In addition to influencing the readiness of units under its command, HQ’s can also pass on a combat morale bonus depending upon how well units perform in the field. Any unit that performs well when attached to an HQ will increase that HQ’s command experience and subsequently increase their combat morale bonus at the same time. While if units under an HQ face some sort of disaster, then this HQ’s command experience is reduced, in turn reducing the combat morale bonuses for all units under its command.

Although HQ’s are administrative in nature and cannot attack, they can also increase a unit’s supply value when extended from other supply resources. Please refer to the Unit Supply Values Table for further detail.

CORPS

Generally an operational unit, the standard Corps in the Second World War comprised of approximately 40,000 to 60,000 men.

ARMY

More of a strategic unit, armies were made up of one or more Corps plus any special attached formations and usually comprised of approximately 60,000 to 100,000 men.

TANK GROUPS

As a tactical unit, Tank Groups started the war comprising of one or more motorized Corps that also consisted of one or more Tank Divisions. Future developments of Tank Groups, notably in Germany led to larger more strategic formations such as the Tank or Panzer Armies.

ROCKET DETACHMENTS

Rocket units can be used to attack strategic resources as well as regular land, air or naval units. The key benefit of rocket detachments is that its attacks cannot be defended against, so rocket detachments can only lose strength points from direct attack by other units. This specialized unit’s effectiveness is greatly increased through rocket research and development. Please refer to the Research and Development section for further detail.

Used as a strategic unit, rockets were developed primarily by Germany in the hopes of bringing decisive victory at a minimal cost. In the end though, rockets failed to play this decisive role due to their late introduction and the limited numbers available.

AIR UNITS

Air units can play an important role in pre-emptive strikes as well as in destroying an enemy’s strategic assets.

AIR FLEETS

Air Fleets can be used to attack any valid land, air, or naval targets, while their strategic attacks are limited. Air Fleets are very useful when placed in the immediate vicinity of either tactical or strategic targets and will be automatically activated in a defensive role for all friendly units adjacent to them within their flight radius.

In general, Air Fleets were normally made up of fighter, tactical bomber, and transport wings all of which together comprised of the normal day to day air operations throughout the war.

STRATEGIC BOMBERS

Bombers can be used to attack any valid land, air, or naval units, but are very useful in attacking strategic resources. The bombing of enemy cities and other resource areas can reduce their operational strengths, which in turn reduces the overall number of MPP’s collected at the end of an enemy’s turn. Please refer to the Military Production section for further detail on the collection of military production points (MPP’s).

As a strategic unit, bombers played an integral role in the Second World War. Most notably, the Allies’ use of heavy bombers in the closing stages of the war severely hampered Germany’s war machine and was instrumental to their eventual surrender.

NAVAL UNITS

Naval units can help control sea-lanes as well as perform shore bombardments preceding amphibious assaults.

BATTLESHIPS

Battleships can be used in regular naval combat as well as in shore bombardments. Shore bombardments can be commenced upon regular land or air units as well as strategic resources.

Prior to the Second World War, Battleships were considered by many nations as the pinnacle symbol of naval power, yet as the war progressed, these capital ships lost much of their lustre. In general, the advances in sub design and the effective use of aircraft carriers, particularly in the Pacific Theater, commanded a lot of rethinking with respect to the Battleships’ role in modern warfare.

CRUISERS

Cruisers can be used in regular naval combat as well as in shore bombardments. Shore bombardments can be commenced upon regular land or air units as well as strategic resources.

The Battle Cruiser solved the dilemma of trying to balance speed and firepower in a capital ship. Battle Cruisers were often able to outgun most opponents, while being fast enough to escape any ship that out classed them.

CARRIERS

With an effective strike range, Carrier units can be extremely useful in advanced strikes upon land, air and other naval units.

The advent of Carriers marked the beginning of a new form of naval warfare. While effectively demonstrated in the Pacific Theater, aircraft Carriers did not have as great an impact in the European Theater due to the close proximity of most combatants.

SUBS

Subs can be used in regular naval combat as well as for disrupting Allied convoys in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean. Surface raiding by subs is covered in more detail under the Special Rules section.

Although Subs were instrumental in bringing about a premature end to the First World War, the Washington Treaties did not state any limitations on their design or numbers. This lack of restriction resulted in countries like Germany experimenting with new submarine designs and tactics. One notable development, the idea of a submarine wolf pack, was extremely successful in wreaking havoc on many allied convoys throughout the Second World War.

TRANSPORTS

Transports can be used to transport land units across fixed bodies of water. In terms of combat, transports are very weak since they cannot attack and their defence is very limited, yet their existence was essential to any campaign in the European Theater. Please refer to the Game Play section for further detail.

MILITARY PRODUCTION

Military Production Points (MPP’s) are collected at the beginning of each round and are based on the number of cities, ports, mining sites and oil production areas currently owned or occupied by either the Axis or Allied sides. Only the following major countries will control their own production while all other countries will fall under either Axis or Allied Minor control.

• United Kingdom

• France

• USA

• USSR

• Germany

• Italy

In general, a country’s production can only occur in those cities or ports that can trace a direct line of land hexes back to their capital city. For example, since the sea effectively cuts off London from the mainland, the United Kingdom could never build units in mainland Europe. Rather, they would have to build them in England first, and then transport them there if it was so required.

The following table outlines the conditions that determine the maximum operational strength value of a city or strategic resource:

CONDITION MAX STRENGTH VALUE

In Direct Connection With Capital city 10

Cut Off From Capital City 5 Occupied City/Resource* 8

Cut Off And Occupied** 5

*Occupied cities or resources in the USSR will have a max strength = 5 **Cut off and occupied cities or resources in the USSR will have a max strength = 3

Strategic bombing, air attack, naval bombardment, or rocket attack can reduce the operational strength value of any valid strategic resource. This results in strength losses and directly affects the number of MPP’s collected at the beginning of each round. Subsequently, for each turn that a strategic resource is not attacked, the operational strength for that strategic resource is increased by +1 point automatically up to their maximum attainable value. This simulates rebuilding and repair.

The following table outlines the MPP values assigned to strategic resources:

STRATEGIC RESOURCE MPP VALUE

City 1 MPP * Operational Strength

Capital City 2 MPP * Operational Strength

Port 1 MPP * Operational Strength

Mining Site 2 MPP * Operational Strength

Oil Site 3 MPP * Operational Strength

The sum of these values for each type of strategic resource controlled will determine the total MPP’s collected at the beginning of each round for each major country.

The following table outlines the production costs for each unit type:

UNIT MILITARY PRODUCTION COST

HQ 350 + 15 * Rating

Corps 125

Army 250

Rocket Detachment 350

Tank Group 325

Air Fleet 400

Strategic Bombers 500

Battleship 600

Cruiser 500

Carrier 700

Sub 325

Research and development can improve the combat effectiveness of various units, but it will also result in an increase of the unit’s overall production cost. The following formula reflects the cost of units for which applicable research levels have been achieved:

Cost of Unit = Production Cost + (10% of Production Cost * # of applicable research levels)

Please see the Research and Development section for further detail on the various types of research available.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Only the Axis and Allied Major countries can conduct research and development. The following list of technologies is available for further research and development:

• Anti-Tank Weapons

• Heavy Tanks

• Anti-Aircraft Radar

• Long Range Aircraft

• Jet Aircraft

• Heavy Bombers

• Sonar

• Advanced Subs

• Gun Laying Radar

• Rockets

• Industrial Techno logy

Each research type has a maximum level of 5 and a maximum number of 5 research points that can be put against it. At the beginning of each turn, each research point has a 5% chance of returning the next level of research (so 5 research points in anti-tank research will give you a 25% chance per turn of getting the next level), so the more research points put against a particular type of research, the better the chances of achieving the next level. Each research point costs 250 MPP’s and the total maximum research funding cannot exceed 2500 MPP’s. Also, depending upon the type of research, a variety of results can be achieved with each new level. The following is a breakdown of the benefits for each type:

ANTI-TANK RESEARCH

Anti-tank research encompasses anti-tank guns as well as the later panzerfausts or bazookas developed by Germany and the USA respectively.

Each new level of anti-tank research increases the tank defence and maximum strength values for both Corps and Army units.

HEAVY TANK RESEARCH

Both the Axis and Allies put extensive research into developing the next generation of medium to heavy tanks. Some of the more notable heavy tanks of the war included Germany’s Tiger I & II, and the USSR’s KV series of tanks.

Each new level of heavy tank research increases the tank attack, tank defence and maximum strength values for Tank Groups.

ANTI-AIRCRAFT RADAR RESEARCH

This research provided both sides with a more effective defence from air attacks with improved detection and accuracy.

Every new level of anti-aircraft radar research improves the air defence values for all Strategic Resources. As an added bonus defending units located on these resources will also receive the anti-aircraft radar bonus when defending against air attacks.

LONG-RANGE AIRCRAFT RESEARCH

An essential development throughout the war years, long-range aircraft provided an effective means of attack and defence on almost every front. Notably, long-range aircraft enabled the Allies to finally close the air gap in the mid Atlantic as well as allow for the deep penetration into Axis held territory.

Every new level of long-range aircraft research increases the spotting, action points, and strike range values for both Air Fleets, and Strategic Bombers. Also, every new level of long-range aircraft research increases the spotting, strike range, and maximum strength values of Carriers.

JET AIRCRAFT RESEARCH

Jet aircraft, such as the ME 262 fighter and the Arado 234 bomber, both produced by Germany, shocked the Allied Air Commands in the closing stages of the war. Yet, production problems and limited numbers never truly allowed these aircraft to impact the course of the war. Nevertheless, many historians agree that had such aircraft been developed earlier, the outcome of the war could have ended much differently for the combined Allied forces.

Every new level of jet aircraft research improves the air defence, and air attack for both Air Fleets and Carriers, while the air defence value for Strategic Bombers is increased. In addition, the maximum strength value for Air Fleets is increased.

HEAVY BOMBER RESEARCH

As the Second World War came to an end, heavy bombers emerged as pivotal players in the role of disrupting supply lines and destroying vital factories and resources.

Every new level of heavy bomber research improves the strategic attack and maximum strength values for Strategic Bomber units.

SONAR RESEARCH

Sonar development was essential in defending from submarine attack, as well as submarine detection and destruction.

Every new level of sonar research improves the naval defence values o f Battleships, Cruisers and Carriers when attacked by submarines.

ADVANCED SUB RESEARCH

Advances in sub design and technology allowed the German Navy to re-enter the Battle of the Atlantic in the later stages of the war. Most notably, the snorkel allowed German subs to remain submerged while recharging their batteries with their diesel engines. Again, these and other developments failed to have any serious impact on the course of the war due to production problems and dwindling resources as the war drew to a close.

Every new level of advanced sub research improves the naval attack and maximum strength values for submarines. Also, submarines in general have a 25% chance of successfully diving from either naval or air attack, but with each new level of advanced sub research, this percentage improves by +5%.

GUN LAYING RADAR RESEARCH

Both the Axis and Allied navies experimented with various types of radar to improve the accuracy of their big guns for naval combat.

Every new level of gun laying radar research improves the naval attack, naval defence and maximum strength values for both Battleships and Cruisers.

ROCKET RESEARCH

Both sides worked on developing various types of surface-to-air, surface-to-surface, airto-surface, and air-to-air rocket technology. Some of the most notable rocket developments of the war were the V-1 and V-2 rockets developed by Germany. While the V-1 became more of a nuisance to the Allies, the V-2 presented a potentially serious threat. Luckily for the Allies the V-2 program suffered from many of the common problems Germany faced in the later stages of the war, material and fuel shortages, as well as disrupted production.

Every level of rocket research improves the attack values and strike range for all Rocket Detachments.

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH

In general, the penalty for attaining new levels for any of the above research results in a production cost increase of 10% for the unit(s) it applies to. Thus, to offset this penalty, developing industrial technology improves the capacity and development time of war production and materials.

Every new level of industrial technology decreases the cost of production for each unit by 10%.

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Games PC STRATEGIC COMMAND-EUROPEAN THEATRE User Manual

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