Blitzkrieg 1940

By : XTR Corp.
Aide de Camp 2 Set (version 2.05, May 1, 1998)

Module creator: Benoit Larose   blarose@total.net
Produced by: John C Kincaid        jkincaid@primenet.com

Welcome to the Blitzkrieg 1940 Set for ADC2!  Here are notes and instructions on how to get most out of this module.

Note :
You must have the latest version of ADC2, 2.05 for this program to work. You can get the update from the HPS web site at  'www.hpssims.com' or contact HPS directly. 

1-Contents
This set includes all the graphics, map and setup files to play the 1939 and 1940 scenario.

2-Symbols
Most are straightforward and closely mirror the paper game.

3-Map
Some hexrows and hexcolumns overlap each other.  If you can't locate a particular hexrow or column, use the Search feature.

The Roer dams are dashed hexsides.  There is a marker you can put there to remind you of the floods as needed.

4-Units
The unit images include all the information found on the actual counters at zoom 3 except unit ID and setup information.  The informational counters were also created.

The unit class definition follows this set of conventions:

Name:  aa bbb ccc dddddd where

aa = nationality
bbb = type
ccc = size
dddddd = factors

For Class fields, their definition is as follows:

#1:  Attack+
#2:  Attack-
#3:  Attack Dice
#4:  Defense+
#5:  Defense-
#6:  Defense Dice
#7:  Movement
#8:  Steps

5- Volatile Units
Rule 2.11 gives many units a variable attack or defense strenght.  This rule was adapted to ADC2 this way:

a)   A unit with positive variable strenght (attack and/or defense) uses fields #1 and #4 to record the positive combat strenghts and #2 and #5 for negative combat strenght.
b)  Fields #3 and 6 are always set at "1" for these volatile units (see below).
c)  Non-volatile units use fields #1 and #4 but #2, #3, #5 and #6 are not used.

6-Flipping Units
Flip sides were defined for step losses purposes including for 4 step units.

7- Combat Resolution
Fields #1 to #6 are summarized in the Combat Summary window.  When volatile units are included, follow this procedure:

a)  Choose attacking and defending units the usual way then click on Done.  To total the Attacker's strenght, look at the sum of the field Attack Dice.  This is the total number of dice for all units involved in this combat you will have to throw to determine variable attack strenght.  Make note of this number then look at the Attack+ and Attack- sums. Record these numbers as well.
b)  Do the same for the Defender's fields.
c)  Click on OK then go to the dice window.  Roll the number of dice found in a) or b) above.
d)  Add to the sum of the dice the Attack+/- and Defense+/-.  This is the final combat strenght to use for that side.
e)  If there are units with Attack/Defense- included in the stacks involved, you have to substract  these factors individually since you can't have a unit with less than 1 final strenght (see 14.8).  You can find these units and make note of that from the Show Pieces window.  This step is necessary ONLY for negative strenght factors.
f)  Click on the Dice icon and resolve combat as usual.

Example:

The 2nd Ge Pz Div (8-4-10) attacks the 1st Fr  Mech Div (+3 9) and 3Sp Fr Cav Bde (-1 9).  The attacker's Attack+ sum is 8, the defender's Defense+ sum is 3 and Defense- sum is 1.  Defender's Defense Dice is 2.

Going to the Dice icon, 2 dice are thrown and it is decided that the last die will be for the Cav Bde (the one with Defense-).  This should be communicated to the opponent using the Comment icon before the dice are thrown.

Dice results are 6, 6 or a sum of 12.  Adding 3 and substracting 1 gives a net defense factor of 14.  The odds for that combat are 8:14.

If the dice results were 6, 1 the substraction would have been ignored since the Cav unit can't have a defense strenght of "0".  The final combat strenght would be 10 (6+3+1).

8- Operation Sickle Cut, Dummy Units (6.0) and Fog of War (11.3)
Both players can use the Hidden units feature.  In order to abide by rule 11.3, at least 1 unit has to be revealed (the top one).  All the other units in the stack can be Hidden by double-clicking on the desired unit's M/C/H field on the Select Pieces for Action window then clicking on the red hidden status section in the unit's Edit Piece Value and Information window.  Use the same procedure to manually reveal a unit.  Mark the box ('This unit on top ') of the non hidden unit so that it stays on the top top of the stack.  It is the responsibility of the owning player to apply this rule properly.

All hidden units still show on map with a generic symbol and they are listed in the Unit list window by the "unknown/hidden" designation.

Reveal range for both players is set at 50. When a unit is selected for combat, it becomes revealed.  Once revealed, a unit has to be manually hidden again as described above to take advantage of the fog of war rule.

Dummy units (6.3) are treated as real units by the program i.e. even if placed on top, they use the same hidden symbol as real units and are listed as unknown/hidden until revealed.

Note : all units placed on board by both players automatically get hidden status when the Hidden units option is checked.  This means you have to edit this field as needed each time a unit is placed on board in a hex by itself or if you want it to be the top unit of a stack. This will be required during initial setup or from a pool. 

When you start either of the scenarios provided with this module visit the units to see if any are stacked and then select which will be on top and hide the rest. See below for additional notes on the ADC2 Hidden features. 


Sickle Cut:
At start, all German units are in the At Start pool.  There is a Dummies pool holding all the available dummy units, mech and non-mech.  Transfer the units participating in the Sickle Cut operation, both real and dummies, in the pool using this name as per rule 6.2.

When it is time to apply rule 6.5, just place the units from the Sickle Cut pool on board.

9-Set-up
The Allied player should start the game by choosing a Password from the Edit/Players/Edit Info menu.  Then, he/she should take advantage from the fog of war rules as described above in all hexes where there are more than 1 friendly unit.  The Replay file should then be cleared and the saved OPS file sent to the opponent.

The German player should then choose a password as well and set up his/her units from the At start pool and use the Sickle Cut option as described above, keeping in mind that at least 1 piece in each hex has to be known to the Allied player.  The Replay file should be cleared then the first turn started.  The game can proceed the usual way.

9-Tip
Use the Search function as much as you can, it speeds navigation on the map.  Remember that you can access it while actually moving units.

That's it.  I hope you enjoy the game and the set.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions.  Thank you.


Benoit
blarose@total.net

Comments on Hidden Movement

ADC2 has 3 hidden movement features that can really enhance the fun of playing
boardgames.

Area Hidden

This "area-based" method reveals  the unit when an opponents
unit is within "X" hexes. You can get more details in the Help index by typing "hidden".

Set up:

1) Go to the Advanced menu
2) Make sure "Auto Reveal When Moving (Range): On"
3) Go to Edit/Players
    Perform the following on each of the two players (not be more than 2)  
    Choose a "player"
    Choose "Edit Selected Player Info" (click button)
    Go to "Search/Reveal Range"
    **Set to whatever range you want to use, 5 to 9 seems to work good ** 
    (This is all you need to do when start with a new game) 
    Go to "Hidden Piece Options"
    Made sure the following options are checked:
    "Use Hidden Pieces For this Player"
    "Pieces hidden when placed on board"
    "Pieces in force pools always hidden"
     Click on "Save"
     Click on "X" to close window
4) End of changes


Units spotted (revealed)) will remain that way until the end of your turn, even if the spotting unit moves back out of range.

If you want the program to run the spotting routine manually, go to "Advanced" menu and select "Run(Range) Auto-Reveal Now".
 
Hex Hidden

This method hides the identity of all units below the top unit in a stack. The details can be found in the "readme.txt" file accompanying version 2.01 or greater. It is also copied at the end of this document.

Set up:
1) Go to the Advanced menu
2) Make sure "Auto Reveal During Combat: On" (all other options off)
3) Go to Edit/Players
    Perform the following on each player
    Choose a "player"
    Choose "Edit Selected Player Info" (click on button)
    Go to "Hidden Piece Options"
    Made sure the following options are checked:
    "Use Hidden Pieces For this Player"
    "Pieces hidden when placed on board"
    "Pieces in force pools always hidden"
    Range setting is not applicable in this option
    Click on "Save"
    Click on "X" to close window
4) End of changes


LOS Hidden

The third method hides movement based on LOS (line of sight) from one unit to another depending on the elevation settings of the ADC2 module. It simulates playing a refereed game where a referee would control sightings.

This feature will slow down the response of the program in proportion to the size of the game, so it is best used on small- to medium-sized tactical games. 

*Editorial*
This feature is not an exact, error free, boardgame duplicating process. If you want to have fun, add some suspense to your play and can accept occurrences that you can not predict, by all means try this feature. I say this for two reasons: 

One, the LOS routine calculations do not always give boardgame logic results, regardless of how much you tweak the settings.

Sometimes an opponents unit will see yours, but you won't be able to see it in return. 

As of this writing, the feature resolves LOS correctly approximately 90% of the time. HPS added this after the release and if it proves popular its implementation might be improved.

Try it, though, and have fun, calling anything that happens that you 
don't think should have, "fog of war". (Your lookout fell asleep.) 

John Kincaid
jkincaid@primenet.com


********************************************************
Excerpts from ADC2 online manual or readme.txt file:

HOW THE LOS BLOCKING OF TERRAIN WORKS:

LOS - The key for using LOS in tactical games is dividing up your terrain types into Base Elevation and AGL types.  Normally, your "base elevation" types will not have any AGL terrain features, while the AGL types will not have any base elevation.  For example, you would create base hexes such as 0 meters, 5 meters, 10 meters, etc. and AGL types such as woods, orchard, houses, etc.  A good technique for the base elevation symbols is to use a slightly different color for each elevation level.  Generally,  from lower elevation to higher elevation the color gets darker.  

Once you have all of your symbols completed, and the map drawn you are ready to go into the Play Game Module and "tell" it how to treat your terrain.   First, set the base elevation for all of your primary types. For the above example, you could set the base elevations to 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, etc. to match the height in meters.  Or, you could use an arbitrary system where a level represents some specified height (which is the situation in most board games).  In this case, you might set the base elevations to 0,1,2,3,4,5, etc., where each level actually represents 5 meters.    

Next, you would set the AGL heights of the secondary features - making sure to match the height per level with what you used for the base terrain.  For example, let's say woods are 5 meters high.  If in the preceding step you set the base elevations at 0, 5, 10, 15, etc, the height of the woods will be 5, based on 1 meter per level.  However, if you set your base elevations to 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. the height of the woods will be 1, since in that system each level represents 5 meters.

There are several other points worth mentioning.  First, the unit of measurement is purely cosmetic, you can type in "furlongs" instead of meters, for example.  Second, you need to know the LOS rules of the game in order to accurately implement them here.  If the game utilizes "the plateau effect" (i.e., the map/board comes in flat increments, and LOS is blocked if the piece is in the "shadow" of the lower map/board) then you want to be sure to check the "AUTOMATIC GROUND LEVEL SMOOTHING" to off.  On the other hand, if you want to try something a little more advanced in whatever game you are playing, check this box to "on."  Automatic smoothing actually takes the different level hexes and interpolates them, making for more realistic LOS assessments.  When using automatic smoothing, the Cliff elevation box allows for cliffs, given they drop X amount of map/board levels.

Finally, the setting the block point quantity individually for various features is a way to have partial LOS obstruction, if desired.  If your game features "all or nothing" LOS, then set the block points to any amount (say, for example, 100) and just be sure that all blocking map/board has a value of 100 or greater.  For games with partial LOS obstruction, you can set the map/board blocking values to less than the overall blocking value, and this way, get partial obstruction.  Suppose you had a game where a piece could fire through one woods hex, but not two.  You could set the overall blocking value to 100, and the woods map/board value to 50.  It would therefore not be blocked for one woods hex, but the second hex would block LOS.  This is only an example, as this feature is very flexible and can be adjusted as desired.  Under range options, you can adjust the maximum range or leave it as unlimited.

This screen allows you to also give a special elevation advantage to the spotting or target hex location.  For example, in some games, a sniper might be on the second story of a building, although the building hex itself is ground level.  You could then give him a height advantage here per the rules of the particular game before checking the LOS.



POINTS FOR HIDDEN MOVEMENT PROCESS:

-There are now 4 choices concerning "auto-reveal" features under the Main
  Menu | Advanced selection:
a) Run (Range) Auto-Reveal Now:  Runs the auto-reveal routine             based  on the detection ranges established for each player.
b) Run (LOS) Auto-Reveal Now:  Runs the auto-revel routine based on
establishing an LOS (Line Of Sight) between units. (See below)
c) Auto-Reveal When Moving (Range) ON/OFF.  If this setting is ON, the auto-reveal (using player range values) will be run each time hex is selected in a piece's movement path.
d) Auto-Reveal When Moving (LOS) ON/OFF. If this setting is ON, the auto-reveal routine (using LOS) will be run each time a hex is
selected in a piece's movement path. (See below)

-Added a new Auto-Reveal function which uses the Line Of Sight to determine which units can "see" each other (instead of a pure hex range as with the standard auto-reveal).  To run the LOS Auto-Reveal, select it from the Advanced menu.  You will need to make sure that all of your terrain LOS values are set up correctly before selecting this function.  If you want spotter or target units to have a height AGL (Above Ground Level), run a standard single LOS first (anywhere on the board), to set these values.
  The function will always use the values for the last point-to-point LOS.

  In operation, this function first "hides" ALL of the pieces on the board, then cycles through all the on-board pieces - each of which tries to sight every piece belonging to another player.  If the LOS is not completely blocked, the target piece is "seen".  Once a piece is seen - it is seen by all of the other players, no matter which player's piece spotted it.

  Pieces owned by all players (such as markers) are never hidden (they are always seen by all players), and NEVER try to sight on-board pieces of any player.  If you are using turn record tracks or other holding boxes located in border areas, pieces placed here WILL try to sight on map pieces, which can lead to unexpected results/exposures of units near the edge.  One Solution is to make a "border" around the actual map area with a ground elevation high enough to block this type of spotting activity.  This also means that markers intended to be placed on pieces should be created  separately for each player.  Otherwise, enemy players will be able to see these markers all over the mapboard - even if the pieces themselves are 
hidden.  For example, if the game uses "out of ammo" markers for pieces that can't attack, an "out of ammo" class should be created for each player, rather than a single generic one.

  Cards that happen to be placed on the board never try to spot enemy pieces, nor can they be spotted.  This is true for either of the auto-reveal methods.

  In practice, use of the LOS-based auto-reveal function will normally be Limited to medium sized games; the time required determining all of the Line Of Sight's increases exponentially with the number of pieces in the game.

MORE ON LOS:

Run Auto-Reveal Now - to have all on-board pieces search for hidden enemy units in their search range.
Auto-Reveal When Moving - to have moving units automatically search for hidden enemy units each time you select a new hex for them to move to.

The Auto-Reveal routine detects hidden pieces based on the Search/Reveal  Range set as a part of the Player Information.  In a very large game, you may want to have Auto-Reveal When Moving turned off, and click Run Auto-Reveal Now at the end of your movement in order to save time.  However, you run the risk of a moving piece "accidentally" moving onto or through a hidden enemy piece.  For smaller games,  the Auto-Reveal When Moving  should remain on, and enemy pieces will be revealed as you select each hex in the movement path.  Once revealed, pieces remain known until the auto-reveal is manually run by clicking Run Auto-Revel Now.

Use Elevations - This option can be checked as on or off.  If ON, the elevation of each hex will be displayed in the lower right hand information box.  The elevations for each Map/Board Symbol are defined using LOS: Set Map/Board Values.
LOS: Set Map/Board Values - to assign the Base Elevation, and Other Terrain Properties to a Map/Board symbol.  


Above Ground Level (AGL)  is the elevation of a feature above the ground level of a hex.  The ground level of a hex is always equal to the Base Elevation of its' Primary Terrain.  If there are Secondary Terrain types in the hex, they (and their Base Elevation) are ignored in determining the ground level.  However, should  the secondary types contain features with heights above ground level, these features will extend normally above the hex's ground level.  In addition to the Base Elevation, the Primary Terrain may also have an AGL (for example, to represent trees rising above the base elevation). 

AGL Display Color is the color used for the AGL terrain in the single LOS results display.  That way you can graphically see the terrain and AGL features.  Typically, shades of green are used for foliage (trees, woods, etc), gray or black for cities, etc.  In the display, ground level is always drawn as brown.

Blocking Points are a degradation of the sighting range.  The number of points required to totally block sighting is adjustable from the LOS: Characteristics window.  Whenever an LOS is determined to pass though this terrain feature, this number of blocking points will be added to the running total. 

% When Spotting Location is the percentage of normal LOS blocking points that will be added to the running total if this terrain type is in the spotting hex.  Normally, this will be a value close to 50%, assuming the spotter is in the center of the hex.

% When Target Location is the percentage of normal LOS blocking points that will be added to the running total if this terrain type is in the target hex.  Normally this will be a value close to 50%, assuming the target is in the center of the hex.



HIDDEN UNITS BELOW TOP UNIT (Hex Hidden):

-A new "auto-reveal" option has been added which reveals pieces when they are selected for combat.  To toggle this option On/OFF, select "Reveal Pieces During Combat" under the Advanced menu.  When this option is on, it has the following effects:
     a)  Any piece selected to attack is immediately revealed.  Other   pieces that   may be in the same hex, but that are not attacking, are not affected.
     b)  ALL pieces in a hex with at least one unit selected to defend are immediately revealed - even if the pieces are not all selected to defend.




  





