BATTLE FORCES Game Controls

This focus of this document is on using the game client. For details on the game rules see the Game Rules Document.

The game will begin ( optionally ) with a number of nation picking turns followed by a capital selection turn. To select your capital simply use the mouse to select a nation that you own to be your capital. It is important to select a capital you can easily defend, losing your capital will prevent you from building new forces. To complete your turn press the "Submit Turn" button.

Player Information

Located in the top right corner of the game area, you will find the player information tray. This tray will roll out to reveal a wealth of information about the players participating in this game. To unroll the tray, simply move your mouse over top of it. If you have locked the tray in a closed position click the green arrow to unroll it. To lock the tray, so it will only roll in/out when you click the green arrow; click the lock. Click to toggle the lock back to unlocked, free-rolling mode, if you wish. The default is in unlocked mode. Later you will see that the chat tray defaults to locked mode.

Your empire's colour, flag and other details, will always be on the first line in this tray. Any nation or force you own will be tinted with your empire's colour. You can also mouse over forces and nations to determine who owns them.

Keep a close eye on the statistics found in this tray. If an opponent is getting too powerful, they may be close to winning the game.

Map Controls

Mouse Wheel: Zoom the map. The focus point of the zoom will be located at the mouse cursor's position. You will find zooming extremely useful for navigating and making sense of a busy theatre-of-war. If you don't have a mouse-wheel; don't fret, there are other ways to zoom the map. If you have no mouse or trackpad, you may take this opportunity to fret. Here's an example of an unzoomed scene vs. a zoomed one.

This next list of actions will be performed when you click directly on the map surface. If you click on a tank or other element that is on top of the map, something else will probably happen. Try zooming in if you can't find a bare spot on the map to click.

Mouse Button ( click ): Select your capital. Select nations during nation picking.
Mouse Button ( click and drag ): Move the map.
Mouse Button ( double-click ): Zoom and position the map so the view is focused on the nation you double-clicked. This action will also be performed by double clicking on the income value tag.

You will find a group of buttons located at the bottom right corner of the game area. A few of them are for the map.

Zoom In: Increase the magnification of the map

Zoom Out: Decrease the magnification of the map

Centre Map: Restore the map to it's initial position and magnification.

Nation Income Icon

On the map you will find, located roughly in the centre of each Nation, an income value tag. This the amount of income per year the owner of this Nation will receive. You may mouse over this tag to see more information about that Nation, including it's name.

Controlling Your Forces

Moving your forces around the map is done with a simple drag-and-drop interface. Grab the force you want to move, drag it where you want it to go and then release the mouse to complete the movement. You can only drag a force from one nation to an immediately neighbouring nation. To move to a nation that is two borders away, move to the nation that is closer first, then move to the final destination. This will be executed as two separate movement steps, as can be seen in the image to the right. This is assuming your tank has a range of 2 remaining ( it hasn't been moved yet this turn ).

However; your force may not actually make it to its desired destination. Your movement may be blocked by an opponent's forces. Each time a force tries to move, the game checks to see if there are any opposing forces in the same zone. If so, your forces will must stop moving in order to engage the enemy. This picture shows an example of the same sequence of moves that the blue tank attempted previously. You will notice it only ends up moving one zone, because it was intercepted by the yellow tank moving into the same zone during movement phase 1. At the start of every turn you are given the opportunity to watch a playback of the previous turn. This will allow you to see any interceptions that may have occurred.

If your force starts out in a Zone ( when I say Zone, I mean either a Nation or a Sea Zone ) where an enemy Force, who is capable of blocking you, also resides; you will not be able to move at all. Unless you have a valid retreat path. You may retreat back to the Zone you originally moved from, if you still own that Zone. You can see the retreat path for any Force that has one by mousing over it and looking for the U-turn symbol on the map.

To aid in organizing and moving large numbers of forces, you may stack your forces into Regiments. Just drag-and-drop onto a unit of the same type to expand or create a Regiment. You may drag-and-drop forces out of a Regiment as well. To move the entire Regiment at once, drag-and-drop using the Regimental symbol floating above your forces. Regiments are only composed of forces of a similar type. To move a mixed-force army, you can shift-click to select multiple forces. Hold down the shift key and then click on a force you own. Do this to any number of forces you want to move. Then drag-and-drop one of the selected forces; the others will follow. Use the ctrl key to toggle units as selected or unselected. Clicking anywhere on the map outside of a selected unit will deselect all units. This is similar behavior to standard operating system procedures, which you are most likely already familiar with.

There is an undo button located at the bottom right of the game area. This will undo your most recent Force movement. Moving a Regiment is counted as a number of individual moves, just keep clicking undo until until your entire Regiment is together again ( if desired ). If you really messed up your turn, you can restart at any time using the "Restart Turn" button.

Landing Aircraft

All aircraft must end their turns positioned either in a friendly nation or, for fighters; in a sea zone with a friendly aircraft carrier. After moving your aircraft to a combat position, you can specify where it should land by dragging the landing strip icon directly to the desired landing zone. Mousing over either your aircraft or the landing strip will let you know if you have enough range to make it safely. After submitting your turn, the battle calculator will attempt to auto-land any aircraft that don't have valid landing orders assigned by you.

Purchasing New Forces

You may only build new forces on a nation you own that has a factory on it. With the exception of factories, which can be built on any nation you own. You will always start the game with at least one factory ( located at your capital nation ). Naval units can be built in a water zone if it borders a nation with a factory.

Drag new forces from the Purchase window to the nation you desire them built on. Those forces will be available for combat in your next turn. Place naval units in a water zone that is bordered by a factory. To unpurchase forces, drag them out of a valid build zone and release the mouse ( an "X" will indicate it is ready for refund ); your cash will be refunded. You can use the green area of the purchase window to organize your purchases before placing them on the map.

Chat

Located at the bottom right of the game area, you'll find the chat tray that you can use to chat with other players. To chat, click anywhere on the chat tray to unroll it. Click in the white text entry box at the bottom of the tray to give it focus ( if it doesn't already have it ). Type away. After pressing enter, your chat message will be sent. Only the previous 16 chat messages are retained when you close the game. If you have an important message to send to your allies or enemies, use Warmail. You will know when another player is online by looking at the flags in the player tray. If there is a green outline around their flag, they are currently online.

Warmail

There is a special purpose email client specifically for sending and receiving messages during the specific game you are playing. Use it to negotiate secret alliances, taunt your enemies or share a haiku about your favorite tank. When you have mail waiting for you to read the mail icon will be highlighted.

Replay

When a new turn starts, you will be given the chance to see a detailed replay of what happened during the previous turn. Instead of clicking the "Start Turn" button, use the "View Playback" button. This will be your only opportunity to view the replay. You can pause, rewind and control the speed of the playback using the replay console. At this point, the Notice Board will be filled with events of potential interest to you. Clicking on a notice will focus the map and time-line on the relevant event. When you are finished viewing the playback, start your turn with the "Start Turn" button located in the replay console.

Strategy and Tactics

The rules for BATTLE FORCES are fairly simple, but the subtle complexity of how a game will play out rarely is. Check the game information button ( top right corner ) to remind yourself what the conditions for winning the game are. Some games only require you to capture 2 or 3 opponent's capitals to win the game. Or if you amass enough cash, that may trigger a winning condition for some game configurations.

Try to invade and take control of your opponent's capital; while preventing the same from happening to you. Loss of your capital, in the worst case, depending on game settings, will lose the game instantly for you, and in the best case will only crush your economy and prevent you from building any new forces. You can see what the capitals for each player are in the Player Information Tray. On the map, each player's capital Nation will have their flag in it.

Keeping a buffer zone of at least one Nation with forces in it between your capital and your opponent's forces, is a good defensive strategy. Build up your forces in that buffer zone to secure a strong defensive position.

When attacking with powerful, but costly forces, you will want to bring along some cheaper forces ( like Troops ) to soak up any casualties you suffer. This may slow your advance, since Troops can only move 1 Nation per turn. You must make the choice between the risk of losing your more expensive forces and launching a quick attack to take advantage of any opponents weak defensive position.

Generally, a cautious advance will involve only moving 1 Land or Sea Zone per turn, even though you have forces capable of traveling a greater distance. This is necessary if you wish to insure your combined forces stay together as one battle group. For example, consider a battle group consisting of a submarine, an aircraft carrier and a couple of fighter jets escorting a transport ship. Moving two Sea Zones in one turn can end up with the submarine and fighters ahead of the carrier and transport. This would occur if enemy naval forces moved into the same Zone during movement phase 1. Aircraft are not blocked by naval forces and neither are submarines, however; your carrier and transport are blocked and will not move into the second Zone with the fighter and sub.

Know the strengths and weaknesses of each force type and how they move around the map. Refer to the Force Types document.

There is no one winning strategy. Stay flexible and prepared to change your strategy depending on the current situation.

Thanks for playing. Have fun and see you on the battlefield!

Copyright © 2011 Human Cube Inc.