BATTLE of BRITAIN SPECTRUM - CBM 64 - AMSTRAD CPC WARGAMERS SERIES INSTRUCTION BOOKLET (C) MCMLXXXV PSS All rights of the producer, and of the owners of the work being produced are reserved. Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting of this cassette, disk or associated literature is prohibited. The publisher accepts noresponsibility for errors, nor liability for damage arising from its use. PSS 452 Stoney Stanton Road, Coventry, CV6 5DG Tel: 0203 667556 Introduction ------------ Many computer games of the arcade variey can be played by simply loading the program and getting hold of the joystick. Any rules etc., can be picked up as you go along. As with the other games in our WARGAMERS SERIES, you will learn to play and enjoy Battle of Britain, much more easily if you read the instructions fully before you start to play. Battle of Britain has been designed with both the experienced wargamer and the complete novice in mind. For the experienced player we have included a campaign game, which as far as possible portrays an accurate representation of the actual Battle of Britain. For the novice wargamer we have included both a training game which we hope will be a suitable initiation and a Blitzkrieg game in which he will find many of the elements of an arcade game. Ardent arcade players will also find they have not been forgotten. For them we have included optional action sequences in which the player can fly a Spitfire in aerial combat or fire an anti-aircraft gun in ground to air situations. We hope you enjoy Battle of Britain, and your comments on our products are always welcome. Loading ------- A. AMSTRAD VERSION: For cassette versions, ensure the tape is fully rewound. Type CTRL and small ENTER. Press PLAY on the tape player followed by ENTER. A loading screen will appear followed by the main menu. For disk versions type RUN"BOB. B. CBM 64 VERSION: For cassette versions, ensure the tape is fully rewound. Type SHIFT and RUNSTOP. Press PLAY on the tape player followed by RETURN. The program has loaded when the main menu appears. For disk versions type LOAD "*",8/RETURN. When the READY prompt appears, type RUN/RETURN. The game will now load and run. C. SPECTRUM VERSION: Load using the normal command - LOAD "". For 128/+2 Spectrums, select "48 Basic" first. Menu Pages ---------- CBM & Amstrad Versions: The first screen you will see after loading is the MAIN MENU: 1. WITH(OUT) ACTION 2. COLOUR (AMSTRAD ONLY) 3. CAMPAIGN 4. TRAINING GAME 5. BLITZKRIEG Spectrum Version: The first screen you will see is the JOYSTICK/KEYBOARD selection screen, Press 1 or 2 as required. BATTLE OF BRITAIN is compatible with KEMPSTON/PROTEK/+2 Interfaces. The keyboard controls are as follows: Q = UP A = DOWN I = LEFT O = RIGHT N = FIRE After selection you will then see the MAIN MENU: TRAINING GAME BLITZKRIEG CAMPAIGN ARCADE SEQUENCE - OFF/ON By moving the joystick up or down (or via Q/A) you will highlight each game option in sequence. The ARCADE SEQUENCE can be toggled on or off by pressing the fire button (or key N). Once your selection is made, press the fire button to take you into the game. 1. Action Sequence Selection The first option (1) (last option on the Spectrum) allows you to play Battle of Britain either with or without arcade sequences. The programme as loaded will be set to WITH ACTION. Pressing 1 will change it to WITHOUT ACTION, and no arcade sequences will appear. If you select WITH ACTION and don't wish to fight a particular battle simply press the space bar when asked to select "wich battle" (on Spectrum, to avoid fighting press the fire button while the cursor is over a "blank" area - eg. no airfields/ squadrons etc). 2. Monochrome/Colour Monitors (Amstrad Only) By pressing 2 on the main menu you can play the game on either a colour or "green screen" Amstrad. The default is colour. 3. Game Selection Options 3, 4 & 5 (2, 3 & 4 for CBM 64) determine which style of game you play. (i) Training Game: Pressing 3 (2) starts the Training Game. This takes place over one fairly light day of the campaign, and has been designed to ease you into playing the game proper. It is recommended that you play this game a few times and get to know the mechanics of Battle of Britain before attempting either the Blitzkrieg or Campaign games. (ii) Blitzkrieg: Key 4 (3) starts the Blitzkrieg game. This once again takes place over one day of the campaign, but the Luftwaffe have been programmed to give you as hard a time as possible. They will attack all your targets and will show no fear. Blitzkrieg is a very fast game and is not recommended until you have mastered the controls. (iii) Campaign Game: Key 5 (4) selects the Campaign game menu. This game is played over 30 days of the actual battle and has been designed to follow it as closely as possible in terms of Luftwaffe strategy. In the actual campaign the Luftwaffe attacks were split into 5 phases from July 10th to October 31st. We have condensed this by concentrating on the three main phases i.e., 2, 3 & 4. Careful study of this period will allow you to anticipate the program. We have also shortened the number of days from 54 to 30 and doubled the number of casualties in order to maintain the balance throughout the game. The campaign menu once again has five options. 1. LOAD DAY 2. SAVE DAY 3. START/CONTINUE CAMPAIGN 4. SPEED 1/2/3 5. RETURN TO MAIN MENU 1/2 LOAD/SAVE A DAY: As the Campaign game is played over such a long period, we have incorporated a LOAD/SAVE feature to allow you to stop playing at the end of any day and save all the data. You can then go straight to the next day the next time you play the game. To SAVE a day: Press key 2. Ensure there is a blank tape or disk in the machine and tape player is set to record. Press C if you are saving onto tape or D if you are using disks. When the day has saved the game returns to the Campaign menu. To LOAD a day: Press key 1 on the Campaign menu, ensure the appropiate disk or tape is in the machine and it is set to play. Now select C for cassettes or D for disk. When the day has loaded the game returns to the Campaign menu. Loading & Saving on Spectrum LOAD a day: Select LOAD, insert your saved game into the tape player, press the fire button and then press PLAY on your tape player. Once loaded you will be presented with the CAMPAIGN MENU. Select START/CONTINUE GAME option to begin playing. SAVE a day: Ensure there is a blank tape in your recorder, set it to RECORD, now select the SAVE DAY option and press fire. 3. Starting the Campaign Game Option 3 either starts a new game or a previously saved day, or continues the game if you are midway through a campaign. 4. Speed Selection On the Campaign game you can adjust the speed using option 4. Press key 4 to change speed. You can choose from 3 speeds where 1 is slowest. On the Spectrum highlight the SPEED option using the joystick or Q/A keys and press fire to toggle the speed up or down. 5. Returning to the Main Menu Key 5 allows you to scape from the Campaign menu and return to the main menu to reselect the game option. Playing Battle of Britain The Map Screen -------------- This is the main screen and is the first one you will see after starting any game. It represents the southern half of Great Britain and a small corner of France. The top line of the display is used for messages. When these appear they will be accompanied by an audible warning. Each type of messagge has a different sound, so after a while you should be able to differentiate the messages by their tone alone. The second line of the display is split in two. The left half has two functions. It will either give an update loss count for both the RAF and Luftwaffe or if your command box is over something it will display the relevant name. The right hand half of the line displays the current date and time of day. The small white box on the screen is your COMMAND BOX. It is the basic tool of the game and will get you information and give move orders to your unit. It is operated by the joystick (port 2 on CBM 64). (Joystick or Keyboard on Spectrum). Moving the COMMAND BOX over an airfield, town, unit or radar station will cause its name and any other information available to be displayed at the top left of the screen. Just below the losses line, you will see a box with five pieces of information: FTR: BMB: FUE: AMO: RAD: Information about both RAF and Luftwaffe units is displayed here when the COMMAND BOX is placed over them. FTR: gives you the number of fighters in that Unit, it will only display the number of Luftwaffe fighters when the unit is over land as the RADAR could not differentiate between fighters and bombers, only giving the number of aircraft in a group. BMB: displays the number of bombers in a Luftwaffe unit and once again only works when the unit is over land. FUE: shows the amount of fuel an RAF unit has. All RAF units start with 115 minutes of flying time and the display reduces in 5 minute intervals. More fuel is used in combat. A low fuel warning is given at 30 minutes and the unit loses the centre of the roundel. If a unit runs out of fuel over Great Britain, that squadron will be lost until the following day. This simulates an emergency landing away from an airfield, and although the planes are not lost they are considered out of action due to lack of support/supply services. If it runs out over the sea or France then the unit is considered lost. AMO: reads either 1 or 0. If 1 then a unit has not made an attack and has ammunition. After combat the reading will be 0. Only applicable to RAF units. RAD: displays the number of planes in a Luftwaffe unit whilst over sea and in a working radar zone. Towns/Cities ------------ There are 15 towns or cities displayed on the map ranging from Derby in the north and Folkestone in the South East to Plymouth in the South West. Radar Stations -------------- There are 13 radar stations around the U.K. coast. By pressing R you can see the radar coverage you have at any time during the game. If a radar station has been knocked out, a gap will appear in your coverage and no Luftwaffe units will be visible in that sector unless an RAF unit is adjacent to it. When knocked out its name will be displayed on a red background while the COMMAND BOX is over it. In designing Battle of Britain we have made the Luftwaffe bombing of the radar stations more effective than in reality and have also used fewer sites than were actually present. We have also combined the high level and low lewel radar into one unit. Airfields --------- There are 9 airfields at your disposal ranging from COLTISHALL in the north east to MIDDLE WALLOP just north of Southampton. These represent mainly sector airfields and those that were actually involved in the battle. All airfields used were part of 11 or 12 Group. As with radar, we have made bombing of airfields more effective than it actually was because no airfield (with the exception of perhaps MANSTON) was ever knocked out - the aircraft could disperse to a field nearby. The bombing in the game does however simulate the disruption of maintenance etc. If an airfield is non-operational due to fog or attacks, then its name will be displayed against a red background whilst the COMMAND BOX is over it. If it appears against a yellow background then the runways are cratered following an attack and you are liable to take losses on landing. Squadrons --------- We have effectively halved the actual number of aircraft available by limiting the number of squadrons to 18, but this was essential to make the game playable. The squadron list is as follows: Squadron Type Location -------- ---- -------- 234 Spitfire Middle Wallop 609 Spitfire Middle Wallop 87 Hurricane Middle Wallop 213 Hurricane Middle wallop 602 Spitfire Tangmere 17 Hurricane Tangmere 43 Hurricane Tangmere 1 Hurricane Northolt 79 Hurricane Biggin Hill 501 Hurricane Biggin Hill 54 Spitfire Hornchurch 111 Hurricane Debden 257 Hurricane Debden 19 Spitfire Duxford 310 Hurricane Duxford 66 Spitfire Coltishall 74 Spitfire Coltishall 242 Hurricane Coltishall Launching/Moving a Squadron --------------------------- Move the COMMAND BOX over an airfield and press the fire button. The airfield screen will now be displayed. At the top of the screen is the name of the airfield. Just below it the current status is displayed - either operational or non-operational. Below that the squadrons currently on the field are listed together with the plane type, number and status - either ready or refuelling. At the bottom of the screen the runway condition is shown - clear or cratered. If cratered then you are liable to losses on landing. Below this is the weather - if this reads HEAVY RAIN your refuelling time will be longer. Fog closes the airfield. To LAUNCH a squadron, move the arrow (flashing bar highlighting the Squadron on Spectrum) on the right hand side of the screen to your chosen squadron and press the fire button. Its status will now read SCRAMBLED and you will return to the main map display. To LAUNCH a squadron, move the arrow on the right hand side of the screen to your chosen squadron and press the fire button. Its status will now read SCRAMBLED and you will return to the main map display. If you wish to leave the airfield screen at any time, move the joystick left or right. To MOVE a squadron put the COMMAND BOX over it and press the fire button. The COMMAND BOX has now changed to a cross. Move the cross (via the joystick) to a point you want the squadron to fly to and press the fire button again. The COMMAND BOX will reappear and the squadron will fly to that point. If you want to see where you have ordered a squadron to go, simply move the COMMAND BOX over the uit and a cross will appear at the destination point. Combat ------ The RAF will (if they have ammunition) attack any Luftwaffe unit they are adjacent to. Both units will flash when in combat. If you have selected to play the game with action sequences, at this point you will be asked to "SELECT WHICH BATTLE?". Move the COMMAND BOX over one of your units in combat and press the fire button. You will now be flying a Spitfire in aerial combat. If a Luftwaffe unit is attacking a ground target, it will also flash at the time of attack and you will similarly be asked to select a battle. Move the COMMAND BOX over the flashing Luftwaffe unit, press the fire button and you will be in control of an anti-aircraft gun (not available on Spectrum versions due to memory limitations). These sequences directly affect the outcome of any combat. Landing a Squadron ------------------ To land a squadron move it directly over an airfield and it will automatically land there if it can. If the field is unoperational or there are already 4 squadrons on the airfield it will not land and a message will appear. You must move the squadron to another airfield unless you command an existing squadron to take off. End of Day ---------- At the end of a day in any of the 3 games, a score screen is displayed. This shows the number of aircraft lost on either side, the number of successful Luftwaffe attacks and your command ability in percent. In addition, on the Campaign game you are given an overall rating for the game so far. To leave the score screen press the space bar. In the Campaign game this will take you to the RESUPPLY SCREEN, in the other games it will take you back to the main menu. Resupply Screen (Campaign Game Only) ------------------------------------ This screen is for allocating your overnight reinforcements. At the top is the new pilots calibre. This will vary from excellent to poor as the campaign progresses in an attempt to reflect the loss of experienced pilots and their replacements having little or no combat experience. Their combat effectiveness will obviously decrease. Below this you will see the list of squadrons, their current number of aircraft and their location. Those squadrons in red are below full strenght, those in blue are at full strenght and the white one is the position of the cursor. Pressing the fire button will take one from the reserve at the top and add it to the "white" squadron. Moving the joystick up or down moves the cursor correspondingly. You can have a maximum of 15 planes in one squadron. Press the space bar to leave this screen and return to the campaign menu. You will note the date has now changed. Pressing 3 will continue the campaign. Pause ----- To pause any game press P. PAUSE will appear in the DATE/TIME BOX. The COMMAND BOX can still be moved but you will not be allowed to move or control a unit. To start playing again, press P again. To Escape --------- To return to a menu at any time (except during the action sequences), press ESC (Amstrad) or F1 (CBM 64). (Space on Spectrum). Tactics ------- There are three main objetives you should keep in mind whilst playing Battle of Britain: 1. Maintain the RAF as an effective fighting force. 2. Inflict losses on the Luftwaffe. 3. Defend your cities. The sight of massed bomber raids over your cities in daylight will not endear you to the civilian population. Special Thanks -------------- Special thanks must go to Mr. Michael Fopp, ex-curator of the Battle of Britain museum at Hendon. His help with technical details has been invaluable. Thanks must also go to Steve Fielding for the time and effort he put in during the design of the game.