BATTLEGROUND: ARDENNES readme
GENERAL
The program requires you to have the Battleground: Ardennes CD in your
computer's CD drive in order to be able to play the game.
INSTALLATION SIZES: The following provides a guide to how many MB each
type of installation will place on your hard drive.
Compact Install: about 15MB
Typical Install: about 32MB
Custom Install: from 5MB (no options selected) to 172MB (all
options selected)
VIDEO SEQUENCES: If you experience any problems displaying the video
sequences, you are advised to re-install Video For Windows. The SETUP
program for this can be found on the CD in the \BGA\VFW sub-directory.
Simply run \BGA\VFW\SETUP in the normal way, and follow the on-screen
instructions. After installing Video For Windows, you will need to
restart Windows before the changes can take effect.
QUICK-START INSTRUCTIONS: The Battleground: Ardennes Quick Start sheet
provides brief instructions for installing the game onto your computer.
It also has guidelines for playing the "Training Scenario" (scenario 00.),
a quick and simple action designed to teach you the basic combat and
movement procedures of the game with little complication. Use these
"follow-along" instructions while playing the first turns of the "Training
Scenario" to get you "up and running" quickly. More in-depth information
can, of course, be found in the Players Guide.
THE SCENARIO EDITOR: On-line instructions for using the Battleground:
Ardennes Scenario Editor are provided by double-clicking on the "Scenario
Editor Instructions" icon in the Battleground: Ardennes program group.
CAUTION: Opening and resaving a scenario provided with the game will
alter important data. Therefore it is strongly suggested that you *not*
use the Scenario Editor to open any scenario originating from TalonSoft.
If you do, you may have to re-install (from the game's CD) all or some of
the program for them to function properly.
NOTE: When playing the "On to Bastogne" scenario, A/I processing requires
more time due to the size of the scenario.
VERSION 1.1 "Deluxe Version"
NEW MAP: A new Battleview map has been added. In the Display menu it is
called the "3D Zoom-Out Map", and shows the map at 50% of its normal size.
NEW TOOLBOX BUTTONS: Two new Toolbox buttons have been added.
The button showing a cross with an arrow at each of its tips hides
(or displays) the Unit List and Terrain Info Box. When these are hidden,
more of the map appears in their place. To Select a unit in the current
Hot Spot hex when the Unit List is hidden, *right-click* on that hex to
reveal the Pop-Up Selection Dialog, then left-click on the name of the
desired unit in the dialog (holding down the Shift or Ctrl key while doing
so will let you Select more than one unit).
The button with a bulls-eye and a "prohibited" symbol toggles (on
or off) a display of which hexes can be in the LOS of the current Hot Spot
hex. An "X" in a hex indicates *no* LOS. Note that this display does *not*
reflect scenario-specific effects, such as visibility (weather), the
presence of smoke/wrecks, etc.
NULL MODEM: Null Modem capability has been added to Modem Play. Null-modem
play requires a direct cable connection between the two computers. Users
should obtain a suitable serial communication cable and a null-modem
connector (available at computer supply stores). Note that under null
modem, the *exact* baud rate for both machines must be Selected. Note
also that some older machines may not have serial ports that can handle
speeds at or above 9600 baud, so a lower rate may have to be used.
To start a scenario using null modem, launch the game by double-
clicking on the " Battleground: Ardennes" program item. Follow the same
onscreen procedure for starting a normal modem game (see p.39 of the
Players Guide), but answer "Yes" when the question "Are you using a
null-modem cable?" appears.
To start a null-modem scenario via the "Kampfgruppe Peiper",
"Roadblock at Clervaux" or "Battle for Bastogne" program item, decide
who will be the Host and who will be the Caller (see the first paragraph
of 6.1 on p.39 of the Players Guide). Each player then launches the game
by double-clicking on the program item appropriate for the agreed-upon
scenario. Once the map appears on his screen, the Host Selects "Modem
Host", and the Caller Selects "Modem Caller", in the Modem Menu. Both
players then configure their modem port and baud rate. Upon successful
connection, the Host selects "New" from the File Menu (if starting a new
scenario) or "Open" (if resuming a saved battle), and opens the scenario.
Play then begins.
The modem-play Dial Dialog now "remembers" the previous number dialed.
The modem-play "phantom unit" bug in the Movement Phase and several other
small bugs have been fixed.
STRENGTH POINTS: Each unit now has a Strength Point (SP) size which has
an impact on combat, stacking, wreck effects, and the passenger capacity
of transport vehicles. The unit's SP size appears within a circle in the
lower left-hand corner of its illustration in the Unit List. Only when a
unit has been entirely eliminated is it counted as a loss for VP purposes
(and listed as a loss in the Strength Dialog).
COMBAT: In combat, a unit attacks a number of times equal to its
SP size, and SP-loss results reduce the defender's SP size accordingly.
(See "NEW CRT" below.)
STACKING: Maximum stacking per hex is now 24 SP or six units,
whichever is reached first. Passengers do not count, but wrecks do (see
next paragraph). If more units than the Unit List can display at one time
occupy a hex, two small arrows will appear in the lower right-hand corner
of the screen. Left-clicking on these arrows will scroll the Unit List
display.
WRECKS: Each time a hard target loses a SP, it leaves a one-SP
wreck. Only when the number of wreck SPs in a hex reaches six does the
wreck affect LOS like smoke. The maximum number of wreck SPs that can
exist in a hex is 18. A wreck icon with no smoke depiction indicates that
less than 6 wreck SPs exist in the hex, while an icon with a smoke
depiction indicates 6-18 wreck SPs. To find the exact number, put the Hot
Spot in the wreck hex and check the wreck's SP size in the Unit List.
PASSENGERS: Each "carrier" vehicle unit (i.e., truck, wagon,
basic halftrack) can carry *one* unit whose SP size is less than or equal
to the carrier unit's SP size. Each other vehicle type able to transport
an infantry-type unit can carry *one* such unit whose SP size is less than
or equal to *twice* that vehicular unit's SP size.
NEW CRT: The Combat Results Table has been changed to incorporate SP losses.
A positive number indicates a SP loss of that amount, and a "D" indicates a
Disruption result. However, Disruption results do not automatically cause
Disruption of the target unit. Instead, the program counts the number of
Disruption and SP results caused by the attack, then divides that number
by the SP size of the target to find a percentage chance of actual
Disruption. Note that the combat results given onscreen are the *net*
results of the attack. If an attack causes a SP loss *and* Disruption,
that target also suffers a morale loss of one.
FOG OF WAR: When FOW is in effect for a side, its hidden units will *not*
automatically be revealed when they are in enemy LOS. The program makes a
calculation for each hidden unit at the start of the turn, and again at
the end of the Movement Phase, to find which will remain hidden and which
are revealed. Generally, infantry and antitank guns are the hardest to
reveal. In addition, for any two units of the same kind, the one with a
bigger SP size will be revealed more easily than the other.
ARTILLERY AVAILABILITY: At the beginning of each friendly Player Turn,
the program makes a die roll for each of the friendly side's Indirect-Fire
units that fired in the previous turn to see which ones are still
"available" to fire again. The "Next Phase Report" lists how many are
"out of ammo" (i.e., not available for the present turn). The artillery-
availability numbers appear in the Terrain Info Box when you right-click in
it. They are labeled "Ammo", and are given in the form "#/#", with the
Allied # on the left and the Axis # on the right. Each number represents
the percentage chance of being able to fire again.
UPDATING SCENARIOS: If you have created your own scenarios, you must open
and save them in the Scenario Editor before they will be compatible with
Version 1.1 of the game. After launching the editor, Select "Edit existing
scenario", open the scenario, then save it (answer "No" to all dialog boxes
that appear after you save it).
VERSION 1.0 September 19, 1995
The following features of Battleground: Ardennes are not covered in the
Players Guide:
3.2 THE MENU BAR: The "Skip to End" command in the "Phase" pop-down menu
allows you to end a scenario early, taking you to the Victory Dialog.
(NOTE: You can possibly win a medal only if you have completed at least
half of the scenario's Game Turns.)
3.2 THE MENU BAR: The "Unit Handbook (F2)" command in the "Help" pop-down
menu opens the Battleground: Ardennes Unit Handbook (which can also be
accessed during play by pressing the "F2" key). This handy on-line
reference manual has an illustration and brief historical description of
each unit in the game. Within the handbook, units are organized by
nationality, then by type.