TANKS!                                          README.TXT
Created May 14 1994
Updated Aug 16 1994

This file contains information not available at the
time that the game manual was printed.

     ÿ          COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS

TANKS! will accept several command line parameters.
Ordinarily you won't have to worry about this, but they can
be handy under certain special circumstances.

DEBUG : Enables a special game error checking and
data recording mode that should only be used at SSI's
request.

FM : Forces the game to use FM sounds if your sound
card supports them, even if your sound card normally plays
digitized sounds.  This will free up about 20K of
conventional memory for use by TSR's, etc.

MONO : Forces monaural sound on stereo capable

sound cards.  Use this if you don't care for the stereo
effects.  Other than balancing the sound volume from both
speakers, there is no detrimental effect on sound quality.

QUICK : Disables the time delays built into the
combat results reports.  Using this will speed up the game
considerably, but you will have to check the results of
combat manually by examining the units involved after the
combat.

QUIET : Turns off the intro music only.

VANILLAMOUSE : Some obsolete mouse drivers may
have problems with the game.  If you encounter graphics
"glitches" around the edge of the map try using this
parameter until you can update your mouse driver software.
Using this parameter fixes the shape of the mouse to an
arrowhead and decreases mouse sensitivity in some areas.

If you decide to use one or more of these commands,
you just type them after the word TANKS but before you
hit the *Enter* key.


Example: Typing "TANKS FM VANILLAMOUSE *Enter*"
would start the game with the fixed mouse cursor and fm
sounds only.

     ÿ                  PLAY MENU
Addition:

The "Show All Visible" item controls display of
map graphics indicating which hexes can be seen, or have
been spotted by the current player.  Visible hexes are
indicated by a crosshair graphic.  The ownership of each
visible hex is indicated by the color of the crosshair.

     ÿ          "RANDOM" ORDERS OF BATTLE
Clarification:

TANKS! automatically creates orders of battle when
it makes random scenarios and when you use the random forces
button in the editor.  These orders of battle aren't really
"random".  They are based on real unit organizations for
each force represented in the game.  Equipment assignments
are heavily influenced by the historical overall mobility of
the force. Low mobility forces tend to have lots of

dismounted infantry. High mobility forces tend to have lots
of tanks and mechanized support.  If you wish, you can
override historical force mobilities with the mobility
buttons that pop up during random scenario and OOB creation.

When you ask the program to create a random
scenario, you will be asked to choose tiny, small, medium,
or large forces for each side.  These correspond roughly to
10, 30, 60, or 90 units per side.  But in order to balance
the scenario, the force sizes you request may be modified.
This is particularly likely if you select forces with very
different levels of technology or quality.  For example, if
you request a "tiny" random battle between 1918 Germans and
1991 Americans, the scenario balancing routine will probably
create a very large German force.

     ÿ          COMMAND RULES
Addition:

Formations with control ratings lower than 7 are
more susceptible to forced "reorganization" (and loss of a
turn) than those with higher control ratings.  This
reflects the relative scarcity of communications equipment

and rigidity of command structure in forces with low
control ratings: 1940 French, Italians, Chinese, Iraqis,
pre '67 Soviets, and all 1918 armies.

     ÿ          MOVING YOUR UNITS
Addition:

Any unit with a non-zero movement rate, which has
not already moved this turn, can always move at least one
hex regardless of movement cost.

Unarmed units will not launch close assaults.  In
order to be considered "armed", the unit must have at least
one weapon mounted on its "top" equipment type.  Out of
ammo units will be allowed to assault, but their chance of
success is small.

     ÿ          DIRECT FIRE
Additions:

If the target unit is in a fort hex, there is a
40% chance that any direct fire shot will miss.


If the target is in a depression hex, there is a
10% chance that any direct fire shot will miss.

Parent formation morale and control ratings affect
the accuracy of a unit's fire.  Units belonging to
formations with poor morale and control ratings will not
hit their targets as often as units belonging to higher
quality formations.

Change:

When firing at a unit composed of an armed
transport and some other type of equipment, the transport
will always be shot at first.  Your units will only fire on
unarmed transports if they (the transports) are the top
equipment type in the target unit.

     ÿ          INDIRECT FIRE
Addition:

In addition to unspotted intersection, town, and
village hexes, you can shoot indirect fire into unspotted
bridge hexes.  A bridge hex is any hex containing a road

and a stream or river.

     ÿ          SMOKE FIRE
Addition:

The program won't allow you to order smoke fire
into a hex that already contains smoke.

     ÿ          AMMUNITION
Addition:

Most units will eventually run low on ammo if they
fire their weapons.  Infantry and artillery units with
transports (trucks or whatever) will be less likely to run
low on ammo as long as the transports are not destroyed.

     ÿ  SCENARIO ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
Addition:

Wind has the following effects:

If there is no wind, smoke can be created during
combat and it will tend to linger in the smoked hex for

several turns.

If winds are light, smoke can be created during
combat and it will tend to drift with the wind from turn to
turn.

If winds are strong, smoke will not be created.  If
the scenario is set in the arid tileset and there is no
precipitation much of the map will be obscured by blowing
sand.  If the scenario is set in the frozen tileset much of
the map will be obscured by blowing snow.  Patterns of
blowing sand and snow will change from turn to turn.

     ÿ          BATTLEFIELD RESUPPLY
Addition:

Helicopter units are never eligible for battlefield
resupply.  Once they run out of ammo, they stay that way.

     ÿ          CAMPAIGNS
Addition:

Whenever you start a new game without using the

"Start next scenario in campaign" option, you are beginning
a new campaign.  Any old campaign will be lost.

If you re-start a saved game from any file other
than CAMPAIGN, any current campaign may be lost.  The
CAMPAIGN file contains the latest information on your
campaign.  Earlier saved games may not contain the
information necessary to continue the campaign.

Remember, the game automatically saves your game
as file CAMPAIGN whenever you exit to DOS.  You don't need
to manually save games.

Technical information:

The campaign information is stored in the files
CAMPAIGN.SAV, LASTGAME.DAT and CAMPAIGN.DAT in the scenario
directory.  If you want to permanently save a campaign, or
send it to a friend, just copy these three files.  To
restore the campaign, re copy these files into the scenario
directory. LASTGAME.DAT will only be present if you are
between games in the campaign.


     ÿ          EDITOR-DRAWING THE MAP
Clarification:

When you use the auto-fill tool, it will fill the
map until a boundary of the same general type of tile is
reached. If you don't draw a complete (no gaps) outline
using the fill tile type before using the auto-fill tool,
you may fill the entire map with the fill tile.  Boundaries
of other tile types will have no limiting effect on
auto-fill.

     ÿ  EDITOR-CREATE THE ORDER OF BATTLE
Addition:

As you create a formation with the order of battle
editor, the program will create a formation name based on
the types and numbers of units assigned to the formation.
You can override the automatic formation name by clicking
on the "Rename" button in the upper right corner of the
current formation box.  Your formation names are limited
to 12 characters (11 for the tenth and subsequent
formations).


     ÿ          SCENARIO DESCRIPTIONS
New rules section:

A short scenario description may appear when you
select a scenario for play.  These scenario descriptions are
stored in the form of small ASCII (text) files in the
SCENARIO
directory.

If you wish to write a description for a scenario,
you must follow these guidelines:

1) Use a text editor capable of saving text in ASCII
form.  The MS-DOS editor will do the job, as will most word
processors.

2) A description can have a maximum of 14 lines.
Each line can have no more than 36 characters.  If you
violate these limits, you may see strange results in your
file description within the game.

3) The name of your description file must be based
on the name of the scenario you wish to describe.  If your

scenario is named "MYGAME.SCE", your description must be
named "MYGAME.TXT".

4) Your description file must be in the SCENARIO
directory.

5) A sample description file (SAMPLE.TXT) is
included in the SCENARIO directory.  This can be used as a
template for your scenario description files.  You can also
examine any of the *.TXT files already in the directory, but
please do not modify them.


     ÿ          RULEBOOK MISTAKES

*Page 38, second bullet statement

Delete

"...that has slight, hidden effects for these values"

There are NO "hidden" effects.



*Page 41, Fixed Objective Values, last sentence.

Replace

"... using the manual objective value set button ..."

with

"... using the Objective Value button ...".

*Page 43, Direct Fire Kill Probability vs. Armored Targets.

The armor penetration calculation used in the game is
actually a bit more sophisticated than that described
in the rulebook.

Replace

"If the hit is...from one to five." (First sentence)

with


"If the hit is from a weapon with a hard attack rating,
the target is killed if the hard attack rating of the
firing weapon is greater than or equal to a random
number from 0.75 times the armor rating of the target
to 1.25 times the armor rating of the target.  For
example, a hit from a weapon with a hard attack rating
of 15 would have the following chances to kill an
enemy armored vehicle:

Armor     Chance

0...12    100%
13         78%
14         67%
15         56%
16         44%
17         36%
18         27%
19         18%
20          9%
21          8%
22...       0%"


Appendix D - Equipment Description Table (Addition)

Equipment Primary Weapon  Secondary Weapon
.         .               .           FrontArmor
.         .               .           .   SideArmor
.         .               .           .   .   Speed
.         .               .           .   .   .  Special

T-80      125mmATl        HMG         37  9   22 NV SP WF SM

Appendix H - Historical Forces (Addition)

By popular demand, a new historical period has been
added to the game database. Its all pretty self explanatory.
The British, French, and Americans are similar to the forces
used in 1991- with the inclusion of some older equipment not
shipped to the Persian Gulf. The Russians and Ex-Pact can be
used to create Russian civil war or Eastern European
scenarios.

13. Tomorrow...

British force characteristics:

morale: 9, control: 9, supply: 9.
air assets: Heavy jet/full player control.

Available British units:
Tank Plt: 3 x Challenger.
Recce Plt: 8 x Scorpion.
Recce Sec: 2 x Scorpion.
Recce Plt: 8 x Scimitar.
Recce Plt: 4 x Ferret Armd Car.
AT Plt: 3 x Striker.
AT Plt: 6 x Milan ATGM, 6 x FV432 APC.
Gun Bty: 6 x 105mm Gun, 6 x Truck.
Gun Bty: 6 x 155mm Gun, 6 x Truck.
Gun Bty: 6 x M109 SP Gun.
Gun Bty: 6 x M110 SP Gun.
MRL Bty: 9 x MLRS.
Mortar Bty: 8 x FV432/81Mr.
Mortar Bty: 6 x 81mm Mortar, 6 x Truck.
Gunship Sc: 2 x Lynx AH1.
Inf Plt: 3 x Assault/B Squad, 3 x FV432 APC.
Inf Plt: 3 x Assault/B Squad, 3 x Warrior IFV.

French force characteristics:

morale: 9, control: 9, supply: 9.
air assets: Heavy jet/full player control.

Available French units:
Tank Plt: 3 x AMX-30.
Tank Plt: 3 x AMX-30B2.
Recce Plt: 3 x ERC-90.
Recce Plt: 3 x AML-90.
Recce Plt: 3 x AMX-10RC.
Recce Plt: 3 x VAB APC.
Recce Plt: 4 x Jeep.
ATGM Bty: 2 x Milan ATGM, 2 x VAB APC.
AA Bty: 2 x 20mm DP Gun, 2 x VAB APC.
Gun Bty: 6 x 105mm Gun, 6 x Truck.
Gun Bty: 6 x 155mm Gun, 6 x Truck.
Mortar Sec: 2 x 81mm Mortar, 2 x VAB APC.
Mortar Bty: 6 x 120mm Mortar, 6 x VAB APC.
Inf Plt: 3 x Assault/R Squad, 3 x VAB APC.
Inf Plt: 3 x Assault/R Squad, 3 x AMX-10 APC.

American force characteristics:
morale: 9, control: 9, supply: 9.
air assets: Heavy jet/full player control.


Available American units:
Tank Plt: 4 x M1A1 Abrams.
Tank Plt: 4 x M60A1.
Tank Plt: 4 x M60A3.
Tank Plt: 4 x M551 Sheridan.
Recce Plt: 6 x M3 Bradley IFV.
Recce Sec: 2 x M998 Humvee.
AT Plt: 4 x M901-ITV.
AA Plt: 4 x M163 SP AA.
Gun Bty: 8 x M109 SP Gun.
Gun Bty: 6 x M110 SP Gun.
Gun Bty: 6 x 105mm Gun, 6 x Truck.
Gun Bty: 6 x 155mm Gun, 6 x Truck.
MRL Bty: 9 x MLRS.
Mortar Sec: 2 x M125 SP Mortar.
Mortar Bty: 6 x M125 SP Mortar.
Gunship Sc: 2 x AH-1 Cobra, 1 x OH-58 Kiowa.
Gunship Sc: 2 x AH-64 Apache, 1 x OH-58 Kiowa.
AB Inf Plt: 3 x UH-60 Blackhawk, 3 x Assault/A Squad.
AB Mtr Bty: 4 x UH-60 Blackhawk, 4 x 81mm Mortar.
Inf Plt: 4 x Assault/A Squad, 4 x M2 Bradley IFV.
Inf Plt: 4 x Assault Squad, 4 x M113 APC.


Russian force characteristics:
morale: 8, control: 8, supply: 9.
air assets: Heavy jet/partial player control.

Available Russian units:
Tank Plt: 3 x T-55.
Tank Plt: 3 x T-62.
Tank Plt: 3 x T-64.
Tank Plt: 3 x T-72 (early).
Tank Plt: 3 x T-72 (late).
Tank Plt: 3 x T-80.
As Gun Plt: 3 x ASU-85.
Recce Plt: 3 x PT-76.
Recce Plt: 3 x BTR-40 Armd Car.
Recce Plt: 3 x BRDM Armd Car.
ATGM Bty: 3 x BRDM/Sagger.
ATGM Bty: 2 x AT-3 Sagger, 2 x Truck.
ATGM Bty: 2 x AT-4 Spigot, 2 x Truck.
AT Bty: 4 x 85mm AT Gun, 4 x Truck.
AT Bty: 3 x 100mm AT Gun, 3 x Truck.
AT Bty: 6 x 73mm Recoilless, 6 x Truck.
AA Bty: 4 x ZPU-4 AA Gun, 4 x Truck.

AA Bty: 4 x ZU-23 AA Gun, 4 x Truck.
AA Plt: 4 x ZSU-23/4.
AA Plt: 4 x BRDM/SA-9.
AA Plt: 4 x SA-13 Gopher.
SP Gun Bty: 6 x 2S1 SP Gun.
SP Gun Bty: 6 x 2S3 SP Gun.
Gun Bty: 6 x 122mm Gun, 6 x Truck.
Gun Bty: 6 x 130mm Gun, 6 x Truck.
Gun Bty: 6 x 180mm Gun, 6 x Truck.
Gun Bty: 6 x 152mm Field Gun, 6 x Truck.
MRL Bty: 6 x BM-21 MRL.
MRL Bty: 6 x BM-24 MRL.
Mortar Bty: 6 x 82mm Mortar, 6 x Truck.
Mortar Bty: 6 x 120mm Mortar, 6 x Truck.
Inf Plt: 3 x Assault/R Squad, 3 x Truck.
Inf Plt: 3 x Assault/R Squad, 3 x BTR-60 APC.
Inf Plt: 3 x Assault/R Squad, 3 x BMP-1 IFV.
AB Inf Plt: 3 x Mi-8 Hip, 3 x Assault/R Squad.
AB Mtr Bty: 6 x Mi-8 Hip, 6 x 82mm Mortar.
AB AT Bty: 2 x Mi-8 Hip, 2 x AT-3 Sagger.
AB AT Sec: 2 x Mi-8 Hip, 2 x 73mm Recoilless.

Ex Soviet force characteristics:

morale: 8, control: 8, supply: 9.
air assets: Heavy jet/partial player control.

Available Ex Soviet units:
Tank Plt: 3 x T-55.
Tank Plt: 3 x T-62.
Tank Plt: 3 x T-64.
Tank Plt: 3 x T-72 (early).
Tank Plt: 3 x T-72 (late).
Tank Plt: 3 x T-80.
As Gun Plt: 3 x ASU-85.
Recce Plt: 3 x PT-76.
Recce Plt: 3 x BTR-40 Armd Car.
Recce Plt: 3 x BRDM Armd Car.
ATGM Bty: 3 x BRDM/Sagger.
ATGM Bty: 2 x AT-3 Sagger, 2 x Truck.
ATGM Bty: 2 x AT-4 Spigot, 2 x Truck.
AT Bty: 4 x 85mm AT Gun, 4 x Truck.
AT Bty: 3 x 100mm AT Gun, 3 x Truck.
AT Bty: 6 x 73mm Recoilless, 6 x Truck.
AA Bty: 4 x ZPU-4 AA Gun, 4 x Truck.
AA Bty: 4 x ZU-23 AA Gun, 4 x Truck.
AA Plt: 4 x ZSU-23/4.

AA Plt: 4 x BRDM/SA-9.
AA Plt: 4 x SA-13 Gopher.
SP Gun Bty: 6 x 2S1 SP Gun.
SP Gun Bty: 6 x 2S3 SP Gun.
Gun Bty: 6 x 122mm Gun, 6 x Truck.
Gun Bty: 6 x 130mm Gun, 6 x Truck.
Gun Bty: 6 x 180mm Gun, 6 x Truck.
Gun Bty: 6 x 152mm Field Gun, 6 x Truck.
MRL Bty: 6 x BM-21 MRL.
MRL Bty: 6 x BM-24 MRL.
Mortar Bty: 6 x 82mm Mortar, 6 x Truck.
Mortar Bty: 6 x 120mm Mortar, 6 x Truck.
Inf Plt: 3 x Assault/R Squad, 3 x Truck.
Inf Plt: 3 x Assault/R Squad, 3 x BTR-60 APC.
Inf Plt: 3 x Assault/R Squad, 3 x BMP-1 IFV.
AB Inf Plt: 3 x Mi-8 Hip, 3 x Assault/R Squad.
AB Mtr Bty: 6 x Mi-8 Hip, 6 x 82mm Mortar.
AB AT Bty: 2 x Mi-8 Hip, 2 x AT-3 Sagger.
AB AT Sec: 2 x Mi-8 Hip, 2 x 73mm Recoilless.

     ÿ          VERSION 1.1 NOTES

The following items have been patched to create TANKS!

version 1.1:

1) In version 1.0, it was possible for non-fording
transports to dismount their fording capable infantry, cross
a stream, and re-mount (on a later turn) in their
transports.  This effectively allowed infantry to carry
their trucks across streams...  This has been changed.
Units can now only cross streams if all assigned equipment
types are capable of fording.

2) The effectiveness of light artillery (especially mortars)
vs. armor has been decreased.

3) There is a new menu item in the game Info menu.  The
"Info / Combat Time Delays" item allows players to select
from a range of time delays for displaying combat results.

4) A bug which could affect spotting in two player games has
been fixed.

5) A bug which allowed close assaults to continue for a very
long time in rare cases has been fixed.


6) A bug which locked the game up when creating random
scenarios or orders of battle with "mobility 10" in some
time periods / forces has been fixed.

7) Programmed opponent use of artillery has been improved.

8) Information on unit "static" status has been made
available to players.  Static units have an additional
"static" indicator graphic at center right on their icon.
In formation displays, static status is given for each unit
in the formation.  The static status is also given in
detailed unit reports.

9) The original PC speaker sound effect used in airstrikes
has been replaced with a digitized effect.

10) Conventional memory requirements have been relaxed a
bit.  Version 1.1 requires the following:

538K (550912 bytes) No sound
560K (573440 bytes) FM sounds only
584K (598016 bytes) Full digitized sounds


Some sound cards may have slightly higher memory
requirements.

11) In version 1.0 the editor did not fully initialize
scenarios saved with "fixed" objective values.  This could
cause problems when the scenarios were later played.
Scenarios saved with "fixed" values are now properly
initialized.  If you created any scenarios using fixed
(not calculated) objective values with version 1.0, you
should load them into the v1.1 editor and save them
again to patch the files.  Scenarios created with
calculated objective values are unaffected.

12) Terrain is now much more effective in protecting
units from airstrikes.  Additionally, airstrikes are
somewhat less effective against heavily armored vehicles
than in version 1.0.

13) The number of files that the game file manager boxes
can locate has been increased from 50 to 999.

Fixed in 1.2 Version:

1) Corrects lock up bug when playing a STRONG computer
opponent.

END OF CHANGES / ADDITIONS.


     ÿ  Norm Koger 2.0

     ÿ  EMAIL addresses-
     ÿ          GEnie: n.koger
     ÿ          Internet: n.koger@genie.geis.com
     ÿ          (_NO_ "attached files" please!)
