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Wargame Construction Set 3: Age of Rifles cheats / Wargame Construction Set 3: Age of Rifles hints / Wargame Construction Set 3: Age of Rifles faqs / Wargame Construction Set 3: Age of Rifles solutions Wargame Construction Set 3: Age of Rifles faqs and solutions After 26 months of development, Age of Rifles was released on August 26th, 1996. In the next few days, I will make available several updated scenarios files that improve on versions included with Rifles v1.0. The scenarios include Point Isabel (hypothetical 1846), Buena Vista (1847), Balaclava (1854), Spicheren (1870), and Omdurman (1898). In most cases, the changes are only improvements in historical accuracy of uniforms and maps. The exception is Point Isabel, which also has improved play balance. Some of these things won't mean anything to you until you are familiar with the game, but the current complete list of command line parameters for Rifles is: "quiet": play with no sound (this session only). "quick": Turn off all time delays (this session only). This is a development option and isn't really intended for use during normal play. See FAQ #3 for additional info. "fastexit": Allows you to exit the game directly from the menu, without having to pass through the "main" screen (this session only). "debug": Please don't do this... "mono": Monaural sound (this session only). "reactions+": (Default) Allows longer (more interesting and realistic) ranges for automatic reaction orders. This is a "sticky" parameter. You only need to set it once and it becomes part of your standard game configuration. "reactions-": Sets the documented (shorter, and according to some, more playable) ranges for reaction orders. This is a "sticky" parameter. You only need to set it once and it becomes part of your standard game configuration. "reports+": Gives additional numerical information in some game report screens. This is a "sticky" parameter. You only need to set it once and it becomes part of your standard game configuration. "reports-": (Default) Replaces some numerical information in game report screens with verbal descriptions. This is a "sticky" parameter. You only need to set it once and it becomes part of your standard game configuration. "showmovecost+": When movement paths are shown, the projected cost to enter each hex along the path is shown in the hex. This is a "sticky" parameter. You only need to set it once and it becomes part of your standard game configuration. "showmovecost-": (Default) Do not show movement cost information in movement path displays. This is a "sticky" parameter. You only need to set it once and it becomes part of your standard game configuration. Those waiting for German and French versions: Localization is in progress. The German and French versions should be released by October. Norm Koger 2.0 August 28th, 1996. Modified September 5th, 1996. -------------- Age of Rifles FAQ #2 This list is a more or less random selection of questions asked and answered via email, CIS and the comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic newsgroup. In some cases the writing is a bit unprofessional, but it should get the job done. I have been known to answer my mail late at night >>This is a DOS only game. I have had no problems playing it under WIN95 by simply booting to DOS.<< You can also play from a desktop shortcut. Just be sure to set the shortcut properties to "full screen", "close on exit", and disable the screen saver. Rifles was actually developed under Win95 and runs quite well from the desktop. Rebooting to DOS isn't necessary. In fact, unless your real mode DOS drivers and memory management are very well tuned the game will probably run more smoothly from the Win95 desktop than under any version of DOS. >>One simple question re line of sight... I assume like most wargames it's a "you see, they see" setting, in other words if I can't see them they can't see me.<< This is usually true, but there are exceptions. Small units can be hidden, observing for other units (although in this time period there is no battlefield indirect fire) or occasionally popping into view to spring an ambush. Also, the field of view of a unit varies with its altitude and movement status. Unmoved units can see further than units which have moved. And units at higher elevations can see further than units at lower elevations. Now, if one of these units actually _fires_ on you, your unit can immediately see it and, orders allowing, will return reaction fire even if it could not otherwise shoot. So while there are potential asymmetries in fields of view, if one side takes a shot the other side can immediately react. >>Is there a quick check to see if a unit [can still fire]?<< Run your mouse cursor over the unit in question and look down at the unit panel. There is a row of icons just to the left of the reaction orders button. A light indicates the overall capability of the unit. If a "not" symbol (circle with diagonal slash) appears on the light your unit has no remaining movement allowance. If your unit has ammo a bullet will appear next to the light. And finally, if the unit can still fire, a small crosshair appears next to the bullet. >>...is there another quick check to see who and where a unit's command is...<< There are a number of ways to get this info. If you look in the microview you will see that some of the units in it are blinking. All of these are assigned to the current command. You can also turn on the map icon formation indicators by pressing the "y" key on your keyboard. Non miniatures style unit map icons have command symbols on them. You can also use the next and previous unit buttons to cycle through all units of the current command. Finally, you can click on the command details button which will bring up a display of the command. >>Can artillery do indirect fire?<< No, but you can usually find a rise somewhere that will allow you to fire over the heads of your troops. Except for mortars in siege situations (which Rifles wasn't really designed to handle) indirect fire was a pretty rare thing in the 1840-1905 time frame. >>Is there a stacking limit? Can you stack [units] from different [commands]? Is there a disadvantage (easier to be shot at?)?<< You can put only two units in a hex. They can be from different commands, but you generally can't move such stacks around except as separate units. There are two possible disadvantages: 1) With two units in the hex, they share the available frontage. This can lead to inefficiencies since stacking two large units in the same hex can result in many weapons being unable to fire. 2) All fire is resolved as an area effect in the target hex, so the more troops in the hex, the more troops are exposed to any particular fire effect. >>If you [order] melee for an entire command, will only the units adjacent to the target hex participate in the attack?<< Yes. >>First, while the manual states that units resting in disordered formation will recover from fatigue more quickly, I don't recall any hints on how to recover from deteriorated morale.<< Once you've lost morale, it is difficult to recover. There are only two ways: 1) Your unit can witness something unpleasant happening to the bad guys. That's right, there is an immediate morale bonus for any friendly unit that sees the bad guys rout or otherwise fail in a big way. The morale bonus is even greater if they actually participate in the event. On the other hand, you don't want your units to see friendlies rout away... 2) There is a slight increase to morale each turn if the unit is more than 10 points below the national default. The increase is random from 1 to (1+(unit vitality/10)). (An eligible unit with a vitality of 70 would gain between 1 and 8 morale points.) So the better the vitality of your units, the better their morale. >>...how about coming clean on the effects of the various AI levels? While this is purely a subjective impression and may be pure BS, it does seem to me that computer controlled units do more damage in equivalent situations at the higher difficulty levels.<< Unlike TANKS, Rifles does "enhance" (to use a euphemism) programmed opponent unit performance. (At levels 1 and 2, the programmed opponents are actually penalized.) There isn't just one effect. It's 1% increase here, 2% there - that kind of thing. Enough to have an effect, but subtle enough that it doesn't confer a crushing advantage even at higher levels. In the near term, the effect is negligible. The main effect is increased overall "staying power" at the highest levels of play. >>I can set my infantry to react at range 5. Why is this even an option if the range of their weapons is only three?<< The feedback prompts showing the ranges you select are based upon the max theoretical range of the weapons assigned to the unit. If for some reason your unit can't actually direct significant fire to this full range (at the current time) it is possible you might see a greater range than your unit's current effective range. Think of the ranges given in the feedback prompt as max ranges, but keep in mind that for any number of reasons your unit might not actually be able to fire to that range at any particular time. On the other hand, if through some change of circumstance your unit becomes able to fire at its max range, it will react at that range. >>I have cavalry with extra movement left over after their turn. I want them to fire at range 2 while remaining in place. Do they have to be dismounted to hold them in place, but yet allow them to react with fire of their own?<< It all depends upon the mission you have in mind for the cavalry. If you want them to react by charging the bad guys (generally the case except for ACW cavalry) leave them mounted. Typically, you might place the mounted cav in attack column next to an artillery battery or open flank and give them a fairly short leash (1 hex) just to keep the bad guys honest. If you want your cav to react by fire, dismount them. Believe me, you don't want mounted troops initiating fire combat. Remember that one very likely result of your reaction fire is returned fire from the bad guys, who probably aren't carrying carbines. And there your troops are, sitting a few feet in the air, looking a bit like targets on a modern military small arms range... So I've disallowed the option to set your cav to automatically commit seppuku by fire. If you don't believe me you can see what I'm talking about by ordering a mounted cav unit to fire on a nearby bad guy during your turn. One picture is worth a thousand words >>It appears to me that allowing cavalry to have a reaction range makes them vulnerable to leaving any kind of cover or advantageous ground.<< You could say that mounted cav will react if there is a significant chance that they might draw effective fire during their reaction. >>Is the number of reactions you can make contingent on the amount of movement left over on your turn? Or do you get only one reaction as long as you have at least one movement point remaining?<< Reaction fire (using the long range rules) eats up 1/4 turn worth of fire (and movement points). So your units could reaction fire up to four times (remaining movement allowance allowing) - more than that if the bad guys get close enough to start triggering "frantic fire". So a typical engagement sequence for a horde of angry fuzzy wuzzies charging an unmoved British square with free fire orders would be: 1) Move to 800 yards 2) Close to 600 yards 3) Close to 400 yards 4) Close to 200 yards 5) Close to melee If you are using the short range rules, individual reaction fire shots are 1/2 turn worth of fire. So individual shots are more powerful and will eat up movement allowances more rapidly. >>What is the alternate mouse interface?<< Within the game, pull down the "Play" menu and select "General Play Options". Now click on the mouse control option button. This will enable the "alternate" mouse interface. Just left click to order movement, or right click to fire (on an enemy unit) or select another friendly unit. There is always a prompt at the bottom of the screen telling you exactly what each mouse button will do. >>How large are the largest scenarios in terms of number of units and size of map?<< The largest map is 50x50 hexes, at 100,200, or 400 yards per hex. The greatest number of units is 300 per side. >>Do units run out of ammo? What happens when they do?<< Yep. Things get complicated. Each unit tracks ammo in terms of "ammo points. An "ammo point" is the amount of ammo required to fire every weapon in the unit for 20 minutes. This is analogous to the modern military term "unit of fire". In many cases (almost always for infantry) some weapons don't fire, or don't fire for the full 20 minutes. The number of weapons firing depends upon things like formation (line, supported line, attack column, etc.), whether skirmishers are deployed, how much frontage is available (you may be sharing frontage with another unit in the same hex), and whether the fire is ordered or automatic (based upon your specification of what the unit should do if the bad guys take some action nearby). If you deploy skirmishers from a typical formation (appropriately sized for the scale) only a small percentage of your weapons will be able to fire, so the unit will probably never run low on ammo. On the other hand, if you have enough available frontage to put every man on line, skirmishers "in", your infantry units can easily run out of ammo in a single turn of fire. You can check to see how many weapons will fire by examining the full unit report. In some cases (artillery units with two gun types) two separate ammo levels are maintained. Even when units run out of ammo it's assumed that _some_ ammo is still available for "frantic fire" (shots at the bad guys as you spot the whites of their eyes), but other than that the unit 1)can't fire (even automatically) and 2) takes a small morale penalty. Fortunately, you don't need to remember all this stuff. But it _is_ happening "under the hood". >>How are they resupplied?<< It depends. Naval units can never be resupplied. Fortunately, ships and gunboats tend to carry quite a bit of ammo around. And for some reason, the bad guys generally tend to avoid them as much as possible. Artillery units also tend to carry a lot of ammo, although lucky shots can detonate caissons. All non naval units that can trace a traditional line of hexes free of enemy units (and not adjacent, unless occupied by friendlies) to a friendly supply point have a chance of being resupplied. The resupply chance is based upon a supply rating maintained for each formation. This chance for resupply declines with: distance from the supply point, terrain density in the unit's hex, proximity to enemy units, fire, and poor visibility (either due to precipitation or time of day). The chance increases if the units are: in command control, at rest (not recently moved), near or on a road, or in any kind of defensive position. Essentially, anything that could conceivably affect resupply probably does so. There are also two special cases: 1) Units that are within 7 hexes of a friendly supply point, were not unsupplied the previous turn, did not move or fire the previous turn, and are not adjacent to an enemy unit automatically receive supply. 2) Any unit in or adjacent to a friendly supply point is automatically supplied. >>I took the 13th Prussian Division & checked on each individual unit. The last line stated "unit is unsupplied". Went to the "Command Details" for the division and found "Supply level is excellent".<< The _command_ supply level is excellent, meaning that units of the command have an excellent chance to be resupplied on any given turn. But other factors (see above) have a strong impact on the resupply chance. >>Throughout the scenario I found that most of my units were listed as "unsupplied" but this did not seem to materially hamper performance.<< On this scale resupply affects only ammo levels. It sounds as though enough supply was intermittently getting through to your units to maintain your ammo levels. >>I also found the Prussian artillery units panicked out of the game without receiving fire.<< Or perhaps not... Artillery units usually don't run out of ammo. But if they do they tend to pull up stakes and head for a supply source. Guns were particularly valuable in the 19th century, and they tended to skeedadle if they couldn't get ammo resupply. >>What about Command and Control? What happens to isolated units? << Command radius from command leaders is 5 hexes, 3 for sub leaders. This radius can be modified (in the obvious direction) by time of day, movement status, weather, terrain density, etc. Outside of this radius, there is a increasing chance (100% beyond 4x radius) that units will be isolated. Isolation has a strong impact on resupply, replacements (by straggler reintegration) and movement allowance for your units. In good weather and open terrain you can spread out a bit. At night, moving, in the woods, in the rain, well... Isolated units _can_ move, but they won't go anywhere fast. Finally, if a formation is really beaten up, you may find that it "reorganizes", making it completely unavailable for as long as it takes to regain control. This is particularly likely to happen if you lose a lot of leaders in a hurry. Norm Koger 2.0 September 11th, 1996 ---------------- Age of Rifles FAQ #3 This document will probably be expanded in the near future. A FEW GUIDELINES FOR SCENARIO CREATION As anyone who has designed historical scenarios can tell you, a battle sometimes isn't as interesting when you finish a scenario as when you conceptualized it. Just because a situation has already been modeled in an existing scenario doesn't mean someone else can't tackle it again. You might be able to do a better job than the other fellow. Orders and Objectives Definition: All objectives except for the final (highest numbered) assigned to any particular command are referred to as intermediate objectives. Intermediate objectives are useful for refining the action of the programmed opponent, but have no direct effect upon play. Units assigned to "attacking" commands will attempt to pass through lowest numbered to highest numbered objectives while advancing on their final objective. In many cases it is not necessary to specify a particular path for an attacking command, since the programmed opponent does a pretty good job of picking a good path the command. There are two exceptions though: 1) If there is a significant obstacle, such as a river, it can be helpful to place intermediate objectives in such a way as to create a "path" for advance. 2) If many commands will be advancing on the same objective it can be helpful to use intermediate objectives for each command to avoid traffic jams. Otherwise, since the programmed opponent will tend to take the easiest path when moving its units, you may find your commands bunching up near roads or passes through dense terrain. Defending commands will stay in place unless an enemy unit occupies one of their objectives. In many cases this is what you want. But you can also use intermediate objectives to set up "tripwires". For example, a cavalry command can be placed behind a hill out of enemy view. Its final objective might be in a village located behind the command. This ensures that the village will be defended if approached by the enemy. But you could also set an intermediate objective on one side of a bridge in front of the hill. When the enemy advances across the bridge your command would ride out to attack, but if other enemy forces threatened your command's final objective it would pull out to defend the village. By clever use of intermediate objectives you can set up a very active defense. To begin with, set all of your command orders to "normal" emphasis. You can adjust up (all costs) or down (cautious) when you start testing for historical accuracy and play balance. Leaders have a very strong effect on game play. It is easy to forget to set leaders away from national defaults, but the results can be worth it. Private soldiers in many 19th century armies were quite professional, but their officers were sometimes political appointees. In some cases, the better leaders have become legendary figures. You can reflect this by setting commander values as appropriate. Unit names are limited to 16 characters, but you can get additional mileage out of unit names in many game displays by using the following abbreviations (spaces are significant). This also gets around spelling problems: " Hsr" >>> " Hussar" " Fslr" >>> " Fusilier" " Drgn" >>> " Dragoon" " Gndr" >>> " Grenadier" " Jgrs" >>> " Jaegers" "Hlndr" >>> "Highlander" " Arty" >>> " Artillery" " Bn" >>> " Battalion" " dA" >>> " d'Afrique" "Hvy" >>> "Heavy" "Lt" >>> "Light" " Rgt" >>> " Regiment" " Bde" >>> " Brigade" "Mtd" >>> "Mounted" "Gren " >>> "Grenadier " "Gd" >>> "Guard" "Irsh" >>> "Irish" "Fld" >>> "Field" " Bodygd" >>> " Bodyguard" " Div " >>> " Division " "W'phln" >>> "Westphalian" "B'burg" >>> "Brandenburg" "Lwr " >>> "Lower " "E.Pru" >>> "East Pru" "Sfrth" >>> " Seaforth " "Camrn" >>> " Cameron " "Ryl" >>> "Royal" "Bty" >>> "Battery" " Tex." >>> " Texas" " Ark." >>> " Arkansas" " Lou." >>> " Louisiana" " Miss." >>> " Mississippi" " Tenn." >>> " Tennessee" " Ala." >>> " Alabama" " Fla." >>> " Florida" " Ga." >>> " Georgia" " S.C." >>> " South Carolina" " N.C." >>> " North Carolina" " Ky." >>> " Kentucky" " Va." >>> " Virginia" " Md." >>> " Maryland" " Penn." >>> " Pennsylvania" " Del." >>> " Delaware" " Ia." >>> " Indiana" " Ill." >>> " Illinois" " N.J." >>> " New Jersey" " N.Y." >>> " New York" " Conn." >>> " Connecticut" " Mass." >>> " Massachusetts" " Vt." >>> " Vermont" " N.H." >>> " New Hampshire" " Me." >>> " Maine" " W." >>> " West" " Vol." >>> " Volunteer" " Vols." >>> " Volunteers" " S.S." >>> " Sharpshooters" Example: If you name a unit "1st B'burg Jgrs", it will display in the game as "1st Brandenburg Jaegers" if space allows. You can do interesting things with some unit and command parameters. For example, if you look closely at Buena Vista you will find that the Mexican army arrives on the map in an exhausted state. This strongly encourages the Mexican player to do what Santa Anna did historically - probe the pass then set up camp for the night. You can also set the ammo levels of individual units very low while setting their parent command supply ratings much higher. The units would start off with very little ammo but would rapidly resupply. Or you can do the reverse, if you want to recreate the legendary "quartermaster effect" at Isandlwana. If you are designing an historical scenario, try to get historical results by selecting objectives and command orders. Don't worry about play balance until you are satisfied with the feel of the scenario. Once you have done this, you can manually modify the values of the objectives to achieve play balance. The best way to test for rough balance in your scenarios is to launch them in a computer vs. computer play mode. You can speed this up by using the "quick" command line parameter (which was specifically designed for this very purpose. See Rifles FAQ #1). The "quick" parameter will cut all delays to a minimum, which will allow for the most rapid possible test of the scenario. It comes with a cost though: The game will play so rapidly that you won't easily be able to follow the action. A FEW GUIDELINES FOR CAMPAIGN CREATION Make sure that you don't change sides with the forces from one scenario to the next. That is, if the first force in the OOB (order of battle) is Allied in scenario 1, make sure it remains the first force in all subsequent scenarios. Also, keep _exactly_ the same names for any units that carry over from scenario to scenario. Any change in the name, even one character, and the unit will not get any experience benefit for serving in previous battles. If you swap sides for your forces from scenario to scenario, anyone playing the campaign will experience a side swap when they make the transition to the side swapped scenario. I recommend the following: Create one master order of battle, with all units from both sides for all scenarios. Then save this OOB and use it as a template, loading it as necessary when creating scenarios. Create the individual scenario orders of battle by _deleting_ units not needed for the specific scenario. This guarantees consistency and ensures that you won't have to worry about any of the points mentioned in the paragraph above. Be sure to edit the transition text when you set up the scenario linkages. The automatic display of this information between scenarios will make your campaigns look more professional. Norm Koger 2.0 September 11th, 1996 Other Wargame Construction Set 3: Age of Rifles cheats hints faqs solutions: 1. Wargame Construction Set 3: Age of Rifles cheat codes 2. Wargame Construction Set 3: Age of Rifles faq and solutions |