DC AD 2001 Manual

by Nebelwurfer

NULL DC configuration

This manual assumes you will be using the Null DC Emulator to play the game. The game is long out of print, but it is possible to purchase an original copy via one of the Japanese game importers. In order to play my copy, I had to use a Mod Chip to allow Japanese games to work on a US Dreamcast. I have heard that Sega is in negotiations with Sony to make its Dreamcast library of games downloadable on Playstation consoles, similar to Nintendo's Wii ware. If so, this may be an alternate way to obtain a legitimate copy of DC AD 2001.

Dreamcast Bios/Flash

NULL DC does not come with a Dreamcast bios and flash files and will not function without them. You will need to obtain bios and flash files from the Web. Note that the US Bios will not work with this game, as it is intended for the Japanese locale. You will need either the Japan bios or the Spanish bios. The Spanish bios is preferable because it will play Dreamcast games from any locale.

The BIOS must be named "dc_boot.bin" and the Flash must be named "dc_flash.bin". Both files must be placed in the "Data" directory which is in the location where you installed the emulator. The emulator will fail to load if you don't have these files.

Configuration Settings

The default Null DC settings are acceptable, unless you are using Windows Vista. The Sound config settings need to be changed as shown below for accurate sound in Vista.

Configuring Sound

The other thing you want to set up in NULL DC before you start playing is all 4 controllers. Only one controller is set up by default. Each controller allows you to have 2 VMU devices which function as memory cards. So having all 4 controllers set-up allows you to have 8 virtual memory cards instead of 2.

DC AD 2001 has two types of save files. The first type allows you to save the starting point for a scenario and requires 27 memory card blocks. The other save file format allows you to save a scenario in progress and requires 190 memory card blocks. Since each VMU memory card can only hold 200 blocks, you can only store up to 7 Scenario Start files or 1 Scenario in progress file on each VMU.

As the campaign progresses, you will want to have plenty of room to store your save states. When I was playing this game on the Dreamcast, I only had 2 controllers and 4 VMUs. Having 8 VMUs to use in NULL DC is a big plus. The config screen located below shows where to configure NULL DC to support 4 controllers.

Configuring 4 VMUs

Main Menu

The Main Menu is displayed after starting the game and pressing the Start button when the Title Screen is displayed. If you delay pressing the Start button, then Movies will be displayed as an attract mode. There is a Ground combat movie and an Air combat movie that are really well done.

The following options can be selected from the Main Menu:

1) Continue - Use this option to continue playing a game that is in progress. These save game positions take 190 VMU blocks.

2) Load Game - During the Campaign, you can save the game at the beginning of a New Scenario. These Save Game positions take 27 VMU blocks. Use this command to load one of these Saves and start a scenario from the beginning.

3) Campaign - Begin a new campaign as Germany starting with training missions in 1935 and continuing through the end of the war in 1945. The campaign consists of a connected sequence of scenarios, where your performance in a scenario affects which scenario you will play next.

4) Scenario - Scenario mode allows you to select a stand-alone scenario to play. A scenario can be customized to add Human players and change many of the settings before play begins. Scenario Mode also supports a password protected Play-by-Mail capability.

Scenario Mode has some Alt History scenarios that are not used in the Campaign Mode such as an invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938.

5) Editor - The Scenario Editor allows the player to modify one of the existing Scenario Mode scenarios or to create a new scenario from scratch. The player has complete control over terrain, factions, initial units, and starting funds.

6) Appendix - View a catalog of all units encountered in the Campaign game to date.

7) Internet - If a Dreamcast is equipped with a ethernet Card, it can talk to the SEGA Website for Extras, etc. NULL DC does not support Ethernet, so this function is disabled.

Campaign Mode

When you enter a new Campaign, a Movie is shown explaining the aftermath of World War I and Hitler's rise to power. You then begin the first campaign scenario. This scenario is the only time when your units will already be deployed on the map when the Scenario begins. All later scenarios start with no units on the map. You have to deploy units from your force pool in the area within 5 hexes of your HQ.

The Campaign consists of managing two resources while fighting a series of battles. These resources are your unit force pool and your money.

Unit Force Pool

In the Campaign, all your units carry over from one Scenario to the next. The Maximum number of units you can keep in your force pool is around 350. Enemy units can be captured and added to your force pool. You can also purchase new German units for your force pool. However, you don't recover any money from scrapping obsolete units. Therefore you should exercise caution when purchasing units to only those needed.

You cannot purchase the best equipment when constructing a new unit. Instead, you have buy the lowest level equipment and then raise the unit's experience to the maximum level before you can exchange this low end equipment for that of the next higher level. This gives a tremendous incentive for you to try to preserve your Veteran units because you have invested so much time in them building them up. This is especially relevant to Artillery units, whose experience advances very slowly due to their range based attacks. Infantry paratroopers are also worth their weight in gold because you have to level up 5 times from the base level Infantry type to get them.

The Design button on the Setup screen shows what the base level equipment is for each unit type, as well as what level up options for each unit type are available. Finally, weapons will become obsolete over time. When this occurs the Design screen will show these models as "out of standard" in red text. You are allowed to cancel the production of obsolete models. This shifts everything down so that what was formerly the first level up model now becomes the base level model. Advancement in aviation technology is rapid. Ground and Naval technology advances much more slowly.

A final thing to consider in managing your force pool is that the number of deployment slots in any scenario is limited. At the beginning of the campaign you might only have 15 units on the map at any one time to work with. The maximum you can ever have in a scenario is 64 units. It may make more sense to develop more powerful units rather than using up your limited slots to develop weaker ones. For example emphasizing Medium/Heavy Tanks over Light tanks or Recon vehicles.

Battleships are the most powerful units in the game, however they cost a fortune to build, repair and resupply. Also there are relatively few scenarios that allow the use of Naval units. Experience will allow you to strike a balance in your force pool management.

Money

Earning More Money

Money also is carried over from one Scenario to the next. You start off the Campaign with a small amount of money. You gain more money by taking control of cities and HQs, which produce income equal to their size each turn. Oil Wells produce 4 times their size in income each turn. The size of Cities, HQs and Oil Wells can be increased by Bulldozers.

Finally the player is awarded bonus money at the end of a campaign scenario. The bonus is greatest for a Major victory. To obtain a Major Victory, all Enemy factions must be knocked out in half the total scenario turns or less. A smaller bonus is granted for a Minor victory. To obtain a Minor Victory you just need to knock out all Enemy Factions before the Scenario ends. If you cannot win before the Scenario is over, then you receive no bonus money.

Uses For Money

1) Forming new units
Within 5 Hexes of your Production HQ, you can build Ground units in cities or depots, Air units in airports, and Naval units in Ports you control. A newly formed unit will be at minimal strength and must be repaired over several turns to reach its full strength. Naval units, especially capital ships like Cruisers, Battleships and Aircraft Carriers will take a very long time to bring up to full strength.

2) Repairing / Resupplying units
Units at less than full strength can be repaired at Cities/Airports/Ports. Also units carry a limited amount of fuel and ammunition. Units can resupply at Cities/Airports/Ports. Units repair faster in larger cities than smaller ones. Also units repair faster in cities that are within 5 hexes of your HQ.

The cost of repair is porportional to the total cost of the unit. For example, a full strength Fighter-Bomber unit that costs $1800 would require $900 to heal from 5 strength to 10 strength. The cost of resupply is dependent on the weapon type and fuel capacity. You can review the cost a round of ammunition for each weapon on the stats screen.

You should never allow your funds to drop all the way to zero, as being unable to pay for unit resupply can bring your offensive to a screeching halt. Don't follow the historical example, where German Industry produced hundreds of Fighters in the late war period which were then grounded for lack of fuel.

3) Building Facilities
Bulldozers can be used to build new facilities on Flat ground. (Note: You can create Flat Ground by Bombing Forest hexes.) Building a new Airport costs $5000. Building a new Supply Depot (which functions like a city without generating any income) costs $1000. Building Fortifications costs $400. New Factilities start with a strength of 20, and can be grown by using a Bulldozer improve terrain command.

4) Improving Terrain
Bulldozers can be used to improve terrain. Each Facility or terrain type has a size from 0 to 250. You typically use the improve terrain command on Cities, HQs, or Oil Wells you control to increase the amount of money you receive each turn. Improve terrain can also be used on a bridge hex to strengthen it so that heavier units can cross. It costs $100 to use the Improve Terrain command.

The Improve terrain command becomes less effective as the facility size grows. Bulldozers with higher experience will be more effective than bulldozers with low experience. Also note that the effect of improve terrain is halved when the ground is frozen.

5) Repairing Terrain
Cities, Airports, and Ports can be destroyed by bombing. When this happens the location is replaced by a crater graphic. In order to use the facility again, you must place a Bulldozer on it and use the Repair Terrain command. This repairs the city to a minimal size of 20 and places it in your control. This command costs $500 to use.

6) Building Roads and Railroads
Bulldozers can be used to construct new roads and railroads. Only Dirt roads can be constructed, not Paved or Autobahn roads which are more resistant to being washed out by heavy rains. Building a road in a hex will auto-connect it to roads in all adjacent hexes. Cities, HQs, Airports, and Ports already contain roads. The cost of building a Dirt road in a Hex is $200.

Bulldozers can be used to construct new Railroads. Building a Railroad in a hex will auto connect it to railroads in adjacent hexes if they are in the same gauge. Cities, HQs, Airports, and Ports already contain Railroads. The cost of building a Railroad Hex is $150.

There are 3 types of Railroad gauge used in the game. These are Standard, Wide, and Narrow. On the Eastern Front, you will need to convert Soviet wide gauge track to standard gauge before German trains will be able to use it. The cost of converting track in a Hex is $50.

7) Research New Units
Over time, new and improved units will be designed. However, you must pay the research cost for the item before you will be able to build it. The research cost of a completely new unit is more than the research cost of an upgrade or conversion of an existing unit.

It is tempting to purchase every new model type that becomes available. However you could save some money by rejecting designs that you don't ever plan to build. For example, I hardly ever use submarines in the game. It wouldn't make sense for me to pay for Submarine upgrades since I am never going to build them anyway.

8) Level Up / Convert Units
When a unit with maximum experience (250) is stored in a City/Airport/Port that you control, and there is an available Level Up unit in the Design Table, you can swap out the current equipment with the Level Up command. The cost of the Level Up is dependent on the cost of the unit you are levelling up to. The Level Up command reduces the experience of the unit to zero.

Converting a unit is only possible when there is a conversion design available. Generally these are restricted to obsolete unit types like Light Tanks and Ground Transport vehicles. For example, the first unit conversions are available for the Pz I B Light tank. Later some Pz II D conversions are available and so on. There is a cost associated with converting a unit. Note that a unit does not lose any experience when a conversion is performed.

9) Save Game Costs
To prevent abuse of the Save Game command, you are forced to pay money every time you save during a turn. The first save in a turn is free, the next costs $100, and it doubles each time after that. As a result, you should try to save at most 3 or 4 times during a turn or the cost will become prohibitive.

Playing a Scenario

In each scenario, a similar sequence of events will take place.
--- Perform once ---
1) Briefing
2) Rules Modifications
--- Perform for each Turn ---
3) Weapon Research
4) Spy Report
5) Units Form/Post/Resupply/Move/Attack/Bomb/Capture/Build/Load/Unload
6) End Turn
--- Perform once ---
7) Debriefing
8) Save Scenario

Briefing

Each scenario in the Campaign begins by showing a map of the area of Operations for the upcoming battle. Displayed on top of the map is a Briefing of the current situation. Displayed below is the briefing for the first Campaign Training scenario:

Training Briefing

Rules Modifications

Following the briefing, you are given an opportunity to modify the rules that will be used in the Scenario to make the game easier. Most of these rule changes place restrictions on the Enemy, such as limiting the types of units he can build or cutting his starting funds or income.

Although this mode can be useful for Beginners to get more enjoyment out of the game, there is a penalty. If any Rules Modifications are made, then the player will not be granted a Major victory regardless of how quickly the Scenario is completed. There are certain Critical turning points in the game where Major Victories are required to retain the initiative. If you modify the rules, you will have no chance to take these paths.

Displayed below is the Rules Modification Screen:

Rules Modify Screen

Weapon Research

Occasionally, at the beginning of a Turn, you will be given the opportunity to pay for new Weapon Research. There are 3 choices: 1) Pay the Research cost, 2) Postpone the decision for a later turn, 3) Cancel the Weapon research. If you cancel the Weapon research, you will never be able to build that model. A sample Research screen is shown below:

New Weapons that you Research will show up in the Design Screen. You access this screen by calling up the Set-up screen and then selecting the Design Button. The Screen below shows the Base Level units for a number of different Weapon types. Note that one of the Weapon types is obsolete. The production of this weapon can be cancelled, allowing a better unit to become the Base level unit. You should check the Design Screen at the beginning of each new Scenario to see if any obsolete weapons need to halt production.

Research Table 1

After selecting the Fighter class from the above table, you can see that there are two fighter types that can be built. The Base Level Bf 109 C/D and the Level Up Bf 109 E-4 that we just researched. Since the Base Level unit has the Halt button enabled, we can select it to end production of the Bf 109 C/D, and make the Bf 109 E-4 the new Base Level Fighter unit. This will allow BF 109 E-4 units to be created with the Form command.

Research Table 2

Spy Report

At the beginning of a turn you will occasionally receive a random report about some other country's weapon. When this occurs, the weapon will be added to your Weapon catalog for reference. The following graphic shows a sample Spy Report.

Posting Units to the Map

Once Units are on the map you can execute numerous unit commands such as Resupply/Move/Attack/Bomb/Capture/Build/Load/Unload. These commands will be covered in detail in a seperate section.

In all scenarios other than the first Campaign Scenario, you need to Post units from your Force Pool to the Map prior to the first game turn. This special turn is called the Deploy Turn. Units from your Force Pool can be posted to any Depot, City, HQ, Airport or Port that is within 5 hexes of your HQ. Each posting location can hold a number of units based on its size.

Size 1-50 - Holds 1 unit
Size 51-100 - Holds 2 units
Size 101-150 - Holds 3 units
Size 151-200 - Holds 4 units
Size 201-250 - Holds 5 units

Another thing to keep in mind is that Airplanes and Ships have Size restrictions that prevent them from leaving a Airport or Port if it is too small. The Airplane or Naval unit can still be posted, however the size of the facility will need to be increased with a Bulldozer before the unit will be allowed to sortie.

Note that you can always land or dock regardless of facility size, but you can't leave again unless the facility is of sufficient size. Thus a plane running low on fuel could land at a newly captured Airport and wait until a Bulldozer improved the Airport before it could leave again.

Airplane Restrictions
Biplanes - Airport must be Size 50 to exit
Single Engine Plane - Airport must be Size 100 to exit
2 or 3 Engine Plane - Airport must be Size 150 to exit
4 Engine Plane - Airport must be Size 200 to exit
Jets and Rocket Planes - Airport must be Size 250 to exit

Warship/Seaplane Restrictions
Seaplanes - Port must be Size 50 to exit
Destroyers - Port must be Size 100 to exit
Cruisers - Port must be Size 150 to exit
Heavy Cruisers, Pocket Battleships - Port must be Size 200 to exit
Battleships, Aircraft Carriers - Port must be Size 250 to exit

The following graphic shows ground units being posted from the Force Pool at the beginning of a Scenario:

Posting Units

Ending a Turn

After you have finished issuing unit commands to all your units, you need to end your turn. This will allow the Computer factions to perform their actions before it is your turn again. However before ending a turn, there are some scenario settings you may want to tweak first. There are certain settings that will make the Computer turn go faster, so that you can get back into the action sooner.

Battle Display
Whenever a unit is attacked, if 3-D battle mode is enabled then there will be a brief battle scene where 3-D models fight each other. This mode is enabled by default. You may want to change the config setting so that these 3-D battles are only seen during your turn, or are disabled entirely. Disabling 3-D battles will speed up the turn significantly, and besides the animations can grow tiresome after a while. To disable 3-D battles entirely, go to the Setup Screen->Change Set-up->Show tab and cycle the 3-D battles toggle to where it says Never as shown below.

Enemy Turn HQ Map
By default, you will see all Enemy units moving and attacking on the Tactical Map as they perform their turn. To speed things up, you can change another Show tab setting to "Show COM Turn HQ View". Then during the Enemy turn, only a Map Overview is seen with little colored dots representing the various faction's units. A progress gauge is shown to indicate how close the current faction is to finishing its turn. Note that COM Turn HQ View mode is the only way to see the pictures and abilities of Enemy Generals.

Enemy Turn HQ Map

Turn BGM Off
Turning the BGM Music off won't speed up the turn, but it will protect your sanity after you have listened to the same BGM music loop about 100 times or more. Toggle it off on the main Setup Screen.

Use Color For Control Mark Instead of Flag
This setting will not speed up the game, but it is useful to keep track of faction ownership of facilities. By default, the marker for Ownership of facilities is the Nation's flag. However when Enemy Nations have 2 or 3 factions in the Scenario, you need to see their cities as different colors to be able to plan your attacks effectively. Use the following Setup Screen->Change Set-up->Map tab to toggle from Flag capture marker to Color capture Marker.

Color Control Marker

Debriefing

Each scenario in the Campaign ends by showing a map of the area of Operations for the battle with debriefing text showing the effects of the battle. Depending on whether the battle was a Major Victory, Minor Victory or Defeat, different debriefing text will be shown.

Save Scenario

At the end of a campaign scenario, the player will be shown how many more major cities need to be taken before the war is won. At that time he is also given an opportunity to save the game. A Scenario Start save only requires 27 blocks instead of 190, so be sure to always save these. You can always go back and delete the ones you don't need later.

How to Win a Scenario

You should try to win every scenario in the Campaign in half the available turns or less. But in order to win, you need to know what conditions are necessary to trigger a victory. You can examine the victory conditions for a scenario by calling up the Setup Screen->Status button which displays the Goal Tab shown below:

Status Goals Tab

The Goal Tab shows how many turns are in the current scenario and how many turns remain to be played. Also there is a list of all Enemy HQs which need to be captured in order to win the scenario. As you move the cursor over each Enemy HQ, the section at the top will update to show how much money that faction currently has.

If the Quit$ field in this section is not zero, then that faction can be defeated by lowering its funds below that level. If a Faction has on off-map HQ, (the X, Y Pos location is shown as --,--), then this is the only way to defeat it, since the off-map HQ is out of reach of your Infantry units. To maximize Enemy spending, kill off his more expensive units like Aircraft and Naval units. The Enemy will have to spend money to build replacement units. Constant attrition of this faction's units is required to achieve success.

Note that the Quit$ check is not made until after a faction has received its income for that turn. If a faction's income level is greater than its Quit$ level, it will never be defeated. In that case, you will need to capture or destroy a number of that faction's cities and HQs before you can trigger its defeat through lack of funds. To see the current income level for each faction in the scenario, choose the Earn Tab on the Status Screen as shown below:

Status Earn Tab

The Earn tab shows each Faction's current funds, its income for each turn, and whether it can be defeated through lack of funds. The color bar shows the percentage of Cities, Airports, and Ports that the Faction controls. The Bar at the bottom shows the Total amount of cities, Airports and Ports in the scenario.

In some scenarios, a faction is designated as the Target faction. In this case, you can win the scenario if that one faction is eliminated, regardless of the status of other Enemy factions at the time. So far, I have only seen this condition apply to the French in 1939-1940.

The Final way to eliminate the last remaining Enemy faction in a Scenario is to hunt down and destroy all of its on-map units. This includes any units that are in storage in an on-map hex. Typically this extreme method is only required to eliminate a band of Partisans who have no formal HQ to speak of. However there are occasions when you are pressed for time and cannot wait for a battle of attrition to eventually wear the Enemy down. To help you find and eliminate the last faction's on-map units, you need to make use of the Air, Gnd, and Sea Tabs on the Status Screen shown below:

Status Air Tab

Each Tab contains several columns categorizing the units into major classes. On the Air Tab screen shown above, the numbers show the total number of vehicles in the faction's units. Typically units contain up to 10 vehicles, however there are some big ticket items like Warships and Trains that measure Hit points for a single vehicle. This can be toggled to show the number of units instead of the total unit strength if desired. An example of this is the Sea Tab screen shown above. A final toggle that is available restricts the units shown to only those that are currently on the map, not stored in a City, Airport, or Port. An example of this is seen in the Gnd Tab screen shown above.

Three different colors are used in this table. A number in Black text indicates that all the units in this category on On-map. A number in Blue text indicates that some of the units in this category are On-map and some are Off-map. A number in Red text indicates that all of the units in this category are Off-map.

How to Win a Scenario Summary

1. Capture all HQs of the Target Faction
2. Capture all HQs that appear in the Goal Tab
3. Instead of capturing all of a Faction's HQs, lower his funds below the Quit level
4. To eliminate the last Enemy Faction, destroy all of his On-map units

How to Lose a Scenario Summary

1. Allow all your HQs to be captured
2. The Target faction is one of your Allies, and it is defeated
3. Allow Time to run out before defeating the Enemy

Unit Commands

The following commands can be issued to your units during a turn. Most commands end a unit's turn. The exceptions will be noted below:

Level Up

A unit that is at maximum EXP (250) that is stored in a City, HQ, Depot, Airport, or Port can use the Level Up command to swap its Equipment for that at the next highest level on the Design Table. After Level Up, the unit's Experience drops to zero. The command will be disabled if there is no higher level unit available. There is a cost associated with the upgrade, as seen in the following picture. The Level Up command ends the unit's turn.

Level Up Screen

Hint: A unit does not have to be at full strength to Level Up. You can use the Merge command to transfer all but one member of the Max EXP unit to another unit to prevent the loss of experience that would otherwise occur. This is easiest to do for a Base Level unit that is levelling up. For example you can form a new Base Level Infantry 39 unit with 1 strength and no experience. The next turn it could Merge with a full strength Infantry 39 unit that was at maximum experience. 9 members would transfer, leaving the 250 experience Infantry with 1 member and the newly formed Infantry unit with 10 members at 225 experience. Thus it won't take long before you can raise this new unit's experience back to maximum so you can repeat this process.

You should be careful in the new weapons that you research, since they can break this chain. For example, there are two major variants of the He 111 Bomber. There is a "P" series and an "H" Series. If you have invested a lot of effort in building up a He 111 H series bomber to Max EXP, you should be hesitant to pay for research in a He 111 P series bomber, since you would then be unable to use the Merge command to exchange members between these two bomber units. It would be OK to fund additional He 111 H Model research, as you could use the Convert command to bring the older "H" Bombers up to the newer "H" Model. The Merge command only works between units with the exact same Model.

Consider the case where you have a Max EXP Base Lv unit, a Max EXP Level Up 1 unit, and a Max EXP Level Up 2 unit. After reducing the strength of the Max EXP Base Lv unit to one as outlined above, you want it to Level up in the smallest city you have that is 6 or more hexes away from your HQ. Why? You want the new Level Up 1 unit that is created to be as small as possible. That way you can transfer the most members from your Max EXP Level Up 1 unit to it, so that the most experience can be saved, and so on as you work your way up the Level ladder.

Ideal Sequence of Events for Rolling Experience Forward:

Transfer 9 members from Max EXP Base Lv unit to new Base Lv unit (225 EXP saved)
1 str Base Lv unit Levels up to 2 str Level Up 1 unit
Transfer 8 members from Max EXP Level Up 1 unit to new Level Up 1 unit (200 EXP saved)
2 str Level Up 1 unit Levels up to 3 str Level Up 2 unit
Transfer 7 members from Max EXP Level Up 2 unit to new Level Up 2 unit (175 EXP saved)
3 str Level Up 2 unit Levels up to 4 str Level Up 3 unit

If you Level Up a unit in a larger city or near your HQ, its size will be larger, reducing the effect of passing experience on.

Convert

A unit of any experience level that is stored in a City, HQ, Depot, Airport, or Port can use the Convert command to swap its Equipment for a later model variant or a new unit type that is based on the chassis of the original unit. Experience is not affected by the Convert command. The command will be disabled if there are no conversions available. There is a cost associated with the modification, as seen in the following picture. The Convert command ends the unit's turn.

Level Up Screen

One unit that goes through frequent conversions in the early war period is the Pz III tank. You start off with Pz III A, and then advance through B, E, G, H, J, L, M and N variants. Switching from the E to G model upgrades the tank's gun from 37mm to 50mm. Later on the J model adds a longer barrel 50mm gun which improves its antitank rating and initiative. Some Model variants offer only minimal improvements, that may not justify the cost of a conversion. Be sure to study the Stats screen for the new variant to see what improvements if any it offers.

Many conversions of obsolete units are available. The Pz I B tank can be converted into a Self Propelled Artillery unit or a Self Propelled Anti-Tank Gun unit. The Pz II D can be converted into a Flamethrower tank.

Several conversions are based on ground transport vehicles. Among the most useful are the SdKfz 7 transport which can be converted into a Self Propelled Quad Barrel AA Gun, and the SdKfz 251 transport which can be converted into a Self Propelled Rocket Artillery unit.

Airplane conversions are also possible. One early one converts an obsolete Do 17-Z2 Bomber into a Night Fighter unit.

View Stats

It is possible to look at the stats for any of your units during your turn. This does not end the unit's turn. You can also look at the stats of Enemy units that you have fought before. If you are seeing an enemy unit for the first time, it will be shown as Unknown. You won't be able to look at that unit's stats until you fight against it. There are three stats screens. All the Stats screens for the Tiger I tank can be viewed below.

Stats Page 1

The first page contains all the information except for the Weapons. The Various sections on this screen will now be examined in detail.

Seek

The Seek section shows the Search for Enemy Range for 3 different methods.
1) See - How far the unit can see with the naked eye. Recon units have the best ground unit vision range of up to 5 hexes. There are some Airplane units that have excellent vision range as well, but they are ineffective in anything but Clear weather. Vision range is severely restricted at night.
2) Radar - Only Large ships, Radar Stations, and some Night Fighters carry Radar. All Ships and Planes in Radar range will be shown as a silouette. You will have to move another unit into visual range to get a positive ID on the Enemy unit.
3) Sonar - Sonar acts like radar in that it shows a silouette of all ships within Sonar Range. You will have to move another unit into visual range to get a positive ID on the Enemy unit.

Move

All the stats related to unit movement are listed here.
1) Gas - the current and maximum level of fuel for the unit.
2) BAT - Current and maximum level of Battery charge. Only used by Submarines. Charge is consumed while the submarine is submerged, unless the Submarine is equipped with a Snorkel or Walter engine. Charge builds up while the Submarine is on the surface. A submarine is forced to surface if its battery charge is exhausted.
3) Spd - The speed of the unit. This can be reduced at night or during extreme bad weather.
4) ALT - Maximum Altitude of the unit. Only applies to Aircraft units. A higher altitude Aircraft gets an initiative bonus in combat. Some Aircraft with low Altitude cannot fly over Mountains and must detour around them.
5) Size - Affects whether the unit can be loaded into a Transport. If either size or weight exceeds a Transport's capacity then it cannot be loaded.
6) Wgt - The weight of the unit. If either size or weight exceeds a Transport's capacity then it cannot be loaded. Ground unit weight also affects whether it can use a bridge to cross a river. The Bridge size must be equal or greater to the unit's weight for it to be allowed to cross.

DEF

The unit's defensive rating is shown here. Separate ratings are given for the Front, Sides, Rear, and Top. Also the weapon type that can cause damage to this unit is shown. For Ground Units and Naval Units, the Top defensive rating is used when it is attacked by an Aircraft. For Aircraft Units, the Top Defensive rating is used when it is attacked by Ground Units or Naval units.

Special

Certain units have special abilities. A list of these abilities and their effects are summarized below:
1) Night Use - This unit can move at full speed at night. Airplanes with this ability can attack Ground Units at Night. The penalty for attacking at Night is reduced.
2) Night Fighter - This ability allows planes to take off at night. The penalty for attacking Air units at Night is reduced. The unit cannot attack Ground Units at night.
3) Paradrop 80% - Used for Paratroopers and Airborne units loaded on to Air Transports. These units do not have to disembark at an Airport. Instead they can Airdrop into Flat Ground if the Weather is Clear. The Percentage is used to determine if they land in the Hex you selected. If they miss, they will take damage and land in a random hex adjacent to the target hex. Note that the Paradrop success chance drops substantially at Night.
4) Snorkel - A submarine equipped with this device does not consume battery power while submerged, since it can still run its diesel engine. Bad Weather will prevent use of the Snorkel.
5) Walter Engine - A late war German submarine prototype was equipped with a Hydrogen Peroxide drive that allowed it to run silently underwater for great distances. This submarine can stay submerged indefinitely while it consumes its regular fuel.

EXP

The experience level of the unit. Higher experience improves a unit's attack power and defense rating. Maximum experience of 250 is required to Level Up the unit to better equipment. Also:

1) Infantry units capture ability improves as they gain more experience.
2) Bulldozer units Improve Terrain ability improves as they gain more experience.
3) Bomber units Bombing ability improves as they gain more experience.
4) Infantry units gain experience by capturing facilities.
5) Bulldozer units gain experience from performing Build commands.
6) Supply units gain experience by Supplying other units.
7) Bomber units gain experience by Bombing facilities and Terrain.
8) Transport units gain experience by Carrying/Towing units.

IMPORTANT
Airplane units can be damaged when trying to land at night. Airplane units with Night use or Night Fighter ability can be damaged if their experience is less than 100. All other Airplane units can be damaged if their experience is less than 200. The less experience an Airplane unit has, the more damage it will suffer if it tries to land at night.

VERY IMPORTANT
Airplane units that don't have the Night Use or Night Fighter ability can still take off at night if their experience level is 200 or more. Some Winter scenarios have more Night than Day turns. You will be asking for trouble if your Airplanes are stuck in their hangars all night. Especially your Bombers.

Consider the case where you have driven deep into Enemy territory and only have one small captured airbase that can service 3 or 4 Aircraft units at a time. It is easy to get into a situation where your short ranged fighters can be forced to land, or be lost when they run out of fuel. If the entire airbase fills up, and the units can't take off again because its night, all other aircraft that were depending on that Airbase to refuel will be lost.

Kills

How many vehicles/planes/ships the unit has killed in battle since being formed.

Carry

This section only applies to Transport units. This section will be explained later when a graphic of an Air Transport is shown.

Stats Page 2

The second Stats page shows all of the Weapons or Accessories that the unit can be configured with. The row of Tabs at the top shows different Weapon Loadouts that can be selected with the Re-Arm command. There is only one Weapon Loadout available for the Tiger I.

Weapons

Each row contains a different Weapon or Accessory. Each Weapon row contains a graphic of the Weapon, the name of the weapon, Weapon Count, and current ammo / max ammo for the weapon. If the weapon count is shown in a Blue color, then that weapon fires twice during an attack. The stats for the currently selected weapon are shown in the bottom section.

Each Weapon's attack power is rated in 5 categories:

Vs. Air units
Vs. Armored units
Vs. Unarmored units
Vs. Ships
Vs. Submarines

Weapons have a specified range against Ground and Air Targets. All Weapons have a reaction time against Ground and Air Targets. The number before the slash is higher, and is used if the unit did not move before performing its attack. The number after the slash is used if the unit moved before attacking.
If a unit makes a ranged attack, then the Hit % shows the chance of hitting the target at a range of 2 hexes. Any further away and accuracy will drop.
The cost indicates how much money it costs to replace the ammo used each time weapon is fired. Each weapon is also rated as which category it is best used to attack. Finally the numbers in the hexagon to the far right indicate whether the weapon can fire in that 60 degree arc. A dash means that the weapon cannot fire in that direction. Any number higher than zero means that the weapon can fire in that direction, but there is an reaction time penalty to do so.

Different Colors than White are used to show different effects:

1) If the Anti-Air Attack value is shown in a Blue color, then it will be allowed to perform Anti-Air Defensive Fire when a ground unit in range is attacked by an Air unit.
2) If the Anti-Air Attack Value is shown in a Green color, then it will be allowed to perform Anti-Air Defensive fire when a Ground Hex in range is Bombed.
3) If the Weapon's Range is shown in a Red color, it means that the weapon can only be used to counterattack, not to attack.
4)If the Weapon's Range is shown in a Yellow color, it means that the weapon can only be used to Attack, not to Counterattack.
5) If a Weapon's Reaction time (Initiative) is lowered due to excessive Drag, then it will be shown in a Red Color.

Accessories

Certain Weapon Loadouts contain items that are not used to attack or defend the unit. These accessories are detailed below:

1) Materials -
Bulldozers carry Materials. One Material is consumed for each Build command.

2) Supplies -
Supply Vehcles carry Supplies. Each time a unit resupplies, Supplies are consumed. If there are not enough supplies to completely resupply a unit, then fuel is replenished before any ammunition is loaded.

3) Fuel Drop Tank -
Airplanes and certain Armored vehicles can be equipped with external fuel tanks to extend their range. Fuel is consumed from the drop tank first. A unit equipped with fuel drop tanks will suffer a reaction time penalty. This can be viewed by selecting the Fuel tank row and looking at the Drag value. You may want to use the Drop command to discard the fuel tank prior to fighting another unit so that your reaction time is not affected.

4) Glider -
Certain Bombers, Dive Bombers, and Air Transports can be equipped with Gliders. Gliders must load units at an airport, but can drop the unit it carries into a Flat Ground hex, even if the unit does not have the paradrop ability. The glider is consumed in the process. Gliders offer an increased carrying capacity.

5> Bombs -
Bombers use bombs to damage terrain, although they can be used to lesser effect against ground units. Other Aircraft use Bombs only against ground units. A unit equipped with bombs will suffer an reaction time penalty. This can be viewed by selecting the Bomb row and looking at the Drag value. Note that the larger the bomb, the greater the penalty. Aircraft may want to use the Drop command to discard any bombs prior to attacking another Air unit so that its reaction time is not affected.

Stats Page 3

The third Stats page shows a 3-D Model of the weapon. You can zoom in and out and rotate the model side to side and up and down to view it from any angle.

x Stats Page 1

A Ground Transport can Carry or Tow units. Airplane and Ship Transports can only carry units. The Maximum size for carried and towed units is listed. The Large section shows all units that are currently loaded on the transport. A Transport can carry a Maximum of 4 units. Finally the Used Weight field shows the Current Load weight / Maximum Load weight that the Transport can hold.

Disband

This command can be used to permanently remove a unit from your force pool. Select the unit and then pick the X icon. Typically you will use this command to get rid of captured Enemy units that you don't want, since they use up valuable deployment slots. You don't recover any money from disbanding a unit.

It is also possible to Disband units directly from the Unit Force Pool Menu, rather than having to deploy them to the map first. Selecting any unit on the force pool menu that has not been deployed yet will prompt you if you want to disband that unit. If you confirm, then the unit will be removed.

Re-Arm

Some units have the ability to swap the weapons load that they carry. Primarily these are Infantry units and Airplane units. Infantry units for example can choose to be equipped with a Mortar or not. Airplane units offer the greatest flexibility since they can choose to equip fuel drop tanks, various bombs, and a variety of different weapons.

The graphic below shows a bomber unit re-arming. Note that the cost of the weapons load can increase or decrease your current funds depending on what the current weapons load is.

A ground unit is able to re-arm anywhere it can draw supply, but an Airplane unit must be stored in an Airport.

Note that Re-arming does not end a unit's turn. Also Re-arming fully resupplies a unit without repairing it. This can be critical for a damaged Aircraft unit. For example, it is night and you have a 7 strength fighter with 201 experience and low fuel and ammo. If you use a regular supply command, the fighter unit will be repaired and its experience will drop below 200. Then it wouldn't be able to take off at night. If you re-arm it, then its fuel and ammo will be restored without losing any experience and it can take off right away without waiting for the dawn.

Unit Re-arm

Supply/Repair

Supply
The supply command allows a unit to top off its fuel and ammo loads. Aircraft units can only draw supply if they have landed at an Airport. Seaplanes are an exception to this since they can draw supply if placed over a Port hex that you control. Another exception to this is carrier based airplanes. These units are allowed to land on an Aircraft Carrier you control and can resupply there.

Important
Aircraft/Seaplane units that run out of fuel before landing at an Airport or Port will crash and be lost. Ship units that run out of fuel will sink. Don't let this happen to you!

Naval units can draw supply if placed over a Port hex that you control.

Ground units can draw supply if placed over a City, HQ or Depot that you control. Ground units can also draw supply from your Supply vehicles if they are in an adjacent hex. Certain terrain types prohibit supply from supply vehicles. This includes rough terrain, mud or frozen hexes. Note that supply will be allowed if the supply vehicle and the unit drawing supply are on adjacent road hexes regardless of the underlying terrain. Supply vehicles are crucial in keeping your advance going. You don't want your tanks sitting around idle from lack of fuel while you wait to capture a town that can be used as a forward supply base.

As noted earlier, if a supply vehicle has insufficient supplies to fully replenish a unit, the unit's fuel will be restored before any ammo is issued. So it might be better to wait until the supply vehicle can replenish its supplies before using up the last bit it has on hand.

Repair
Damaged units that are stored in Cities, HQs, Depots, Ports, and Airports are also repaired when the supply command is used. The larger the size of the storage facility, the more vehicles will be repaired. There is also a bonus to repair units that are within 5 hexes of your HQ. The cost of the repair is porportional to the unit's total cost.

Captured units only repair one vehicle or strength point per turn, regardless of facility size or HQ proximity. Thus, it can take a long time to fully repair captured Enemy ships that have a high durability rating, like Battleships.

Vehicles are only repaired at bases with German nationality. Factions that are allied to you only provide supply. Certain Axis Nations can provide Accessories (like Fuel drop tanks), Ammo, and Fuel. Other Axis Nations can only provide ammo and fuel. There are Axis Nations that can only provide fuel. And the most backward Axis nations can't provide any supplies at all. There is a table in the manual that specifies who can provide what type of supply, but I have not translated it. Let experience be your guide.

The Supply command does not end a unit's turn.

Rotate

This command allows a unit to change its facing, and consumes 1 fuel. Typically this commmand is only used by towed units like Artillery and Anti-Tank guns that can only fire in their forward facing arc. After performing this command, the unit can still perform an action like attacking if it is capable of firing after it moves. Check the 1st stats page to see if firing after movement is allowed. There are two numbers divided by a slash that show a weapon's reaction time. If there is a number after the slash, it means the weapon can fire after moving. Otherwise it cannot.

Move

When you select a unit that has not ended its turn yet, it will automatically be placed in Move mode. This overlays a Grid of colored hexes over the map display. The grid shows the range of hexes the unit can reach, based on its movement rating, its remaining fuel, and the terrain it has to traverse. Naval and Air units always use 1 movement point per hex travelled, but ground units pay different costs to enter different terrain types.

Unit Movement

Hex border colors have different meanings:

Blue border � Normal movement range hexes
Green border � Marks a hex at the extreme limit of allowable movement
Yellow border � Enemy ZOC affects these hexes. Must halt movement upon entering the hex.
Red border � Unit is not allowed to enter this hex.

A unit can be prevented from entering a hex for 2 reasons. First if that hex is in a Neutral country like Sweden, you are prohibited from entering it. Secondly, when Roads and Railroads are being used for movement, if a ground unit is too heavy to advance into a hex, its border will be displayed in red.

Some actions are allowed after movement, like Attacking or Bombing. Actions that are not allowed will be disabled on the actions menu.

Movement Rules

Elevation

When a ground unit advances from a lower altitude hex to a higher altitude hex, then an extra Movement point cost is paid. No ground unit can advance into a hex where the altitude change is greater than 1.

Roads and Railroads

A ground unit moving from one road or railroad hex to an adjacent one, pays only one movement point per hex, regardless of the terrain cost of the underlying terrain in the Hex. Elevation movement costs still apply.

Important

If you want to slow down an Enemy that is attacking you, you can bomb the bridges he is using to move his troops up to attack you. If the Enemy utilizes trains, then bombing key railroad hexes can also delay his troop movements significantly.

About Enemy ZOCs and Ambushes

Enemy ZOCs will block a unit�s passage. When a unit enters an Enemy ZOC movement ends. When Search for Enemy Rules are in effect, and contact is made with an unseen enemy unit, then the Enemy gets a surprise attack on the moving unit and movement ends at the point where contact was made.

Your units can pass freely through Axis faction unit ZOCs. These units will contest Allied faction unit movement, just like your units would.

Moving a Unit Out of Storage

A unit cannot exit storage if an Enemy unit that can exert a ZOC is adjacent to the storage hex and the hex is occupied. If the Hex is unoccupied, then one unit can leave storage, but has to halt its movement on top of the storage hex. If the Enemy unit is on top of the storage hex, then no units can exit storage, period.

Important

Preventing Enemy units from deploying is a critical tactic to employ. For example, if you can position Fighters on or adjacent to Enemy Airports you can prevent these planes from getting out and attacking your units. The best time to trap Enemy planes in an Airport is at dawn, because most aircraft are prevented from leaving during the Night turns anyway.

As you advance towards an Enemy HQ, it is a good idea to use Ground or Air units with ZOCs to supress his Cities, Depots, and HQs from deploying additional ground units against you.

About Submerged Terrain

When the Rain Accumulation Degree is high, low lying terrain will change to the Submerged type. Except for units equipped with amphibious or submersible systems, Ground units located in terrain that becomes submerged will disappear. Submerged terrain includes: River, Lake, Shoals, Shallow Sea, Broken Dam, Iceberg Sea, Large River, Sea, and River Mouth.

About Changing Direction After Unit Movement

At the End of a Unit�s Movement, it can change its direction. This is similar to the [Rotate] command, where the Unit�s firing arc is set and you can present your unit�s best defensive side to the enemy to lower his chances of doing damage to you. This can be used to great advantage. Rotating a Unit consumes an extra unit of fuel.

About Fuel Consumption

Each unit consumes fuel to allow movement. Each Movement point consumes 1 unit of fuel. When fuel reaches zero, the unit cannot move. Aircraft that run out of fuel will crash at the end of the turn. Ships that run out of fuel will sink at the end of the turn.

1) Each turn, an Aircraft will always consume at least half of its movement rating in Fuel, whether it moves or not. This is called the Minimum Fuel Consumed Amount. An exception is when Aircraft are in storage. At this time no fuel is consumed during a turn.

2) If an Air Transport crashes while carrying ground units, then the ground units are lost as well.

3) A unit can obtain more fuel when it uses the supply command. Whenever a unit is resupplied and repaired, money is consumed. Supply and Repair is possible at a storage site. Close attention should be paid to your money to ensure that you always have enough to supply and repair your units.

Attack

When the attack command is chosen, the first thing you have to do is select a unit to attack. You can use the arrow keys to scroll through all the possibile units that can be attacked. The unit chosen must be adjacent if the attacking unit only has direct fire weapons. The chosen unit can be 2 or more hexes away if the attacking unit has indirect fire weapons like artillery. For a unit to be eligible, it must be in range and the attacking unit must have a weapon capable of damaging it. Some weapons have restricted firing arcs. In this case the direction the attacking unit is pointing will affect which Enemy units can be targetted.

Once a defending unit is chosen, then the attacker must choose a weapon to attack with. An example Weapon Selection Screen is shown below:

Attack Weapon Select

Most tanks have a choice between their Main gun and Machine guns. The Main gun is better against Armored Targets and the Machine gun is better against Unarmored targets.

The top portion of the Weapon select screen contains a gauge which shows an estimate of how much damage will be done to the Enemy unit by the currently selected weapon. The part of the gauge that is filled in a Red color is the part that will be killed and the Green part of the bar shows the part that will survive the attack.

You can use arrow keys to scroll up and down through the weapons list and can observe the effects of each weapon before committing to the attack. If it looks like all the weapons are ineffective, you can cancel the attack.

Attacking ends the unit's turn.

Weapon Group

Certain weapons are arranged in a group. These weapons in these groups can all be fired together. In the above graphic the machine guns on rows 2 and 3 can be fired together. A Weapon Group is identified as all weapons that are on adjacent rows that have identical color tabs on the left hand side of the weapon rows. When a weapon group fires, then the worst reaction time in the weapon group is used.

About Attack Reaction Time

Attack Reaction Time is divided into 4 catagories: [Anti-Air], [Anti-Ground], [Before Movement React Time], and [After Movement React Time]. If a React Time column for a Weapon shows [-], then that Weapon cannot be used in that circumstance. For example, most ground weapons can't attack Air units. Also, most Artillery units cannot attack after they move.

About Direct Attack

Attack method used against adjacent enemies. Direct Attacks require weapons that have a range of 1. Also, Enemy units are allowed to counterattack in response to a Direct Attack. Whichever side has the higher weapon reaction time rating fires first. In cases where Reaction Time is the same, then firing is simultaneous.

The direction that an Enemy is attacked from will affect the Attack�s effectiveness. An Enemy unit�s Defense Power is different for Front, Rear, Sides, and Top. You should attempt to attack an enemy where its defense rating is weakest if possible. This is usually the rear for ground attacks. Aircraft attack ground units from the top, regardless of the orientation of the ground unit, and vice-versa.

About Indirect Attack

Indirect Attacks are used against Enemy units at 2 Hexes or greater range. The attack must use a Weapon that has a firing range or 2 Hexes or more. The Enemy target must be within a valid firing arc of the weapon. If the enemy is outside the attacking unit�s firing arc, then it will need to either rotate in place or move and change direction so that the enemy unit is within the weapon�s firing arc.

Indirect Attacks will sometimes miss their intended target and strike an adjacent hex. The probability of a Hit on the target hex is displayed. If a shot misses, then one of the hexes surrounding the target hex will be struck instead. This can cause a different enemy unit or even a friendly unit to be struck.

The Hit Percentage listed in the Weapon Statistics is for the optimal 2 hex range. If the Indirect Attack targets an enemy at longer range, then the Hit Percentage drops 5% for each additional hex of range beyond 2 hexes.

After movement, Indirect attacks can be performed by certain units (Battleships, for example). To determine if a unit can perform an Indirect Attack after movement, examine the weapon�s After Movement Initiative column. Weapons with [-] are incapable of Indirect Attacks after movement.

Indirect fire Counterattacks are allowed if the following conditions are met:

1) The target unit has an Indirect Fire weapon whose firing arc covers the attacking unit.

2) The target unit weapon has sufficient range to strike the attacker.

3) The attacker must be "seen". (Within Search for Enemy range)

Ammunition

Each Attack or Counterattack consumes ammunition. Obviously, a weapon cannot fire if if has used up all of its ammunition. A unit can refill its ammunition by using the Supply command, where Resupply is allowed.

Weather/Night Effects

Weapon accuracy and effectiveness can be lowered at Night or when the Weather is bad, such as Storm, Blizzard, or Sandstorm conditions. To see the affects that the current weather/night conditions have on your units, call up the Status->Weather Tab.

Bomb

The Bombing command is used to damage/destroy terrain, and is only available to Bomber type units. This action lowers the strength of the terrain. Once the strength is reduced to zero, the terrain is destroyed and replaced by a crater. Bombers can be used to weaken Cities/Airports/HQs/Ports, etc to make it easier for your infantry units to capture them. Note that HQs can never be destroyed by Bombers. An Infantry unit is required to capture it.

Bombing ends the Bomber unit's turn.

Bombing Rules

Bombing damages the selected terrain by lowering its strength. Terrain that has been destroyed by bombing will be shown with craters. Bombers can move before Bombing. The Target Hex must not be occupied by another Unit, or the Bomber cannot enter it. If the Hex being bombed contains enemy units in storage, then those units will be damaged or destroyed along with the facility itself.

When bombing is conducted, Enemy Anti-aircraft units in range will counter-attack the Bomber before it is allowed to make its attack.

Bombing effectiveness is influenced by Weather and Night conditions. During Fog, Rain, Storm, Snow, and Blizzard conditions, Bombing is not possible. If Bombers do not possess nighttime Bombing ability, then their ability to damage terrain strength during the night is severely lowered. Bombers can bomb in cloudy weather, but the effectiveness is reduced.

If a bomber attacks a Neutral Faction's terrain, then that faction will turn against you. You will be prompted first to confirm that you really want to do this.

Drop

Units use this command to throw away discardable items like Bombs, Fuel drop tanks, etc. Discarding these items lowers the unit�s weight, improving its weapon reaction time. The Drop command does not end the unit's turn.

Drop Rules

The Drop command can be executed either before or after movement. The command can be executed at Attack time as well, but not when the unit is counterattacking. The items that will be discarded are the rows on the Unit Weapon table where an initiative penalty is shown in the Drag column. These are always listed at the bottom part of the Weapons Table list.

It is often advantageous to use the Drop command just prior to a battle, especially for fighter aircraft where the ability to obtain the first strike is paramount. The Drop command will only be possible if the unit possesses discardable ordinance.

Merge

Two Model units of the exact same type that are adjacent to each other can transfer vehicles between each other with the Merge Command, as shown in the Graphic below.

Unit Merge

Merge Rules

When merging is performed, Fuel, Ammunition, and Experience Values for the unit receiving vehicles is averaged with those of the sending unit. (However the Unit�s Personal History of enemies destroyed and damage received is not changed)

A unit cannot receive more than the maximum allowable vehicles during a Merge operation. Loaded transport vehicles are not allowed to Merge. Warships, Trains, Forts, and Radar facilities don�t have a vehicle count, instead they have a strength rating. The Merge command can�t be used on these units. Merging can be done before or after movement, however both units involved in the Merge have their turns ended by this command.

Why Use Merge?

Use the Merge command before levelling up a unit to preserve its experience. Transfer all the vehicles in the Max Experience unit except for 1 to a lower experience unit if possible before leveling it up. The newly Leveled up unit will lose all its experience.

If you are advancing and have taken damage in your tank units, you may want to reorganize the surviving vehicles into fewer full strength tank units. Otherwise you will have to pull them back to a city or depot you control so they can repair, wasting valuable time. Obviously, this will only work if you have standardized your Tank forces to all have the same Model type.

A damaged Airplane unit that would otherwise run out of fuel before reaching an Airport can be saved by merging a similar Airplane unit that has full fuel tanks with it. This can raise the fuel level enough to allow the otherwise doomed Airplane unit to reach an Airport.

Capture

Only Infantry type units can use the Capture command to gain control of Enemy held facilities like Cities, HQs, Depots, Airports and Ports. Each time the Capture command is used, ammunition is consumed. As an Infantry unit's weapons run out of ammunition, its capture ability will weaken accordingly. The Capture attempt lowers the size of the facility similar to Bombing it, except any stored units inside are not damaged.

When the strength of the facility drops to zero, it switches to your control and gets built back up to a size of 20. It may take several turns to reduce a facility to the point where it can be captured. Higher level Infantry units are generally more effective at Capture than Lower level Infantry units. Also an Infantry unit with high experience will be more effective in its Capture attempts. Machine Gun Infantry (Lv 4) has the best capture ability, but moves the slowest.

Reducing the size of a Port or Airport with the Capture command can trap the units inside. For example, if you can reduce the size of an Enemy Airport below 150, then any Twin Engine planes or Bombers inside would no longer be able to leave.

Note: If a Infantry unit attempts to Capture an Axis Faction or Neutral facility, then that faction will turn against you. You will be prompted to ensure that you really want to take this action.

The Capture command ends the Infantry Unit's turn.

Build

The Build command allows Bulldozers to perform a number of different construction activities. Each Build command consumes 10 Fuel, 1 Material, and money. If these resources are not available, then the Build command will not be allowed. The Bulldozer will have to resupply, or you will have to wait until you have sufficient money first. The Bulldozer Build commands, effects, and costs are summarized in the table below.

Build Action	Notes	Cost
Build Depot	The Bulldozer must be located on Flat Ground and not moved this turn. A Depot will be created with an initial size of 20. A Depot functions like a city, except that it does not generate income.	$1000
Build Airport	The Bulldozer must be located on Flat Ground and not moved this turn. An Airport will be created with an initial size of 20.	$5000
Build Fortification	The Bulldozer must be located on Flat Ground and not moved this turn. An Fortification will be created with an initial size of 20.	$400
Improve Terrain	The Bulldozer must not have moved this turn. If the Bulldozer is over a facility, then the facility size will be improved by 50 if the current facility size is 50 or less, regardless of the experience level of the Bulldozer. After the size of the facility increases beyond 100, the effectiveness of each improve terrain attempt is reduced. Bulldozers with higher experience will be more effective at improving terrain. Larger Cities, HQs, and Oil Wells will increase your income each turn. If the Bulldozer is over a Bridge then the Bridge size will be increased by 10. If the Bulldozer is over any other terrain, then the size of that terrain will be increased. Note: Increase the size of bridges to allow your heavier units to cross rivers. Note: if the ground is frozen, then improve terrain effectiveness will be halved.	$100
Repair Facility/Terrain	The Bulldozer must not have moved this turn. This command repairs Bombed out facilities with an initial size of 20 and places them in your control. Destroyed terrain that hampers movement can be repaired as well with this command.	$500
Build Road	The Bulldozer must not have moved this turn. Only dirt road will be constructed, not paved roads or Autobahn roads that are more resistant to being washed out by heavy rains. The new road can go in the Hex the Bulldozer is in or any adjacent hex. The dirt road is automatically connected to existing dirt roads and facilities. Note: Road construction in certain terrain hexes is not allowed.	$200
Build Railroad	The Bulldozer must not have moved this turn. The new Railroad can go in the Hex the Bulldozer is in or any adjacent hex. The Railroad is automatically connected to facilities or railroads of the same track gauge. There are 3 track gauges, Standard, Narrow, and Wide. The nationality of the Bulldozer determines the track gauge it will build. Scandanavian countries use Narrow Gauge. The Soviet Union uses Wide Gauge. All other countries use Standard Gauge. Note: Railroad construction in certain terrain hexes is not allowed.	$150
Convert Railroad Gauge	This is one of the few build commands where the Bulldozer can move and still execute the command. The Railroad gauge can be converted in the Hex the Bulldozer is in or any adjacent hex. Note: On the Eastern Front you will need to convert existing Soviet Wide Gauge track to Standard Gauge Track before German trains can use it. The alternative is to capture Soviet Trains so that you can use the existing track.	$50
Destroy Airport/Depot/Fortification/Road/Railroad	During the late war period, where you are being forced to give ground to an overwhelming opponent, you may want to practice a scorched earth policy to deny facilities or a functioning road network to the Enemy. There are several demolition commands you can use to destroy assets prior to pulling back to a new defensive line.	Varies

Recall

Use this command to send a unit back to your force pool from the map. Units can only be recalled at Cities, Depots, Airports, and Ports that are within 5 Hexes of your Production HQ. This command frees up deployment slots so that you can build new units, capture Enemy units, or bring out different units from your force pool.

Note: units that land at an Airport at night can be damaged. Units that are recalled will not be damaged, and you can bring them back out of the force pool on a later turn. Low experience Aircraft units that are running out of fuel at night and are close to your Production HQ should consider being recalled rather than risking an Airport landing at Night.

Store

Use this command to Store a unit in a City, Depot, HQ, Airport or Port. A stored unit can be repaired as well as being resupplied. The number of units that can be stored is related to the size of the facility.

Size 1-50 - Holds 1 unit
Size 51-100 - Holds 2 units
Size 101-150 - Holds 3 units
Size 151-200 - Holds 4 units
Size 201-250 - Holds 5 units

Another thing to keep in mind is that Airplanes and Ships have Size restrictions that prevent them from leaving a Airport or Port if it is too small. The Airplane or Naval unit can still be stored, however the size of the facility will need to be increased with a Bulldozer before the unit will be allowed to exit again.

Airplane Restrictions
Biplanes - Airport must be Size 50 to exit
Single Engine Plane - Airport must be Size 100 to exit
2 or 3 Engine Plane - Airport must be Size 150 to exit
4 Engine Plane - Airport must be Size 200 to exit
Jets and Rocket Planes - Airport must be Size 250 to exit

Warship/Seaplane Restrictions
Seaplanes - Port must be Size 50 to exit
Destroyers - Port must be Size 100 to exit
Cruisers - Port must be Size 150 to exit
Heavy Cruisers, Pocket Battleships - Port must be Size 200 to exit
Battleships, Aircraft Carriers - Port must be Size 250 to exit

Dive/Surface

This command only applies to Submarine units, and ends the Submarine's turn. Submarines that are underwater can only be attacked by depth charges. Only Destroyers and Patrol Aircraft carry Depth Charges.

The Submarine consumes battery power while submerged, unless it is equipped with a Snorkel or Walter Engine. When the battery charge is exhausted, the Submarine is forced to surface. The battery will gradually recharge as the submarine moves around on the surface.

Submarines travel much faster on the surface than they do submerged. So you may want to surface to move closer to Enemy ships before diving again and attacking.

Load

Units that do not exceed a transport vehicle's size and weight restrictions can be loaded onto the transport with this command. The moving unit and the transport unit both have their turns ended by this command.

Ground Transports can load units on any land hex. Air Transports and Bombers equipped with gliders can only load units if they are above an Airport hex. Seaplane units can only load units if they are above a Port hex.

Unload

This command is used to unload units from a transport. Ground units can unload units onto any ground hex. Seaplane units can unload units if they are located on a Port hex or Beach hex. Air Transport units can only unload units if they are located on an Airport hex. You do not have to have control of the Port or Airport in order to use it to Unload units.

Note: Air Transports and Seaplane Transports that are carrying units with the Paradrop Special ability can be located in any hex. However the target hex must be Flat Ground and the Weather must be Clear. A unit with Paradrop ability will have a percentage chance listed on its stats screen. This is the chance that it will land on the target hex without suffering damage. If the chance is exceeded, then the unit will randomly land on an adjacent hex and take damage. The Paradrop success rate drops significantly at night.

The Unload Command ends the turn of the Transport unit and any unloaded units.

Note: A transport unit that is armed can perform Cover Fire before or after unloading its units. This gives it a regular attack to help clear the area of Enemy forces when off-loading troops.

Note: Defensive Fire - When Airplane or Seaplane Transports unload units, any Enemy units in the area that are in range and have AA type weapons can perform Defensive Anti-Air fire against the transport before the unit is offloaded. If the Transport is damaged, then all units currently loaded on it suffer an equal amount of damage.

Weather conditions that prevent Air to Ground attacks will also prevent Defensive Anti-Air fire. These include Fog, Cloudy, Rain, Storm, Snow, Blizzard, and Sandstorm. These are ideal times to off-load units at an Airport in an area that would otherwise be contested.

Gift

The Gift command allows you to transfer one of your on-map units to another Axis faction. The unit must be stored in an Axis faction controlled City, HQ, Depot, Airport or Port. Once transferred, the unit will never be returned to you.

This command can be useful to strengthen an ally who is being wiped out. Also, if your slots are all used up, it can be useful to transfer some fighter planes to an ally to help gain command of the air sooner. In practice, this command will probably rarely be used.

Key Concepts

Zone of Control (ZOC)

Units that carry weapons are able to force enemy units to halt their movement when they move next to them. This is called exerting a zone of control. Typically this ability is used to create a screen to protect your weaker units. For example a line of tanks can be used to block Enemy units from attacking your support units like Infantry, Bulldozers, and Artillery that operate in your rear areas. Also a screen of fighters can protect an Air Transport or Bomber that is penetrating into Enemy held territory. It is probably better to use Me 110 C Fighter/Bombers for escort duty in the early war period due to the fact that they have greater range and the Night Fighter special ability.

The circumstances under which an armed unit does NOT exert a ZOC are detailed below:

1) The unit's weapons are out of ammo. Note: Tank Killers and Self Propelled Anti-Tank guns generally have very small ammo loads.

2) The unit's weapons cannot damage the Enemy unit. Each weapon is rated for damage against 5 different categories: Air units, Armored units, Unarmored units, Ships, and Submerged Submarines. Most Ground unit weapons cannot damage Air Units, so these Ground units do not restrict Air unit movement. Some Infantry units have no weapons that can damage armored units, so they cannot restrict Tank movement. There are British Towed Anti-Tank guns that cannot damage Unarmored units, allowing Infantry and Trucks to move right past them.

3) The unit's weapons have limited firing arcs. Towed Anti-tank Guns and Artillery usually can only attack into their forward firing arc. An Enemy unit moving into an adjacent flank or rear hex of these units would not have to stop its movement.

4)Air Units are affected by bad Weather or Night. Air units do not hinder ground unit movement unless the weather is Clear. Fog, Cloudy, Rain, Storm, Snow, Blizzard, and Sandstorm Weather prevents Air units from blocking Ground unit movement since they cannot attack Ground units at that time. Also Air units cannot block Ground unit movement at Night unless they have the Night Use special ability. The Night Fighter special ability is not sufficient.

5) High Altitude Air Units. Air units that operate at Altitude 11 are considered to be high-altitude units. These Air units ignore ZOCs from all other Air and Ground units except for enemy high-altitude Air units. The first high-altitude Air unit in the German arsenal is the He 100D-1 Fighter that is introduced around mid 1940.

Day and Night Effects

The time of day has an effect on units. The three day/night phases are: day, dawn/dusk, and night. Units are adversely affected on all non-day turns. The effect is worse for night turns than it is for dawn/dusk turns. The time of year and map location determines how long the daytime lasts.

Night effects include:

1) Search For Enemy View range is reduced

Search Type	Daytime	Dawn/Dusk	Night
View	No Change	1/2	Reduced to 1
View (Night Use, Night Fighter)	No Change	No Change	1/2
Radar	No Change	No Change	No Change
Sonar	No Change	No Change	No Change

2) Attack strength/Hit percentage is lowered

Unit Type	Attack Form	Revised Item	Air to Ground Attacks		All Other Attacks
			Dawn/Dusk	Night	Dawn/Dusk	Night
All	Direct	Attack Power	2/3	Not Able	Normal	1/3
Other	Indirect	Hit percentage	1/2	Not Able	Normal	1/2
Units	Bombing	Attack Power	Normal	1/4	N/A	N/A
Night	Direct	Attack Power	2/3	1/3	Normal	Normal
Fighting	Indirect	Hit Percentage	1/2	1/4	Normal	Normal
Units	Bombing	Attack Power	Normal	1/2	N/A	N/A

3) Ground Unit movement rating is lowered

Ground unit movement rating is reduced by half at night, unless the unit has the Night use special ability. Ground units with the Night use special ability get their full movement rating at night. Mostly this is restricted to passenger trains.

4) Air Unit ZOCs disappear

During Night turns, only Air Units with the Night Fighter special ability will restrict Enemy Air unit movement. During Night turns, only Air units with the Night Use special ability will be able to restrict Enemy Ground unit movement. All other Air units lose their ability to exert ZOCs at night.

5) Infantry Capture/Paradrop ability is lowered

During Night turns, Infantry unit capture effectiveness is halved.

The Paradrop success rate drops by 20% during Dawn/Dusk turns. The Paradrop success rate drops by 40% during Night turns.

6) Full Moon Effects

On Night turns where there is a full moon, Dawn/Dusk rules apply instead of Night rules.

7) Air Units Can't Take off at Night

On Night turns, only Air units with the Night Use or Night Fighter special ability can Take-off at Night. However Elite Air Units that have 200 or more Experience are exempt from this rule.

Altitude Effects

1) Attack Effects

During a Direct attack, if your Air unit is at a higher altitude than the Enemy Air unit, then the Enemy Air unit's weapon reaction time is lowered by one.

During an Indirect attack, if a Ground unit's altitude is 1 or above, then its weapon range is extended by 1 hex.

Ground and Naval units that make Indirect attacks against Air units suffer an additional penalty to their Hit percentage based on the altitude difference between the ground unit and the air unit. If the Altitude difference is greater than 5, then there is a 2% loss in Hit percentage for each altitude difference beyond 5.

Example: 88mm Flak gun at 0 Altitude fires at a Spitfire Mk V at Altitude 10. Altitude difference is 10, so 10 - 5 = 5. Penalty would be 5 * 2% = 10% penalty to Hit Percentage.

The altitude of the Aircraft is ignored if it attacks a ground unit and is subject to Defensive Anti-Air fire.

2) Ground Unit Movement Effects

Ground units have to pay an additional movement point to enter a hex that has a higher altitude than their current hex. This can prevent movement of low movement rated units like towed guns, or Machine Gun Infantry at night when movement rating is halved.

If the difference in altitude between adjacent hexes is two or more, then no ground unit will be allowed to enter the higher Altitude hex from the lower Altitude hex, regardless of their movement rating.

3) Air Unit Movement Effects

Air units ignore terrain while moving, unless the terrain is equal to or higher than the Air unit's Altitude rating. In that case the Air unit must detour around the high Altitude terrain. In practice, these restrictions will rarely be seen.

Weather Effects

1) Accumulation Degree

If rain or snow persists for several turns, then this precipitation will begin to build up and affect the terrain. For example, rain will eventually cause Level Ground to change to Mud, roads to be washed out, and low lying areas to become lakes.

Snow will eventually cause the ground, rivers, lakes and even shallow seas to freeze. A Frozen river does not block ground unit movement, rendering defensive lines based on blocking bridge crossing points useless. Also frozen ground makes it harder for Bulldozers to improve terrain. Bulldozer effectiveness is halved when the ground is frozen.

Mud/Frozen terrain also affects movement and supply. The Movement cost to enter Mud and Frozen terrain is increased, unless it is a tracked vehicle using a road or railroad for movement. Also Supply vehicles cannot supply an adjacent unit if the hex is Mud or Frozen terrain unless there is a road connection between the supply vehicle hex and the unit receiving supply.

2) Weather Types

Weather Type	Effects
Clear	Unit actions are not restricted. Rainfall/Snow accumulation drops.
Cloudy	Rain accumulation stays the same. Ground and Naval units can't attack Air units. Aircraft unit visibility drops to 1 Hex. Aircraft units can't attack Ground units. Bombing effectiveness is halved. Air Transports and Gliders can't unload units except at an Airport.
Rain	Rain accululation +1. Ground and Naval units can't attack Air units. Aircraft unit visibility drops to 1 Hex. Aircraft units can't attack Ground units. Bombing is not allowed. Air transports and Gliders can't unload units except at an Airport.
Fog	This Weather type will randomly occur on Dawn turns only. Rain accumulation stays the same. Ground and Naval units can't attack Air units. Ground and Naval unit movement rating is halved. All units visibility drops to 1 Hex. Aircraft units can't attack Ground units. Bombing effectiveness is halved. Air Transports and Gliders can't unload units except at Airports. Air Units cannot take-off from Airports or Carriers.
Storm	Rain accumulation +2. Ground and Naval units can't attack Air units. Ground unit View rating is halved. All units Indirect Hit percentages are lowered by 20%. Air and Naval units visibility drops to 1 Hex. Aircraft units can't attack Ground units. Bombing is not allowed. Air Transports and Gliders can't unload units except at Airports. Naval Movement rating is halved. Sonar and Snorkel does not work. Transport ships can't unload units. Air Units cannot take-off from Airports or Carriers.
Sandstorm	Rain accumulation stays the same. Ground unit ZOCs are eliminated. Ground and Naval units cannot attack Air units and vice-versa. All units View rating is reduced to 1. All units Indirect Hit percentages are lowered by 20%. Bombing and Air unit attack power is halved. Air Transports and Gliders can't unload units except at Airports. Air Units cannot take-off from Airports or Carriers. Radar does not function.
Snow	Rainfall accumulation +1. Ground and Naval units cannot attack Air units and vice-versa. Air units view rating drops to 1. Air Transports and Gliders can't unload units except at an Airport. Bombing is not allowed.
Blizzard	Rainfall accumulation +2. Air unit and Naval unit ZOCs are eliminated, and Air units cannot make any attacks. Ground and Naval units cannot attack Air units. Air and Naval units View rating is reduced to 1. Ground units View rating is halved. All units Indirect Hit percentages are lowered by 20%. Bombing is not allowed. Air Transports and Gliders can't unload units except at Airports. Air Units cannot take-off from Airports or Carriers. Ground units cannot draw supply in "Wet" terrain. Ground and Naval units cannot unload units into "Wet" terrain. Snorkel and Sonar does not function. Naval unit movement rating is halved.

Note: Current Weather Effects can be viewed at any time by going to the Setup->Status->Weather Tab, as shown below.

Auto Terrain Repair

If terrain is bombed and is not completely destroyed, it has a limited capacity to repair itself. For example, Cities, Depots, and Airports will heal themselves 10 points every turn, up to a maximum of 50. This automatic repair does not require a bulldozer.

Bridges repair 1 point of damage each turn up to a maximum of 10. HQs and Oil Fields repair 10 points every turn, up to a maximum of 100. So if you Bomb a HQ down to its minimum size of 1, but don't try to capture it with Infantry right away it will begin recovering immediately. Most terrain types such as Flat Ground recover 10 points per turn to a maximum of 100.

Auto Commands

There are three automated commands that can be issued to your units either at the beginning of each turn, or upon command. These 3 commands can be toggled on or off on the Set-up Screen. The three commands are: Supply, Capture, and Build.

Pressing the "Do It" button will execute the selected Auto commands for all eligible units. The three Auto commands are:

1. Supply - Every unit that is capable of drawing supply will draw supply. This includes units stored in Facilities or Aircraft Carriers as well as Ground units that are adjacent to an eligible Ground Supply vehicle.

Note that the order that units will be resupplied in is random. If you are running low on funds, it may be better to select which units to resupply yourself. Also in a situation where a ground supply vehicle has limited supplies it may be better to select which units to resupply, rather than allowing the computer to randomly choose which get resupplied and which don't get resupplied.

2. Capture - Every Infantry unit that is capable of capturing a facility where they are currently located will make a capture attempt. This command can backfire. Consider the case where there is an Infantry unit on an Enemy city, but the Infantry unit is heavily damaged or has run out of some types of ammo used for capture attempts. It would be better to move it out of the way, if there is a another full strength or full ammo Infantry unit nearby that could make a more effective Capture attempt.

3. Build - Every Bulldozer that is capable of executing an improve terrain command where they are currently located will do so. This can backfire if the Bulldozer has already improved the terrain as much as you intended and you would rather move it to another City/Airport/Port before issuing Improve terrain commands again.

Getting Rid of Inconvenient Axis Factions

Computer controlled Axis Factions that are participating in a Campaign scenario with you are mostly helpful. They can tie up Enemy forces that would otherwise interfere with your operations. They can capture Enemy HQs and use Bombers to wreak havoc by destroying Enemy Cities and Airports.

However there are times that an Axis faction can get in the way. For example, Axis factions can land their planes at your forward Airports, using up slots that you desperately need to keep your own planes resupplied. As a result your short range Airplane units like Fighters may be unable to land, causing them to run out of fuel and crash before they can make it back to your rear area Airports.

There are also times that an Axis faction moves a non-Infantry unit on top of a enemy HQ and then refuses to budge. If the Axis faction has Infantry units, then it may be several additional turns before the Infantry can be brought up to make a capture attempt. This can mean the difference between a Major Victory and a Minor victory. Other times, the Computer controlled Axis faction can have a Ground unit run out of fuel in an inconvenient place. If the Axis faction does not have any supply vehicles, then that Ground unit will be stuck there for the duration of the scenario.

If you have decided that an Axis Faction is more trouble than it is worth, such as the latter stages of a scenario when you just have to mop up, then there are a couple of options you have to eliminate the offending Axis faction.

The first option is to order the Axis Faction to withdraw. You can only order German nationality factions to withdraw. To do this call up one of the Setup->Status->Air/Gnd/Sea tabs. Scroll down to highlight the row of the faction you would like to dismiss. Then press the "Y" button. A message stating that the faction has been ordered to withdraw will be displayed. Then the Color Mark to the left hand side of the Faction row will start blinking. After you end your turn, the faction will withdraw.

The second option is to Bomb one of the Axis faction's facilities. This will force the faction to go to war against you. If you are planning to do this, you should be prepared to capture the Axis Faction's HQs immediately to force its surrender. Note that sometimes a faction will have an off-map HQ that requires you to drive their funds below a certain level in order to knock them out. In this case, it might be better to just go back to a previous save point before the computer player vexed you, and take care that the situation does not repeat itself as you replay the turns.

Forcing an Axis Faction to withdraw or defeating it once it has become an Enemy will cause all of it's controlled facilities like Cities, Airports and Ports to become Neutral. This gives you an opportunity to capture additional cities and build your income up before the end of the scenario.

Key Units

This section contains a sample of units that I have found to be useful. I have chosen units from the early war period that are introduced mostly from 1940-1941. There are many more units that could have been included, but this has a good cross section.

Hs 123 A-1 Night Ground Attack

This is one of the few Airplane units that can attack Ground units at night. It carries 250 kg bombs, where most other planes of this type can only carry 50 kg bombs. If the weather is clear, this unit can block Ground Unit movement at night with its ZOC.

Because it is a biplane, it can operate out of Airfields that are only size 50. So if you capture a forward airbase, once it automatically increases to size 50 the Hs 123 A-1 can use it. It will not have to wait for a Bulldozer to come up and increase the size of the Airport to 100 or 150.

The Hs 123 A-1 is night capable, so it can take-off and land at night. Be extremely careful about using this unit during the daytime, as Enemy Fighters can destroy it quickly. Especially as you get further along in the campaign.

sIB 1B Self Propelled Artillery

The sIG 1B is the first Self Propelled Artillery unit that you can obtain. It is able to move and shoot in the same turn, unlike Towed Artillery. This unit is a conversion of the Pz IB Light Tank.

The sIG 1B 150mm Gun has very limited range of 3, but this is usually not a problem as it is able to move fast enough to keep up with front line units. This unit has very limited fuel and ammo, so it will need to stay close to a supply source to be effective. The sIG 1B has weak armor and can be easily flanked, so it should operate behind the front line to avoid Enemy tanks.

Pz Jager 1B Self Propelled Anti Tank Gun

The Pz Jager 1B is the first self propelled Anti-Tank Gun unit that you can get. It is able to move and shoot in the same turn, unlike Towed Anti-Tank Gun units although it suffers a reaction time penalty. This unit is a conversion of the Pz 1B light tank.

The Pz Jager 1B soon becomes obsolete, however there are reasons to keep some in your force pool. First, there are better self-propelled Anti-tank guns that are only available as level-ups. If you are able to get some Pz Jager 1B units up to maximum experience you can trade them up to better SP Anti-tank Gun units that you could not otherwise obtain. Also the Pz Jager IB is one of the few mechanized units that is light enough and small enough to be transported by a Glider. Thus, it can be rapidly deployed deep into enemy territory once Gliders are available.

Wurframmen Self Propelled Rocket Artillery

Wurframmen is the poor man's Nebelwurfer. It can only fire one salvo of rockets before it needs to be resupplied. But since each unit fires 5 rockets, this one unit has the firepower of 5 150mm Artillery units. The Wurframmen is a conversion of the Sdkfz 251 Ground Transport.

The Wurframmen's range is woefully short at only 2 hexes. You should seek to place it on Altitude 1 ground or higher to extend its range to 3 hexes. The Wurframmen is notoriously inaccurate, even at maximum experience. It is not unusual to have each of its 5 attacks land on different hexes. So be careful about having any of your units adjacent to the target hex as they may be hit as well. Also, the Wurframmen can't fire on the same turn that it moves.

Pz II Flamingo Flamethrower Tank

The Pz II Flamingo is the first flamethrower equipped tank you can obtain. It is a conversion of the Pz II D/E Light Tank. The only other Flamethrower equipped unit in the early war period is the Lv 5 Infantry Engineers. You should be hesitant about attacking with Engineers due to the difficulty in advancing Infantry units to that level.

Because it is based on the Pz II D/E, it has a speed of 8 giving it excellent mobility on the battlefield. Note: flamethrowers ignore defenders terrain bonus when attacking. This makes these weapons ideal for attacking unarmored units in good defensive terrain like Cities, HQs, and Fortifications.

Pz 38t E/F Light Tank

The Pz 38t is an excellent Light Tank that is available early in the campaign. The first variant is the Pz 38t A. Shown here is the Pz 38t E-F which is identical except for having slightly better armor. The Pz 38t E-F unit cannot be purchased directly. Instead you will need to level up a Pz II Light Tank unit to get it.

The Pz 38t E/F has an excellent View rating of 4, almost as good as the best Recon unit. It also has a large fuel capacity of 55, allowing it to operate far from a supply source. Finally, its weight is only 10. This allows it to make use of the smallest bridges. This is crucial when campaigning on the Eastern Front, as the road network is pitiful and many bridges will only support the weight of a Pz 38t E/F unless they are improved with Bulldozers.

Later on in the campaign, the Pz 38t cannot cope with the enemy tanks it will encounter. At that time, a number of conversions can be used to give it a new lease on life, similar to the Pz IB conversions.

SdKfz 7/1 Self Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun

The SdKfz 7/1 is an absolutely essential unit to have to protect your ground units from Enemy air attack. It is armed with 4 20mm Anti-Aircraft guns. These can perform Defensive Anti-Air fire on Enemy Air units that attack your ground units up to 3 hexes away. A Sdkfz 7/1 unit that is has reached maximum experience is devastating due to its increased accuracy and damage. These units are also quite effective against unarmored targets like Infantry, since they get to fire each gun twice. That gives them 8 attacks at 14 strength against unarmored units.

The Sdkfz 7/1 cannot be purchased directly. You can either raise an SdKfz 10/4 SP Anti-Air unit to maximum experience and then Level it up, or convert an SdKfz 7 Ground Transport unit to the SdKfz 7/1. It is easier to perform a conversion on the SdKfz 7 Ground Transport, since the base level Ground Transport Opel Blitz truck can gain experience by carrying units around and can then level up to the SdKfz 7 Ground Transport.

Note that a unit does not lose any experience in a conversion. Therefore you could wait until the SdKfz 7 Ground Transport had raised its experience to maximum before converting it to a SdKfz 7/1 SP Anti-Air unit.

150mm K18 Towed Artillery

The 150mm Cannon Towed Artillery unit is the longest ranged Artillery piece that you obtain in the early war period. It shares all the drawbacks and advantages of other Towed Artillery units except that it can fire at targets up to 8 hexes away (9 if located on Altitude 1 or better ground).

Because of the great weight of this unit, only Trains, SdKfz 7 Ground Transport units or Cargo Ships are able to carry it. The advantage of Artillery over Aircraft is that Artillery can attack Ground units in all Weather or at Night. Artillery pieces can only fire in the front firing arc, so it may be necessary to rotate the unit in order to get it to point in the right direction after it is deployed. This will waste a turn, as Towed Artillery cannot move and fire in the same turn.

Kfz 385 Supply Truck

The Kfz Supply Truck is a Supply Vehicle that is fast enough to keep up with your advance, as long as it stays on a road. This wheeled vehicle struggles to advance if it is forced to go cross country or encounters Mud or Frozen terrain.

The Kfz 385 Supply Truck can only be obtained as a Level Up to the Base level Supply Cart unit. The Kfz 385 carries 60 Materials, where the Supply Cart only carries 40 materials.

Bf 109 E-7 Fighter

The Bf 109 E series of Fighters first becomes available in 1939 as a Level Up to the BF 109 C/D Fighter. In 1940, it becomes the Base level fighter, and by 1941 it becomes obsolete. Nevertheless, this is an important Fighter because of the length of time it is in service. It is the first Fighter model armed with a cannon. This weapon does a lot of damage but can only fire three shots before it must reload.

Earlier variants of this Fighter have extremely short range due to their fuel tank size of 53. The Bf 109 E-7 variant adds Fuel drop tanks that can extend its range by 32. Unfortunately by the time this becomes available the Bf 109 E series becomes obsolete and the Base level Fighter becomes the BF 109 F series.

Bf 100 C-1 Fighter/Bomber

The Bf 110 C-1 Fighter/Bomber becomes available in 1939 as a Base level unit. This unit is a Night Fighter, meaning that it is able to take-off and land at Night. Also it loses less of its attack power at Night than a regular unit.

As time goes by, the D, E, and F series of the Bf 110 Model are introduced. The C variant carries no Bombs, but later variants carry 250kg or 500kg bombs. Even without bombs this unit is very effective in a strafing role, due to its default 4 Machine Guns and 2 cannon armament.

A great advantage of the Bf 110 series is its huge fuel tanks. This allows the Bf 110 to loiter over the battlefield rather than constantly dashing back to an Airport to refuel. Fuel drop tanks can be added to extend this range even further.

Some variants of the Bf 110 are not Night Fighters, so be careful which variants you approve for production.

Ju 88 A-4 Level Bomber

The Ju 88 A-4 Level Bomber becomes available in 1940. It has the largest Bomb load of any German bomber at 3,500 kg. For comparison, early war German Bombers drop 1,000 kg of bombs and most other German bombers drop 2,000 kg of bombs at a time.

This is the bomber that you want to use to soften up an Enemy HQ prior to making an Infantry capture attempt. It may be too much for smaller Cities, Airports, and Ports. It will probably end up destroying them unless it suffers damage from Enemy Air Defense guns prior to dropping its Bomb load.

Like most aircraft, the Ju 88 A-4 is configurable for several different weapon loadouts with the Re-arm command. You can equip it with fuel drop tanks, however this will reduce the Bomb payload carried. Like most German Level Bombers, the Ju 88 A-4 requires an Airport of size 150 to operate from.

Ju 52/3m g9e Air Transport

The Ju 52/3m g9e Air Transport is the first German Air unit to be equipped with Gliders. Without Gliders, it is only capable of carrying an Infantry unit. With Gliders, it can carry a unit of size 5 and weight 8.

The Glider must load in an airport, but can unload in any Flat Terrain Hex as long as the Weather is Clear. If the Weather is not clear, the unit must Unload at an Airport as well. Gliders can move a variety of small units like Supply Carts, small Artillery pieces and so forth. There aren't many tracked vehicles that meet the size and weight requirements to fit in a Glider.

The Ju 52/3m g9e is equipped with machine guns that can fire to either side. That means it can use Cover Fire to support the off-loading unit.