LAND BATTLE for Intellivision

 LAND BATTLE

Cartridge Instructions

(For 2 players)

Land Battle is a two player war game which utilizes both strategic and tactical

modes of play. Each player controls an array of forces with the objective of

capturing or destroying his opponent's "flag."

THE SCENARIO

The game can be played on any of thousands of different countryside maps -- the

first thousand of which are selectable at the beginning of the game. All of

these maps show roads, towns, hills, lakes, forests, orchards and fields, and

these geographic features impose restrictions and necessitate clever planning on

the part of the player.

THE RESOURCES

At the beginning of the game each player has control of the following military

resources:

12 infantry

3 armored personnel carriers

2 tanks

1 artillery piece

2 bazookas

2 mortars

1 flag

As the game progresses, these numbers do not necessarily decrease. You can

capture opposing forces which subsequently become yours, and every so often,

depending on your previous good fortune, a new resource might be "created" for

you. More on that later...

STARTING UP

To begin the game, press RESET. The copyright message showing the title "Land

Battle" should appear. Press the DISC to start. The screen will turn to green

bearing the legend "MAP #:". Using either keypad, you may type in a number

between 0 and 999 inclusive, followed by ENTER (this will select one of the

first 1,000 maps on which the game can be played), or you may simply press ENTER

having NOT typed in a number (this will randomly select one of many thousands of

playable maps).

When the map appears, note that there are two blue squares, one on each side of

the screen, each at a corner of a town. The square, or cursor, on the left is at

the left player's base town, the cursor on the right is at the base town of the

right player. All of the player's resources (as described above) are "in" his

respective base town, and may be accessed and deployed as described below.

THE CONTROLS

The hand controllers have two primary functions -- to control the direction and

motion of patrols and individual resources, and to transfer resources between

towns and patrols. The keypad "mapping" is as follows:

EDIT MODE:

1: Infantry

2: APC

3: Tank

4: Artillery

5: Bazooka

6: Mortar

7: Flag

CLEAR: Clear

0: Done

DISC: Move Cursor

Strategic & Tactical Mode:

1: Move NW

2: Move N

3: Move NE

4: Move W

5: Pause / Stop

6: Move E

7: Move SW

8: Move S

CLEAR: Abort

0: Edit (Strategic Mode) / Retreat (Tactical Mode)

ENTER: Select

DISC: Move Cursor (Strategic Mode) / Aim Gun Barrel (Tactical Mode)

Upper Action Keys: Go to battle (Strategic Mode) / Fire (Tactical Mode)

Lower Action Keys: Artillery On/Off (Strategic Mode)

EDIT MODE

In order to wage an effective war, you must allocate your resources into

patrols, direct the patrols across the map, encounter enemy patrols, fight

battles, besiege towns and eventually capture or destroy the enemy flag.

To create a patrol, move your cursor (using the DISC) to a town which you occupy

(i.e. in which you have resources). At the beginning of the game, the only town

you will occupy is your base town. Enter Edit Mode by pressing the "Edit" (0)

key. The cursor will disappear and a small orange square (with a notch in it to

distinguish it from your other patrols) will appear on the road at the corner of

the town. This is the patrol that you are editing. At this stage there is

nothing in it, but it can be modified.

Put resources into the patrol (depleting them from the town to do so) by

pressing the appropriate resource key ("Infantry," "APC," etc.) once for each

resource of that type you want in the patrol. PATROLS CAN HAVE NO MORE THAN

THREE (3) RESOURCES TOTAL.

Remove resources from the patrol (putting them back into the town) by pressing

"Clear" followed by the key representing the resource type you wish to delete.

For example, to remove a tank from the patrol, press "Clear" then press "Tank"

(3).

When the patrol has the proper resources in it, you can end the edit by pressing

the "Done" (0) key. The orange patrol will become a blue patrol, and you may

give this patrol directional commands as outlined in "Strategic Mode." You are

no longer in Edit mode.

A patrol which has already been created is NOT destined to remain the same until

it is destroyed. It may be maneuvered (see "Strategic Mode") to any town (either

in the town or on the road next to it) which is not occupied by your opponent,

and, once there, Edit Mode may be reentered via the "Edit" (0) key. The sequence

of events is identical to that outlined above, except that the already existent

patrol and put in the town, and any resources that are in that town may be put

into the patrol. In this way, the contents of a patrol may change, and resources

may be transported from town to town.

If a patrol is emptied during Edit Mode and "Done" is pressed, the orange square

is replaced by the old familiar blue cursor to signify that the patrol no longer

exists (patrols cannot be empty).

Note: A patrol which is being edited (signified by the color orange) does not

officially exist until the edit is finished. Therefore, it cannot move, nor can

it go into battle.

STRATEGIC MODE

Strategic Mode is the mode in which the game begins. At the start, each player

has control of a blue cursor. It can be moved around the map by using the DISC

to direct it. The color blue has a significance: AT ANY TIME, THE PATROL OR

CURSOR OF WHICH YOU HAVE DIRECT CONTROL WILL BE BLUE. An orange patrol is being

edited (as described above), and a WHITE PATROL IS ONE OF WHICH YOU HAVE

INDIRECT CONTROL.

Most things that one can do in this game are done in Strategic Mode. Edit Mode

can be entered only from Strategic Mode. Patrol movement, and hence all

offensive and defensive strategies, is executed only in Strategic Mode. Laying

siege to enemy towns and entering battle (Tactical Mode) can be done only in

Strategic Mode.

Once you have created a patrol (you may create as many as four of them), you may

send it on a course of your choosing by giving it directional commands. The

patrol to which you may give commands is the "selected" patrol, and will be blue

(as mentioned above). In order to select a patrol other than the one which is

currently selected (blue), press the "Select" (enter) key. The "next" patrol

will become selected (blue) and the previously selected patrol will become

deselected (white). If you have less than four patrols when you press "select,"

then the "next patrol" will sometimes be your cursor (it will come in turn, the

selection process being cyclic). In this way you may retrieve the cursor in

order to enter Edit Mode and create a new patrol. When it does appear, it will

be in the center of your half of the screen and will be selected (blue), while,

as before, the previously selected patrol will be deselected (white). If you

have four patrols created (the most that you can have), then the cursor will

never appear in the selection cycle, because its only purpose is to allow you to

create new patrols, and, with four patrols, it would be illegal for you to

create any more.

Once the desired patrol is selected, directional commands may be given to it.

This is done by pressing one of the eight directional keys or the "Pause" (5)

key. The direction command is then put into that patrol's command queue, or

list. If the patrol is not acting on a previous command, or if it has just

finished a command, it will get and act upon the next command in its command

queue. The queue can hold (i.e. remember) up to four commands, in addition to

the one that the patrol might be executing. When the queue is empty (i.e. there

are no more commands for the patrol), the patrol will stop. The "Pause" command

can be put in the queue before a direction command and will cause the patrol to

stop and wait for six (6) seconds before proceeding to the direction command.

This might be used as a deceptive ploy, or to coordinate patrol movements.

The distance that a patrol will go given one command can vary. If the patrol is

moving along a road, it will travel to the next bend or intersection, or a fixed

distance (approximately 1/3 the vertical screen distance or 1/5 the horizontal

screen distance) whichever comes first. If the patrol is moving "cross country"

it will terminate the command upon encountering a road or a lake, or after

moving the same fixed distance that applies to roads, whichever comes first. A

little experimentation should make patrol movement quite clear and predictable.

A note on patrol speed: Patrols can move at one of two speeds. Normal speed is

adopted by patrols which have either an Armored Personnel Cattier or Tank in

them AND are moving along a road. These resources, being motorized, travel

quickly on the road and can carry/tow the other resources in the patrol. Half-

speed is adopted by all other on-road patrols and by ALL off-road patrols (the

rougher terrain removes the previous advantage of the motorized vehicles). APCs

in a patrol will cause the patrol to be unable to go off-road.

You are never restricted to having a patrol move the maximum distance (or pause

a full six seconds) for the command that it is currently executing. You may tell

the patrol to stop executing the current command and move on to the next by

pressing the "Abort" (Clear) key. One way of emptying a patrol's queue is to

press "Abort" several times in a row, thereby using all the queue's commands.

"Fresh" directional commands can then be entered. There is an easier way.

To empty a patrol's queue and simultaneously stop the patrol, press the "Pause"

(5) key twice in a row. This constitutes the "Stop" command. The patrol will

halt in its track and go no further until new directional commands have been

entered in its queue.

When you give the "Stop" command to a patrol which is in the vicinity of an

enemy-occupied town, the town goes under siege. This is signified by the town

turning blue. You may besiege only one enemy town at a time. Trying to besiege a

second enemy town will simply fall. The first siege must be ended before the

second one can start. A siege is ended when one of the following occurs: the

besieging patrol moves (i.e. is given a command), the besieging patrol is

encountered by an enemy patrol is destroyed, everything in the town is destroyed

(i.e. the town is left unoccupied), or everything remaining in the town

surrenders to the besieging player.

A siege consists of two phases, the Wait Phase and the Damage Phase. The Wait

Phase consists of the first ten (10) seconds of the siege. No loss is incurred

by either player during this time, and it allows the besieged player to organize

an effort to stop the siege before damage occurs. The most effective way to do

this is to create a patrol from the resources in the besieged town and wage this

patrol in battle against the besieging patrol. Alternatively, an existing patrol

from the surrounding area may be brought in to do the dirty work. The Damage

Phase begins when the Wait Phase ends. During the damage phase, resources within

the town will tend to be destroyed one by one at random intervals (the

destruction of a resource is signaled by an explosion). Alternatively, one of

the resources in the besieging patrol might be lost, but this will happen much

more infrequently. Instead of destroying a resource, the town as a whole might

simply surrender to the besieging player, although this also happens less often.

It is possible that everything in the town will be destroyed before the town

surrenders, in which case the town is left unoccupied  and may be taken by

either player. However, in the event that the town surrenders, the town and

everything in it belongs to the besieging player. Should the Flag be lost in a

besieged town, the game is over. If the entire besieging patrol is lost before

the town is destroyed or surrenders, the siege will end. If the besieging player

loses his flag in this manner, he has lost the game.

When two opposing patrols come within range of each other, they will start

flashing to signify that a battle between them can be fought. If more than one

possible pair of patrols are battle worthy, each pair will flash, one at a time,

in succession. To enter battle with the flashing pair of patrols, press the "Go

To Battle" key, which is the upper action key on either side of the controller.

The screen will "zoom in" to a close-up of the surrounding area and battle will

have begun. You are now in "Tactical Mode."

TACTICAL MODE

Tactical Mode is the mode in which all battles are fought. Entering Tactical

Mode from Strategic Mode via the "Go To Battle" key provides you with a close-up

view of the battleground and a representation of the two patrols' resources each

in their respective positions. The left player's resources are represented in

blue and the right player's are represented in orange. One resource on each side

has a white bar, or gun barrel, associated with it, and this designates the

"selected" object. Selecting a different resource is identical to selecting a

different patrol in Strategy Mode except that there is no cursor involved. That

is, pressing the "Select" key (Enter) will cyclically select the "next" resource

and place the gun barrel on top of the new selection.

Movement of the resources in Tactical Mode is also very similar to the movement

of patrols in Strategic Mode. The direction keys are used in the same way,

"Abort," Pause" and "Stop" commands are all identical (except that there is no

besieging to be done). Resources each have their own command queue, which, once

again, can retain up to four (4) commands other than the one being executed. The

only real difference is the distances and speeds involved.

A resource, given one directional command, will move to the next obstacle (a

tree, a building, an orchard fence or a lake) or a fixed distance (the same

distance as before -- approximately 1/3 the vertical screen distance or 1/5 the

horizontal screen distance) whichever comes first. The only exception to this

rule is if the obstacle is a tree which is immediately next to the resource.

That is, it can move through a tree if it had been "hiding" behind it.

Each type of resource has its own speed. Indeed, each resource type has

individual characteristics of many kinds. You'll note that the Flag resource

appears in Tactical Mode as an Infantry. This is for purposes of camouflage. Its

characteristics are slightly different from that of a regular Infantry. Here's a

table of relative attributes:

Speed (fastest to slowest): Infantry, Flag, Bazooka, APC, Mortar, Artillery,

Tank

Turning Ability (fastest to slowest): Infantry, Flag, Bazooka, APC, Mortar,

Artillery, Tank

Firing Range (longest to shortest): Artillery, Mortar, Tank, Bazooka, Flag,

Infantry, APC

Probability of Destruction when Hit (lowest to highest): Tank, Artillery, APC,

Bazooka, Mortar, Flag, Infantry

Firing is accomplished via the "Fire" button (upper action key on either side).

When "Fire" is pressed, the gun barrel on top of the selected object will

disappear, issuing a bullet in its place. The bullet will travel in the

direction in which the barrel had been pointing for a distance equal to the

firing range of the selected object.

The barrel itself may be pointed in any of sixteen (16) directions with the use

of the directional disc. The direction that the barrel points with respect to

the selected resource is remembered so  that when the resource turns, the barrel

will turn with it. These relative positions are retained even while the resource

is not selected, so that when it is reselected the barrel is where it was left.

Artillery fire from off screen may be called upon to help out in certain

circumstances. These circumstances occur when there exists an allied artillery

piece which is both in range of the battlefield AND not on the battlefield. The

determining range is approximately equal to 1/2 the STRATEGIC screen in the

vertical dimension and 1/3 the STRATEGIC screen in the horizontal dimension.

To call down artillery fire, maneuver the selected resource to the approximate

center of the desired target area and press the Artillery Fire On/Off button

(lower action key on either side). If the above conditions are satisfied, then

shelling will occur at random intervals. To cause the shelling to stop, press

the Artillery Fire On/Off button again. This will stop the artillery fire and

sound your bell tone. There are no requirements on the positioning of the

selected resource in order to cease artillery fire.

When a "hit" is made on a resource, whether it be by a bullet or by artillery

fire, there is a probability that the resource will be destroyed. This

probability depends on the type of resource that fired the bullet, and the type

of resource which was hit. When a resource is hit, the bullet will explode. If

the resource is destroyed, it will no longer be there when the "smoke" clears.

If the situation seems to be turning against you, you may retreat by pressing

the "Retreat" key (0). After pressing "Retreat," there is a fifteen (15) second

delay, after which the Strategy Map returns and Strategic Mode is re-entered.

NEW RESOURCES

Periodically, new resources (reinforcements) might arrive at any town that you

occupy. The periodicity is affected negatively by your bad fortune. The wait for

new resources will increase if you lose a battle or surrender a town under

siege.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(c)1998 Intellivision Productions Inc.