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Author Topic: World War II Europe Tutorial By Schwerpunkt  (Read 8235 times)

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Offline Asid

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World War II Europe Tutorial By Schwerpunkt
« on: June 20, 2016, 04:12:38 PM »
World War II Europe Tutorial By Schwerpunkt


 
1.    Mouse double click on the desktop icon to start WWII Europe (hereafter called WWIIE). The opening screen shows Adolph Hitler addressing a crowd in Berlin in the 1930’s. Mouse movement over the leaders on the graphic will cause their names to appear in the rectangle at the top of the screen. Click anywhere to proceed to the next screen to view WWII equipment. Note that WWIIE should start in the same directory as its executable.

2.    The second screen has a list of equipment (103 tanks, tank destroyers, artillery and planes) that were used during WWII.  Mouse movement over the name of the equipment will cause a graphic and information about the equipment to be displayed in the upper right side of the screen. Click anywhere to proceed to the next screen to select the scenario.

3.    The third screen has a list of scenarios (103 battles) that were the key battles fought in Europe during WWII. Mouse movement over the name of the scenario will cause information about the scenario to be displayed in the upper right side of the screen.  Click on “54. Saving Moscow” to proceed for this tutorial.

4.    A dialog box is opened with choices to be made by the player on the method of play of the scenario, and any optional rules desired. For this tutorial, select “Player(s) use one computer” and select no optional rules.  Mouse left click on OK to proceed to the next screen.

5.    WWIIE displays the map of Europe on the left, and the Command Panel (hereafter called CP) on the right.  A red box on the map shows the scenario boundary, while units are represented as various colors for each country.  For example, the German units are gray (non-mechanized) and black (mechanized).  The Russians are red.  For starters, let’s move around the map and its levels of display.  Use the mouse wheel to zoom into the four level map area.  Move the cursor to an area of the map, then push the mouse wheel away from you to zoom in.  To zoom out, just pull the mouse wheel towards you. The four levels of map are Europe, high, mid and low levels.  The Low-Level map has been designed to look like a boardgame.  Alternative methods of zooming are to press the “+” key to zoom in, and the “-“ key to zoom out. Another method is to click on the icons in the CP to the left and right of “Level” just above the jump map. One more method is to choose the map level from the Windows menu under View/Map levels. You can also zoom from WWII Europe map to low level by clicking in the Europe map, or by clicking in the small jump map in the CP.  Try this, and then zoom back out to the WWII Europe map using any method.

6.    At the high, mid and low levels, the player can scroll the map by moving the cursor to the edge of the screen (no clicks necessary).  At any time, the player can move away from the edge and WWIIE will lock the screen at an even hex boundary (i.e. Upper left hex will have even x and y coordinates).  For the high and mid level maps, scrolling will continue to the edge of the map (all of the map is in memory).  For low level maps, scrolling in any direction will eventually hit a memory boundary, then WWII-E will pause, and then begin scrolling again.  No need for the player to react.  Zoom back out to the WWII Europe map using any method.  Alternatively, you can right mouse click, select “Scroll Mode On”, then scroll anywhere at that map level.  When you are through scrolling, just mouse right click, and select “Scroll Mode Off”.

7.    From any map level, you can display the low level map and center the screen on a city from a pick list.  Mouse right click, then select “City Selection”.  WWIIE will display a list of cities (specifically selected for that scenario) in alphabetical order.  Move the mouse cursor to select a city name (note WWIIE highlights the cities as you move the cursor over the name), and then mouse left click on the name.  WWIIE will display the low level map and center the screen on the city selected from the list.  Try a few cities.  “Resume Operations” or the Cancel icon in the CP will allow play to continue. Note that the list of cities is different for each scenario, since they are selected based on best use for a particular battle.  Zoom back out to the WWII Europe map using any method when ready to proceed with the tutorial.

8.    At the high, mid and low level maps, the player can move the screen display two hexes at a time in any direction (same as Russo-German War 41-44 (RGW), Anglo-German War 39-45 (AGW) and Middle East 1948-2010 (MDE) games).  This is done by using the keyboard arrow keys, Home, PgUp, End and PgDn keys.  The small icons around the jump map can also be used. Try a few of these, then zoom back out to the WWII Europe map using any method.

9.    At the High-Level and Mid-Level maps, only one unit attribute can be displayed at a time. Zoom into the Mid-Level map using any method.  The default is unit type.  To select a different display attribute, mouse right click and select “Display Attribute Selection”.  WWIIE will display a list of attributes (note WWIIE highlights the attributes as you move the cursor over the name), and then mouse left click on the name of the attribute.  WWIIE will display that attribute on the units in the map area. Try a few attributes.  A key attribute is “Supply Source and paths”.  Selecting “Resume Operations” or moving the mouse cursor to the CP and then mouse left clicking on the Cancel icon will allow play to continue.  Zoom back out to the WWII Europe map using any method when ready to proceed with the tutorial.

10. Moving the mouse cursor (without clicking) will cause the units to be displayed in the CP along with information about the unit. You can select either ground, air or naval units to be displayed or to be selected for operations.  Cursor of the ground units is the standard arrow, for air units is a custom plane cursor, and for naval units are custom ship cursor.  Try this at all map levels.

11. Pressing and holding the Ctrl key and moving the mouse cursor will cause display of information about each hex. Try this at all map levels.

12. Congratulations, you are ready to start the scenario!  WWIIE has six phases per turn, three for each player.  The sequence is:
a.       Turn Deploy (player with the initiative)
b.      Turn Deploy (player without the initiative)
c.       Ground Move (player with the initiative)
d.      Combat (player with the initiative)
e.      Ground Move (player without the initiative)
f.        Combat (player without the initiative)

13. The Turn Deploy Phase allows the player to move its air and naval units into position for operations.  At the end of the Turn Deploy Phase (both players), WWIIE performs combat and creates a report for player viewing.  It includes air-air, air-naval, and air-ground operations results.

14. Before performing any operations, select the type of unit in the CP (ground, air or naval).  WWIIE will display only that type of unit in the CP. This does not need to be done if you are already viewing the correct type of units.

15. All move operations (air, naval and ground units) are performed in the same manner.
a.       Select the hex using mouse left click in the map area (WWIIE displays the valid units for that phase in the CP, and moves the cursor to the CP)
b.      Select the unit using mouse left click in the CP (WWIIE displays the valid operations for that unit)
c.       Select the operation using mouse left click in the CP (WWIIE displays a white border on the hexes that are valid destinations for the move, and moves the cursor back to the unit in the map area)
d.      Select the destination hex (WWIIE completes the operation, and changes the unit status appropriately)

16. Try a few air operations.  In Scenario 54, the Russians have the initiative and move first.  A typical pair of operations would be to move a bomber unit on a “Tactical Bombing” operation to a hex containing a German unit, and then move a fighter unit on a “S&D Air” (Search & Destroy enemy air units) operation in that same hex.  Try moving the Russian air units.

17. If the map area has a lot of units in stacks, it is sometimes difficult to find the air and naval units.  Air units are circles, while naval units are six sided polygons. One easy method to find the air and naval units is to zoom out to the Mid-Level, and select the display attribute “Air Only” or “Naval Only”.  After locating the units, then select “Unit Information - Type” to resume using the default display attribute.

18. When you are through with all air and naval operations, mouse left click on the Next Phase icon in the CP. At the end of each player’s phase, WWIIE saves a copy of the game to a disk file called “WWEcurrent.wwe”.  This file can be used to restore the game to the state when it was saved.  WWIIE also updates the CP to Axis turn, phase, date, and weather condition of the hex in the upper left corner of the screen display.  Try performing the Axis air operations (no naval units in this scenario) for that phase, then select the “Next Phase” icon.  WWIIE performs air/naval combats, updates unit statuses, updates the CP information, and then displays a dialog box informing the player that the reports are ready for viewing.

19. To view a report, mouse left click on “Reports” in the CP.  WWIIE displays the reports available for viewing.  Select “Air-Air” icon. 

20. WWIIE displays the air units on the map, and any combat information.  WWIIE had already calculated what air units have been attacked, what losses they sustained, and whether their Operation had to be aborted. Try selecting the other combat reports.  If the air units fill both page 1 and 2 of the report, then use the PgUp and PgDn keys to view the other pages.  Select the “Cancel” icon in the CP when you are ready to proceed.

21. The Ground Move Phase is used for moving ground units to prepare for attack, or defense.  Try these Move operations for the Russians next.  Move operations include “Move to Attack”, “Move No Attack”, “Move to Exploit”, “Strategic RR Move” and “One Hex Move”.  All of these work the same way as the air and naval moves you already know.  Note that “Move No Attack” allows two moves of the unit, and “Move to Exploit” three moves. The “Dig-in” operation only requires selection of the hex, unit and operation.  WWIIE polices limits on some operations.  Select “Game Status” in the CP, and view “Operations Performed this Turn” to see number of operations performed versus the limit.  Mouse left click on “Next Phase” icon in the CP when ready for the next phase, which is Combat Phase.

22. The Combat phase is used to attack enemy units, capture objectives such as cities, destroy enemy units, and pursue with Combat Phase Moves operations.  Combat operations have a different sequence of steps than move operations. The sequence is:
a.       Select the hex to be attacked using mouse left click in the map area (WWIIE displays the operations for that phase in the CP, and moves the cursor to the CP)
b.      Select the type of Combat (Normal Attack is the standard method) using mouse left click in the CP (WWIIE displays the valid attacking units).
c.       Select each unit in the attack using the mouse left click (WWIIE displays a blue box around each attacking unit selected. Mouse left clicking on a unit a second time takes it out of the combat, a third time puts it back in, and so forth). Note that selecting the “Cancel” icon before selecting the “OK” icon in the next step of the sequence will abort the combat before it takes place.
d.      Select the “OK” icon when completed (WWIIE display the combat results. For more details of the combat, mouse left click on the “Details” icon).  WWIIE also retreats and pursues into the enemy hex based on the combat results.
e.      Select the “OK” icon to complete the combat operation.
23. Try a few combats.  To just get the odds of a combat without executing the combat, select “Combat Analysis” icon instead of the “Standard Attack” icon in step b. You will be given an icon in the CP to execute that combat if desired after the analysis.

24. During this phase, friendly units can perform “Combat Phase Move” operations.  These are done the same as other ground moves in the Ground Move Phase, except the top unit is automatically selected. Stacking order in a unit can be shuffled prior to a Combat Phase Move operation by pressing the Tab key and mouse left clicking on the hex.

25. At the end of the Combat Phase of the player without the initiative, WWIIE determines the supply state of each unit on the map.  Dialog boxes are used to inform the player of progress to completion.  A Report is available to determine which units are out of supply.

26. Congratulations, you are ready to play World War II Europe!  We recommend scenarios with a low number of units to start.  From here, the strategy taken in any battle is up to you.  Schwerpunkt games are, well, all about the “Schwerpunkt” or “decisive points”.  This is true for either the attack or defense.  For the Russians in Scenario #54, an attack towards Klin should result in the Germans having to retreat from Kalinin.  This should start the German retreat that historically occurred.  For the Germans in this scenario, it is all about keeping the supply lines open.  Look for the railroads supply paths to the front line, and retreat in order.  If the Russians get behind you with Cavalry or Ski units, you are in trouble.  The Russians will cut your supply path, which will put you at a great disadvantage in attacks.  The Russians attack at low odds (1 to 1 and 2 to 1) to wear you down, since they can better afford attrition.  (Note that supply paths is one of the display attributes).
 

« Last Edit: June 20, 2016, 04:15:19 PM by Asid »
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    WWII Europe Tips

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