Armoured Commander II

[Asid]

In Armoured Commander II, you take on the role of a tank commander in World War II. Featuring a roguelike focus on turn-based and procedurally-generated strategic gameplay, you must lead your tank crew through a multi-week campaign where your ultimate goal is simply to survive.

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About

In Armoured Commander II, you play the role of a tank commander in World War II, leading your crew through a campaign in one of the major conflicts of the war. ArmCom2 features multiple campaigns set between 1939 and 1945, and hundreds of vehicles, guns, and infantry unit types. The terrain map for each combat day and the types of enemies you encounter are randomly and procedurally generated, which means that each playthrough of a campaign will bring new and unexpected challenges. Your commander and crew gain experience and can improve their stats and gain skills over time, but they are also vulnerable to injury and may be seriously wounded or killed during the course of a campaign.

Visual Style and Gameplay
The visual style of the game follows the roguelike approach of using a character set rather than bitmap graphics. All in-game displays are rendered using a modified and expanded Petscii character set, as used in the Commodore 64. This keeps the focus on the gameplay rather than on graphic effects. Sound effects are also generated using samples from the C64's SID sound chip.

The gameplay is turn-based, so you can pause and consider your options at any point in the game. You can also save and continue your game at any point, and can have one saved game per campaign type. You can choose to take on the role of your Commander, meaning that if your Commander is killed in the game your campaign ends (Permadeath), or you can continue playing through an entire campaign, replacing your tank and crew as needed.

Early Access
Armoured Commander II has already been in development for a few years, so it is currently a playable game, but I do want to continue to refine and expand the game further. While there are already ten different campaigns and over one hundred unit types availible, my plan is to continue to expand the game after its initial release, adding new campaigns, nations, and so on. All future additions to the game will be free to anyone who has purchased the game.

Roadmap for the Future
Moving forward, I plan on adding the following campaigns, including appropriate historical unit types, and new game mechanics for them where appropriate:

•   North Africa: British, German, American, Italian
•   Europe Eastern Front: German, Soviet
•   Italy: American, British, Canadian, German
•   Western Europe 1944-1945: German, British

If possible, I'd also like to expand the range of campaigns beyond this, to include the Pacific and South-east Asian theatres, and perhaps one day, earlier time periods like the Spanish Civil War, and later ones such as the Korean War.

[Asid]

Armoured Commander II Manual

This is the work-in-progress official manual the for the game, reflecting version 5.0.x


Here

[Asid]

Version 5.0.0 Released
Wed, June 3, 2020



After having been in the Alpha branch for a few days, I've uploaded the new 5.0.0 version of the game to the default branch. If you were testing the alpha, please do finish up your campaign and switch back to the default branch (under Betas, select NONE - opt out of all beta programs), since all future minor updates will happen there.

NOTE - If you were in the middle of a campaign in 4.0.10, your saved campaign will not be compatible with the new 5.0.0 version.

If you want to finish your 4.0.10 campaign you will need to do the following:
•   open the properties for ArmCom2 (usually a little gear icon)
•   click the BETAS menu tab
•   under "Select the beta you would like to opt into", and select the legacy_4.0 branch.

Your local copy of the game will be set to 4.0.10, and you can continue your campaign.

As always, please post bug and crash reports to the discussion board. I've enabled additional crash logging in this version, so please do check your bootlog.txt file, located in [your user directory]/ArmCom2 to see if there's any message there that might help me track down the problem.

Also - I've had to update the structure of the configuration settings file, so you may have to reset your game options the first time you play the new version. Your options will be saved from then on.

Full changelog for 5.0.0 follows, with some additions since the intial preview release:

Changelog for 5.0.0

General
ADD: North Africa region and terrain types for Campaign Day map
ADD: "Delete Saved Campaign" command in Load Campaign menu
ADD: Player Tanks for Italian campaign: L3/35, L3 cc, M11/39, M13/40, 105/28 gun for arty support
ADD: British AI units for North Africa: Stuart I, A10 Mk IA CS, 2 pdr Portee
ADD: French AI unit for Battle of France (Germany) campaign: Autocanon de 75mm
ADD: Indication of 'None' for injuries in Crew Menu
ADD: Interpreter exception catching and writing error message to boot log before exit
ADD: Crewmen Grit stat will reduce average length of stay in Field Hospital
CNG: Modified front facing to now be between 330 and 30 degrees
CNG: Crewmen no longer have a 'Normal Position', instead a skill is required to work a commander/gunner/driver position without penalty, and another skill required to gain skills specific to that position
CNG: Greatly increased chance of crewmen being sent to field hospital for Heavy or Serious injuries
CNG: Increased base firepower destruction odds for unarmoured vehicles
CNG: Minor display changes for clarity
FIX: Bug where returning crewmen from Field Hospital could not use their Advance Points
FIX: Crash when trying to change master volume level with sounds off

Campaigns
ADD: Option of playing a campaign of fewer days
ADD: Option of adding a chance in campaign weeks for combat days to take place along coast
ADD: Check to make sure that saved game structure is sane, and display a notification if not
ADD: Check to make sure no repeated dates are added to the combat calendar, which leads to time loops
ADD: Display list of crew positions in right column of tank selection menu
ADD: Display of current progress in the combat calendar (Day x/y)
ADD: Display of Day Ended in main panel
ADD: Player has a chance to swap crew positions after getting a new tank but before fresh crewmen are assigned to empty positions
ADD: Campaign option to ignore rarity factors of units
ADD: New Campaign Skill for early-war Italy: "Audacia"
ADD: 'Natural Leader' skill for Commanders
ADD: 'Cautious Driver' skill for Drivers
ADD: Can tag unit types as 'captured'
ADD: Can set earliest date that enemy unit types can spawn in campaign
ADD: Display of renderer used, automatic disabling of fullscreen if SDL2 or OPENGL2 not in use
CNG: The final day of a refit period is now used for the calendar, in case a tank model only becomes available to the player later in the refit period
CNG: Player tank selections can now be restricted to only after particular dates, in addition to regular unit rarity factor restrictions
CNG: National Skills now called Campaign Skills

Campaign Day
ADD: Maximum number of certain terrain types on CD map can be limited
ADD: Maps in North Africa now have neutrally-controlled zones, only some zones can be captured by either side
ADD: Zone capture VP values in North Africa increased
ADD: Check when generating map that it can be traversed
ADD: Ocean zone type, only spawned when combat day is along the coast
ADD: Chance of being attacked while waiting for resupply, random time required before resupply arrives
ADD: Key command to clear the current default command and hatch status for a crewman
ADD: Chance of landmines present in a map zone
ADD: Pop-up message if player tank was immobilized, ending combat day
ADD: Temperature for day: hot/cold influences crewman fatigue, extreme heat or cold makes weapon and vehicle breakdowns more likely
ADD: Notification of number of HE rounds used during Advancing Fire
ADD: Loading screen before starting a battle on the tactical/scenario map
ADD: Fatigue check on player crew when moving on Campaign Day map
ADD: Crewman can rest, have chance to lose fatigue, if player Waits in place
CNG: Slight change to map generation procedure
CNG: Minor changes to how certain zones on the map are displayed
CNG: Made display of extra ammo in Ammo Load menu more clear
CNG: Reorganized display of crewmen slightly
CNG: Removed Targets of Opportunity, replaced with Objectives
CNG: Depiction of zone control no longer obscures rivers and bridges on hex zone borders
FIX: Bug where enemy strength levels would not be generated after moving to a new map area
FIX: Bug where player location may be set to enemy control after moving to a new map area
FIX: Advancing fire no longer possible if gun is Broken

Scenario
ADD: Unit destruction VP values in North Africa increased
ADD: Target line turned grey if targetting an enemy out of Line of Sight
ADD: New hex depiction for North Africa
ADD: Woods and Hamada firepower effect for HE hits, display in attack console
ADD: Can set a default hatch status and command for crewmen at start of scenarios
ADD: To-Hit bonus when firing Smoke
ADD: Units cannot test to recover from being pinned in the same turn as they took an effective firepower attack
ADD: Player can choose target terrain type when repositioning
ADD: AI units now take into account chances of armour penetration when choosing attacks
ADD: Console display with info about current map zone
ADD: Type of gun used in artillery support attack now displayed to player
ADD: Sound effects for when player pivots tank, rotates turret, landmine explosion
ADD: Additional detail to decriptions of crew commands
ADD: Nickname or common name of unit displayed in unit info console
CNG: Button Up command now Button/Close Up command
CNG: Ground cover and fortified etc. firepower modifiers no longer stack for HE hits
CNG: Hull Down now only effective 95% of the time for hits incoming from same direction as HD, 80% for one sextant to each side
CNG: Targets hit by HE now only have one of the following applied (if any): Fortified, Entrenched, Dug-In, Airburst Effect, Hamada Effect, Deep Snow, Muddy/Snow
CNG: Targets hit by Area Fire now only have one of the following applied (if any): Fortified, Entrenched, Dug-In, or Terrain Modifier
CNG: Concealed enemy units no longer have a sound effect played when moving
CNG: Adjusted RoF chance calculations slightly
CNG: Withdraw command can now be used when 1+ enemies are within 2 hexes, but the more enemies that are still nearby, the greater chance that action will not succeed
CNG: Slightly increase odds of crew injury if CE when tank is hit by a firepower attack
CNG: New procedure for resolving HE hits on unarmoured vehicles
CNG: To-Hit and To-Effect chances can now range from 0.5% to 99.5%
CNG: Critical Hit / Effect not possible if original odds were <= 3.0%
CNG: Fate point use no longer allowed for AP rolls
CNG: Enemy AI units more likely to attack player if the player has Acquired Target on them
FIX: Smoke hits no longer have possiblity of being critical, and Hull Down save against Smoke ammo is not allowed
FIX: Enemy units being spawned dug-in in terrain where digging-in is not allowed
FIX: Hull Down restriction for firing hull-mounted weapons more precise now
FIX: Operation of AA MG no longer possible while crewman is BU
FIX: To-hit bonuses for Very Long guns at medium and long ranges
FIX: HD can no longer save against Close Combat attacks
FIX: Rare crash when player's selected target was not cleared properly
FIX: Player's moving status not being update properly in Player Info console
FIX: Pivoting now maintains order of unit stacks
FIX: AI units not losing Fortified status after moving

[Asid]

Update 5.0.1
Fri, 5 June 2020


A minor update today with some fixes and additions. As always, please report bugs and crashes in the discussion boards. This update is compatible with saved campaigns from 5.0.0.

Changelog for 5.0.1

ADD: Display of fate points remaining in attack console if player is able to use one
ADD: New French AI units: 105mm L mle 1913, 155mm C mle 1917, 20mm mle 1939 AA, 25mm mle 1938 AA
ADD: Additional detail to modifier list descriptions, possible to wrap description across two lines
ADD: Check for old config file and automatic update to avoid a crash
ADD: Additional historical notes for units
ADD: AI units may pivot but not attack, in order to get a better attack next turn
CNG: Modified enemy spawn odds for Canada's Best campaign slightly
CNG: Modified base Fatigue gain odds slightly
FIX: Bug where crewman birthdays could be set to day 0 of the month
FIX: Bug where campaign day map zones recaptured by enemy forces would have their strength already known to player
FIX: Empty "long_range" field for some 75mm guns in unit definitions
FIX: VP from Hold objectives not being awarded at end of combat day
FIX: Stun checks from saved AP hits not actually applying a Stunned condition to crewmen
FIX: Crewmen can now only manage the ready rack of the gun in their tank location (turret/hull)

[Asid]

Update 5.0.2
Sun, 7 June 2020

Some minor fixes and additions for today, as always please report any bugs and/or crashes in the discussion forum:

Changelog for 5.0.2

ADD: TK-3 and TKS as playable tanks in the September Campaign
ADD: Weapons on a turret that has rotated that turn will have a lower RoF chance
ADD: Guns between 15 and 40mm have a higher base RoF chance, to reflect autocannons and much quicker pace of reloading
ADD: British AI unit for Via della Vittoria campaign: Rolls Royce Armoured Car
ADD: Handling of weapons mounted on rear of turret
ADD: Remaining historical notes to unit definitions
ADD: Chance that crewmen will become Shaken if a squadmate tank is destroyed
CNG: VP scores required for Via della Vittoria campaign decorations
FIX: Incorrect refitting date (1944!) for Battle of France (UK) campaign
FIX: Missing campaign skill in Via della Vittoria

[Asid]

Update 5.0.3
Wed, 10 June 2020

Some minor but important fixes in this update, as well as two new enemy units:

Changelog for 5.0.3

ADD: Matilda II CS, Valentine II to AI units
ADD: Operate MG command not available if crewman is BU and only available MG is AA MG
ADD: Message in Contextual Console (above and to the left of the scenario map) if no target currently selected
CNG: Revisions to Rate of Fire calculations
FIX: Incorrect dates for Patton's Best campaign calendar
FIX: Bug where impossible weather conditions for current region/season could be generated
FIX: Player Commander stay in Field Hospital not being handled properly

[Asid]

Update 5.0.4
Sat, 13 June 2020

Some minor additions and fixes in this update, including some new units and other things that are not yet available in the game, since I still need to finish the early-war Afrika Korps campaign! As always please report bugs and crashes in the discussion forum.

Changelog for 5.0.4

ADD: Autocannone da 20/65, 20/65 AA Gun, 47/32 AT Gun
ADD: Marmon-Herrington II and III
ADD: Unit definitions for Panzer III G, Panzer III H, Panzer IV E
ADD: Panzer II F to Battle of France (Germany) player tanks
ADD: 'Unique Opportunities' campaign skill
ADD: Campaign Day mission: Patrol
ADD: Axis vehicles in North Africa prior to October 1941 all are automatically Unreliable
ADD: (u) indicator after movement class if vehicle is unreliable
ADD: Zone capture check if player moves into a new zone and no battle was triggered
ADD: Exception catch when the main menu checks to see whether 1+ saved campaigns are available
CNG: "Cycle Selected Gun" now greyed out in Ammo Load menu if tank only has one gun
CNG: Redesigned campaign selection menu to allow for more information to be displayed in the future
CNG: Campaigns in selection menu now categorized by starting year
CNG: Separated campaign options to their own menu, to allow for more options in the future
FIX: Crewmen must now be CE to throw a smoke grenade

[Asid]

Update 5.1.0
Sat, 20 June 2020


What's larger than a minor update but doesn't break your saved campaign like a major update? A major-minor update! 5.1.0 is now live, bringing a few changes, fixes, and additions, including a new campaign covering the early battles of the German Afrika Korps. For the moment, this campaign only runs until the end of 1941, but in the future you will be able to continue with your crew into 1942 and 1943. As always, please post bug and crash reports in the discussion forums. Changelog follows:

Changelog for 5.1.0
ADD: Afrika Korps 1941 Campaign
ADD: Display of relative facing of enemy units in unit info console
ADD: British AI Units: Bren Gun Carrier, AT Rifle Carrier, Humber II, Crusader I CS
ADD: Hull-mounted weapons can be set to have a larger field of view than just the front facing (eg. Crusader I Hull MG)
ADD: Random scenario event: enemy infantry or HMG teams may fire at player to harrass them, can cause injury to exposed crewmen
CNG: Capture VP value for a zone only displayed if it can be captured (eg. not for most zones on desert maps)
CNG: Capture VP calculation for zones in Spearhead mission
CNG: Changed odds of weather change, should avoid odd weather developing during the day
CNG: Close Combat hits on armoured vehicles also apply firepower
CNG: HE hits on armoured vehicles also apply firepower
FIX: Enemy units could dig-in when they were already entrenched or fortified
FIX: If player withdrew from a battle and there were no adjacent friendly-controlled zones, they wouldn't go anywhere
FIX: Enemy units now moved to top of their hex stack before activation
FIX: Crash when Player Commander was sent to field hospital for a period beyond end of campaign calendar
FIX: Incorrect handling of Grazing Hit injury result

[Asid]

[Asid]

[Asid]

Update 5.1.1
Tue, 23 June 2020

A minor update today with a few minor changes and some bugfixes:

Changelog for 5.1.1
CNG: Odds of a sniper attack on the player reduced in North African region
CNG: 'Hold' objectives can now be captured by enemy forces, no longer disappear if player re-captures the zone
FIX: Incorrect APC entry for enemy spawn table in September Campaign
FIX: Terrain types not present in North Africa no longer given as options when repositioning in a scenario that takes place in that region
FIX: Incorrect message at start of scenario, would report than enemy units were pinned by advancing fire no matter how they were pinned
FIX: Support attacks no longer possible when player's zone is attacked and it triggers a battle
FIX: Incorrect colours on Scenario map during Deep Snow ground conditions

[Asid]

Update 5.1.2
Sat, 27 June 2020


Some minor changes and fixes in this update, and one long awaited addition: at the end of campaign you will have the option of starting a new campaign with your surviving crew, if there is a later campaign for the same nation available. I've tested this out and it seems to work fine, but please do treat it as a bit of an experimental feature, and do report any weirdness you see happening when continuing into a new campaign. Changelog follows:

Changelog for 5.1.2
ADD: Key input reminders for scrolling through campaign categories on campaign selection menu
ADD: Possible for player unit to explode upon being knocked out, chance increases if KOed by a hull hit, if hit by large-calibre gun, and if carrying extra ammo, if no protected storage for ammo
ADD: After campaign is finished, option of continuing in a later campaign with surviving crewmen
CNG: Unit type definitions now loaded once and stored in session object, should be faster
FIX: Multiple commands being added to a crewman's command list, which could result in inability to scroll through list past the double command
FIX: Improved objective placement function, should be a little faster and should not place objectives in bad locations
FIX: Possible bug if player replaces their tank, new tank may not be recognizes as being the player unit for game purposes

[Asid]

Update 5.1.3
Sat, 27 June 2020

An important update that fixes some weirdness with weapon ranges not being set properly:

Changelog for 5.1.3
ADD: Italian AI units: AB 40, AB 41, 37/45 AT Gun, 65/17 Mountain Gun, 75/27 Gun, 100/17 Gun, Fiat 626, Ju 87 Picchiatello
CNG: "Direct Fire" command now available to the Commander/Gunner position as well
FIX: Bug where some weapon stats were not being set properly upon unit spawn

[Asid]

Update 5.2.0
Sun, 28 June 2020

A major-minor update today, a few minor changes and fixes, plus the addition of the Desert Rats campaign covering September 1940 - December 1941. As always, please report crashes and bugs in the discussion board. Changelog follows:

Changelog for 5.2.0
ADD: Desert Rats campaign, September 1940 - December 1941
ADD: German Unit definitions: 15cm sIG 33, 10.5cm leFH 18, 10cm sK 18, 15cm sFH 18
CNG: Fate Points campaign option is now optional for entry into campaign records
CNG: Removed breakdown check during reposition move actions (including overrun)
CNG: Close combat attacks now use rear armour value of armoured target
FIX: Animation locations when unit is on overrun


Update 5.1.4
Very minor update to fix a crash when player unit is destroyed by air attack.

[Asid]

Update 5.2.1
Tue, 30 June 2020


A minor update today with some small changes and fixes. Changelog follows:

Changelog for 5.2.1
ADD: Player can skip animations by pressing Tab or Enter
ADD: Chance of Stone Building unit terrain in Villages zones
ADD: Missing crewmen in T-28 M34
CNG: If player is in a Heavy Tank, maximum squad size increased to three total
FIX: Corrections to weapon RoF ratings
FIX: Input prompt displays on attack console not being cleared after RoF attack starts
FIX: Player squadmates being spawned before they were historically available
FIX: If player tank was knocked out after being immobilized, don't display message that it was recovered
FIX: Incorrect air support level defined for one week of the Desert Rats campaign, which can lead to a crash
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