Armoured Commander II

[Asid]

Update 1.1.6
Thu, 14 April 2022



Update 1.1.6 brings a number of additions and fixes, most importantly the addition of gun tractors, one of the major development goals for this year.

As always, please report bugs and crashes on the Steam discussion boards or on the Discord. Full changlog follows:

1.1.6 Changelog
ADD: Gun Towing and Gun Tractors
- mobile gun units may be spawned with a randomly selected tractor, chance is high if unit is attacking a zone, low if it is defending
- good chance of gun being spawned hooked up to its tractor if attacking, very small chance if defending
- if gun is spawned deployed, it won't be hooked up to a tractor
- units that are towing or being towed have a much higher chance of being spotted
- towing units may be targeted and destroyed, if a tractor or gun is destroyed the link to its gun/tractor is broken
- immobile guns and mobile guns that are not limbered cannot withdraw from a battle, they must be abandoned (and thus award VP)
- limbered guns need to unlimber before attempting to deploy and/or fire; if successful, they may also attempt to deploy and/or fire in the same activation
- Very Small and Small gun units can fire while packed-up, but there is a to-hit penalty, and RoF is not allowed
- gun units cannot pivot on their own while being towed
- tractor units are defined per nation; campaign files do not need to include them
- game will roll against current rarity when spawning tractor units, also has to have enough towing capacity for that gun
- towing units have a towing_capacity stat with the maximum size of gun that can be towed
- gun tractors always act last during the Allied or Enemy action phases
- gun tractors with no friendly guns that they could tow will usually withdraw from the battle
- gun units that are trying to withdraw will try to pack-up, and will normally not abandon their gun if there is a friendly tractor available that could tow it
- gun tractors towing a gun can withdraw from the battle and take the gun with them
ADD: New Units: C2P, C2P (GER), C4P, C4P (Heavy), C7P, C7P (GER), C7P (SOV), Laffly S15T, Renault UE, Renault UE (GER),
RSO, M4 HST, Loyd Carrier TT, CMP FAT, Morris C8 FAT
ADD: Towing capacity to: Laffly S20TL, MG Carrier, Bren Gun Carrier
ADD: Campaign Records can now display multiple pages of data
ADD: Amphibious stat for units; if all units in player squad are amphibious, no extra time required to cross rivers on the Campaign Day map
ADD: Command to Mods menu to scan modded campaigns for common issues, any found are listed in console
ADD: New Skill: The Immobilizer: Reduces penalty to hit when attempting to immobilize a target vehicle
ADD: PgUp/PgDn commands to scroll Campaign Day journal by 5 entries at a time
ADD: Description for Stabilize Crewman bail-out action

CNG: Squadmates won't re-attempt HD if they are already HD in a direction that covers the player's current facing
CNG: AI units that are deployed and must deploy to fire will reposition less often; if they do reposition, they cannot act again that turn
CNG: Guns that are being manhandled (deployed, must be deployed to fire, and attempting to reposition) have a greater chance of bogging down
CNG: Enemy AT Rifle and HMG teams will now be more likely to close the distance with the player
CNG: Slight increase to base crewman promotion chance
CNG: At end of scenario, critical injuries now much less likely to result in crewman death
CNG: Player Commanders have a much higher chance of being promoted when eligible
CNG: Enemy vehicle units armed with flame throwers now more likely to close distance with player
CNG: Unbogging has been rebalanced, and should be easier overall

FIX: Packed-up gun units can no longer be spawned dug-in, entrenched, or fortified
FIX: Squadmates now gain HD in same direction as player if they are also successful
FIX: Minor typo in tutorial slides
FIX: Passengers that are unloaded from transports now have their AI statuses correctly set
FIX: All variants of the Stuart now have a Commander/Loader and Gunner
FIX: Several errors in the unit definition for the Stuart VI
FIX: Panzer VG now has a fast turret
FIX: AI units that attempt to reposition now also do a bog check
FIX: Panzer III: Small changes to max ammo amounts for main guns, removed hull hatches, added Gunner and Loader side hatches, added commander cupola
FIX: StuG III and vehicles that use the StuG III hull: Removed hull hatches
FIX: Panzer IV: Added Gunner and Loader side hatches
FIX: Tiger I and II now correctly have Loader hatches
FIX: PSW 222, Semovente da 90/53 turret position definitions
FIX: Campaign day journal entries could have been displayed outside of correct area
FIX: Unit Gallery command key in the in-game menu conflicted with new Ultrawide setting
FIX: HD direction now correctly displayed in unit info pop-up window
FIX: Stabilize Crewman bail-out action should now appear and apply properly

[Asid]

Update 1.1.8
Sun, May 8, 2022



This is a regular update with a lot of fixes and minor improvements to the game. My thanks to the players on the Discord for suggesting many of these improvements and for testing out this update on the preview branch. As always, please report any bugs or crashes on the Discord or on the Steam discussion forums. Changelog follows:

1.1.8 Changelog

ADD: Firing a Gun in Dry ground conditions has a small chance of kicking up dust around the attacker (max 2)
ADD: Possibility of a partial hit result when firing HE; partial hits apply less FP, have no AP effect, and have less chance of causing dust on target
ADD: Different display colours for ranges of travel times on the Campaign Day layer
ADD: Crewman CE display highlighted in yellow if especially vulnerable to incoming attacks (on order that allows spotting)
ADD: Bonus to affect moving deployed guns with area fire attacks
ADD: Wadis: dry riverbeds that can appear on North African campaign day maps. Take much less time to cross than rivers.
ADD: Attempt Hull Down command now greyed out if player unit is already HD in current facing
ADD: New Skill: Leadfoot: Increases chance of an extra move when driving a Fast Tank or Fast Wheeled vehicle.
ADD: AI units that are Lax and have an allied unit in the same hex that is Alert will automatically change statue to Alert upon activation

CNG: Campaign Day map area can now sometimes have 4 or 5 objectives
CNG: Effect of "The Immobilizer" skill more clear now
CNG: Area fire attack penalty for vehicle-mounted weapons reduced
CNG: Any concealed unit that initiates an overrun attack is automatically spotted
CNG: Firepower applied to unspotted targets is now halved (fractions rounded up) when applied, not when resolved
CNG: River crossing check now takes place after breakdown + sandstorm checks
CNG: Fighting Withdrawal day missions:
- any zone that is above the player's current hex row will automatically be captured by enemy forces if possible
- capturing (or defending) a zone awards 2x normal VP
- after winning a scenario, the player will be awarded VP for capturing a zone, but must then automatically move to a zone in a lower hexrow
CNG: Increased chance of becoming Stunned or Unconscious as a result of an injury, but also increased protective effect of Grit stat against this
CNG: Small change to effect of gun shields and movement chances
CNG: Minor change to background of Campaign Day layer display

FIX: Unbog attempt now clears all acquired targets and sets moving status
FIX: Gun units can no longer attempt to deploy/unlimber or pack-up while Pinned
FIX: Convoy Attack objective zones sometimes had few or no trucks spawned
FIX: Longstanding bug in calculating full and critical effect chances for area fire and flame thrower attacks
FIX: AAMGs on pivot mounts no longer affected by negative modifiers for pivoting or turret rotation
FIX: Unit destruction sound no longer played when a unit withdraws
FIX: Too much time was being added for crossing rivers on the Campaign Day map
FIX: Convoy Attack objective now only failed if any enemy trucks remain in the zone after withdrawing
FIX: Campaign records now sorted by total VP
FIX: Bug where a new crewman would not be assigned if Player Commander continued into a new campaign, kept the same vehicle, and there was 1+ crewmen who were KIA while the Player Commander was in the Field Hospital
FIX: Miscalculation of the full and critical effect chance for Area Fire and Flamethrower attacks
FIX: Crash when Player Commander stayed in Field Hospital until end of campaign, but final possible day of campaign wasn't in the Combat Calendar

[Asid]

Update 1.1.9
Sat, 14 May 2022



A small but important update this week, which fixes a few bugs and adds some nice Quality of Life functionality to the game. As always, please do report bugs and crashes on the Discord or on the Steam discussions boards. Changelog follows:

1.1.9 Changelog
ADD: New Unit: L3 Lf (Trailer)
ADD: New Skill: "Unsticky Situation": improves unjam chance, available to all crewmen, replaces unjam bonus previous given by "Mechanic" and "Gun Maintenance"
ADD: New Skill: "Reverse!": increases chance of a successful reverse move action
ADD: 8x8 and 16x16 font files for REXPaint to /src folder - these are the base font files that can be used by REXPaint; the game uses an extended set with additional gylphs
ADD: Unit Gallery now includes a command to display a list of campaigns where a given unit type appears
ADD: Option to join a campaign that has already started when continuing into a new campaign

CNG: Movement chance increased by 30% (before fatigue effects) if Driver is CE
CNG: In Shooting Phase when cursor is not over a map hex, info on a currently targeted unit will be displayed in the unit info console
CNG: Key repeating now allowed in glossary, message log, unit gallery, and add skill menus

FIX: Small transports like Jeeps and Kubelwagons will no longer be spawned as trucks in Convoy Attack objectives
FIX: Battle of Luzon (Japan) had incorrect enemy air support data
FIX: Minor change to rarity factors for Sd. Kfz. 13

[Asid]

Update 1.1.10
Mon, 23 May 2022



This is mainly a bugfix update, with a few additions that are not yet fully implemented, including a number of new units. These will be added to campaigns in a future update, but I wanted to get this update out mainly to fix a display bug when resolving an HE hit on an armoured target. Full changelog follows:

1.1.10 Changelog

Note: New units are mostly not used yet

ADD: AB Lancia 1Z, L5/30 (Fiat 3000), L3/38, P26/40, Panzer L38 733, Panzer P40 737, StuG M42 mit 75/18 850, StuG M42 mit 75/34 851, StuG M43 mit 105/25 853
ADD: M2A4 Light Tank, M2A4 Light Tank (UK)

ADD: restricted_traverse stat for MGs and other area fire weapons; penalty when firing at a moving target
ADD: Unit Support selection will be saved for game session, and if possible will automatically be selected next time Unit Support is requested
ADD: Improved moon phase visual indicators

CNG: Minor changes to Jungle Rats, Polish campaigns
CNG: Vehicles with no gun or flamethrower weapons on board now have a much lower chance of exploding upon a KO hit
CNG: During player RoF attacks, either F or Tab can be used to fire again; ESC will now end the attack
CNG: Convoy Attack objectives now limited to max 1 per map area, less chance of appearing
CNG: Increased speed of in-game animations
CNG: Flamethrower and Combat Engineer Teams will no longer be set as the unit id for a given class when spawning enemy units; means they will not appear in groups of 2+ units nearly as often
CNG: Improved look of tabs in in-game menu (thanks Vanagandr!)
CNG: Replaced MAR portrait variants (never used) with ELW (Early War)

FIX: Partial and Full effect chances were being displayed during armour penetration roll caused by an HE hit
FIX: Updated gun definition for Panzer II J

[Asid]

Update 1.2.0
Sun, 19 June 2022



This is a medium-sized update which does not break saved campaign compatibility, but does add a ton of improvements and fixes. As always, please report any bugs and/or crashes in the Discord or on the Steam discussion board. Full changelog follows:

1.2.0 Changelog
ADD: Major Battle campaign day mission: higher number of enemy units, higher chance of meeting resistance, +2 VP for each enemy unit destroyed, +1 VP for each captured zone, higher chance of zone capture by enemy or friendly forces, player may get free unit support and requested unit support will have +1 unit
ADD: Battle of Guadalcanal campaign (USA), Battle of Iwo Jima campaign (USA)
ADD: F4F Wildcat, SBD Dauntless, M1A1 75mm Pack Howitzer, M4A3R5 Sherman, Mitsubishi A6M, Chi-Ha (Dug In)
ADD: Campaign skill: Semper Fi
ADD: Reverse Move action for AI units
ADD: AI units with Reverse Drivers now just as likely to make a Reverse Move action
ADD: AI units will now build themselves a simple list of enemy threats to help in action scoring
ADD: AI armoured vehicle units can now pivot or reverse so that their heavier front armour is facing a threat
ADD: Info in the Battlegroup tab on whether a squadmate has a broken weapon or one that is out of ammo or fuel
ADD: Historical Rarity display in Unit Gallery can now scroll up and down
ADD: SHrapnel ammo for 75mm American Sherman guns, functions same as Canister
ADD: Enemy infantry, cavalry, and gun units that take FP in a turn when the player is overrunning their location must pass a morale check or else be routed, unless they are entrenched, fortified, or fanatic
ADD: Sound Effects: Motorcycle moving, LMG firing at low, medium, and high RoF, gun/cannon firing, gun moving without tow
ADD: Message before Campaign Day random events
ADD: Fortification zones now much less likely to spawn most very mobile enemy units
ADD: Emplacement unit category; if armoured, always counts as HD in all directions

CNG: Slightly updated fonts to improve weighting of lines (thanks cjprince!)
CNG: If a Lax AI unit spots an enemy unit, they now immediately become Alert
CNG: Greatly increased chance of a Lax enemy unit becoming Alert due to 1+ enemies already being spotted
CNG: Enemy units can now pivot to face any target, including the player, as an action during their activation
CNG: AI units now much less likely to attempt attacks with 0.5% chance of hit/effect
CNG: AI units now more likely to withdraw if they already had a good reason to do so and player is immobilized
CNG: Campaign week description in Campaign Calendar layer now has 8 additional display lines
CNG: Minor changes to Jungle Rats campaign
CNG: Molotovs and Flamethrowers can now get critical hits
CNG: Demo Charges, Flame Throwers, and Molotovs all now have lower base AP scores
CNG: Demo Charges now much more likely to cause immobilization after a penetrating hit on the player
CNG: Flame Throwers and Molotovs now much more likely to only cause Minor Damage after a penetrating hit on the player
CNG: Slight change to how crew positions and weapons are displayed in the Unit Gallery
CNG: Warning for a missing sound effect definition will only be displayed once per game session
CNG: Campaign days with Hold the Line, Counterattack, or Fighting Withdrawal missions will require less time to arrive at the front lines
CNG: All impacts on the player vehicle can now result in 1+ crewmen in the hit location being stunned or knocked unconscious by the impact

FIX: In cases where an AI unit has 2+ weapons that can be fired by the same crewman, the game will keep track of which crewmen have already acted and won't let them operate two weapons in the same turn
FIX: AI units that pivot will now not always rotate their turret to face their new hull facing direction, the turret will remain in the same relative direction
FIX: Very Large towing capacity display did not fit in Unit Gallery screen
FIX: Deleting a campaign record did not properly select another one
FIX: If first crewman had a different default command set, GUI and context console did not reflect this at start of scenario
FIX: Seasons and weather odds for South Pacific region
FIX: If a transport vehicle is abandoned by its crew, any passengers automatically bail out
FIX: During bail-out, if crewmen were killed by an explosion or incoming fire, the game would not properly end the bail-out sequence until the following turn
FIX: Unspotted enemy units that get bogged down will no longer trigger a sound effect
FIX: Vertical position of text in simple pop-up messages
FIX: Unspotted enemy units that fail a rout test (eg. after a FTR or WP attack) will no longer trigger a message for the player
FIX: Removed depiction of side skirts in DES portrait of Panzer IV H
FIX: Was possible for player unit to initiate an overrun attack when it was bogged down
FIX: If player vehicle was immobilized, chance that it would be pivoted incorrectly, leading to strange outcomes
FIX: Player could possibly add rare ammo during resupply when it was not available on current calendar date

[Asid]

Update 1.2.2
Mon, 25 July 2022


This is a minor, mostly bugfixing update:

ADD: Attacks that miss a target due to it having no turret (sort of a reverse Hull Down) now have a more clear result displayed

CNG: Sniper attacks on player unit no longer possible in foggy conditions
CNG: Hold objectives will no longer be placed in hexrows 0-1 during Fighting Withdrawl day missions
CNG: Gunslinger and Spray and Pray crewman skills make Covering Fire from that crewman more effective during bailing out

FIX: Several hundred fixed/updated portraits by cjprince
FIX: Removed SU-12 from Barbarossa campaign
FIX: Friendly units destroyed and units destroyed during friendly fire air attacks no longer count toward Seven of Clubs Steam achievement
FIX: All 20mm autocannon weapons now have a minimum FP of 4
FIX: If a unit support category has no unit types that are available on the current date, it will not appear as an option
FIX: If player completes a campaign and chooses not to continue with the same crew into a new campaign, loading that saved campaign will now not re-roll crew decorations, add additional Steam stats, etc

[Asid]

Update 1.2.4
Tue, 9 August 2022



1.2.4 Changelog

ADD: Air attacks can now be turned away by enemy AA weapons on the ground - friendly fire air attacks may also be turned away by friendly AA

CNG: Units that attempt to unbog now only having Moving status if they successfully unbog

FIX: Issue with moving AI units where they would not pivot to correct direction, and their turret (if any) could be rotated even if it were Fixed
FIX: Possible that incoming aircraft would try and spot units that had already been destroyed
FIX: Steam achievement for Polish Cross of Independence not being tracked properly
FIX: Campaign Day Random Event messages were still being added to the day log

[Asid]

Update 1.2.6
Fri, 26 August 2022



This is an exciting update since it adds the first controller support to the game - I still want to add a few more Quality of Life features to help support this, but at least the game should be easier to run on the Steam Deck!

Full changelog follows:

1.2.6 Changelog

ADD: Game controller support
ADD: New tutorial slide regarding game controller input

CNG: Config file now stored in user directory
CNG: Increased minimum Unbog chance

FIX: Crash in Unit Gallery when no units meet filters and Campaign Roster is selected

[Asid]

Update 1.2.9
Fri, 9 September 2022



ADD: Special display characters for gamepad inputs
ADD: Campaign journal entry for immobilization event during Campaign Day map travel
ADD: Sub-menu for increasing a crewman's stats
ADD: Steam Deck default controller config now uses right trackpad to control mouse cursor

CNG: Moved game settings to its own menu tab in the in-game menu
CNG: Renamed "Acclimatized (Desert)" skill to "Acclimatized (Heat)"
CNG: If player is Ambushed, all enemy units automatically have their AI state set to Alert
CNG: More gradual gradient effects (by Vanagandr)

FIX: Crewmen now lose any old campaign skills when continuing into a new campaign
FIX: Time on Target skill now correctly requires target to be stationary
FIX: Char D1, D2, and D2 (Late) incorrectly had no radio
FIX: Player weapons that have already been fired will now be skipped when scrolling through ammo types / weapons (by Vanagandr)
FIX: Crash when player cancels Tutorial campaign from the Vehicle Selection menu
FIX: BMG for Jagdpanzer IV now operated by Loader, has 2 FP

[Asid]

Update 1.2.13
Tue, 11 October 2022



1.2.13 Changelog

CNG: Removed the to-hit bonus for ballistic attacks (other than rockets)
CNG: Spaces no longer allowed in crew given names, surnames, and nicknames

FIX: Crash when an AI unit that was off the visible map attempted to move
FIX: Crash when a crewman with an obsolete skill name was brought into a new campaign
FIX: Key inputs no longer displayed in game menu tabs if game controller is active
FIX: AI units may skip the check to surrender or dig in (Vanagandr)
FIX: KO hits being incorrectly re-rolled before resolution of effects on crew (Vanagandr)
FIX: Crash when scrolling through portrait variants on the Unit Gallery using gamepad input (Vanagandr)

[Asid]

Update 1.2.15
Tue, 15 November 2022



1.2.15 Changelog

ADD: Updated Early War and Tropical unit portraits by cjprince

CNG: Removed Sd. Kfz. 13 from list of player units for Afrika Korps campaigns after 1941
CNG: Reduced the rarity of Horse Limber and Large Horse Limber units for North Africa to 10%

FIX: Incorrect dedicated Radio Operator modifier for support requests
FIX: Wound Badges were not triggering a notification for the player
FIX: Bug where unit mix in player squad would not be set up properly (Vangandr)

[Asid]

Many Tanks
Sun, November 27, 2022


Dear Friends,

Thank you all so much for enjoying and contributing to Armoured Commander II over the past few years. Back in 2016 I set out to make a game that I wanted to play, and I put it on Steam in the hope that maybe a few dozen others would enjoy it as well. It's since gone on to sell more than 7700 copies, becoming more successful than I had every thought possible for such a weird little niche game. The contributions submitted by players have been invaluable; without them, this
game would not be half as good as it is.

I still have a fairly long list of minor additions, changes, and bugfixes still to do, and even after those are done, I will continue to maintain the game indefinitely by fixing bugs as they are reported. Future substantial content additions to the game will be to the mod authors, and I will be open to making reasonable suggested changes to the code in order to support mods.

I will not, however, be making an Armoured Commander III. I've already made the game I wanted to make, and I simply don't have the inspiration nor the energy to start the whole process over for this particular project. If there is anyone who has been part of the community for some time who wants to lead such a project, I would be happy to give them my blessing, but I will not be involved in such a project.

Thank you all again. For me, this continues to be an incredibly enjoyable experience with a great community of folks. I look forward to completing the development of ArmCom2, and am curious to see whether anyone is serious about taking on the challenge of creating a sequel.

Gregory "Sudasana" Scott

[Asid]

Updated Quickstart Guide
Sat, 28 January 2023

I've uploaded a new quickstart guide to YouTube for those of you who maybe picked up the game but never really got into it.

It covers the basics of starting a new campaign and some of the essential elements of combat:

[Asid]

Update 1.2.18
Wed, 1 February 2023



This is a minor bugfix update, any crashes please report them on the Discord or the Steam forums. Changelog follows:

1.2.18 Changelog
CNG: Successful small arms attacks from the player on enemy units will now cause them to become Alert if Lax
CNG: Any small arms attacks from the player unit will activate any squadmates on 'On my Mark' command and change it to 'Fire at Will'
CNG: Gun units that deploy will automatically face one of the closest enemy units
CNG: Enemy units slightly less likely to withdraw by default

FIX: When trying to add 10 rounds of rare ammo to vehicle but fewer than 10 are available, game will add as many as possible
FIX: Squadmates now properly count as moving after the player initiates an Overrun attack
FIX: Non-tractor units with towing capacity were not using the correct AI behaviour
FIX: Regional rare ammo definitions were not properly restricting ammo as rare if it was unlimited by default
FIX: If an AI unit pivoted to move but then the move was not successful, its weapons were still covering their old direction

[Asid]

Update 1.2.19
Sun, February 5, 2023



This update introduces a new (and hopefully better) system for handling keyboard, mouse, and gamepad input, including better handling of multiple game controllers. If you have any issues with input in this update, please do report them on the Discord or the Steam discussion board. Full changelog follows:

1.2.19 Changelog
ADD: After moving, all guns on the player unit will switch to not using their Ready Rack if they have one (since RoF won't be possible anyway)
CNG: Players can now switch between keyboard and game controller input during the game, and player can choose between multiple connected controllers
FIX: Game now detects when a game controller is connected or disconnected
FIX: Improved deadzone handling for left gamepad stick on Campaign Day layer