HEIRS TO THE THRONE QQP Quantum Quality Productions, Inc Instruction Manual Design: German Design Group HEIRS TO THE THRONE (c)opyright 1993 Quantum Quality Productions. 1046 River Avenue, Flemington, N.J. 08822 908-788-2799 "Heirs to the Throne", the game and logo, Trademark 1993 by QQP. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by mimeograph any other means without permission, with the exception of quoting passages for the purpose of reviews. General notes The authors have made this program and the instruction book with great care. Nevertheless mistakes cannot totally be excluded. Neither QQP nor the authors can take upon themselves legal responsibility or any liability for possible mistakes or incorrect information. Also QQP cannot be made responsible for defects which are caused by malfunctioning of the program, described - explained procedure, or similar. QQP will be pleased to receive a note if any mistakes occur. The Amiga version needs at least 1 megabyte RAM memory. The game runs on all models. To start the IBM PC version please insert disk A and run the program "INSTALL.EXE". The IBM PC version needs 570 kilobyte RAM to run without problems. All pictures in this instruction book have been taken from IBM PC version. Game Credits Design: R. K. Rien Development: Michael Berling & Hartmut Stein (Bernstein Zirkel softworks) Commodore Amiga Version: Joerg Prenzing IBM PC Version: Joerg Prenzing Head of Development: Ralf Gelfand Production: Ruediger Rinscheidt Art Director: Andreas Adamek Cover Design, Cover and Writing: Marion Hagen-Helmert Graphic Design: Andreas Adamek & Michael Wollert Computer Graphics Amiga & IBM PC: Andreas Ernst & Andreas Adamek Sound Amiga: Chris Link & Frank Petri Sound IBM PC: Jochen Hess & Norbert Schmidt Testing Phase: Ruediger Rinscheidt & Ralf Gelfand Instruction Book: Ruediger Rinscheidt Checking of Instruction Book: Ruediger Rinscheidt & Ralf Gelfand General Direction: Ruediger Rinscheidt & Ralf Gelfand Copyright: German Design Group Sales: Quantum Quality Productions Contents: 1. Prologue 2. The First Steps 2.1. Hard Disk Installation IBM PC Version 2.2. Start IBM PC Version 2.3. Troubleshooting IBM PC Version 2.4. Start Amiga Version 2.5. Hard Disk Installation Amiga Version 3. The Controls 4. Starting The Game 4.1. Loading A Game 4.2. Show Hall Of Fame 4.3. Start A New Game 4.4. Load Preselections 4.5. Change Preselections 4.5.1. The First Page Of The Preselections 4.5.2. The Second Page Of The Preselections 4.5.3. The Third Page Of The Preselections 4.5.4. The Fourth Page Of The Preselections 4.5.5. The Fifth Page Of The Preselections 4.5.6. The Sixth Page Of The Preselections 4.6. Save Preselections 4.7. Selecting Name, Color, And Heraldic Figure 4.8. Determination Of Sequence 4.9. Selecting A Continent 4.10. Selecting The Home Provinces 5. The Game Board 5.1. Display 5.2. The Main Square 5.3. Shifting Map Sections 5.4. Supports 6. The Main Menu 6.1. Informative Functions 6.2. Actions 7. The Play 7.1. The Begin Of A New Turn 7.2. The Game Phases Of The Barons 7.2.1. The Title Phase 7.2.2. The Income And Production Phase 7.2.3. The Distribution Of Supplies 7.2.4. The Phase Of Events 7.2.5. The Attacking Phase 7.2.6. Combat 7.2.7. The Movement Phase 7.2.8. The Investment Phase 7.2.9. The Composition Of Troops 7.3. The Game Phases Of The Royalists 7.3.1. The Attacking Phase 7.3.2. The Movement Phase 7.3.3. The Investment Phase 7.4. The End Of The Turn 8. Hints 9. The Hall Of Fame 1. Prologue Once upon a time there was a kingdom that was situated on a small continent in a fantasy world. In former times the land was controlled by cruel orcs. The few small lands that were populated by men were on bad terms with each other. It was a dark age in which fear and sword reigned everywhere. One day an old and wise man appeared. He had an idea how the dreaded orcs could be exterminated from the world by a war, at which time it could be decided which of the barons would deserve royalty. Each baron received three insignia of might: a crown, a scepter and an imperial orb. These three signs of royalty have all been hidden somewhere in the kingdom. The baron who first found all of his three insignia should be crowned king and should unite mankind in the battle against the orcs. After long years of fierce wars, a young baron grabbed power. He was able to conquer the three signs of royalty, to exterminate the orcs and to subdue the remaining human generals. Finally, peace came to the lands. The standard of living grew similar to that of our Middle Age. The people were rather happy because the reign of their king was wise and just. He ceased all wars by annexing all the small countries that he had conquered over the years. Only with the help of his mighty army, did he succeed in forcing the other barons to unite their provinces with his. He allowed them to administer these areas under his supervision. The barons could not accept the fact that they should forfeit a great part of their sovereignty. However they agreed, as they thought it wiser to lose part of their power than to engage in a war that could not be won. Because the barons were estranged, they could not form an alliance against their conqueror. So, gritting their teeth, they submitted to the orders of the new king. Thus, the new king got control of the whole continent and years of peace and freedom for the people passed. The barons fulfilled all instructions of the king but, they were discontent and waiting for the opportunity to overthrow the king. One day the king decided that it was time to pacify the Holy Land, which was situated on another continent. So he sent his brother there with a large army of crusaders. This was the chance the barons had been waiting for. The home army was weakened by the departure of the crusaders, so that the nobles could begin their strike. During a cold December night, a hired assassin sneaked into the castle, murdered the king, and died in a struggle with the guards before he could reveal the name of his employer. During the skirmish a fire suddenly broke out and one room of the castle after the other went up in flames. Nothing but ashes remained from the home of the king and the peace that he had brought. The barons saw their chance to take over the control. Their knights were mobilized and the men of the king were either killed or driven away from the provinces of the barons that were now controlled again by their former lords. The armies prepared for battle and waited for the commands of their barons. An enormous war lay ahead. The royalist soldiers defended the land as the legitimate heir to the throne, the brother of the king, was soon expected back with his battle tried army from the Holy Land. This is where our game begins. Each player represents one of the rebellious barons, while the computer simulates the royalists and the remaining rebellious barons. The objectives are to defeat all of the others and conquer all provinces. The one who can proclaim himself king over the whole continent wins. It is a strategic game about economy and conquest, fought by up to four players. However solo players also meet strong opponents. 2. The First Steps 2.1. Hard Disk Installation IBM PC Version I. Insert Disk A into a disk drive (e.g. a:) II. Set your computer to that disk. For Example, type: "a:" (ENTER) III. Type "install" (ENTER) IV. You will then receive instructions and information to help you set up "Heirs To The Throne" for play. V. When the install program says it is finished you may start the game by typing: "start" (ENTER) 2.2. Start IBM PC Version Like the instruction during the hard disk installation you must type (e.g.): c: (ENTER) cd games (ENTER) cd heirs (ENTER) start (ENTER) After the install program ends its work, it tells you how to start the game. Please notice the given instructions for future use. 2.3. Troubleshooting IBM PC Version I. You need a 286 or higher IBM PC or 100 % compatible system with MS-DOS 3.3 or higher and a mouse. II. You need an EGA, MCGA or VGA video card with at least 256K of video RAM. III. You must have at least 640K of DOS-RAM (memory) to play "Heirs To The Throne". Of that 640K, at least 570K of DOS memory must be available at the DOS prompt to run the game. IV. You must have at least 2,5 megabytes of hard disk space available. V. To find out how much DOS memory you have available, run MEM (DOS 5.0 program). Look for the third line describing the largest executable program size. VI. If you do not have enough memory to run the program, you need to remove some memory-resident programs that are unnecessary for system usage from your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS start-up files. VII. Backup your start-up files before applying any changes to them! VIII. To edit your start-up files use any text editor. EDIT or EDLIN are included in MS-DOS. Consult your DOS manual for information about modifying files with EDIT or EDLIN. Do not delete your start-up files! 2.4. Start Amiga Version To start the Commodore Amiga version please insert disk A in drive df0: and switch on the computer. The game starts automatically. The first time you start the game you must create a SAVE-DISK, if you do not have a hard disk. Please follow the instructions of the starting menu (chapter 4, fig. 1). To create a SAVE- DISK you must use a new disk. Do not use any of the three original disks! To start the game from hard disk switch on your Commodore Amiga. When the Workbench appears please activate the "HEIRS" directory. Double-clicking on the "START"-icon starts the game. 2.5. Hard Disk Installation Amiga Version The hard disk installation program for the Amiga is from Disk B. Run "HD-INSTALL" by double-clicking this icon with the mouse button. Please follow the on-screen instructions. 3. The Controls The game is controlled completely with the mouse, by clicking on the icons shown on the screen. The keyboard is only used to enter names or sometimes for faster operation of the program. The further description applies to a mouse. As a rule you have to click on the different command icons on the screen with the mouse. The signification of these icons is, in most cases, self-explanatory. 4. Starting The Game Fig. 1: Starting Menu 4.1. Loading A Game After starting the program, you will first be asked whether you want to start a new game or continue a previously saved one. If you select the latter, a file requester appears (see Fig.2) where you can select the name under which the desired game was saved. If you load a game this way, the following Preselections will be skipped completely and the game will start. Below you can see such window for selecting files. Fig. 2: File Requester (List of Files, Square for Inputs) 4.2. Show Hall Of Fame Clicking on the square "Hall of Fame", takes you to a list where the best players are shown. Further, you can find information like the "begin of reign" date or obtained scores. The "Hall of Fame" is on your SAVE Disk or in the corresponding hard disk directory. By clicking with the left mouse button on the appropriate square, you can delete the "Hall of Fame". Please see chapter 9: "The Hall of Fame". 4.3. Start A New Game If you want to start a new game, you go to the Preselections. These allow you to play this strategy game in many different variations. Nearly everything is adjustable, from the size of the kingdom to the possibilities of the players and the degree of reality as well as the level of the computer opponent. To get familiar with the game, we recommend keeping the standard adjustments at first. Later on you can experiment with more difficult conditions. But caution! The fun you will have playing the game mainly depends on the Preselections. If the game tends to be too easy or unsolvable, you should change some of the Preselections. You will find out how thrilling this game can be. In chapter 8 "Hints", you will find a table which serves as a guiding principle. You can always substitute the current adjustment for the standard adjustment. This is the adjustment which is selected automatically at the beginning. If you have changed it, you can always restore it by choosing this square. But first of all, a basic advise. If there is more than one person playing the game, you should choose a difficult computer opponent as otherwise it would be too easy to defeat him. If you play alone on a large continent, you should not choose too hard an opponent in order to get a chance at all. Of course it is also fascinating to see whether you can beat the other barons utilizing the many different preselections. The first time you start the game the owners of a Commodore Amiga must create a SAVE-DISK. Please follow the on-screen instructions. To create a SAVE-DISK you must use a new disk. Do not use any of the three original disks! 4.4 Load Preselections Further, you have the possibility to load Preselections which are already saved on a disk or on a hard disk. A file requester appears and you can determine the file in which the desired adjustment is stored. If you have loaded an adjustment, you can modify it on the following six screen pages if you wish. Clicking on the right arrow, takes you to the first page of the Preselections. 4.5. Change Preselections The following is a detailed description of each item of the Preselections and its effects on the game. The thirty different points are on six consecutive screen pages. The menus are constructed in such way, that only those items you actually might want to change, need to be selected. For that purpose, you click on the arrow icon. In this manner, all possible adjustments for this part appear in the square between the arrows. The text which is visible in this square always shows the current adjustment. If you click on the arrows with the left mouse button, you effect a change by one level. If you keep the mouse button down, the adjusted value changes again after a short break and you go through the next levels with a faster pace. Thus, also high values can be selected without problems. Clicking on the arrows with the right mouse button, changes the value immediately to its minimum or maximum. Alternatively you can also click on the text square between the arrows. In this case, a window appears where all possibilities for this adjustment are listed. Clicking on the corresponding term will select it. If numeric input is required, a window appears requesting you to type in the desired value with the keyboard. On the bottom of the screen you find eight further squares. If you click on the left arrow icon with the left mouse button, the previous page will appear. If you click on it with the right mouse button, you will return to the page where you can load an adjustment if you have meanwhile decided to do so. The right arrow icon brings you to the following page accordingly if you click on it with the left mouse button, or to the page where you can save the current adjustment if you select it with the right mouse button. Clicking on the figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, takes you to the corresponding page of the Preselections. 4.5.1. The First Page Of The Preselections Fig. 3: First Page of Preselections First of all, you can determine the number of players from 1 to 4. Actually, the game is designed for several players. Also, for solo players, "Heirs To The Throne" has some attraction because the computer is rather good depending on the adjustments. When playing with several players, it is important to discuss the adjustments properly in order to find a game which is fun for everybody. The possible size of the continent varies between 16 and 99 provinces. Each province represents an area that can be conquered and administered. On the larger maps one match can take quite a bit of time. A game with a small continent can be played in less than a hour. If you want to play a large and difficult game with several players and many provinces, the match can take substantially longer. The playing time depends mainly on the size of the continent. Beginners may want to choose a small continent of 16 to 30 provinces. If many players participate it is also fascinating to fight on a large continent. Professionals sometimes even prefer small kingdoms. It's all a matter of taste. Each province contains villages. At the beginning, up to five villages each, are distributed randomly over the provinces. The owner receives monthly taxes gold or supplies from every village. So, owning villages is the economic basis to recruit soldiers, build fortification and more villages. The maximum number of villages can range from 5 to 99. Next, you can choose whether the previously selected number of villages should be valid for each province or only for the largest. The provinces of a continent differ in size. You can choose between two options. The first option means that the size has no influence on the maximum number of villages. The consequence of the second option is that only the largest province can contain the maximum number of villages. Provinces smaller than that can build less villages than the largest province. This adjustment is more realistic. Probably the most important adjustment next to the number of players and the size of the continent is the attitude of the royalists. The soldiers of the former king still keep most of the provinces of the realm occupied. At the beginning, each baron has only one single region. If the attitude of the royalists is "friendly", they will gladly join the army of a baron and accept the baron as their leader as soon as his troops enter their province. This may be an excellent option for those players who want to fight against another human opponent. If the attitude is "neutral" the royalists will not attack the baron's territory but defend their own provinces against a march-in. This adjustment is recommended for beginners. It will be more competitive though, to make the royalists act "hostile" towards the barons. They will try to attack the provinces of the barons to crush their rebellion. This option makes the game extremely tough to beat, for you must not only defend against the other barons playing, but the royalists that surround your regions. 4.5.2. The Second Page Of The Preselections Note: Depending on the parameters that have been selected up to now, some of the items described on this page or on the following pages may not appear. For example it is not necessary to ask for attack tactics of the royalists when their attitude is not "hostile", etc. Fig. 4: Second page of Preselections In a normal game all values of all provinces will be indicated on the screen. You can select an option, that only the values of an enemy provinces will be indicated, which has a current borderline with an own province. This option forces you to defend differently because you never know where the other baron's regions are. As a second option on this page, you can decide whether your soldiers need supplies or not. A soldier who has to fight needs at least bread and water if you look at it realistically. You can either buy the supplies during your turn or rely on the villages to produce the goods needed for your troops. This rule applies only to human players. The next selection square refers to the throne heir, the brother of the murdered king. Either he is still on his crusade and will return after some time that has yet to be determined (the game is not over, but he brings along a strong army!), or the throne heir has died during the crusade and is no longer threat for the barons. You can decide. The following option makes it possible to determine the attack attitude of the royalists. If the royalists act without worrying about success or failure(thoughless) , they are very incalculable on one hand but on the other hand, if the attack the opponents less, the opponents will be too powerful. This version can be quite interesting in connection with other tactical and strategic adjustments. More realistic though is deliberate action(weighing). Then the royalists only attack a neighboring province when they can hope for an easy victory. But because of the many possible coincidences of a battle, to have only a few more men does not necessarily mean victory. If the royalist provinces coordinate their attacks, the computer opponent has a very dangerous and efficient tool. Coordinating attacks means that adjacent regions of royalists can unite, and massively attack the lands of the barons. This option is not recommended for beginners. Even though it is more amusing and at the same time more realistic. Also, it is just because a baron can also attack from more than one province at a time. If independent attacks are chosen, each royalist province will attack separately. 4.5.3. The Third Page Of The Preselections Fig. 5: Third Page of Preselections The starting level of your home stronghold determines the level of fortification of your capital at the beginning of the game. It ranges from "castle" to "citadel". For beginners a high level is recommended. The next square refers to the price for building a new village. It varies between four and twelve gold pieces. Further, the monthly interest rate can be adjusted from four to twelve percent. This payment of interest only refers to money that has not been spent by the barons or royalists but saved. With the following option you determine whether catapults for attacking fortifications may be built. Catapults increase the fighting strength of an aggressor. Please see chapter "7.2.6.Combat" and "7.2.8. Phase of Investment" for further information. The question on how the royalists will enter into conquered provinces can have decisive importance. First possibility is to let the royalist armies disperse equally over all regions that had relation to the combat. If the computer is able to breakthrough into poorly occupied regions, the royalist armies will disperse sooner or later. If the march-in is "massive", all soldiers occupy the conquered region and can continue attacking massively from there. If they manage to break through now, they will soon be in one of your capitals with the majority of their troops. 4.5.4. The Fourth Page of the Preselections Fig.6: Fourth Page of the Preselections The rate of rearmament of the royalists determines which percentage of their income will be spent on recruiting new soldiers. The higher this value is, the higher the growth rate of royalist warriors will be. Beginners should keep this figure low at first, that is between 20 and 50. The investment rate of the royalists refers to the probability building new villages in their lands and thereby supporting their economy. You can determine the maximum fortification level of their main provinces, that is regions that are not home province of any of the barons. The maximum fortification level is restricted to a value one level below the maximum fortification of the capital. The next adjustment brings in a bit more reality and refers to the kind of terrain of the provinces have. There are seven different types of terrain, which are described in detail later on. Here you can adjust whether the type of terrain influences the proceeds of the villages or not. If not, all villages produce the same quantities of supplies and income. The type of terrain can influence combat. It changes the defense value of the attacked armies. Of course it is easier to hide in the mountains than on grass plains and swamp or forest offer better cover than open sandy desert. The decision is up to you. The last item on this page is whether random events should happen or not. The random events can have positive or negative effects for each single player. These events happen in the seventh turn at the earliest, to avoid any unfair advantages or disadvantage early in the game. 4.5.5. The Fifth Page Of The Preselections Fig. 7: Fifth Page of Preselections The weather can play a role in the game if you wish, by influencing the production of the supplies. The alterations can be taken from the reference board. If a throne heir exists, you can determine the earliest date of his return, measured is years. 12 turns are one year. When the time you selected is over, the army of the king's brother will appear after a randomly determined time. This can be immediate but can also take many turns.The players are informed before the brother of the king arrives so that they have enough time for counter measures. As soon as the throne heir is there, the royalists change their behavior because they now have a common leader, acting independently from the preselected parameters. So, their attack attitude is now deliberate and cooperative. They will march into conquered provinces massively and the distribution is now changed. The royalist's readiness for building fortification determines how much money is spent on it. If the rate is "high", they will spend more money than if the rate is "low". The distribution of the royalists is also an important factor. Each month, the royalists can move their armies just as the barons can. If the adjustment is "non", the soldiers of the royalists only move when attacking. If it is "equally", they move so that each of their provinces contains as many soldiers. "Near the borders" is a dangerous option which should only be used by experienced players. Just as all players usually concentrate their armies along the borders, the royalists keep their soldiers only in those provinces that are neighboring the provinces of the barons. As the royalists have far more land at the beginning, this can lead to an early defeat for the players. The next choice you have is how many barons should be controlled by the computer. Minimum number here is 0, the maximum value depends on the selected number of players: Total four barons can participate. If you have, for example already selected three players, only one more baron can be controlled by the computer. 4.5.6. The Sixth Page Of The Preselections Fig. 8: Sixth Page of Preselections The size of the army of the barons at the beginning can be from 10 to 99 soldiers. With the next option, you can choose initial capital for the barons from 0 to 99 gold pieces. Next, the production of supplies per village is fixed. Depending on the adjustment, the factor of proceeds of a village can amount up to 99 times the basic value. The basic value per village can be taken from the reference card. Additionally, there is the possibility to vary the composition of your troops. Normally your army consists of 25% of each: infantry, pioneers, archers, and cavalry. If the composition is varied, the share of each type can range from 10% to 40%. This changes the power of your forces depending on the situation. For further details see "7.2.6. Combat" and "7.2.9. Composition of troops". The very last option gives you the possibility to switch the indication of fights between computer opponents on the screen on or off. Like all fights these are also represented normally and you have to click on the square with the shield to carry out the battle in turns, and to end it. Please see chapter "7.2.6.Combat" for further information. It is not of any interest for players that already have some practice. They switch off this option. 4.6. Save Preselections Finally, you may save the current adjustments on disk or hard disk by clicking on "Save adjustment". This allows you to start each game with your favorite adjustments without having to select them manually each time. With the option "Delete adjustment", you can make room for other adjustments on your save disk or hard disk by removing previously saved Preselections you don't need any longer. By choosing "Start Game", you end the Preselections and begin to play. Should you not yet be sure about your Preselections, you can get back to the sixth screen page by clicking on the left arrow icon. 4.7. Selecting Name, Color, And Heraldic Figure Each player by turn passes through a start procedure of four parchments. On the first, the your name should be typed in. Letters, figures, and some special signs are allowed. Next, each player can choose from a certain number of colors. Together with the heraldic figure that has to be chosen next, this is the distinctive mark of a player with which for example his provinces are marked. Click on one of the four diamonds. A color that has already been selected is behind bars and cannot be used by another player anymore. The barons controlled by the computer choose color and heraldic figures themselves. The heraldic figure of the royalist always stays the same. After you have selected a color, you can choose any given heraldic figure. Click on the arrow icons to see through all possibilities. The "OK" square ends this choice. Each heraldic figure can only be used by one player. On the last screen, each player is bestowed baron. If you have already played a game with the same number of players during this session, you are asked at the beginning of the above described procedure whether you want to keep the values of the previous game. If you choose "Yes", the whole section is skipped and name, color and heraldic figure stay the same. 4.8. Determination Of Sequence You have the possibility to change the sequence of players. The sequence can be changed manually or it can be determined randomly. If the sequence is acceptable for all players the arrow icon takes you on. 4.9. Selecting A Continent Now, the computer randomly creates a continent with provinces different in size and shape, several lakes, and an irregular coastal area. The different marks of the lands characterize the terrain types of the provinces. If you click on the square "Legend", a corresponding explanation will appear on the screen. Fig. 9: Selecting a Continent Now you have to decide whether this continent suits you and you want to play with it. If you do not like it (Option "No"), the computer creates another one. As soon as the continent is acceptable, click on "Yes". If you have played on a continent with the same number of provinces in the previous game of the same session you are asked at the beginning of the above procedure whether you want to play again on the same continent. If you decide for "Yes", the new continent corresponds to that of the previous game in size, composition and terrain. Thus you can play several games on the same continent and can investigate the effects of changes of the Preselections under the same starting conditions. 4.10. Selecting the Home Provinces Now all players have their turns and have to select their home province. For strategic reasons, we recommend to choose lonesome coastal areas which do not have many neighboring provinces. This makes it easier to defend the home stronghold. Also, one should avoid the proximity of other home provinces as an undisturbed expansion is not possible. You can also choose the home province of another player. You only get it though when you agree to start with a smaller number of soldiers than your opponent. The player that has been driven away in this manner has to look for another home subsequently, but he can also choose his old home in order to drive away the intruder by under-bidding him again. When all players have found a home stronghold, the actual game play begins. 5. The Game Board 5.1. Display The game board (the continent) looks like what you already know from the general map when generating the continent: an irregular area consisting of different provinces with several lakes and a rugged coast. The normal display during the game is magnified about three times. This makes the game a little difficult to survey but is the only way to show all information for each province, even for small ones. General views are also provided. You can call up the general map on the main menu or by pressing a function key. On the magnified map each province is surrounded by border lines and has its own type of terrain. In each province, there is a main square with a standard in the color of its owner, which contains all important information about this province. 5.2. The Main Square Each province has a so called main square as well as border lines and sub squares. The complete province can be selected anywhere within, by clicking with the mouse. The sub squares have no further functions. The main square contains several pieces of information important for the player. The color of the standard of heraldic figure states the owner of the square. Additionally the fortification level is symbolized by a suitable sign in the upper section. If this section is empty, the province is not fortified. Otherwise, a symbol appears, which signifies for example a tower or a citadel. A classification of symbols in regard to the types of fortification is given in the general map "Fortification". Below the section with the fortification symbol, you can see the quantity of soldiers that are present in this province. This is symbolized by a stylized sword. There is space for five figures. Generally the number of soldiers appears in normal writing. When the values exceed 9,999 only the first five figures are displayed in different color though. For example a red 1,000 actually means 10,000. The single digit at the end is of no importance in most of these cases. The color in which these high numbers are displayed depends on the color of the player. Below the soldiers, the number of villages is recorded. Generally this value is written in black. Should the color change, the maximum number of villages for the province has been reached. No further villages can then be built in this region. 5.3. Shifting Map Sections When standing on the playing field, you can shift the visible section by moving the mouse pointer to the edge of the screen. As soon as you are about 10 pixels away from the edge, the visible section moves in this direction until you remove the mouse, press any key or the end of the map is reached. The nearer the mouse is to the edge of the screen, the faster the shifting. Alternatively, you can scroll in the respective direction by pressing on of the four cursor keys. 5.4. Supports Should you make any mistake in operation during the game, a message will appear informing you about it. An example would be to select a province to build a fortification on a province that you do not own. You now have the possibility to select "Cancel" which ends the current action; the fortification of provinces in our example or to select "Continue" where upon you can choose another province. You have two other possibilities to break off actions, either by pressing the "ESC" key or by activating the main menu with the right mouse button and then select "Cancel". Should the message not be sufficient to show your error, you can call in the question mark in the main menu for an explanation. See chapter "6. The Main Menu". 6. The Main Menu If you press the right mouse button while you are on the playing area, you activate the main menu. The menu is divided in two sections by a horizontal line. The upper part provides different informative functions while the bottom part is for the current player action. Fig. 10: The Main Menu 6.1. Informative Functions The square "Geographic View" actuates the general map which you already have seen from generating the continent. In the bottom part of the screen, you find the legends with definition of all types of terrain and the corresponding symbols. Additionally, you can activate this general map by pressing the F1 key while you are on the playing field. The most important general map though is not the geographic but the political one. On this map, all the provinces are displayed in the color of their owners. The home provinces of the barons are also marked with their diamond or heraldic figure. This general view appears when you select "Political View". You can also activate it with the F2 key. A further general map informs you about the number of built villages. You click on "General View Villages". On this general map the provinces that already contain the maximum number of villages are marked with a village symbol. The key to press is F3. Clicking on "General View Fortifications" will reveal an overview on the fortification level of each province. At the same time, the symbols that are used on the playing area to represent the fortification type are being explained. You can activate this map also by pressing F4. The last general map gives you an overall view of the soldiers that are stationed in the provinces, and is activated by clicking on the square "General View Soldiers" or by pressing F5. All provinces that contain more than one soldier show a helmet. Note: On all the general maps, the currently visible part on the magnified playing field is marked with a right angled frame. You can move this frame by either clicking on the desired position with the mouse or pulling the frame to the corresponding place. If you leave the general map afterwards the part of the magnified map has also moved accordingly. If you click on the frame with the left mouse button, it moves as required, but you stay on the general map. If you move the frame with the right mouse button, you return to the playing field as soon as you let go. Another possibility to exit the general maps is to click on the arrow icon on the bottom screen section or to press the "ESC"-key. Fig. 11: Political General Map After clicking on the square "Statistical Overview I" (or press the key F6), you receive a graphic of significant values showing the current power structure. This graphic is also shown at the end of each turn. The "Statistical Overview II" (also to be activated by F7) represents the same values but in the form of a diagram over a period of 12 playing months. From this, you can follow up clearly the development of each player. The "Statistical Overview III" (the equivalent is the F8 key) shows in bar diagrams an overall view of the lost and won battles as well as the soldiers that have been lost in battles during the whole game. The square "Current Adjustments" (respectively key F9) enables you to look at the choice of Preselections, to check in case of doubt, which attack attitude the royalists show, etc. This is especially useful when you load a saved game and you are not sure about the selected adjustments. You cannot change any adjustment though. The square button "Information" gives you short advise on you version of the program and the address of German Design Group. This information can be called up from the playing area with the F10 key. This is only the case though if you look at the map at the beginning of a round, outside any playing phases. During battle or investment, you are getting information about your soldiers, supplies, etc. instead. 6.2. Actions The bottom part of the main menu is for controlling the current player activity, which is indicated by a short text (like "Attacking hostile provinces"). You can end this action by selecting "Cancel" or you can call up some support by clicking on the square with the question mark. The choice "Return" takes you back to the playing board. If you click on the musical note symbol, you can turn on or switch off different sound pieces, which are available with the program. This is useful when you do not have a lot of RAM memory and the reloading time seems to be too long. 7. The Play 7.1. The Begin Of A New Turn Fig. 12: Begin Of A New Round The current date is displayed at the beginning of a new round. At this stage, you can end the regular game. After a check, you go back to the Start Menu from where you can either end the program or start a new game. With the square "Save Game", you can save the current score on disk or hard disk, to continue later on. Before saving starts, a requester appears from which you can select the file where the score should be saved. To make room on the disk or hard disk, you can also remove scores which you won't need any longer. The option to select is "Delete Game". The option "View Map" takes you to the playing area, on which you can scroll as you like to examine the current situation on the continent. This can be done with the mouse in the explained way. Also, all of the informative functions from the main menu are available (such as the general maps). As soon as you press the left mouse button, you return to the display of the date and can select another option from here. If you want to continue the game, just click on the arrow icon. Now, all players get their turn and proceed with the game phases. 7.2. The Game Phases Of The Barons The following describes the course of the game for the barons, which are controlled by human players. The barons, simulated by the computer, have the same possibilities but of course no requesters, etc. appear. All the phases go off invisibly in their case and the only messages shown are those that are important for the human players. The important messages consist of the battles, and the taking of any other provinces by the computer. You will also be prompted if you are attacked by either the royalists or the other barons. 7.2.1. The Title Phase First of all, the possession of the player is checked and according to progress a title is bestowed. Also, the winner of the game is found out in this phase. The players start as barons and can become Earl, Duke, Prince, Elector, and finally make it to King. But you can also end up as beggar or in the jail of your opponents. This phase is invisible for the players in most of the turns. Messages are only displayed when there is actually a change. 7.2.2. The Income And Production Phase Interest is calculated on the saved capital based on the preselected monthly interest rate. After that, the villages of your lands pay their taxes. Usually you receive 1 gold piece from every village per month. Of course, the amount depends on the obtained proceeds. If you have preselected that the proceeds depend on the type of terrain, the taxes are calculated with the following percentage. type or terrain production of supplies increase of returns factor of defense Grass Plain 1.5 150 % 25 % Bush 1.4 140 % 30 % Forest 1.3 130 % 35 % Swamp 1.0 100 % 45 % Desert 1.0 100% 25 & Hills 1.2 120% 40 % Mountain 1.1 110% 50 % Table 1: Returns of Villages in different types of terrain and their factor of defense The production of supplies is, when selected as an option, always the same. Each village in a forest therefore produces 1.3 supplies per month. In the above table, you also find their basic defense value. All supplies are stored in the home province. Provinces that have no connection to their capital give their supplies to the soldiers stationed there. Please see the next chapter for details. 7.2.3. The Distribution of Supplies A note beforehand: All rules concerning supply only apply to human players! Each soldier needs supplies (SU) like bread, water, meat, wine, weapons, munition, etc. in order to fulfill his duty. A soldier always uses up 1 SU per month. According to the quantity of warriors at the beginning of the month, the corresponding amount of SU is taken from the stock of the home province. Should there be insufficient supplies to provide all soldiers, the player has to discharge an appropriate number of soldiers. Click on the province in question. The appearing window allows you to discharge as many soldiers as you like. This procedure has to be repeated until the supplies you won are sufficient for the remaining soldiers. There is also the possibility that certain provinces are cut off from the capital after a successful attack of one of the opponents. This province then can neither give supplies to the home province nor receive any from it. The soldiers stationed there receive all SU instead which have been produced in the same province that month. Any surplus is lost and cannot be passed on to neighboring provinces that are also cut off. In case the quantity of produced SU should not be sufficient to supply all soldiers, the computer discharges the rest automatically. 7.2.4. The Phase Of Events After the returns have been received, events can happen at random if this option is selected. These events can have positive or negative effects on the game. We don't want to reveal the events in particular just now. Wait and see! They only happen to human players. 7.2.5. The Attack Phase Now you can attack foreign provinces with your troops and conquer them. First you are asked whether you want to attack a province. If this is the case click on the square "Yes" and choose the hostile province you want to attack by clicking anywhere within the borders of the province in question. Afterwards an illuminous frame appears within the standard of this province. This frame is drawn around the fortification symbol if any. It is the sign that you have selected the province for your attack. Next you can assemble your troops from all adjacent provinces. Provinces are adjacent when they share a straight piece of borderline. If the only contact is the tower in a corner, the two provinces are not regarded adjacent. The following graphic illustrates this. Illustration 1: Neighboring provinces: Province A is adjacent to provinces 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8. Provinces 3 and 7 are not neighboring province A. Then move the mouse pointer to one of your lands which is adjacent to the attacked province and click on it. Here a dark frame appears within the standard. This signifies that all soldiers in this province, except for one which has to stay for representing reasons are used for the coming attack. You can assemble your troops from as many provinces as you like by clicking on them. If you should change your mind about letting soldiers of a certain province participate in the fight, it is enough to click on this province again. The frame will then disappear. As soon as you click on the square you want to attack, the battle commences. Each soldier uses up 2 SU per attack. If there is not sufficient SU for a fight, the attack has to be interrupted. Provinces that are cut off can therefore never attack, provided the supply rule is activated. The defender needs 1 SU per soldier during combat. Should he not have enough SU, his fighting strength is halved. 7.2.6. Combat Now the scene changes and shows the attacked province in side view, magnified. The fortification, if any, is also shown. Each fortification level has a graphic of its own. Fig. 13: Combat Screen On the Amiga and the IBM PC there is an information square for both attacker and defender below the landscape area. All important data is there. The small sword icon symbolizes the soldiers involved in the fight. The catapult stands for itself. The case symbol indicates the number of supplies. The glove stands for the fighting strength. The numbers opposite each other show the corresponding figures. N/A means that these values are not needed for the game for reasons of different Preselections. Below the standards, you can see the names of the involved barons. On both sides of the screen, there are two vertical bars, a red on (left) and a green one (right). The left bar shows the number of soldiers of the two armies in relation to the total of the larger of the two. So if there are for example 300 attackers and 100 defenders participating in the combat, the maximum of the red bar is 300. This means that the left bar of the attacker is at full size where as the bar of the defender is only one third of it. Both of the right bars show the strength of each army (number of soldiers balanced with fighting strength) in comparison. During the fight, you can see how the balance moves to one side or the other. The one with the longer bar has a good chance to win. The fighting strength of an army depends on the type of terrain, the composition of the troops, and the level of fortification.The higher the percentage the better the soldiers. If you have determined in the Preselections that the type of terrain has influence on the fight, the basic values in the following table under "not fortified" are valid for the defender. When attacking fortified provinces, the fighting strength of the attacker decreases and that of the defender increases. The following two tables clarify this. At the same time you can see the number of catapults that can be used for attacking certain fortifications. Fortification Factor Grass Plain Bush Forest Swamp Desert Hill Mountain not fortified + 0 % 25 % 30 % 35 % 45 % 25 % 40 % 50 % Tower + 12 % 37 % 42 % 47 % 57 % 37 % 52 % 62 % Fort + 18 % 43 % 48 % 53 % 63 % 43 % 58 % 68 % Castle + 25 % 50 % 55 % 60 % 70 % 50 % 65 % 75 % Palace + 37 % 62 % 67 % 72 % 82 % 62 % 77 % 87 % Fortress + 50 % 75 % 80 % 85 % 95 % 75 % 90 % 100 % Citadel + 75 % 100 % 105 % 110 % 120 % 100 % 115 % 125 % Table 2: Increase of fighting strength of the defenders Fortification Factor Fighting Strength of Attacking Party Maximum of Catapults not fortified 0 25 % 0 Tower - 7 18 % 1 Fort - 9 16 % 2 Castle -11 14 % 3 Palace -13 12 % 4 Fortress -15 10 % 5 Citadel -17 8 % 6 Table 3: Reduction of fighting strength of the attacker as well as maximum number of catapults The attacker always has a basic value of 25 %, independent from the terrain. If the terrain has no influence on the fight, this value also applies to the defender. The level of fortification always increases the fighting strength of the defender and reduces that of the attacker. Each employed catapult increases the fighting strength of the attacking party by 1 %. It is not possible to use as many catapults as you like. The danger of hurting your own men while attacking with too many catapults is too high. The development of arms is simply not yet advanced. The number of catapults depends on the level of fortification of the defending province (see table 3). The defender generally cannot use catapults for defense. All catapults of a player are stored in the home stronghold. As soon as the stronghold is attacked, the catapults up to 25 may be used for defense purposes just once. Provinces without connection to the home stronghold can only use catapults when the rules concerning supply have not been activated. Each catapult can only be used once a month. Furthermore, if a variable troop composition is selected as an option, the fighting strength will be changed. Archers and cavalry are primarily for attacking and defending areas that have no fortification. For attacking fortified provinces, infantry and pioneers are in demand. How should a cavalryman storm a castlewall? To defend within a stronghold, archers and infantry are best. According to the troop composition, the fighting strength differs. Anyone who assembles too much cavalry in the castles must accept disadvantages during combat. The following tables show this. The basic adjustment for the four types is 25 % each. Every change by 1% also causes a change of fighting strength. Should your archers come to 15 % of your forces, the value is -10 %. So you have to multiply the values mentioned below by 10. All given values are percentage. Attack not fortified Tower Fort Castle Palace Fortress Citadel -1 % Infantry -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +1 % Infantry -- + 0.1 + 0.2 + 0.3 +0.4 + 0.5 + 0.6 -1 % Pioneers -- - 0.1 - 0.2 - 0.3 - 0.4 - 0.5 - 0.6 +1 % Pioneers - 0.2 -- + 0.2 + 0.4 + 0.6 + 0.8 + 1.0 -1 % Archers -- + 0.1 + 0.2 + 0.3 + 0.4 + 0.5 + 0.6 +1 % Archers + 0.5 - 0.1 - 0.2 - 0.3 - 0.4 - 0.5 - 0.6 -1 % Cavalry -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +1 % Cavalry + 1.0 - 0.1 - 0.2 - 0.3 - 0.4 -0.5 - 0.6 Table 4: Change in attacking strength when troop composition is altered Defense not fortified Tower Fort Castle Palace Fortress Citadel -1 % Infantry -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +1 % Infantry + 0.1 + 0.2 + 0.3 + 0.4 +0.5 + 0.6 + 0.7 -1 % Pioneers -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +1 % Pioneers -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -1 % Archers -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +1 % Archers + 0.2 + 0.4 + 0.6 + 0.8 + 1.0 + 1.2 + 1.4 -1 % Cavalry -- + 0.1 + 0.2 + 0.3 + 0.4 + 0.5 + 0.6 +1 % Cavalry + 0.5 - 0.2 - 0.4 - 0.6 - 0.8 - 1.0 - 1.2 Table 5: Change in defense strength when troop composition is altered Should the fighting strength drop below 1 %, it stays at 1 %! During combat, the troops wait for the commands of the player. If you click on the upper left square (sword and shield) in the top part of the screen, a round of combat takes place. Details of a combat round are described later. If the attacker clicks on the flag on the right side of the screen, his men will break off the attack and retreat. During retreat, another round of combat is still fought though. The defender gets all of the catapults of the retreating attacker! The defender can also retreat. However there must be an escape route into one of his own neighboring provinces. If there is no such province or if the home stronghold is attacked, retreat is impossible. The square with the retreat flag symbol is then behind bars. If there is a province the defender can march back by clicking on the standard with his heraldic figure on his (on the right) side of the screen. Then one further round will be fought. If the royalists or barons controlled by the computer are losing a battle, they may decide to retreat from the battle much in the same way that a human opponent would. In each round of combat, the attackers assault the defenders and try to put as many opponents out of action as possible. The defenders try to do the same from their position. The attacking party normally has a disadvantage as far as fighting strength is concerned. The hit points are determined for both parties at the same time. These hit points are calculated as follows: According to the fighting strength, a percentage from the number of soldiers is determined. For example, the maximum hit points are 50 when 200 soldiers fight with 25 % fighting strength. Now a random value is determined between 1 and the maximum hits. Additionally a value between 2 % and 10 %, according to the terrain on which the battle is fought, is added as a minimum hit proportion. The hits that are actually scored, which means the number of eliminated hostile soldiers, is evaluated by adding a random value and minimum hit proportion. These scores are calculated for both parties at the same time and only deducted from the current number of soldiers afterwards. This way there is no unfair first strike. If catapults are used, it is possible that they will be destroyed during combat. The number of soldiers is divided by the number of catapults. A catapult is destroyed as soon as the attacker looses this calculated number of soldiers. For example: 900 soldiers attack with 3 catapults. The first catapult has been destroyed by the defenders when the attacking party has lost 300 men. After 600 losses the second catapult is lost. If the attacker should lose all 900 soldiers, the defending party can get hold of the last catapult. The combat will last until one party has been beaten or has retreated. Thereafter, a message is displayed informing who is the winner of the battle, how many soldiers have been eliminated on either side and how many have survived by retreating. If you have succeeded in conquering the province, it is yours from now on and all surviving soldiers that had been involved in the battle will move in. If you have captured a fortification, this is downgraded by one level due to some damage caused by siege, fire, catapults, and capture. This means a palace will become a castle and a tower is destroyed completely. Should you manage to conquer the capital of another baron, he will be imprisoned in your jails. All of his provinces and soldiers will be under your command from now on. The royalists have a slight advantage here. They have no home stronghold to be conquered as the castle of the king has burnt down already. As a countermove to this, they cannot build a citadel. Fig. 14: Fighting Statistics You can attack as many provinces as you like but the troops that have been engaged in a fight already are too exhausted for another battle during the same month. As long as there are armies left that can still attack, you are asked after every fight whether you want to attack more provinces. If you don't want to, just click on "No" and the attacking phase ends. 7.2.7. Movement Phase After the fights are over, the movement phase begins. This means that now you can move your troops. First of all, you can decide whether you want to distribute your soldiers equally along the border. If you click on "No", you can individually move your troops (see below). If you answer with "Yes", all of your soldiers except one per province will be moved from your hinterland to those provinces that border hostile provinces. If you wish, you can now make additionally individual moves as described below. First, click on one of your provinces. The main square of this province will now be marked with a frame. In the same manner, you select another province which must be connected to the first province by some of your other provinces. It does not have to be directly adjacent. Troops cannot be shifted between provinces that are cut off by your opponents. The following example shows this: Illustration 2: Connected Provinces. The white squares belong to the owner of province A, hatched squares belong to his opponents. So province A is connected to provinces 1 to 5 but not to province 6 as there are hatched squares in between. If there is a connection, a requester appears showing a comparison of the number of soldiers in the two selected provinces. You can alter these values by clicking on the different figures with the left mouse button. If you click on one of the squares with the right mouse button, all but one soldier is shifted. You can shift as many soldiers as often as you like. You are only entering marching orders that are executed by your men most efficiently later on. If you want to move more troops select "Yes" when you are asked. If you have made all movements as required, choose the option "No", which ends the movement phase. 7.2.8. Phase of Investment Now you have the opportunity to spend your hard earned gold and invest it profitably. Fig. 15: Recruiting Soldiers One possibility is to recruit soldiers. Each soldier costs one gold piece and will arrive in your capital for basic training. You can send him to the front the following month and let him attack the first time one month later. You can see that a careful plan is necessary. This does not mean though that recruits can only fight after two months. If the capital is being attacked or a battle is fought from there, the young soldiers will also participate. You can also build more villages. This is a long term investment, which will pay off only later, because the more villages you own, the higher your monthly tax income will be. The villages produce the important supplies. A village costs between four and twelve gold pieces, according to the price you have chosen in the Preselections. You can build villages in any of your own provinces. It is wise though to start building villages in your capital and look for fertile ground when building elsewhere. The number of villages per province is limited. You can only build villages in the provinces where the maximum number has not yet been reached. Please see chapter "4.5.Change Preselections" for further details. Additionally, you have the possibility to increase the level of fortification in your provinces. You can only increase by one step each month. After all it is not realistic to build a castle within 30 days. Of course you can only fortify up to the preselected level. Even a tower can sometimes stop a battle. Level of Fortification Costs for Next Level Total Costs Total Building Time Tower 20 Gold 20 Gold 1 Month Fort 30 Gold 50 Gold 2 Month Castle 40 Gold 90 Gold 3 Month Palace 50 Gold 140 Gold 4 Month Fortress 60 Gold 200 Gold 5 Month Citadel 80 Gold 280 Gold 6 Month Table 6: Cost and building time of fortification Each month you can buy a catapult for 25 gold pieces. The training of your staff takes up this time. All catapults are stored in your capital. Furthermore, you can buy supplies and sell them, provided the rules of supply are activated. The prices depend on the weather. In times of poor harvest, the prices are high and vice versa. Supplies are traded mainly with foreign commercial centers. Think before you sell all of your supplies. Otherwise it is possible that if you have many soldiers and plan an extensive campaign during the next month, you will have not enough SU left to carry out the planned attacks. Always consider this! Moreover, there will be some loss of SU because of rats. Of course you don't have to spend all your gold. If you save some, you will get interest on it next month. But especially at the beginning of the game, it could be important to invest and build an army soon. 7.2.9. Composition of Troops When you hire a soldier with 1 gold piece, 100 recruits will join you. For reasons of clarity the group of 100 recruits is defined as one soldier. Fig. 16: Composition of Troops If you have chosen variable composition of troops in your Preselections, you can now define them yourself after the phase of investment. The basic adjustment is 25 % for each corps. Each type must be at least 10 % of the complete army. The maximum is 40 %. Between these values, you are free to choose the composition of troops. By clicking on the arrow icon, you can alter the corresponding value of the corps. The double arrow installs the basic value again. The infantry is as good in attacking as in defending, independent on the terrain. Pioneers are best for attacking fortified provinces. For the defense, their behavior is normal. But for attacking defenseless provinces, they get some disadvantages. Archers are ideal for defense and for attacking defenseless provinces. During an attack on fortifications, they are less useful because they more easily hit their own people than the defenders, while storming the castle walls. Cavalry is best for attack and defense on open fields. The opposite applies to fortified provinces. 7.3. The Game Phases Of The Royalists When all barons have ended their turns, the royalists make their moves. Should the attitude be "Friendly" they don't do anything at all. Otherwise, they go through the following phases. 7.3.1. The Attack Phase If the attitude is "Neutral", they miss this phase. Otherwise they will now look for an appropriate province, occupied by one of the barons, to attack. If you have selected independent attacks of the royalists they will only attack from one province at a time. If they cooperate, the province of the player will be attacked by all soldiers of all neighboring royalist provinces at the same time. Now, it depends whether the royalists consider their prospects to be successful. If not, they often attack without having much of a chance to win. When the royalists consider their chances, they compare the number of their own men with the garrison of the hostile province, including in their reflections the type of terrain (if this has any influence on combat) and the level of fortification. If they see a clear chance to win, they will attack. If they consider it too risky, they will choose another province. If it comes to a battle, first a message is displayed, as it is done when computer barons attack, and the corresponding player province is marked. Then the screen changes to the previously described combat scenario. If the royalists succeed in conquering a province, the occupying forces move into the area. When "massive" has been adjusted in the Preselections, all troops involved in the fight stay in the conquered square. When the distribution is "equal" the troops will be distributed equally between all provinces that sent troops for the fight and the conquered province. The royalists have a decisive advantage over the barons. Their soldiers are considerably better trained, they don't get tired and can therefore attack as many times as they like. This means that as soon as an army of royalists has penetrated a strong defense line and invades the sparsely populated hinterland, they will spread like lightning the same month and conquer one province after another. Thus, they can very quickly deploy in front of the walls of your home stronghold. Woe be tide, anyone who does not have any soldiers left there. The attacks will only end when there is no aim left worthwhile attacking or when the rashly attacking royalists are wiped out. 7.3.2. The Movement Phase The course of this phase also depends on the preselected type of distribution of the royalists. Should no distribution be selected this phase is simply skipped. When the distribution takes place evenly, all royalist soldiers are shifted so that all connected provinces contain nearly the same number. The areas cut off by the barons have to contend themselves with distributing the number of soldiers already stationed there. When the distribution is "along the borders", the royalists assemble all soldiers and distribute them evenly over the squares that neighbor the provinces of the barons. Cut off provinces again have to get by with their own troops. This strategy of distribution is the most sensible. Usually also the barons will act like this and concentrate their troops at the front. 7.3.3. Phase of Investment Like the barons, the royalists also administer their lands. There is a difference though. The barons have the advantage that they can spend their money anywhere, as they are absolute sovereigns. The royalists cannot do that. Each of their provinces is a separate self contained districts with its own financial autonomy. The coordination, through a king, is missing at the moment and therefore the governors are budgeting independently. Each province has an income of its own and will administer the money by spending or saving it. Just like the barons, the royalist provinces receive interest payments on their property and taxes from their villages. But this capital is hidden very well so that nobody will get hold of it when conquering the province, just like no baron will find the money of another baron when conquering his home stronghold. First the provinces will spend a certain part of its income for recruiting new soldiers, based on the preadjusted rate of rearmament. The remainder of the income is saved. This way the income will steadily increase because the more money is saved the higher the interest payments. After this, the provinces decide whether they want to build a new village according to the preselected factor of investment. Of course they can only do it when they have enough money left and the maximum number of villages has not yet been reached. Each village increases the income during the following months. Depending on the preselected readiness for building fortification, the royalist governors now decide about reinforcing their defense. Again, this is limited by capital and maximum level of fortification. The remaining money is saved. 7.4. The End Of A Turn Fig. 17: Current Score After the phases of the royalist, the round is completed. In a graphic comparison, you are informed about the power structure between the players. Afterwards, a new month begins and again you have the opportunity to quit the game, to save the current score, to view the present situation or to simply go on with the game. 8. Hints Read the instruction book thoroughly, especially the chapter about the Preselections, because "Heirs To The Throne" is only as good as the Preselections. We recommend to experiment with different adjustments, also with extreme values. You will see that this game is unbelievably versatile and thrilling, despite its rhythm of recurrent game phases, and it can be gripping for hours. If you start the game for the first time, we recommend to try one of the following Preselections. (R stand for Royalists, FL stands for Fortification Level, P forProvinces) Preselections very easy easy inter-mediate difficult very difficult Number of P 16 - 25 25 - 40 40 - 60 60 - 80 80 - 99 Maximum Number per P 80 - 99 60 - 80 40 - 60 20 - 40 5 - 20 Number of Villages valid for P all P all P all P largest P largest P Attitude for R friendly neutral neutral hostile hostile Values of enemy Provinces indicated indicated indicated not indicated not indicated SU for Soldiers no no yes yes yes Throne Heir no no yes yes yes Attack Attitude of R rashly rashly deliberate deliberate deliberate Attack Cooperation of R no no no yes yes FL of Home P at Start Citadel Fortress Palace Castle Castle Price per Village 4 Gold 6 Gold 8 Gold 10 Gold 12 Gold Rate of Interest 12 % 11 % 10 % 9 % 8 % Catapults yes yes yes no no March-in of R evenly evenly evenly evenly massive Rate of Re-Armament of R 10 - 30 30 - 45 45 - 60 60 - 75 75 - 90 Investments of R 75 - 90 60 - 75 45 - 60 30 - 45 10 - 30 Maximum FL of normal P Tower Fort Castle Palace Fortress Influence of Terrain nothing Village Combat both both Random Events no no yes yes yes Weather constant constant variable variable variable Return of Throne Heir dead 15 - 20 10 - 15 5 - 10 2 - 5 Fortifications of R none none low intermediate high Distribution of R not at all evenly evenly along borders along borders Computer Barons open open open open open Size of Player Army at Start 85 - 99 70 - 85 50 - 70 30 - 50 10 - 30 Starting Capital 80 - 99 60 - 80 40 - 60 20 - 40 0 - 20 Return Rate SU per Village 80 - 99 60 - 80 40 - 60 20 - 40 1 - 20 Composition of Troops constant constant constant variable variable 9. The Hall Of Fame As soon as one of the barons (or computer player) conquered all provinces, the game ends. For every action of the players, they receive victory points. The best barons are listed in the "Hall Of Fame"! If you wish you can delete all inputs any time by choosing the "Delete" square. All victory points will be changed like this, when a player is listed in the "Hall Of Fame": (victory points * 100) : (maximum number of villages * number of playing months) Fig. 18: The Hall of Fame The following points are granted for the listed actions: Event Victory Points Capture of an unfortified province 5 Points Capture of a province with tower 10 Points Capture of a province with Fort 20 Points Capture of a province with Castle 40 Points Capture of a province with Palace 60 Points Capture of a province with Fortress 80 Points Capture of a province with Citadel 100 Points Extermination of a hostile soldier 1 Point Destruction or capture of a catapult 25 Points Capture of a village 2 Points Building a village 1 Point Lost of a soldier - 0,5 Points Table 7: Quantity of Victory Points Contact QQP at: Quantum Quality Productions 1046 River Avenue Flemington, NJ 08822 (908) 788-2799 or on CompuServe: ID# 75300,3223 Call CompuServe toll free at 1-800-524-3388 and ask for representative #353. You can receive a free introductory membership and $15 usage credit. CompuServe offers a variety of services as well: investment information, travel, reference libraries, demo programs, game forums, and more. For information on "Heirs to the Throne", and other Quantum Quality Productions games, type the command "GO GAMEPUB" and enter the "Other Publishers" support area. Copyright Notice (c)opyright 1993 by Quantum Quality Productions, Inc. all rights reserved. This manual and the computer programs and audiovisuals on the accompanying floppy disks, which are described by this manual, are copyrighted and contain proprietary information belonging to QQP Inc. No one may give or sell copies of this manual or the accompanying disks or of listings of the programs on the disks to any person or institution, except as provided for by the written agreement with QQP Inc. 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As a condition precedent to the warranty coverage provided below and to ensure identification, the original purchaser must complete and mail to QQP Inc. 1046 River Avenue, Flemington N.J. 08822, within 30 days after purchase, the Registration/Warranty card enclosed in this product. To the original purchaser only, QQP Inc. warrants the media to be free from defects in material for 30 days. If during the first 30 days after purchase a defect in media should occur, the software may be returned to QQP Inc., who will replace the media at no charge. If at any time after the initial 30 day period your media becomes defective, the media may be returned to QQP Inc. for replacement at a $ 8.00 service charge. 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