Vikings: Fields of Conquest Brought to you by Belgarath Introduction Eric gripped tightly to the long dragon’s neck that stretched out from the bow of his galley. The campfires that burned on the distant shore burned even brighter in his eyes. Behind him, twenty oars churned, the sea in unison, pushing them onward. “The other ships have signaled, Eric. They are following us in.” Eric turned to his Swordmaster. Bjorn and asked “Have you seen Olaf’s ship yet?” “Not yet, Winterson”. The aging swordmaster had always called him that because of his bright white hair. Recently the name had been catching on. “But he’ll be joining us soon. His ship was the strongest of all of ours, no storm could have sunk it.” Bjorn joined Eric at the bow and stared at the lights that they fast approached. “It’s a village, a good sized one at that” Eric said. “Norman or Saxon?” “Norman. They are the conquerors. Should be a good fight!” Eric laughed. It didn’t matter to him who they fought. The Norman Lords have spilled the blood of a hundred sons to keep what they’ve taken. And the Saxon Lords have spilt even more blood trying to take back what they’ve lost. Neither would lay down their swords easily. This was the perfect time for the Norseman to strike! With William dead and gone, the Norman’s were without a leader. They fought among themselves almost as much as with the Saxons. And the Saxons had been. without a leader since the Pendragon line was lost. Nothing could stand against the Norseman now. The longships of a dozen Viking Clans were following Winterson to finally take the islands that their father and forefathers had been raiding for so long. “Fetch me the spear, Bjorn” Eric commanded. But the ceremonial spear was in his hand before he even finished the order. Bjorn was smiling as Eric turned to him in surprise. Bjorn had thrown many spears in his earlier days, but this was Eric’s first. It was lighter and much to slender to be used in combat, but that wasn’t it’s purpose. Runes covered every square inch of it’s surface, dedicating the souls of all whom it passed over to the pleasure of Odin. Eric could hear the waves braking against the shore now; “Alert the men Bjorn, Ran will claim our souls if we don’t take the beach quickly!” Eric thought about taking down their small mainsail, but the mast could be replaced if it broke. And Eric wanted to take full advantage of the wind that Frigg had graciously given them. Suddenly, drifting in the wind, came the sound of a horn, The alert was given. They had been spotted, but Eric laughed. the note cracked and then fell silent. Slowly, Eric rose his own horn. breathed in a deep breath, and blew a piercing, perfectly clear tone that seemed to hang in the air, forever. A fierce warcry erupted from his men and fifty swords were raised high as the longship rode up on the shore. With a massive heave, Eric let loose the ceremonial spear to fly above the defenders and into the village beyond. “BY ODIN, THE LAND WILL BE OURS!” He cried. And this time they wouldn’t leave. Background Kingdoms of England II: Vikings: Fields of Conquest is a strategy/simulation game for up to 6 human/computer opponents. Each ‘player assumes the role of a lord in control of a kingdom with up to 20 armies to command in an attempt to become sole ruler and King of England and its surrounding lands. Vikings is based in part on the history of medieval England with a slight. modification . . . the Vikings were victorious in their conquest of Scotland and the northern isles and are slowly conquering all of England and Ireland! Game Objectives and Setup The main objective is to use strategy and strength to take over the required number of territories or eliminate all other kingdoms and be proclaimed the King of England. This is accomplished by raising armies, training men for armies, patrols and garrisons, building castles and ports in strategically important areas, gaining raw materials for all of the above, and seizing land at opportune moments. Campaign Armies Campaign Armies are used to invade neighboring territories and do battle with its peasant or enemy kingdom defenders in an attempt to expand the domain of each kingdom. When a new game is started, each kingdom begins with three armies (except for the historical game). The Three armies are sufficient to defend the small domain of each kingdom, but as new lands are added, the need for raising new armies to defend them becomes more important. Each home and large castle has the ability to raise one new army per turn. This is only possible of course, if 30 gold, 1 iron unit and 11 hireable men are available. If a new army is raised, it will be available on the same kingdom's next turn. Troop Types SWORDSMAN: Swordsmen are the normal everyday grunts. They usually make up the majority of an army and are the easiest to hire and train at only 1 gold each. ARCHER: Archers are a major force to be dealt with not only in a field battle, but also in the siege of a castle. By staying in the rear of a battle archers are not attacked by enemy ground troops in a field battle until all of their ground forces are eliminated. In defending a castle, archers are used up high on the battlements to protect the walls from attack and are not easily hit by enemy missile shots in this position. Archers get two arrow shots per attack. CROSSBOWMEN: Crossbowmen get a single per attack but the chance of hitting is better than archers. They also are not attacked in a field battle until all of their ground forces are eliminated. They are the only other troop type along with archers that defend castle walls against enemy attack. PIKEMEN: Pikemen are 50% better than swordsmen in defense situations but poor in offensive ones, therefore they are primarily used in defending castles and in armies that defend critical positions. FOOT KNIGHTS: Foot Knights are good in both offsensive and defensive situations. They get two attacks per turn and require two hits to be taken out of action. MOUNTED KNIGHTS: Mounted knights are also good in both offensive and defensive situations, but fight about 50% better than foot knights. Mounted knights do not fight well in dense forest and mountains. They require two hits to be taken out of action and attack at two attacks per turn. CHAMPIONS: Champions are the elite knights of a kingdom and take a large sum of gold and iron to train and equip them in the art of medieval warfare. They wear the best of the light armor available and fight very well in all situations except for open grassland. They fight roughly 100% better than foot or mounted knights and have the same benefits as them. BARON: A baron is the leader of each army and does not fight. He is not used in any way except for disbandment and reinstatement of an army that is being moved by a flotilla. Army Movement Each army has 15 days per turn (l/2 month) to use as needed. To move an army from one controlled (friendly) territory to an enemy (Invasion) takes a certain amount of time. This is shown on the table below: DAYS USED PER MOVEMENT* Controlled Enemy Terrain Type (Friendly) (Invasion) Grassland 3 6 Light Woods 4 7 Dense Forest 4 7 Rolling Hills 5 8 Foothills 5 8 Mountains 6 9 * Note: 1 less day is used when an army is forcefully marched. The table above shows the terrain type and the number of days used for movement into a controlled (friendly) territory, and also shows the number of days for an invasion into that same type terrain if it were enemy controlled. Castles Castles are the most important defense of your land. They require an invader to use siege weapons against them to break holes in and bring: down the massive ‘walls surrounding the castle. Only then may the invaders ground forces enter and engage the garrison in combat. If your kingdom does not have any castles, enemy kingdoms may just march through your territories without having to spend valuable gold and resources on siege weapons and extra troops that are needed to conquer a territory with a castle. Another major benefit of castles is the influence on the kingdoms forces that are defending in the castle, or enemy forces that are invading or defending a neighboring territory. Flotillas Flotillas (a group of ships) are used to move armies across water. To gain the use of flotillas, a port must be built (page 17). For the first five ports a kingdoms builds. a flotilla is also constructed and appears in the new port. The capacity of a flotilla is dependent on the number and type of ships in that flotilla. Each man and/or item to be moved takes a certain amount of space and weight to transport. Income When you begin a new game (historical or random), you start with a small amount of tax income from your few territories (except the Vikings). Income is increased by adding territories to your kingdoms domain. The amount of tax income varies from land to land and the amount gained each turn is half of the amount listed in the Territory Information Scroll and Mini Pointer Scroll. So if the tax is seven gold, three gold is gained at the start of the a turn and four gold is gained at the end of the next turn. Income may also be gained by discovering ore deposits and by selling excess raw materials. Raw Materials Raw materials are used in the construction of items and the training of troops. If your kingdoms treasury is low on gold, raw materials may be sold on the market to gain gold. Raw materials can also be bought if needed, but for a higher price then sold for. The types of raw materials used are: Wood-used in building and repairing castles, siege weapons, ports, ships and training troops. Stone-used in constructing and repairing castles. Iron-used for castles, siege weapons, knights and champions. . Food-used for feeding the populace in each territory. WHERE ARE RAW MATERIALS FOUND? Wood, Stone, and Iron are all found in certain terrains. Wood is found in light woods and dense forest terrain; Stone and Iron in roiling hills, foothills and mountainous terrain. Food can only be gained by having a surplus in a territory. Territories A territory is one of 199 areas of land on the map that is surrounded by a light grey border. A territory may be owned by any kingdom that conquers it. All territories have a peasant populace, tax income value, crop fields that produce food, and the ability to have a castle and port built in it. Ports may only be built in a territory if next to a sea space. Each territory has a patrol if there is not a castle, or a garrison if there is a castle. In addition, each territory might have wood, stone, and an ore deposit depending on the terrain. Kingdom controlled territories can hire and train men. This ability begins the turn after the territory is added to a kingdom’s domain. The amount of men and type that can be hired and trained for a territory depends on if a castle is present and the type of that castle. PATROLS & GARRISONS Patrols and garrisons are the defense of a controlled territory when no armies are present. If armies are present and in battle, they are added to the troops defending. A Patrol or garrison may be added to or taken from as needed, by its kingdom armies. TERRAIN There are six terrain types on the map; grassland, light woods, dense forest, rolling hills, foothills, and mountainous. Each has an effect on the amount wood, stone, and ore that is produced per turn, the capabilities of each troop type in battle, and the starting and growth rate of a territories population. FOOD AND HARVEST The populace must be kept fed, otherwise no new trainable men will be born, and the populace will decrease from starvation. Each territory has a population and is fed independently of each other. If enough food was harvested for a territory in the previous turn, then no help is needed. If more food was harvested in the previous turn than needed, a surplus exists and the excess goes in the food stocks of the kingdom. If less food was harvested in the previous turn than is needed, a shortage exists and some of the population of a territory may die. To fix such shortages, the excess stocks from other territories must be used. If a population is capable of producing more food, but there are not enough fields cleared for farming, a shortage may also occur. Increasing the number of fields available for farming will correct this situation. Time Game time is in turns. Each turn is a two week period. There are 24 turns in a full year. A turn is completed when all the players have completed their individual turn and the last player has clicked on the NEXT KINGDOM ICON on the Main Map. A game lasts as long as there are enemy kingdoms to conquer or until one of the possible endings is reached. Raising New Armies Raising a new army is only possible if 30 gold, 1 iron unit, and 11 hireable men are available. Each home and large castle has the ability to raise one new army per turn. If a new army is raised, it will be available on the same kingdom’s next turn. To raise a new army, enter the Territory Information Scroll of a territory with a home or large castle that is controlled by your kingdom. Then, select the CREATE NEW ARMY ICON which brings up a scroll that displays all army banners available for the raising of a new army. Select the numbered icon that the new army will be built for and the raising of that army will be started. If the castle is not lost to another kingdom during the next turn, the army is then raised and will appear in the territory selected with 10 swordsmen and 1 champion. Note: If a home or large castle in which an army is being raised is lost to an enemy kingdom, the army will NOT be raised. SELECTING AN ARMY OR FLOTILLA FOR ORDERS All orders are given through the Army Orders Scroll (above). To order a army or flotilla, select the ARMY ORDERS ICON (page 9) on the MAIN MAP, then click in the territory or sea space with the army or flotilla you want to move. The Select Campaign Army Scroll appears showing al1 armies or flotillas currently in the territory or sea space and clicking on the icon of an army or flotilla selects that army to give orders to. When selecting armies for movement or exchanging, some marks may be shown on an armies icon (as in army 3, above). The mark of a C designates this army has at least one catapult. The yellow marks show the number of days that army is fatigued. Resting that army will remedy army fatigue. A small sword on an army icon indicates that this army is invading a territory. NEW TROOPS & STRENGTHENING ARMIES To strengthen an army, new troops are trained from the kingdoms populace. Of the total populace, only a fraction is capable of being trained and used in armies. The fraction of the population that can be trained and hired is shown in the Territory Information Scroll (page 2 1) as the 2nd value of the Populace: 659/31 line. When new troops are hired and trained, the total number available is shown in the upper left of the Buy Items/Troops Scroll as New: #. This is the total number of new men from all territories in your kingdom. Each new man hired starts out as part of the Patrol or Garrison in the territory that he was trained in. To add these new men to a campaign army, see Exchange Troops & Items (page 25). When men are hired they are not all taken from the territory that you are hiring/training in, but are evenly taken from al1 of your lands. This is done to prevent a dramatic drop in population in a single territory. HIRE TROOPS/BUILD ITEMS To hire new men and build new items, select the territory to hire/build them out of. This is done by selecting the TERRITORY INFORMATION ICON from the Main Map then selecting the NEW MENU/ITEMS ICON This will bring up the Buy New Men/Items Scroll. At the top of the scroll is shown the kingdoms gold in its treasury and the number of NEW: men hireable for training. At the bottom is shown the maximum number of new men/items that can be produced from this territory. Listed down the center is each troop type and item in this territories patrol garrison, the cost in gold for each, and finally the number of men/items bought along with the arrows for buying them. To hire or buy, click the LMB on the corresponding arrow in its row. This will hire or buy one: man or item at a time; clicking the RMB on the arrow will hire or buy five men or items at a time. Holding down either button allows continuous hiring or buying. Hiring/training new men and items requires gold and raw materials for each new man and item. The gold and raw material requirements are on Table I. TABLE I COST TO HIRE & TRAIN OR BUILD ITEMS Troop Type Gold Wood Iron Swordsman 1 - - Archer 3 1 - Crossbowman 2 1 - Pikeman 2 1 - Knight 6 1 1 Mounted Knight 7 1 1 Champion 12 1 1 Catapult 18 5 2 Remember: A kingdom may only hire/build in each territory up to the maximum number of new men/items available for that territory. (See Table II) Moving Armies To move an army-it must first be selected. See SELECTING AN ARMY OR FLOTILLA FOR ORDERS. Selecting March Army from the Army Orders Scroll will show arrows across the borders of all adjacent territories that movement is possible into. The colors of the arrows show the differences in movement as follows: Green -friendly territory; movement possible Red - enemy or peasant owned territory; invasion only possible Yellow -friendly, enemy, or peasant owned territory; there are not enough days remaining for any kind of movement White Flashing-current territory the pointer is over Note: when the pointer is moved over a territory, a mini-scroll appears and shows the number of days it will take to move into that territory. When the number of days to move is white, then movement into that territory is possible, but if the number of days to move is yellow, then no movement is possible. To move an army across territories quickly, select Forced March. This allows an army to move one day faster than normal rates (page 5). The use of forced marching is not without drawbacks. Each forced march raises the fatigue level of the army which lowers its ability to fight. To lower the fatigue level, click on the Make Camp & Rest option. This rests the army for one day and lowers the fatigue level by one category each time it is used. The Forced March option may be used up to four times before an army refuses to move, then the army MUST rest for four days without moving! Building Castles There are five types (levels) of castles: tower outposts, keeps, small castles, large castles and home castles. One castle can be built in each territory (except for home castles, you only get one). Each level must be completed before the next may be built. (Ex: a tower outpost is being built and will take two turns; a keep may NOT be started until the tower outpost is completed.) Castles are where new items are built and new men are trained for the armies, patrols, and garrisons. As you improve a castle from one level to the next, new abilities are added. The CASTLE influence, number and type of new items produced, population growth (which gives more trainable men), and the size and thickness of the outer wall are all increased. In addition, if the completed castle is a LARGE castle. the ability to create a new army is added. Home and large castles are the only ones that can create a new army. The CASTLE influence and other advantages of a new level are gained only when the new level is completed. For each castle level built in a territory, that territory’s tax income is increased by one gold. Before a castle can be built, land must be cleared to support it. To create a castle in a territory, enter the Territory Information Scroll of the.” territory you wish to build a castle in. Then, select the BUILD/IMPROVE ICON . which shows the Build/Improve Scroll. Click on IMPROVE option to clear the land. This takes one turn. On your next turn, you can start building a castle in the newly cleared territory. Each castle needs a certain amount of wood, stone, and iron to build it (page 16). Note: When constructing a castle be careful where it is built. If a battle occurs in a territory where a castle is under construction, no construction takes place during that turn. Occupied Castles A territory with a castle in it that is occupied by an enemy kingdom is limited in the amount of new items that can be built from it. It takes a few turns for the castle to return to its full number of new items that can be built from it. BUILDABLE OCCUPIED CASTLE ITEMS Structure Type Number of Unimproved or New Items Cleared Land 2 Tower Outpost 1 Keep -2 Small Castle 4 Large Castle 8 Home Castle 14 Table II CASTLE LEVEL COST AND ABILITIES CONSTRUCTION COSTS WHEN COMPLETED Raw Materials Turns to # New Create # of Wall Damage to Additional Structure Gold Wood Stone Iron Finish Items Army sections Breach New Items NONE - - - - - 2 No - - - CLEARED LANDS 10 - - - 1 2 No - - - TOWER OUTPOST 15 - - 5 2 8 No 4 8 - KEEP 20 - 12 5 2 15 No 8 12 Knights & Champions SMALL CASTLE 20 12 12 8 2 25 No 12 16 Catapults LARGE CASTLE 20 2 5 8 2 40 Yes 16 20 All HOME CASTLE - - - - - Unlimited Yes 20 25 All # New Items: If an enemy castle is selected. the maximum number of new items is lowered and over the next few turns returns to its maximum amount. Damage to Breach is per wall section Notes: Home Castles are not buildable. Only one exists per kingdom and that is gained at the start of a game. For each castle level built in a territory that territory's tax income is increased by one gold. Seaports A seaport is important if you are to invade other islands or territories. Most islands contain enemy flotillas and ships that are unreachable by normal territory movement and allow enemy troops to attack from any angle. A port costs 40 gold, 20 wood units. 15 stone units, and 10 iron units to construct. For each of the first five seaports constructed, a flotilla is also created. A seaport takes two turns to complete and at the end of this time, a port icon appears in the adjacent Territory Information Scroll and in the sea space it was created next to. You cannot build a seaport in a territory that is not next to a sea space. BUILDING A SEAPORT To build a seaport, click on the T ERRITORY INFORMATION ICON from the Main Map; then select the territory you wish to build a seaport in. This shows the Territory Information Scroll. Click on the BUILD/IMPROVE I CON and click on the Seaport option. After two turns the seaport will be created and will be shown on the Territory Information Scroll. Moving Armies Using Flotillas To move an army using a flotilla, first select a sea space with a flotilla in it. Next. select the flotilla you will use and move the flotilla into a sea space adjacent to the territory with the army in it. Then select that territory and this shows the Flotilla Orders Scroll. Then select (Un)Load Troops + Items and then select the icon of the army to exchange with. This shows the Exchange Scroll and all that is needed be done is move the men/items onto the flotilla (up to the maximum weight allowable). After this is done, a scroll appears asking if the Baron should be loaded on the flotilla. If the men/items loaded are intended to be added to another army when unloaded, do not load him. However, if the men/items are to be set up as a new army when unloaded, the baron MUST be loaded. The remaining men/items from the flotilla will be placed in the territory patrol or garrison. The baron is the leader of the army and leads the army when Create Army + Unload at its destination is chosen. INVADING OR CREATING AN ARMY FROM A SHIP w/BARON Setting up an army from a flotilla is done by moving the flotilla next to the territory the army is to be created in. Note: you can only create an army from a flotilla if a baron is on the flotilla. Then select the territory that the army is to be created in and select the Create Army + Unload option. The number days to create the new army depends on the terrain type (see Days Used Per Movement, page 5). Invading a territory is the same as creating an army from a flotilla, except that the days needed to invade depends on the terrain type plus an extra six days. Note: A sea invasion is a risky venture as no retreat is possible once the battle has begun. If your invasion fails, the army and all items with it are lost, but you still have control of the flotilla that you invaded from. INCREASING/DECREASING FLOTILLA CAPACITY Increasing the capacity of a flotilla entails building new ships in a port and moving them into the flotilla. To build new ships, select the territory that. the port is adjacent to and then select the S EAPORT I CON. Now new ships : may be built. After they are built, an S will appear on the SEAPORT ICON, showing that at least one ship is in the seaport and ready for use. All that need to be done is to add them to the flotilla. This is accomplished by selecting the flotilla to add to. then selecting the adjacent territory the port is built next to and finally selecting the Exchange Ships w/Port option from the Flotilla Orders Scroll. This takes one day. SHIP COST AND CAPACITY Type Weight Gold Wood Iron Galley 50 50 12 4 Barque 100 100 20 8 Man-O'War 200 150 30 12 DAYS USED FOR FLOTILLA OPTIONS The amount of days for (un)loading, creating or creating and invading with an army varies depending on the terrain type and if there is a port built on the shore of the territory and sea space. If a port is built, only one day is needed to unload; otherwise three days are needed. Movement of flotillas from sea space to sea space takes three days. Selling & Buying Raw Materials The selling of raw materials is one of the ways in which to gain extra gold for a kingdom. All raw materials are sold on the open market. SELLING RAW MATERIALS To sell, simply click anywhere on the lower half of the Raw Material Bars on the Main Map. This will bring up the Sell Raw Materials Scroll allowing the sale of raw materials to take place. One word of caution, be careful of the amount sold. If too much is sold, there may not be enough left to buy catapults, build castles. create ports. build ships, or hire and train troops. Therefore, selling is not advisable until the end of a kingdom’s turn when all items have been bought and/or built. BUYING RAW MATERIALS To buy raw materials, click anywhere on the top half of the Raw Material Bars. This will bring up the Buy Raw Materials Scroll. Any amount needed may be bought, but the cost of each unit is twice the selling price! Obviously it is better to gain raw materials whenever possible from the land itself. Hint: Nurturing the populace to produce at maximum in each territory can bring quite a large excess amount of food, that can in turn bring a sizeable amount of gold to a kingdom’s treasury if sold. Food and Harvest There are two ways to see what the food and harvest status of a territory is. The first is to move the pointer over the territory and check the food. status mini scroll (shown below). The second and more detailed way is to click in the territory and bring up the Territory Information Scroll. Check the Current: and Harvest: lines along with the ------Notes------ line. To fix a food shortage, select the territory to fix. Then check if more fields can be farmed and if so either increase them by selecting the INCREASE CROP FIELDS gadget or if the kingdom has an excess stock of food,, select the Send Food option and send food to the populace. The increasing of crop fields may also be used to affect the current turns harvest which will be used next turn. For example. if a territory currently is harvesting ENOUGH but under ------Notes------ it says Can farm 2 more ‘fields then by increasing the crop fields by 2, the population will then create an excess of 2 food units! Current is the amount harvested last turn that is being used now. Harvest is the amount that will be harvested this turn for use next turn. EXPLANATION OF THE NOTES FOR FARMING Can farm 2 more fields-the populace may farm more fields if they are cleared. Harvesting at maximum-the populace is farming all the fields cleared. ? fields not in use yet--the populace is not large enough to farm and harvest all the crop fields available for use. Mines & Ore Deposits WHY SEARCH FOR ORE? Finding a gold or silver deposit may bring a larger amount of income than the tax income of the territory its located in! In addition, iron is expensive if bought on the open market. So by finding an iron deposit, it allows you to have your own source of iron which is needed for castles, ports. ships, siege weapons, and some troop types. HOW MUCH, WHAT TYPES AND WHERE CAN IT BE FOUND? The amount. type, and length of time that the ore deposit will last varies. Ore can only be found in rolling hill, foothill, and mountainous terrains. The largest ore deposits are found in the mountains, while smaller amounts are possible in foothill and rolling hill territories. The three types of ore are SILVER, GOLD, and IRON. Gold is 1:l (1 ore gold = 1 tax gold) and is added to income at the same time as the taxes are collected. Silver. is 2: 1 (2 ore silver = 1 tax gold) and is also counted as income the same as gold ore is. Iron is added 1:1 to the iron stores a kingdom has and may be used at its own discretion. A single kingdom may have as many mines producing ore as can be found. HOW TO FIND ORE Searching for ore involve’s selecting the ORE SEARCH ICON on the Main Map. When this is done, a scroll is shown at the bottom of the screen and a mini scroll is added below the pointer. Clicking on the CONTINUE will end the ore search. All that need be done is click on a territory that ore might be found in and select SEARCH from the Ore Deposit Search Scroll and the results of the search will be shown. If ore is found, a mine icon will appear in the territory and the Territory Information Scroll The type of the mine is shown by color and the amount gained per month is shown in the territory information scroll. NUMBER AND COST OF AN ORE SEARCH Up to four searches may be attempted in each territory that might hold ore, with only one search of each territory per turn. The % chance of discovering an ore deposit is the same for all three terrain types: Each additional search in a territory increases the % chance of discovery. The % increase varies from search 1 to 2, 2 to 3, and 3 to 4, and the increase is the same for all terrain types. If the first three searches were unsuccessful, on the fourth search ore will be found if it exists there. The cost of each ore search depends on the difficulty of the terrain your miners will encounter in their search. Mountain territories cost five gold, foothills three gold, and rolling hills one gold. EXPLANATION OF THE ORE SEARCH MINI SCROLL When the pointer is over any territory, the mini scroll shows one of five types: ENEMY, # SEARCHES, MINE TYPE. NO ORE XX, or NO ORE YET. ENEMY means that nothing is known about this territory. # SEARCHES means this terrain is the correct type for a mine and shows the number of searches that have been attempted here so far. MINE TYPE shows the ore type and amount that was mined LAST TURN. If the amount mined was lower than the maximum, the amount is shown in RED. NO ORE XX (RED XX) signifies that this is not the correct type of land for a mine and no searching is possible. When the XX is green, this shows that this territory is a newly conquered land and may not be searched (if it is the correct type) until next turn. NO ORE YET shows up when a territory has already been searched this turn and no ore was found, but might still be found on a later ore search. AN ORE DEPOSIT THAT RUNS OUT When an ore deposit runs out, al1 that need be done is to search the territory one more time and a new deposit will be discovered. However, that deposit may not be the same type as the previous one, and the length of, time the deposit lasts will also be different. Battles and Sieges To invade a territory, select the army to invade with and move it to an adjacent enemy’s territory border that is to be invaded. Do this for as many armies as needed for this invasion. More than one army may be used for an invasion and they may attack from other directions that are adjacent to an enemy’s territory. Armies may also invade by sea. (see INVADING OR CREATING AN ARMY FROM A SHIP w/BARON, p. 18) Once all armies are in position on the border on the enemy’s territory, click in the enemy territory to commence the battle. This can only be accomplished by first having selected the ARMY ORDERS ICON from the Main Map, just as if orders were to be given to an army or flotilla. A question scroll will appear asking if this conflict should be resolved or not. Selecting RESOLVE will begin the battle. If an army is ready for invasion on an enemy’s border but a decision has been made to invade another adjacent enemy territory or to not invade at all, simply select that army for movement and click back in the center of the territory it is invading from. This will move the selected army back to the center of that territory and regain the days that were taken for the original invasion movement. SIEGING A CASTLE To siege a territory with a castle in it, the castles walls must first be breached to allow the invaders to enter and do battle with its inhabitants. To accomplish this, at least one army that is invading a castle with no walls damaged must have at least one catapult, but preferably more! An army may attack a castle with previously damaged walls but they will fight at the efficiency that the number of damaged castle walls allow. When a siege has begun, the Castle Siege Scroll (page 24) is shown with the amount of catapults, archers and crossbowmen. The archers and crossbowmen are used by both the invader and defender to reduce each others forces. The defenders are used to damage the attacking catapults and reduce the attacker’s missile fire men whom are shooting back at them. The invader is trying to not only breach the wall sections but also remove any defending missile fire men who are shooting at his men and catapults. If all the defenders missile fire men are eliminated, all the walls are automatically breached and the ground battle begins! If the invaders catapults are all destroyed, the invader has the option of storming the castle or retreating. The more wall sections that are breached, the better the storming and battle effectiveness the men have in battle. The catapults are used in a reload/fire sequence against a castle’s outer wall sections. Each section has a certain amount of structure points of damage it can withstand before being reduced to rubble and allowing access into the castle (see Table II). As the catapults are firing against the walls, they may also be under attack from any defending archers or crossbowmen. Each time a missile shot from a archer or crossbowman hits a catapult, it takes damage causing its efficiency to deteriorate, which slows the rate of fire, accuracy, and speed at which it can be moved into firing position against another wall section. If a catapult’s efficiency is reduced to zero, it is destroyed and if there are any other catapults remaining, one is brought up to takes its place. GROUND/FIELD BATTLE The Battle Scroll will appear if the territory being invaded has its castle walls breached or the territory does not have a castle built in it. The invaders forces are shown on the left side and the defenders on the right. At the top of the scroll is shown the name of the kingdom that is engaged in battle. Each troop type in shown with the number of each type down the middle of the scroll. Next to each troop amount is a button that shows troop types either IN battle (green with white center) or OUT of battle (solid red). Each troop type may be pulled IN or OUT of battle at any time. This is done for the invader by using the mouse to click on the left side buttons for the troop type to be moved in/out. For the defender (if a human is attacking another human), a joystick is used in the 2nd port and by pushing in the direction that corresponds to the arrows shown on the right side of the scroll. When the arrow is white, clicking the joystick button will change the status of that corresponding troop type to IN or OUT of battle. In addition, pushing the joystick to the upper-left position highlights the defenders RETREAT option and clicking the joystick button while in this position will select RETREAT. If a human is attacking : against a computer kingdom, use the mouse on the right side of the screen; and the same if a human is attacking. The invader retreats by, clicking on the left RETREAT gadget with the mouse. Two bars are also shown for both invader and defender. The long bars on both edges show the amount of men engaged in battle relative to the opponents (this is also shown by the ratio in the center of the scroll). The smaller ones show the strength of that sides men engaged in battle. The strength takes into account the terrain, kingdom and homeland influence, fatigue, and any other factors that effect the strength of the two armies in this territory. The amount of men engaged in battle, which is the total of the troop types for that side that have their corresponding buttons on, is also shown above each sides strength bar. When all of either the invaders or defenders troops are wounded or killed or either side selects their RETREAT gadget, the battle is over and the Final Battle Results Scroll is shown. Hint: To speed up the battle, hold down the RMB. The Final Battle Results Scroll shows statistics of each kingdom’s battle results. It also shows the battle’s winner by placing that kingdom’s crest in the center-top of the scroll. Clicking anywhere will continue the game and allow armies to retreat and/or move victorious armies to take control of the territory. Exchanging Troops & Items Exchanging is accomplished in the Army Orders Scroll by selecting the Exchange Items/Troops Option which then brings up the Exchange With Scroll. This shows all the possible army and patrol/garrison icons (they must be in the same territory) that can exchange. Selecting an icon will bring up the Exchange Scroll and allow you to exchange men and I items. To move men and items, use the arrows by clicking on them. Using the LMB moves one man/item while using the RMB moves five men or items. The LMB and RMB may be held down for continuous movement of men or items. Exchanging with a patrol, garrison or other armies in the same territory can all be accomplished using only one day as long as you do not exit the Exchange With Scroll and keep selecting armies to exchange with that have the same or more days remaining as your chosen army does. FLOTILLA EXCHANGING Flotilla exchanging is the same except that a flotilla must be in a sea space adjacent to the territory it wants to exchange with. First select the flotilla, then select the territory to exchange with, and finally select Exchange in the Flotilla Orders Scroll. EXCHANGING WITH UNEQUAL DAYS REMAINING (Read this section carefully, otherwise your armies might not be being used to their fullest. ) When exchanging, both the army or flotilla that is being exchanged from and the army or flotilla being exchanged with must be on the same number of days remaining in their turns. If they are not, an Unequal Days Remaining Scroll will appear asking if you want them to be equal. Selecting REST & EQUAL will make both armies or flotillas have the same number of days remaining and allow exchanging. The reason for this is to avoid using an army to pick up all men/items from a castle, move a few territories, put all men/items into the patrol/garrison of the new territory and finally having another army pick them up to continue a few more territories or use them in battle. (Explanation: The movement of the first army used up all of its days for its turn, which meant that the men and items had also gone through a full turn and hence their turn would be used up. But, if they were allowed to be picked up again by the 2nd army they would essentially have gotten 30 or so days in one 15 day turn!) The best advice to get the maximum amount of days usable from all armies is to first use the armies that have the most days remaining. That way, if they are not equal, only a few days will be lost from the patrol/garrison when exchanging and the other armies in that territory will not lose days from waiting because they will be lower than the remaining days of the patrol/garrison. Otherwise, if you used the army with the lowest amount of days remaining first, the patrol/garrison would then have to equal that low amount and any other armies that wish to exchange would also lose days by being forced to equal that low amount. As you become familiar with the game you will understand better how this rule works. Influence CASTLE INFLUENCE This is the influence a kingdom has over its armies effectiveness in battle. The influence comes mainly from castles. For each castle level that is COMPLETED in a territory a corresponding increase in CASTLE influence is added. (Ex: Defending a Tower Outpost has a FAIR influence, while a home castle would have a GREAT influence (a 5x increase)). The castle influence also extends into neighboring territories, but at a lesser degree. Also the influence may extend into a territory from multiple castles, which would increase the overall influence. This is true for both the invaders and the defenders. So; by careful placement of castles, a kingdom could have a very large influence over a few strategic territories or more! THE INFLUENCE LEVELS AND EFFECTS ARE: Defending Invading/Defending a Structure Built with a Castle neighboring territory Unimproved or Cleared Land NONE NONE Tower Outpost FAIR FAIR Keep GOOD FAIR Small Castle STRONG ? Large Castle VERY STRONG ? Home Castle GREAT ? HOMELAND INFLUENCE The one other type of kingdom influence is HOMELAND influence. Homeland influence is added to any castle influence there may be. A territory is categorized as either HOMELAND OCCUPIED or PEASANT. PEASANT land is just that. owned by peasants and not by any kingdom. A HOMELAND territory is a kingdoms land which was part of the original kingdom or land in which that kingdom was the FIRST to conquer it from the peasants. OCCUPIED land is a territory that is currently owned by another kingdom but which was originally a HOMELAND territory to another kingdom. An occupied territory that is then invaded by the original kingdom-which in the minds of its people considers the land homeland, has an influence of FAIR on its armies when trying to retake it. (Ex: Kingdom A is defending Gwynedd (a HOMELAND territory) against kingdom B. Kingdom B wins the battle. The territory is now OCCUPIED by Kingdom B. Kingdom A then tries to retake Gwynedd from Kingdom B, an influence of FAIR is added to the invading armies. Note that if a Kingdom C were to invade Kingdom B’s newly occupied land, there would not be any influence because it is not considered as HOMELAND to Kingdom C.) Game Features Difficulty Level The difficulty level only is active in the random game and indicates the toughness of the computer kingdoms along with the starting gold and number of armies for each human player. The higher the rating, the tougher the computer kings play and the more territories, gold, men, and armies they start with. COMPUTER KINGS All computer kings are ruthless and will stop at nothing to win., They force the peasants in each territory to fight before them and as such this makes them even tougher to win against since there will always be some amount of men to fight each human invader in every computer territory they invade. The computer kings are also improved for each higher difficulty level that is chosen. It is therefore recommended that the first time Vikings is played, the difficulty level should be set to EASY, and the RANDOM game tried. This will allow the player to get a feel for the game mechanics and the intricacies involved. SAVING AND LOADING A GAME During any part of a players turn a game may be saved or loaded. For saving a game hit the S key, to load a previously saved game or the Viking Historical game hit the L key and use the requester that appears IMPORTANT: WHEN SAVING A GAME ALWAYS USE A NEW FILE NAME. DO NOT SAVE OVER ANY OF THE FILES ON THE ORIGINAL DISK AS THIS WILL RENDER THE GAME INOPERABLE! CHANGING CONTROL OF PLAYERS For the times when a player wants to leave or join in an already started game, hit the C key and follow the scrolls that appear. A new random game may be started at any time by hitting the N key selecting NEW GAME from the scroll that appears. RANDOM GAME The random game is just that, a random placement of all kingdoms on the map. Each kingdom starts with a Home Castle in the territory randomly chosen by either computer or if the kingdom is controlled by a human, his/her choice. HISTORICAL GAME The Historical game is started by entering the game as if a single human is to play vs. any number of computer opponents and then hitting the L key to load the file requester. Next select the VIKING_HISTORICAL file and the game will be loaded and play may begin. NOTES FROM THE AUTHOR If your interested, VIKINGS was under development for 18 months on a 7MB, 32Mhz 68030 Amiga 2000 system and has been play-tested by a very dedicated group of strategists that deserve a large THANKS! for their constant testing, ideas for improvement and blunt comments. If you like VIKINGS and would like to see another VIKINGS-style game in the future (which we already have a working plan for if the amount of sales of this ’ one allows), please send comments, game suggestions/improvements to: REALISM ENTERTAINMENT 6N522 Pine St. Bensenville, IL 60 106 USA BRIAN VODNIK Credits Original Game Concept and Design Brian Vodnik Programming Brian Vodnik Graphic Artists Brian Vodnik Henry Grosch Music George Carrillo Quality Control Dave Potter Mark Thies Mel Peterson Steve Gunn Cover Illustration Luke Vanie Tutorial This tutorial will quickly demonstrate how to set up a game, start a kingdom, attack a territory, raise an army, and other useful options. The first thing to do is boot the game on your computer. Once started, the main setup screen will be shown. At this point all that need be done is click on the CONTINUE at the bottom of the screen, as the initial setup is for one human player versus 5 computer players. After completing the copy protection question, the game will ask if you would like to randomize or select your starting position on the map. Use the SELECT OPTION and pick a starting territory with surrounding ones that have a mix of mountainous and forested terrain. Once this is completed the computer players will be randomly placed. the map will center on your Home Castle territory, and a KINGDOM STATUS scroll will appear which shows your kingdoms statistics. (This scroll may be brought up at any time while in the main part of your turn by clicking on the kingdoms crest that is shown on the sidebar.) Clicking anywhere will exit this scroll and start the food phase part of your turn. Just click on the CONTINUE in the scroll to skip the food phase. You are now in the main part of a kingdoms turn. This is where most of the gameplay is conducted and our tutorial really begins. The first thing we will do is select the 2nd icon from the top of the main map icons that has a mini-view of a territory with a question mark in it. This allows us to do things with a territory and also shows the tax income for one month in a mini-scroll below the pointer when its moved over a territory. Clicking in any territory will bring up its territory information scroll while in this mode. Also appearing are icons for any options available for use in that territory. Right now all we need to do is click in your Home Castle territory. Notice how many men are in the Garrison here and try to remember it. At the bottom will be shown the Improve/Repair. Hire+Train/Build and Raise Army icons. Click on the Hire+Train/Build icon. Now showing is the scroll for hiring and training men and building catapults for your armies, patrols and garrisons. (Note: this option is available in every territory you control, however the type and amount of men/items that can be made from each varies. See page 13 and 16 in your manual) You may now hire and train men or buy catapults by clicking on the c + arrows with the LMB (left mouse button) for one person at a time or with the RMB (right mouse button) for five people at a time. Buy 20 soldiers and 3 knights. This will be sufficient for our demonstration. Click on the CONTINUE to exit and the territory information scroll will reappear. Notice that the amount of men in the Garrison has increased by 23 . . . 20 soldiers and 3 knights. This is where all newly trained men and built catapults are placed. They are added to an army by an army picking them up from here. Click to exit the territory information scroll. To give army orders, click on the 1st icon on the main map. Notice that your Home Castle territory has an army banner in it, there are actually a few of them here. Click in that territory. A scroll will appear that shows all armies available in this territory. Click on any of them to bring up its orders scroll and click on the Exchange Troops+Items which will bring up a scroll that shows the other armies and castle garrison or patrol icons to exchange with. Select the castle garrison icon. You now can exchange men/items with the garrison . . . i.e. the original men you trained that were placed here can be moved into the army. Once finished, click on the CONTINUE to exit and bring back the Exchange With scroll. To exit this scroll just click anywhere except on one of the icons. Now the Army Orders scroll should be showing. Select March. This will put arrows across the borders of the adjacent territories the army can move into. Moving the mouse over one of these territories shows the number of days it will take to move there in a mini-scroll below the pointer. Simply move into a territory that has another adjacent territory you would like to attack. This is accomplished by clicking in the adjacent territory which will move the army there. Then click in the territory you want to attack (make sure you have enough days) and the army will move up to the border. At this point in a larger and further along game you may want to move other armies up to help in the coming battle or do other game options, but for now our single army will do and we will resolve it now. To resolve a battle make sure that the 1st icon on the main map is selected, then click in the territory that the army is invading. A scroll will ask you if you want to resolve it now. Click on RESOLVE. A scroll will show a general rating of the peasant resistance that will be encountered. Click anywhere to setup and begin the battle. (An explanation of the battle screen is shown in the manual on page 25) When one kingdom wins, click on the CONTINUE that appears and a results screen will be shown. To exit, click anywhere and if your army won it will move into the territory and your kingdoms colored marker is placed in the center of it. If your army lost. the army will move back from where it came. The other options that are explained here are useable at any time during your turn just like the tutorial above. The first is Buying/Selling Raw Materials. As you may have noticed when training the knights the raw material bars on the map scroll went down a little. This is because training troop types along with building many other things require raw materials and hiring/training the knights was using up some of the wood and iron. You may need more or want to sell an excess of a raw material. This is accomplished by clicking on the top half of the bars to buy or the bottom half to sell. To raise an army enter your Home Castle territory information scroll and select the icon with the word NEW and the picture of an army banner on it. This shows a scroll with all the unused army numbers. Selecting one will start the process of raising that army. This takes a turn, so the new army will be available on your next turn. These are the basics, please read your manual for more information on things such as building ports, castles and ships, sieging a castle, amounts and types of troops that can be trained in a territory. attempting an ore search and many, many more details and intricacies of Vikings: Fields of Conquest. Brought to you by Belgarath