Combat Leader

Compliments of
"The Major"


Combat Leader is a tactical game that simulates combat between tank and 
infantry elements. It is very flexible as it has 7 scenarios, one of 
which allows you to create your own scenario. 

THE MENU 

1 novice
2 intermediate
3 build your own
4 attack enemy
5 seize and hold
6 mobile defense
7 recon


Basically, the joystick moves a cursor and single letter commands from 
the keyboard select units and allow you to fire, move, mount, dismount 
and select targets. The battlefield is 77 lines high and 40 characters 
wide. Each character is approx. 30 meters. You will be able to scroll 
over the complete field, but can only see 1/3 of it at a time. The 
terrain will vary from clear to hilly and have trees, rocky areas and 
depressions. The type of terrain you are traveling over will affect your 
speed and cover. At the bottom of the screen will be a message area .

1 THE NOVICE GAME- you will command tank platoon "A". (5 tanks) Your 
mission is to meet and destroy an equal # of enemy tanks. The enemy will 
always come out of the north
To direct your tanks, move the cursor to where you want the tanks to go 
and type "g". Once the tanks meet, you will find that your tanks, once 
given the order to fire (type f) will fire at will. Also you will find 
that since gunnery is more accurate from a stationary position, the 
tanks will stop while firing. Your unit will be slow to respond to 
orders while under fire. (naturally)
2 INTERMEDIATE- you command a mechanized infantry platoon. This consists 
of apc's and 4 infantry squads.
key d= Plt D: armoured personnel                  carriers
    i= sqd i: security squad                      (machine guns)
    j= sqd j: anti tank squad
    k= sqd k: rifle squad (carries                antitank weapons)
    l= sqd l: mortar squad

3 BUILD YOUR OWN- you get a menu that allows you to select terrain and 
the number of elements you command and the number and type of enemy .

4 ATTACK AND DESTROY- destroy enemy with minimum damage to yourself

5 SEIZE AND HOLD- look for a "x" on the battle field. you must hold this 
position when the game ends.

6 MOBILE DEFENSE- keep the enemy as far north as possible

7 RECON- find and identify enemy forces without being destroyed.


COMMANDS
(orders)

All orders must be preceded by the unit identifier. An order to plt "a", 
requires that you type the letter "a", followed by the command letter.


G= go to position marked by cursor
T= target is at this position
F= fire at will
C= cease firing
H= hurry. reduce rate of fire and move to designated position quickly.
N= normal speed
S= provide smoke screen (mortar units only)
D= dismount infantry from carriers
M= mount infantry in carriers
P= provide a patrol. (select unit  first by typing its designation)
E= end patrol (2 patrols allowed- g and h)
R= report on enemy units from headquarters or from individual units.
S= current score
Space bar= pause
Shift f= all units under your command are to fire at will

NOTICE: if the screen border is red then there is a message from one of 
your units. Press the fire button to read the next message.



CHANGING COMMAND

Control Q makes you company  commander
Control a makes you plt "a" commander and so forth. The computer will 
assume control of the other units. If you are a company commander, you 
can control platoons and squads but not individual tanks and carriers 
within the platoon. The computer will have no control over your units. 
If you are a platoon leader you can control individual units in the 
platoon. The computer will control all other units.


UNIT ABBREVIATIONS

A    plt a     tank platoon
B    plt b     tank platoon
C    plt c     tank platoon
D    plt d     carrier platoon
E    plt e     carrier platoon
F    plt f     scout platoon
G    g pat     g patrol
H    h pat     h patrol
I    i sqd     security squad
J    j squd    antitank squad
K    k sqd     rifle squad 
L    l sqd     mortar sqd
M    m sqd     2nd security squad
N    n sqd     2nd antitank squad
O    o sqd     2nd rifle squad
P    p sqd     2nd mortar squad


NOTICE: not all of these units will be available in every scenario. In 
the build your own mode, you can select all or any one of the above.
You can also select levels of armor and weapons for the tank and carrier 
platoons.


HINTS:
1 Remember the advantage of armor is its speed, mobility and firepower. 
Don't set up in a stationary position and slug it out with the enemy 
unless you have vastly superior numbers or firepower.

2 Don't forget to use ambush and enveloping maneuvers. 

3 The infantry can be devastating to a non-suspecting tank platoon. Use 
the carriers to move them into the heavy wooded areas and dismount. Then 
pull your carriers back. If the infantry units are discovered too soon, 
the tanks can stay back out of range and destroy them with machine gun 
fire. Lay down a smoke screen with the mortars and pull back quickly.

4 Occasionally a tank will have a tread knocked off and be immobilized. 
If it is not under continuous fire, the crew will be able to repair it.

5 Use patrols to locate the enemy. A patrol is a single tank or carrier. 
the fist one is "g" and the second is "h". Only  the company commander 
can order patrols. (in novice you are a plt commander) In any other 
scenario, control "q" makes  you the co. commander.

6 Pace of game. In the novice and intermediate games, the pace is 
preselected. In all others you will be asked to select a number between 
1-8. The #3 is to scale (30 kilometers per hr.) but the game seems to 
drag at this speed. If you are a beginner this is a good speed as it 
gives you plenty of time to think about what you are going to do.

